Anyone taken a cruise on Norwegian, especailly the NCL Dream- Texcaribbean cruise?

Question

How was it? Tell me about your trip and what you liked most about your cruise. How was the food and entertainment? Where did you cruise to? What activities did you participate in? How was the ship? Was there a good mix of ages of passengers?

Answer 1

I was on the Dream about 18 months ago. It is a very nice traditional looking ship. It is an older ship which means that it may not have some of the bells and whistles of some of the newer ship. Having said that, the ship was very clean and was a pleasure to be on. The room I was in (ocean view deck 5) was about 160sq ft. They have a large curtain to seperate the bed from the rest of the cabin, this actually makes the room seem larger. Food is good and plentiful and since you are on NCL you can eat pretty much whenever. Also, there is 24hr room service although getting them to answer the phone and to actually understand your order can be a challange. We went in march right before spring break, there were a fair amount of collage kids aboard but they didn't over run the ship. The demographics on ncl are not really different from the other mass market cruise lines, it really depends on when you cruise, not the cruise line. As far as the entertainment, I am sure all the preformers and CD have changed since I have been on there. The main performer we had was Rudi Maggadi who just won the 'wild and wacky' cat on Americas got talent. The ports we hit were Cancun, Belize City, Cozumel and Roatan. I went diving with Manta Ray divers in Cancun. The diving was not good there. Alot of fish but no reef. In Belize, we did the Lamani tour which is a blast. You ride down one of the rivers for about an hour and see alot of wild life, then you go to Mayan ruins in the middle of the jungle. It was a very good tour. On a prior trip I did reggies cave tubbing which is also a good trip. It was longer than the cave tubbing trips offered by the cruise lines. In Cozumel, I dove with Eagle Ray divers this time. They offer a combined dive / snorkle trip so non-divers can also go. One time in Coz, we did the Dune Buggy tour which we booked via cozumelhomes.com This is a very, very fun tour. In Roatan I dove with subway watersports. Roatan is a very poor island and not yer commericalized which has it's good and bad points. You won't find the same chain stores like diamonds international and cinque de la sol and the 'town', Coxen Hole, right by the pier is 3rd world. Having said that though, the people are friendly and the island is beautiful. I would go back there in a heartbeat. Look at cruisecritic.com You can see find out alot of into. Just ignore alot of the neg reviews of the Dream from last year, it had an engine problem that lasted almost a year and was constantly missing ports. This means that the passengers were getting angry and of course when they are mad, they start writing bad reviews out of anger. They fixed the bad prop and the ship is fine, I would do this route on this ship again in a heartbeat and I have been on other cruiselines on some of the newer fancier ships. I personally actually prefer the older smaller ones.

Answer 2

I went on Norwegian, but not the Dream. I was on the Star but they are very similar. The trip was great, not only at ports but on the ship as well. I loved how you could never be bored on the ship. There were free restaurants open all day (24 hours), fancy restaurants, casinos, bars, gift shops, and shows. The shows were free and they had some really good stuff. On the Star, we had a world champion magician perform for an hour for free and chinese acrobats. The activities they have are a sweepstakes for a free cruise, bingo for up to $1000, and a lottery type thing. The majority of the people on the ship were early twenties and up. There were a few younger.

Answer 3

Went on a Norwegian cruise for our honeymoon. Went on the S/S Norway (I think the ship is retired now). We went to the Eastern Caribbean. Lots of great excursions. Make sure to book your excursions on line or on the first day on the ship to make sure you get your first picks. Anyway, the service was EXCELLENT. Lots of food and entertainment. There was a great mix of ages, people were friendly. I'd definitely cruise with them again.

Answer 4

I did; the ship departed from the port of Houston in LaPorte, TX. This was my first cruise and I enjoyed visiting Cancun, Roatan, Belize, etc. The ship that I traveled on was not a huge one, but it was nice. Lots of food, the entertainment was okay. What my husband and I enjoyed the most was taking the horseback riding excursion in the jungles of Belize.

Answer 5

I will never cruise with Norwegian again. We were on the Norwegian Sea and it is a dump. The food was practically inedible and the cabins were small and dark. Holland America is much classier and they offer real service and wonderful food. We also like Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. Make sure you get a newer boat, nothing over 5 yrs old.

Answer 6

http://booking.joystar.com/travel/cruise/vendor.rvlx?VendorID=5&PIN=10008199

Answer 7

We just got back a few weeks ago from a trip to the Bahamas on the Norwegian Spirit. This was our first cruise, so we don't have anything to compare it to...

Boarding - went pretty quickly leaving from NYC. Lots of stops to make to get from the cab to the ship, but it was ok. The rooms weren't ready when we boarded - they took our luggage when we got there, but we had our carry-ons and had to lug them all over the ship for 2 hours before our room was ready. They said that your luggage should be there by the time your room is ready, but our luggage didn't arrive until that evening, and one piece arrived late that night (which had us thinking they lost it). You have to send your luggage through their system, but only keep with you what you actually NEED for the first few hours. We wished we had kept our bathing suits with us!!

Rooms - We got a room with a window (not a port hole) on deck 6. We were wishing we could have got a room with a balcony, but when we got there, our window was a fair size (2.5 x 3 feet). The interior cabins had a window painted on the wall... We didn't spend much time in our room (but not sure if we would have spent more if there was a balcony). There is so much to do on the ship, and decks to just relax on - you don't really need a balcony room. The housekeeping staff comes around 2x - once in the mid morning to clean and make your bed, and once at night to turn down your sheets and leave chocolates on your pillows (!!!). We were looking forward to towel animals but our guy didn't make any :( certainly not a huge point... When we requested things (iron, more towels, security to unlock our safe that we couldn't unlock), they were very prompt and friendly.

