The Lloyd’s – Just Us Two on a Dream Cruise – January 2-6, 2013

[indyxray5]

Thank you so much! Can't wait to read more of your report

 

[RMAMom]

Dave, if you don't mind I'd like to ask you a few questions about late seating.

We are celebrating our 29th anniversary with our first cruise in March and have been assigned second seating. Can I ask how it was for you and your wife? At home we are up at 4 AM and usually in bed by 9 or 9:30 PM so I am a little concerned that we are going to be exhausted to the point of not enjoying it. What time did you usually finish with dinner each night?

 

[PizzieDuster]

Forgot to ask this...

Dave,

Please ask your lovely wife where she got her sandals she wore on Day 1.
They are adorable

 

[figment52]

Oh, it counts! DW is a teacher there, and they have a blue spring ...somewhere, I'm sure.

OMG my SIL taught for 30 years in Blue Springs - mostly 1st grade. She retired a few years ago. Small World.

 

[Dave Dizney]

Dave, if you don't mind I'd like to ask you a few questions about late seating.

We are celebrating our 29th anniversary with our first cruise in March and have been assigned second seating. Can I ask how it was for you and your wife? At home we are up at 4 AM and usually in bed by 9 or 9:30 PM so I am a little concerned that we are going to be exhausted to the point of not enjoying it. What time did you usually finish with dinner each night?

We really liked the late seating - going first to the show and then to dinner was fun and not as hectic as the more "child-friendly" times.

That being said, my DW needs to eat ON TIME. We slowly got into the routine of eating later before the trip, and took an afternoon snack each day (that's the reason you see her eating pizza often). Having food available at all times was helpful for her making it to the later dinner time. Dinner takes a while to get through - we started at 8:15 and were usually done around 9:30-9:40. I've heard in the earlier seating they hurry you out in order to get to the later seating crowd - not the case in the later seating.

We stayed up till around midnight each night and got up by 8:00 each morning, and were fine - never sleepy!

 

[Dave Dizney]

Forgot to ask this...

Dave,

Please ask your lovely wife where she got her sandals she wore on Day 1.
They are adorable

She says she got them at Kohls last April.

I got my shoes at Payless - I'm sure you were going to ask that, too.

 

[Dave Dizney]

Part 10 – Day 4 afternoon

After a couple hours, we opted to do lunch (as recommended on these boards) at the Serenity Bay location – it was mostly empty.

I started prepping my plate for a hamburger, but the cook recommended I take the rib eye. It was very thin cut and I thought it would be tough. Au contraire! It was one of my favorite meals of the trip!

Fresh fruit – fresh veggies – and the BAC (big *** cookie) with banana ice cream to top it off? Yes, please!

Next, we had reserved some snorkeling supplies and made the trek over to the hut and donned the equipment.

We put the camera in a new waterproof sleeve we bought just for this trip, and began to walk out. DW, who had never been snorkeling, began to panic just a bit – I thought we might have to go back, but then we met this guy.

He was so interesting, DW forgot about her panic. Later a woman would come by us saying “Enjoy that fish while you can – you won’t see much more.” I dislike grumpy people – and OH, was she WRONG. Here’s a few shots of what we saw in our 1.5 hour snorkel adventure!

Those photos (which I have dozens more) don’t show all the different kinds of fish we saw. It was amazing!

Afterward, we headed back to Serenity Bay – and got a couple of nice little drinks.

…and generally just soaked up the sun the rest of the day.

…then we made our trip back to the ship – wishing we could stay there for a few more days, but we had to get ready for our Palo night! We also had to pack so we could get our luggage ready for pickup.

Next..., our last night at Palo!

 

[Jessbell34]

Oh, I love your trip report so far! I was in tears laughing during your spa adventure and your hilarious farewell from the sleeping lady as you were leaving! Ha! I am a Missouri native too! We live in Springfield, MO. My husband and I will be boarding the Dream on January 31 (my birthday) for a three night cruise. We are dreaming of our day at Serenity Bay! We honeymooned there 5 years ago (on the Wonder) and have been anxious to get back. That place is one of our favorite places on the planet! Can't wait to read more!

 

[Dave Dizney]

Oh, I love your trip report so far! I was in tears laughing during your spa adventure and your hilarious farewell from the sleeping lady as you were leaving! Ha! I am a Missouri native too! We live in Springfield, MO. My husband and I will be boarding the Dream on January 31 (my birthday) for a three night cruise. We are dreaming of our day at Serenity Bay! We honeymooned there 5 years ago (on the Wonder) and have been anxious to get back. That place is one of our favorite places on the planet! Can't wait to read more!

Love Springfield - hope the tornado's left you unscathed down there! Hope your cruise has as great weather as ours did - it was wonderful!

 

[MichelleVW]

I love the steak at Serenity Bay! That and the mango...I'm surprised there was any mango left for you because I was there about 11:30 and must have had about 4 plate fulls!! I made an ice cream cookie sundae while I was there!! Soft serve on top of that cookie was amazing!!

 

[Dave Dizney]

I love the steak at Serenity Bay! That and the mango...I'm surprised there was any mango left for you because I was there about 11:30 and must have had about 4 plate fulls!! I made an ice cream cookie sundae while I was there!! Soft serve on top of that cookie was amazing!!

We were there around 11:50 - we must have just missed you! I wanted to make a sandwich out of the cookies and ice cream, but thought I'd be kicked out of the "adult" beach area.

...I did hear a conversation from the food staff about needing to go back to the ship for more mango. They were also in the process of tagging your KTTW card in the event you tried to bring any of that fruit back into the US.

