I Wanna Be Where The People Aren’t: Finding Some Calm On The Crowded Disney Dream

[Vegas Disney Fan]

We did the Norway cruise last year on the Dream and it was by far the most crowded Disney cruise we’ve done also, our theory is the limited number of Disney cruises in Europe results in more guests who are constantly out and about because they are trying to do everything, since we have several DCL ships in the US year round we suspect a lot of the guests are repeat Disney cruisers who spend more time in their rooms or just lounging around relaxing.

Our European cruise was packed everywhere, constantly… still an amazing cruise though.

 

[Piglet_the_brave]

Thursday 29th August: A Coruña (cont)

After our walk along the beach we decided to head back to the ship. On the way back we saw Spider-Man and Batman, I do not know why they were there.

We really enjoyed our walk around the city. In the Facebook group for the cruise quite a few people were complaining that there was nothing to do. I don’t know whether they just expected to get off the ship and everything just be laid out there for them, but anywhere you go you do need to do some research. I do wish I could have persuaded the girls to go inside the tower because I think it would have been very interesting.

We were pretty tired by the time we got back, we had walked over 5 miles, so decided to just relax for the rest of the day. Lexi headed off to Vibe while Alice and I had lunch a Cabanas and then sat out in our spot by the Funnel Puddle pool (it was still a bit chilly)

After a while it got a bit too crowded so I decided to sit out on my veranda and enjoy the view from there

It wasn’t much of a view but it was peaceful. At least it was until the family next door went on their veranda and were encouraging their little boy to shout hola, hola repeatedly as loud as he could

 

[King Panda 77]

We didn't spot batman.

 

[Piglet_the_brave]

We did the Norway cruise last year on the Dream and it was by far the most crowded Disney cruise we’ve done also, our theory is the limited number of Disney cruises in Europe results in more guests who are constantly out and about because they are trying to do everything, since we have several DCL ships in the US year round we suspect a lot of the guests are repeat Disney cruisers who spend more time in their rooms or just lounging around relaxing.

Our European cruise was packed everywhere, constantly… still an amazing cruise though.

On ours it didn’t help that the weather wasn’t very good so a lot of people were trying to find things to do inside.

 

[Piglet_the_brave]

We didn't spot batman.

Maybe you didn’t go past that bit if you were docked in a different place

 

[Bullseye1967]

it’s lovely that I have a teenager who wants to spend time with me.

 

[Piglet_the_brave]

Thursday 29th August: A Coruña (cont)

Our show tonight was another that we hadn’t seen before

This turned out to be just the main theatre performers on a completely bare stage. No sets, minimal choreography and dialogue between songs, it just showcased the vocal talents of the cast. And we absolutely loved it, they are just so talented. At one point in the show there was a mashup of Just Around the Riverbend, Go the Distance and Out There that had us in tears. And then to add to it was a performance of Baby Mine .

For dinner tonight we were back in Animator’s Palate for the regular menu and the Crush show which we always enjoy. We queued up early again so were able to go into a mostly empty dining room, and I was able to take a few photos before it got too crowded.

The girls were given kids menus again

Alice enjoyed some colouring, Lexi did not

 

[Piglet_the_brave]

Thursday 29th August: A Coruña (cont)

To start Alice had: SMOKED SALMON TARTAR with Dill, Capers, Onions, Pickles, and a Horseradish Cream which she really enjoyed.

Lexi and I both had: BLACK TRUFFLE PASTA PURSEITTES, Pasta Purses filled with Truffle-scented Cheese and coated with a delicate Champagne Sauce. They were tasty but unfortunately only lukewarm.

I also had a salad: ARUGULA LEAVES with Red Beets, Orange segments and Marinated White Beans with Mustard Dressing. It came ready dressed ( I’d always had salad dressed at the table before) and doesn’t look that good in the photo, but it was fresh and tasty.

For our main courses Lexi had pasta (again), Alice had: GRILLED TUNA STEAK with Fingerling Confit, Caponata, Sun-dried Tomato Pesto, and Aioli, which she loved.

And I had: GINGER-TERIYAKI DUSTED ANGUS BEEF TENDERLOIN served on Wasabi Mashed Potatoes with Bok Choy and a Tamarind Barbecue Reduction, which again doesn’t look particularly good in the photo but was very good.

 

[Piglet_the_brave]

Thursday 29th August: A Coruña (cont)

One thing we noticed at dinner this evening was the amount of strollers being brought into the dining room, something I don’t think I’ve seen at the late dinner seating before. The big table across from us had two strollers between it and the table the other side of it, it must have made it difficult if anyone needed to get up during dinner. It looked like they were putting young children down to sleep towards the end of the meal.

Again it was very loud during dinner, so loud that even though we were quite close to one of the screens we couldn’t actually hear what crush was saying. It was a bit disappointing because we’ve seen quite funny interactions in the past.

After our main courses, Lexi left to go to Vibe (again).

Alice’s choice for dessert was the cookies and cream sundae which she enjoyed.

I had some sort of crumble which I can’t find the description for. It was very underwhelming, again the best thing about it was the ice cream.

After dinner we kept to what had become our routine and headed up to the pool deck to watch a movie on funnelvision. I really was enjoying ending our evenings like this, it was so peaceful up there late at night.

It looked like the toys were enjoying themselves when we got back to the room.

 

[Maelstrom Troll]

Loving your review! We were on the Dream earlier in August for the Norway itinerary and it was a little underwhelming.
The food service felt very slow, the food quality was par (Fantasy is leagues better), and our assistant server was standoffish and didnt say more than MAYBE a dozen words to us all week.
We also felt that compared to other itineraries, there just wasnt that much to do. Alaska had a naturalist w lectures, the Caribbean cruises party later, etc. For the first time in a long time, we were a little bored. I always love sea days but when our last day of port cancelled (Haugesund), we were pretty gutted. We ended up sleeping in and watching movies.

For a trip that cost us a ton of money, I think we would have been better to just fly to Oslo and go from there.
Sorry to put my mini review in yours, I feel our opinions mirror yours.

 

[Piglet_the_brave]

Loving your review! We were on the Dream earlier in August for the Norway itinerary and it was a little underwhelming.
The food service felt very slow, the food quality was par (Fantasy is leagues better), and our assistant server was standoffish and didnt say more than MAYBE a dozen words to us all week.
We also felt that compared to other itineraries, there just wasnt that much to do. Alaska had a naturalist w lectures, the Caribbean cruises party later, etc. For the first time in a long time, we were a little bored. I always love sea days but when our last day of port cancelled (Haugesund), we were pretty gutted. We ended up sleeping in and watching movies.

For a trip that cost us a ton of money, I think we would have been better to just fly to Oslo and go from there.
Sorry to put my mini review in yours, I feel our opinions mirror yours.

Thank you for joining in, it’s good to hear other people’s opinions.

It was definitely a very different experience to previous cruises. I don’t put that down to the ship or the crew, just the overall atmosphere. Once I’ve finished writing about this cruise, I’ll write about my transatlantic one ( spoiler: it was like I was on a different ship)