5/15/2011 - Disney Dream 4nt Bahamas - May 15, 2011

[DISHUD]

Cold and rainy here in Chicago, heading to the airport in a couple hours, and they say the forcast in Orlando is sunny and 91 degrees.. Cant wait.
See everyone on board and have a safe trip.

 

[leosmom]

So excited for this trip. I wish everybody on this thread safe travels.

 

[Linden Lady]

We are in the car now! Ugh, I always hate this drive. We got a late start. (supposed to leave yesterday) Had to take my youngest to the hospital to get a dozen x-rays. Woke up with severe hip pain, skipped school, and instead of packing the car, I spent 6 hrs at 3 different dr appts/hospital campuses. Turns out he has Transient Synovitis of the hip!
An inflammation and swelling of the tissues around the hip joint. Usually only one hip is affected. It's the most common cause of sudden hip pain in children. Usually occurs in children between 3 and 10 years old. The exact cause is unkown. Might be caused by a virus or it might be from an allergic reaction to an infection somewhere else in the body.
So, needless to say, it's put a bit of a crimp in our best laid plans. I hate Friday the 13th and I'm not even superstitious....or at least I wasn't!
On a positive note, the Macclaren stroller I listed on Craig's List didn't sell before we left. Looks like we'll be needing it after all! I can't believe my 7 yr old will be in a stroller! I hope he feels well enough to really experience his 1st cruise, be a ring bearer in our "wedding", AND enjoy the rides when we visit the parks afterwards.

SAFE TRAVELS EVERYONE!
Send some pixie dust our way and we'll see you soon!

 

[mjaclyn]

So excited for the cruise tomorrrow!! We're finishing up our pre-cruise Disney stay and had a great time. DH and I participated in the D23 Scavenger Hunt which nearly killed me. Exhausting and SO HOT!! We also just caught a soft opening of Star Tours 2...it was awesome!! I just hope the weather clears up for our last night in WDW. We really wanted to catch wishes and Main Street Electrical parade before leaving!

 

[CarolinaBlue]

Here now at the Four Points Sheraton across from Ron Jon's Surf Shop. We drove down yesterday from NC....10 hour drive . We ran into the rain/storms as soon as we crossed into Georgia and it rained almost all the way to Cocoa Beach. Still yucky-looking this morning. Hopefully, it will clear up soon. This is our 4th cruise, 3rd one in the month of May, and the weather's never been like this. We've always had lots of warm sunshine.

Everyone except youngest dd is up and getting ready now. Don't know what time we'll end up at the port. Our assigned arrival time is 11-11:30, but we shall see. Based on the experiences of others, I'm not sure if we should arrive earlier or later.

See ya there!

 

[KAA1972]

Can someone post the link to the website? I forgot to write down the room numbers for the FE exchange. Thanks!

 

[Scrappy_Tink]

We're here, we're, WOOT WOOT!!!!!!! Inlaws dropped us of at 9:30, there was hardly a line at all!!! Best of all..........BOARDING PASS #3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IM SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mousefan64]

Ok we made it.. boarding group 5 whobels is here with scrappy an I

 

[Scrappy_Tink]

Ok we made it.. boarding group 5 whobels is here with scrappy an I

Where arrrrrrrrrrrrre you? We are sitting between the youth activities sign and the consierge sign (at a table...I'm wearing white shorts/shirt and navy top, and DH is wearing a black shirt.

 

[disrailfan]

Where arrrrrrrrrrrrre you? We are sitting between the youth activities sign and the consierge sign (at a table...I'm wearing white shorts/shirt and navy top, and DH is wearing a black shirt.

Mousefan64 and I are sitting between the two tvs next to the youth area. Me red shorts and Mickey shirt. She is wearing lavender top and tan capris. I have my ss member cruise DVC hat on.

 

[Scrappy_Tink]

Ok we made it.. boarding group 5 whobels is here with scrappy an I

Where arrrrrrrrrrrrre you? We are sitting between the youth activities sign and the consierge sign (at a table...I'm wearing white shorts/shirt and navy top, and DH is wearing a black shirt.

 

[mjaclyn]

I can't believe it's over!!! We had a great time on our first cruise and loved the Dream!! Sorry we weren't able to meet up with anyone...things were a little crazy with the kids, lol. Thanks to everyone for the awesome FE gifts!!! We really loved everything and had a great time looking at the decorated doors! I had a lot of fun decorating our door with magnets and adding the new ones we got for FE gifts! Thanks to everyone for making our vacation even more special. I can't wait to go again!!! Four days is too short. Did anyone rebook oboard? We booked a 7 night on the Fantasy in December 2012, but we may change it because I don't know if I can wait that long.

