A Dream (Cruise) Is a Wish Your Heart Made! *UPDATE 9/30 See Ya Real Soon

[ElsasMom]

I will be following, DCL is a dream of mine we have never been on a cruise, but DH refuses to do a cruise (he is a Disney fanatic though) because he doesn't like the water so I will live vicariously through you guys

Aw, that's too bad! He doesn't know what he's missing! I'm glad you joined in I'll do my best to keep you entertained

Loving your trip report so far. I'm off to my first cruise ever in September so I'm learning as much as possible before then. Look forward to the rest of your updates.

Yay! First Cruise, Woo Hoo! I hope my TR helps you prepare.

 

[odzigme]

You guys are adorable! We're going on the 3 day in April. This TR is awesome, can't wait to read more

 

[BLTtinkerbell]

I'm following! Going on our first cruise in July! Looking forward to reading more

 

[ElsasMom]

You guys are adorable! We're going on the 3 day in April. This TR is awesome, can't wait to read more

Aw, thanks! Yay, your cruise is coming up! Thanks for reading.

I'm following! Going on our first cruise in July! Looking forward to reading more

Welcome! I'm so excited for you! You're going to have a blast.

 

[ElsasMom]

Let the Eating Begin!

We headed to the elevators & this happened




So much joy she just collapsed in the elevator lobby.

We headed down to Cabana's for our first food of the trip!

Here's my lunch!


& look at the little Mickeys on the cups!



RR was getting really good at spotting hidden Mickeys this trip. She had a ridiculously unbalanced lunch of cheese pizza, cheese cubes & bread . She drank some juice we dubbed "island princess juice" I don't recall what was actually in it mango orange guava or something, but it was good.



After DS first trip to the buffet we warned him about pacing himself & dubbed him captain heaping plate.



Here's DH's plate



RR & I decided the Sea Star shades on the windows were full of Hidden Mickeys!




I had a good look at the Navigator & saw that Big Hero 6 was playing tonight. I asked if anyone would be upset if we skipped "The Golden Mickeys" and saw the movie instead. None of us had seen it yet so we were super excited. I believe DH's exact words were "There's a show called THE GOLDEN MICKEYS. Ugh, no thanks."






It was at this point after saying a million times we'd go to the Aquaduck "next", we decided to not do that, again. Instead we would run around helping the kids solve their mysteries. "Let's go find the puppies!"







You have a map that tells you where each of the 13 pieces of interactive art with clues are. You can do them in ANY order. You stand on the little magnifying glass on the ground & hold up your badge. It has a little barcode-y deal on it. No worries it's different for everyone so if you're in line behind other kids it won't spoil your game.



It's much easier to play if you can use the stairs because the art alternates being all the way forward or aft on each deck. Getting to and waiting for elevators slowed us down quite a bit.

We narrowed down the puppy-napper to 2 villians, but after the first day we were too busy to play again.

We happened to reach deck 4 playing the game as the emergency drill began. Perfect timing because we were Muster Station F which meant we were in the Buena Vista (Movie) Theater. They scanned my KTW card and made sure I had everyone in my stateroom with me. We grabbed some great seats. It wasn't long before it was standing room only. I love the decor in there.


Mickey Chairs!


Mickey Rug!


This is a DH explaining to a very concerned RR why we do an emergency drill.

When it was over RR was upset because she thought we would stay & watch the movie right then. Poor confused kiddo. We decided the Aquaduck was officially not happening today & we headed to the room to change out of bathing suits.

Up Next: Sailing Away!
​

 

[ElsasMom]

Oo-ee, Oo-ee baby Won't cha let me take you on a sea cruise...

When we got back to the room our bags were there, Yay! I had packed our door magnets & the Valentines window clings (for the sliding glass door to our to the balcony) in my suitcase so I let the kids decorate.





Not only are the door magnets fun & helpful in locating the right door in a hurry, but other people's door decorations make good landmarks too. I didn't make ours I bought them from Etsy. Oh, and that's not our real last name it's an inside joke.

