Name: Lisa Osterman
Email: osterman@usgs.gov
Age: 45
Occupation: Scientist
NumberOfCruises: 5
TravelAgent: No
Ship: NCL-Dreamward
SailingDate: June 19, 1998
Itinerary: Scandanavian Capitals
FoodDiningRoom: 75
CruiseDirector: 80
CabinComfort: 95
FoodRoomService: 95
CruiseStaff: 80
CabinAmenities: 90
FoodLidoDeck: 90
DiningRoomService: 95
CabinQuietness: 85
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 70
ShoreExcVariety:
FoodVariety: 75
DeckService:
ShoreExcValue:
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 85
LoungeService:
TenderService:
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 89
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 85
OverallPortsofCall: 95
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside:
CruiseActivities: 80
Casino:
AirSeaProgram: 75
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 90
EmbarkDisembark: 95
DiscoNightclubs: 90
DeckSpace: 95
Stabilization: 95
ShopsOnBoard:
SpaceRatio: 95
OverallCruiseValue: 80
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 20 Aug 1998
Time: 13:54:55
Remote Name: 130.11.54.190
Remote User:

Comments

Our party included 13 (Grandmother, 4 adult siblings with 3 spouses and 5 grandchildren aged 18, 18, 14, 12 & 10). We sailed from Dover on June 19 for
a 13 night Scandinavian Capitals Cruise on the Norwegian Dream. The same group had sailed on the Marco Polo (July 1996), and had such a wonderful
time that we attempted it again. I have just read the wonderful review of the ship layout on mining co., done on our cruise! So I can skip all that and deal
mainly with my personal impressions of NCL and the Norwegian Dream.

Ticketing Even though the cruise had been booked and paid in full several months before, the airline tickets and cruise documents arrived 5 days before
our departure at the Travel Agent's office in Florida. The tickets were sent to us in Maryland and arrived 2 days before our departure. I think that is a little
too close.

Airport arrival and Pre Cruise We had all opted for the two days pre-cruise stay in London booked through NCL. My immediate family (2 adults and 14 &
18 yr. old boys) with air-sea provided by NCL arrived 2 hours late due to weather. We had been instructed to look for NCL rep. at the baggage claim
area. Obviously this is incorrect because at Heathrow only passenger and airport personnel are allowed into the baggage claim area. We proceeded
through the baggage claim area exit and scanned all the multitude of cards (Globus, Mr. Peterson etc.) and found no NCL rep. We went to the Tourist Aid
and they paged NCL four times over the course of the next hour, until the rep. finally appeared . The Rep. did not even attempt to apologize for making
us wait 1 hour, but said we must have certainly missed the rep that was waiting for us, and now we had to wait another hour for the next bus because of
other passengers. I think we all know what is going on here and it was very unprofessional. So at 11:30 AM (after 2 hours of waiting) we headed off on
the bus to London. Meanwhile other family members, without NCL transport, whisked into London in 15 minutes on the new rail line and went sightseeing.
We were booked to stay at the Lancaster Hotel. The week before, NCL had tried to change the hotel assignment, but relented in the end. The Hotel was
convenient and close to a tube stop, but the rooms were small. We requested a triple and luckily got adjoining doubles instead, which gave us a bit more
room. We had a nice day sightseeing in London. My immediate family had reserved tickets at the New Shakespeare Globe Theater (phone number for
reservations gotten through internet). We had a wonderful time and would recommend it to EVERYONE. Fantastic experience!!!

Embarkation The next day we got on buses about 9:30 AM for the ride to Dover. The process was painless. There were minimal lines at the Dover
terminal check in. In fact the only slowdown was due to the requisite photo shot which slowed down the boarding process. We were onboard by 1:00 PM
and went to lunch. Since we were assigned to the Four Seasons for Dinner, my husband and I went to the Terraces for our first lunch. We were seated at
a table for 14, and met several fellow travelers. I commented how this large table would suit our family just fine. It was then I had my first experience with
the NCL cuisine. My 'mixed field green salad' consisted of corn and kidney beans. I quickly learned to read the menu very carefully! After lunch, we ran
into my mother who had seen our two table assignments in the Four Seasons which were separated by about a15 ft waiter station. I told her about our
large table at lunch, and we able to switch to the large Captain's Table in the Terraces Dining Room for the early seating. It was very painless to switch
and it was the best decision of the cruise because it gave us the Captain's Waiter , Komanag Gunnarta as well, who really made the trip for our family (PS
you can see our large table on the upper terrace of the Terraces Dining Room photo in the mining co. review)

