March 15' TR: Cruising into my 30s on the Dream! *PTR Link Added! 3/28/16*

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Hair Braiding and Royal Palace!
(March 21, 2015)
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*Happy Super Bowl Day! It's sad that the TR is half way over and I don't have a cruise planned! I guess I'll have to live through everyone else until then! I watched the Fantasy sail away last night with her late departure. One day, one day! This weekend my parents are coming to Orlando for a vacation. We're staying 3 nights at Disney (1 night POFQ and 2 Riverside.) Last week we got a letter saying Riverside's pool and hot tub would be closed. We're trying to get it changed but sadly with Valentine's Weekend and President's Day Weekend, we might have to stick with what we have. Maybe I'll do a mini TR with this to prolong the ending even more! Thoughts?????

When I left off, mom and I had to leave the pool area while it was closed and cleaned from the overly intoxicated guest. It was shortly after that I decided I wanted to get my hair braided. In 2013, I had made the mistake of doing it at CC and had almost 20 braids in my hair! I stopped by the booth and was told to come back in an hour so I killed time in the stateroom until it was my turn. The braider was really nice and we chatted about WDW and DCL. I told her how I made the mistake of getting my hair done at CC last time bc I had so many braids in my hair. After she was finished, I was shocked to find, I had again almost 20 braids in my hair and at $2 a braid, I was nearly shocked. I guess next time (if I do it, I need to say no more than 10!)

I paid with room charge including the tip and went back to the room just in time to sail away and get ready for dinner!







After I got ready, I took a selfie on the verandah with my Pirate's Night Bandana:


The show that night was Villain's Tonight. Mom watched bits of it on the TV and we decided to skip it. We went to the Pirate show before heading to dinner and went dressed for dinner. Since we were dining at Royal Palace, I didn't want to wear my Pirate t-shirt and jean capris (personal choice,) so I wore a dress and changed later.











The show was cute but I don't know if I would take the time to see it again. I ditched the bandana and we went to Royal Palace. Since we were only on the 3 night, we didn't get a pirate menu which I was okay with since I liked the RP menu.

We sat down and drinks were waiting for us. We talked to our table mates who admitted the loved Blue Lagoon dolphin day and I suddenly had wished we had done BL, next time maybe. We also met our other table mates, a mom and her 8 year old son who were from Jacksonville. They were also WDW AP holders and were on their first Disney Cruise too. They said they spend the whole first night sick from the rocking and were unable to make dinner. All 6 of us…well 5 adults mostly had great conversation!

They all convinced me that I should run the 5k in the morning. I had run the Enchanted 10k a month before that in WDW and was on a runDisney kick so after they all convinced me…and none of them wanted to join me (hahahaha,) I decided to just go for it! Before we knew it, it was dinner time!



I WANT THIS!!!!!!!!!!




Again, even after having pulling out my trip bin, I could not find any notes on food (still can't believe it,) so here's the food, guess away!










The food was all good. It still continues to be a fav meal of mine.

Dessert Menu:










Our servers were much more relaxed that night and were talkative to us. We were one of the last tables to leave so I took pictures on the way out…







We got back to the room to change for Pirate Night a saw our first bit of Sadness on the bed…the envelopes for our tips, thus knowing the cruise was ending soon…



We got changed and of course went back to the gift shops again..why not?! Finally it was Pirate Night time!

Trip Tips:
~When getting your hair braided, specify if you only want a certain amount of braids!
~Not having the pirate menu is okay, especially if you are at Royal Palace!
~Mickey's Pirate Show was good, not sure if I'd see it again
~You can watch the stage shows on your stateroom TV

Up Next:
Pirate Night and Pirate Buffet! ​

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[chunkymonkey]

I'd like to hear about your mini TR! It's always fun to prolong the post-trip feeling.

I want to see a picture if your hair braided! I'm sure it looks very cool underneath your pirate bandana. LOL.

Royal Palace looks great...I guess it's like Royal Court on the Fantasy? The food looks the same as what we had at Lumiere's on the Magic. I remember having escargot, and my DH got the beef tenderloin that looked just like that. I think the ships all have variations of the same restaurant.

Can't wait to hear more about pirate night!

