Sytrace
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2015
So, we took a little 3 night cruise on the Dream and just got back this morning. This was cruise #9 and this coming Saturday we leave on the Fantasy for 7 nights on #10. We are calling the 3 night cruise a warm up to the main event. 
A little backstory here. My husband bought this cruise for me as a surprise 50th birthday gift. My birthday was in August but scheduling demanded we postpone the celebration a few weeks. We had gone on a 4 night cruise in May/June for his 50th and so he thought it would be cool to surprise me.
And I would have been surprised (in fact I was) until I got the email from the folks at the Vacation insurance company. Yes, all other arrangements made directly with Disney went off without a hitch, but I was sent an email about the vacation protection insurance for the cruise and so I found out.
We decide to surprise the kiddos instead and tell them that we are staying at a Disney resort for a few days to celebrate instead. Flash forward to 5 days before the cruise and FB "suggests" the Dream cruise page to my daughter to join as I am a member. They ask me why I am on this page and I tell them that I have a "friend" who is sailing and I joined to help her with mixology classes, meetups etc. They bought it. Sort of. Lots of thought later we decided to fess up and tell them the truth. But it sure would have been fun to hang onto that surprise.
So here goes my little trip report.
Day 1: Port Canaveral : PAT of 11:45 AM.
1. We pull up to the first gate where a nice little security guard lady asks for ID, cabin number and the Cruise booklet and to see the kids in the back seat. In 9 cruises, I have never been asked for the cruise book, but grabbed it from my bag and away we go. I think the parking guys and other security guards were getting annoyed with how long it was taking to clear the line.
We proceed to CM #2 and present ID and she asks for cabin number and to roll down the windows again to see the kids. We are directed to Preferred parking...still an additional $20.00 by the way and still in the uncovered lot but really convienent for us.
We unload the bags, hubby parks the car and away we go to security and check in, which goes smoothly. We are boarding group 13 and they are on boarding group 9...in no time at all, we are onboard and ready to party.
Our first stop is lunch at Cabanas and a nice table next to the windows. Then we head to Deck 2 and Enchanted Garden to check the menu for the evening and find we have an 8 top. GASP!
**** We are a bit apprehensive about this as we have had some challenging table sharing experiences before**** We hope for the best and off we go to check out the Mid Detective agency and get a card.
By now our cabin is ready right on time. We are in Cabin 10500 which is all the way forward next to the crew quarters and Bridge door. We love being all the way forward for several reasons, but mainly because it is so quiet.
Our luggage arrives by 2:00 PM and I am unpacked by 2:30. We hang out and watch the Disney busses arrive and also see the going ons at the port. They are a very secure organization and having a birds eye view just made me feel very safe and secure.
Oh boy...it is lifeboat drill time. As usual there were several cabins missing or who arrived late. We finally finished and the mass exodus to Decks 11 and 12 for the Sailaway party was in full force. We just stayed seated until the theater cleared and then headed up to our cabin to wave. We had already set sail by the time we got up there though so we were just passing Fishlips when we go to our cabin.
9. We went to play mini golf before dinner, but found there were no clubs or golf balls up there. Turns out they close at 6 that first night and had already cleaned up at 5:30. The family golf challenge will have to wait another day.
It is now dinner time at Enchanted Garden and time to meet our tablemates! We were thrilled to be seated with another family of 4 from Canada. They were friendly, funny and a joy to talk to. The cruise was their first time on Disney and their excitement was contagious. My husband had ordered a cake for my birthday and thankfully, our new friends were there to help us eat it. Which is a good thing...those cakes are really large. And yummy.
After dinner, Dan and I headed to Meridian for a drink or two and to have some quiet time.
That is all for Day number 1.
Day 2: Nassau, Bahamas
When we docked there were 3 other ships in port already and another one came in as we were having breakfast. FIVE ships in Nassau on a Saturday made me happy we had not booked any excursions and could come and go as we wished. We had a nice leisurely breakfast in Cabanas and decided that a lot of people had the same idea to stay on the ship as the pools and Aquaduck were packed. We did end up getting off the ship and walking around downtown for a little bit, bought a tee shirt and browsed in some shops. Then headed back to the ship to hang out and play a round or two of Mini golf. I also squeezed in a trip to the Rainforest for a few hours which was lovely.
