DISNEY DREAM 3-night (Nov. 17-20, 2011) - CHRISTMAS PICS GALORE! - Completed 12/6!

[KevieKev05]

Your pictures are so beautiful. I hope they are still up for the New Years Cruise.

I hope they are too! It's so beautiful in person!

Your photos are spectacular as always Thanks for doing this TR it looks like it's going to be great.

You're welcome!

I'm loving this! I am so sad that we will most likely be missing the decorations by a week next year. (we sail Nov. 4) The ship looks gorgeous decorated.

How sad! Who knows...maybe they'll put them up even earlier next year!

Terrific pictures! I'll be boarding Dream on 12/4, and I can't wait to see her all decorated. I sailed on her in February, and she was beautiful even without Christmas decorations.

Beth

Agreed...just when you think they ship couldn't get any more beautiful, they go all out with the Christmas decorations!

 

[KevieKev05]

DAY 1 - November 17th, 2011 - Port Canaveral (Part 8)

The lifeboat drill at 4:00 was swift and painless. We were sitting comfortably in the Buena Vista Theatre for the duration of it! No life vests need to be worn and they tap your Key to the World card to their machine to take roll. Easy cheesy! Within 5-10 minutes, it was all over and we were making our way to the Sail Away Party! We found spots against the railing on Deck 12 and anxiously waited for the party to start! It started promptly at 4:45 and lasted about 20 minutes. I always get chills when they sound the horn! The ship didn’t start moving for a good 5 minutes after that, though. But soon enough, we were on our way! Here are the pictures from the party...

 

[KevieKev05]

DAY 1 - November 17th, 2011 - Port Canaveral (Part 9)

At the conclusion of the party, we went back to our stateroom to get ready for the evening’s festivities! We noticed that we had started moving at this point, so I went out on the verandah to scope it out! We hadn’t had a verandah stateroom in MANY cruises, so I tried to use it as much as possible, haha! At roughly 5:30, we made our way down to the Walt Disney Theatre for tonight’s performance of “The Golden Mickeys”! We were first in line and thus secured my favorite seats when the doors open (7th row back, center). Now, this is my absolute FAVORITE show, so I was super excited for it to start! James ran into the store as soon as it opened to purchase a few items, one being the itinerary t-shirt we saw through the window! When he returned, I went to buy myself an itinerary t-shirt and they were gone! I sent James back to make sure I was looking in the right spot, and then we realized something...those are only sold on the last night and weren’t meant to be out today! Looks like they forgot to remove them after the cruise before us, haha!

Anyway, at about 6:00, the whole Rona Rivers bit started (and she was CRACKING me up! Hilarious!)

Then, our Cruise Director, Rachel, came out at 6:15 to start her whole spiel and to introduce the Captain (Captain Gus!).

A little over 10 minutes later, the show was FINALLY starting! Yahoo! Enjoy all the pictures!

 

[KevieKev05]

DAY 1 - November 17th, 2011 - Port Canaveral (Part 10)

 

[KevieKev05]

DAY 1 - November 17th, 2011 - Port Canaveral (Part 11)

 

[KevieKev05]

DAY 1 - November 17th, 2011 - Port Canaveral (Part 12)

 

[KevieKev05]

DAY 1 - November 17th, 2011 - Port Canaveral (Part 13)

 

[KevieKev05]

DAY 1 - November 17th, 2011 - Port Canaveral (Part 14)

After the show, we went to the atrium to check things out. We saw Peter Pan sneaking around and then we found Captain Hook looking for something...before long, they were chasing after each other throughout the whole atrium/shopping area!

It was a cute little moment and I was unable to capture a picture of Peter Pan as he was moving around too much, haha! Then, we went through the shops to waste some time.

And yes, I bought a bottle...mainly because I love the label!

Before long, we found ourselves back in the atrium.

Our dinner this evening was to be in Royal Palace. At promptly 8:15, the doors opened and in we went! We were directed to our table which ended up being a 6-top. We were the first there, so we chose our seats next to each other. The assistant server (Arianta from Indonesia) stopped by to try and sell us a wine package, but we politely refused. He almost seemed offended, though! Two other groups of two arrived and he did his spiel for them. None of us got a wine package. Then the waiter came and introduced himself (Carlos from Honduras) and before long was taking our orders. After our orders were placed, the assistant server returned and started asking people if they wanted something to drink other than water. Someone asked for something, and then he left without asking James or myself if we wanted something! Boo! Not to mention, we found it weird he was asking for drink orders AFTER we ordered our meal! Hmmmm. He appeared, dropped off a drink, and then left, so James and I just decided we would survive with just water tonight.

