January 17, 2013 DREAM Cruise becomes a Reality

[Marshay]

We will be living in the Orlando area for a couple months so yeah we'll be doing WDw before and after the cruise A LOT! We will have just finished a tour year assignment in Romania, and will be vacationing for a couple months before we return to DC for training for our next post in Israel.

Wow -- what an interesting life you all lead! I assume you are with the military or state department or something like that. What a great experience you are giving your children.

Also, how cool that you can spend some time in the Orlando area, too.

I think I'm secretly a "snow bird" and should spend winters (October to May) in Florida. But my DH isn't convinced, yet.

Israel -- how exciting ... and scary, too. I wish you all the best and can't wait to meet everyone on the Dream!

 

[CastawayJP]

Wow -- what an interesting life you all lead! I assume you are with the military or state department or something like that. What a great experience you are giving your children.

Also, how cool that you can spend some time in the Orlando area, too.

I think I'm secretly a "snow bird" and should spend winters (October to May) in Florida. But my DH isn't convinced, yet.

Israel -- how exciting ... and scary, too. I wish you all the best and can't wait to meet everyone on the Dream!

Yeah we are with the State Dept. It is a very interesting life! I see that you are from NoVA, what part? Before we became "global nomads" that was home for us, and I grew up in Richmond just down the street!

 

[Marshay]

Yeah we are with the State Dept. It is a very interesting life! I see that you are from NoVA, what part? Before we became "global nomads" that was home for us, and I grew up in Richmond just down the street!

I did the DC-to-VA crawl. Came straight from college and took at job with the Federal Government on the Mall and lived on Capital Hill. Then moved to Alexandria. Then to Reston. Now I'm in the suburbs of Leesburg by Dulles Airport.

It's been good and I really love the area with all the wonderful things to do. We just went St. Patty's weekend to spend the night at the Gaylord at the new National Harbor and saw the Cherry Blossoms and monuments and American History Museum. Later this month I'm taking my Girl Scout troop to the National Zoo. Just pleasant reminders that this area has so much to offer, and many of it free!

 

[CastawayJP]

OK it's official, we put down the deposits for this cruise and the one before it last night! Can't wait to surprise the kids at breakfast!

We lived in Reston for three years and absolutely loved it! As a tennis player there was no better place in NoVA! Great walking and biking trails as well! And all the good food by the Town Center... Makes me miss VA!

 

[Marshay]

OK it's official, we put down the deposits for this cruise and the one before it last night! Can't wait to surprise the kids at breakfast!

We lived in Reston for three years and absolutely loved it! As a tennis player there was no better place in NoVA! Great walking and biking trails as well! And all the good food by the Town Center... Makes me miss VA!

Yay! I know it feels good to have those deposits down!

Oh, yeah, Reston is great...depending when you left, you won't recognize Reston Town Center anymore..looks like a mini-New York City with the tall buildings, apartments and even a mini-city park! Ok, I exaggerate a little, but it has changed so much -- we love going there to eat though and walk around. A perfect date night!

 

[CastawayJP]

Yay! I know it feels good to have those deposits down!

Oh, yeah, Reston is great...depending when you left, you won't recognize Reston Town Center anymore..looks like a mini-New York City with the tall buildings, apartments and even a mini-city park! Ok, I exaggerate a little, but it has changed so much -- we love going there to eat though and walk around. A perfect date night!

We left in 06 so it was pretty much the same. When we are in DC we frequently go back to see friends!

 

[Marshay]

We left in 06 so it was pretty much the same. When we are in DC we frequently go back to see friends!

ah, ok. I came to Reston in 1996, so it's changed drastically since then!

 

[SFD998]

I just booked this cruise yesterday. It will be myself and DW. We will be leaving the kids at home. We just got back on 4/22 (w/ the kids) from the Dream and this will be our third time on board this ship and our fifth cruise with Disney. We will also be on the Magic in July for the short 2 nighter out of N.Y.

This is a late booking for us and as a result we are in GTY status for a Cat. 5E. Not too thrilled about that but, not much we can do. If anyone has ever had guaranteed status how long does it usually take to find out? I have read that some people have checked on the DCL website under the castaway club section and found out earlier than Disney notifies them, but I'm having problems getting into it. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

[Marshay]

I just booked this cruise yesterday. It will be myself and DW. We will be leaving the kids at home. We just got back on 4/22 (w/ the kids) from the Dream and this will be our third time on board this ship and our fifth cruise with Disney. We will also be on the Magic in July for the short 2 nighter out of N.Y.