Soon it was time for dinner at Royal Palace and to see if our fun tablemates were going to be there or if we had been ditched. lol
They were there and as much fun and nice as the night before. We were seated right next to a HUGE long table of 16. 8 Adults at one end of the table and 8 offspring at the other. It sort of made us nervous when one of the adults announced to the kids that there would be NO THROWING of food. Yep, not once, but twice in about 30 minutes. It was really kind of funny but I am also glad the kids cooperated and did not throw food. After dinner the kids wanted to go to Vannellopes for some gelato. I had my dessert in the RP so I was good to go. Then we headed back to the cabin to watch the reflection of the fireworks on the water from Pirate night. We are under a large overhang in our cabin and could not see them, but we were okay with that in the long run. I read for awhile and everyone else went to bed.
Day 3: Castaway Cay: Alert...we did NOT get off the ship. For the first time in forever we just stayed on board and enjoyed a lot of pool and Aquaduck time. There were 2 adults in the adult pool before Dan and I got there and then there was just us. There were 3 kids in the Donald pool for the longest time. It was weird and wonderful at the same time. And I knew it would be quiet..but boy oh boy...it was just awesome. We had dinner at Animator Palate and as usual Danny got picked by Crush to have a chat. He always seems to pick the seat that the camera is close to. Dinner was fun and lively and we said goodbye to our new friends from Canada as we were going to be getting off the ship before breakfast. I do hope we can keep in touch. It was a wonderful change or pace and we really were glad that they were seated with us.
Day 4: Now it's time to say goodbye.... a bit earlier than I would have liked, but we had to get back home for work and school responsibilities. We did express walk off and were in the car by 7:15 and home by 8:05 AM. We had a lovely cruise and it was a really different type of cruise than we usually take for the following reasons.
1. We had no excursions and set our own pace on what we wanted to do and when.
2. No Bingo for me this time. No movies for my son (he had already seen everything) and no tastings for Dan or club time for my daughter. She just wasn't into it this time.
3. We were so relaxed and just took each minute as it came.
4. We had the knowledge that would be back in 5 days to sail on the Fantasy, and would do a lot more then. We will have excursions at all ports and will get off the ship (for a little while anyway) at CC.
The missing stress of cramming it all in was removed and we just enjoyed a lot of family time together.
It was a great cruise.
A little backstory here. My husband bought this cruise for me as a surprise 50th birthday gift. My birthday was in August but scheduling demanded we postpone the celebration a few weeks. We had gone on a 4 night cruise in May/June for his 50th and so he thought it would be cool to surprise me.
And I would have been surprised (in fact I was) until I got the email from the folks at the Vacation insurance company. Yes, all other arrangements made directly with Disney went off without a hitch, but I was sent an email about the vacation protection insurance for the cruise and so I found out.
We decide to surprise the kiddos instead and tell them that we are staying at a Disney resort for a few days to celebrate instead. Flash forward to 5 days before the cruise and FB "suggests" the Dream cruise page to my daughter to join as I am a member. They ask me why I am on this page and I tell them that I have a "friend" who is sailing and I joined to help her with mixology classes, meetups etc. They bought it. Sort of. Lots of thought later we decided to fess up and tell them the truth. But it sure would have been fun to hang onto that surprise.
So here goes my little trip report.
Day 1: Port Canaveral : PAT of 11:45 AM.
1. We pull up to the first gate where a nice little security guard lady asks for ID, cabin number and the Cruise booklet and to see the kids in the back seat. In 9 cruises, I have never been asked for the cruise book, but grabbed it from my bag and away we go. I think the parking guys and other security guards were getting annoyed with how long it was taking to clear the line.
We proceed to CM #2 and present ID and she asks for cabin number and to roll down the windows again to see the kids. We are directed to Preferred parking...still an additional $20.00 by the way and still in the uncovered lot but really convienent for us.
We unload the bags, hubby parks the car and away we go to security and check in, which goes smoothly. We are boarding group 13 and they are on boarding group 9...in no time at all, we are onboard and ready to party.
Our first stop is lunch at Cabanas and a nice table next to the windows. Then we head to Deck 2 and Enchanted Garden to check the menu for the evening and find we have an 8 top. GASP!
**** We are a bit apprehensive about this as we have had some challenging table sharing experiences before**** We hope for the best and off we go to check out the Mid Detective agency and get a card.
