Back to Back Cruising on the Dream May 23-26 & May 26-30 2013

[Recie]

Some of the exhibits look like painting but they are wax exhibits.

They have these trivia questions and answers in every room.








Outside of the Museum




The Tour Guide


One thing to be aware of when entering the Museum. If you have little ones,. Warn them that when you first walk in, it totally dark. That was unexpected and freaked the kids out . DGS finally calmed down and enjoyed. DGD kept her eyes closed through the first section. The second section is upstairs with lots of exhibits. I did not see an elevator so but there may be one available.

DGS really like Pirates but I though this was going to be too advanced for him. He enjoyed it though.
We were behind a group that was touring so we could not go at our own pace. The guy doing the tour provided a lot of information and Pirate history.

At the end of the tour, there’s a play area that also have refreshments.

After the Museum, we went by the Stray Market for some more shopping and went back to the ship.

We went to lunch at Royal Palace and went back to our room to cool off for a while. DD took the kids to the kids club and she relaxed in the Spa. I walked around on deck 4 and sat outside watching the other ships.

On the way back from the Spa, DD stopped by Vista Café to get a frappe and some of the sweet treats.

 

[Recie]

Tonight we went to Cabanas instead of Enchanted Garden. They fix Cabanas up a bit for dinner. The lighting is dim and the buffet is closed. It wasn't as fancy as the MDR's but it did not look like the morning and lunch buffet.

It is much quieter and less hectic than the MDR's. I tried to get pictures of the menu.










I ordered a steak and I thought it was better than the one from the MDR. The only issue was that I ordered it medium and it was almost well. It was very tender.
Sorry, I cut it before taking a picture.


We were finished in about a little over an hour. DGN wanted to go back to the club so we dropped her off and just walked around the ship for a while.

We met Chip and Dale on the Midship elevators. They were in trouble because they pressed all of the buttons.



I let DGN stay at the club for about until around 11 and picked her up so we could go to bed and get ready for Castaway Cay the next day.

 

[qits]

Loving your report the kids look so adorable in their little outfits!

 

[NYcruiser]

This was awesome! Thanks for sharing!

 

[corbe4]

Congratulations to your daughter and to you, the kids are adorable you are all very blessed to have found each other and it sounds like everyone had a great time. Can't wait to hear the rest!

 

[Recie]

Loving your report the kids look so adorable in their little outfits!

Thanks,

This was awesome! Thanks for sharing!

Thank you. I an enjoying reliving the trip.

Congratulations to your daughter and to you, the kids are adorable you are all very blessed to have found each other and it sounds like everyone had a great time. Can't wait to hear the rest!

Thanks, we do feel blessed to have them. It was a busy week so I did not get to post any updates. Hopefully I can get a couple posted this weekend.

 

[Recie]

We watched as the ship docked at Castaway Cay. After about an hour we got our bags ready for the day and headed off for breakfast at Enchanted Garden. We had a window seat watching as the passengers disembark and the kids getting excited to take pictures with the characters.

When we finished breakfast, we got off of the ship and got ready for our beach day. Just as we got off of the ship DD realized she had left the sand toys in the room so instead of buying a third set, she decided to go back to get them.

Me and the kids started walking toward the Tram Station. We saw Stitch coming out so we got pictures with him.







Just as we finished up with Stitch, Daisy came out and we stopped to get pictures with her.





We passed Captain Hook who had just finished a Photo session and was head back to the ship.





The lines for pictures were not very long. Probably because we got off of the ship a little later. It was around 10:30 when we got off.

 

[Recie]

We finally caught the tram and went to the first beach. I found me a chair under a tree with an umbrella and relaxed. I have a fear of the ocean and swimming pools so I try not to get too close to either. This time I did put my feet in the water though.








We watch and the kids participated in the Dance party





http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0ActWzZo2asWrDAg

After the dance party, we had lunch and went back to the beach.

Around 2:30, we head back to the ship.












The beaches and lunch pavilion were not very crowded. There was not a problem finding seats at either location. There were plenty of empty loungers available.

 

[Recie]

After getting back on the ship, we got cleaned up and the kids took their. I took DGN up to ride the aquaduck. I don’t believe it was very crowded but she only rode once. She got ice cream and we went to get a couple of bowls of fruit to take back to our room. When we got back, DD went to the Vista Café to get a frappe and some dessert. We sat out on the verandah until it was time to leave Castaway Cay.

