Disney Dream Trip Report
Feb 6 10, 2011
Travelers:
Me 41 yo Mom
DH 42 yo
DD 8 yo
DS 7 yo
DD 4 yo
Cabin Deluxe Family Veranda 10572
City of origin Austin, Texas
Multiple previous cruises on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, first Disney cruise.
We stayed in Orlando overnight prior to the cruise at the Country Inn, very close to the airport. Highly recommend this hotel. Much cheaper compd to other hotels in the MCO or Port Canaveral area, and very pleasant rooms, perfectly reasonable breakfast. Shuttle from the airport.
The next day we used Sunnys Transportation 1-888-540-5893 to get the port. He was fabulous. Arrived on time, beautiful car. MUCH cheaper than the Disney transport. We arranged for a 9:15 pickup at the end of the cruise, but turns out we got off the boat faster than that see disembarkation, below. We called him and he came 45 mins earlier with no problems.
EMBARKATION
We arrived at the terminal at 10:45. Already very crowded. Registered the kids. We were boarding group 8 and got on the boat at 12:30.
The ship is beautiful. Fulfilled expectations.
Our introductory CM was a lovely guy from England. Directed us to Cabanas for lunch. I told him I heard (from DIS) that Enchanted Garden was also open, and he said we were welcome to go there instead. The restaurant was maybe 20% occupied and the welcome aboard buffet was lovely. Later we went and scouted out the Cabanas welcome aboard buffet and the selection was probably greater (more fried stuff, I saw a roast turkey I didnt see in EG, etc.) However, we were glad we went to EG because it was much more luxurious and quieter, with a lovely waitress. I would do the same thing again.
CABIN
We quickly got into our cabin, family with verandah 10572. Beautiful. Smaller than the family veranda rooms on Carnival, but the luxury easily made up for that.
As far as noise level on deck 10: yes, you can hear the deck noise above. BUT, it never bothered any of us. It was never screaming or people talking, just shuffling and scraping. No problem sleeping thru that, and it stopped late into the evening. Pirate night we could hear the party go on until MN, but again, didnt bother any of us. If you want super quiet, go down a deck. I loved it that Cabanas and the pool was SO close. Our cabin was right across the hall from the laundry. Again, that was never a noise issue, and fabulous for me because I could do the laundry while the kids were sleeping without worry. We would get this cabin again easily.
I had brought an over-the-door hanger for toiletries didnt need it. Plenty of storage for that in both bathrooms. The shower/bath is absolutely adequate. What the pictures on DIS (that I saw) didnt show is that on the side of the tub is a fairly deep seating area. I have a bad back and I could sit on that and bathe each kid with the fantastic shower wand. Took me several showers to figure out the little button you can press to get hot water rather than just warm water. Lol. Do not bother to bring shampoo/conditioner. The free stuff is lovely and gets replenished daily.
Also we had a connecting room. From some of the posts I read I wondered if that would be a problem. It was a non-issue.
The lights issue just leave any card in the door slot and manually turn off all the lights when you leave.
The view from the veranda Yes, the life boats are big and stick out from the ship. But our particular cabin was situated so you could look straight down in between the life boats and see the ocean. I think if you were on a much lower deck the obstructed view from the life boats might be an issue, in our cabin it was not. Also, from deck 10, there is a large overhang that obstructs the view of the sky. Would be less of a problem lower down.
Our cabin stewardess was delightful. Could not have been better. Michele Johnson.
CHILDRENS PROGRAMS
We toured the area and it is very impressive. Our kids went once, for an hour. They had an ok time. I think this says more about our familys personality than knocking the kids programs. We really just wanted to be all together.
SHOWS
We had the early show rotation, would definitely do it that way again with the little kids. It did mean we missed seeing leaving port which was sad, but still it was worth it. The one reason I didnt want the early show is I didnt want to have to rush off Castaway Cay to make the 5:00 show. Turns out there is no 5:00 show on that day (hypnotist at 8:30 instead) so that worked out great! I loved Believe and the Golden Mickeys was also excellent. Thought Villains Tonight was only good. The shows are top quality, not to be missed unless you hate that kind of thing. The hypnotist seemed laughably fake. If you chose to suspend disbelief or are 7 years old, it is probably funny.
