I am not an expert on cruises, but here are my overall impressions...
The Ship
A very nice and new vessel. Very large too -- at time of posting, the Genting Dream was #15 on Wikipedia's list of large cruise ships. I think the newness was half the battle won: not only were things sparkling clean, the design of the vessel was also quite leading edge, both in terms of the cabins, and facilities and modern technologies like onboard wifi and entertainment systems. Signage onboard was English/Mandarin.
Recreational Facilities
Facilities-wise, the onboard recreational facilities were very good. Pools and sun decks were well thought out, and the rope course, zipline and rock climbing wall were great too, not to mention the bowling alley.
As far as lounges and nightlife were concerned, Zouk Out was always lively in the evenings, although on the whole, there was less of a party feel/buzz on the cruise until the last night, where it suddenly sprang to life.
I didn't visit the casino, but given that this is Genting's core business, I would imagine that it is up to scratch. One thing about the ship that Snapper did point out: Unlike other ships, where the casino is located in one part of the ship, on the Genting Dream, apart from the casino, there were slot machines and other games spread out over some of the public areas as well. The casino element is not overwhelming like it is in Vegas or Macau (Where every empty spot seems to have some gaming machine), but it is quite visible on one of the main decks of the ship. It didn't detract from the cruise for me, but I would prefer the machines to be just confined to the casino as a personal preference.
Cabins
I thought our Suite was great. The regular balcony cabins were smaller, but still very comfortable. Everything was new and worked well (Water pressure, air-conditioning etc). Beds were very comfortable.
Restaurants and Dining
I will cover Genting Club Lounge catering separately (This was for Dream Palace guests).
Overall, the main dining venues (Dream Dining Room) served quite impressive and varied food, although I thought the ambience could have been a little more refined and elegant. In particular the seats in the main dining room could have been more plush. The vast Dream Dining Room - Lower Level could feel a little cold and not intimate, simply because of its huge size.
The Lido buffet spread was quite wide in terms of variety, and the ambience/seating in the buffet restaurant were very good. As for the food quality, there were more hits than misses. I thought the bacon (It might have been chicken bacon or beef bacon) was a little strange, and occasionally dishes didn't come off quite perfect (Rock hard ikan bilis for nasi lemak on one day, for example), but on the whole, the buffet spread was quite satisfying.
The specialty restaurants (Western Bistro, Chinese, Japanese etc) were excellent as well, and worth visiting.
One thing worth noting about Dream Cruises' pricing model for catering: apart from meals at the buffet and main dining rooms, most of the other eating options were on a paid basis, billed to your room. This was quite a contrast to some other cruise lines, which typically have all-inclusive packages. For example Princess had complimentary soft serve ice cream, while the Genting Dream had a full Gelateria on a paid basis. The flipside of that was the huge variety and range of eating options available, which would typically be more than you would see on an all-you-can-eat model.
Staff and Customer Service
I found customer service onboard ok, but if you compare the Genting Dream's level of customer service with what people generally consider top-notch service in hotels, airlines, restaurants and other service industries, I think there is an opportunity for improvement.
The staff were all polite and eager to help, but many front line staff appeared to be quite inexperienced. Compared to other cruise lines, where many ships have veteran staff who are simply excellent, on this cruise I would say service was average-to-good on the whole, but not outstanding. There were many stars among the crew, but also some staff who were not very polished in terms of delivering customer service. And perhaps because of this, we occasionally encountered cruise passengers who spent a lot of time whining and complaining about this or that minor thing.
Perhaps it is simply the new team on a new ship, and I am hopeful that things will get better as the team have more experience and cruises under their belt.
Dream Palace / Genting Club
This concept of a "Ship within a ship" is wonderful: Dream Palace passengers have their own facilities, like private lounge, private pool/gym, in addition to large Suite cabins. We spent a lot of time in these private facilities, which were top notch, especially the lounge. Special call out to the dedicated kitchen and dining room in the Genting Club:the cuisine was simply excellent -- probably the best onboard.
As far as the much-advertised Butler service is concerned, I think it is all about expectations. I think it is great to have someone you can contact to assist you with bookings and info any time during the cruise, and we had a very helpful Butler who assisted with show bookings etc. That said, don't expect to have Jeeves waiting on your every need.
If I was planning a cruise on the Genting Dream again, I would definitely go for the Dream Palace Suites. There is so much a passenger would be missing out without access to Dream Palace-exclusive facilities.
Comparisons
Last year, I went on a cruise on the Diamond Princess, one of the liners operated by Princess Cruises. I thought it would be interesting to compare this trip with last year's cruise.
While I enjoyed both holidays, the cruises could not have been more different, from the standpoint of hard product and soft product. Each cruise line had its comparative strengths and weaknesses.
The new Genting Dream was a large state of the art vessel, whereas the Diamond Princess was a comfortable ship but an older design. In terms cabin décor and onboard facilities, the Genting Dream was a noticeable step up from the Diamond Princess.