By now our cabin is ready right on time. We are in Cabin 10500 which is all the way forward next to the crew quarters and Bridge door. We love being all the way forward for several reasons, but mainly because it is so quiet.
Our luggage arrives by 2:00 PM and I am unpacked by 2:30. We hang out and watch the Disney busses arrive and also see the going ons at the port. They are a very secure organization and having a birds eye view just made me feel very safe and secure.
Oh boy...it is lifeboat drill time. As usual there were several cabins missing or who arrived late. We finally finished and the mass exodus to Decks 11 and 12 for the Sailaway party was in full force. We just stayed seated until the theater cleared and then headed up to our cabin to wave. We had already set sail by the time we got up there though so we were just passing Fishlips when we go to our cabin.
9. We went to play mini golf before dinner, but found there were no clubs or golf balls up there. Turns out they close at 6 that first night and had already cleaned up at 5:30. The family golf challenge will have to wait another day.
It is now dinner time at Enchanted Garden and time to meet our tablemates! We were thrilled to be seated with another family of 4 from Canada.
They were friendly, funny and a joy to talk to. The cruise was their first time on Disney and their excitement was contagious. My husband had ordered a cake for my birthday and thankfully, our new friends were there to help us eat it. Which is a good thing...those cakes are really large. And yummy. After dinner, Dan and I headed to Meridian for a drink or two and to have some quiet time.
That is all for Day number 1.
Day 2: Nassau, Bahamas
When we docked there were 3 other ships in port already and another one came in as we were having breakfast. FIVE ships in Nassau on a Saturday made me happy we had not booked any excursions and could come and go as we wished.
We had a nice leisurely breakfast in Cabanas and decided that a lot of people had the same idea to stay on the ship as the pools and Aquaduck were packed. We did end up getting off the ship and walking around downtown for a little bit, bought a tee shirt and browsed in some shops. Then headed back to the ship to hang out and play a round or two of Mini golf. I also squeezed in a trip to the Rainforest for a few hours which was lovely. Soon it was time for dinner at Royal Palace and to see if our fun tablemates were going to be there or if we had been ditched. lol
They were there and as much fun and nice as the night before.
We were seated right next to a HUGE long table of 16. 8 Adults at one end of the table and 8 offspring at the other. It sort of made us nervous when one of the adults announced to the kids that there would be NO THROWING of food. Yep, not once, but twice in about 30 minutes. It was really kind of funny but I am also glad the kids cooperated and did not throw food. After dinner the kids wanted to go to Vannellopes for some gelato. I had my dessert in the RP so I was good to go. Then we headed back to the cabin to watch the reflection of the fireworks on the water from Pirate night. We are under a large overhang in our cabin and could not see them, but we were okay with that in the long run. I read for awhile and everyone else went to bed. Day 3: Castaway Cay: Alert...we did NOT get off the ship. For the first time in forever we just stayed on board and enjoyed a lot of pool and Aquaduck time. There were 2 adults in the adult pool before Dan and I got there and then there was just us. There were 3 kids in the Donald pool for the longest time. It was weird and wonderful at the same time.
And I knew it would be quiet..but boy oh boy...it was just awesome. We had dinner at Animator Palate and as usual Danny got picked by Crush to have a chat. He always seems to pick the seat that the camera is close to. Dinner was fun and lively and we said goodbye to our new friends from Canada as we were going to be getting off the ship before breakfast. I do hope we can keep in touch. It was a wonderful change or pace and we really were glad that they were seated with us. Day 4: Now it's time to say goodbye.... a bit earlier than I would have liked, but we had to get back home for work and school responsibilities. We did express walk off and were in the car by 7:15 and home by 8:05 AM. We had a lovely cruise and it was a really different type of cruise than we usually take for the following reasons.
1. We had no excursions and set our own pace on what we wanted to do and when.
2. No Bingo for me this time. No movies for my son (he had already seen everything) and no tastings for Dan or club time for my daughter. She just wasn't into it this time.
3. We were so relaxed and just took each minute as it came.
4. We had the knowledge that would be back in 5 days to sail on the Fantasy, and would do a lot more then. We will have excursions at all ports and will get off the ship (for a little while anyway) at CC.
The missing stress of cramming it all in was removed and we just enjoyed a lot of family time together.
It was a great cruise.
