Dream Cruise Line

Hong Kong

Singapore

Asia

Asia River

Excellent

Poor

Average

Terrible

Very Good

Explorer Dream

World Dream

Genting Dream

Mykonos

This is my first time to be on cruise and it was worth the money! We were a  bit bored of staycation and many of my friends who went on cruise to nowhere recommended Dream Cruise 3 nights / 4 day. Here's my review:

Pros:

1. There are 2 all-inclusive restaurants. Food quality is ok but the buffet has a variety of menus. 

2. There are so many activities and no time to get bored! I recommend to watch the show 'Faith', very acrobatic and entertaining! The rope course and 5 water sliders are good to try too! 

3. We stayed in cabin with balcony. The bed is comfortable and view was great. 

Cons:

1.Onboarding procedure. They changed our the Covid test schedule from 12pm to 5:45pm without notification. 5 hour waiting time was too long and nowhere to go, so we had to go home till our test schedule. We asked the staff why it was changed without advance notice but they just said 'I don't know. It was management decision' which was very disappointing!!! 

Aside from the above inconvenient experience, we had a great onboard experience and would recommend it!

Fun experience

We sailed on the World Dream in January 2021, as part of a limited cruise to nowhere sailing out of Singapore. We booked a Palace Suite but had a hard time finding information on the exact benefits, so sharing our experience here.

SWAB TEST

Online check-in prior to arrival is mandatory. You receive a 15-minute timeslot to arrive at Marina Bay Cruise Centre. You are directed to the swab test area when you arrive. There is a separate queue for Palace guest, so just let the staff know and you get to skip to the front of the queue (regular queue was about 50 guests when we arrived). You get ushered into swab cubicles, get swabbed, and get a coloured number tag. You wait in the designated area for your colour, and someone will come shouting numbers, you go up to collect your test results, and you are shooed off to the main check-in. 

EMBARKATION

After getting a negative result, you return to the main check-in floor. Palace guests have a separate queue, after which they raise a signboard that reads "Palace" (like a tour leader, it's very awkward) and escort you through security and into a waiting lounge. They collect your passports, serve you coffee / tea, and come back with your room card, passport, and a little contact tracing tracker. The staff will then usher you to immigration, and thereafter you make your own way on board the ship. There is no dedicated line aboard the ship, so you just make your own way to your stateroom.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The Palace Suite is marvellous. It hardly looks like a cruise stateroom. Your bedroom is in an area you can close off with curtains, and there is a living area, a small work desk, a make up counter, a walk-in dressing area, and a really sizeable bathroom (complete with tub and double vanity). The butler meets you in your stateroom soon after arrival and helps you with dining reservations, sets up wifi for your devices, and answers any questions you have. 

THE PALACE FACILITIES

This is where the Palace really stands out. The Palace is a "ship within a ship" concept, which essentially means Palace guests get a private restaurant, lounge, pool, hot tubs, sun deck, sauna, steam room, and concierge. And they clearly gave the Palace the best views (the views from the pool and hot tub is mesmerising vs. the main pool). There was no queue for anything -  the Palace staff also remembered names even though it was a very short cruise. Did I mention the Palace pool? Very nice.

FOOD & DRINKS

Palace guests get a SET MENU entitlement at the specialty restaurants on board, one for lunch and one for dinner. You cannot eat at multiple restaurants per meal slot. Ordering anything outside of the set menu is chargeable. Nevertheless the set menu is nothing to be scoffed at, offering choices like filet mignon, teppanyaki, cod, and abalone. Some restaurants will let you get a second helping of dishes, but your mileage may vary (making friends with the server might help). 

Palace guests have a FIXED drink menu to choose from, and this is true regardless of where you are on the ship - the wine selection is very limited, but it makes up for that by offering a decent repertoire of cocktails and beers. The spirits are not top shelf stuff (think Johnny Walker Red Label) so I think that is a hard pass for most.

The Palace restaurant runs 24 hours. So you can pop in at 1am for a noodle soup or at 4am for a BLT sandwich. On sea days a three-tier high tea is also served for Palace guests. I think the Palace restaurant and Silk Road serves the best food, and the Teppanyaki is decent dining fun. 

ENTERTAINMENT

This is from bow to stern a gaming ship. There are slot machines everywhere (think Vegas) and so that is clearly the main allure for at least 75% of the passengers. There are also the typical bingo games, sports classes like yoga, magic shows, water slides, rope course, concerts and a signature adult-only show after hours. There is also a VR gaming outlet that is at added cost. Some boutiques on board offer good prices. Palace guests get priority seating at the shows (you get ushered down to a front row seat), but nothing much else.