 

[tammyj0927]

So what about those "love bugs"?

 

[Scrappy_Tink]

I felt like I was in a horror movie!! At one point I think I had more bugs on my legs than skin. I wonder if that's what kept the DISers away from the meet? The only people that made it was me, DH, Danielle, and her DH. We ran into Linden Lady and her DH several times, and were lucky enough to catch her and DH in their beautiful wedding finery. Linden Lady made a beautiful princess!!!! We also got to briefly meet DISPinfriend, and and few "quick "fly by" hellos. . Sorry but I'm in the airport typing, and SOMEONE (DH) is looking over my shoulder and is DISrupting me

Weather was beautiful, though our catamaran seahorse excursion got cancelled because of wind.

Beautiful ship, *sigh* now back to reality.

Can't to hear how everybody enjoyed their trip, and hope all was well.

Kelly

 

[mjaclyn]

UGH! Those love bugs were hideous. When we got to the port they were everywhere...on our luggage, clothing, even in my hair! DD 4 kept screaming because she hates bugs. Thankfully there were only a couple of people ahead of us to get into the building. We ended up skipping the sail away party because I had no desire to be covered in creepy crawly things. Ick! As it was, we had to ask our Stateroom Host to sweep off our verandah the second morning because there were still a ton of them on there and we couldn't go out until after they were gone.

 

[khomer504]

We had a FANTASTIC time! Sorry we didn't make the meetup, those bugs kept us indoors the first day. By the first morning though our stateroom host cleared the balconies and we opened up the verandas for all 5 of our staterooms. It was magnificent being out there watching the water!

My dd did get to hang out with her birthday buddy Sarah though!

We rebooked for the Fantasy October 2012... 518 days and counting!

 

[branv]

Hola everyone! Hope everyone enjoyed their cruise, and those still at WDW are having a great time!

I missed the last weeks countdown on here, which is the best part as you share the excitement, but as usual when we plan a vacation, we had some last minute bad mojo come our way so didn't have much time for the boards. But everyone leveled out long enough for us to have our vacation, so yay!

So here's my mini-review (believe it or not, this is short for me!):

I have so many thoughts about the Dream, some great, some average, some not-so-great. I admit we compared it A LOT to the classic ships, and there were times I missed many of the aspects of those ships. But I know DCL is still working out the kinks, and we enjoyed ourselves enough to do a dummy booking to switch out for 2013 when those dates are released. The ship was just GORGEOUS, and we were treated amazingly.

I was surprised that I did notice how many more people were on this ship than the classic ships, b/c I truly assumed others complaints on the issue were overblown. But I realized that my experience was probably a fluke. People always ask us (was asked 3 times on this trip!) why we sail a Disney cruise when we don't have kids. And we've always said it was b/c they really, really take care of the privacy and vacation of the adults. So while the kids and family areas may be busy, the adult areas were always very peaceful. We never sail Carnival or RCL b/c there are just more adults who want to party, and we aren't party people...we are relaxing people. And even the adults in the adult areas on DCL are pretty family-oriented to start with.

But this vacation...woooow. The adult areas weren't just much busier, we kept running into these really large, really rowdy, really drunk, and really loud groups of all adults. Now I'm not a teetotaler, and we got to know the bartenders quite well , but this was just frat/sorority party type obnoxious.

For instance, while Serenity Bay has always been very peaceful for us, it seemed much busier this time and the one huge group that we seemed to keep running into plopped right in front of us (I think it was a group of sales people? Looked like an incentive/bonus type vacation). And there was really no where to move to b/c the beach was pretty full. *sigh* we had to leave after just a few hours of louder and louder drunkeness. A bartender we spoke to said it had been a WEIRD cruise this time, and in fact they'd had to disembark someone at Nassau b/c he was kicked off for being too drunk and disorderly! At first we thought that was the "emergency" we turned back for, but she said this happened while we were docked, and his family actually stayed behind to finish the cruise.

I dunno, not sure why those people would choose a Disney cruise of all places, but it put a damper on our vacation a few times. BUT, I know that the Dream is SO popular with her first year out and all the publicity, so hoping that by the time we sail again, things will be a little less crowded and a little more settled.

