2/3/13/ Dream

[IrishCowboy]

Starting this post for bsmooth....

 

[bsmooth]

thanks for starting this!!!!!

Party of 7 on our first Disney Cruise
Me, DW, DD 9 y/o at time of sailing, DS#1 6 y/o, DS#2 5 y/o and 2 Grandmas.
Looking forward to a great time.

 

[kristinanderic]

We just booked this cruise yesterday!

 

[bsmooth]

Welcome Aboard. So happy to see somebody else has booked this cruise date. Have you cruised before on Disney??

 

[kristinanderic]

Actually we have cruised the Disney Dream before, we were on the 2/13/11 sailing. I'd be happy to answer any questions that you may have.

 

[bsmooth]

My family and I are very excited to finally be cruising. I am sure I will have plenty of questions, we are Disney cruise line rookies but Disney World/Land Veterans.

If there is anything you can recommend as far as tips or ideas please feel free to pass along to us.

 

[Figmificent]

Just booked this cruise! So excited, this will be our first Disney cruise. We are staying somewhere on deck 9, I already forget. LOL

 

[heyshanny]

Hi all! We just booked this cruise on our last cruise which was last week! We were on the Magic last week and booked for the Dream. We are SO excited! We've cruised the Wonder (3 years ago), and the Magic last week so we can't wait for the Dream! We are thinking about adding the 3 day on to the beginning of this cruise. We've never done a back to back before but we hear they are really fun!
Can't wait to keep up with this thread over the next year. I hope there will be a Fish Extender Exchange for this cruise!

 

[TifferMak]

Hi everyone! Just disembarked the Dream this morning and loved it so much we're doing it all again: same boat, same itinerary, same stateroom! We booked our next trip while on board yesterday.

I am super happy to see this thread has some activity. Looking forward to chatting with everyone for the next year. Also, if anyone has any questions, feel free to give me a shout (while it's still fresh, LOL)!

Take care,
Tiffany

 

[heyshanny]

Hi everyone! Just disembarked the Dream this morning and loved it so much we're doing it all again: same boat, same itinerary, same stateroom! We booked our next trip while on board yesterday.

I am super happy to see this thread has some activity. Looking forward to chatting with everyone for the next year. Also, if anyone has any questions, feel free to give me a shout (while it's still fresh, LOL)!

Take care,
Tiffany

Tiffany,
I see you cruised the Wonder and also the Dream. Does the Dream feel more crowded since so many more people are on board?

 

[TifferMak]

Tiffany,
I see you cruised the Wonder and also the Dream. Does the Dream feel more crowded since so many more people are on board?

Hi Shannon,

I was pleasantly surprised that the Dream didn't feel as crowded as I expected. Now, don't get me wrong, we completely avoided the pools & AquaDuck during the at sea day because Deck 11 was bananas! However, DD (10) was happy to hang out in the Oceaneer Lab plus it gave DH and I some down time to just wander around the ship.

The only times I noticed a long line was during the character greetings, just before 2nd seating dinners, and disembarkation. Otherwise, hardly a wait for anything! Even during the Sail Away & Pirate Party, there were crowds, but to me, it was totally manageable. I'll look through my pics to see if I got any good shots of the crowd & then post.

 

[heyshanny]

Hi Shannon,

I was pleasantly surprised that the Dream didn't feel as crowded as I expected. Now, don't get me wrong, we completely avoided the pools & AquaDuck during the at sea day because Deck 11 was bananas! However, DD (10) was happy to hang out in the Oceaneer Lab plus it gave DH and I some down time to just wander around the ship.

The only times I noticed a long line was during the character greetings, just before 2nd seating dinners, and disembarkation. Otherwise, hardly a wait for anything! Even during the Sail Away & Pirate Party, there were crowds, but to me, it was totally manageable. I'll look through my pics to see if I got any good shots of the crowd & then post.

Thanks Tiffany! We're used to the crowds on the Magic and Wonder, we've just been curious about the Dream. We can't wait to sail!

