Day 1: Embarkment
I wish I could say I was 100% prepared for this trip. As much research and reading and planning as I did, nothing could really prepare me for the week to come. I will say though, one thing is for sure... I will never cruise with kids under 3 and not potty trained again. Ever.
Driving into Port was breathtaking and excited. Butterflies in my stomach kind of exciting. The ship is HUGE. The kids squeals of joy were what I had dreamed of. We were on our way...
We stopped at the porters to unload our bags, hubby handed me the tip money to take care of it. In all the excitement of unloading luggage and conversation with our dear sweet porter, I forgot to tip him! UGH. (However, when we walked towards the entrance, I took a B-Line and found him, apologized and handed him the money, my mistake!)
We parked on Level 3 as suggested here on DIS boards and it was perfect. Easy breezeway, no line for initial entry. We went down the elevator (stroller with us), and into line for carry-on and metal detection. Easy Breezy and up to the check-in desks we went.
Check-In itself was fantastic, easy, exciting still and the CM was wonderful for us First-time cruisers.
This is where you show documentation, passports, ID, or Birth Certificates, etc. and have your photo taken for their recognition system. Each member of your party is granted a Key to the World card that you will likely need with you at all times. It serves as room entry as well as purchases you'd like to make. It will also have your Dining Rotation, Dinner Time, Table Number and Muster Drill location Letter located on it.
We walked across the way to Children's programming and got the kids wrist bands put on and made sure they were all sign up. Even though I pre-registered them online, you will still need to go through this line to confirm their arrival and receive the arm band. We had a very short wait (3 minutes?)
We had a 12:30 Port arrival time, but did not actually arrive till 1:30 which was fine, once we got the kids wrist bands, we walked right in!
They announced our family by name, which my 7 year old son thought was super magical and certainly we must have been important.
Quick stop by the Statue and then room were ready, so we headed up the elevators!
We were on Deck 7, Inside Staterooms 7019 & 7017 with a party of 7. 4 adults and 3 children. (Stateroom Report
HERE)
In 7017 we had a 7 year old on the bunk bed and 2 adults (the grandparents) and in 7019 we had a 9 year old in bunk bed, pack n play for the toddler and 2 adults (my husband and myself)
Here are some pictures of our room.
Shameless Mirror Selfie, BUT!!! I did notice there is a 7x zoom mirror built in for those pesky eyebrows that need tweezing
The Shampoo, Conditioner and Lotion lasted our family minus the baby a whole week without needing replacement. And in my opinion smelled FANTASTIC. I brought my toddlers own bodywash/shampoo for his extreme excema.
The rooms were cramped for a family with a pack n play. I will never again stay in an inside stateroom with more than 2 people... just really not fun to be in there at ALL. Sleeping arrangments went ok, and there is a nice divider curtain we pulled between the Master bed and kids area for night time too. There is a built in "night light" that we used also. The stars in the peterpan bunk did not work in our room, I'm not sure if they worked in the room next to ours either? Never really noticed them glowing.
The magic porthole was fun, seeing the characters float and zoom by on screen was a highlight for my boys. They didn't make appearances as often as I would have liked though.
Once we were in our rooms, and put away our carry-on's we headed to Cabanas for lunch.
My hubby wasn't feeling 100% well, he was on an antibiotic for a sinus infection the week leading up to our trip and just felt worn out. He was under impressed and "over-it". Couldn't find anything worth eating, although my plate was filled to the top. And I'm the picky one! He decided to just go back to the room before our muster drill, but just as he headed off towards the elevators, the alarm sounded and off we went. We found a cast member and they directed us to the correct area. Since we still had our stroller with us, we were able to use the elevator. Of coarse we were reminded that if this was a true emergency, elevators would not be working, nor would strollers be permitted.
This was our drill station, at least it was shaded!
After the drill, we headed back to our room and our luggage had arrived. We spent a little time upacking and relaxing until the sail-away party at 4:30. Fun! I had a minor panic attack as the boat started moving, but I don't know if I've mentioned how terrified of boats and water I am. I cried for about 15 minutes as the music was playing, people smiling and dancing, and I with my head bowed and sunglasses on had a pity party.
I don't think anyone noticed, it probably looked as though I was looking at my child in his stroller anyway, LOL. Once the boat got really moving, I high-tailed it out of there to the Oceaneers Club/Lab open house.
My hubby and in-laws stayed behind and watched the land disappear as we met back up with them at the 6:15 showing of The Golden Mickeys. Do not miss this show, we all LOVED it.
Shortly after the show ended we made our way to our 8:15pm dinner rotation. First night was Royal Palace. Our server was Budhi and Assistant server was Daniel. They were fantastic! I would not hesitate to request their tables again, should we choose another Dream cruise.
I enjoyed the late dining personally, the kids got their food first since they would be participating and Play n Dine. My daughter got Macaroni and my son got a Cheeseburger (Which he almost devoured before I could snap a picture!!). They finished off with a Mickey Bar of coarse!
I think I ordered Sirloin Steak with Baked Potato and veggies at every meal...
When I saw a yellow shirt CM walking around the dining room, I whisked the kids to the front and got the sign in for Kids Club. They do NOT come to each table to get the kids, parents will need to be on the look out for CM's and take their kids to the front of the dining hall.
My in-laws and husband were not a fan of the late dining however, so we asked Budhi if there would be any way to switch to the 5:45 dining and keep him as our server. He said he would check on it and let us know by the end of the meal.
Once dinner was done, I asked for some warm milk to take back to the room for my toddler, and ta-da, a glass arrived! That was easy
Budhi then let us know that changing dining time would not be a problem and we would even keep our same table number, 104.
Everyone then went back to the rooms to shower, change and get ready for bed. I went to kids club to pickup my 7 & 9 year old who were having the time of their lives. I love the hand washing stations at the entrance/exit. Kids are required to wash going in, and leaving. They are the automatic wash stations, awesome.
Back to the room, and Sweet Dreams! Day One Done!