Dining Room service Since we had the Captain's Waiter, we sort of expected good service, but we didn't know how good until the morning of departure.
My husband and I sat another foursomes table on the final morning who raved about their waiter etc. etc. We were appalled at the service . Our waiter
Komang and busboy Veli were fantastic. They were so kind and very thoughtful. If the kids found a food item they liked they would bring extras without
even being asked. Komang even brought my son's dinner to him in the room, when he left the table one night after ordering. They even brought ice
creme to the kids when they were sitting at other tables during open seating meals. During our other meals, I mostly ate at the Four Seasons breakfast
buffet. I found the service decidedly mixed. Some waiters went out of their way, other resented you sitting at their station since it meant they would have
to clean up the place. The large table was ideal for our family and was a definite advantage over the two table arrangement that we had on the Marco
Polo. The other advantage to sitting at the Captain Table is that the Staff Captain Tommy ate dinner with us on two evening, which was very nice. Captain
Tommy is the business guy and second in command. He was very nice and even took me on a private bridge tour.

Food: First of all I don't think the whole purpose of a cruise is to eat. I don't return entrees, or demand another entree. The reason I travel is to see new
stuff, museums, history, nature. This cruise provided many opportunities for sightseeing. While food is not that important, you do want to be able to eat.
What I can say is that the food did improve. The first morning they has powered eggs!!!!, Later they had real eggs, so it did improve. Appetizers were
usually very good, but small. Honestly, I counted 7 eggs on the caviar appetizer. The salads were a big disappointment , mostly iceberg lettuce. The main
courses were mixed. The steaks were usually good, but pasta often over cooked. We did make it to the Chocoholics Buffet (Hint: go in the back entrance,
before the show lets out. We got right in). The food at the sports Bar and by the pool were both very good. We often would eat lunch there after
returning from portcall. While the food was good the weather was a little too cool for the outdoor eating experience, but that is the Scandanavian
Summer! Overall the food was mixed , I would rate it 3 stars out of 5.

Cabin Impressions The ship is huge, and took a day or two to figure out where everything was. The party of 13 had five cabins (Category A) together on
Atlantic Deck 6, Three triples and two doubles. I was a little apprehensive that since we were across from the escalators and stairs in the aft part of the
ship, but there was never a problem with noise, except from the staff talking loudly in the hallways. The room was very large. We had adjoing twins for my
husband and I and we used the sofa bed as the extra bed for the 14 year old. The closet space was adequate, but lacked enough hangers. There were
shelves and bins in the closet, but the other drawers were so small to be very functional. They served to hold sunglasses and very small items. Remember
this was a 13 night cruise and there were 3 people, so we did find the closet space a little tight. There were plenty of shelves in the bathroom, but I don't
keep clothes in the bathroom. So they were largely unused. Cabin accommodations were 4 stars out of 5, due to the large room size. If not being used
for a bed (which ours was), the sofa area was definitely very nice to sit in and watch TV or stare out of the window. Really very nice cabins.

Cabin Service My first impression of the cabin service was made the moment I lifted the toilet seat after I entered my cabin. 'How do I put this' was
covering the seat and inner lid of the toilet. I cleaned it myself. More remained on the inner bowl and I thought I should give the steward a chance to
correct this mistake himself, which would change my first impression. I waited two days before I finally wrote a note to the cabin steward, I had a hard time
even finding my steward most of the time. So, I felt the service was less than adequate, and in fact unsanitary. First impressions count!!! 2 stars

Laundry Because I had four in my immediate family, and our trip was 3 weeks long, I did use the laundry services five times. I plan ahead so as to not
have to pay for express services (50% surcharge). The regular service was advertised as 'in by 9:00 AM and back the next day by 6:00 PM'. In my
experience, this never occurred. It was consistently back on the third day by 6:00 PM. After my third experience, I called the reception to tell them about
this problem with the Laundry. They said if I wanted it back quicker I should use the express service. What a response!! In addition to being consistently
24 hours later than promised, the laundry also lost two small items (socks and underwear). I was told to notify my steward, who I could never find. When I
informed him he said he would go and look for the items. That's the last I heard. Several days later, I contacted Reception again, and they said they
would contact the dept. head and get back. No one ever did. Finally, near the end of the cruise, I contacted the Reception a third time with bill in hand
and said, what are you going to do? The reception promised they would get back to me. No one ever did. One laundry charge was removed from the bill,
but no explanation/ apology was ever attempted. I wouldn't have known it I hadn't checked the bill very closely.

