Norway cruise- how was the Dream?

[coloradocutie]

We have always wanted to do the Norwegian Fjords on the Magic but couldn’t ever make it work- finally were able to book for next year, but now it’s the Dream. How was the sailing this year? How did it go? TIA

 

[JenB2014]

We were on it. Had a great trip overall but lots of people had quite a few issues this cruise:

- almost all excursions were cancelled at the last minute in Skoldjen.
- lots of people had excursions cancelled at other ports too.
- the port outside Stavanger is not great. Get a port side room unless you want views of scrap yards from your veranda.

However I think next year the Dream is going to mostly different (apparently better) ports so may be a better experience!

 

[mlayton14]

We were on same cruise , hands down the best vacation we ever took. Gorgeous scenery , fresh air , amazing hikes mixed with some European culture. If there is a more beautiful place in the world I want to know about it. Fortunately we weren’t impacted by the cancellations. My biggest gripe with the cruise was poor food quality on the ship for both table service and quick service. Consistently bland and poorly prepared vs Pre-Covid. Service was outstanding though across the board

 

[cielete]

I have also booked for next year. What shows have been offered on board? Does the Frozen Party show stay?

 

[JenB2014]

In the theatre, they did:

- Believe
- Beauty and the Beast
- The Golden Mickey's

On deck they did:

- sail away party
- the colour party (rained off and repeated in the lobby on another day).

They did not do Freezing the Night Away or really anything Frozen at all (a vaguely Frozen themed menu in restaurants one night but no entertainment). Anna and Elsa were not on board. Olaf was in kids club.

 

[cielete]

Thanks for the information.
How about the new show Mickeys Color? So there's no costume night like pirate night?

 

[JenB2014]

Thanks for the information.
How about the new show Mickeys Color? So there's no costume night like pirate night?

Yes Mickey's colour spin party was one of the deck parties. I didn't see much dressing up for it in super colourful clothes but the weather wasn't good that day. It was fun though.

No official costume night but one evening Captain Hook and Smee were meeting and some people had obviously bought pirate costumes with them and decided to wear them and go with it. No pirate show or anything.

There aren't any fireworks at sea for the northern Europe cruises.

 

[cielete]

At least if the chimney horn sounds with the Disney melody? or in Norway it is also prohibited?

I really enjoyed the Disney Dream in the Bahamas last year, and next year I'm going with some friends to the Fjords after telling them how great these cruises are. I hope you won't be disappointed!

 

[JenB2014]

Oh plenty of horn, don't worry. The sail into and out of Rotterdam was fantastic as people there were so excited to see us . Played all the horn tunes and people lining the banks for miles waving etc.

I don't think they did the horn as they entered / left Skoldjen as it was a sleepy place but they did it around midday on sea days too.

I don't think you'll be disappointed. I do think our sailing was a slightly 'off' sailing operationally for disney, particularly around excursions, and lots of guests seemed a bit grumpy but I'm sure they will learn from feedback. Our family had a wonderful holiday.

 

[cielete]

Did you have good weather? it's cold?
Excuse me for asking you so many questions! we are impatient with this trip and there is still 1 year left!

 

[JenB2014]

Well, I'm British! We may have different ideas of good weather

It was about 17 - 20 degrees Celsius (I think) most days and sunny. One day was damp, drizzly - we did the Loen Skylift excursion that day and still had a lovely time and good views.

Our days in Skoldjen and Stavanger were perfect weather for walking and catamaran trips.

The slide was chilly but the pool temp was nice and our girls stayed in the pool until 9pm closing a couple of times.

 

[cielete]

I'm Spanish, from Barcelona, the temperature in summer is higher.
Thanks for your comments, they have been helpful!

 

[it398]

there was a sign up at Guest Services which said the ship was full so no room upgrades were possible. The ship did feel very busy when leaving the ship in some ports and the lines to disembark the ship on the final morning (when they announced your character for luggage was ready) were very long, but the lines did move fairly quickly. That was the only time I really noticed how full the ship was, quite different to when we sailed on the Dream in the Bahamas where I doubt it was full.

