>> April 1, 2012 - Disney Dream Spring Break Frenzy! <<

[VA_mouseman]

BIG thanks to Chantel for putting together the "Just living the Disney Dream" image. I'm making door magnets for my in-laws, and my two sisters-in-law and their families, so they won't feel left out.

 

[ccbride412]

BIG thanks to Chantel for putting together the "Just living the Disney Dream" image. I'm making door magnets for my in-laws, and my two sisters-in-law and their families, so they won't feel left out.

I agree! Her hubby was kind enough to make us a personalized one which I can't wait to hang up!

 

[ccbride412]

I'm starting to feel sick! My mom's got whatever my dad had for the last 2 months and now that I've been sleep deprived for the last few days (and babysitting my 2 yr old cousin who was sick) I think I've come down with it too. Seems like everyone's got something right now with all this weird weather. Now that a lot of the stressors are gone, I plan to sleep off this illness!

 

[WDWExpress]

I'm starting to feel sick! My mom's got whatever my dad had for the last 2 months and now that I've been sleep deprived for the last few days (and babysitting my 2 yr old cousin who was sick) I think I've come down with it too. Seems like everyone's got something right now with all this weird weather. Now that a lot of the stressors are gone, I plan to sleep off this illness!

Meaghan.... so understand I spent the week feeling cruddy finally broke down and went to the DR.. sinus infection, but soon the meds will kick in and I will feel better. It went from 80 on Friday to 50 today.. YUCKY.
I hope that you get some rest and feel better soon..if the stress is going away then that will help the yuck go away as well. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

 

[RemoCat]

SpartanDis - OH MY GOODNESS. What a CRAZY Big Ten tourney this is going to be! Tough game today...we had given up 2 hours ago, but kept the game on anyway. Geez. May the best team win should we pair up again later this week. What a conference this year!

Unfortunately, while our basketball team won today, our little guy (Will, age 6) is down with this illness that's going around. Temp over 101, and bad headache. I say get it all done and over with now so everyone's healthy in 4 weeks!! I become quite the germaphobe leading up to a cruise, especially in the last week. Anyone else feel the same, and do you have a system you use to stay healthy? I'm always scared of the stomach stuff, since they'll deny boarding for that. We do crazy handwashing, probiotics, extra vitamins, and something I just learned about, we'll try this time. Some say (yes, I realize you can't believe everything you read) that the dark grape juice is anti-viral, and has been shown to be effective against letting viruses (including stomach ones) replicate. It can't hurt, so I'll have that around for a couple weeks before we leave, too. Yes, I'm crazy, but I want us healthy for this!!!

 

[SpartanDis]

SpartanDis - OH MY GOODNESS. What a CRAZY Big Ten tourney this is going to be! Tough game today...we had given up 2 hours ago, but kept the game on anyway. Geez. May the best team win should we pair up again later this week. What a conference this year!

Unfortunately, while our basketball team won today, our little guy (Will, age 6) is down with this illness that's going around. Temp over 101, and bad headache. I say get it all done and over with now so everyone's healthy in 4 weeks!! I become quite the germaphobe leading up to a cruise, especially in the last week. Anyone else feel the same, and do you have a system you use to stay healthy? I'm always scared of the stomach stuff, since they'll deny boarding for that. We do crazy handwashing, probiotics, extra vitamins, and something I just learned about, we'll try this time. Some say (yes, I realize you can't believe everything you read) that the dark grape juice is anti-viral, and has been shown to be effective against letting viruses (including stomach ones) replicate. It can't hurt, so I'll have that around for a couple weeks before we leave, too. Yes, I'm crazy, but I want us healthy for this!!!

Crazy is right! I really wanted to win the championship outright - but now the Big 10 tournament will really be interesting. March madness at its finest!

And yes, better to get the sickness over now. We've all been sick and my husband tore a muscle in his leg about a week ago - I feel like March needs to be a healthier month for us. My antibiotics kicked in and I'm finally feeling better. Looking forward to sleeping well tonight!

