WARNING: NORWEGIAN DAWN & DREAM SAILERS!

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tncurlyq

Guest
Just wanted to say how disappointed and furious I am with Norwegian Cruise Lines. My family and I booked 4 cabins for the July 27th, 2008 departure to Bermuda from NYC back in July 2007. It was recently brought to our attention that the two of the three days that we were going to be docked in Bermuda is a National Holiday (officially Emancipation day. Unofficially Cricket Week). ALL OF THE STORES, RESTAURANTS AND ATTRACTIONS ARE CLOSED ON THE THURSDAY AND FRIDAY THAT WE ARE IN PORT!!!!! (THINK CHRISTMAS DAY TIMES 2) NOT TO MENTION, BUSES RUN ON AN EXTREMELY LIMITED SUNDAY SCHEDULE AND MOST TAXI SERVICES AREN'T RUNNING.
Bermuda tourism doesn't recommend visiting over those two days, especially cruising, saying that transportation will be difficult and the locals frequent the beaches and parks, even camping out for those two days listening to the Cricket Matches on the radio.
We called Norwegian Cruise Lines and asked to move our trip to the next week and they said they would for an extra $350.00 per person. THAT IS RIDICULOUS!!! Originally the first week in August was even cheaper than our week. The least they can do was make the even exchange for us. When we complained that they were being unreasonable, they basically told us "tough". When we told them that they were going to have VERY UNHAPPY cruisers once they got there and they realized two of their three days on the island were shot, they told us "You are paying for the cruise, not what happens on Bermuda". They weren't even nice about it. Didn't once apologize. Didn't try to make it right.
WE CANCELLED OUR TRIP AND WE WILL NEVER EVEN CONSIDER CRUISING WITH NORWEGIAN.
 
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Don Clark

Guest
It is your right to cancel.

But you must admit, much of your troubles could have been avoided if you had done your research first.
 
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tgntm

Guest
Personally I have never cruised where I have been docked in the same place for more than one day--never overnight--and certainly not for 3 days. My first clue that I needed to investigate things closer would have been the 3 days docked there. I agree with Don--you always have to do your homework.
 
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John

Guest
I think this is just one of those instances where you found out something after the fact. It was good that you learned of this now and not later. It sounds like you were able to cancel the cruise without any penalty. The cruise line may have lowered the price during this sailing if they were charging that much more for the next week? Either way, If you were this unhappy with their service then I'm just glad you were able to recieve your money back and make other plans. I've seen similiar things happen but, the cruise line has limitations on what it can and can't do.
 
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nmnita

Guest
This is NCLs fault? Do you think they are the only line doing Bermuda at that time? I fail to see how in the world you could blame this on NCL. We cruised HAL a few years ago, were in a particular port on a Sunday, the shops were only open from 10am til 1pm and we didn't even arrive til about 10:30 am, this wasn't HALs fault nor was it the ports fault, it was circumstance.

Nita
 
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truman4

Guest
5/11/08

Just came back from the NCL DREAM Ship, DO NOT GO ON THIS SHIP!!! took the ship from Boston, Massachusetts on a Cruise to Nowhere, more like the Cruise from Hell, rained the whole time, cruise ship ran out of a popular beer brand the first day out, sliced bologna on a tray in the Sports Bar, bologna on a cruise ship!!! the second day ran out of eggs. service was slow, food was just okay, entertainment was okay, the cruise ship workers made the best with the weather, half the ship was disappointed, everything was slow, ask for drink, 30 minutes later it might come back. get it yourself. room service, i heard that was a mistake also, staff telling guests off if they took too much food, like they wouldn't have leftovers, served the leftovers anyway, in the casino, this was their impression of 24 hour food service, ship is old and dated, no wonder so many people got seasick, some staff must of been new, because when you asked for directions on the ship, they seemed confused and either gave you wrong instructions or wrong directions on where to go, better off finding it yourself, room card keys didn't work most of the time, i had to get two room cards, and i was only there 2 days! and told me i must de-activated it myself, had fun because I was there with friends and family, but people celebrating occasions, such as birthdays, were disappointed, the plus side was the entertainment staff and the people in the restaurants were very nice and the rooms, although small, were clean.
 
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uppitycats

Guest
Neither another country's holidays nor the weather are the fault of a cruise line. I wouldn't expect them to "make it right" unless it was something they had control over. Doing your homework is always a good plan. And if you want to see Bermuda, there are other ways to get there than by cruise ship.
 
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nmnita

Guest
I have heard the 2 night cruise had some problems. As for not cruising on the Dream, it appears you have never done a 1 or 2 night to nowhere cruise before. Normally, regardless of the line they are designed for quick get aways and are known as gambling, drinking 48 hour parities. I would hope no one would judge any line by these short jaunts. Ever 3 day cruises are pretty much deigned for partying. Running out of beer, that is just plain poor planning on the part of the cruise line, especially by the end of the first night.