As others have said there were a lot of issues with port adventures, which if I'm honest, did upset us a lot and felt like it ruined a few days of the trip (and a few other gripes), but overall it was a nice trip. If Disney learns from what happened you'll have a blast on the next years sailings.

 

[MonaMN]

Did you have good weather? it's cold?
Excuse me for asking you so many questions! we are impatient with this trip and there is still 1 year left!

We are going on the Norway cruise next year and I was checking the weather over there a few weeks ago to get a sense. Looked like highs mostly in the 60s-70s at the places I was checking. This is perfect for us... we don't like being hot!

 

[mlayton14]

The weather last week was delightful - in 7 days we had one day of rain in nordfjoreid, which doesn’t fit the typical pattern from what I understand - temps mostly in 60s-70s. Just bring layers and one water proof/resistant coat and you will be fine

 

[jillinastoria]

I was on this cruise as well, and we loved it! We were happy with the food, LOVED the service, and while we did have one excursion cancelled, we were enjoying the ship and overall scenery so much that it didn't really bother us.

However, I don't think we'll do a Northern European cruise again--while it was SO beautiful and not unpleasant to be wearing a sweatshirt and jeans in August, we all missed the time on the pool deck, especially my 8-year-old son. So we booked Spain and Portugal for next year!

Overall, i would definitely recommend the cruise to anyone, but I would check the weather forecast. And hope that some of the port/excursion issues are fixed next year. But again, the fjords themselves are so incredible that I think it's worth it just for the views!

(edited: anyway to anyone, just a typo!)

 

[elsawasajedi]

Oh plenty of horn, don't worry. The sail into and out of Rotterdam was fantastic as people there were so excited to see us . Played all the horn tunes and people lining the banks for miles waving etc.

I don't think they did the horn as they entered / left Skoldjen as it was a sleepy place but they did it around midday on sea days too.

I don't think you'll be disappointed. I do think our sailing was a slightly 'off' sailing operationally for disney, particularly around excursions, and lots of guests seemed a bit grumpy but I'm sure they will learn from feedback. Our family had a wonderful holiday.

Rotterdam was excited to see us - first time there for DCL that's why so many people turned out. It was on the news for weeks apparently. We were outside at Meridian when we departed and one of the tugboat played the opening to the Lion King. The people of Rotterdam were cool.

Real talk - this has been a bucket list thing for us and it was always going to be hard to live up to expectations but...I wouldn't do a Disney cruise to Europe again. It's not like Carribbean or Alaska where Disney is there a ton so they have familiarity and priority with the ports. Skjolden was beautiful but all excursions except RIB were canceled and that town exists literally as a gate way to park tours. there was almost nothing in the town and the town wasn't prepared for the inundation of tourists they got. I felt bad for the lady at the campground they were bussing people to. This was result of local company basically no showing that day - something that wouldn't ordinarily happen but there was basically one vendor and it wasn't tested.

The reason we got switched to Merkjavik was because the German version of carnival took the main port in Stavanger. Which caused the absolute total clownshow with the buses back to the ship. We waited 90 mins starting at 430 to take the 20 min ride to the ship. Nuts.

The ship was at 3900 people and it was always always crazy. I talked to cast members who said the week prior wasn't like this and they had seen less frenetic cruises at 4100. It was a zoo. It felt incredibly crowded all the time except at like 4am when I was doing laundry. Packs of I kid you not unsupervised 5-6 year olds roaming the ship. The lines for character photos rivaled park lines. Maybe everyone wants to do Norway now idk.

No Elsa freezing the ship felt incredibly disappointing. Disney massively screwed up our transfer to the ship. Very limited merchandise for 25th anniversary though that's all the ships right now.