 

[cruisehopeful]

Just joined in your report. How cool to have a mom/daughter birthday cruise!

I agree with you about Atlantis. We did enjoy the lazy river, but that was all we enjoyed and it is way overpriced. No customer service, really bad food with the vouchers....big waste of money. We think we'd either have a ship day on Nassau in the future, or maybe get day passes at the Hilton. Most likely we'd just stay on the ship. As you know, those 3 night cruises are over in the blink of an eye.

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

I'd like to hear about your mini TR! It's always fun to prolong the post-trip feeling.

I want to see a picture if your hair braided! I'm sure it looks very cool underneath your pirate bandana. LOL.

Royal Palace looks great...I guess it's like Royal Court on the Fantasy? The food looks the same as what we had at Lumiere's on the Magic. I remember having escargot, and my DH got the beef tenderloin that looked just like that. I think the ships all have variations of the same restaurant.

Can't wait to hear more about pirate night!

There are pics from the last day with my hair braided! I was hesitant because our "optional dress-up" was the last night and didn't know if I would want braids in all the pics and then I decided I didn't care lol.

Just joined in your report. How cool to have a mom/daughter birthday cruise!

I agree with you about Atlantis. We did enjoy the lazy river, but that was all we enjoyed and it is way overpriced. No customer service, really bad food with the vouchers....big waste of money. We think we'd either have a ship day on Nassau in the future, or maybe get day passes at the Hilton. Most likely we'd just stay on the ship. As you know, those 3 night cruises are over in the blink of an eye.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that felt the same way about Atlantis. I was hoping enough families would complain and we would get some sort of compensation, even half back from the tour cost or a small SBC but it was fine. At least we found the beach, only because I knew where it was from before, and mom got to see Atlantis!

Mom really had a great time and it was nice creating memories. I don't have many single friends that would want to spend $$$ to go on a D.C. so going with mom was nice. I'm trying to stowaway on my friend's/her families in December!! heheheheheheh

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Pirate Night!
(March 21, 2016)
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Happy Monday! My dad got some good dr reports over the past few days so their trip is on! I found out that the Dream is offering a discount cruise in March (over my Spring Break.) I called mom all excited hoping she would want to go but sadly she declined and said not this year. There was talk about a possible family trip to CA this summer so that would be nice. Not that I don't love going to WDW but when it's in your backyard, it's nice to go to other destinations from time to time! Sadly a lot of my friends are married with families and my roommate only likes to cruise and booze which I don't like so I guess I need to find a man or wait until next year haha!! On other happy news, I finished my last assignment for the college class I'm taking online to renew my teaching certificate in FL! woo hoo!!

When I left off, mom and I went to change into our pirate gear for Pirate Night! They were of course selling Pirate themed drinks which of course we bought! Now that I think of it, I have no idea where my pirate cup is…

We got good spots for the fireworks!










Random Man on top of the slide






The pictures don't do it justice, it was really cool! Not many can say that they see fireworks while on a cruise!

After the show, we ran towards Cabanas for the buffet.




Even though we were full from dinner, we still managed to pick at some things from the buffet







For some reason I have no pics of mom from Pirate Night. She wore a striped shirt with gold jewelry that she bought at Walmart before the trip. My shirt came from an Etsy shop, Alex and Ani from WDW, and silver earrings from Walmart. We had PN pics taken but we didn't purchase any.

The food was good but I was just very full. We said hello to our table mates (mom and son) and waved to the table mates (couple) on our way out.



We got back to the stateroom, mom got ready for bed and finished watching the Villain's show on TV while I documented how much I spent for the day! Before we knew it, it was time for bed and soon we would be in REAL PARADISE!!!!! ​

TRIP TIPS:

~Any spot is a good spot for the fireworks and Pirate show

~Cabanas gets crowded quickly so get there early!

~Even if you are super full from dinner, check out Cabanas anyways, the decorations are pretty cool!


Up Next:

Arriving in Paradise and Will I Survive the 5k?!!
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[chunkymonkey]

What a fun Pirate Night! I have a striped shirt prepared for our pirate night and I think DH will just be wearing an eyepatch and a cut up t-shirt. I didn't want to go crazy since we have star wars day at sea and we're going to do most of our costume-ing for that day!