Tours We don't do tours. You can spend a not so small fortune on tours. We walk into town, take local transportation, explore the city, visit a museum and
shop. We usually are gone the whole day. We walk a lot, and I didn't gain a pound. Amsterdam-easy walk to town, took museum boat to Riks museum,
had lunch, walked to Van Gogh Museum (best art museum on trip), and took museum boat back to train station and walked back to ship. Talin,
Estonia-took the city shuttle into town and explored the old town- Best Shopping place. Wish I would have bought more there, but it happened to be a
holiday and most shops were closed. St. Petersburg-I arranged for private city tour (through the internet) for 13 on the first day, and 6 hour Hermitage
tour on the second (probably best museum in the world). Helsinki- took shuttle into town and walked around-Expensive town Stockholm-, took taxi ($12)
to Wasa Museum (excellent Museum-highly recommend), took ferry ($3) back to town, and walked around GammelStan, had lunch explored then walked
back to ship. Expensive for shopping. Copenhagen-Visited Tivoli at night (KIDS HIGHLIGHT) Taxi ($10 OW), next day walked into town saw palace, had
Danish sandwiches on the walking street. Expensive for shopping. Oslo-Favorite City-took ferry ($3) to Viking Ship Museum, walked to Fram and Kon Tiki
museum, ferry back to town for lunch and shopping. Expensive for shopping

On Board activities What can I say? We had 3 days at sea, plus six 4:00 PM embarkations, so we had lots of experience with the ship board activities..
The first day at sea was cruising the Keil Canal which was the warmest day, so most of the time I was out on the deck. This was the only day we could use
the pool. The weather for the rest of the cruise was mostly drizzly and cold in Estonia and St. Petersburg (raincoats or sweaters), other days were warm
to cool with light jackets. The day time activities consisted mainly of art auctions and Bingo. I did the bingo 6-7 times and spent about $225 and won
$350, so I came out a head. I went to one enrichment lecture. I KNOW I could have done a better job, it was really bad. I found out about the dance
lessons too late, they looked fun. Other than that there wasn't a lot to interest me. I would have enjoyed more Trivia, but I only could do it once. There
was also bridge (card) experts, and a NFL ref. for the guys. The kids played Monopoly and Clue several time, and we checked out travel books from the
library. Watched all the in room movies (the free ones) at least once.

Entertainment: The night activities were usually too late for me. I only saw 5 shows. The three Jean Ann Ryan reviews were excellent, although my
husband said they reminded him of Disney parades. Two of the shows consisted of little vignettes with elaborate costumes and then on to the next float.
My young nieces loved the dancers and they always stopped to talk to them in the hallways. In return, the dancers were always very nice and friendly to
the young girls. My complements to them! The Tom Jones wannabe was passable. The Irish Comic was really bad, and in fact boring. My 18 year old son
said the other comic was really funny (I missed him). My husband enjoyed the Raffa's magic act. So I guess there is something for everyone. Most of our
group (the husbands, my brother and the two 18 yr. olds) spent every night in the sports bar with the World Cup games. We had to drag them to the
Observation Lounge for some quiet time with the ladies. My husband and I also enjoyed the lounge acts in Dazzels and Luckeys for quit after dinner
cocktails.

Children's program The cruise had two dedicated 'Youth Coordinators' Clint and Shana. They seemed pleasant enough and my nieces really enjoyed the
Kids Corner programs. The 12 year old girl complained it was a little too young for her, but she still went every night after dinner to meet her friends. My
14 year old son totally rejected the whole idea, but did scope out the place a few times on his way to the arcade around the corner. On the previous
Marco Polo cruise , they apologized for their lack of kids activities, but he kids were much more engaged with Scatagories and Charades. One way to
attract the kids would be to offer a free soda (the Marco Polo did this). One feature that could be added was a teen disco night in one of the real
lounges. The Norwegian Dream teen disco nights were in the Kids Corner area, a place no self respecting 14 year old boy would go near. There seemed
to be plenty of young teens but my son never connected with any. I feel the ND could do a much better job for the 12-16 year olds. The two 18 year old
spent their time drinking in the sports bar, and made several friends.

Elevators: With the ship being so big and so many floors, I thought that we would never get elevators. NOT TRUE. We rarely had to wait. The only problem
is that the elevators are mirrored inside and outside, and often it would be hard to see on that was open and waiting to take you until it closed to go to
another floor.

Disembarkation: Very easy, we wanted off early and we got it. Most people were off by 9-10:00 AM. We rented a car and headed off to Wales for 4 days.

Conclusions: Would I go again? The kids really loved the trip more than the Marco Polo. I loved the Marco Polo. I enjoyed most things about the trip, but I
don't think it the line I want to stay with just yet. I think I would try another cruise line before going back to NCL.

Back to NCL Dreamward

Want to book your cruise at a great rate? Click here.
Questions or comments? Mail to webmaster@cruiseopinion.com.
Copyright ©1996-2000 CruiseOpinion.com. Last modified: January 17, 2000.