6th BDAY on the Dream 10/16-20th,11 "Hyatt MCO and the Ride Home" 12/30 COMPLETE

[rmcildw2m]

Very nice, well done also .

 

[tinkmom2]

Thanks!

 

[tinkmom2]

After Jack Sparrow we headed back to the beach where I ordered my one and only drink. I had some rum back in my room and wasn't going to waste my money on buying drinks. All the drinks went up in price a dollar since our 2009 cruise. And we aren't big drinkers anyway.

Cassie, Claire, and I headed into the water. A cold front was headed in but it felt good. The temps were still in the 80's but it became really breezy and overcast.

The water over by Pelican Plunge is deeper but it was still managable.

The three of us stayed in the water for about a half hour and then headed back to our loungers. This location was very close to Cookies Too! We made our way over to get lunch. The buffet has a back to it that many don't realize and you are almost always able to get in a and out quick. Eveyone seems to go for the buffet lines in the front. The only difference I noticed with Cookies Too is that there wasn't a fruit bar out. I am not sure if that's something they discontinued?

After only finishing half our plates we were all stuffed. Instead of heading back to the beach we decided to go back to the ship. It was really breezy out.

Of course we had to get some pictures of the ship:

Next stop Nemo's Reef and the Mickey Pool.

 

[jenseib]

When we sailed in April Cookies too did have fruit at the very front ..in an odd spot....not sure if it is still there or not

 

[tinkmom2]

We went back to the ship around 1 and decided to spend some time at the pool. Claire wasn't paying attention in the Mickey pool and fell right off the drop off into the Mickey ear. Thankfully I was at an arms reach.

I had her sit on the edge of the Donald pool because it was too deep for me to handle her too. I wish they would provide life jackets for the pools like they do at the resorts.

Then it was off to Nemo's Reef. It's a cute idea but it's in a V configuration. Claire went on the other side and I couldn't see her. She ended up hurting herself on the Mr. Ray Slide. There was a Castmember standing there but he didn't come to help. She was limping but it turned out to be a deep bruise.

Click picture for video

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Claire and I went back to our cabin to dry off. I ordered a Caesar salad, cheese plate, and a fruit plate from room service.

I laid her down for a nap and Cassie and I went to explore the upper decks.

It really cooled off and the wind was whipping around. But we were surprised to see a certain duck greeting passengers on the Aquaduck!

click picture for video:


We put Claire in her club and made our way to the Buena Vista Theater. Tonight in the main theater for the show they had a comedian. So we all decided to go see POTC 4 in 3D. I love Jack but out of all the POTC movies this is my least favorite. I did get a funny pic of my hubby in 3D glasses though!

Next up Pirate night and dinner!

 

[debfen]

I am enjoying your report. We will be sailing on the Dream in May of 2012. It's great to get a preview of what's to come! Thanks for sharing.

 

[tinkmom2]

I am enjoying your report. We will be sailing on the Dream in May of 2012. It's great to get a preview of what's to come! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for reading!

 

[LuvEeyore]

Loving your trip reports...CBR is beautiful. Did you do the Halloween party the night before you sailed? If so how was it? Love your pictures. Thanks for sharing. Cant wait to hear nore.

 

[tinkmom2]

Loving your trip reports...CBR is beautiful. Did you do the Halloween party the night before you sailed? If so how was it? Love your pictures. Thanks for sharing. Cant wait to hear nore.

Thanks! We went to the Halloween party October 13th and sailed October 16th. It was neat to see the Halloween party but I think we prefer the MVMCP. There is something about seeing Main Street decked out for Christmas and I think the Christmas parade is better also. Now we want to try to go Star Wars weekend but are also trying to decide on either another cruise or Hawaii but Aulani is too expensive right now.

We really liked CBR too

 

[tinkmom2]

Our Pirate night dinner was a Royal Palace. The place is beautiful but EG still was my favorite ambiance wise. We were early so we walked around the lobby and took some pictures.

Soon we were given our hand wipes and led to our table. Our table was near the back but I though it was a perfect location. We were in a little balcony right by the Princess portraits.

