Schemin' and Dreamin' - a July 2014 (4-night Bahamian/Dream) Trip Report!

[Ariel484]

nice update - i had to laugh at the cloaked villain rising out of the dust lol

Thanks - isn't our little towel creep awesome??

Thanks for writing another great trip report! Not that I didn't already want to book another cruise but this has brought that up another couple notches.

Thanks! I Totally know what you mean, trip reports have a way of doing that to people.

This is definitely the highest priority for us.

YES. That itinerary would be so amazing!

You are definitely going to love the Fantasy. Even though they are sister ships, the Fantasy wins hands down over the Dream for us. The adult area is layed out much better and Satellite Falls is great! With 2 people you are not going to miss the 50sq. ft. but the thing I prefer about the family category rooms is the tub and rainfall shower.

Awesome! I am glad to hear that you have such a high opinion of the Fantasy. I'm looking forward to checking out the new-to-me adult area and Satellite Falls for sure!

So agree about the bathrooms. The split bathroom is a must!

We have only stayed in the upper decks on the Dream and Fantasy so I cannot say if deck 2 would be bad. On the Classics we have stayed anywhere from deck 2 through 8 (inside, oceanview, almost navigator verandah, verandah, and concierge) and have never had any bad rooms. I would take a week above the engine room or below a bad juggler at the night club on a DCL ship over more snow and ice here.

I've heard people say Deck 2 is fine...maybe we'll try it some day! YES to DCL trumping snow and ice - so glad we're finally getting some melting action over here!

Following!

Hey, I know you!

I don't think I am much of a cruise person...too many people in a small space...but I am still intrigued by the idea of disney cruises!

I NEVER thought I'd take a cruise - but then I started reading reports and I was like, "I MUST try that!" Only Disney though.

I am obviously biased because of the horse theme, but SSR looks beautiful, I would love to stay there one day!

It really was a nice resort! Very big and spread out...but I'd like to try it again on a longer stay.

LOL at the DVC sales guy...the same thing happened to me, a CMs pins caught my eye in the park and I walked up to talk to him before realizing he was a sales guy. He gave us the hard pitch when we are not in a position to buy and made it really awkward/difficult to walk away.

Ahhh, I know! They are so sneaky!

Ugh, Bullseye with the rose blanket, I'm dying of the cuteness!

Right?? I should have bought him.

And now Captain Mickey. I'm dead.

Isn't he soooo cute?? That's one great thing about the cruises - awesome character outfits!

The room is gorgeous and looks giant! And I love the idea of unlimited room service...hmmm

The rooms are so nice! And that one really is pretty big, bigger than you'd expect for a cruise! Unlimited room service is pretty awesome.

Did you guys have tablemates? I am sort of confused about how that works on cruises. That looks like a disappointing seating arrangement for sure. The restaurant in general looks beautiful though.

We did not have tablemates - I asked my Travel Agent to request that we have our own table ahead of time and I'll continue to do that for future cruises, I think. We're just not good at making small talk with people we don't know!

I should have taken more pictures of Enchanted Garden...it really is beautiful. That's a goal of mine for the next cruise, more pictures.

Yup, that towel thing is definitely a little creepy...but funny!

I thought he was sooo awesome!

Can't wait to read more!

Yay, Thanks!!

 

[Ariel484]

Day 3: Monday, July 21, 2014, Part 1 (Super Secret Meeting)

We were up early today - blech!

Why get up early? To go to the gym! I was proud of us. I did 3 miles on a treadmill and Will did some lifting.

We headed back to our room just in time to watch the Dream back in to Nassau!

Closer...

We were next to Allure of the Seas...MAN is that a big ship!!!

We did have some things scheduled for this day, but nothing that involved getting off of the ship. We had the Nassau chocolate tour booked at one point but realized that neither of us were really all that excited about it - we were booking something just for the sake of booking something. But I did take it as a good sign that Will DID have the opportunity to get his feet on dry land for a bit and wasn't bowling people over to get off of the ship to do so!

Instead, we headed into Royal Palace for breakfast.

I wanted to make sure we got in here at some point so Will could see it. This was the one main dining room we were going to miss due to having adult dining reservations.

It turns out our server for breakfast was also a member of our serving team! He remembered our names and asked how our evening/morning had been. I was impressed! We reminded him that we wouldn't be in RP for dinner that evening and he told us to be sure to stop by for some appetizers! *SPOILER ALERT* - we did not stop by for appetizers!