DGD wanted to go to the kids club so I dropped her off. The rest of up went to see A Pirate Life For Me. This was a really good show. It had audience participation. They had 2 adults, 2 tweens and several younger kids.







After the show, we went up to the sports deck for mini golf.















This was Pirate Night but we did not go to the Deck Party. We went down and bought the kids light up toys. DGS got a Buzz Light Year and DGD got a Spinning Princess.

 

[Recie]

It was close to dinner time so we picked up DGN and got ready for dinner. Tonight it was Royal Palace. They were serving the Pirate Menu.

Our Head Server - Ali




We finally got pictures with Captain Hook






We watched the fireworks from our Verandah.






You may notice that DGD's is no longer wearing glasses. They didn't make it in one piece back from Castaway Cay. She broke them while we were in Cocoa Beach and DD patched them enough for her to wear. After getting them wet, they broke again. I didn't think to remind her to bring an extra pair so she was almost blind the rest of the cruise.

If you have kids, remember to pack an extra pair of eyeglasses.

 

[Recie]

Today was our Day at Sea. The plan for the morning was to take the kids to the Wake Up with Disney Junior in the D-Lounge. This was a fun dance party for the younger kids. The character was Pluto. I'm not sure if they change or if Pluto is the regular. The kids were just standing around at first but they finally warmed up and started dancing along with Pluto.
I was surprised that more little kids were not there but the show is early. Most are probably at breakfast or sleeping in on Sea Day.











Some of the familiar songs that they danced to (Hope the links work):
Jungle Junction
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0ActWzZo2asWrCuA

Hot Dog
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0ActWzZo2asWrDIA

Turn Around
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0ActWzZo2asWrCmg


DGN did not want to get up that early so we let here stay in the room until we were ready for breakfast. I left her with a wave phone so she could call when she was up and dressed. She called just as the show was ending so she met us outside of the D-Lounge and we went to Enchanted Garden for Breakfast.





After breakfast, we took the kids to the kids club and DD and I split up. She went back to the room to start packing and I walked around deck 4 for a while and then sat and enjoyed the view. There was a Carnival ship in the distance that was either having a sea day or just coasting.



Around 11:30, I went inside to watch the Jack Jacks Incredible Diaper Dash. This is a race for crawling babies. Its too cute. There were 2 contestants. One didnt move and the other one finished but did not want his Jack-Jack toy, he went for the one in the other lane.




After the race, I went back to our room. DD was getting ready to go pick the kids up for the Dance Party in the Atrium. I didnt go. I stayed in the room to get DGN's and my clothes packed.

Coming next, The end of Sea Day and the end of the cruise .

 

[Recie]

DD called me when the dance party was over. I picked up DGN and we met them for lunch in Cabanas. We enjoyed one last buffet and took the kids back to the club.
Me and DD went up to the Quite Cove area and relaxed for a while. I went to get a smoothie and we picked up magazines and just sat quietly for probably an hour. I left DD there and went back to the room. DD walked around the upper decks exploring.

DD picked up the kids from the club so they could take naps. Once again DGN stayed in the club for a while longer. I picked her up when it was almost time for the kids to get up. They went to play in Nemo’s Reef for a few minutes and I took DGN to get one last ride on the Aquaduck.
We found that the best time to go on the Aquaduck is while the early diners are getting ready for dinner. I left my camera in the room so I didn’t get any pictures while we were there but this is last year and it was pretty much the same.



DGN looks like she’s grown about a foot since last May.


We went back to the room to get ready for dinner and sit our luggage out. Dinner was at Royal Court. After dinner, we went shopping trying unsuccessfully to spend the remaining money from our OBC. I purchased some of the H2O+ products and DGN picked up some souvenirs for her dad and grandma. She got a snow globe, a mug and a Christmas Ornament.

We’re probably the only family to leave money on an account (on both legs or the cruises). Once we got home, I thought of all kinds of items that we should have picked up. Oh well, next year I won’t leave any money on the account.

When we finished shopping, I took DGN to the club and the rest of us watched the See Ya Real Soon Party from the 5th floor.













When we had watched enough of the party, we took a walk around the ship enjoying the nighttime view.

We picked up DGN and turned in the wristbands. When we got back to the room, I took the door magnets down and completed the customs form. I never know what needs to be listed so I listed everything that we bought in Nassau and Castaway Cay from both cruises.

