A Canadian Family’s First Disney Cruise!

[shoppgirl]

Loving your report so far. Can't wait for the next installment.

Ditto!

Love the update!!

Loving your report! Thank you so much for sharing!

Wow! Thanks so much everyone for posting on my trip report! I appreciate your comments and thank you for reading. I am glad you are enjoying it.

 

[Docjason2]

Love the trip report, especially following along in pictures! Thanks for sharing with us

 

[shoppgirl]

Dream Day 2

After boarding the Dream, we went straight to deck 11 for some ice cream and drinks. The girls really liked the strawberry flavored frozen ice cream.

When we finished our treats, we headed straight back to the cabins to shower and change for tonight's formal evening. This is when we really appreciated having the two cabins with two showers! We were able to get ready in half the time!

Since it was only 4:30, we had plenty of time to walk around the ship and play the Mid Ship Detective Agency game and then find some friends to take photos with!

The girls started the game:

They found a clue in the Art Gallery:

By now, the personal navigators listed many character appearances in various locations. First up was Donald on deck 4. I made the girls personalized autograph books using pages I found on the Disboards with character photos, their names and the DCL logo on each page. I got many compliments on the books! Donald LOVED seeing a picture of his one true love, Daisy. He got so excited when he saw her page:

Then he gave her picture some rather loud kisses. Have you ever heard Donald kiss? Let's just say, he is a rather loud kisser, making big smacking sounds!

After we said good bye to Donald, we went to find Mickey down by Preludes on deck 3. This was the first time we walked by all those great shops!

Mickey finally appears and we get a our first photo with him:

The navigator listed Jiminy Cricket would be in the Atrium, so we walked over to get in line to see him:

Right next to Jiminy was one of the formal portrait stations with the white backdrop. I always like having the girls photos done with this background and we went over since it was not being used by anyone. I don't have any photos of that session because I didn't scan the photos from Shutters. Sorry. We also got a nice family photo done on the grand staircase.

We saw that Daisy was now available where Donald was on deck 4 so we went back up to line up to meet Daisy.

I think we spent a good hour running up and down, back and forth to see all the characters who came out for formal night!

Up next were Minnie and Pluto!

The girls had had enough.....it was time to eat!!!!!

 

[shoppgirl]

Dream day 2

Dinner tonight was in the Royal Palace!! This turned out to be my most favourite restaurant on board. Once again, we had a fabulous table right by a port hole!!!!!

The only drawback to this location was that it was far from any Princess action! I had heard that they were in the dining room, but never made it to the side we were on!!!!!! But I think I would take the port hole for the whole entire meal, than a 10 second interaction with a Princess!

As this was a formal evening, Mario presented the girls with great origami flowers:

The bread basket (or carriage!) had some great selections once again.

Here is tonight's menu:

The girls ordered a fruit plate for appetizers:

DH and I ordered the escargot. I normally don't order it, but since DH orders it every time we cruise, I thought I should at least try it once! It was OK...I don't think I will order it again though....

DD7 was very happy with her pasta selection tonight, with sauce on the side of course!

I just realised after looking at my photos that I really went all out tonight ordering two apps, AND a soup!!!!!!!!!!!! And that's all before my main!

I also ordered the shimp and lobster and the French onion soup!!!!

Then for my main, I ordered the sirloin with lobster:

DH ordered the lamb

Everything was delicious!!!!!

It was time for dessert

I decided to order some tea to enjoy with my dessert tonight:

DD9 ordered this for dessert: I think it was the strawberry shortcake

DD7 ordered a banana split

I ordered the sweet temptations again: (I should have just gone with the creme brulee!!! It was so good!)

DH had the souffle

When we were done with dinner I asked if Viola and Mario would pose for photos with the girls in their Royal uniform!

Up next: An evening on board

 

[lklasing]

Great updates! Looking forward to more.

 

[ilovemangoes]

This TR is fabulous!! Looking forward to the rest.

 

[I Run Long]

OMG! I'm love, love, loving your TR! Your pictures are wonderful - what beautiful daughters. We are thinking of doing the Blue Lagoon excursion too - so you don't need to take your passport with you to get back on board, just a driver's license is o.k., is that right?

We'll be on the Dream for a double dip cruise at the end of August 2012 and your TR is just so exciting for my entire family to read.

 

[shoppgirl]

OMG! I'm love, love, loving your TR! Your pictures are wonderful - what beautiful daughters. We are thinking of doing the Blue Lagoon excursion too - so you don't need to take your passport with you to get back on board, just a driver's license is o.k., is that right?

We'll be on the Dream for a double dip cruise at the end of August 2012 and your TR is just so exciting for my entire family to read.

The Blue Lagoon Beach day was a great day for us. I think you will enjoy it too. I hope my photos and personal experience will help you with your decision about whether or not to try it yourselves. You are correct, leave the passports in the safe, and just bring a photo id with you like a driver's license for all adults. Lucky you to do a double dip next summer!! Thanks for reading and posting.

This TR is fabulous!! Looking forward to the rest.

Thanks for reading!

Great updates! Looking forward to more.

Glad to know I have followers! More updates to come this weekend!

 

[kathi]

I LOVE your report. I feel like I'm back on the Dream again. Your family is lovely and your vacation is so PERFECT.

Can't wait for Castaway Cay day!

Thank you so much for all the detailed information and the awesome photos!