For an appetizer, both James and I ordered the escargots. It looked and tasted different from the other times we had it on the ships, but still tasted good. Just different! James then had the french onion soup. For the entree, we both got the beef tenderloin with lobster medallions. The meat was okay, but the potatoes it came with were kind of blah. For dessert, I got the strawberry shortcake sundae and I unfortunately can’t recall what James got. I apologize for no food pictures. Being surrounded by strangers, I didn’t feel comfortable trying to take a picture every time food was set on the table, haha.

We found ourselves exiting the restaurant at 9:45...not too bad considering on a previous Dream cruise, meals were well over 2 hours (and we do NOT like long, leisurely meals...but that’s just us). We went back up to the room and found it had been turned down!

We put on a movie (I believe it was the Green Lantern) and before long I was OUT! James fell asleep quite a bit after me I’m guessing, because when we continued the movie the next day, I had NO clue what was going on or what had happened! Hahaha!

Stay tuned for day 2...Nassau!

 

[LuvEeyore]

Kevin,
The pictures continue to be a wonderful jouney with you aboard the Dream.
Cant wait for more!!

 

[taswira]

Totally AWESOME photos! Thanks for sharing them with us.

I LOVE the Golden Mickeys! Snow White looks a bit old for the role, but I'm sure that from a distance in the audience it isn't noticeable.

 

[plutojudy]

Great pictures! Thank you so much for sharing!

 

[iloverags2]

Wow, wow, wow! Your pictures from Golden Mickey's are incredible! I'm going to have to try that location for seating our next cruise.

Love the Taittinger bottles, and plan on purchasing one or two (or three or four or something like that!). And since I cannot decide between Pink or the one with the Dream picture, I'll just have to purchase a few of each!

Oy! about the assistant server. I certainly hope things got better as the cruise went on (although if not, at least it was for only three nights....but still!).

 

[candielips]

I'm in! We are thinking of doing our very first cruise/disney cruise this winter! I cannot wait to hear about the Bahamas and Castaway Cay.

 

[KevieKev05]

Kevin,
The pictures continue to be a wonderful jouney with you aboard the Dream.
Cant wait for more!!

Thank you!!! And there will be plenty more!

Totally AWESOME photos! Thanks for sharing them with us.

I LOVE the Golden Mickeys! Snow White looks a bit old for the role, but I'm sure that from a distance in the audience it isn't noticeable.

She was wonderful...and I only noticed her old-ish looks when I zoomed in on her face, haha! Ironically, she went on to portray "Yzma" in Villains Tonight! And that character is definitely older, haha.

Great pictures! Thank you so much for sharing!

Thanks for reading!

Wow, wow, wow! Your pictures from Golden Mickey's are incredible! I'm going to have to try that location for seating our next cruise.

Love the Taittinger bottles, and plan on purchasing one or two (or three or four or something like that!). And since I cannot decide between Pink or the one with the Dream picture, I'll just have to purchase a few of each!

Oy! about the assistant server. I certainly hope things got better as the cruise went on (although if not, at least it was for only three nights....but still!).

Thanks for the compliments! You should totally check out those seats...as long as I'm not on the same cruise! Hahahaha!

And yes, ever since our Dream cruise in February, we've wanted to buy a bottle of Taittinger champagne. Love the label!

Regarding the assistant server, we kind of looked past it seeing as though it was a 3-night cruise...and we had Palo one night, so there would only be two nights with him!

I'm in! We are thinking of doing our very first cruise/disney cruise this winter! I cannot wait to hear about the Bahamas and Castaway Cay.

Be careful! You might get hooked!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving! I hope to have another update posted in the next day or two!

 

[jenseib]

Fabulous pictures. I have to agree, Snow White was NOT the fairest in the land. LOL!
It look like you had a totally different cast of actors from when we sailed in March/April.
I loved Golden Mickeys too. By far my favorite of the 3 shows. I am actually thinking of just sending my DD to Villians with family next trip and skipping out myself. That was her favorite show, but I just didn't like it all that much.

 

[adrianna_sarah]

All of the Christmas decoration shots are getting me so excited for my upcoming trip. Can't wait to see more.

