I've found the Wind to be a delightful ship and infinitely better since her stretch. She rides well, has lots of cozty bars & lounges and nicely designed restaurants wih great views. Overall, she is very, very comfortable.

The staterooms are perfectly adequate and comfortably equipped, I was just stay away from the staterooms on Deck 4 as you may catch a whiff of diesel and avoid Deck 5 aft, those staterooms are above the crew disco.

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Originally posted by Commodore:
I don't want any negative comments on the stretch because frankly it's a bunch of bologna.

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A person who had been on her before and after the stretch, and who preferred her before (presumably there are some people who did), would have a more valid opinion than yours, assuming you've never been on her. And for that matter someone who had never been on her but felt they would have liked her better pre-stretch, would have at least as valid an opinion as yours.

Personally I think it's ridiculous to ask someone's opinion, but tell them beforehand that if it happens to be a certain opinion, you don't want to hear it. If you only want to hear a certain opinion, there's no sense in asking people in the first place.

Anyhow, as for me, I was only on this ship once, for a visit, shortly before the stretch. I found her to be quite a nice ship, though the decor is, to me, quite drab. Aside from that the design, at least in its original form, was "different" and I liked it very much. She has a rather intimate feel which at the time set her apart from the competition, and lots and lots of windows, which make her light, bright, and great for cruising in areas with scenery. The Sun Terrace is a gorgeous restaurant, though I didn't think it worked well as a formal dining room; with Freestyle this makes no difference anyway as the whole ship is effectively casual. The main (show) lounge was also very impressive and entirely different from anything else I've seen. Cabins are smallish but quite acceptable; there are some with balconies if you want one. Overall I think Tim's "comfortable" is a very good word to describe this ship; she does not have the "wow factor" of the big megaliners but I felt right at home on this ship.

I don't see it matters whether Wind or Dream are better/worse after the stretch. The work's been done, you can't slice them up again. Why would someone not go on either just because they may have preferred her before being stretched.

Anyhow bmajor, Norwegian Dream is fine. We did Rome to Dover over last Easter and had a great time. She's comfortable, mostly good service, no gawdiness, lots of outdoor areas, free ice cream every afternoon what more can you want, especially for a Baltic.. would love to watch the funnel flip

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Originally posted by Commodore:
I don't want any negative comments on the stretch because frankly it's a bunch of bologna. If you are going to whine about the stretch, stifle. When you add to a ship without removing anything, you are not making it worse. It does not turn a great ship into a ugly undesirable one. Nothing was removed, and enough public areas were stretched and added to make up for the stretch of the whole ship. As for the view from the midships pool- boo-hoo.

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[ 01-17-2004: Message edited by: Commodore ]

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Originally posted by Commodore:
Nothing was removed, and enough public areas were stretched and added to make up for the stretch of the whole ship.

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I do not know as I've not cruised on this ship, but the Berlitz guide disagrees with you, it say's "There simply not enough public spaces to absorb the increase in passengers well".

The 'Readers Reviews' will prove helpful, as they don't argue back! There are 13 on 'Wind' and 9 on 'Dream', post stretch (whoops, I've mentioned it again!)