 

[TifferMak]

I hope there will be a Fish Extender Exchange for this cruise!

Count me in! I didn't know what it was until our 2nd cruise and unfortunately, there weren't enough people to generate any interest for that one. I'm hoping 3rd time's the charm.

 

[heyshanny]

Well, we've decided to switch to a 7 night on the Fantasy. Hope you all have a wonderful cruise!

 

[bsmooth]

Hi everyone! Just disembarked the Dream this morning and loved it so much we're doing it all again: same boat, same itinerary, same stateroom! We booked our next trip while on board yesterday.

I am super happy to see this thread has some activity. Looking forward to chatting with everyone for the next year. Also, if anyone has any questions, feel free to give me a shout (while it's still fresh, LOL)!

Take care,
Tiffany

Hi Tiffany,
My family and I are First time cruisers....I see you just got off the Dream, how were the crowds on your most recent trip? We booked specifically this week because it tends to be less crowded at the parks and was hoping that translate to the same on the cruise!!!

Also, I have 3 kids (DD 9, DS 6, DS5 at time of cruise) can you explain the fish extender program?

Also would love to hear any tricks or ideas you may have.

Thanks so much and look forward to hearing from you

Brian

 

[TifferMak]

Hi Brian,

The crowds didn’t faze us too much especially if you’re used to the parks! The Dream is such a BIG ship so there’s plenty of different stuff going on all the time. The only time we noticed long lines or crowds was during character greetings, just before the 2nd dining rotation, and the pool areas during the at-sea day.

I’ve never done the fish extenders before but it seems like a lot of fun. Here’s a link to a forum with a lot of information: http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-cruise-line/meets.htm

Hmmm, I’m not sure if we picked up any neat hints or tricks… but there was something I wish I had known about before our first cruise. A lot of repeat cruisers create Disney themed magnets to hang on their stateroom doors. My family and I made some for our last cruise and had a blast coming up with the designs! Here’s a link with a ton of info about magnets: http://www.disboards.com/search.php?searchid=26844558

Also, if you enjoy the cruise and think you might want to go again, I’d highly recommend booking your next cruise while you’re on board. We saved about $700 by doing so!

Oh, and if you or your family members have any kind of food allergies or intolerances, the restaurant staff is amazing! I have celiac disease so I have to adhere to a strict gluten-free diet. Our dining room server went to great lengths to make sure that my meals wouldn’t make me sick. Each night after dinner I was given the next night’s menu and would select my meal. If any of my choices were made with gluten, the chef would prepare a special gluten-free version for me! I was blown away; way exceeded any expectations I had!!

I guess this is a pretty random list, LOL, but if I think of anything else I'll pop on and post it.

Take care,

 

[JessieandTinksmom]

We were just on the dream 3/1 and decided to rebook for this sailing. We are BEYOND excited. I am looking forward to it even though there's still 300+ days til it starts!
Is there a separate thread for fish extenders? My girls were so excited seeing them on other doors and I was to late to sign up for it this time and don't want to miss it again!

 

[aksunshine]

Just booked this cruise today! I haven't told my family. Going to keep it a surprise for a bit. It will be our first cruise EVER!!! We plan to visit wdw before or after. We have gone to WDW every year since 06, so this year is an off year. Adding the cruise will make the wait more exciting and MORE difficult! haha!!!

It will be me, DH, DD (10 then), DS (2 then), and the new baby due in September.

 

[Canadacrew]

This is our first cruise ever. Not sure if kids or mom more excited. The boys will be 5 and 6 at time of travel so hoping they will have a ton of fun

 

[Lindsaybrz]

Just found out about this discussion board from a friend today. We are first time Disney cruisers, although veterans of DisneyWorld and Land. I'm sure I'll have many questions as the date comes closer. Will be sailing with my husband, parents and my 7 year old daughter and 5 year old son. This fish extender sounds interesting....