Here's the important part, the food!

I started out with the crab cake. It would have been good if it were hot.

DH had the potato soup with bacon bits

DD had some kind of pineapple boat:

Entree: Claire had the mac and cheese:

I think my DH and I both had the beef:

DD had the veggie springroll:

I wasn't that impressed with the Pirate menu and we skipped dessert because we knew there would be a buffet later.
Next off to the Pirate night festivities.

 

[LuvEeyore]

Love the details. We are booked on the Fantasy next December and I am worrying that with 3 sea days, I still wont get to check out everything I want to,

 

[tinkmom2]

Love the details. We are booked on the Fantasy next December and I am worrying that with 3 sea days, I still wont get to check out everything I want to,

I am so excited for you! Have you seen the updates on the DCL website about the new splash area and adult area on deck 12? The three day does go quick and the ship is really huge but take your time!

We are thinking about the Fantasy for Dec 2013. I just love the ships at XMas!

 

[tinkmom2]

Pirate Night Continued:

Right after dinner we went out to the deck to explore. They covered up both the Donald and Mickey pool which makes me question why they don't do the same for the sail away party?

Our feet were killing us but there were no chairs out. We searched and searched for a place to sit and decided on the upper deck. The kids sat on the ground. I commented to my husband that I would never get up once I sat down. The husband of the family that was sitting next to got up and a few minutes later brought me a chair to sit on! I was in shock and very thankful! We were sitting right by the stage light for the Jack Sparrow show.

They've changed the show around from the Wonder. I liked the Jack Sparrow part but didn't really care for the rest of it.

http://youtu.be/NzvzcgxeANM

The neatest thing is the fireworks!
http://youtu.be/xizOTxG1YZU

Another change is on the Wonder they would have the Pirate buffet outdoors on deck. This one was in Cabannas and we had to walk around the whole restaurant to find it. The entire concept of Cabanas is messed up because everyone thinks it's a buffet. You are supposed to just walk and grab what you want. I don't think I ever saw it work that way once.

I didn't take any pictures of the buffet. I was really tired lol! I did snap a picture of my DD with Nigel though! Claire didn't want to get any closer than she had to.

It was back to our room for our nightly towel animals and chocolates:

Up next our not so pleasant at Sea day and My DD's Birthday!

 

[dizneeat]

Pirate Night Continued:

Right after dinner we went out to the deck to explore. They covered up both the Donald and Mickey pool which makes me question why they don't do the same for the sail away party?

Our feet were killing us but there were no chairs out. We searched and searched for a place to sit and decided on the upper deck. The kids sat on the ground. I commented to my husband that I would never get up once I sat down. The husband of the family that was sitting next to got up and a few minutes later brought me a chair to sit on! I was in shock and very thankful! We were sitting right by the stage light for the Jack Sparrow show.

They've changed the show around from the Wonder. I liked the Jack Sparrow part but didn't really care for the rest of it.

http://youtu.be/NzvzcgxeANM

The neatest thing is the fireworks!
http://youtu.be/xizOTxG1YZU

Another change is on the Wonder they would have the Pirate buffet outdoors on deck. This one was in Cabannas and we had to walk around the whole restaurant to find it. The entire concept of Cabanas is messed up because everyone thinks it's a buffet. You are supposed to just walk and grab what you want. I don't think I ever saw it work that way once.

We really liked pirate night on the Wonder much more. I loved seeing Mickey gliding from funnel to funnel.
The fireworks are pretty neat! Only Disney knows how to do them in style. Did you notice any other ships sitting nearby? We always look out for others watching "our" fireworks and low and behold there always is one or two other ships close by.

The Cabanas concept is not really working. I just wanted to grab some sushi for Tom (while no one was waiting there) and people were looking like I was jumping the line big time.
Needless to say we very rarely at at Cabanas.

 

[tinkmom2]

We really liked pirate night on the Wonder much more. I loved seeing Mickey gliding from funnel to funnel.
The fireworks are pretty neat! Only Disney knows how to do them in style. Did you notice any other ships sitting nearby? We always look out for others watching "our" fireworks and low and behold there always is one or two other ships close by.

