It's time to try a Disney Cruise. Let's start with the Dream! update pg 14

[declansdad]

After getting back on-board the ship we took it easy and got ready for Pirate Night but not before taking a last look at Castaway Cay.

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We headed down to Animator’s Palette for our first look and the start of Pirate Night. The staff we all decked out in pirate costumes and the artwork was all pirate themed. Very cool!

 

[teekathepony]

I can't get over how beautiful that beach is, the water is so clear and blue.
Pirate night looks fun so far!

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

Been a might tied up the last few weeks but I’m still reading.

Love CC; seen it three times and wish I could go back tomorrow. Severe weather forced us to miss it the first time we cruised DCL aboard the Wonder (a major disappointment to be sure, but stuff happens). We got there while sailing on the Magic though and really made up for it with a double dip while cruising on the Dream in 2011.

You got some very quality pictures showing just how gorgeous the island really is. Nice shots from the snorkeling expedition as well. Being able to take at least one image of the “Sunken Mickey” is something I consider to be a badge of honor among DCL cruisers. When I finally get the chance to get aboard the forth of the ships, I need to do the bicycling excursion. I haven’t yet made the trek out to the tower and I’d really like to do that some time.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the rest of the Pirate Night festivities. I suspect given the level of photos thus far, that we’ll be seeing some very nice fireworks images in the next update.

 

[declansdad]

I can't get over how beautiful that beach is, the water is so clear and blue.
Pirate night looks fun so far!

That is one think I love about the Carribean, the colour of the water. Beautiful!

 

[declansdad]

Been a might tied up the last few weeks but I’m still reading.

Love CC; seen it three times and wish I could go back tomorrow. Severe weather forced us to miss it the first time we cruised DCL aboard the Wonder (a major disappointment to be sure, but stuff happens). We got there while sailing on the Magic though and really made up for it with a double dip while cruising on the Dream in 2011.

You got some very quality pictures showing just how gorgeous the island really is. Nice shots from the snorkeling expedition as well. Being able to take at least one image of the “Sunken Mickey” is something I consider to be a badge of honor among DCL cruisers. When I finally get the chance to get aboard the forth of the ships, I need to do the bicycling excursion. I haven’t yet made the trek out to the tower and I’d really like to do that some time.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the rest of the Pirate Night festivities. I suspect given the level of photos thus far, that we’ll be seeing some very nice fireworks images in the next update.

The island is a great spot. I'm not a big "let's just lay on the beach" type of guy but there was plenty to do on the island and you didn't have to pay for all of it either.

Next time you are there, you will need to do the bike tour.

 

[declansdad]

The pirate themed dinner was another good one and the décor the restaurant was pretty cool. The staff really bought into the whole theme and played it up. Our assistant server, who was fantastic the whole cruise, continually looked for ways to entertain the quiz. She started to draw little math games for the boys on the table cloth with crayons. While it was great to see them jump right in to solving a math puzzle on vacation, it was priceless to see the looks on their faces when all the kids realized they could draw on the linen table cloths with the crayons.

Here is a picture of her with Declan and his buddy Jack. I think she was giving them a hint at this point.

One of our family traditions at WDW is to take a picture of Declan with wait staff we have at different restaurants and we didn’t see why it should be any different on the cruise. We decided to get one on this night and one on the next night. That would allow us to get both of the Animator’s Palette uniforms. Tonight was our assistant server.

We had to explain to our server that we would get one of her the next night because I think she was a bit offended at first. No worries though, all would be good the next night.

After diner we headed up to the Walt Disney Theatre that night’s show, an illusionist. Declan really wanted to see it but he had another goal in mind as well. He wanted to sit on one of the boxes on the side of the balcony and luckily we were early enough to find some seats in one. The show was a husband and wife team who has their own Vegas show. They weren’t bad but I wasn’t blown away, in fact I think I may have dozed off at one point. All was good though, Declan thought it was great and the assistant made watching pretty easy for me.