Will's breakfast:

My breakfast...YUM!!

We finished breakfast just in the nick of time...we had a meeting to go to!

About a month before our cruise, I received an email from DCL Research with a survey similar to the ones they send out for WDW. I always fill these out. *NERD ALERT* - I do statistical analysis for a living so I'm always interested to see what kinds of questions Disney/DCL asks and in what way they ask them (are they leading you to a certain response, are they biased, etc.). ANYWAY...

I filled out the email and one of the final questions asked if I'd be willing to answer more questions onboard. I said yes, not really thinking anything of it.

So imagine my surprise when, about 3 weeks before the cruise, I got a follow-up email asking if I'd meet with DCL representatives while onboard for one hour! I would have done it anyway to satisfy my nerdy curiosity, but they sweetened the pot by offering an onboard credit in exchange for my time - a $150 onboard credit.

For a split second I thought the email was fake, for some reason. Then I realized it wasn't. After running it by Will, we agreed to set up a meeting!

They offered me a few times to pick from on this day, and this day only. I thought it was weird that they wanted to do it today, when we'd only been on the ship for about 24 hours...but whatever. We picked a 10AM meeting time. I mean, really - one hour on a day where we didn't have a ton planned that morning anyway?! And you're going to pay for my Remy dinner (that's essentially how I was looking at the OBC - free Remy!!)?? And all I have to do is talk to you about cruising??? Let's do this!

The reps sent a picture of themselves by email so that we'd recognize them, and we met them in front of the Donald statue in the atrium (the email indicated that only the "lead planner" needed to attend the meeting - obviously that would be me, but Will came along anyway). From there, we headed up to a conference room - this one:

We headed into the conference room, and what was the very first thing they had us do? Sign some forms. Unfortunately, by signing one of those forms we agreed not to tell anyone what we discussed in that meeting. And I am a rule follower, so I'm going to abide by that.

Sadness. Don't they know I have a trip report to write?!

I will just say that it was an interesting meeting, and that they kept us for exactly an hour - no more, no less. And the onboard credit showed up on our room later that day! Sweeeeet.

Continued in Next Post

 

[Ariel484]

Day 3: Monday, July 21, 2014, Part 2 (Rainforest Room)

After an hour straight of (mostly me) talking, it was time to eat again. I mean, it HAD been an entire hour!

We headed to Cabanas. I didn't get any food pictures, but I did snag a photo of this beauty:

Oh POG juice. You are just so delicious. Also...rumor has it POG juice is not available on the Fantasy. WHAT?!

Look at this guy (and not at my hair)! He's a cruising pro!

From there we headed up to Senses Salon & Spa. While cutting across the adult deck we passed a couple that were getting wedding photos taken! The bride looked beautiful...but I'm sure she was melting in the heat!

Anyway...this was the only other thing I wanted to do today before dinner - use our Rainforest Room passes!

(Picture for this portion are from my phone with a supposedly water-proof case...)

I forget where I read about these, but our Travel Agent was able to add them to our reservation ahead of time - I think they only have a certain amount available for each sailing? They were $16 apiece and gave us access to the Rainforest Room all day.

We checked in and were allowed to store stuff in the locker rooms.

The lockers locked using some sort of code. I forgot mine by the time we were done, of course.

All of my valuables:

They gave us robes to wear (over swimsuits, which are required) and some dinky little flip flops, if I remember correctly. They also tried to sell us some scrub to use, but we passed on that.

We also got these wristbands that allowed us access to the Rainforest area (hmm, bands that unlock things, sound familiar?!). We had to return these by the end of the day.

Inside...water and towels:

The round things are the showers, which have different temperatures, scents and lighting. Straight ahead are the saunas.

They told us some sort of method to use...like, start with the lowest temperature sauna, then the next hottest, then the hottest, most humid last? And then go to the showers. So we sort of tried to follow that.

Showers:

Sauna #1:

Looking back, I have NO idea why I thought we would like these saunas. It was always sooo hot and humid outside already, and neither of us really like extreme heat. This just did not feel good!

Cool view though.

I think we were supposed to stay here for 10 minutes, but we didn't last long. Will was totally over it! But I soldiered on to the next sauna.