RESTAURANTS
RP and EG were both great. Do not miss the sugar fee chocolate mouse cake and the grand mariner soufflé for desert. These are both things I would never order on my own, but the waiter just brought them and OMG. Fabulous. The princesses make a very brief showing at the RP, really not like at DW where they will stop for pictures and autographs. They gave the distinct impression they were in a big hurry. We only saw Cinderella and Tiana at dinner. Multiple character encounters throughout the ship but always a big line. We had already done that many times at DW so were content to just gaze upon them.
I thought AP was only ok for food. The show at AP was technically fascinating, but not terrifically interesting to the kids. I think this was because the kids did not get how technically amazing it was (I will not spoil it for you.)
Now for a bit of a downer. Our waiters were not very good. Both of them were brand new to the industry, and it showed. The kids meals were continually messed up. If I asked for anything special like broccoli instead of cauliflower for the kids, our waiter got a tremendous worried frown. I know this was not meanness on his part, he just didnt know how to accomplish it. Dirty plates were VERY late in being cleared. On previous cruises we were delighted by the lovely people who waited on us, and their ability to pre-think what we needed. None of that here. For example, DS loves, loves fruit. It should have been easy to figure this out after night one, these guys never did. Also, I am confident he had no idea what our names were. Unfortunately, the biggest problem (which I have to hope is unique to our waiter) was that he had terrible BO. Overwhelming.
Now we never complained about any of this, none of us could be so cruel when it was obvious these guys were trying so hard. Plus, as far as the BO issue, surely his co-workers and head waiter guy could smell it too, so we figured eventually someone would tell him. And truth be told all of the above did not matter. Did not spoil anything for us. I have no doubt it will improve as the newbies go along.
Cabanas was very good. Probably a step above Carnivals and RCs equivalent.
Coffee was GREAT. Much better than the disgusting swill on Carnival and RC. I never even considered spending money on a specialty coffee.
We never got room service.
DETECTIVE GAME
Highly recommend this. Our kids ages 4-8 were delighted by it. If you finish the game and want to do it again, make sure you get a new detective badge rather than just changing from puppies to art work, or your clues/villain will all be the same. (Or at least that is the way it was for us, could have been bad luck on the second go round.)
POOLS
Fantastic. Never felt too crowded. We stayed on the boat at Nassau to use the pool area and were glad we did, although even on the at sea day the crowds were not terrible. Disney has really figured out the pool situation in terms of a shallow area for adults to sit in and watch the kids. WONDERFUL to have fresh water instead of salt water, and it was not too cold. The aqua duck is fun, not at all scary, very tame ride. The wait was never greater than 20 mins that I saw.
We did not use the adult area much, but walked past it many a time and it never looked over-crowded. If you want a quiet place on deck, realize that with children you can walk past the adult only deck, climb the stairs, go to the front of the ship, and you find your way to a very uncrowded family area. I think it was deck 13.
I know that there has been concern about kids walking past the adult area. Honestly, I just did not see that this was in anyway a problem for these adults. No one ever looked perturbed.
NASSAU
Been there before, so we did not get off. Enough said. Great day to use the pool, but a lot of people had the same idea, so do not expect the ship to be empty.
CASTAWAY CAY
Wonderful, fulfilled my expectations, which were high. We had great weather, and I swam and swam on the family beach, the water temperature was perfect. I was worried that there was some best part of the beach that we needed to reserve quickly, really not the case. Every spot seemed equivalent and lovely. Next time, we will find the restaurant and walk directly out to the beach from there to make that traveling distance shorter. Only thing I would change. It was crowded, but never felt crowded as a problem, if you know what I mean. Our kids loved playing with the other kids and making friends. You can request life vests for the kids for free.
DISEMBARKATION
So the night before we get this letter saying our breakfast will be served at 6:30 in the morning at EG, and after that we will be directed to get the hell off the boat. Well not really that exactly, but that sums up the tone of the letter. We asked a friendly CM, and he said Cabanas would be open. So we ignored that whole 6:30 thing. Woke up at 6:45, got the kids ready, left our room at 7:30 with no angry knocks on the door. Went to Cabanas for a leisurely breakfast, and walked off at 8:30. No lines, very, very easy disembarkation.
SUMMATION
Fantastic Time. Well worth the extra $$ compared to other cruise lines. We would do this trip again, and will.
