Hi!
I appreciate your detailed opinions on this, and since we just got off of the Dream yesterday, we can do a little compare/contrast. (also, I appreciate how respectful this thread has been and that you have appreciated other viewpoints) The TLDR version is that I think you chose the wrong ship and wrong itinerary for a nicer cruise experience, as some other replies have also suggested.
Our background-- the cruise this past week (so either 1 or 2 cruises after yours) was DH and mine's 14th
Disney cruise, and our first bringing little kids. It's always just been the 2 of us, but this time was a 4-generation trip, so it was definitely a different experience! It was our 2nd on the Dream, and she is not our favorite ship. We prefer the Wonder and Magic. We are also DVC owners and used to have APs. And we have not sailed other lines because we prefer this experience-- not necessarily because it's the 'fanciest' or 'best.' We understand that we are paying extra for (basically) entertainment, fireworks, and the Disney name.
Visiting with various crew members this past week-- the demographics of the last few cruises on the Dream were reported to me as: last week 3800 guests, including nearly 1000 kids under 18. That is down from 3900 guests the cruise or 2 prior to ours, down from 4000 just before that. So these cruises have been full. Some crew indicated that even going from 4000 to 3800 makes a difference.
In contrast-- the current Transatlantic cruise on the Dream that sailed away yesterday was expected to have 2800 guests, and 300 kids. HUGE difference.
We sailed the South Pacific crossing on the Wonder last October, and we had something like 2000 guests, and fewer than 500 kids. Just after the pandemic, we did the crossing from Hawaii to Vancouver with 1300 guests. I wouldn't expect that itinerary to ever be that uncrowded again, but it was heavenly.
Having now sailed with little kids-- they just want to be in the pool. More kids on board, more kids in the pool and it is sort of a madhouse. Some kids get absorbed into the kids' spaces and activities, but our grandkids and kids (30s) were just not interested in that, other than a few character meets. Also, the character meeting lines were very long, even the crew commented on that. (they can get long on other cruises as well, though)
By extension, I would think the adult pool areas would be *relatively* more quiet than the family pool, but still, a full ship means the spaces are full.
Mind you, DH and I are not "hang out by the pool" people, but we did last week for the grandkids.
Food/dining experience:
Again-- full ship; fewer opportunities to spread out at dining. There really aren't very many tables for 2-- I think most tables are at least 4 guests-- if the ship is full, you'd have to at least share with another couple. But they have the option under Special Requests (as you noted-- request only) because it is possible with a not-full ship to have your own table.
Our experience was that one of our meals seemed to take a long time; and the others were paced pretty well. We did early dining, because of the kids, but we do that as adults, too, as we prefer to have time to digest our meals and enjoy the shows after dinner, so I'm with you there. We do not care for a meal to take forever-- we have had the experience on a previous cruise where we were seated with a fairly large group and the late dining never ended until 10:30 pm. Hated that. This cruise it was fine.
Food quality-- we've had hits and misses. Mostly good choices this past cruise. Nothing that knocked our socks off, but very few misses. I think a couple of dry-ish meat items were the worst. But I don't think DCL food is rave-worthy. (also, I don't trust most of the bloggers/vloggers-- they know where their bread is buttered; and some of them have worse than childish palates)
The "survey" talk-- somehow we didn't get "the talk" this time. Maybe it was just that our team felt more confident; or we gave enough verbal and non-verbal cues to not do it; or something. And I appreciate that. And yes, some servers go way overboard on that and make it very uncomfortable-- we try to stop them, knowing what they are about to say. But for your first cruise-- they may feel like they have to go into detail, and you couldn't have known to tell them to stop (as a previous poster or 2 has suggested). Also, could just be luck of the draw. We had really good servers this time.
Cabanas IS open for debarkation morning, limited hours. They absolutely do not advertise that. It wasn't in the app, even. We physically went up there to check, as the little kids were not up to a 7 am sit down breakfast with choices of foods they didn't care for.