Using the phrase "cruise from Hell" always gets peoples attention, but from how you described your cruise it certainly wasn't the "cruise from Hell" The bad weather certainly added to the problems.

I hope, if you decide to do a cruise to nowhere vacation again, you are better prepared.

I only have one more thing to mention, of course it doesn't make much difference as the ship is leaving the fleet, but according to many of my clients the Dream has 2 positives: 1, it is in outstanding condition and 2, the cabins are very nice sized. I don't know what category you had, maybe yours was one of the very smallest.

Nita
 
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truman4

Guest
i already know that the ship is leaving the fleet, and about 50% of the passengers on this cruise agree with me, no, i haven't taken a cruise before, but i did have a larger cabin with a baloney and half my message was deleted, i mentioned i thought the cabin was clean and the cruise ship staff was nice, but i spent $400.00 on this cruise, and recently lost my job, thankfully, I paid for the cruise before I lost my job, but serving sliced bologna on a tray is not my ideal food, I thought I would be served, the bathrooms were never clean, and in two days, I did not have either steak or quality food at all, and room service was not better, If a cruise line is going to have below standard food fare, they should charge the amount that equals what you get what you pay for.
 
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truman4

Guest
My Husband and I just returned from the Cruise to norwhere aboard the NCL Norwegian Dream out of Boston (May 9-11). We had cruised before on Carnival and had wodnerful experiences so we figured we would give this a try. BAD IDEA. I agree 100% with the poster above who was on the same cruise...they ran out of ALL light beer except Amstel light 3 hours into a 36 hour cruise!!!!! They ran out of white zinfidel wine on Saturday and Margarita mix on Saturday as well!!!People were complaining ALL Over the ship about the 45 minute wait at most bars for a drink on Friday night. When you could FIND food on the ship- The food at the buffet was the most DIGUSTING concoctions I had ever seen- not to mention COLD! I basically had to eat Bread and Cheese all weekend and was starving the whole time. You could not get room service as i think they took the phone off the hook cos we had a busy signal every time we called!! My husband and I were sooo disapointed in the whole weekend away- I wold never ever recommend Norwegian to ANYONE....it was waste of $752.00 for this trip...!!!!!!!!

Report
 
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nmnita

Guest
truman,

you didn't have a great time, I understand that as most reports about the cruise have not been favorable, but if you intend to have your thoughts taken serviously it might be a good idea to 1-not post the same thing over and over and 2-make sure your stories stay the same: one time you say you have never cruised before and another you say you have cruised on Carnaval. Then you say it took 30 minutes to get a drink, then 45. You had a small cabin but later mentioned you had one of the larger ones with a balcony. One time you paid $400 for the cruise, another over $700.00. Obviously the more you post the more upset you are getting. Maybe you need to get the facts a little clearer.

Nita
 
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truman4

Guest
to nita, please stop sending messages about how stupid I am, the second post I sent was not from me at all, it was another review from a couple on the same cruise, and I posted it to show another example, it is amazing to me how you have time to put someone down over and over, get a life! many people on this cruise were not happy and I am just trying to let people know. I am very smart, thank you.
 
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nmnita

Guest
I certainly would never call anyone stupid, I will however, continue to question the way you responded. It certainly didn't sound like you were giving other examples as each of the discrepancies came from your postings.

Yes, there were several unhappy cruisers on the ship last weekend.

Nita
 
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Don Clark

Guest
I've read other horror stories on other web sites about the Dream's two day cruise to nowhere. So, I don't doubt your story.

But, it was a short cruise immediately after dry dock. From other stories I've read, the Dream was at the Black Falcon cruise termnal only a few hours prior to your cruise, not the normal eight or ten hours between cruises. Therefore, there wasn't time enough to completely re-stock the ship with supplies for this cruise. So, I wouldn't want other future passengers to feel what you experienced was normal for NCL.

If anything, it reinforces my opinion to not choose a cruise immediately after a dry dock period. I've rarely read good reviews on these cruises. Cruise lines want to keep the ship in service as much as possible for economic reasons, Having a cruise ship sit at a pier overnight doesn't make any revenue. That I can understand. The demand for shorter cruises is high in home ports that see few, like Boston. So there are economic pressures on cruise lines to schedule them whenever and as soon as possible. But I think it's a mistake, not just of NCL, but of all cruise lines. It'll be better for all, including the crew, to have a normal amount of time to prepare a ship for a cruise.

I'm sorry you had a less than a satisfactory cruise. I hope the Dream's future cruises from Boston meets most passengers' expectations.
 
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