After leaving the theatre we made our way up to the pool area for the first of the pirate themed shows that was going on. It was very crowded up there at this point so I would suggest if you want to have a good spot for any of the shows on this night you get there early. The show was all about the classic characters dancing around in some pirate gear.

After the watching the show, Declan wanted to try the Midship Detective Agency. We found the spot, received our mission and were on our way. We quickly realized that there was a lot of walking and there were a lot of people doing the same thing. It was to the point that there would be a small line at each station and by the time you got to the front you knew what was going to happen. I suggested that we head to the clue that was the furthest away from where we were and work at it that way. Along the way I got separated, probably because I was taking pictures.

We did run into this guy along the way

A few more from around the ship

We eventually met up at the cabin, grabbed some jackets and head up for the show and fireworks. Once again it was very crowded on deck and we found a spot by the pool on the stairs leading up to the Aquaduck. Declan’s buddy Jack joined us as well. The show had started by the time we arrived but we did get to see a fair amount. It is a cool show and does have some funny pieces in it as well. The good thing is that much of it is shown on the Funnel Vision screen as well so even from the back you can see what is going on.

 

[declansdad]

The fireworks are part of the show and it is a pretty seamless transition from one part to the other. Would you really expect any less from Disney? I did take some pictures but without a tripod, fireworks pictures are hit and miss. For the most part I just kept firing away and then got rid of them after the fact. The show is not Wishes by any means but it is still pretty good.

After the fireworks, we all went our separate ways to finish off the night. Declan and Jack headed for their club, pooksma went back to the cabin and I just wondered for a bit. You can probably guess what I did.

The adults only pool

Signage for a couple of the pool deck food places

The Pirate Dance Party

And that brings us to the end of the day. We only have one more day on the cruise, our lazy day at sea. It was lazy for us and the ship itself.

 

[MeMom]

Beautiful water!



I need some of these -

and some of these flags -

for a Pirates party I want to do!

 

[declansdad]

Beautiful water!



I need some of these -



and some of these flags -



for a Pirates party I want to do!

If you can't find them, I'm sure that you will be able to create them.

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

Nice update.
Looks like y’all got a little bit of sun that day. Pirate Night is always a lot of fun. I ain’t big on watching other folks dance, but the various dance parties that DCL puts on during all of their cruises are a big hit with the young’ens (and most of the ladies).

The fireworks though… that’s one of those spots where DCL shines a little brighter. It’s not up to the standards of “Wishes” to be sure, but they have a limited platform from which to operate. They’re still the only folks offering such as well. Unless you count the ships from other lines that just happen to be following close along on those evenings. I clearly saw two other cruise liners at a short distance to either side of the Dream during pirate night festivities the last time we were aboard.


And, this is a fun picture…

 

[Grooovertoo]

That is cool you got AP on your Pirate Night, that is a very coveted rotation on the Dream class ships, good for you.

 

[afwdwfan]

That's kind of cool that they change the look of the artwork in AP to a pirate theme on pirate night.

Looks like a fun evening, all in all. I'm glad Declan got a chance to make a friend to have some fun at dinner and after the show with.

 

[declansdad]

The Day at Sea.

Today was the last day of the cruise, our day at sea.

We slept in on this day, partly because we didn’t have any plans and partly because Declan was pretty sore from his sunburn. Sometime after 9 we headed to the Enchanted Gardens for breakfast. It wasn’t very crowded and they serve essentially the same buffet as Cabanas. It was a nice change from the hustle and bustle of Cabanas and the service was very good.

After eating we headed to 687 to play movie trivia. There were some tough questions but we did pretty well but there was one family that scored near perfect. How do you compete with that?? After the trivia we split up, pooksma and Declan heading off to watch Jack-Jack’s Diaper Dash and then to watch Wreck-it Ralph, while I ended up just wandering around taking some pictures before heading back to our verandah to simply relax. (OK there may have been a beverage or two.)