COVID-19 MEASURES

Safe cruising measures apply - you need to book a slot for the pool, the sauna, hot tubs and pretty much everything on board. You also need to wear the tracker everywhere you go, and scan your cards at every common floor. They are also very strict with the mask policy, which is a good thing. 

Note that many facilities are closed or operating with reduced service - the Asian Spa, Johnny Walker Bar, Penfolds, Vintage Room are closed. Zouk has turned into a cinema, and Tributes does not serve drinks - you can only listen to the live band, but you cannot drink. DRINKS END AT 10PM. That is the last order for alcohol, and they clear glasses by 10:30pm. Just because you are out at sea doesn't mean Singapore's 10:30pm alcohol rule doesn't apply!

BUTLER & SERVICE

The butler is your on call person. Reservations for the pool, something you need from housekeeping - just call. They will do everything you can do at a concierge. Note that this is a reactive butler service, so don't expect them to escort your around or wait at your door. You can, however, "summon" your butler to you by informing any service staff - but do this sparingly unless you are ready to tip a lot for all that walking he/she has to do. The rest of the service crew onboard are also fabulous and most pride themselves on Asian efficiency (get you stuff quick, ask minimal questions, no small talk).

DISEMBARKATION

On disembarkation day, your butler knocks on your door once you are ready to disembark. They do this room by room. They take your luggage and escort you to the gangway. There are service crew all along the way to hold the lift for you and all that - no waiting, just straight walking from room to gangway. After clearing immigration, you get another swab test, and your vacation has come to an end. No need to wait for the results of the arrival swab - and since Palace guests are off the ship first, there is also no queue.

Hope this helps anyone looking for what benefit the Palace entails and what to expect on a pandemic season cruise to nowhere!

Palace Suite Benefits

I decided to take the cruise to nowhere as a quick getaway since leisure international travel was not possible with COVID. As a whole, I really enjoyed my first ever cruise experience. It was exciting to finally get away from Singapore and do something other than the predictable staycation. However, the mood was definitely dampened with the poor infection control throughout the whole experience. 

Even though advertised as a "safe experience" during this COVID pandemic, I felt that there was MUCH to be improved with the hygiene and sanitation standards. 

1) Pre and post embarkation COVID swabbing process

- The swabs are carried out in row of open aired booths by personnel donned in PPE gowns, masks, face shields and surgical masks. As you are waiting for your turn, you are moved from one seat to the next seat and each row gets cleared. We were probably instructed to move seats 3x during this process - which is not a great idea if you are trying to reduce your points of contact especially while still awaiting your COVID clearance. As I watched the previous rows get their swabs done, I realized that the personnel carrying out the swabs did NOT change their gloves or sanitize their hands with the alcohol handrub before moving onto the next person. This was not just one person breaching infection control, but the WHOLE ROW of them. I even had to specifically ask them to change their gloves before proceeding to do my own swab. My swabber also adjusted my head position by touching my mask and my head - again probably not a good idea to be touching every one if you are not even changing your gloves. Can you imagine if there was a positive case found? All the people that would be compromised due to poor infection control. 

If you can overlook the poor hygiene, the process was otherwise pretty streamlined with everyone given a dedicated time slot for their swab so it meant less crowd and less waiting.

2) Touching 

You are given a personalized tag to tap in and out of areas throughout the ship - this sounds like a good and efficient way to monitor the movement of passengers, in reality the ship's lousy tech caused me a great deal of irritation and frustration. The problem is that the receiver is not very sensitive and your card must make physical contact for it to register - not ideal but still acceptable. The part that really rubbed me the wrong way was the staff would insist on pressing my card down to the receiver with their own hands despite my objections and explicit preference to do so myself. One person even went as far as grabbing my lanyard (which was hanging on my neck mind you).  The staff are all gloved so they were probably feeling  "protected" but good would gloves do if you go about touching every passenger's items without sanitizing those probably very filthy gloves. 

3) Housekeeping 

We were extremely pleased to find out that our cabin was already made when we embarked (as we noticed quite a number of rooms that were still under going the process of being prepared). However when I noticed that the room had number of amenities missing (face towels, bathrobes, slippers etc - and these were part of a list provided that stated we would be charged if the items were missing upon check out), I wondered how thoroughly cleaned the room actually was. Also 3 out of the 4 hand sanitizers at the lift lobby of my floor had been empty throughout my stay. 

Would have been a great experience without COVID but unacceptable infection control in these times. Especially with the higher risk natures of cruises..

cruise to nowhere

Took a short break just to get out of Singapore. 