The Cabanas concept is not really working. I just wanted to grab some sushi for Tom (while no one was waiting there) and people were looking like I was jumping the line big time.
Needless to say we very rarely at at Cabanas.

I completely agree that the show was better on the Wonder. Whenever I see other ships I think how jealous they must be of our fireworks and the Dream.

I had my oldest daughter go up a few times for sushi. My youngest kept stealing the California rolls and you only get two pieces lol.

 

[tinkmom2]

I was reading a thread about people whom are nerveous about having a verandah and their kids falling off. I agree with the other posters that DCL hasn't lost a kid yet. Here is a video from 2009 on the Wonder. You can see how high the verandah walls are. If you have the verandah doors open it's like a wind tunnel in your room and the fire detectors go off. It happend to us on our first cruise. To close the doors the saftey latch is on so a child cannot open it by themselves.
Click this pic for video:

 

[tinkmom2]

October 19th was our at sea day and also my DD's 6th Birthday. As luck would have it the turbulent weather returned and all outdoor activities were cancelled. All of us walked around and went to check out the Edge. My oldest DD spent zero time here. It took us a few times up and down in the elevator to figure out only her key worked to get there. It was absolutely dead!

We then walked around and saw the other areas of the ship we had missed like the night club district.

The weather wasn't co-operating still but while walking around we found a cooking class.

We learned how to make apple streudel. I made one when we got back home.

Next up is the dance )

 

[tinkmom2]

My daughter Claire was in her Oceaneers club and we wanted to bring her back to our stateroom. She was turning 6 on the 19th. When I found her in the club they were just beginning Toy Story Boot Camp:
click for video:

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The club gave her a DCL had and Wizards of Waverly Place pillow case for her Bday which I was able to get autographed.

We brought some streamers, tape, and confetti. Claire opened the door and here's what she saw:
click for video:

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She was overjoyed! I couldn't thank our stateroom host enough!

Next stop was to the dance party scheduled in the artium. We were there early and found Snow White dancing around the atrium.

http://youtu.be/LcBz8rawgvI

And we ran into Remy: click for video

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It was finally time for the dance party. It was very crowded since everyone was confined to the indoors. It was also a bit scary at times because I lost visual contact of my DD a few times. There were so many parents standing around. Clarie had a blast!

http://youtu.be/3BvLOOXMSp0
http://youtu.be/zbKffAtflE8
http://youtu.be/KN6QZoeuFb8
http://youtu.be/80aPbNUBkXI
http://youtu.be/xd95JkVD88U

 

[tinkmom2]

We made the best of our rain day and before we knew it were were in the Walt Disney Theater awaiting our final play "Believe." It's a heart warmimg story about a Dad whom like many of us is too wrapped up in the throws of everyday life and forgot what it's like to believe. His daughter and a bunch of friends take him through a bunch of adventures to make him see what's important. It kind of made me teary.

The day was winding down and it was our final night meal at Royal Palace.
I tried to get a good pic of my family but it kept coming out blury. After the 3rd time they said forget it!

We were the second family in and the wait staff was reved up
click for video

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We made our way to our table and were met with our bread basket.

Our servers Collin and Pucca his assistant were awesome! We missed our friend Ganesh but they made us feel right at home.

Next up the start of dinner and the rest of my DD's birthday.

 

[tinkmom2]

Dinnertime!
Appetizers: DD had the French Onion Soup

There was also a mellon plate but I can't remeber whom ate it.

Escargot: I am the one who orders it but somehow everyone starts eating mine! Order your own!

I also had the duck for an app. I thought it was going to be confeit. It was meh.

Claire was first to get her dinner. I think because of the Dine and Play but since it was her birthday we didn't want her to go. She had been there earlier in the day to say goodbye and the staff gave her a DCL had and a Wizards of Waverly place Pillow case.

I ordered the lamb chops. Delicious!

DH most likely had something beef:

DD#1 had a vegetarian plate with roasted veggies and tofu:

I am thinking this is some other entree we wanted to try also lol:

Up next more of my DD's birthday dinner and Til We Meet Again.