Love your Alex and Ani. I have a bunch of bracelets myself. I am not really a bracelet person so I don't wear them daily but I wear them when I'm on DCL and at WDW!

Can't wait to see pics of CC!! I'm gonna guess..you survived the 5K!!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Castaway 5k
(March 22, 2015)
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*Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay, it has been a crazy week! My parents were here visiting and we had a great time. I got sick last week and I've been feeling blah off and on the past week. We had a good time and stayed a night at POFQ and 2 at Riverside. We ate at Cowfish (City Walk,) Jiko, various QSR places, Via Napoli, and Kona Cafe. One of the fav things from their visit was playing the Escape Game. We made it out with just 2.5 mins to spare! Yesterday I ran the Princess 5k. It was not a personal best time of mine but I finished and had a good time despite running alone. They released bibs for the Star Wars 5k so I jumped on that and registered. It was pretty rough getting up at 3:15am, running, showering, and working basically a full day! By 7pm last night I had fallen asleep! I'm looking forward to the Star Wars 5k! Speaking of 5k's….

When I left off, we were fast asleep and dreaming of docking at Castaway Cay and that's just what we did!

As I had said before, I was talked into doing the 5k. I was not very excited about waking up super early but it was worth it and now as I look at my medal hanger with 3 runDisney medals on it, I'm glad I woke up early!

I woke up just as we began to dock and it looked like it would be an amazing day weather wise, and it was!













Room Service arrived before the scheduled time that we had put which was fine. I ate a few bites of food (forgot to take a pic) and got ready for the race!








Mom stayed in the room while I went down to check in for the race. There were a handful of people waiting. They gave us bibs (no names on them,) gave us some instructions, and we waited until it was time to leave the ship. I went to the bathroom to take a pic of my bib!


I had plans to meet up with mom in an hour by the first gift shop at the family beach. We were told there is a bin to place your belongings and a DCL CM would be near the bin and that it would be safe so I took my beach bag with me to avoid having to go back to the ship to change then go back to the beach. It worked out very well!

We left the ship as a group to walk to the start line for the race. They don't have the shuttle operating but families who weren't racing where allowed to leave the ship at the same time we did.







It was early but boy was it hot! I had only done one other race and it was so cold at the start…this race was the complete opposite! Before we knew it, it was race time and off we went!





Usually RD discourages runners from using headphones but I'm glad I had them for this race..it was all done on a bike path, no characters, no music, quite boring to be honest so I plugged into the Broadway version of The Lion King and kept going!






I finally came to the finish!



At the end they give you a rubber medal which I loved! Of course they also have a merchandise area where you can buy lots of fun 5k things! I walked away with 2 shirts, a water bottle, and a pin.


After I shopped, I walked back to meet mom who was waiting! The best part was finishing and the medal, the worst part was the heat and knowing others had been a the beach for an hour+ while I was running haha!!! Thankfully the weather was perfect and I didn't waste any time changing to find a beach…and characters!!!​

Trip Tips:
~If you are deciding to do the 5k, do it! I walked a lot of it and had a good time but if you are alone, bring head phones!
~You can put your belongings in a bin and don't have to go back to the ship to change
~They sell RD merchandise after the race!

Up Next:
Characters and Serenity Bay!​

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[cruisehopeful]

Do many people walk it? I am not a runner, but I do walk a few miles every day. I'm not sure I'd ever be able to run a 5K, but I could easily fast walk one.

 

[buzzrelly]

Awesome! Good for you for getting out there and doing that! I love your early morning pics! DS and I are going to do this in April (should be nice and HOT!) on Wednesday of our cruise and then we are doing the Star Wars 10K on Saturday! I'm so excited, but I've NEVER been in a race! Yikes! I have been "running," I listen to the Jeff Galloway app and I run/walk. have run up to 10 miles doing that, but that was a couple years ago. Recently I have run 5.5 so I think the 10K will be doable for me. DS is 14 and all legs. He is on the XC team and hasn't run since the Fall but I'm sure he will still outrun me!