Nope, doesn't feel good.

Maybe the last one?

I stepped in, took this awful picture, and quickly stepped out.

We fared a bit better in the showers...except I think this is where I realized that the waterproof case on my phone wasn't being so waterproof anymore. WTH, Lifeproof?!

The showers were okay but one of them was FREEZING, and we didn't always love the pressure in the others. Meh.

So we headed out to the secluded Rainforest Room deck. There were 2 other ladies out here and eventually another couple came out, but when we were in the saunas and showers no one else was around (part of the reason why I wanted to use these passes on a port day).

Private hot tub!

And the heavenly, heavenly heated tile loungers. LOVED these. We each actually ended up falling asleep in one! Oops!

Can I get a set of these for my house? I'd be totally okay with that.

So overall, I think we're both glad we tried the Rainforest Room, but it's not something we'd do again. It may be more up your alley if you're into saunas! Really, I have read reviews from people who RAVE about the Rainforest Room and will even buy length-of-cruise passes...but it's just not for us.

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[PiperGirlInWondrland]

those heated loungers look fabulous - i'll take a set for my house too lol

 

[Ariel484]

those heated loungers look fabulous - i'll take a set for my house too lol

They were FANTASTIC. The $16 was worth it for the loungers alone!

 

[Ariel484]

Day 3: Monday, July 21, 2014, Part 3 (Finery)

After our luxurious tile lounger nap, we headed back to our room to get cleaned up. And then found ourselves back at Bon Voyage for today's Drink of the Day, the Yellow Bird (banana-flavored, I think):

It was about 4PM by now, and...it happened.

Will took a sip of his drink, looked around, and said, "This is awesome."

Me: "What is awesome?"

Will: "This cruise."

YAY YAY YAY

I didn't realize it until then, but I had been waiting for him to say that!!! Now I knew he was having fun - now I could fully relax and not feel guilty for dragging him into this cruise. Yeehaw!!

We continued to enjoy our drinks and chatted about how great the cruise had been so far. At one point Snow White was finishing a meet & greet shirt and skipped past us. And I got this hilarious picture.

I'd like to think my husband was just zoning out and not gazing dreamily at a princess, but well...look at that picture!!

We finished our drinks and took a few atrium pictures before heading up to Deck 5.

Midship Detective Agency time! We found some stolen puppies! We both really liked this a lot. The Enchanted Art on the ship makes me way too happy, and it was a great way to see other decks. We both agreed that this would have been something good to do on embarkation day, just to get our bearings a little better.

By now it was about time to get gussied up for dinner! It was Formal Night, so I wanted to make sure to meet some sharply-dressed characters.

First up, Daisy! Please note that Will and I did not dress in matching outfits on purpose.

Also...unbeknownst to Will, the character attendants on the Dream dress in blue shirts and black pants...so he was mistaken for a CM more than once!

After our photo I asked Daisy if I could get a solo shot of her!

"Thanks, Daisy!" I said......but she just kept on posing!! So I guess I'd better post all of them here.

I think she enjoyed her little photo shoot! So cute.

We had time for one more meet, so I dragged Will over to Minnie's line.

"What special outfit is she wearing?" Will asked.

"Um...her FINERY." I mean really, no other explanation needed!

It was then that I noticed that there was some commotion with the party in front of me - a little girl (2 years old, maybe?) was crying. Her mother was balancing a martini in one hand and frantically undressing her daughter with the other. Why? The girl had just puked! Right there in line! Lady, put your drink down and help your poor girl!!

We gingerly stepped around the pile of sick and got our picture. This is my, "yay, I didn't step in vomit!" face!

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[Ariel484]

Day 3: Monday, July 21, 2014, Part 4 (Dinner at Palo)

Alright, time for Palo! I love, love, loved dinner here last September, and when we were planning this cruise I knew I needed to bring Will here. Absolutely knew he would love it.

Also...we did NOT stop for appetizers at Royal Palace ahead of time, despite the invite from our server.

First, a picture of the bathroom. That's pretty much a requirement if you're dining at Remy or Palo!

Water-view table!

Here we were introduced to my favorite Cast Member from the cruise, Berney (short for Bernadette) from Australia. She was just awesome, really fun and funny. We hit it off right away.

BREAD YUM

Antipasto time!

