CapnCrunch
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2015
I will be more than happy to answer any specific questions I don't address below.
First, a little background about our travel party. It was myself and my wife (our 2nd cruise overall and 2nd time on the Dream), our 5 kids (ages 2, 10, 11, 11 & 14) and my mom. We had booked two *GT rates; an IGT (9509) and VGT (9514).
High's
First, a little background about our travel party. It was myself and my wife (our 2nd cruise overall and 2nd time on the Dream), our 5 kids (ages 2, 10, 11, 11 & 14) and my mom. We had booked two *GT rates; an IGT (9509) and VGT (9514).
High's
- Overall, I thought the food on the ship was very good. We had 2nd seating (8:15pm) and food was always warm (other than salads or other cold dishes). Our only gripe was debarkation breakfast.
- One thing I would like to point out is the baked potato soup in Animator's palate. I remember in March, the soup was a little cheesier and white in color. This cruise, it had more of a brown appearance and definitely had a kick (almost like cayenne pepper). It was delicious in both cases, but definitely caught my wife and I off guard to have that level of spice.
- Maybe we were just lucky, but everything we had at Cabana's and Flo's Cafe was hot (unless it wasn't supposed to be) and fresh. The french fries were addictive.
- Headcount was 3800 guests, but never really felt that crowded other than peak dining times, character appearances, deck or atrium shows, and one particular area of of the pool deck (will provide detail later).
- Castaway Cay...enough said. This was the 4th visit for my wife and I this year (both were CC double dips) and it's every bit as good as the first time we visited.
- Our stateroom host (Weekly) and main dining server (Jeet). Always felt they were trying to go above and beyond. Made sure to tip them extra.
- My stepson (10 years old) loved the Oceaneers Club. He has ADHD and was upset he wouldn't have access to his electronic devices. After a few minutes at open house and talking to the counselors, he was hooked. Pretty much spent the entire cruise there. My daughter and stepdaughter (both 11) loved being able to bounce back forth between the Edge and Oceaneers club.
- Palo Brunch. Seafood antipasti (seared tuna especially), eggs benedict, tomato soup, calzone, lasagna, chocolate lava cake...it was all delicious. Service was top notch as well (Eugen from Romania was our server).
- Adult's only section was almost never crowded, even on the sea day.
- Wasn't impressed with our assistant server and head server.
- The head server only stopped by our table the first night. We saw him around the restaurants speaking with other tables and even seating other tables, but never really interacted with ours.
- Our assistant server seemed to struggle with what he should be doing, unless we asked him directly for something or the main server directed him to do so. A couple evenings, he disappeared 20-30 minutes at a time. Slow to bring drinks, slow to bring the bread, and didn't bring the butter or sauces for the bread a couple nights. Our main server had to top our drinks off a number of times. This seemed to slow the pace of our meal as our main server always seemed to be picking up the slack for the assistant server. While other tables with different service teams would be getting dessert, we would only be getting our main entrees and we were typically one of the last tables to leave the restaurant.
- Kids in the hot tub (main pool area). A number of times I walked by and there would be 25-30 kids packed in the hot tub. Too chaotic and didn't seem safe to me. Told my kids to stay away until the evening.
- I feel like Nemo's Reef should be open an hour or two longer. Maybe it closes at 6pm because most toddlers are at dinner by 5:45, but we prefer the late seating to enjoy the pool deck (and aqua duck) when it's much less crowded and chaotic. I didn't feel there was much else we could do with a toddler on the pool deck that's not completely potty trained.
- Debarkation breakfast - runny eggs, food was lukewarm. Very meh overall.
- Pool deck soda fountains. Always seemed to be low on the syrup or low on carbonation. Pretty sure one day one of the lines was mixed up, because I'm certain I got Diet Coke from a regular Coke dispenser. The soda fountains on castaway cay were consistently fizzy and flavorful.
- Castaway Cay lunch (Cookie's and Cookie's Too, didn't visit the adult only area). Seems like the burgers, brisket, and chicken sandwiches were consistently dry and overcooked. To be fair, the ribs on the first day (at Cookie's too) and sausage on the 2nd day (at Cookie's) were delicious.
- 9514 had a couple cosmetic items needing attention.
- The shorter shelf next to the queen bed (opposite the divider curtain and just below the lamp) had a visibly loose piece of wood trim, and the cover behind the handle on the sliding door to the balcony was loose to the point it was coming off completely.
- We brought these items to guest services attention (who our stateroom host pointed us to when we pointed them out to him) and were told they would be addressed. All we received was a visit from someone (looked like another stateroom attendant) trying to give us another "Do Not Disturb" door hanger. Definitely a head scratcher and left a note on our comment card at the end of cruise about the defects.
- On a personal note, I was bummed the shops didn't have a model Dream ship. Would've liked to start collecting those.