I had intended to at least take RR if not both kids (DH hates crowds) up to the Sail Away party, but we ended up watching the boat sail away from our balcony. It was nice.








I remember RR yelled "goodbye Florida!" which I thought was adorable. There were random people waving to us as we left too.

Everyone changed out of their bathing suits and the kids went nuts over their beds which had magically appeared since we were there last.





Look how cute the ceiling above DS was too! (he took these two himself)




Oh, Peter!

There were other surprises too!


"Oh look!" DH says "It's a...a..um..you know fat seal with tusks" aka a walrus, sigh




We had under an hour before we were going to head to the movie so DS begged us to go back up to the Edge. So, we made sure he knew where & when to meet us. He's growing up, sniff!

The Scariest Few Minutes of the Trip

I think the rest of us just hang out on the balcony for a bit before we headed for the elevators.

RR was excited & walking ahead of me down the hallway. When she turned the corner towards the elevator I called "You found the elevators, good job! Wait for me."

But seconds later when I turned the corner she wasn't there. I called her name & heard her answer, but couldn't tell where from. I looked down the stairs & paced the elevator lobby worried she'd gotten in one & the doors had shut.

DH was right behind me so he climbed down the stairs & ran down both sides of the hallway. I dialed Guest Service on my wave phone & told them I thought she's gotten on an elevator. They said "Is it [RR] whose missing?" I said it was and they told me she was in the Oceaneers Club!

I was so confused. DH & I rushed down to the Oceaneers club where we found her sobbing in a CM's arms. I still didn't understand what happened. The CM explained that if any lost children are found they bring them to Oceaneers club and contact the parents.

This had all happened in just over 5min from the time we were separated to the time we got to the Oceaneers club. It turns out she had run right past the elevator lobby completely & across to the other side of the hall & a CM brought her to the kids area where she tapped her blue band & they had all her info.

Now What?!? Baymax.

We calmed RR down. It was so out of character for her to get ahead of us like that. It's never happened before or since. I think she was tired & overwhelmed it had been a long day already.

DH & I were still shaking, but we decided to head to the movie anyway after all DS was probably wondering where we were.

We made it to the theater & sat down, DS hadn't been at the door we came in so DH went up a level to see if he was at the other door & with cartoon comedic timing the moment DH disappeared DS appeared!

He asked if he should go get DH & I said, "No way! You're stay right here." DH reappeared soon after & we all had a laugh about the timing. It was pretty empty in the theater which was perfect.

I went out to look at concessions & between the prices & line I decided against it and sat back down. RR was really upset about me returning empty handed as she was getting hungry.

There was an adorable animated short before the movie that made DH & I cry. Big Hero 6 was amazing! It was definitely the right choice for our first night!

We were headed from the movie down to dinner. Our first night was Animator's Palette! I was BEYOND excited. It had been my favorite restaurant last time & I was hoping the kids would see it their first night.

We took the elevator down one deck and as we were walking across the atrium there was Minnie! RR ran up & hugged her! She was done visiting for now, but the CM told me she'd be out again after dinner.

Then as we neared the end of the hallway we saw that there was a line to get into dinner. The kids sat down in a porthole to wait.



As you can see we didn't change for dinner, but RR did change to her Princess Minnie Ears .

I think we waited about 10mins before the line moved very quickly & we were seated.

Up Next: The First Dinner!​

 

[Dismamx2]

Following along!

Great TR, I'm interested in how your DS got on with the clubs. We are on the Dream in June and it's hard to know if my DD 12 will prefer the Edge or Oceaneers Lab/Club. Looking forward to more

 

[ElsasMom]

Following along!

Great TR, I'm interested in how your DS got on with the clubs. We are on the Dream in June and it's hard to know if my DD 12 will prefer the Edge or Oceaneers Lab/Club. Looking forward to more

DS never took advantage of the Oceaneers Club, he only hung out in the Edge during our trip. But he was up there every chance he got. He really enjoyed making Flubber, Pirate night activities & the Valentines Dance. There are quite a few activities that both age groups do so you may find it advantageous to participate in one club or other because of scheduling.