There were some high points. The RIB in Stavanger was incredible (but that isn't a DCL thing). Hiking to Briksdal Glacier was exactly what we hoped for (not a DCL thing). Cast members we interacted with were great. For some reason the rainforest room was really uncrowded a lot of the time (pulling away from Nordfjordeid at night with the cold rain and sea spray on my face while in the hot tub was a vibe). The secret dining room menu...was something I will be doing on every ship. Watching women's world cup finals on the big screen on pool deck surrounded by skyscrapers in Rotterdam was very cool.

My verdict - I'll be on the treasure. I'll do Disney Alaska. Or Caribbean. But if I were to sail in Europe I will pick a company that has a steady connection over there. This cruise lacked that Disney extra touch for me. None of the super positives were disney specific.

 

[elsawasajedi]

We are going on the Norway cruise next year and I was checking the weather over there a few weeks ago to get a sense. Looked like highs mostly in the 60s-70s at the places I was checking. This is perfect for us... we don't like being hot!

pack rain gear. ponchos for sure.

 

[coloradocutie]

Rotterdam was excited to see us - first time there for DCL that's why so many people turned out. It was on the news for weeks apparently. We were outside at Meridian when we departed and one of the tugboat played the opening to the Lion King. The people of Rotterdam were cool.

Real talk - this has been a bucket list thing for us and it was always going to be hard to live up to expectations but...I wouldn't do a Disney cruise to Europe again. It's not like Carribbean or Alaska where Disney is there a ton so they have familiarity and priority with the ports. Skjolden was beautiful but all excursions except RIB were canceled and that town exists literally as a gate way to park tours. there was almost nothing in the town and the town wasn't prepared for the inundation of tourists they got. I felt bad for the lady at the campground they were bussing people to. This was result of local company basically no showing that day - something that wouldn't ordinarily happen but there was basically one vendor and it wasn't tested.

The reason we got switched to Merkjavik was because the German version of carnival took the main port in Stavanger. Which caused the absolute total clownshow with the buses back to the ship. We waited 90 mins starting at 430 to take the 20 min ride to the ship. Nuts.

The ship was at 3900 people and it was always always crazy. I talked to cast members who said the week prior wasn't like this and they had seen less frenetic cruises at 4100. It was a zoo. It felt incredibly crowded all the time except at like 4am when I was doing laundry. Packs of I kid you not unsupervised 5-6 year olds roaming the ship. The lines for character photos rivaled park lines. Maybe everyone wants to do Norway now idk.

No Elsa freezing the ship felt incredibly disappointing. Disney massively screwed up our transfer to the ship. Very limited merchandise for 25th anniversary though that's all the ships right now.

There were some high points. The RIB in Stavanger was incredible (but that isn't a DCL thing). Hiking to Briksdal Glacier was exactly what we hoped for (not a DCL thing). Cast members we interacted with were great. For some reason the rainforest room was really uncrowded a lot of the time (pulling away from Nordfjordeid at night with the cold rain and sea spray on my face while in the hot tub was a vibe). The secret dining room menu...was something I will be doing on every ship. Watching women's world cup finals on the big screen on pool deck surrounded by skyscrapers in Rotterdam was very cool.

My verdict - I'll be on the treasure. I'll do Disney Alaska. Or Caribbean. But if I were to sail in Europe I will pick a company that has a steady connection over there. This cruise lacked that Disney extra touch for me. None of the super positives were disney specific.

Thanks for the insights! This is so helpful- we’ve had this on our bucket list- so helpful in thinking about what to do. What is the secret dining room menu?!

 

[Karin1984]

It was on the news for weeks apparently.

Just add the perspective from a Dutchie. It wasn't on the news in the Netherlands that Disney Cruiseline stopped in Rotterdam for the first time. Mainly Dutch/Flemish/French Disney and cruise websites reported on it. The local news in Rotterdam only had an announcement in February. Most likely the people who came to see the ship were Disney fans.