Repositioning on the Norwegian Dream
Written: Oct 13 '06
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Product Rating:
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Pros: The price, the food, friendliness of most crew. Accessible captain. Large library - LeBistro restaurant.
Cons: Slow dining service, limited buffet table space,limited activities, extra costs.
The Bottom Line: Go if you like rest and lots of sea days - great bargain. However, budget for the extra costs. Don't take children or teens. Older aged passengers.
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| pmontey's Full Review: Norwegian Dream |
We just returned (October 2006) from our repositioning cruise aboard the Norwegian Dream. For those not familiar with repositioning, it is the time when cruise lines move their ships from one itinerary to another to take advantage of seasons and differing markets. The Dream had just finished its Baltic Capital cruises and was moving the ship to Houston for 7 day Caribbean cruises. Repositioning Cruises are generally attractively priced, since there are fewer ports and more sea days. Ours was no exception, $795 for 17 days, outside cabin.
The cruise started in Dover, England, but we were met at Heathrow airport in London by NCL representatives. Luggage retrieval and bus transfers went smoothly, but I confess after being awake for 23 hours I was not looking forward to the 2 hour bus ride from airport to ship terminal. I would suggest that cruisers arrive the day before and spend the night in a hotel to fend off jet lag. Especially since the next morning was the port of Le Havre(Paris).
The Dream is an older ship and smaller than the megaships being built today. It was stretched in 1998 and the stretch caused some complex traffic issues. To go from aft to forward on Deck 9, you must go through the Four Seasons Restaurant - interesting during peak dining hours. There were several other areas where you would have to go up or down one deck to get to a public area, since not all stairs or elevators went from the lowest to the highest decks.
STATEROOMS - Our cabin was an outside standard cabin, 152 sq. ft. The bed was configured as a queen size and had a sleeper love-seat, (to accommodate a third person, or small children), a chair, coffee table and ottoman. Actually the seating area was quite roomy and could be divided by a sliding drape. Closet space was adequate, but drawer space was limited to 1 in each nightstand, 1 in the vanity desk and four small drawers in the console. However, there were floor to ceiling shelves on one side of the closet, so our 17 days of clothing did fit somewhere. We had plenty of room between the bed and sofa to store our two very large suitcases and the smaller ones slid under the bed. The bathroom was tiny, with the typical one person, curtain hugging shower.
FOOD - Dining is "Freestyle", meaning no assigned time or table. Dress is generally Resort Casual, and formal wear is truly optional. The Dream offers several dining options; The Terraces and Four Seasons are the main dining rooms, offering the same daily menu choices. Of the two, I preferred the smaller Terraces, located aft, which had huge windows and provided lovely sea views. La Trattoria is also located aft on Deck 11 and offers Italian cuisine, including pizza. The ambiance here is similar to The Terraces Restaurant. All the restaurants have tables for two, four or eight/ten so you can share a table with fellow cruisers or dine alone. The food was better than I expected with many selections that were presented very well. However, as the cruise progressed, the service seemed to be slower. Some meals took 2 hours.
There is only one specialty restaurant, Le Bistro, which offers a limited, but excellent menu. Cover charge is $15 pp, but if you reserve a table at 5:30 or 6:00, the cover charge is only $7.50 pp. My only regret about Le Bistro was the location, mid-ship with no windows. Although it was well draped to block out the passing traffic, piano bar voices still filtered in and you could not watch the sun set. However, the food and service was well worth the cost and disappointment in the location.
Buffet service for all meals is available in the Sports Bar, but the area is very small (about 30-40 tables) and trying to find seating space is difficult. There were no trays or staff to help you find a table, so navigating this restaurant was risky, especially if the seas were rolling. The Dream also had an outdoor bar-b-que every day near the center pool area. Offerings included hot dogs, hamburgers, ribs, chicken and pork chops. There were lots of salad selections, fruit and desserts. Tucked in an alcove nearby is a snackbar where you can get pizza by the slice, salads and drinks. However, for a ship that holds 1700 passengers, these areas were extremely tight and outdoor table space, once again, was at a premium. There is also a small ice cream bar (free) which opened for a few hours each afternoon.