 

[Dismamx2]

DS never took advantage of the Oceaneers Club, he only hung out in the Edge during our trip. But he was up there every chance he got. He really enjoyed making Flubber, Pirate night activities & the Valentines Dance. There are quite a few activities that both age groups do so you may find it advantageous to participate in one club or other because of scheduling.

Sounds fun! I would like her to go to the Edge as I think it will be more her age but we are travelling with my 8yo niece and I think she may prefer stay in the same club as her rather than try meet some new friends. It's still a surprise so we haven't talked about it yet. Looking forward to the rest of your TR, thanks for sharing

 

[ElsasMom]

Our First Dinner

I was so excited that we had Animator's Palette the first night! Sorry to repeat myself, but I was.

Here are some throw back pictures of the sketches in the hallway that leads to the Animator Palette from our HM







And here are some I took this trip







And this one was right at the entrance


When we got to our table I joked that they saw us coming because we were at our own table of four. No new friends at dinner this trip, but really that ended up being a good thing. I was impressed that RR's spot already had a kids menu (Toy Story theme) & a cup with a lid & her name & a Mickey on it.









DS was delighted to order off the regular menu. They're very accommodating. RR never wanted any of the kids appetizer options so I always asked for fruit instead. They also always served her first, always.







We were surprised how long our drinks took & how long it took for our order to be taken. We'd anticipated impeccable service like last time. We were all tired & hungry.







We all ordered the beef entree (except RR who got Mac & Cheese). RR got fruit to start & the boys appetizers were a pasta stuffed with mushrooms. I got the salmon tar tar.



They brought bread which we vanquished swiftly & Crush started swimming around! It was adorable.







At first he swims around chatting with the other Nemo characters & such. The fish from the movie make shapes you can guess. Later he interacts we people in the dining room, like Turtle Talk at Epcot. At the end of the night he teaches everyone to swim like a turtle even the servers join in. Fun stuff. Toooooootally. Awesome.

Appetizers finally showed up.


My Salmon Tar Tar, Excellent.


The stuffed pasta, so good it was almost gone by the time I snapped a picture.



Riley's fruit, she was thrilled.

Up Next: We eat dinner & Finish Day 1​

 

[ElsasMom]

Dinner is Served!

I already mentioned they always served RR first. So dinner took a long time, but hers took the least amount of time of the four of us.



I LOVED that our assistant server poured RR a ketchup Mickey! How fun is that?

The rest of us were starving! DH had asked for 2 entrees because on our last cruise dinner was ALWAYS that good. I remember looking over at the table next to us and they were done eating. Sigh. It finally came & it looked good.



BUT...

It was not so great. I finished mine because I was starving, but DH didn't eat his first one and canceled his second. It was bland and blah, not terrible but not up to DCL standards. It was SUCH a bummer after waiting so long. In hindsight, we should have given some feedback & gotten something else. Unfortunately, RR was coming unglued it was the end of a loooooooooong day for little Miss.

She ordered a Mickey Bar , which they served in a bowl with chocolate syrup & Mickey sprinkles . So cute.

At this point the photographer who was floating around our section FINALLY made it over. The pictures she took were individual shots of each of us and then one of each side of the table (Me & RR, DH & DS). I wish she'd gotten all 4 of us! I didn't end up with a single picture of the four of us the whole trip. Again, I'm sure if I had asked she probably would have, but we were tired & hungry. We were one of the last tables in there so the photographer wasn't looking to linger either.

I loved both individual shots of the kids, but only bought DS because I knew I didn't have as many pictures of him from the trip. I wish you could buy pictures once you get home and look at all the ones you took yourself! I totally regretted not getting RR too. Anyway, here's that handsome pre-teen.



It ended up being good timing because I wasn't feeling well all the sudden. I don't want to go into detail, but lady issues. I told Mike to hang with the kids while they ate desert (DS ordered Mango Cheesecake-which he reported was awesome). I headed through the almost deserted restaurant towards the ladies room.