Staff - See above for housekeeping staff - also note - I didn't think they did a bad job. We certainly weren't very messy, but we were always happy with how clean the room was. I don't think they vacuum every day - but hey, do you? The server staff were all really excellent and super friendly. I heard that they might not be because you don't need to tip them (it gets taken off your bill - you tip luggage carriers and bar staff only), but we were happy with the service from all of our waiters. The activity staff for the most part were all really excellent. A few of them really took the time to get to know us, which was nice. They were all over the ship and obviously worked very hard - but it also looked like they were having a good time, which was nice!! The customer service, shore excursion etc staff were all very nice as well.

Activities - there was SO much to do every day! They deliver a newsletter (Daily) everynight with details for the next day, which we found really helpful. Whenever there was a 'free minute' where there was nothing we were interested in doing, there was the pool, the sundeck and the promenade deck to relax on. You'd be crazy to get board on a ship like that!!!

Food - For the most part was really excellent. We had the buffet breakfast and found that there was lots of choice. It is generally not 'fine dining', but who really goes on a cruise for all the great food?? The average weight gain on a cruise is 8 lbs, so it can't be that bad!!! There is a chocolate buffet on the last day - some people rated it as lame on sites we visited, but I thought it was pretty freaking awesome!!! We mostly dined at the regular restaurants, which we thought were all really excellent. On the last night we went to one of the restaurants that you pay a "cover charge" for - the steak restaurant. It was amaaaaazing!! Really, really good food. The thing is, like I said, it's a cruise ship. If you aren't uber snotty about your food, you will be juuuust fine!! They have different restaurants with different styles and different types of food, so most everyone will find what they like. The portion sizes can be SMALL, but you are openly encouraged to order more. The 24 hour restaurant portions were about a third of what most people wanted, so they just ordered 3 orders. The food is free, remember, so you can order as much as you want. They don't want wasted food, so they make the orders small. Use this as an opportunity to try lots of different things.

Drinks - all cost extra. We got the unlimited pop package and it was definitely worth it. Not a lot of juice on the cruise. Alcoholic drinks and even non alcoholic drinks are stupidly expensive, and I think we each had 1 during the week. Seems like a waste.

Activities - were all excellent. From bingo to scrapbooking to casino to trivia to exercise to board games to dancing to kareoke - omg there was SO much to do. Every moment there was something to do. Lots to do for little kids. Didn't see much specifically for teenagers, and they were hanging around in packs causing trouble.

Shore Excursions - were all great - but kind of expensive. In Nassau, we booked all our stuff before, but could have probably done it for cheaper if we had just gone off the boat and looked for activities - lots of people offering stuff - but you know if you prebook that it is 'safe' and 'recommended'. If you can afford them, check them out. Remember, you are dishing out money for the cruise and dishing out money to get to the boat (maybe) and for drinks and sometimes for the cover charge for food... soooo do you WANT to spend a lot of money for shore excursions? Ours were all excellent though. NOTE - if you go to a private island (we went to NCL's Great Stirrup Cay, which was the best 8 hours of my life so far I think), go EARLY - be one of the first boats over - cos it gets crowded and you want to be sure to get a chair! And definitely opt for the underwater camera if it is a nice day - you won't regret it as you have beautiful tropical fish swimming between your legs. We spend the day in FL at the beach, which was really nice. Cost was minimal to get there, but once we were there, we spent $30 for beach chairs, an umbrella and a body board - it was a lot, but I recommend it. You will want the shade if the day was as hot as it was when we were there (but remember we went in late July, so it was hot hot hot). BRING SUNSCREEN! APPLY OFTEN!! LOL... I'm still burnt. In Nassau we took the thriller boat ride - it was very, very cool. Not enough time in Nassau, and there is lots of SHOPPING to be done. They give out coupons on board for stores to visit, which was kind of cool. The stores are all very similar though. The best Nassau places were Senor Frogs and Del Sol. Nassau us the best place to get duty free booze if you are into that. See the guidelines, but I think each person is allowed at least one bottle, and the prices are crazy awesome. At Great Stirrup Cay we didn't need to spend extra money on the activities, but the parasailing looked really neat. Just being at the beach was enough for us.

Other Passengers - so many complainers!!! Lots of nice people, and people of ALL age groups. Old people who act young, and young people who act old - and everyone in between. Everyone is there for a good time, which is excellent.

Entertainment - the cruise ship shows were enh at best. Not great. The special guests - hypnotist Dr. Trance and comedians Alfred and Seymour - were absolutely AWESOME. There was lots of entertainment all the time, and I enjoyed it. All very open to what you like though.

Disembarking - go for express checkout if you can - US citizens only! You have to carry your own stuff off the boat, but you'll be on your way much sooner.

There is so much more I can tell but this post is really long!! Overall, it was an awesome experience, and we really want to go back. Estimate spending almost as much while on the cruise as you did to book it... that sounds crazy, but there are always opportunities to spend spend spend. (ATM on board - $5 service charge!!! Not much need for cash though).

Feel free to email me if you have any questions!!! [e-mail]