I Like DREAMin! 4/21/11 3-night Dream – First Timer Report

[annabug]

great report! so glad you had a great cruise. thanks for the pictures, it really helps those of us waiting. you have a beautiful family!! my kids are a little younger, but they are really excited for our upcoming cruise!

 

[iloverags2]

Really enjoying your report!!! Disney cruising is so addictive, isn't it?

We had Kabelo during our Oct 2009 3-night cruise on the Wonder, and absolutely loved him!

 

[my2disneyboys]

cant wait to hear more!!

 

[LuvEeyore]

lovin' your trip report!!Waiting for more

 

[TiffLB]

Sorry it’s taken me a bit to get back here – real life keeps getting in the way!!! Wish I was back on cruisin’-time!! Anyway….here’s my next installment:

Day 2 – Nassau Day

Oooh! Dream beds were so comfy! Slept very well while rocked to sleep by the gentle waves. And the pillows!!! Loved them so much that I just ordered a couple for the house! We woke up as we were pulling in to Nassau, and we had fun watching us dock from our verandas. The weather was perfect – bright and sunny – it was going to be a beautiful day! We had decided ahead of time that since our cruise was so short, we would stay on the ship today and not go into Nassau. It was really our only day to enjoy the boat, and we're glad we made that choice. Perhaps we'll get to Nassau on another vacation!

We headed up to Cabanas for breakfast. Once again, we were very happy with the selections – amazing eggs benedict, yummy muffins, fresh fruit, lots of cereal selections to make picky DS happy – even the coffee was very good. Then we did a bit more exploring and delivering of FE gifts. The kids wanted to check out their clubs today, so off to the Lab and the Edge they went! My parents did some exploring of the ship on their own (and a bit of resting too – my Mom had come down with a bit of a cold, and it was slowing her down some.) DH and I headed to the quiet cove pool for some serious relaxation time! We found deck chairs with no problem, and we settled in for our favorite activities – reading a book for me, a nap for DH! Ahh the cruising life!!! While we were there….

Ok – trying to track down the kiddos for their reports on the clubs has been a challenge! Crazy spring schedules…ack! Interviewed DS at breakfast this morning before school – here’s what he said about his first trip to the Lab & Club:

The computers were cool (my DS is definitely a gamer) – he liked the Wii, the touch top table games, and the computer stations. He made a new friend, and had fun playing with him. He wasn’t really into any of the group activities. Silly science was going on when we went back to check on him – but he wasn't interested.

Still trying to get a detailed report on the Edge from DD….hopefully coming soon!

One thing we realized as we sat by the Quiet Cove Pool – the windows of the Edge looked down on us!

Buzz!!!

Oh look, the wave phone is buzzing – DD is texting “I see you!” I'm looking around, then I look up – can't see in the windows but I figure that's where she is. I wave. I text back to see if she's having fun. She says yes, so I say bye and go back to my book.

Buzz!!!

"Do you have a screwdriver?" Ok....weird question - so I call her. Apparently they were trying to play a Tony Hawk skateboard video game, and it needed batteries. I told her that I'm sure the CMs there could find a screwdriver somewhere on the ship ...and back to my book.

Buzz!!!

Okey dokey – looks like quiet time is over! Nope - no screwdriver. I ask, “Are you bored?” Yes “Do you want to leave?” Yes.

*sigh* - “Ok – meet us by the Mickey Slide” End of grown-up time. That didn't last very long! But, hey…it’s a family vacation!

We head out to the main pool area and DD bounces up and decides she wants to see what her brother is doing. So, we head to the lab and locate DS (a CM at the desk looked at her computer & located him in the Silly Science presentation, but he wasn't there – we found him in the club at computer game station. DD decides she wants to stay & play with him, so we leave them both there and go off on our own again. We decided to walk the promenade and after doing a loop, settled on some comfy chairs overlooking Nassau and I started to read again.

And we took some photos on our walk as well – here’s DH with Nassau in the background:

And look who parked next door:

After a little while…Buzz!! “Come and pick us up please!”

