New Ship Makes Caribbean Sailing a Dream(ward) : Norwegian line’s French- built vessel offers intimate voyages in an atmosphere of scaled-down luxury.

Cruise fans complaining about the proliferation of gigantic 2,600-passenger megaships will find things returned to human scale on Norwegian Cruise Line’s 1,246-passenger Dreamward, which made its inaugural Caribbean sailing from Ft. Lauderdale in early December.

The first of two new vessels built for the line by Chantiers de l’Atlantique in St. Nazaire, France, the classy mid-sized ship carries about half as many passengers as Royal Caribbean Cruise Line’s giant Majesty of the Seas and Carnival’s glittering Ecstasy. It avoids soaring, hotel-lobby atriums with glass elevators and jangling neon-bright casinos, favoring more intimate spaces.

The Dreamward’s itineraries include seven-day round-trip Sunday departures from Ft. Lauderdale that alternate eastern and western Caribbean routes. Ports of call in the eastern Caribbean include Nassau, San Juan, St. John and St. Thomas, while western Caribbean ports include Grand Cayman, Playa del Carmen, Cozumel, Cancun and NCL’s private beach island, Grand Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas.

Instead of acres of Astroturf lined with sunbathers, pool-deck lounge chairs are arranged on a series of teak terraces separated by low wooden planters filled with trimmed boxwoods, rather like an amphitheater.

Even the casino is divided into several small areas on two decks that flow into each other, with small clusters of slot machines spotted throughout the area instead of endless rows of them.

The terrace look is repeated in two of the four dining rooms on board. The 150-seat, three-level Sun Terrace is set high atop the ship and aft, where passengers can look out the glass wall to the sea. One deck below, The Terraces is a 282-seat dining room also overlooking the sea through an expanse of glass, with a huge undersea mural on the opposite wall.

The 256-seat Four Seasons and the 76-seat Cafe are arranged on one level, facing view windows to one side. The Cafe resembles an elegant sidewalk cafe and doubles as a venue for afternoon tea and midnight buffet service.

All four dining rooms--which serve the same menu--have more tables for parties of two or four than the larger tables for six or eight that are prevalent on NCL’s other ships. Passengers are assigned to a specific dining room for an early (6:30 p.m.) or late (8:30 p.m.) dinner seating. The assignment is made not by cabin category and cost but by a numerical formula on a seating chart, according to hotel director Bjorn Erik Julseth. He says passengers will be free to have breakfast and lunch in whatever dining room they choose. Present plans call for one dining room to serve a sit-down lunch and one to serve a buffet lunch daily.

The Dreamward has omitted the traditional deck buffet area and substituted a small snack area off the Sports Bar and Grill that serves a light continental breakfast and grilled hot dogs and hamburgers at lunchtime, supplemented by a salad and dessert bar.

Room service breakfasts (free of the annoying service charge that the line used to levy) with some hot dishes will be available between 7 and 9 a.m., Julseth says.

The entertainment aboard the ship is dazzling. Splashy production numbers based around “Singin’ in the Rain” and “Under the Sea” utilize a unique technical effect--a curtain of water around the front of the stage that jets from below like fountains or drizzles from above like rain. Other special effects in what is labeled “the first aquatic revue” include fireworks, fog, a Michael Jackson look-alike, a movie clip from an Esther Williams film where she swims with cartoon characters Tom and Jerry, and star-spangled sparklers in the finale.

A production of the Broadway musical “Dreamgirls” and a second musical revue featuring highlights from Broadway shows are also staged during each cruise.

Spa and beauty facilities on board are operated by London-based Coiffeur Transocean and include a large hairdressing and nail salon, massage and facial rooms, facilities for sea water treatments, steam rooms and saunas. Nearby are an aerobics room and a gymnasium with a range of exercise equipment, plus a full sports deck with a basketball/volleyball court, two golf driving areas, Ping-Pong tables and shuffleboard.

The line’s popular Dive-In program offers optional snorkeling packages in Nassau for $30 and in St. John and St. Thomas for $35, that include instruction, guided marine life tours and snorkeling equipment. The Sports Bar and Grill brings live sports telecasts from around the world daily on big-screen TV sets.

Families will appreciate the expanded children’s activities on the ship, including special trips to the bridge, scavenger hunts on the beach, a “circus at sea” program where kids learn to juggle and do clown routines, and frequent appearances by costumed Universal characters such as Woody Woodpecker and Frankenstein.

Also on board are a children’s playroom and a separate video arcade and teen area.

About 85% of the cabins are outside with windows or, on the lowest deck, portholes. Most are quite similar, measuring 160 square feet with twin beds that can be made into a queen-sized bed; a love seat, chair and hassock in a separate sitting area; a small dresser with four drawers; a built-in desk with one drawer and chair; a color TV set and a bath with shower.

Since the cabins are priced by deck location, the best buys would appear to be those on the three lowest passenger decks (Atlantic, Bahamas and Caribbean), which are priced between $1,725 and $2,025 per person, double occupancy, including air fare from Los Angeles, for the seven-day cruise.

Promenade deck cabins, while slightly more expensive, are hampered because their windows are open to the frequent walking and jogging traffic around the deck.

Still more expensive, inexplicably, are the cabins amidships on Norway deck, one level above the promenade, where many of the windows are partially obstructed by hanging lifeboats.

Forward and aft on Norway deck, beyond the lifeboats, are 175-square-foot penthouse cabins with private balconies priced at $2,545-$2,695 per person, double occupancy, including air fare. Some are adjoining and can be combined to make a two-room, U-shaped suite with living room and bedroom at double the price.

Six “grand deluxe suites” that are 350 square feet face forward with a captain’s-eye view of the sea and a separate living room, mini-refrigerator and wet bar, as well as a bathroom with tub and shower. These are priced at $2,845-$2,995 per person, double occupancy, including air fare.

The 92 inside (windowless) cabins, some measuring 150 square feet, the rest 140 square feet, offer the lowest-priced accommodations on board, at fares of $1,275-$1,625 per person, double occupancy, with air fare.

Four cabins designed to be wheelchair-accessible are also available.

Beginning May 1, the Dreamward will reposition to New York for a summer series of seven-day round-trip Saturday departures to Bermuda, with two days in St. George’s and 2 1/2 days in Hamilton.

The Dreamward’s sister ship, Windward, will be introduced on the West Coast next spring.

For more information and reservations on the Dreamward, call Norwegian Cruise Line at (800) 327-7030.

Due to a reporting error, an item in this column on Dec. 6 stated that the 1990 construction of SeaQuest Cruises’ Frontier Spirit took place in Finland. Actually, the ship was built in Kobe, Japan.