Our reservation was at 6, and just after we sat down, the Dream began to move. Bye-bye, Nassau!

Delicious!

We both got drinks. I know I got some kind of red wine...Will may have gotten the same thing? I didn't take notes, sadly.

And now, the gnocchi (with Gorgonzola sauce) that has ruined all other gnocchi for me.

Seriously, though. This gnocchi literally melted in my mouth. After our trip we went to a local place - really good Italian food - that had gnocchi with Gorgonzola on the menu. I ordered it thinking it would be like Palo's gnocchi...NOPE. I was disappointed. Thanks Palo, now I can only eat your gnocchi!

Arugula salad:

Lemon sorbet palate cleanser:

For our entrées, Will went with half of the beef ravioli, half of the gnocchi.

Beef tenderloin for me. I feel like this picture makes it look kind of gross (the angle, maybe?) but I don't even care because it is sooooooo tasty!!

But the food doesn't stop there...Berney brought us out some caramel walnut gelato:

And we each got chocolate souffle. OMG THE BEST THING EVER!!!

And this pretty little plate for our anniversary!

The meal ended with this...shot. I forget what's in it, but I know it's lemon something and is supposed to promote digestion or whatever.

Overall, amazing meal from start to finish. It really is a bargain for $25 apiece - we can't WAIT to go back in July!

We settled our bill, added a tip for Berney and headed out to take in the view before heading back to our room.

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[dta87]

Also...unbeknownst to Will, the character attendants on the Dream dress in blue shirts and black pants...so he was mistaken for a CM more than once!

I have had this happen to me multiple times. Once last year at MK when we dressed for "Dapper Day" and on the ships a couple times when we dressed for Pirate night. Its funny when you play it off and answer their questions and they realize they are not talking to a CM.

The meal ended with this...shot. I forget what's in it, but I know it's lemon something and is supposed to promote digestion or whatever.

Overall, amazing meal from start to finish. It really is a bargain for $25 apiece - we can't WAIT to go back in July!

It is called a "sgroppino" it is nice way to finish a great dinner.

 

[Ariel484]

I have had this happen to me multiple times. Once last year at MK when we dressed for "Dapper Day" and on the ships a couple times when we dressed for Pirate night. Its funny when you play it off and answer their questions and they realize they are not talking to a CM.

I think my husband was so surprised it didn't occur to him to play it off!

It is called a "sgroppino" it is nice way to finish a great dinner.

Thanks I never would have come up with the name!

 

[disneyhorselover]

Awww Daisy's photoshoot totally made me giggle a little! Both of their outfits are so cool!

The rainforest room looks beautiful, and definitely worth the cost for those passes just to explore it.

Everything at Palo looks so good!

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

This is such a great update! The Daisy photo shoot is adorable and I LOVED the photo with snow white and your husband at the bar. Too funny!

 

[Ariel484]

Awww Daisy's photoshoot totally made me giggle a little! Both of their outfits are so cool!

Daisy was LOVING it. The characters have awesome outfits on the cruises. I mean...check out these Alaska get-ups! Dead. I'm dead.

The rainforest room looks beautiful, and definitely worth the cost for those passes just to explore it.

Yeah, I was surprised that the passes only cost $16 per person! That's pretty good for day-long access. I'm glad we tried it once.

Everything at Palo looks so good!

It WAS!! Seriously, such an amazing meal!!

This is such a great update! The Daisy photo shoot is adorable and I LOVED the photo with snow white and your husband at the bar. Too funny!

Thanks!!

We both got a pretty good laugh out of the Snow White photo.

 

[Ariel484]

Day 3: Monday, July 21, 2014, Part 5 (Nightlife)

These lovelies were waiting for us in our stateroom. How romantic.

After getting changed into some more casual clothing, we headed out to meet a duck in tails!

Looking sharp, buddy.

From there we headed into the Walt Disney Theatre.

Tonight's show was Villains Tonight. I'd already seen this in September 2013 and...thought it was awful, to be honest. Talent-wise, great. Content-wise, made me stabby. But I wanted to give it another try for...some reason. I also wanted Will to see it.

So the show went on, and we didn't look at or say anything to one another the entire time. The show ended, the lights came back on and I turned to look at Will. And I swear his face looked exactly like this:

His review? "That...was really bad." And I DIED laughing.