With everything done for the night, we went bed. For some reason, I was determined to be up to watch the ship enter Port Canaveral. I watched for a while and went back to bed.

Our towel animal for the night

 

[Recie]

We got up and ready for breakfast around 7.
Since we had late dinner at Royal Court the previous night, we were back for breakfast at 8:00. While we were having breakfast, DD was completing the rating sheet and our Assistant Server came by and told her that if she was not entering excellent she may as well throw it away. He was smiling when he said it so I think he was kidding. We finished breakfast and got ready to line up to disembark. The lines were all the way across the atrium. We heard there was a problem in Customs.

We hired Happy Limo to pick us up to take us to the MCO Hyatt. I received a text message the night before we arrived notifying me that the driver would be at the waiting area around 9 and to call when we clear customs. I reserved 9:30 for our pick up time. Once we made it to the customs area, they had porter’s asking if we needed help with our luggage. Of course we did, we had 6 bags. I think we over packed. Our luggage was right at the end of the table in the Goofy area. Once we got our bags, we moved quickly through customs.

Once we were through customs, I call the driver and he said he was in the standby area and was heading toward the terminal. He told us to call once were in the pick up/dropoff area to let him know where to pick us up. We stopped between sections 2 and 3. He told us to look for a black suburban. Shortly after we hung up, he arrived.

DD told the driver that we were worried after the slight delay. He said they are in contact with the cruise terminals and knew about the delay.

We use Happy Limo on all of our Orlando trips. We usually have them pick us from Royal Pacific Resort which is one of the Universal Orlando hotel and take us to the airport so I would recommend them to anyone needing transportation. The cost was $148. The price included port fees and 2 car seats. They are not allowed to secure the car seats. We had to do them ourselves while the driver was loading luggage.

We arrived at the hotel and got checked in. The first thing that I needed to do was check with lost and found. I left my flat iron there when we stayed the prior week and I was hoping they kept it. I picked up one at Walmart in Cocoa Beach that I did not like but had to use for the week. Thankfully, it was there and a housekeeper dropped it off.

I was so tired once we stopped moving so we relaxed the rest of the day. I admire those that go to WDW after the cruise. My energy level was non-existent once we settled down.

Around 6, we decided to go to the airport for dinner and shopped a little bit. DGN wanted to get her brother something from the Disney Store and DGD wanted to see if Hello Kitty was out.













After hanging around the airport for a while, we went back to our room to settle in. We had a 6:15 flight so we had to be up early. We scheduled to have our luggage picked up at 4:30. They were right on time This is one of the conveniences of staying at the Hyatt. Our flight was on time and we arrived a little ahead of schedule.

Almost Home




We really enjoyed the back to back experience and would not hesitate to do another one. Our family watched the shows on the 3 night part of the cruise and ate in the MRD‘s every night. On the 4 night, we did more relaxing and the kids spent a little more time in the clubs. Me and DD enjoyed the Adult area more. She went more than I did but the time that I was there was enjoyable.

Our next sailing is on the Wonder April 4th. DD wants to go to Chankanaab State Park in Cozumel and the Turtle Farm in Grand Cayman so I'll be reading the trip reports to get as much information as possible.

Thanks for reading and allowing me to relive our trip.

 

[mzzzh]

Great job with the trip report! Does having the Wonder trip to plan for make the end of this trip a little less sad?

 

[Recie]

Great job with the trip report! Does having the Wonder trip to plan for make the end of this trip a little less sad?

Thank You.
It was sad when the cruise was over because we didn't have another one booked. We didnt decide until about a month after we were home to book another one. Now we're in planning mode so yes, it is a little less sad having something to look forward to.

I'm hoping we like Wonder as much as we like the Dream.

 

[mrsmalato]

Loving your trip report, thank you for taking the time to share your adventure with us!

 

[nirrakel]

Loved reading your trip report, thank you!

 

[jedijill]

Great report and another congrats on the adoption. You have a beautiful family!

Jill in CO

 

[Recie]

Loving your trip report, thank you for taking the time to share your adventure with us!

Loved reading your trip report, thank you!

Great report and another congrats on the adoption. You have a beautiful family!

Thank you all for reading my trip report. I had fun writing it.

 

[Lauren0505]

Really enjoyed your trip report! Congratulations to your family on the adoption of the twins. They are adorable!