Check-in :

Ship sail is at 9pm. My Covid test was at 5pm. 

Covid test and check-in & immigration took less than 90 mins. 

We were on board the ship at about 630pm. Went to our room (Balcony Stateroom). It was nice and a good size too (bigger than some hotel rooms in HK that I have stayed in before). Comfortable bed, nice sofa. Good size bathroom. There's a mini-fridge. The programmes / movie on TV was good. The ship and rooms were new, clean and comfortable. 

Dining : 

Dined at International buffet at 16th Floor on 3 occasions, at the Chinese restaurant on 8th floor twice and the italian restaurant on 7th fllor once. The Chinese restaurant is always crowded. We were not able to get a table or queue number on the first day. As we went back several times and tried our luck at 830pm (last admittance, but you can still eat till about 10) just before they close, the staff there was able to get us a table for two. Service at all the dining areas was good. Please be patient as they have a lot of tables to serve. The food are all above average in terms of taste and quality. 

Drinks : 

I bought the $95  package whereby i could get unlimited bottled beers, wine (normal red / white and sparking), good quality coffee (latte, capucino), soft drinks, teas, etc....There are other packages so please check with the bar counter before you decide. Please note that all alcoholic drinks last order is at 10pm. 

Facilities :

Toured the ship. Not all facilities were opened due to the Covid situation. The swimming pools and jacuzzi are nice. Casinos (on deck 6,7,8 and were operational at about 10pm on first night) were well managed in terms of crowd control. The casinos were crowded  during the first night till about 1am. After that, it was fairly easy to get a place at jackport machines, roulette, dice machines. Tougher to get a space at table games due to limited seatings as a result of social distancing measures.

Departure :

Pay your tax and whatever charges you incur at level 7.

Go back to your room. They will announce your estimated timing to depart depending on which level your room is at. Someone will knock on your door when it is your turn. We left room at about 11am. There was another covid test but you need not wait for the result. It took us less than 30 mins to take the covid test and clear immigration. 

Overall, the check-in and check-out was well planned and executed.

Others : 

It has been a good short holiday. Great ship, great and courteous staff, good food. We enjoyed it. May go for another one in Q1 2021.

The two things i wish that could be improved on is that alcoholic drinks be allowed till later, say maybe 1am. But i was told that last order at 10pm was under the instruction of the Singapore authorities so i guess we just have to accept it. The other things is to have more variety of snacks at level 16 after 10 pm.

Enjoyable and above my expectations

Wanted to try this ship because it was pretty new. 

The ship was clean (public areas as well as the stateroom - I stayed in a balcony deluxe stateroom so it had a tub too), and its layout was well thought out as well. The boardwalk was a nice thought as most of the newer ships these days are built without a promenade deck that is unobstructed by lifeboats, so it was nice to have this feature onboard - it's always nice to have a space to look out at sea and feel the sea breeze. Not to mention, this is also a nice photo spot. There's an extensive waterpark with slides, and a VR complex which is something the other ships sailing out of HK did not have, so that was definitely a plus point. The 'finger coaster simulator' was really quite interesting haha

As far as dining is concerned, one thing to note is that the queues can get a little long at the Dream dining room in the mornings, so what I would advise is to avoid coming at the peak timing as far as possible. This bottleneck was strangely a morning-only phenomenon on my cruise; for other meals I didn't face a crowd problem at all. The food at the inclusive restaurants was alright, on par with that on the other ships from other lines I've been on like Royal. There was a cafe at the lobby that was selling cakes at a really affordable price, and I actually really enjoyed those.

Amazing ship

Talked in short.  We have group of 20 people including 4 elderly

1)  Minimize trip period from 3 nights to 2 nights with short notification

2)  Bad arrangement on room distribution (we have total 7 rooms  original in 2 different floors even we requested to be on same floor)....due to trip period was being changed.  They relocated all 7 rooms into 4 different floors & the worst things was 2 rooms on each floor - either in the front of cruise ship or in the back of cruise ship

3)  Need to line up for almost 2 hours to get on-board & told to get wheelchair after onboard (actually wheelchair can be collected when check-in) - we requested wheelchair from the beginning.

4)  Room #11292 - whole night with engine running sound loudly and was told this couldn't be fixed....shouldn't inform to guest in advance ?????

5)  Cruise set a party on 16/F until mid-light at 1:30am....from 13/F to 15/F we could hear clearly...such a bad time setting for party ??

6)  Buffet breakfast/Lunch/Dinner - always crowded & have to go early to get table...otherwise you have to wait long time......because everybody is having their meal at the same time...

