norwegian dream good or bad
 

We are booked on the norwegian dream for 12 days sailing june 3rd in the baltic .<BR>We are celebrating our 50th and want a great experience. We've read so many good and bads about the &quot;Dream&quot; and want your opinions.<BR>Also how do we max-out freestyle dining ?<BR>Do we make reservations for each nights dining or what.<BR>This is cruise #4 but never on this line.<BR>Please reply on Fodors or at [email protected]<BR>

I readily admit to being an NCL bigot...I'd rather paddle a leaky kayak than sail on an NCL ship...certainly for a 50th anniversary. You have so many other brilliant choices. Please choose one.<BR><BR>To all NCL lovers...Sorry...but I just can't find anything to like about NCL.

We've been on the Dream twice. The first cruise, before free-style dining, was OK. The second cruise, to South America,was the pits! I've been on many ships from many lines and have only been violently ill twice. Both times on the Dream. Perhaps it was a coincidence. Free-style dining is OK if you don't mind standing on line to be seated.They try to accommodate you as to the size of the table you want. I'm sure there are many cruisers who have had pleaseant experiences on the Dream but we can't be counted among them. We celebrated our 50th last year with a Mediterranean cruise on the Marco Polo. It was great!

The style you want and expect on a cruise us such a personal thing that I don't see how anyone could make a blanket statement about recommending a particular ship or line for anyone else. We know what we like and personally we would stay away from NCL, RCCL, Carnival and some others. But for some oother people, they might be just fine. It pays to do your homework and read up on particular ships and lines and figure out what fits best for you. For us, a suite on a Holland America (HAL) ship or one of the luxury lines (i.e., Silverseas, Radisson). But to each his or her own.

We took the Baltic cruise aboard the Dream 2 years ago and found the ship just fine and we've been on over 20 cruises. The rooms were very nice and though we were a little apprehensive about freestyle dining we discovered we liked the &quot;dine when you want&quot; atmosphere. We never waited very long to be seated in any dining room. We only had to make reservations at the Bistro which we ate at twice and thought it was very good.

If i remember correctly you do not need to do Free Style.. just tell the Maitre d that you want to eat at a certain time...but it's an option..especially if your out touring during the day... and yes, the Bistro is definetely worthwhle..

My wife and I cruised on the NCL Dream (Dreamward)at the time. We had booked a 13 day trip for our honeymoon. We were both in our late thirties at the time. Since then we have traveled on RCCL, and Princess. Next March, we're on Celebrity. All of our cruises have been excellent, but none compared to the service we recieved on the Dream. Our waiter, (Wilfredo Sosa), and bus boy, (Keith Watson), were the best we've ever had. This was approx. 9 years ago, and we'll never forget the trip.

We've cruised 3 lines..NCL (1), RCCL (2) and Carnival (2). I can look back on each and find something I liked better than on the others. None were bad and I would not hesitate to cruise on any of them again and hope to try ALL the others..someday. I just wish I'd discovered earlier what fun cruising is!!<BR>Our next cruise is Alaska on the Sky. I have never seen such mixed reviews on any one ship. I look forward to going and seeing for myself!

BR612: You must really have been impressed----remembering the names of your waiter and busboy after 9 years!!!

I want to thank all the responders to our message and especially &quot;parrot mom.&quot;<BR>I hope and trust that our experience will be as memorable as the one person who still remembered his waiters name after 9 years after a cruise on the &quot;Dream.&quot;:::Or was it his honeymoon companion that made it so memorable ??<BR>We'll critique after we return june 18.<BR>Stay tuned.<BR>Little cricket.<BR>