The Chocolate Buffet, a Norwegian Cruise Line favorite, was exceptional. Learning from passengers preferences, this buffet was held one afternoon, instead of at midnight. This allows you to indulge your chocolate fantasies without losing sleep (literally). Everything imaginable was available - no true chocoholic would go unsatisfied.
ACTIVITIES - This was a disappointment. While we knew the average age was 64, we also knew that senior does not necessarily mean sedentary. We had 8 sea days in a row and needed more activity than sitting and reading. There were several guest lectures on pirates and whaling, lots of spa type talks, some craft lessons, trivia contests and daily movies. However, the weather was beautiful and I expected more organized outdoor or pool activities. Previous cruises have offered ping-pong or shuffleboard tourneys, basketball games and fun pool games, but there was very little of that. The putting contest was held indoors???? We didn't see any real fitness program in place either. However, they had a small gym and some aerobics classes, but yoga and pilates were $10 per class extra.
ENTERTAINMENT - Usually hit or miss aboard ship, but there were some real treats. One show featured Geri Sager, a broadway singer, who was very talented. Other shows featured some of the regular entertainers from the lounges, who were surprising good, but the comedian and juggler were average at best. An unexpected show featured crew members, who, by and large, were more talented than the paid professionals. The Monte Carlo casino is a tiered but medium sized room with about 150 slot machines, blackjack, 3 card poker, Let it Ride, craps and roulette available. One surprise was the addition of a poker table, which offered several Hold-Em tournaments and cash games each day. Bingo is also offered, but cost was high (about $20 per session) and return to players was very small. The jackpot bingo was only $1900 after 16 days - other cruise jackpots have been $3000+ after only 7 days. We found that all tournaments (slots, blackjack and poker) took in significantly more in registration fees than were paid out to players.
PORTS OF CALL - Obviously ports are limited on repositioning cruises. Our European ports included Le Havre, France (2 hour bus ride to Paris), La Coruna, Spain and Funchal, Madiera(a Portugese Island). United States ports were Miami, Florida and we disembarked in Houston, Texas. We had never been to France, so we were looking forward to seeing all that Paris had to offer. Unfortunately since the distance from port to Paris was so long, we only had 4 hours to see the city. We walked the Champs-Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe, then to the Eiffel Tower. The wait to the top was 1 1/2 hour, so that's all we had time for. Paris is a city that requires 3 or 4 days or longer to see and appreciate all the sights, sounds and tastes the city has to offer. By the way, the bus ride to Paris costs $108 USD PP. This was not a tour, just transportation. There is probably a better and cheaper way to do this, but for our first trip, we were novices and wanted the safety of shipboard transportation.
We didn't do any shore excursions at the other ports of call, but each had plenty to offer and the shops, restaurants and buildings were charming and easy to find. In La Coruna, the ship terminal is right downtown, so everything is within walking distance. Funchal's terminal is a little further, but we walked about a mile into the city square, but shuttles were available. One suggestion to NCL - we looked for shore excursions on their websites for weeks prior to our departure, but nothing came up under "repositioning cruises". It wasn't until we were onboard (and after many excursions were sold out) that we found out they were listed under European itineraries.
Bottom line - would I do it again? Given the price I might, but I will know what to expect and plan accordingly. This would be a disaster for first time cruisers or young families. We were also very surprised at how much the "extras" cost. The soda packet was $99 pp for the cruise - luckily we don't drink soda. Photos were $12 and $22 and Internet pricing was 75 cents a minute. They offered packages, but still expensive to keep in touch. Bar drinks were comparable to resorts and wine corking was $15 if you brought wine onboard. If you wanted a newspaper, it was $3-4 for a daily and $12 for Sunday.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Seniors
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Epinions.com ID:
pmontey
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Reviews written: 20
Trusted by: 1 member
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