Never, ever go to Dream Cruise !!!  High recommend NOT GOING ...

Bad experience with Dream Cruise

The experience first started when we arrived at Kai Tak Cruise Terminal. There was a very long line of people waiting to check in and we thought we had to wait in the same line however I noticed a man holding a sign stating "The Palace guests" and I approached him. I told him I had booked a room called the Penthouse and without delay he escorted me and my family to a waiting area specially dedicated to The Palace guests. In that waiting area they had very delectable dim sums and an assortment of finger foods, along with fresh juices and water. The food and drinks were a very nice touch while checking in. We waited in that area for about 45 minutes and after that they had made an announcement that Palace guests could board the ship first. Boarding was a breeze as we were the first to board and I had no problems getting on the ship. The room I had booked was called the Penthouse, which is the second largest cabin on World Dream (the biggest being called Villa). I found my room to be very spacious and nice. The linens were very high quality and the bathroom was honestly the best part about the cabin. It was extremely spacious and the decor was very nice. Right after we were settled in our rooms, our butler came and introduced herself and gave us a fruit basket. She explained to us she could help us make reservations and book shore excursions among other things. She then proceeded to help us set up our free internet access on the ship. The Palace guests are entitled two devices for internet connection at standard speeds however if you need faster speeds you can purchase the premium plan. For me, the standard plan was more than enough as I averaged speeds at 15-20 mbps based on my tests. It was sufficient enough to stream Netflix and YouTube at 1080p rates. 

After helping us with our internet, she proceeded to give us a tour of the facilities that Palace guests could access. The Palace is different in the fact that it uses a concept called a ship within a ship. These facilities are not accessible to other guests who are not Palace guests. Facilities included a pool exclusive for Palace use, a sauna, a steam room and a gym. The pool almost always never had anyone so it was very peaceful. When it comes to dining, normal guests have access to 3 restaurants. The Dream Dining Lower, Dream Dining Upper and The Lido. The Lower is mainly Western food, Upper is mainly Chinese food and The Lido is an international buffet. For the Palace guests, We have access to a restaurant called The Palace restaurant. It serves very good quality food however the main differentiating factor is the service. There are many attentive waiters and waitresses that cater to whatever you want which is the main reason why most Palace guests only come to this restaurant instead of the other 3 included ones. Another reason why most Palace guests avoid the 3 other restaurants is due to the other guests. A lot of times you can struggle to get a table because there are many people eating at the same time which causes long wait times to get a table. In the Palace restaurant, I have never seen more than 30% of the place being filled. On top of the Palace restaurant, Palace guests also get one complimentary meal per day at any specialty restaurants on the ship. Personally my most favourite one had to be Umi Uma and the special pork they served. It was simply the best pork i have ever had, period. Also to note, Palace guests are entitled to a drinks package that covers all juices, soft drinks and a wide variety of beers and wines. 

Now when it came to the shows, we didn't have to make a reservation. The first five rows of the seats in the theatre was reserved for Palace guests which meant most the time the seats were not really filled. If anyone that was not a Palace guest tried to sit in the Palace area, staff would ask them to leave as they aren't entitled to the seats. I was particularly relieved the staff had asked them to leave as they were talking very loudly and were a nuisance. I couldn't care less if you were a Palace guest but being annoying was not welcome. For the excursions, the Palace guests have free excursions to Naha, where they showed the sights and shopping. when we arrived, there was a huge influx of passengers and it took some time to clear security. However once we entered the ship, the staff had reserved one elevator specifically for Palace guests which in my opinion was a very nice touch as the lines for the elevator were very long. After we came back from our long excursion, we were delighted to see a wide array of chocolates, fruits and biscuits presented beautifully on a multi level tray. It came coupled with a note from our butler which just made this experience even more personal and luxurious. The next day we were supposed to go to Miyakojima however the stop was canceled as the winds were just too strong for the tender boats so we were given on board credit to be spent at the souvenir shop on the ship. For disembarkation, we waited very briefly at the Silk Road restaurant before disembarking. Other passengers had to wait at the Zodiac Theatre and so we were the first ones to disembark. 

In summary, this was an amazing cruise made even better by the staff I had encountered. I would pay for it again if the quality of service and product was the same. Highly satisfied with everything on the cruise.

