sahmlisermo
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2013
"I can't believe we are here, Mom. I can't believe we are here!!!" These are the words of my DS(7) during the 2 days of our FIRST EVER 3 day Disney Dream cruise! We had an amazing time and everyone agreed it was the best family vacation...ever!
Arrival...I checked in online and preregistered our kiddos so everything was super easy. Our official check in time was 11:15. We arrived about 20 minutes early and were able to check in right away. I was given a card that said we were group #13 to board. They had just begun boarding the ship so we walked over to get our kids their bracelets for the Oceaneer's Club. The line moved very quickly and our kids were ready to go in about 5 minutes. We used the restrooms and waited about 15 minutes before they called our group. Arrival was super smooth and very easy!
Rooms...We had 2 large porthole rooms that connected. We have 2 DD(12, 10) and 1 DS(7). It was actually a little less expensive to get the two connecting rooms than one room...and we had twice the space! The rooms were perfect! I am a bit over the top when it comes to cleanliness in a hotel room and I was thrilled with our rooms! SO CLEAN!!! The bathrooms were small but not too bad. Our shower was bigger than the hospitals where I gave birth so I was impressed. I am 5'10" and was a bit worried but the shower was perfect. If you are over 6'2" it will be tight. Our kiddos had a room with a large bed, sofa/bed, ceiling bunk and murphy bed. Kids loved each having their own place to sleep. Our room was the same, except no ceiling bunk. The bed was very comfy and I slept very well!!! Our Stateroom Host was AMAZING!!! Our kids loved him and he always spoke to them, by name! I was very impressed. He even left them treats in their FE! On our last day we had turned in our luggage but my DS had accidently left his KTTW in his bag. Our Host went to find the luggage and brought our DS his card.
Food...LOTS OF IT!!! It was all good. If you like to eat, you should be happy. Was everything "the best I've ever had?" No, but it was all very good. Our family was happy at every meal. We ordered room service one night (milk and cookies) and it was delivered incredibly fast! Our family had the 2nd dining rotation...it was the best time for us. It gave us ample time to get things done during the day and less fussing from other kids during our meals. The restaurants were quite lovely. Mostly, we loved our servers!!! They were kind, attentive, eager to please and very fast!!! They always spoke to us by name, took extra care of our kids, and were patient with us when we didn't know what we wanted.
We were given food tips, cruise tips, port tips, extra food, foods not on the menu and even magic tricks! SO AMAZING!!!
Things to do on ship...So much to do!!! We, of course, did the AquaDuck! The line was usually long so if you are wanting to ride it over and over, be prepared to wait OR go get in line around 10pm. My DH and DD(10) rode it 4 times in a row, the first night, at 10. We saw all three evening shows and they were all great. My girls loved the last night "Believe" the most. We swam, played Bingo, Disney trivia, Music trivia, watched movies on deck, utilized the kids clubs, played on Goofy's Sport Deck and just sat down and relaxed! My oldest was able to go to "Edge" and she had a blast...they carved pumpkins, cooked cupcakes, played games and just "chilled." LOL!!! My youngers loved "Oceaneers"...they played video games, had parties, baked cookies, ran around and just had a blast! I am usually very picky about who my kids are with (babysitters, etc) but I felt more than comfortable with the counselors on the cruise. The were all kind, attentive, energetic and remembered my kids by name.
Ports...Bahamas-we didn't have any port adventures planned because they all seemed to expensive. We got off the ship and walked to the Straw Market. My kiddos hated it so we grabbed a Starbucks and went back to the ship! LOL!!!
Castaway Cay-we snorkeled, went for a bike ride, ate, relaxed and sent our kiddos to the kids club on the island. It was a beautiful day and we wished we had stayed on the island a little longer.
Debarkation...smooth, easy, no problems. Our Stateroom Host gave us all the info we needed to get ready to go home. Our bags were placed outside our rooms by 10:30 the night before (we didn't want to carry everything off ourselves). We had breakfast at 8 and said goodbye to our servers, walked off the ship, had our KTTW scanned, grabbed our luggage and walked through customs. The entire thing took about 15 minutes. Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy!
Best part of the cruise...DD(12) the shows, DD(10) the AquaDuck, DS(7) the Oceaneers Club.