When I got to the bathroom there was a line. Sigh, I debated waiting or making a break for the room. I knew time was a factor so I tried to wait. After about 5min daydreaming about my missed dessert I knew I had to get to the room.

Minnie was out again when I came down the ramp. I pushed the elevator button & snapped this great "hidden Mickey" on the glass elevator.



I made it into my room, used the bathroom & then discovered my favorite thing about our stateroom. The shower! WOW. On our first cruise I was all about the bed. I'd had fond memories of "the cloud bed." This time I was all about the shower. Maybe because it's harder to sleep well with your kids in the room or the weather being chillier, not sure.

First of all, there is a normal shower head & then there's one in the ceiling directly over your head! It surprised me at first (like scared me because I wasn't prepared), but it's amazing & I want want one at home. Second, it gets so hot! I wanted to live in there!

So, I was showered & in my jammies and all was right with the world when DH & RR made it back to the room. DS had gone back to the edge after dinner.

DH & I had also remembered loving the channel that played classic Mickey cartoons on a loop on our last cruise. We'd also, watched it at Pop Century after a Sept MNSSHP this fall. Unfortunately, it was gone!

They replaced it with a loop of the NEW Mickey cartoons. They're ok, in fact I quite like a few, but there aren't as many so the loop repeats a lot more frequently. Our favorite is "Bad Ear Day" you tube it, it's great.

RR was out after a few minutes of cartoons . I examined the Navigator for the next day. I knew I was taking RR to see princesses at 10am & Elsa and Anna at 1pm. So, I thought girls breakfast would be nice. Then I saw princess Minnie would be out at 9:15am & my morning was set. Yay, Valentines Day!





I had a terrible time setting the room alarm! I read the instructions over & over. Finally, DH took over and the alarm was set for 7am. DS came in a little bit after that. I had set his jammies out & instructed him not to wake his sister before I passed out.

Unfortunately, I didn't sleep very well that first night despite my exhaustion. I had some sinus pressure & I wasn't the only one because when I woke up at 3am, RR was snoring like a lumberjack! Poor pumpkin. I slept until the alarm (once I got back to sleep).

Up Next: Good Morning, Bahamas! ​

 

[STLMickeyMom]

Hi--joining in! We're going on our first ever cruise (on the dream) in September. We've done wdw several times but I'm feeling a little out of my planning element with the cruise. What are princess tickets? Like a fast pass?

Your family is so cute! I can't wait to hear all about it!

Ps....our first wdw trip with the kids, our oldest took off after turtle talk at Epcot and got lost in the crowd. We found her with a CM about 5 minutes and a heart attack later. Gotta love those CMs!!!

 

[ElsasMom]

Hi--joining in! We're going on our first ever cruise (on the dream) in September. We've done wdw several times but I'm feeling a little out of my planning element with the cruise. What are princess tickets? Like a fast pass?

Your family is so cute! I can't wait to hear all about it!

Ps....our first wdw trip with the kids, our oldest took off after turtle talk at Epcot and got lost in the crowd. We found her with a CM about 5 minutes and a heart attack later. Gotta love those CMs!!!

Princess tickets are a new thing. They didn't have them at all when I went in 2012. Basically, you have to grab a ticket for the most popular M&Gs (they list them on the front of the first Navigator that give you.) Then ONLY people with tickets can go to those M&Gs. On this trip it was only the Princess Gathering & Anna & Elsa. So, yes it's like fast pass because it cuts down on wait time significantly (I think we waited less than 5min each M&G we had tickets for). But it's not like a fast pass because there is no standby line. Make sense? I'll talk about the Princess Gathering in my next update, but someone else summed it up by saying "it's like speed dating" you wait in one line and then visit 4 characters one after the other.

Thanks! I think they're pretty adorable Even if DH refused to get a haircut before the trip

Thanks for sharing that, I was worried about even mentioning it for fear of being judged , but I thought it was great how efficient they are about it!