The staff and cruise management on the Diamond Princess were a very seasoned team who knew the ship and their roles inside out: they pampered guests with service and cruise experiences that the Genting Dream, with its less experienced team could not match.
I found the range of cuisine on the Genting Dream to be very impressive, with more variety than the Diamond Princess, especially for Asian tastebuds. The specialty restaurants and main dining room on the Genting Dream offered more premium ingredients and more ambitious menus, and had more varied dining experiences than the Diamond Princess. That said, for the buffet, I thought Diamond Princess buffet and dining selections were more consistently tasty and well prepared -- a case of quality vs quantity.
Both the Genting Dream and Diamond Princess had excellent stage shows and performances during the cruise. Genting Dream's signature "Voyage of a Lover's Dream" and "Rhythm Supreme" Latin Dance were world class performances. I thought the Diamond Princess had more in the way of activities such as dance classes, wine tastings, group quizzes etc, whereas these took more of a back seat on the Genting Dream, with a high profile “China’s Got Talent” taking center stage.
Perhaps I am over-generalizing, but I think Princess is a good example of a Western/International cruise line, with a consistent product across their fleet, geared towards a global, cosmopolitan clientele, whereas the Genting Dream has taken this model and tweaked it to satisfy the needs, wants, and quirks of Asian travellers.
Overall, I think both Dream Cruises and Princess have strong offerings. Both offer an enjoyable cruise experience, although it definitely makes sense to decide which to go for based on your own preferences.
Final Thoughts
Would I recommend the Genting Dream? Yes I would, but my strongest recommendation would be for the Suites in the Dream Palace section of the ship, with suites and other private facilities (pool etc) and the Genting Club Lounge, along with it's superb F&B.
This is only my 2nd cruise experience in recent years, but both the previous cruise on the Diamond Princess, and this latest one on the Genting Dream were both very enjoyable vacations, and a nice change from catching a plane to go somewhere for a holiday.
As for the cruise itinerary, a five day cruise like this was just about long enough to enjoy both the onboard facilities and get a brief glimpse of the two ports of call: Surabaya and North Bali, both interesting places that I would want to visit again. There is a lot to explore in sprawling Surabaya, and as for North Bali, it is no match for the bustling (Maybe overly busy) South, where Denpasar and Kuta Beach are, but there was a certain relaxed, rural charm to North Bali which I really liked. And a trip there would be worth it just to sample more of that delicious Babi Guling!
Thanks for reading!
The Ship
A very nice and new vessel. Very large too -- at time of posting, the Genting Dream was #15 on Wikipedia's list of large cruise ships. I think the newness was half the battle won: not only were things sparkling clean, the design of the vessel was also quite leading edge, both in terms of the cabins, and facilities and modern technologies like onboard wifi and entertainment systems. Signage onboard was English/Mandarin.
Recreational Facilities
Facilities-wise, the onboard recreational facilities were very good. Pools and sun decks were well thought out, and the rope course, zipline and rock climbing wall were great too, not to mention the bowling alley.
As far as lounges and nightlife were concerned, Zouk Out was always lively in the evenings, although on the whole, there was less of a party feel/buzz on the cruise until the last night, where it suddenly sprang to life.
I didn't visit the casino, but given that this is Genting's core business, I would imagine that it is up to scratch. One thing about the ship that Snapper did point out: Unlike other ships, where the casino is located in one part of the ship, on the Genting Dream, apart from the casino, there were slot machines and other games spread out over some of the public areas as well. The casino element is not overwhelming like it is in Vegas or Macau (Where every empty spot seems to have some gaming machine), but it is quite visible on one of the main decks of the ship. It didn't detract from the cruise for me, but I would prefer the machines to be just confined to the casino as a personal preference.
Cabins
I thought our Suite was great. The regular balcony cabins were smaller, but still very comfortable. Everything was new and worked well (Water pressure, air-conditioning etc). Beds were very comfortable.
Restaurants and Dining
I will cover Genting Club Lounge catering separately (This was for Dream Palace guests).
Overall, the main dining venues (Dream Dining Room) served quite impressive and varied food, although I thought the ambience could have been a little more refined and elegant. In particular the seats in the main dining room could have been more plush. The vast Dream Dining Room - Lower Level could feel a little cold and not intimate, simply because of its huge size.
The Lido buffet spread was quite wide in terms of variety, and the ambience/seating in the buffet restaurant were very good. As for the food quality, there were more hits than misses. I thought the bacon (It might have been chicken bacon or beef bacon) was a little strange, and occasionally dishes didn't come off quite perfect (Rock hard ikan bilis for nasi lemak on one day, for example), but on the whole, the buffet spread was quite satisfying.
The specialty restaurants (Western Bistro, Chinese, Japanese etc) were excellent as well, and worth visiting.