 

[Wadekind]

Thanks for some beautiful shots.

 

[KevieKev05]

Fabulous pictures. I have to agree, Snow White was NOT the fairest in the land. LOL!
It look like you had a totally different cast of actors from when we sailed in March/April.
I loved Golden Mickeys too. By far my favorite of the 3 shows. I am actually thinking of just sending my DD to Villians with family next trip and skipping out myself. That was her favorite show, but I just didn't like it all that much.

Yeah, this is the second cast for the Dream...I believe they got on the ship around the beginning of summer. Gosh, I just love the Golden Mickeys so much! And just like you, I don't care for Villains Tonight.

All of the Christmas decoration shots are getting me so excited for my upcoming trip. Can't wait to see more.

I couldn't help snapping so many pictures of the decorations! They're just so breathtaking!

Thanks for some beautiful shots.

You're welcome! I'm glad you like them!

 

[KevieKev05]

DAY 2 - November 18th, 2011 - Nassau, Bahamas (Part 1)

I failed to mention that yesterday, when they allowed us to enter our staterooms at 1:30, our luggage was already there! We have NEVER had that happen before, and it was absolutely WONDERFUL that it was already there! We unpacked (I mean, there wasn’t much, but still, haha) and then continued on about our business without having to wait for the luggage! Anyway, back to today...

All throughout the morning, I heard lots of noises, unfortunately. People (well, kids) running up and down the hallway. People talking loudly in the hallway. Then I finally crawled out of bed at about 8:45 (after establishing that the ship had stopped moving). I quietly shut the divider between the bed and the sitting area so that I could go out on the verandah without disturbing James too much. Here is what I saw!

So, it looks like our view of Nassau was going to be blocked by the Carnival Destiny. Boo!

Looking straight down from our verandah:

As I was sitting on the verandah enjoying the fresh air (and the fact we HAD a verandah!), the ship sounded it’s horn by playing “When You Wish Upon a Star”! Then, it continued to play ALL the tunes! I couldn’t believe it! Here they are in the order we heard them:

“When You Wish Upon a Star”
“A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes”
“Be Our Guest, Be Our Guest, Put our Service to the Test”
“Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee an Actor’s Life For Me”
“It’s a Small World After All”
“Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate’s Life for Me”
“...Makes No Difference Who You Are”

What a wonderful treat! Shortly after hearing that, James got out of bed, and we started to get ready for the day! We had already decided not to get off the ship today (as we’ve been to Nassau plenty of times before, and just wanted to enjoy the ship instead).

At 9:45, we were making our way up to Cabanas to enjoy a lovely buffet breakfast. It wasn’t too crowded, and once again we found a window seat!

Within 15 minutes or so, we had scarfed down a bunch of food, and now we were off to explore the ship with no agenda! Soon enough, we found ourselves in the atrium and found a bunch of characters! It looks like a Princess Gathering was going on, and then we found Aladdin as well!

While in the area, we decided to do the Midship Detective Agency game (located on Deck 5, midship).

After running around playing the game, we soon found ourselves up near Palo and Remy. I took a couple of fun pictures inside Meridian (the bar between the two restaurants) with Nassau in the background!

And a couple more pictures from the area:

View from the top deck (there were not one, not two, but three ships that we could see coming in!):

At roughly 10:45, we decided to head back to our room and change into our bathing suits and saw that our stateroom host had come and gone already!

After changing, we made it over to the Quiet Cove Area and went to the Cove Bar for a drink of the day (Yellow Bird).

We found a couple of chairs on the top deck and decided it was time to lay out and catch some sun! With a few minutes, we saw the Norwegian Epic was coming in to dock alongside us, so I got up and took some pictures. (You can also see two Carnival ships making their way in as well.)

 

[KevieKev05]

DAY 2 - November 18th, 2011 - Nassau, Bahamas (Part 2)

(View from our chair looking up!)

(And view from our chair as the Epic was coming in next to us)

After we started sweating a little bit from laying in the sun, we decided to go for a ride on the Aqua Duck! It was about a 20 minute wait and after we rode it, we went back to lay out some more to dry off.

At 12:45, we decided it was time to grab some lunch. So, off to Cabanas we went!

Sushi was being served!

View from our seat:

Inside Cabanas:

After we left Cabanas, we went off to explore the ship again.

The lobby:

(It looks like the Gingerbread House was completed now!):