Seriously, though...DONE with that show. I cannot handle my Disney characters talking about their Facebook profiles and cracking jokes about Justin Bieber. Just stop.

Back out in the atrium!

What up, Mickey.

Our final activity for the evening was Match Your Mate in Evolution.

They called for couples...and to my great shock, Will goes, "Lets do it! Let's get up there!" And I'm like... "NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE" Because 1. I don't want to answer those kinds of questions in front of a bunch of strangers, and 2. You know we would have been the "middle" couple that would have had to earn our spot via the dance-off. Now that I think about it, I should have just told Will that. He would have had to have downed at least 15 drinks very quickly to dance like that. Really, so would I!

Anyway...there was a big crowd there with what turned out to be the middle couple, so I don't think we would have been chosen anyway.

I remember the game itself being pretty funny. The most memorable response definitely came from the newlywed couple, who had only been married a couple of weeks. The wife was gone and the husband was asked something along the lines of, "What attracted you to your wife when you first met her?"

Response: "Her face."

Host (who turned out to be the same guy that hosted the Sail Away Party): "Aw, that's nice. Why is that?"

*WARNING: POTENTIALLY INAPPROPRIATE RESPONSE COMING UP*
Newlywed Husband: "It seemed like it could be put to good use."

Everyone else in the room:

I mean, really...how else can you interpret that?! He sure seems like a catch.

The funny thing is, the newlywed couple ended up being the winners. Their prize? Believe it or not, two 1-day passes to the Rainforest Room. Suddenly Will wasn't so sad that we didn't play the game!

Up next: "Why did you bring me to this godforsaken island?!"

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[party-of-five]

Loving this report! I just started making plans for our first ever cruise! So excited to see all the pics.

 

[Ariel484]

Navigator for July 22, 2014 (Castaway Cay)

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[Ariel484]

Loving this report! I just started making plans for our first ever cruise! So excited to see all the pics.

Thank you!! Ah yay, how exciting! Which ship/itinerary will you be sailing? You are going to love it!

 

[party-of-five]

Thank you!! Ah yay, how exciting! Which ship/itinerary will you be sailing? You are going to love it!

The Dream! 4-night Bahamas. Still deciding between 9/7 or 9/14 sail dates. Our anniversary is 9/9, so it would be nice to be away for our actual anniversary. But airfare is cheaper for the 9/14 sail date. We'd like to stay in Orlando for a long weekend after the cruise, so I'm still working out the details. Loving all the pics and info! Thanks for taking the time to post a report!

 

[elphie101]

I'm hooked!!! We took our first cruise (ever!) on the Fantasy last October and it was all my idea, so I totally relate to waiting with bated breath for DH to voice his approval Can't wait for more!!

 

[Ariel484]

The Dream! 4-night Bahamas. Still deciding between 9/7 or 9/14 sail dates. Our anniversary is 9/9, so it would be nice to be away for our actual anniversary. But airfare is cheaper for the 9/14 sail date. We'd like to stay in Orlando for a long weekend after the cruise, so I'm still working out the details. Loving all the pics and info! Thanks for taking the time to post a report!

My first cruise was a 4-night in September (2013)! Good time to go...not super crowded and decent weather.

I hear you on flights, I'm still stalking the one I want for July...it needs to go down by $100 for me to book it.

I'm hooked!!! We took our first cruise (ever!) on the Fantasy last October and it was all my idea, so I totally relate to waiting with bated breath for DH to voice his approval Can't wait for more!!

YES! Isn't that nerve-wracking?! I was so relieved when he said he was having a good time!

I'll be sailing the Fantasy this coming October! How did you like it?! This one will be with my mom and brother...first-timers...so I get to go through the nerves all over again!

 

[elphie101]

YES! Isn't that nerve-wracking?! I was so relieved when he said he was having a good time!

I'll be sailing the Fantasy this coming October! How did you like it?! This one will be with my mom and brother...first-timers...so I get to go through the nerves all over again!

.

We adored the Fantasy! So much so that it's seriously made me question if I should book a different ship for our next itinerary (I will, I know I will........but man will I miss our serving team!) Of course we didn't have a different ship to compare it to, or a different cruiseline, but we simply loved it. DH even said our next cruise should be a TA so we get more sea days! What itinerary have you booked? We did St Maarten/St Thomas (we got rained out of CC )