I hate that the aft elevators open into Cabanas on the Dream. It's awkward.
The atrium-- yes, it is a beautiful space. We saw it utilized for photos, individual character meets, the Princess gathering, and a fine musical performer (whose name I should have written down). We didn't attend the "See You Real Soon" party on the last night (too late for little kids). We also didn't attend the Diaper Dash or Chip it Golf-- also activities in the atrium. And with 1 sea day on our sailing-- I wouldn't have expected activities all day long in the atrium.
I think the line prefers to spread people out into the various activity spaces and theaters. One couldn't well hold Bingo in the atrium, though holding it in the Buena Vista Theater was also not good-- much nicer to have it in a lounge area--which seems to work best on the classic ships and the Wish so far.
Adult bar area-- again, we prefer this on the classic ships. The layout is less confusing, and there are windows, such as in the Cadillac Lounge and the pub on the Wonder. We also like the layout with what used to the be the Promenade Lounge on the classics (now re-themed, but they are places that one can relax and see out a window, and not too noisy depending on what activity is there). We did have a nice chat with some of the bartenders in the Skyline lounge, but it was during a showtime, so a quiet part of the evening. Sadly, our kids/grandkids weren't into going to the big theater shows. I know the shows are great.
As for nice places to hang out-- we like to sit on Deck 4, weather permitting, and watch the ocean. On the classics, we like to sit by a window above the atrium on deck 4. The Dream has some space to do that across from Shutters on Deck 4, which is good if there is not a line of people waiting to meet a character. So-- you can't say there's nothing in the atrium, and yet, the atrium is too busy for you to sit and relax..... It's a timing thing.
Debarkation--- it was a little hectic-- of course, because there were nearly twice as many people as we like to have on the ship. We checked most of our bags the night before, but have brought bags to breakfast on past cruises, and we usually find room for them. The line to debark seemed to move pretty quickly (quicker than boarding day for sure--ugh, we waited in the first-time cruise line with our family when DH and I could have just sailed into the Platinum line, but that was our choice). Getting our bags and out through Customs went quickly.
The comment from the crew member-- that was not really ok. Mind you, we don't have the full exchange here, and you don't sound snippy yourself, so maybe they were not having a good moment. Not cool, but also, as you have read here and in the other comments-- with a very full ship, it's just harder and different from what your expectations were. (p.s., again, do not trust the vloggers!)
hmm...do I have other thoughts?
--Our room host was fine, but he was pretty much a ninja-- we saw our clean rooms, but hardly saw him. That's ok.
--if one gets crab legs from the buffet and eats in one's room-- take your darn tray of shells back to Cabanas or call for service to get the tray. Do not leave it in the hallway on a warm afternoon. That was gross. (we didn't do that-- our slightly down the hall neighbors did)
-- BBB was a wonderful experience for our granddaughter. Did I cry? yes, I did.
--Guest Services was always helpful
-- Bingo was less exciting and fun compared to what we have experienced on previous cruises. Being in the theater didn't help. Also, my bingo buddy was not there. I only played once this cruise (also, didn't have time).
--I think our whole family pretty much had a good time, with a few hiccups here and there, because they were new to sailing. I did put my heart and soul into trying to make things run smoothly, and it was mostly successful. So I hope they made a few good memories.
So--longer cruises, with fewer people, on smaller ships-- more relaxing time. I think if you did decide to give DCL another try, that would be the way to do it. Actually, on a per night basis, it costs less than some of the shorter cruises. And, the longer itineraries have more interesting activities such as cooking demos, guest lectures (such as Broadway performers, Imagineers, or on the South Pacific, we had a National Geographich photographer).
DH and I try very hard not to sail during times like spring break, major holidays, and the peak of summer, not only because it is less expensive, but the ships are less full. Our only other very crowded experience was during the Disney Plus special they ran last year.