 

[dglilbit]

Love your trip report!

 

[ElsasMom]

Love your trip report!

Thanks!

I'm excited for you! Your first DCL at Christmas time! That's going to be awesome. I'm trying to talk DH into Halloween on the high seas, but I hear the ships are beautiful at Christmas.

 

[ElsasMom]

Day 2

I had noticed the first night when I got everyone's jammies out of the suitcase that the handle was broken. I was totally bummed but decided rather than call down I'd swing by the desk in the morning and let them know.

Our alarm went off about 5 minutes after RR woke up. Just like home!

It was when we were getting dressed that I realized RR's lanyard with her KTW card in it was NOT in the room. So, I added that to the list of reasons to stop by the Guest Services desk after breakfast.

What did we wear? Glad you asked!
RR started in her Minnie Mouse dress with her mouse ears & Minnie high heels (I hadn't told her we were meeting princess Minnie yet )
DS Wore his Stitch shirt and skull & cross bone shorts
I have no clue what DH wore the entire trip since I wasn't in charge of his packing.
I was Disney bounding as green dress Ariel (from the parks) Actually my visit with green dress Ariel on my HM cruise (picture in the intro this thread) was my inspiration.


Little Miss & I headed to Cabanas for breakfast because they opened at 7am, but by the time we got there it was after 8am and other options were available. It was PACKED but I wanted sit outside anyway.

A nice CM walked us through the buffet and out to a table where we had an amazing view of the boat docking in Nassau!

It was time for the first Mickey waffle of the trip.


RR had scrambled eggs too. I just had Mickey Waffles and we both got regular orange juice. Everything was delicious! The view though! Oh the view

When we were done we headed down to guest services. There was no line at all, but I was so concerned about RR's lanyard that I forgot to mention the suitcase! Oh well. Put your kids KTW cards in a lanyard because if Daddy leaves it on the dinner table one night it will get returned. The CM was all set to make a new card, but I told him it was on a silver Castaway Club lanyard & Ta-Da! There it was, phew!

We went back up a floor to the balcony to get in line for Princess Minnie's only Valentine's appearance. We were second in line! M&Gs on that balcony are great because you get the amazing chandelier in the background.



Close up on the Mickeys



Here's RR doing a ballerina pose under the dancing dandelion painting while we waited. All the art on the ships is cool. I especially love all the art in the gallery.


While we waited a CM came up & gave RR a beautiful paper rose he'd made from a colorful paper napkin and clear straw. I thought it was pretty amazing to get a rose on Valentines Day in line for Princess Minnie!








Below us in the lobby we could see the Princess M&G. Our tickets were for later on in the morning. I remember this mom trying so hard to get both of her kids to sit with Belle. Her daughter was super excited to sit with Belle's arm around her, but the little boy was having none of it. He sat cross legged about 3 feet away frowning. She kept scooting him closer and he kept scooting away. It was pretty funny. That's about how DS would have reacted.

Soon Minnie came out in this beautiful gown & did a big spin before she took her place.

This first one makes me tear up. Minnie was so EXCITED to see RR in her Minnie outfit, just look



Then some hugs



She hugged Minnie so tight her ears fell off and a CM was right there to fix them (can you imagine how special she must have felt?!?)



Here are the posed pictures. Not sure why they add a big red purse to the picture border. I wish it was just bows.





After pictures Minnie walked RR over to me & gave me great big hug! I know I'm a mush ball, but what a great way to start the day!!

Up Next Princesses & Fairies!!​

 

[Marina Soubhia]

Loving your report!!!

 

[STLMickeyMom]

How adorable is your DD? She's a perfect Minnie with her polka dots and yellow heels!! What a great Minnie meet!

I would have done the same thing at guest services--I always go places with a list in mind and then forget something!

What a bummer about the suitcase handle!

 

[mrssmith06]

Loving your TR. It makes me so excited for our first cruise!

 

[Dismamx2]

Great update. Your dd is so adorable in her minnie outfit