Kathi

 

[shoppgirl]

Dream day 2

When we finished dinner, we decided to head back to the cabin so the girls could change into their play clothes. They planned to hang out for a little while in the lab. This would be the first time they spent any time in the kids club on a cruise ship. When we went on the RCCL's Liberty of the Seas, they had no desire to spend any time in their Adventure Ocean club. However, they had read about and saw so many photos and videos of the Oceaneer Lab they were pretty excited about spending some time in there. Tonight there was a Super Sloppy Science class the girls were excited to check out.

So on the way up to the cabin, we ran into Princess Aurora just walking around by herself! She greeted the girls and posed for photos with them.

I like these port hole poses. the girls enjoyed having their photos done in various port holes!

We noticed that we were about to depart the port of Nassau, so we stepped out on deck to watch the sail away

This is the ship DH and I honeymooned on 13 years ago! The Monarch of the Seas....where our fondness for cruising all began.

On the promenade deck:

We finally make it back up to the cabin and ran into this:

As you can see, Paul placed on our bed the information for rebooking on board!! At the time, all I could do was dream about rebooking onboard. I didn't think DH would go for it at all, even with all the great rebooking incentives. I remembered our first trip to WDW where we stayed at the Grand Floridian. I saw the rebooking info in our hotel room and DH had said no way to that at the time. Next thing you know, I had received a Pin code a few months after our return and I was able to convince DH to return to the World the following year! Could I do the same with the cruise?????

We ran into Paul in the hallway and he asked if there was anything we needed. I asked if he could give us some more of the H20 shampoo! They don't replenish your toiletries unless they think you're running on empty. But if you ask, they will give you more! Paul went away for a short while and returned with a few bottles of shampoo, and even gave us some Solar relief gel which was fabulous!!!!!!!!!!

Once the girls changed into some play clothes, we heded back up to the lab. We dropped them off at 7:45. They looked pretty happy and excited to be going in.

DH and I spent some time exploring the ship and I took a ton of photos! First we went all the way to deck 13 to see the Sports deck,

A nice ocean view:

We walked to the back of the ship and saw the mini putt and played a quick game.

The Princess and the Frog was playing the the Funnel Vision

The Mickey Pool is nice and empty during the dinner hour!

The line for the Aquaduck was short too, but I didn't feel like running back to the cabin to change to try it out

 

[shoppgirl]

We headed to the adult area and then found the very small fitness center. The fitness center on the Liberty of the Seas was massive, so I was shocked to see how small this one was

It was almost time for tonight's show to start, Villains, and I thought we could just relax in the theatre for a bit before getting the girls. I knew they had no interest in seeing this show at all.

We sat down around 8:23 and waited for the show to start. I managed to sneak in a few non flash photos!

I was not too thrilled with this production and we decided to leave after 20 minutes. We walked into some of the shops on deck 3 for the first time. I decided to pick up some alcohol (to be delivered on the last night), and a DCL photo album. I noticed that all the CMs had lanyards with pins for trading. I couldn't wait to bring the girls down to do some on board trading! Just then DH decided to check the wave phone and there was a message on it that said DD7 wanted to be picked up. So we headed straight to the lab to get the girls. They were hanging out on the bean bag chairs waiting for us when I went in to find them.

The girls did some drawings and attended the super sloppy science class where they made volcanoes. They thought it was OK. They make the kids work in groups, and if you are in a group with kids that are more assertive, they generally take over and do everything while the quiet ones have to sit by and watch (ie, my girls ).

We walked back to the cabin to drop off their art work and grab their trading pins. We took the girls back to the shops and they did a few pin trades. Even the CMs who weren't wearing their lanyards, would pull open a drawer and take out their lanyards for trading. So be sure to ask all the CMs because they do have pins to trade even if they're not wearing them!

I decided to buy the girls official DCL lanyards too. DD9 was on the hunt for the port hole Disney friends. I think there are 6 differernt port hole pins to collect.

It was around 10ish now and we headed back to the cabin to get ready for bed. The girls were just thrilled with lying in bed watching their favourite on demand movies!

Up next: Dream day 3: Castaway Cay!!!

 

[shoppgirl]

I LOVE your report. I feel like I'm back on the Dream again. Your family is lovely and your vacation is so PERFECT.

Can't wait for Castaway Cay day!

Thank you so much for all the detailed information and the awesome photos!

Kathi

Thank you for your lovely comments. It was so nice of you to say that our vacation was perfect, because you are right....it was most certainly perfect in every way!

 

[dreams of disney]

Who's artwork did you use for your autograph books? Love the TR! Keep it coming!

 

[shoppgirl]

Who's artwork did you use for your autograph books? Love the TR! Keep it coming!

Thanks. I found DCL autograph pages on the Disboards and they belong to Are We There Yet. She has a great collection of fabulous work! I love the Disboards community...the Creative DISigns forum has some very creative people who are so willing to share their talent!

 

[SeaSpray]

Excellent report and pictures, thanks for sharing! Your DDs are adorable, and you can tell they were really enjoying themselves.

 

[becpee]

I am loving your trip report!

And the food, oh my goodness!

Looks like you had an awesome time

 

[TinkLoverSam]

Anxiously awaiting your next installment

 

[LuvEeyore]

i go to work for 3 days and you post two more installments. I am loving your trip report. Cant wait for more.

 

[bitlerzx4]

love this trip report

 

[shoppgirl]

I am loving your trip report!

And the food, oh my goodness!

Looks like you had an awesome time

Thank you. The food was pretty amazing!!! We had a pretty awesome time!

Anxiously awaiting your next installment

Next installment coming up!

i go to work for 3 days and you post two more installments. I am loving your trip report. Cant wait for more.

I'm trying to get this done. Thanks for following along.

love this trip report

Thank you for reading and posting!