This is a late booking for us and as a result we are in GTY status for a Cat. 5E. Not too thrilled about that but, not much we can do. If anyone has ever had guaranteed status how long does it usually take to find out? I have read that some people have checked on the DCL website under the castaway club section and found out earlier than Disney notifies them, but I'm having problems getting into it. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

Welcome!!

So if you and DW are booking another cruise but w/o the kids, that is saying something really special about Disney cruises!! I can't wait to try our first Disney cruise!

Best of luck on the GTY status.

I'm just curious, what different categories did you try to book? I'm surprised that the ship is already booked up...it seems like it's still far out to book, esp with a lot of people wanting to try out the Fantasy instead.

 

[SFD998]

Welcome!!

So if you and DW are booking another cruise but w/o the kids, that is saying something really special about Disney cruises!! I can't wait to try our first Disney cruise!

Best of luck on the GTY status.

I'm just curious, what different categories did you try to book? I'm surprised that the ship is already booked up...it seems like it's still far out to book, esp with a lot of people wanting to try out the Fantasy instead.

This will be number 3 without the kids. We had booked the Dream for July 2011 with just the two of us but at the time it was something like 16 months away. Way too long to wait in my opinion so we started looking and found that in the middle of our already planned October 2010 trip that there was a 3 night on the Wonder. Being DVC members I cancelled the room we had booked and used the points to cover the kids and just paid for DW and I. It worked out really well. Prior to sailing on the Dream in July 2011 we ended up booking the Dream for April 2012. This of course being the cruise we just got off. When Disney announced that they would be sailing out of N.Y. and the port is only about an hour away it was a no brainer. This July will be number 2 without the kids, but since they would have just been and it doesn't really go anywhere we weren't that heart broken for them. In the mean time my parents have been saying that they wanted to do a family vacation so we are actually booked on the Fantasy for April 2013 as well. The Fantasy will be number six and Gold Castaway status for us I guess you could say that we have been very happy with DCL. You hear people talking in the port and this time was no different about how much nicer DCL's terminal is and don't expect it if you sail with another cruise line. What I have seen and heard DCL is just better.

As far as GTY status goes we actually didn't try any other cat. When we booked our July 2011 cruise we looked very carefully at the ships layout and decided on the aft for what appeared to be a larger private verandah. We settled on room 9674 and actually booked the same room for the trip we just got back from. When we arrived we were correct that the deck space is much larger than verandah rooms on either side of the ship. What we also discovered is that room 9176 directly next to 9674 is even bigger. As soon as we got back we changed our room assignment to 9176 for this past trip and have it booked for the Fantasy as well. I could have booked a cat. 5D, but then there was no chance of getting the larger deck. Cat. 5E runs from deck 6 to deck 10 and covers the aft. I actually booked it with the notation of please don't upgrade. There is no guarantee of that, but that is how much we prefer it.

 

[Marshay]

This will be number 3 without the kids. We had booked the Dream for July 2011 with just the two of us but at the time it was something like 16 months away. Way too long to wait in my opinion so we started looking and found that in the middle of our already planned October 2010 trip that there was a 3 night on the Wonder. Being DVC members I cancelled the room we had booked and used the points to cover the kids and just paid for DW and I. It worked out really well. Prior to sailing on the Dream in July 2011 we ended up booking the Dream for April 2012. This of course being the cruise we just got off. When Disney announced that they would be sailing out of N.Y. and the port is only about an hour away it was a no brainer. This July will be number 2 without the kids, but since they would have just been and it doesn't really go anywhere we weren't that heart broken for them. In the mean time my parents have been saying that they wanted to do a family vacation so we are actually booked on the Fantasy for April 2013 as well. The Fantasy will be number six and Gold Castaway status for us I guess you could say that we have been very happy with DCL. You hear people talking in the port and this time was no different about how much nicer DCL's terminal is and don't expect it if you sail with another cruise line. What I have seen and heard DCL is just better.

As far as GTY status goes we actually didn't try any other cat. When we booked our July 2011 cruise we looked very carefully at the ships layout and decided on the aft for what appeared to be a larger private verandah. We settled on room 9674 and actually booked the same room for the trip we just got back from. When we arrived we were correct that the deck space is much larger than verandah rooms on either side of the ship. What we also discovered is that room 9176 directly next to 9674 is even bigger. As soon as we got back we changed our room assignment to 9176 for this past trip and have it booked for the Fantasy as well. I could have booked a cat. 5D, but then there was no chance of getting the larger deck. Cat. 5E runs from deck 6 to deck 10 and covers the aft. I actually booked it with the notation of please don't upgrade. There is no guarantee of that, but that is how much we prefer it.