I have to finish planning my DS birthday party in two weeks. March is a big family birthday month for us. My DS turns 7 and is having a pirate party - so extra party favors will be coming with us for pirate night.

 

[SSinWYO]

Crazy is right! I really wanted to win the championship outright - but now the Big 10 tournament will really be interesting. March madness at its finest!

And yes, better to get the sickness over now. We've all been sick and my husband tore a muscle in his leg about a week ago - I feel like March needs to be a healthier month for us. My antibiotics kicked in and I'm finally feeling better. Looking forward to sleeping well tonight!

I have to finish planning my DS birthday party in two weeks. March is a big family birthday month for us. My DS turns 7 and is having a pirate party - so extra party favors will be coming with us for pirate night.

Glad you're feeling better! It's funny, we're planning my DD daughter's birthday in two weeks as well. We're having the party on the 17th but her b-day is actually on the 21st. The cruise will be an extended celebration as we're not doing anything super special for the party this year, just inviting 5 other tween girls over for the night.

 

[RemoCat]

Crazy is right! I really wanted to win the championship outright - but now the Big 10 tournament will really be interesting. March madness at its finest!

And yes, better to get the sickness over now. We've all been sick and my husband tore a muscle in his leg about a week ago - I feel like March needs to be a healthier month for us. My antibiotics kicked in and I'm finally feeling better. Looking forward to sleeping well tonight!

I have to finish planning my DS birthday party in two weeks. March is a big family birthday month for us. My DS turns 7 and is having a pirate party - so extra party favors will be coming with us for pirate night.

My husband turned to me at the end of the game and said, "It must be March already - this is madness!!" We literally ended up face first on the floor with no voices left at the end of that game!

So glad you're feeling better! Wondering if any of the rest of us will get whatever our son has. He looks pretty miserable. We'll see what he's like in the morning.

March is a big birthday month for us, too! We've spent the weekend celebrating my daughter's 10th birthday a few days early. We went to see a musical with several of her theatre girlfriends, went to dinner after, and had a sleepover last night. Busy, but fun weekend! My daughter and I each have our birthdays this week, only one day apart! We might do a little more celebrating next weekend, as our weekdays are looking very busy this week. We'll do a little more birthday fun on the cruise, as well as celebrate our anniversary, which is at the end of March.

 

[guarn3md]

Glad you're feeling better! It's funny, we're planning my DD daughter's birthday in two weeks as well. We're having the party on the 17th but her b-day is actually on the 21st. The cruise will be an extended celebration as we're not doing anything super special for the party this year, just inviting 5 other tween girls over for the night.

Another family with March birthdays - My dad's is the 20th (won't tell his age) and my little sister will be 8 on March 22. We are headed to NJ on the 18th to celebrate both birthdays!

Everyone take care and get plenty of rest! Better now than two weeks from now!!

Debbie

 

[mubriankoz]

castaway cay questions for you experienced cruisers. How easy is access to bottle water on CC? We are planning on bringing a small rolling soft side cooler as our carry on the ship and thought we could bring some bottle water to CC as well? Will they even allow us to bring our own stuff down to the beach?

Related question but each room has a small frig in it as well right?

TIA

 

[D73]

castaway cay questions for you experienced cruisers. How easy is access to bottle water on CC? We are planning on bringing a small rolling soft side cooler as our carry on the ship and thought we could bring some bottle water to CC as well? Will they even allow us to bring our own stuff down to the beach?

Related question but each room has a small frig in it as well right?

TIA

Hi Tia.

I copied the following from the DCL website:


Question
Can coolers and/or food items be brought on board?
Answer
Coolers are not permitted except for those needed for medications, baby food or items related to dietary constraints. Items must be pre-packaged, unopened and cannot require any food prep from the kitchen. Coolers filled with personal items (e.g. soda, chips, candy, etc.) may not be brought on board. Homemade items or pre-cooked items purchased on the way to the ship will not be allowed to be brought aboard. Also, open bags or containers of snack items should not be brought aboard. All items will need to be stored in the stateroom; the ship's storage and/or refrigeration are not available to use.