The District Lounge – a very entertaining trio played here a couple of times

The bar area

The entrance to Pink

Inside, the colour isn’t great but it is very pink in this lounge

The Skyline

Evolution

Some of my “artsy” shot from the bar area

I spent an hour or so on the verandah reading and watching all the ship traffic around us. There were many freighters, tankers and a few other cruise ships crossing back and forth behind us. It was pretty cool to watch except when you looked up and it seemed a ship was coming right at us.

After the rest of the family returned from the movie Declan and I hit the pool area fro some more time on the Aquaduck, in the pool watching Cinderella, warming up in the hot-tube and finished up the afternoon in the arcade.

All in all, it was the perfect way to spend a day at sea.

 

[declansdad]

Not big on watching the dancers either Rob. Now on the Carnival Cruises, there were some good dancers to watch.

 

[declansdad]

I didn't know that, cool!

 

[declansdad]

That's kind of cool that they change the look of the artwork in AP to a pirate theme on pirate night.

Looks like a fun evening, all in all. I'm glad Declan got a chance to make a friend to have some fun at dinner and after the show with.

There was some really cool artwork rotating through some of the screens. What made it even better was going back the next night and seeing its normal setup.

 

[dvczerfs]

im back darcy. sorry, life got alot busier lately. page 14 caught up!! way to much to comment on. great pics!! water, shows, ship, islands, blue skies. looks and sounds like you had a good time.

 

[declansdad]

im back darcy. sorry, life got alot busier lately. page 14 caught up!! way to much to comment on. great pics!! water, shows, ship, islands, blue skies. looks and sounds like you had a good time.

No worries Dave, welcome back.

When does your daughter leave for the college program?

 

[dvczerfs]

No worries Dave, welcome back.

When does your daughter leave for the college program?

myself, a good friend of mine who briana calls uncle don and briana are leaving sat. may 18th at 3am. we are driving nonstop so we should arrive around 7pm on sat. night. she checks in on monday am and uncle don and i head home 3am tuesday morning driving nonstop.
her check out date is jan 3,2014. if she extends, and get accepted, she will be home in may2014 or if she extends to the spring advantage program, she would be home aug.2014.

 

[declansdad]

Well there isn’t much left to go on the cruise. We have reached the last night and once again we would be dining at the Animator’s Palette. Tonight we would see the traditional décor.

The menu

Some animations, the first is Crush visiting a nearby table

One of the changing pictures

The table marker

At the end of the meal, the wait staff “surprised” Declan with a birthday treat.

Finally, it was time to go so we took out traditional picture with our head server.

Before leaving I asked our server why the restaurant hadn’t changed from black and white to colour throughout the meal and was told that was only done on the classic ships. I had really been looking forward to seeing this and was disappointed to find out that it didn’t happen on the Dream and the Fantasy. A mistake, I think, on DCL’s part.

After our meal, Declan and Jack headed for the Edge while pooksma and I went back to the cabin to finish packing the bags and getting them out for pick up. We then headed for the final show of the cruise, Believe. Declan didn’t want to come but half way through my wave phone rang and it was him. He wanted to know where we were sitting because he decided to come after all. He did manage to find us and got to see some of the show. Each of the production shows they do is fantastic and each is very different. This one is a must see if you are a Disney fanatic.
After the show, the three of us headed to the D Lounge for Disney trivia. We were joined by a couple of our friends from home who were also on the cruise. We managed to score 31 points, good enough for 2nd place 2 points behind the winners. The family that won had been winners a couple of times throughout the cruise so they graciously told the host to give the prize to us – DCL keychains for all of us!!!!!

It was getting late and we had the first breakfast sitting in the morning so we decided to call it a night. But before Declan and I made our way to the cabin he wanted to do one thing that we hadn’t had the chance to do – play shuffleboard. So off to Deck 4 we went to play a couple of games before grabbing a final snack and turning in.