 

[DisneyBelle99]

Enjoying your trip report. DH and I will be on our first Disney Cruise and our first DVC cruise this September. Kids grown, no grandkids yet, so it will be just us!

 

[RMAMom]

We really liked the late seating - going first to the show and then to dinner was fun and not as hectic as the more "child-friendly" times.

That being said, my DW needs to eat ON TIME. We slowly got into the routine of eating later before the trip, and took an afternoon snack each day (that's the reason you see her eating pizza often). Having food available at all times was helpful for her making it to the later dinner time. Dinner takes a while to get through - we started at 8:15 and were usually done around 9:30-9:40. I've heard in the earlier seating they hurry you out in order to get to the later seating crowd - not the case in the later seating.

We stayed up till around midnight each night and got up by 8:00 each morning, and were fine - never sleepy!

Thank you, I think DH will nap in the afternoon and be good to go! I also think you convinced us to grab lunch at serenity bay, it looks delicious!

 

[Dave Dizney]

Part 11 – Day 5 - Palo Night

The first day on the ship, right after lunch we ran down to the side of the Royal Palace to make our reservation at Palo for the last night. Though they didn't have any openings online before the trip, they had an 8:00 opening when we boarded. Perfect!

We had heard both on these boards as well as on the ship how great this dinner was, and it didn’t disappoint. So after a full day at Castaway Cay, we came back to the ship and begin the sad task of packing – AND dressing up for our nice dinner.

The place is beautiful – all deep wood accents and low lighting up. The restaurant is high in the aft of the ship, so this particular evening we were able to see the lights of Freeport off in the distance through the windows.

We started with the antipasti. It’s served tableside from a showcase – I enjoyed, but my DW, with a less adventurous pallet just nibbled.

I had the fried calamari – WONDERFUL!

DW had the tomato and mozzarella cheese. Fresh and light.

Pallet cleanser! A lemon ice thing with strawberries.

DW had the penne and shrimp – a bit spicy for her taste, but the shrimp were huge (oxymoron alert)!

I had the tenderloin – BEST ENTRAY THE WHOLE WEEK!!!! Not kidding – it was flavorful and melt-in-your mouth – on top of mashed potatoes. DW lusted after mine after I gave her a bite – I had to guard it the rest of the evening.

Dessert was the chocolate soufflé – OMG, you guys! They pour a cream and chocolate sauce into the middle. The egg-looking thing is vanilla gelato. Wonderful!

Our waitress, Jamie Lee, was from Enfield, England – we had a great conversation with her about her life on the ship, her home town (which I’ve visited), and all the while she kept us updated with information on each item we were served.

(Yes, we kept the anniversary thing going all week!)

And, if that wasn’t enough – they end your meal with this cream/cheesecake thing with fruit and a sorbet.

It was a wonderful evening!

…and I must say my lady sparkled this evening, …as she has all 30 years!

Since it was the last night and we didn’t want to go to sleep and wake up with the week over, we changed into civilized clothes and ran around the ship. First, we saw the Sailing Away show – it was sad, in a happy Disney way.

We then went to Shutters and ordered the dang electronic files. Yeah, I caved.

And we ended the night taking photos around the ship and playing mid-ship detectives until after midnight. We went with our video camera to record little antidotes about what happened in different locations the last 5 days. Finally, we were worn out and needed to end our last full day!

Next is the sad-bad day as we disembark.

 

[declansdad]

That is a great picture of the two of you by the staircase.

 

[MichelleVW]

We were there around 11:50 - we must have just missed you! I wanted to make a sandwich out of the cookies and ice cream, but thought I'd be kicked out of the "adult" beach area.

...I did hear a conversation from the food staff about needing to go back to the ship for more mango. They were also in the process of tagging your KTTW card in the event you tried to bring any of that fruit back into the US.

I learned the ice cream cookie trick from our first Dream cruise in 2011 and I couldn't wait until I was back on Castaway Cay to make another one!!

 

[Jblever]

Although you took great pictures throughout the week, the ones made by Disney are awesome. You will be glad that you bit the bullet and made the purchase.

 

[Dave Dizney]

I learned the ice cream cookie trick from our first Dream cruise in 2011 and I couldn't wait until I was back on Castaway Cay to make another one!!

...I need a list of reasons why we need to rebook. This will be added to that list!

Although you took great pictures throughout the week, the ones made by Disney are awesome. You will be glad that you bit the bullet and made the purchase.

Yeah, I guess you're right. It's kind of like when they show you photos of your kids with a paper shredder in the background. Is the cost justifiable? NO! Is the cost of NOT buying them advisable? NO!

 

[LuvGoldens]

Enjoyed your thorough review and pictures! We're sailing on the Dream on April 28 (4 nt Bahamas) for our first Disney cruise and are getting excited. We have no kids but are big Disney fans so I was interested to read your report as a couple also sailing without kids. thanks for sharing

 

[lpizzuro123]

Love the way the professional photos come out. We will be cruising in November on the Dream for our anniversary. I have a few questions about when you purchase the disk.

Am I right in thinking you only get the disk - not the actual photos. I actually love the way Disney developes the photos also. I am not sure how they would come out using their disk but getting a few actually printed. I usually use Shutterfly or go to my local CVS to print out photos. I also make a Shutterfly book from each trip so I will definately be able to add the professional pictures to the book.

Also, 8 of our friends will be coming on this cruise with us - 2 will be celebrating their birthday while on the cruise. Will we get all the pictures on the disk as long as either my DH or myself are in the pictures? Like if I do a photo of all the girls - or all the guys - those will be on the disk also - but not if there is a picture of one of the couples and we are not in the picture.

Enjoying your report - thanks for all the great tips.

Linda