Question
What food or food storage containers are not permitted?
Answer
Food coolers containing personal snack foods and drinks may not be brought onboard. They are only permitted if needed for medications, baby food or items related to special dietary needs.

Homemade, pre-cooked or other perishable items plus any open snack containers cannot be brought on board. Limitations on permitted food items are directly related to concerns for food safety and contamination prevention.

Disney Cruise Line regrets that the crew members on board are unable to provide food preparation, refrigeration or storage for personal food or beverage items. Disney Cruise Line cannot verify the cleanliness of the environment in which pre-cooked or homemade food items were prepared, and so for the safety of all Guests and crew, these items are not permitted aboard the ship.

Question
What items are not permitted on board?
Large Ice Coolers (Please note: small, personal-sized coolers, no larger than 12" x 12" x 12" brought onboard for the purpose of housing medications are permitted as carry-on luggage.)
Homemade, pre-cooked or other perishable food items plus any open snack containers

Question
May Guests bring alcohol onboard?
Answer
Alcohol is permitted on board. However, any fragile items (including alcoholic beverages) must be hand-carried on board in the carry-on of an adult Guest – age 21 or older (dimensions can't exceed 22" wide, 14" high and 9" deep).

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I include the last part about alcohol because it references the size of the carry-on size.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

So I am not sure how well your cooler plans align with the policies that DCL have set out. It may be something to consider.

On Castaway Cay however, there are plenty of places to purchase bottled water from bars and umbrella vendors( I have also seen it being sold at disembarkation onto the pier) and there are drink stations at Cookies and Cookies 2 where you can get drinks throughout the day as you will be able to do from the beverage stations on Deck 11 of the ship.

There are refrigerators in each stateroom and if I remember correctly they are stocked with items that if you choose to consume will be added to your room account by your stateroom attendant.

I hope that this is helpful.

Christopher

 

[RemoCat]

castaway cay questions for you experienced cruisers. How easy is access to bottle water on CC? We are planning on bringing a small rolling soft side cooler as our carry on the ship and thought we could bring some bottle water to CC as well? Will they even allow us to bring our own stuff down to the beach?

Related question but each room has a small frig in it as well right?

TIA

I don't know the real answer to this, but we've always brought our own empty water bottles for each of us in our beach bag (reusable sports-type ones) and kept them filled with water/iced tea, etc. from the beverage stations throughout the day. Hope that helps.

 

[tellyaddict]

There are refrigerators in each stateroom and if I remember correctly they are stocked with items that if you choose to consume will be added to your room account by your stateroom attendant.
Christopher

Is there room for other stuff in the fridge or is it all full, hotel minibar style?
Thanks

 

[tellyaddict]

There are refrigerators in each stateroom and if I remember correctly they are stocked with items that if you choose to consume will be added to your room account by your stateroom attendant.

I hope that this is helpful.

Christopher

Is there any room left in the fridges for our own water bottles or are they full with 'minibar' purchases?
Thanks

 

[guarn3md]

Is there any room left in the fridges for our own water bottles or are they full with 'minibar' purchases?
Thanks

When we were on the Dream last year there was nothing in the fridge. It was one of the average dorm size fridges. We had water bottles, etc... in it. When we went to castaway cay there was a table set up where cast members sold soft small coolers that held 6 bottles of Evian water. It was pretty overpriced but we bought it. On the first day while you are eating lunch, typically, a CM will come by and ask if you want to purchase the water package or one of the alcohol packages. We didn't but I considered it. You can bring water bottles onboard as a carryon. Something I am considering doing - a small amount, not 24, because I wouldn't want to have to carry that around in the terminal, etc... while waiting to get into my room.
Hope this helps!
Debbie

 

[D73]