Well, I guess it's almost lunch time anyway We stopped at Mickey's Midship Detective Agency and signed up for the Missing Paintings Mystery & did one of the enchanted artwork stops on our way to meet my parents for lunch. What fun! The kids are hooked and can’t wait to do some more. We stopped back at the stateroom to change the kids into their bathing suits, since we knew we'd be hitting the pool after lunch. Back to Cabanas again (though I was still pretty full from breakfast!). Plenty to eat and tasty once again. Though I did try their Mexican Tortilla Soup which wasn't spectacular – kind of like spicy Campbell's Tomato. Everything else was great, though.

AquaDuck Time!

After lunch we decided that it was AquaDuck time!! Off to the pools we went!

DS was having nothing to do with the AquaDuck, much to the disappointment of DH. DS declared that it was too high and too fast. However, he loved the Mickey slide – and up and down he went, the whole time we were in line. DD and I went with my Dad to head over to the AquaDuck line while DH stayed with DS and took pictures from below.

Here we are in line:

The line looked pretty long, but after looking at the time stamps on the pictures, it wasn't too bad – 30 minutes. Actually, I kind of enjoyed waiting in line – on the stairs you get a great view of the ship, and Nassau, and the Carnival ship that was beside us. Here’s a video of us sliding by…first, myself and DD, and then my Dad by himself. I hope this works - click on the image to see the video:



The ride itself was pretty cool – just being way up there above the ship was awesome. The rider in the back gets a chilly splash up the back every time it pushes you up the little hill. Quite refreshing…yikes!! DD also thought the ride was very cool! Unfortunately, we only found the time to ride it once.

We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out by the pools. Unfortunately, one disappointment of the pool area was that only the Mickey wading pool was open. For some reason, the Donald pool was closed – never found out what happened, but my Mom noticed them cleaning it pretty thoroughly. Hmmmm. So, that resulted in everyone clustering in and around the Mickey pool – adults sitting in it, and kids trying to splash around. I joked that it looked like “people soup.” – wish I had gotten a picture!

Here is a picture of DS in Mickey pool before it got really crowded. Later, there were adults seated all around the edge, and people sitting & standing in the middle.

DD missed swimming, but we anticipated the pools being a bit crazy and prepared her for that - and she did get plenty of swimming time in the pool at our rental house before the cruise. Both kids were happy to play on the Mickey slide and then hopped into the hot tub for a bit (though, that resembled “people soup” even more!! – I did not venture in, just watched the kids.)

DS on Mickey slide – having a blast!

Soon it was time to get showered up for the evening…we grabbed some fruit at Flo’s and brought it up to the veranda to snack. We loved that there was always plenty of fresh fruit available – Mmmmm…pineapple!!

And….lookie what’s coming tonight!!!

Pirate-y Bandanas!! Yo ho ho!

And Pirate-y gifts in our FE – thanks NE Traveler!

Next installment – Dinner, Villains & Pirates, Oh My!!

 

[TiffLB]

Great start (and great pictures!) This is the first time that I've read that Edge has a private/secret elevator. My DS12 has been a bit bummed with the activities he's seen so far there compared to Vibe where his sister will be. Looking forward to hearing if your son returned to Edge and if he liked it.

Also, do you mind if I save your Castaway Cay pic and possibly use it for a FE gift?

Yeah - the Edge kids all thought the elevator thing was cool - one of the midship elevators has a deck 13 button - but it only works if the tween swipes their key card! Cool!

DD's favorite night at the Edge was the last night - I know they played GaGa ball & I'll have to find out what else went on. The tricky thing was keeping track of the Edge schedule - the first night they do the "choose your cruise" thing and have the kids help create the schedule. But, they never give it to the kids in writing, and the only way to know what was going on was to actually go up and check the whiteboard. DD always forgot what she wanted to do (and ended up missing the scavenger hunt). I should have told her to take a picture of the schedule with her iPod so we could have planned out what she wanted to do up there. Ahh well, maybe next time!

Sure...go ahead & use my Castaway Cay pic - enjoy!

 

[pmurphy713]

Ooh! So jealous that you are doing the 5-night - 3 nights definitely left us wishing for more! Can't wait to hear how your cruise goes!