Feb 6 10, 2011
Travelers:
Me 41 yo Mom
DH 42 yo
DD 8 yo
DS 7 yo
DD 4 yo
Cabin Deluxe Family Veranda 10572
City of origin Austin, Texas
Multiple previous cruises on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, first Disney cruise.
We stayed in Orlando overnight prior to the cruise at the Country Inn, very close to the airport. Highly recommend this hotel. Much cheaper compd to other hotels in the MCO or Port Canaveral area, and very pleasant rooms, perfectly reasonable breakfast. Shuttle from the airport.
The next day we used Sunnys Transportation 1-888-540-5893 to get the port. He was fabulous. Arrived on time, beautiful car. MUCH cheaper than the Disney transport. We arranged for a 9:15 pickup at the end of the cruise, but turns out we got off the boat faster than that see disembarkation, below. We called him and he came 45 mins earlier with no problems.
EMBARKATION
We arrived at the terminal at 10:45. Already very crowded. Registered the kids. We were boarding group 8 and got on the boat at 12:30.
The ship is beautiful. Fulfilled expectations.
Our introductory CM was a lovely guy from England. Directed us to Cabanas for lunch. I told him I heard (from DIS) that Enchanted Garden was also open, and he said we were welcome to go there instead. The restaurant was maybe 20% occupied and the welcome aboard buffet was lovely. Later we went and scouted out the Cabanas welcome aboard buffet and the selection was probably greater (more fried stuff, I saw a roast turkey I didnt see in EG, etc.) However, we were glad we went to EG because it was much more luxurious and quieter, with a lovely waitress. I would do the same thing again.
CABIN
We quickly got into our cabin, family with verandah 10572. Beautiful. Smaller than the family veranda rooms on Carnival, but the luxury easily made up for that.
As far as noise level on deck 10: yes, you can hear the deck noise above. BUT, it never bothered any of us. It was never screaming or people talking, just shuffling and scraping. No problem sleeping thru that, and it stopped late into the evening. Pirate night we could hear the party go on until MN, but again, didnt bother any of us. If you want super quiet, go down a deck. I loved it that Cabanas and the pool was SO close. Our cabin was right across the hall from the laundry. Again, that was never a noise issue, and fabulous for me because I could do the laundry while the kids were sleeping without worry. We would get this cabin again easily.
I had brought an over-the-door hanger for toiletries didnt need it. Plenty of storage for that in both bathrooms. The shower/bath is absolutely adequate. What the pictures on DIS (that I saw) didnt show is that on the side of the tub is a fairly deep seating area. I have a bad back and I could sit on that and bathe each kid with the fantastic shower wand. Took me several showers to figure out the little button you can press to get hot water rather than just warm water. Lol. Do not bother to bring shampoo/conditioner. The free stuff is lovely and gets replenished daily.
Also we had a connecting room. From some of the posts I read I wondered if that would be a problem. It was a non-issue.
The lights issue just leave any card in the door slot and manually turn off all the lights when you leave.
The view from the veranda Yes, the life boats are big and stick out from the ship. But our particular cabin was situated so you could look straight down in between the life boats and see the ocean. I think if you were on a much lower deck the obstructed view from the life boats might be an issue, in our cabin it was not. Also, from deck 10, there is a large overhang that obstructs the view of the sky. Would be less of a problem lower down.
Our cabin stewardess was delightful. Could not have been better. Michele Johnson.
CHILDRENS PROGRAMS
We toured the area and it is very impressive. Our kids went once, for an hour. They had an ok time. I think this says more about our familys personality than knocking the kids programs. We really just wanted to be all together.
SHOWS
We had the early show rotation, would definitely do it that way again with the little kids. It did mean we missed seeing leaving port which was sad, but still it was worth it. The one reason I didnt want the early show is I didnt want to have to rush off Castaway Cay to make the 5:00 show. Turns out there is no 5:00 show on that day (hypnotist at 8:30 instead) so that worked out great! I loved Believe and the Golden Mickeys was also excellent. Thought Villains Tonight was only good. The shows are top quality, not to be missed unless you hate that kind of thing. The hypnotist seemed laughably fake. If you chose to suspend disbelief or are 7 years old, it is probably funny.