One thing worth noting about Dream Cruises' pricing model for catering: apart from meals at the buffet and main dining rooms, most of the other eating options were on a paid basis, billed to your room. This was quite a contrast to some other cruise lines, which typically have all-inclusive packages. For example Princess had complimentary soft serve ice cream, while the Genting Dream had a full Gelateria on a paid basis. The flipside of that was the huge variety and range of eating options available, which would typically be more than you would see on an all-you-can-eat model.
Staff and Customer Service
I found customer service onboard ok, but if you compare the Genting Dream's level of customer service with what people generally consider top-notch service in hotels, airlines, restaurants and other service industries, I think there is an opportunity for improvement.
The staff were all polite and eager to help, but many front line staff appeared to be quite inexperienced. Compared to other cruise lines, where many ships have veteran staff who are simply excellent, on this cruise I would say service was average-to-good on the whole, but not outstanding. There were many stars among the crew, but also some staff who were not very polished in terms of delivering customer service. And perhaps because of this, we occasionally encountered cruise passengers who spent a lot of time whining and complaining about this or that minor thing.
Perhaps it is simply the new team on a new ship, and I am hopeful that things will get better as the team have more experience and cruises under their belt.
Dream Palace / Genting Club
This concept of a "Ship within a ship" is wonderful: Dream Palace passengers have their own facilities, like private lounge, private pool/gym, in addition to large Suite cabins. We spent a lot of time in these private facilities, which were top notch, especially the lounge. Special call out to the dedicated kitchen and dining room in the Genting Club:the cuisine was simply excellent -- probably the best onboard.
As far as the much-advertised Butler service is concerned, I think it is all about expectations. I think it is great to have someone you can contact to assist you with bookings and info any time during the cruise, and we had a very helpful Butler who assisted with show bookings etc. That said, don't expect to have Jeeves waiting on your every need.
If I was planning a cruise on the Genting Dream again, I would definitely go for the Dream Palace Suites. There is so much a passenger would be missing out without access to Dream Palace-exclusive facilities.
Comparisons
Last year, I went on a cruise on the Diamond Princess, one of the liners operated by Princess Cruises. I thought it would be interesting to compare this trip with last year's cruise.
While I enjoyed both holidays, the cruises could not have been more different, from the standpoint of hard product and soft product. Each cruise line had its comparative strengths and weaknesses.
The new Genting Dream was a large state of the art vessel, whereas the Diamond Princess was a comfortable ship but an older design. In terms cabin décor and onboard facilities, the Genting Dream was a noticeable step up from the Diamond Princess.
The staff and cruise management on the Diamond Princess were a very seasoned team who knew the ship and their roles inside out: they pampered guests with service and cruise experiences that the Genting Dream, with its less experienced team could not match.
I found the range of cuisine on the Genting Dream to be very impressive, with more variety than the Diamond Princess, especially for Asian tastebuds. The specialty restaurants and main dining room on the Genting Dream offered more premium ingredients and more ambitious menus, and had more varied dining experiences than the Diamond Princess. That said, for the buffet, I thought Diamond Princess buffet and dining selections were more consistently tasty and well prepared -- a case of quality vs quantity.
Both the Genting Dream and Diamond Princess had excellent stage shows and performances during the cruise. Genting Dream's signature "Voyage of a Lover's Dream" and "Rhythm Supreme" Latin Dance were world class performances. I thought the Diamond Princess had more in the way of activities such as dance classes, wine tastings, group quizzes etc, whereas these took more of a back seat on the Genting Dream, with a high profile “China’s Got Talent” taking center stage.
Perhaps I am over-generalizing, but I think Princess is a good example of a Western/International cruise line, with a consistent product across their fleet, geared towards a global, cosmopolitan clientele, whereas the Genting Dream has taken this model and tweaked it to satisfy the needs, wants, and quirks of Asian travellers.
Overall, I think both Dream Cruises and Princess have strong offerings. Both offer an enjoyable cruise experience, although it definitely makes sense to decide which to go for based on your own preferences.
Final Thoughts
Would I recommend the Genting Dream? Yes I would, but my strongest recommendation would be for the Suites in the Dream Palace section of the ship, with suites and other private facilities (pool etc) and the Genting Club Lounge, along with it's superb F&B.
This is only my 2nd cruise experience in recent years, but both the previous cruise on the Diamond Princess, and this latest one on the Genting Dream were both very enjoyable vacations, and a nice change from catching a plane to go somewhere for a holiday.
As for the cruise itinerary, a five day cruise like this was just about long enough to enjoy both the onboard facilities and get a brief glimpse of the two ports of call: Surabaya and North Bali, both interesting places that I would want to visit again. There is a lot to explore in sprawling Surabaya, and as for North Bali, it is no match for the bustling (Maybe overly busy) South, where Denpasar and Kuta Beach are, but there was a certain relaxed, rural charm to North Bali which I really liked. And a trip there would be worth it just to sample more of that delicious Babi Guling!
Thanks for reading!
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