I'll have to remember those rooms for our *next* cruise! Assuming we have a next cruise.

For our first DCL experience, I booked in the middle of the ship so we might be closer to everything. Then once we know/understand the ship more, we can switch to something different.

 

[keechie]

Hi everyone Ive have just booked our very first Cruise on the Dream for Jan 17 2013.
and we cannot wait
Rob
DW
DS 13
DD 7

 

[Marshay]

Hi everyone Ive have just booked our very first Cruise on the Dream for Jan 17 2013.
and we cannot wait
Rob
Shelby DW
Owen DS 13
Zoe DD 7

yay!! Welcome to our group! This is our first DCL cruise too! We are very excited! I'll add you to the first post.

 

[Marshay]

Just thinking ahead ... does anyone want to do Fish Extenders for our January Cruise?

For those not familiar, it's sort of like a Secret Santa. Each family can make/buy gifts for each of the other families. You'll need to have a bag or make/buy a real Fish Extender (see various threads on the DCL forum for examples) to hang outside your cabin door.

Then at the beginning or various times while on the ship at your convenience, you drop off your goodies, secretly to the other members of the FE group by putting your goodies in the pockets of their FE.

We can also arrange a meeting spot for everyone on the first day (ala DisMeet).

FE goodies can be handmade items or things bought in stores (no homemade food allowed on ship). Once again, if you comb through the different FE threads, you'll see lots of options from people who hand-painted Disney character prints to people who bought Dollar Store Disney goodies...special prepackaged candy or food from your home state/country to mini-personal scrapbooks. The possibilities are endless. You can go crazy and make something for everyone or limit your gift to one gift per cabin.

We can decide the "rules". Usually groups are limited to about 10-15 families and you have the option to join more than one group, if you wish.

We are fast approaching enough folks to start our first January 17th Fish Extender group.

I've never done a FE but from reading about them on DIS, they sound like a lot of fun, esp for the kids. And if we decide this early, it should give everyone enough time to complete them.

Thoughts?

 

[keechie]

We are up for a FE it sound exciting

 

[Marshay]

We are up for a FE it sound exciting

Cool! We'll wait to see if others are interested, too.

 

[DisneyOHFan]

We just got off the Fantasy yesterday and will be joining this group in January. It will be our 5th.

It will be me, DH and DS 15. We are also taking DH daughter, her husband and their 2 boys who are 5 & 2 (at the time of sailing).

Look forward to meeting everyone.

 

[DisneyOHFan]

We are up for a FE it sound exciting

We would also be interested. We did the FE for the first time last week and it was a blast. We had 35 families, so it was overwhelming, but fun.

 

[Marshay]

We just got off the Fantasy yesterday and will be joining this group in January. It will be our 5th.

It will be me, DH and DS 15. We are also taking DH daughter, her husband and their 2 boys who are 5 & 2 (at the time of sailing).

Look forward to meeting everyone.

Oh, tell us about the Fantasy and how it compared to the Dream! This will be my first DCL cruise and I can't wait!

I will add your info for both your family and your extended family!

We would also be interested. We did the FE for the first time last week and it was a blast. We had 35 families, so it was overwhelming, but fun.

YAY!! That makes 3 families (or would your DH's daughter's family also like to participate).

So let me say we will definitely have a FE and everyone can start getting their thinking caps on.

I'll put together a list (probably in August after I get back from WDW for my July vacation) and we can get more serious about it in a few more weeks.

In the meantime, I'll change the first post to indicate those families who wish to join the FE, just so we have an idea of the make-up of the families.

 

[DisneyOHFan]

Oh, tell us about the Fantasy and how it compared to the Dream! This will be my first DCL cruise and I can't wait!

I will add your info for both your family and your extended family!



YAY!! That makes 3 families (or would your DH's daughter's family also like to participate).

So let me say we will definitely have a FE and everyone can start getting their thinking caps on.

I'll put together a list (probably in August after I get back from WDW for my July vacation) and we can get more serious about it in a few more weeks.

In the meantime, I'll change the first post to indicate those families who wish to join the FE, just so we have an idea of the make-up of the families.

Yes, both of our cabins will participate in the FE.

We have been on the Dream twice and then the Fantasy last week. We like the Fantasy better, but part of that is because of the 7 days and it just seemed so much more relaxing and people weren't running around trying to fit everything in a few days.

The layout is also much better on the Fantasy when it comes to the pool. DH and I spent time up at Satellite Falls and it was so, so nice. The pools also didn't seem as crowded.

But the Dream is great. You will absolutely love it.