The Palace- An Amazing Experience

The ship itself is very nice. Most of the staff are great with the exception of the sales and customer service group.  I have never seen such a lack of care or give a damn. I went to the front desk and asked to speak to the ship customer service officer, Ms Wu who was the shift manager stated he was off duty and he would get back to me. 2 days later I returned to the desk and was told he was too busy with mainland guests and I could scan a QR code and leave any comments. This cruise is not for anyone but mainland China customers. I was shown by the staff they spend the money on the cruise casino n tours so they take first priority. Foreigners and HK people BEWARE... Several HK people I talked with said the same thing. The guests are severly rude and noisy. Which is to be expected; however, the lack of care by the staff was not and was unbelievable. The Nepal n Philippines cabin cleaning crew were amazing.  I had one staff member selling items on the 7th floor push me out of the way to sell something to another guest. Find another cruise line like Star or Royal.   When trying to talk to the customer service officer I was told he would see me after 2 days of waiting I went to the office and was told he (Mr XU) was too busy and I could go online with a QR code and leave comments. Unbelievable the guest is too insignificant to get 5 minutes of a customer service officers time. BEWARE DREAM CRUISE LINE or you will regret it.

Beware of World Dream

Went on 5 day cruise from HK to Philippines.  Unfortunately, there were some changes to the itinerary prior to sailing ( Borocay closed by the government so went to Subic Bay instead, and Manila docking changed from 8am until 11am which was a bit annoying ).  

Embarkation in HK brilliant - mainly because so few people get on here, so no waiting time and pretty much straight on the ship.  The downside to that is that you have a 3-4 hour wait in Nansha both ways to pick up and drop off the majority of the passengers, given this is an Asian ship catering for the Chinese market.  

We had an inside cabin and it suited us fine.  It was spacious enough for 2 single beds, has fridge and safe and TV and kettle and all the things that you require in a cabin, apart from a view.  Beds comfortable with nice pillows.  Turn down service most nights, but no towel animals.  

As a vegan I always struggle on cruises.  We ate in the Lido each meal and found a wonderful food manager, Burhan, who went out of his way to make sure that we had a hot vegan meal each night.  The salads were some of the best I have seen on a cruise, with plenty of variety and although I struggled with breakfast only being able to eat fruit, there was ample choice for those that eat a full diet.  The main dining rooms unfortunately offered very little in the way of vegetarian or vegan options.  We did not eat at any of the speciality restaurants. 

Entertainment was once again great, with 3 different shows on our cruise, which you have to book once on board ( no charge ).  The only issue we repeatedly find on this cruise line is the passengers come in late, stand in the aisle, talk and then leave before the show ends or the house lights come on.  Staff did a good job trying to control this but they are fighting a losing battle.  

Cruise staff brilliant.  Godie and his team on this cruise were fabulous and provided a variety of activities, with lots of fun and smiles.  They really know how to make you feel welcome and how to get people involve and enjoying themselves.  We did a Behind the Scenes tour, which is run by the cruise staff, and found this well worth doing and very interesting.  There was dancing and a real party atmosphere most nights.  

The ship is lovely, and having also travelled on Genting, I liked this ship more.  There are less poker machines and while the casino does spill out a bit, its not as bad as on Genting.  The place is spotlessly cleaned, with staff constantly cleaning.  Only issue is smoking is allowed on board in the casino, and the smoke does waft through the casino and the area around it.  After 30 minutes sitting at a poker machine, which is a non smoking area, my clothes smelt of smoke.

Although this is a ship designed and staffed for the Chinese market, we may have stood out but never felt left out as Westerners and everything we went to had both a Chinese and an English speaking staff member.  We found all the English speaking staff very friendly and found more of the Chinese speaking staff making an effort on this cruise compared to previous cruises.  

Overall, we had a fabulous time on this cruise, mainly thanks to the cruise staff and how exceptionally nice they are and the generally nice Asian hospitality.

Thoroughly enjoyable cruise with wonderful crew

Just did a 6 days Hong Kong Vietnam Cruise, 2 adults with kids 9 and 11. It was our second cruise. Very glad we choose the PALACE SUITE upgrade, and this particular World Dream cruise-ship. 

The room is fantastic with a huge bathroom, much storage and an easy-to-fold down sleeper for the kids while the ship is less then a year old having cost almost a billion USD (build in Germany). The Palace VIP upgrade comes with many perks, e.g.: 

•	Personal butler for your room available 6 x 15 hours. Can call her/him from anywhere on the ship to sort out small issues/make bookings/a lost bag/etc. 

•	access to the VIP/PALACE area which covers about 1/3rd of the ship in the front. Economy class passengers do not have access to this area. The buffet restaurant (breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and supper till 2am) is fantastic with great views/service/food. No need to queue here (while in economy obtaining a lobster requires strong elbows and immaculate timing

Filters

1-10 of 13