Thanks for the awesome update and the inspiration!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Do many people walk it? I am not a runner, but I do walk a few miles every day. I'm not sure I'd ever be able to run a 5K, but I could easily fast walk one.

There were no more than 40 people I'd say. It takes a lot (especially on a 3 night cruise) to give up precious beach time to do a 5k but I'm glad I did. I ran a little bit of it but mostly walked. I think you need to finish in under an hour an there's one water stop on the course.

Awesome! Good for you for getting out there and doing that! I love your early morning pics! DS and I are going to do this in April (should be nice and HOT!) on Wednesday of our cruise and then we are doing the Star Wars 10K on Saturday! I'm so excited, but I've NEVER been in a race! Yikes! I have been "running," I listen to the Jeff Galloway app and I run/walk. have run up to 10 miles doing that, but that was a couple years ago. Recently I have run 5.5 so I think the 10K will be doable for me. DS is 14 and all legs. He is on the XC team and hasn't run since the Fall but I'm sure he will still outrun me!

Thanks for the awesome update and the inspiration!

Thanks for reading and good luck on your races! I was hoping the 10k would have opened up for more registrations but it didn't so I'll settle for the 5k

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Serenity Bay
(March 22, 2015)
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When I left off, I had just finished the 5k and was on my way to meet mom after I spent a bundle in the 5k gift shop area. Sadly, they don't give you any CM discounts on the island so I paid full price but it was worth it!

I found mom right at the spot we agreed to but before I got changed, characters were out!

We ended up buying these on the ship because they were so good!

After our detour of pictures, we swung by the regular gift shop to look around. Mom bought a few things to have shipped back to the ship and we made our way to the tram to Serenity Bay!

We got there and a few adults were around. We easily found chairs and got adult drinks! We chatted with a nice family next to us that had been on a million DCL cruises (lucky them!) The husband thought I was 18 years old and said he was tempted to ask if I should be in the adult area. I told him I just turned 30 and he laughed. A compliment I guess!











I miss the water! You don't see pretty water like this in FL!








We saw a fellow coming down the beach and stopped for a pic!



After we were sun kissed for a while we decided it was time for lunch and went to the SB buffet. It wasn't crowded and we found a table easily. I hear the family buffets can be a nightmare!







After lunch we went back to our seats for some more fun in the sun!

Trip Tips:
~Enjoy Serenity Bay if you are adults or can manage to find time away from the kids to visit
~Get at least one character pic while at CC
~CC doesn't offer any discounts but will ship your items to the ship so you don't have to carry them
~The buffet at SB is less crowded than the family buffets

Up Next:
More of Castaway Cay! ​

 

[buzzrelly]

That looks like heaven right now! I would LOVE to see some of the loot available at the 5K gift shop! I didn't even know that was a thing

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

That looks like heaven right now! I would LOVE to see some of the loot available at the 5K gift shop! I didn't even know that was a thing

Thank you! It certainly is! They had two different t-shirts, pins, water bottles, and a few other items I think.

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

More of Castaway Cay!
(March 21, 2015)
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*Hello everyone! I hope everyone had a great weekend! I had an early birthday weekend at WDW! We stayed at AOA Nemo Suite with a QSR DDP. We went to MK Sat and Epcot Sun. Today I had a teacher work day but finished my work last week so I had a day off. I parked at POFQ and took a nice boat ride to and from DS to do some shopping. I had lunch at POFQ and came home to use my apt pool. I'm heading home to PA for spring break starting Friday afternoon so I'm not sure how many posts I'll get in this week but here's one for now!

When I left off, mom and I were still at SB. We went back to our chairs after lunch for some more sun!



You seriously don't see pretty water like that in FL!



I honestly can't say what time it was that we left but it was much later than what I thought. It was then that I really wished that we had a day at Sea to enjoy more of the ship or hadn't wasted the time at Atlantis but alas we needed to get back to pack and get our bags ready for 10pm. We did take our time going back.


Mom wanted to stop and see the family beach areas so we walked around there for a bit and even thought about parking at a chair to get some more beach time in but settled for just walking around and finding a family to take our pic.















