10 out of 10 rebooking!

[KarlaG4Kids]

We were on the Dream May 12-15. There were 10 members of our family. DH and myself (grandparent/parents), our twin sons, their wives and our 5 oldest grandkids. DH and I have been on 4 non-Disney cruises, this was the first cruise for the other 8. Everyone had a fantastic time....we just didn't have ENOUGH time on a 3 night cruise. We all re-booked for a future cruise.

We had port arrival times of 10:30 and 11:00. We arrived at the port at about 11:20. Check in went way quicker than I expected. We were all checked in within 1/2 hour and we were waiting in the very crowded, very loud waiting area for our chance to board. We ended up with a #10 boarding number and our number was called and we were on board the Dream by 12:20. We headed to Cabanas for lunch. We finished up just in time to head to our rooms. Our luggage started arriving immediately and we took the opportunity to unpack and change into our swim suits. We had 3 deluxe Family veranda rooms, 6628, 6630, 6632. We were able to open the veranda doors between all 3 rooms and we loved having all of our verandas connecting. We headed to the family pool areas about 3pm and went straight to the aquaduck. There was a 40 minute wait but we decided to wait. Just a couple of minutes later they shut down the line so everyone in line would finish their ride before the muster drill. The aqua duck is really cool and fun. You DO get good and wet.....no surprise, it is a water ride! After our aquaduck ride we headed back to our rooms to change for the muster drill. I wanted to go to the sailaway party but the family outvoted me...they wanted to enjoy the sailaway from our verandas. We had he first dinner seating with a rotation of Royal Palace/Animators/Enchanted. Our servers were Leslie and Neu. They were great and lots of fun. DH and I had always had "anytime dining" on previous cruises, but found that we love having the same servers each night! My only complaint is that there are very few windows in the restaurant areas and I have motion issues, especially when I can't see the horizon. It really bothered me the first night and I ended up going to bed early. The rest of the family explored the ship or had a spa treatment while I slept!

Nassau day coming up!

 

[Toria]

So far sounds like you had a blast! Wish we had more people traveling with us

 

[KarlaG4Kids]

I woke up the next morning feeling really good with no more motion issues. I do wear a patch when cruising, but the reat of our trip was very smooth with almost no rocking. I was standing on the veranda when my 8 year old grandson came out. I was telling him how we were getting ready to dock in Nassau and he told me that he didn't want to get to land....he loved being at sea! We headed to Cabanas to eat breakfast and we docked while eating. Most of kour group had a snorkel excursion booked. They headed off to meet their group. The youngest 3 kids (6, 7, 8) couldn't wait for the oceaneers lab. That had a great time the evening before and they were ready to go back. My daughter-in-law and I dropped them off and headed into Nassau for a tiny bit of shopping. When we returned 2 hours later we picked up two of the kids but one granddaughter really wanted to stay in the oceaneers lab. Since they serve them lunch in the lab we agreed. The rest of us headed to the pool deck for lunch, pool time and the aquaduck. I do agree, the family pools are not adequate for the size of this ship. They are just too crowded for adults to enjoy them. The kids seem oblivious to the crowds and have a good time anyway. After a couple of hours the kids were wanting to go back to the lab and my daughter-in-law and I were HAPPY to head to the adult pool for a little relaxing time. I love the adult area, and there wasn't a huge amount of traffic through the area. Mojito & adult pool = HAPPY PLACE!
When the rest of our party returned from snorkeling they were starving. Their overall review of the snorkel and sail excursion...not great. They were relatively happy with the coral reef and fish, but the excursion lasted about 4 hours and only 1 hour was snorkeling. The rest of the time was leisurely motoring out to the reef and back. It was way too much wasted time for them. The were on the excursion to snorkel and they felt like they didn't get enough time for that!
Our dinner was at AP tonight and we all loved it. I was happy that we didnt leave Nassau until our dinner was over because I didn't have any issues with not being able to see outside because the ship wasn't moving during our dinner.
The kids had a great time dressing in pirate gear and we headed to the pirate party. We loved both parties. For the fireworks we were on deck 11, starboard and we had a wonderful view of the party below and the fireworks. We were impressed that they stopped the ship and turned it so it was the best for the fireworks. Attention to detail really sets Disney apart in so many ways.

On a side note, the kids were loving coming back to the cabin and finding FE gifts! It was like Christmas each day.

Next up, Castaway Cay!

 

[marhs]

Great trip report so far! Can't wait to read more!

Quick question though - you mentioned being able to open the "doors" on the verandahs since you had family in the next door rooms. We will be in verandah rooms on deck 6 also, and will have 3 rooms in a row. Can you tell me what you mean? Are there doors separating the verandahs outside that can be opened to make it one long deck? If so, sounds great!!!

 

[KarlaG4Kids]

Yes, they are really 1/2 partitions near the rail that open. You should ask your room steward when you get on the ship. My understanding is that all of them don't open, but if you have a connecting room the balcony partitions will open. We were lucky, We had 3 rooms and the partitions all opened. There is still a solid 1/2 partition between the balconies but it is nice to move from one balcony to the others. We loved that.

 

[KarlaG4Kids]

Thanks for reading. I hope the info can help somebody with planning their trips!


On castaway cay we had the sting ray adventure booked for 9am. We absolutely loved this. There were limited numbers of people, so it was not crowded at all. We didn't feel at all rushed with snorkeling after feeding the sting rays. The kids and adults had a blast feeding them and the sting rays would come right up and brush against you in the water, it felt like they were kissing you on the legs. It's a great way to give younger kids a chance to learn to snorkel.

After the sting ray adventure we made our way to the beach with the pelican plunge. Only the water slides were going, the water bucket wasn't. The older kids liked it but it was pretty intense for the younger kids. They loved playing on the beach and in the water though. I thought the food on Castaway Cay left a bit to be desired. They had sliced mango that was great, otherwise the food was just fair.

After lunch 1/2 of our group was scheduled for the seahorse snorkel to the coral reef. Our group was thrilled that it was only 7 minutes catamaran ride to/from the reef and the rest of the trip was snorkel time. The reef wasn't outstanding but it was pretty good with some nice fish. Because of my motion issues I don't do great snorkeling in waters that are wavy. The crew on this snorkel tour were nice enough, but if you need assistance in the water, they arent in the water to help. I ended up getting back on the boat but the rest of my family enjoyed this tour.

After the snorkel tour everyone went back to the Dream except me. I had to utilize a little time for shopping.

All in all it was a beautiful day on Castaway Cay.

 

[marhs]

Yes, they are really 1/2 partitions near the rail that open. You should ask your room steward when you get on the ship. My understanding is that all of them don't open, but if you have a connecting room the balcony partitions will open. We were lucky, We had 3 rooms and the partitions all opened. There is still a solid 1/2 partition between the balconies but it is nice to move from one balcony to the others. We loved that.

Yeah! Sounds perfect! Thank you!!!