When we were on the Dream last year there was nothing in the fridge. It was one of the average dorm size fridges. We had water bottles, etc... in it. When we went to castaway cay there was a table set up where cast members sold soft small coolers that held 6 bottles of Evian water. It was pretty overpriced but we bought it. On the first day while you are eating lunch, typically, a CM will come by and ask if you want to purchase the water package or one of the alcohol packages. We didn't but I considered it. You can bring water bottles onboard as a carryon. Something I am considering doing - a small amount, not 24, because I wouldn't want to have to carry that around in the terminal, etc... while waiting to get into my room.
Hope this helps!
Debbie

Thanks for jarring my memory Debbie. I now recall that the fridge was empty but it was the desk top over the fridge that had cans of soda and bottles of water on it with a note of the cost. I wanted the space and knew I wasn't going to use it so I simply asked my Stateroom attendant to clear it away. This may or may not still be in practice.

I now also recall purchasing a bottle of Bahamian rum in Nassau and being able to chill it in the fridge for enjoying on the next 2 days with soda that I got at the Deck 11 Beverage station.

Soda, water and alcohol packages can also be pre-ordered if anyone is interested. Also there are lots of pre-order selections including some Easter items only available for the cruises sailing the 3 weeks around Easter time. You can find them here.

Christopher

 

[mubriankoz]

When we were on the Dream last year there was nothing in the fridge. It was one of the average dorm size fridges. We had water bottles, etc... in it. When we went to castaway cay there was a table set up where cast members sold soft small coolers that held 6 bottles of Evian water. It was pretty overpriced but we bought it. On the first day while you are eating lunch, typically, a CM will come by and ask if you want to purchase the water package or one of the alcohol packages. We didn't but I considered it. You can bring water bottles onboard as a carryon. Something I am considering doing - a small amount, not 24, because I wouldn't want to have to carry that around in the terminal, etc... while waiting to get into my room.
Hope this helps!
Debbie

thanks debbie, this is exactly what I was looking for. We plan on bringing some water on board with us, if we stick a bunch of bottles in our regular luggage its not like they check each suitcase right.

 

[SpartanDis]

I think this may have been discussed earlier - but I'm looking for some feedback. We have the Discover Atlantis port adventure booked for the Nassau day. None of us have ever been to the Bahamas, so we want to get off the ship and at least say we were in Nassau. I booked the Discover Atlantis excursion because my niece and her DH went on it in January on their Carnival Cruise. I think it looks neat and my kids would like it - but the price is high for what we get out of it. I'm thinking of cancelling and then just looking around Nassau seeing if we can get our passports stamped and then spending the rest of the day on the ship. I have to pass this through my family first - but would love any experienced views of the Discover Atlantis tour. Is it worth it?

 

[mubriankoz]

My wife and I stayed at Atlantis last year and we absolutely loved the place, however it is CRAZY expensive. Lunch for 2, $50. $10 beers, $15 frozen drinks, only takes plastic, no cash. The water park is awesome and the lazy river is extremely cool. Not to mention just the pools in themselves are great to relax around. If money is no object go for it, however the Dave Ramsey in me just can't justify the expense. In my opinion go to a Disney water park, hit up a Kalahari resort, go to Wisconsin Dells, or that big water park outisde San Antonio.

For what its worth, my family of 4 is sleeping in that day, we will probably take a taxi to the Atlantis Marina for lunch (and Ben & Jerrys) see the massive yachts docked there and head back to the ship, we might hit up the shops right at the port just for the kids to see a little different culture.

 

[SpartanDis]

If we do anything, it's just the aquarium and grounds - not the waterparks. I'm trying to make sure my kids don't even know that the waterpark is an option, which it's not really for my DS. We had a family discussion tonight and I think I'm the only one waivering on going to see the aquariums. My husband finds me to be fairly frugal when it comes to vacationing and he said he'd like to get out and see a few things. So, I think any hesitation I've had has been overruled.

Carol