Worst part of the cruse...DD(12) sleeping through the 5k on Castaway Cay, DD(10) the line for the AquaDuck, DS(7) going home
Hope you all enjoy your cruise as much as we enjoyed ours!!!
Arrival...I checked in online and preregistered our kiddos so everything was super easy. Our official check in time was 11:15. We arrived about 20 minutes early and were able to check in right away. I was given a card that said we were group #13 to board. They had just begun boarding the ship so we walked over to get our kids their bracelets for the Oceaneer's Club. The line moved very quickly and our kids were ready to go in about 5 minutes. We used the restrooms and waited about 15 minutes before they called our group. Arrival was super smooth and very easy!
Rooms...We had 2 large porthole rooms that connected. We have 2 DD(12, 10) and 1 DS(7). It was actually a little less expensive to get the two connecting rooms than one room...and we had twice the space! The rooms were perfect! I am a bit over the top when it comes to cleanliness in a hotel room and I was thrilled with our rooms! SO CLEAN!!! The bathrooms were small but not too bad. Our shower was bigger than the hospitals where I gave birth so I was impressed. I am 5'10" and was a bit worried but the shower was perfect. If you are over 6'2" it will be tight. Our kiddos had a room with a large bed, sofa/bed, ceiling bunk and murphy bed. Kids loved each having their own place to sleep. Our room was the same, except no ceiling bunk. The bed was very comfy and I slept very well!!! Our Stateroom Host was AMAZING!!! Our kids loved him and he always spoke to them, by name! I was very impressed. He even left them treats in their FE! On our last day we had turned in our luggage but my DS had accidently left his KTTW in his bag. Our Host went to find the luggage and brought our DS his card.
Food...LOTS OF IT!!! It was all good. If you like to eat, you should be happy. Was everything "the best I've ever had?" No, but it was all very good. Our family was happy at every meal. We ordered room service one night (milk and cookies) and it was delivered incredibly fast! Our family had the 2nd dining rotation...it was the best time for us. It gave us ample time to get things done during the day and less fussing from other kids during our meals. The restaurants were quite lovely. Mostly, we loved our servers!!! They were kind, attentive, eager to please and very fast!!! They always spoke to us by name, took extra care of our kids, and were patient with us when we didn't know what we wanted.
We were given food tips, cruise tips, port tips, extra food, foods not on the menu and even magic tricks! SO AMAZING!!!Things to do on ship...So much to do!!! We, of course, did the AquaDuck! The line was usually long so if you are wanting to ride it over and over, be prepared to wait OR go get in line around 10pm. My DH and DD(10) rode it 4 times in a row, the first night, at 10.
We saw all three evening shows and they were all great. My girls loved the last night "Believe" the most. We swam, played Bingo, Disney trivia, Music trivia, watched movies on deck, utilized the kids clubs, played on Goofy's Sport Deck and just sat down and relaxed! My oldest was able to go to "Edge" and she had a blast...they carved pumpkins, cooked cupcakes, played games and just "chilled." LOL!!! My youngers loved "Oceaneers"...they played video games, had parties, baked cookies, ran around and just had a blast! I am usually very picky about who my kids are with (babysitters, etc) but I felt more than comfortable with the counselors on the cruise. The were all kind, attentive, energetic and remembered my kids by name. Ports...Bahamas-we didn't have any port adventures planned because they all seemed to expensive. We got off the ship and walked to the Straw Market. My kiddos hated it so we grabbed a Starbucks and went back to the ship! LOL!!!
Castaway Cay-we snorkeled, went for a bike ride, ate, relaxed and sent our kiddos to the kids club on the island. It was a beautiful day and we wished we had stayed on the island a little longer.
Debarkation...smooth, easy, no problems. Our Stateroom Host gave us all the info we needed to get ready to go home. Our bags were placed outside our rooms by 10:30 the night before (we didn't want to carry everything off ourselves). We had breakfast at 8 and said goodbye to our servers, walked off the ship, had our KTTW scanned, grabbed our luggage and walked through customs. The entire thing took about 15 minutes. Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy!
Best part of the cruise...DD(12) the shows, DD(10) the AquaDuck, DS(7) the Oceaneers Club.
Worst part of the cruse...DD(12) sleeping through the 5k on Castaway Cay, DD(10) the line for the AquaDuck, DS(7) going home
Hope you all enjoy your cruise as much as we enjoyed ours!!!
