A Grand Dream of a Honeymoon - June 2011

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I can't get over how absolutely beautiful the Dream is! What an amazing ship! Watching the storm at night sounds like such a neat experience. Since my biggest fear is drowning though, I imagine that I would be a bit freaked out! When I went to Nassau a few years back, we did a dolphin encounter, too. It looks very similar to the place you went. Maybe it was the same one? You two look great in your pirates costumes! It sounds like such a fun night!

 

[mickey2minnie1]

This is one of the best trip reports I have ever read. thank you so much for sharing. Tough week and this just gave me my Disney escape.

 

[mickey2minnie1]

 

[Self_resqing_princz]

Are the riots in London near you? I hope you and your family are doing okay. Praying for you and yours!

 

[cindianne320]

Are the riots in London near you? I hope you and your family are doing okay. Praying for you and yours!

I was wondering the same thing- hope you are ok!

 

[disneybarbie]

Ah right cool We were thinking about watching them on the verandah, but I feel like we should go up top and see them.

Am sure you could find the soundtrack on the net somewhere, or maybe even here

Ooh you must post your D&B purchases, love seeing new Dooneys

Hi Stefy - I think it would be great to watch the fireworks from the balcony (quite busy up on Decks 11 and 12) but I'm not sure you'd hear the music?
I will have a look on youtube for Bucaneer Blast.. great idea!

Your TR has been quite an enjoyable read! We also had our honeymoon at WDW and on a Disney Cruise to the Bahamas in 2009. We even had our wedding at WDW... I am a little Disney obsessed

Thanks for reading so far!

Hello, I just found your trip report !
It sounds like you had an amazing time! I've never been on a cruise before but reading your story and seeing your pics makes me want to go on one!
I can't wait to read more

Thank you for reading along - yes we did have an amazing time, I am enjoying writing about it and looking through all the photos again
Highly recommend a Disney Cruise - we loved it so much, DH said he almost preferred it to WDW!! hehe

Thanks for the picture of your D&B wristlet, I love it! We are going on a Disney cruise in September and I can't wait to see all the purses I will have to look for some pirate attire for us also Can't wait for your next installment on Castaway Cay

No problem! hope you find some good pirate clothes for your cruise - next update on its way soon

I can't get over how absolutely beautiful the Dream is! What an amazing ship! Watching the storm at night sounds like such a neat experience. Since my biggest fear is drowning though, I imagine that I would be a bit freaked out! When I went to Nassau a few years back, we did a dolphin encounter, too. It looks very similar to the place you went. Maybe it was the same one? You two look great in your pirates costumes! It sounds like such a fun night!

Hi Courtney - the Dream is definitely an amazing ship! I would love to see the Wonder, Magic and Fantasy one day and see how they all compare
I think they do dolphin swims at the Atlantis Resort too, but maybe you did go to the Blue Lagoon too

This is one of the best trip reports I have ever read. thank you so much for sharing. Tough week and this just gave me my Disney escape.

Thank you so much for your comments and reading along so far! I'm glad that people are enjoying reading about our trip, it's so much fun to remember it all again

Are the riots in London near you? I hope you and your family are doing okay. Praying for you and yours!

I was wondering the same thing- hope you are ok!

Thank you both for thinking of us! - we live about 50 miles from London and luckily were not affected at all by the awful riots & events last week - we have some family and friends who live nearer the areas, but thankfully they were all ok. It seems to have calmed down now & the police are arresting all of the people involved.



Very sorry for the lack of updates lately everyone... we have been away this weekend but I hope to get to our next day at Castaway Cay and onto Disney World as soon as I can!


Emma x

 

[Self_resqing_princz]

So happy to hear you and yours are safe from harm.
I work at a tv station in Indianapolis and was at work last night when we had a tragedy at the State Fairgrounds here.
There was a Sara Bareilles and Sugarland concert at the fairgrounds last night around 9 p.m. part of the canopy blew off and then the stage collapsed. Two of my friends were there and were not hurt thankfully, but 5 people were killed and about 50 others were injured! TERRIBLE! Everyone was in panic mode here at the tv station.
If you want to see the video someone sent us on our facebook page and read the story, here's the link to our website:
http://www.fox59.com/
The video is amazing.. it's been all over CNN & Fox news... I even took a call from BBC America last night!
Just terrible!
Anyway, I'm glad to hear you are doing well! Blessings for that! Hope to read more soon!

 

[SweetSerenity]

I'm joining in! Loving your review so far aboard the Dream, especially the dolphin encounter. They're my favorite animals and I've always wanted the chance to swim with them so I loved reading about your experience. Can't wait for the rest!

 

[lilwitch646]

I'm loving your trip report. The pictures are beautiful, and it looks like you and your new husband had a wonderful honeymoon! I can't wait to read more about the trip and your stay at GF concierge! I haven't stayed there since I was a young girl! (I'm 25 now, so it's not THAT long ago!)

 

[mickey2minnie1]

 

[Stefy]

Hey Emma

Hope you guys are doing good

Just letting you know we're all here waiting patiently for your next update

 

[emma212010]

Great updates!! I'm glad you guys are having a great time!! You two are too cute in your pirate outfits! That's awesome- pirate night sounds do fun!

What a cute experience swimming with the dophins in Nassau!

I'm loving the pictures!

 

[disneybarbie]

So happy to hear you and yours are safe from harm.
I work at a tv station in Indianapolis and was at work last night when we had a tragedy at the State Fairgrounds here. ......Anyway, I'm glad to hear you are doing well! Blessings for that! Hope to read more soon!