And that being said, we also met the NICEST people on this ship. We are pretty shy, but we struck up so many great conversations. One really sweet woman was sailing with four generations! She introduced us to her amazing 80+ mother, her adult children, and their children. We also met many other very nice couples who were SO grateful for the kid's clubs giving them some adult time

We found the staff to be very nice, and most tried very very hard. Overall some of the complaints we'd read earlier about poor staff wasn't something we noticed too much, except for some surprising things from the Cabanas staff and the counter service people. I felt SO BAD for the poor custodial staff with the bug situation. They were working so hard, and you know they had zero sleep that first night.

We loved Pink, Skyline and Meridian, and thought the dining room food was better than in the classic ships. We actually only dined in the main room once, which was Animators Palate. Those pasta pursiettes were as good as they said! We had our own table that night, and DH was the first person Crush talked to, teaching him whale talk. VERY funny. Our room was amazing, 8th floor forward, though we must have been near a service area b/c in the morning and at night we'd hear BOOM, BOOM, THUD a lot.

And OMG, REMY!!!! Best service I've ever had, and the second best food I've ever tasted. Well worth it, though I had to take my heels off to keep from bumping into the walls after that wine pairing.

Palo was good too, but after we left Palo we cancelled our brunch the next morning. Not because anything was wrong, I was just glutted out after so much food and couldn't take another round of stuffing myself

Weren't we so lucky how the storms kept missing us during prime time? We were equally lucky at WDW, as we only got rained on a few hours at DHS, and napped through a big afternoon storm, leaving the hotel for dinner just as it had ended. And at WDW...well, we must be lucky, lucky people. People on the boards complain a lot lately about the increasing rudeness of other guests. I was worried b/c I do not have much patience AT ALL for rudeness or even careless thoughtlessness, but I would say everyone we encountered was exceptionally polite and friendly. More so than in any other trip we've ever had. Aside from the heat and raw feet, we had a lovely time there as well.

Whew...that was a long one, huh? Would love to hear what everyone else's experiences and thoughts were! Anythings that stood out? Personally, I wish I could bring that hot tub, and those round padded chairs for two home with me. Heaven!

 

[KAA1972]

First of all, a big thanks to everyone who participated in the FE! So creative, so beautiful, so thoughtful -- I was truly honored to receive every gift and my DD LOVED all of her goodies. Thank you again, from the bottom of our hearts!

I can't say enough about this cruise. We had such a great time! I was so sad to leave. I agree that everything wasn't perfect but I felt the good strongly outweighed the bad. It was a beautiful ship and I thought the service was outstanding.

I did not like the Love Bugs -- having lived in Jacksonville, Fl for over 5 years, I have NEVER witnessed Love Bugs like that before. My daughter was terrified!! She screamed in panic from the time we pulled up in the terminal until we got through security. It did put a damper on the Sail Away party and the first day -- but I really can't complain to much!

The main thing I did not enjoy was Villians Tonight. Is this a show that other people enjoy?? I thought this was a real let down and an hour of my life I will never get back. We actually would have left during the show but I dropped my shoe behind the seat in front of me and I didn't want to disturb the other person and ask them to dig around for my shoe during the show. I loved Golden Mickeys and Believe. Amazing!

Oh, I wish I was back on boat. We are booking a dummy cruise and then hoping to re-book in 2013 when the offers are released. I think we want to do a 7 day on the Fantasy. I get so excited just thinking about it!!

I do hope that everyone had a fantastic time!

 

[branv]

The main thing I did not enjoy was Villians Tonight. Is this a show that other people enjoy?? I thought this was a real let down and an hour of my life I will never get back. We actually would have left during the show but I dropped my shoe behind the seat in front of me and I didn't want to disturb the other person and ask them to dig around for my shoe during the show.

I didn't see any of the shows, but I have to tell you how hard this paragraph made me laugh It completely sounds like something that would happen to me.

 

[mjaclyn]

I absolutely agree about the Villains show. Total waste of time. We unfortunately missed Golden Mickeys because the kids were too tired to stay up past 8:00 the first night. Believe was great and it was really nice having a 4:00pm show. I was disappointed that we didn't get to go to the sail away party (tired kids and unpacking) but after the infestation of love bugs, I'm kind of glad we didn't go. My DD 4 is also terrified of bugs and screamed every time one came near her. The second morning we asked our Stateroom host of he could sweep the bugs of the balcony so we could go on it. DD wouldn't stick one toe out there until all those things were gone! LOL I can't wait to go again!!