Thinking over everything we did - I can't think of anything that I wished we had with us...if anything, I had too many clothes - but part of that was because we were in Orlando for 5 days before the cruise, and we were able to do laundry at our rental house - so we had plenty to wear! I brought fleece sweatshirts for the kids in case it was cool in the evening on deck - but I definitely didn't need them - just a windbreaker was enough on pirate night for the breeze. One of my favorite cruise necessities to bring is my toiletries case that is flat and has a hook to hang it up - very convenient! I'm also glad I purchased a couple of disposable waterproof cameras to use on Castaway Cay - I used them while we snorkeled, and also while I was floating, watching the kids play in the water - I could snap photos without worrying about my regular camera getting sandy or wet.

Thanks for the advice. Trying not to pack everything I own. We are driving so we have the luxury of the space, but going to "attempt" to pack just enough. Enjoying your TR, maybe it will be inspiring enough to write one of my own. Great pictures and descriptions.

 

[Princess Sleepy]

Reading your TR is giving me butterflies in my stomach. I just don't know how I can wait another 5 1/2 months. We haven't told our DDs yet. I was trying to wait until right before we left, but I can't stand to wait that long. I have decided to tell them on the first day of summer vacation, so only 4 more weeks to wait.

Keep the stories and pictures coming!

 

[OhToodles2]

Thank you for your wonderful TR! I can't wait to read about Pirate night

 

[jenseib]

I just started reading. I love your terminal picture. We sailed on March 31st (my TR link is in my signature). I was amazed at all the people who just crowded the entrance area. I didn't get why at all. I was boarding number 8 and they were still standing here when I got on. We sat back in the area you did and had no problem hearing our number. We had to weave through people too. I'm going back to read more.

 

[jenseib]

I have to ask,where did you order the pillows from. I loved them too.

 

[TiffLB]

Finally I had a chance to write the next update....hope it's worth the wait! Here it is:


Dinner tonight was at the Royal Palace – the kids were so happy to see Kabelo and Stephen again. DS was very excited that Stephen remembered his lemonade and Kabelo remembered his pasta and carrots – I've never seen this kids so thrilled to eat dinner! Once again, we all enjoyed everything we ate – I had the Iced Lobster & Jumbo Shrimp with Asparagus – very yummy – the French onion soup – delicious – and the Beef Tenderloin with Lobster Medallions (I did mention that I was a meat & potatoes kind of gal!! Now, for all you New Englanders like myself, away from home our lobster expectations are definitely not high – the medallions are just round slices of lobster meat – good, but not excellent – but then, I wasn't expecting excellent. The potatoes and sauce with the beef were quite yummy. But I have to say, where I was blown away was dessert. I ordered the vanilla crème brulee – and OMG it was spectacular!!! It was so delicious & flavorful & the crunch of sugar on the top was divine! I practically licked the plate clean...if I wasn't so full I would have ordered another! Just before dessert, the head waiter came over and entertained the kids with a “bunny” he made from DS's napkin – the kids were in stitches and had fun making their own bunnies!

We had some time before the show, so we went around and finished finding the clues to our detective agency mystery. The kids had a great time going to all the paintings and finding the clues – this seemed to be a popular after dinner activity (and a great way to work off that dinner running up and down stairs). A lot of families were doing the detective agency games at this time, and the kids needed to be patient and wait their turn.

We headed to the theater for the show - “Villains Tonight” - we got there pretty much right on time, and had no trouble finding seats in the balcony. One thing that I didn't mention before – during last night's show, DH bought the kids a bag of popcorn just outside the theater. Other posters have lamented the lack of fresh popcorn – they sell pre-bagged popcorn – but this actually worked out quite well for us. The bags were big, and the kids munched during the show, and then saved the rest of the bag for the next night. We brought back the bag each night we went to the show – so one bag of popcorn lasted us all three shows.