RESTAURANTS
RP and EG were both great. Do not miss the sugar fee chocolate mouse cake and the grand mariner soufflé for desert. These are both things I would never order on my own, but the waiter just brought them and OMG. Fabulous. The princesses make a very brief showing at the RP, really not like at DW where they will stop for pictures and autographs. They gave the distinct impression they were in a big hurry. We only saw Cinderella and Tiana at dinner. Multiple character encounters throughout the ship but always a big line. We had already done that many times at DW so were content to just gaze upon them.
I thought AP was only ok for food. The show at AP was technically fascinating, but not terrifically interesting to the kids. I think this was because the kids did not get how technically amazing it was (I will not spoil it for you.)
Now for a bit of a downer. Our waiters were not very good. Both of them were brand new to the industry, and it showed. The kids meals were continually messed up. If I asked for anything special like broccoli instead of cauliflower for the kids, our waiter got a tremendous worried frown. I know this was not meanness on his part, he just didnt know how to accomplish it. Dirty plates were VERY late in being cleared. On previous cruises we were delighted by the lovely people who waited on us, and their ability to pre-think what we needed. None of that here. For example, DS loves, loves fruit. It should have been easy to figure this out after night one, these guys never did. Also, I am confident he had no idea what our names were. Unfortunately, the biggest problem (which I have to hope is unique to our waiter) was that he had terrible BO. Overwhelming.
Now we never complained about any of this, none of us could be so cruel when it was obvious these guys were trying so hard. Plus, as far as the BO issue, surely his co-workers and head waiter guy could smell it too, so we figured eventually someone would tell him. And truth be told all of the above did not matter. Did not spoil anything for us. I have no doubt it will improve as the newbies go along.
Cabanas was very good. Probably a step above Carnivals and RCs equivalent.
Coffee was GREAT. Much better than the disgusting swill on Carnival and RC. I never even considered spending money on a specialty coffee.
We never got room service.
DETECTIVE GAME
Highly recommend this. Our kids ages 4-8 were delighted by it. If you finish the game and want to do it again, make sure you get a new detective badge rather than just changing from puppies to art work, or your clues/villain will all be the same. (Or at least that is the way it was for us, could have been bad luck on the second go round.)
POOLS
Fantastic. Never felt too crowded. We stayed on the boat at Nassau to use the pool area and were glad we did, although even on the at sea day the crowds were not terrible. Disney has really figured out the pool situation in terms of a shallow area for adults to sit in and watch the kids. WONDERFUL to have fresh water instead of salt water, and it was not too cold. The aqua duck is fun, not at all scary, very tame ride. The wait was never greater than 20 mins that I saw.
We did not use the adult area much, but walked past it many a time and it never looked over-crowded. If you want a quiet place on deck, realize that with children you can walk past the adult only deck, climb the stairs, go to the front of the ship, and you find your way to a very uncrowded family area. I think it was deck 13.
I know that there has been concern about kids walking past the adult area. Honestly, I just did not see that this was in anyway a problem for these adults. No one ever looked perturbed.
NASSAU
Been there before, so we did not get off. Enough said. Great day to use the pool, but a lot of people had the same idea, so do not expect the ship to be empty.
CASTAWAY CAY
Wonderful, fulfilled my expectations, which were high. We had great weather, and I swam and swam on the family beach, the water temperature was perfect. I was worried that there was some best part of the beach that we needed to reserve quickly, really not the case. Every spot seemed equivalent and lovely. Next time, we will find the restaurant and walk directly out to the beach from there to make that traveling distance shorter. Only thing I would change. It was crowded, but never felt crowded as a problem, if you know what I mean. Our kids loved playing with the other kids and making friends. You can request life vests for the kids for free.
DISEMBARKATION
So the night before we get this letter saying our breakfast will be served at 6:30 in the morning at EG, and after that we will be directed to get the hell off the boat. Well not really that exactly, but that sums up the tone of the letter. We asked a friendly CM, and he said Cabanas would be open. So we ignored that whole 6:30 thing. Woke up at 6:45, got the kids ready, left our room at 7:30 with no angry knocks on the door. Went to Cabanas for a leisurely breakfast, and walked off at 8:30. No lines, very, very easy disembarkation.
SUMMATION
Fantastic Time. Well worth the extra $$ compared to other cruise lines. We would do this trip again, and will.