Bad selfie attempt







I decided two things on this trip. #1 I love my cover-up because it's so soft but #2, it looks horrible in pics haha











We made one last stop in the small gift ship before you head back to the tram and mom bought a few things again that she had changed her mind on…including a nice t-shirt. Eventually we headed for the tram.
















Getting back on the ship was painless. We got back to our room and I took a few more pics before it was time to say goodbye to CC!





Mom and I decided to head to the pool and hot tub since we had some time before it was time to get ready for the evening.





We also got a snack from the QSR location next to the adult area. Before we knew it, it was time to leave CC but not until I took pics of my race swag with it in the background!






Trip Tip:

*Just take a Disney Cruise, you'll regret not having done a longer one when CC is your final day!

Up Next: Optional Dress-Up Night aka Final Night!

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[chunkymonkey]

Congrats on completing the 5K! Castaway Cay looked beautiful! We had a lovely day on CC but it was too windy to be on Serenity Bay. That side of the island was too windy and felt cold so we just had to stay on the family beach where it was so much warmer! Great pictures! Sad it's your last day though!

 

[Tinksdreams]

Totally enjoying your trip report!!

 

[buzzrelly]

Looks so amazing! And I love your trip tip!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Congrats on completing the 5K! Castaway Cay looked beautiful! We had a lovely day on CC but it was too windy to be on Serenity Bay. That side of the island was too windy and felt cold so we just had to stay on the family beach where it was so much warmer! Great pictures! Sad it's your last day though!

The first time I went to CC, it was cold at SB but I'm glad this time it was warm and the water was warm!

Totally enjoying your trip report!!

Thank you!

Looks so amazing! And I love your trip tip!

Thank you!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Dress-Up Night!
(March 22, 2015)
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*Hello! Tomorrow I'm leaving for Spring Break in PA (I know right..who leaves FL for SB?!) so this will be my last update until I get back on the 19th…my birthday! Right now I'm waiting for laundry to dry and watching UP! It was 86 degrees in Orlando today!!!! It makes me sad that I'm getting down to the end of the TR and don't have any cruises planned! I've been exploring dates for March next year for one. There's going to be a huge debate! I would like to do a 7 night but it's $$$$ in March for a 7 night. A 7 night on Oasis of the Seas (RCCL) is the same as a 4 night Disney Dream…both rooms verandah. 7 night Fantasy is $2,000 more….Debate right?! Any thoughts???? It's hard for me to travel during the school year since I Only get 4 paid days off a year and I would hate to use them all for a 4 or 7 night cruise that I could take over Spring Break but with that comes higher costs. Suggestions would be great! And with that, our last night….

When I left off, we were sailing away from CC! It was optional dress-up night for the last night and of course we had to dress up!






After we got dressed, we headed to see Believe, my favorite show! Mom and I cried of course. The show is wonderful…classic Disney! I hear they are on youtube! After the show, we went back to the room to drop off the last of our gift shop purchases and found that the room was already turned down.


We then went back in search of the classic Mickey dress-up pic!








Success!!





We ended up buying this pic too and I have it framed in my bedroom.

After our Mickey pic, it was time for dinner at AP!





I have to say, I love having AP last and I think I would request a rotation for the next DCL cruise!










Everyone at the table was dressed up. I would have preferred it to be at our RP night as I mentioned but AP wasn't horrible!

Food!!!





Then Crush came to visit and he talked to me!












Apparently that's all the food pics I took. I guess I was overwhelmed with the show and it being the last night that I forgot to take others!

After dinner we thanked everyone and handed out our envelopes. We tipped extra to our server and asst. server as well as our stateroom host.

It was then a decision had to be made for the rest of the night's plans after suitcases went outside…

~See Cinderella at the theater
~Go to Evolutions
~Go Shopping…AGAIN
~Ride the Aqua Duck
~Relax in the room

Up Next…
What will we do for the final night?????


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[disnygirl55]

I'm really enjoying your trip report - makes me want to consider doing the 5K, but I don't enjoy the heat, and I think it will be too warm in April. We've got jet skiing planned for 10:00, so I'm not even sure if it would be do-able. I'm not very fast, and would walk the majority of it. So glad YOU did it, though - I'll live vicariously through you. LOL!