Villains Tonight was probably my least favorite show. Not as much singing and dancing and the theme that strung all of the vignettes together was not as enjoyable to me, and Hades pretty much did a stand-up comedy act. A lot of posters have really liked the actor who played the lead, Hades. However, I think he tried to milk his jokes a bit too long – and many *many* times I thought in my head – ok...we get the joke...can we move on now?? One thing that kept me engaged were the two ASL interpreters - they were wonderful to watch – they more than just interpreted – they really acted out each part (and Hades even joked with them at one point). Overall, entertaining, but not my favorite – the kids seemed to enjoy it though.

We stopped back at the cabin after the show and then headed up to the Buccaneer Blast!
Here we are in our Pirate gear:

We headed up early to check everything out – folks were staking out their spots & we tried to figure out where the best spot would be. We played around on the pool deck a bit, then decided to head up to the next level. It was definitely breezy up there, and we didn't have our jackets on. My parents decided to go back to the cabin to get their windbreakers, but we just went back down to the pool deck. The kids declared that hot chocolate was in order – so we went to the drink station to pour us some cups – what a great idea – yummy! Then we followed the lead of other cruisers and grabbed some pool towels and spread them out on the pool deck to drink our cocoa and get ready for the show. I thought the whole pirate show was so cool – here we are, on a big boat in the middle of the ocean (ok...maybe not in the middle – you can still see the lights from the islands , and we're watching pirates, and then fireworks!!! Life is Good!!! The kids were enthralled – music, fireworks, Captain Jack falling off the stack, and being chased all around the stage – what fun! We loved it all! My kids were awake for it all, but I have to say it was very cute seeing some of the kids asleep in their parents' arms – pirates are exciting, but so much excitement can be exhausting!

Some photos from the Buccaneer Blast:

The kids before it started:

Captain Jack:

Fireworks:

After the fireworks, both of the kids were tired and wanted to go to sleep. We walked through Cabanas where there was a buffet set up – as if we could possibly stuff anymore food into our bodies! Ack! We took the kids back to the stateroom and tucked them in, and with Nana and Grampie next door to keep an eye on them, DH and I slipped off to check out the adult areas for the first time! Wahoo!

We headed to the Evolution lounge to check out the Freddy Fusion magic show – it was quite good and very funny. We enjoyed a drink and watched the show, but didn't stick around for the dancing afterward. We did notice that the crowd in Evolution was quite small – there were many, many empty seats to choose from. I wonder if on these short cruises that everyone is so tired from packing in all the fun with their kids that most adults just never make it to have an adult evening – especially if the kids are too tired to go to the kids clubs. I'd be interested to hear how the adult nightlife is on the longer cruises – because it sure seemed pretty quiet on this 3-night one. I know that on the NCL cruise to Bermuda that DH and I took last year, the night life was really hopping and it was hard to find a seat in the lounges. But, there were a whole lot fewer kids on that cruise.

We were pretty tired ourselves at that point, and decided to head to bed.

Next up...Castaway Cay!! Woo Hoo!!

 

[loveysbydesign]

Great update!

 

[FirstTimeDC]

Can't wait to hear about Castaway Cay! Great report!!

 

[jenseib]

I love the update.
My Mom went on the cruise with me and my DD and we stayed up til labout 11:30 each night, but never made it to the clubs either. We just put DD to bed and we went too. One of us could've left, but with early mornings, it was hard to stay up so late too.

 

[clower5luvzdiz]

Enjoying your post... keep it coming when you can!

 

[davidls]

TiffLB you are doing a fantastic job on your report. I do have a question - which side of the ship is best to view the fireworks. I didn't know if it is different on the Dream or not. Thanks. Keep the trip report coming!!!

 

[jenseib]

TiffLB you are doing a fantastic job on your report. I do have a question - which side of the ship is best to view the fireworks. I didn't know if it is different on the Dream or not. Thanks. Keep the trip report coming!!!

On the Dream, it's Starboard (right ) side

 

[nhdisnut]

Wonderful reports - some unique pics....can't get enough!

Thanks!

 

[ibouncetoo]

Really enjoying your report! When it is complete I think I'll send a link to my neice so she can get a first timer's perspective for when she and the kids join the "great aunts" on our November 4 day.

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