Hi, I saw about that stage collapsing in the news here, really awful - hope you are doing ok

I'm joining in! Loving your review so far aboard the Dream, especially the dolphin encounter. They're my favorite animals and I've always wanted the chance to swim with them so I loved reading about your experience. Can't wait for the rest!

Thank for reading along so far! Btw love your avatar picture.. Lottie is one of my favourite characters from Princess & The Frog

I'm loving your trip report. The pictures are beautiful, and it looks like you and your new husband had a wonderful honeymoon! I can't wait to read more about the trip and your stay at GF concierge! I haven't stayed there since I was a young girl! (I'm 25 now, so it's not THAT long ago!)

thank you so much for joining in! I hope to get to the GF part of our honeymoon very soon.. it was an amazing resort

next update coming... very sorry for the delay!

Hey Emma

Hope you guys are doing good

Just letting you know we're all here waiting patiently for your next update

Hi Stefy! Lol sorry I am getting behind on my updates.. really want to write it all up, more to come soon! I'm so pleased you are enjoying reading about our trip, I love writing about it and remembering everything!

Great updates!! I'm glad you guys are having a great time!! You two are too cute in your pirate outfits! That's awesome- pirate night sounds do fun!

What a cute experience swimming with the dophins in Nassau!

I'm loving the pictures!

Thank you! Pirates night and the dolphin swim were so much fun, wish we could be back there right now hehe.



Update on its way!



Emma x

 

[disneybarbie]

Saturday 25th June 2011

Castaway Cay & dinner at Remy

Today’s navigator…

This was our second visit to Castaway Cay during our cruise – we had originally planned to do the Seahorse catamaran snorkelling excursion, but unfortunately the boat was out of service and the excursion was cancelled (we’d had a note in our stateroom a couple of days before).
However, we were just as excited to spend another day on the paradise island!

We started our day with a room service breakfast – we picked the time slot between 8-8.30am, and there was a knock on the door just after 8.
On reflection, we probably ordered a little too much for the two of us! We had bagels, toast, fruit and a pastry selection, along with juices, tea and coffee.

I noticed that the china cups were made in England..

After a very nice breakfast in our stateroom, we headed onto the island about 9am – we walked to Pelican Point, and hired some snorkelling gear from Gil’s.

Steve has snorkelled quite a lot before and is a very confident swimmer – this was my first time snorkelling though, and I was a bit nervous!
We headed into the sea, the family beach was still quite quiet and there were only a few other snorkellers in the water.
Once I’d got used to breathing underwater (and not through my nose, steaming up the mask!) I actually quite enjoyed the experience, once I’d stopped breathing like I was having a panic attack!
We saw a few fish…

I had heard there were Mickey & Minnie statues down there, but unfortunately we didn’t see any.

We swam for almost an hour, I just about got the hang of it! Then we headed over to Serenity Bay for some sunbathing and relaxing.

I spotted the main Mouse himself on our way over to the tram…

The weather was more overcast and cloudy today, but it was a bit deceptive and we both caught the sun after a few hours on the beach.

Steve went for some more snorkelling while I stayed on the beach – he said there were a lot more fish on this side of the island.

About midday, the barman came wandering along the beach – and convinced us to have a drink!
Corona for Steve, and a ‘drink of the day’ for me (I think this was called a stingray)

We got talking to a couple who were sat next to us – they were from California and on their second cruise.

The bbq lunch was delicious, again! We both made sure to get the mahi-mahi… wish we could get this fish at home.

I got an icecream and we went back to the sunbeds for a little more time on the beach. We noticed a coast guard helicopter circling the island, not sure what it was for.

I wanted to get a photo in one of the big hammocks on the beach..

and another guest asked if we’d like a picture with both of us in it.. it was a pretty tough balancing act!

.....

 

[disneybarbie]

...

We got back onboard about 3pm, and went to Shutters in the atrium to look through our photos of the cruise. I had pre-purchased 10 credits, which was equal to 5 of the large photos (8 x 10 inches). I’m glad we bought the photos then, as the next morning Shutters looked very busy!

Back in the room, our stateroom host had left us our luggage tags, custom forms and a letter explaining the debarkation process.

We also had an invitation from tonight’s restaurant..

I made a start on packing our suitcases, as they would be collected at 11pm from outside our stateroom – then we had showers, got ready for the evening and opened a bottle of bubbly!


Our wedding rings….

Inside of our door, with a few magnets I made!

Our table at Remy was booked for 6.30pm, so we went up to the Meridian bar about 6pm. As we stepped out of the elevator, the Welsh crew member from a few nights before instantly recognised us and shouted out … “OH … What’s Occurring?!” (which is the line from the tv programme we’d spoken about two nights earlier!) – it was very unexpected and we all laughed so much, the other crew member at the podium looked very confused!
I was so impressed that the CM had recognised us and remembered such a small thing we’d spoken about.. that’s the Disney difference I guess!

We checked in, and were told the Maitre’D would come to meet us very soon. A barmaid asked if we’d like a drink while we waited, we said no thank you.. and she said “it’s ok, you have time, I’ll bring the check to your table in Remy!” so she twisted our arm (Steve ordered a beer, and was a little embarrassed to have a bottle on the table in such a fancy place!).
Very soon, we were led into the gorgeous restaurant.

The Maitre’D asked us if we’d seen the movie Ratatouille (yup!) – and pointed out a glass statue of Remy up on a light fitting…

He is looking after the restaurant from up there.


I noticed a rat on the back of a chair too…

We were led to a beautiful semi-circle table, with amazing view of the sea!

To begin, a Swedish CM called Rasmus served us a welcome cocktail (included in the price) it was Tattinger champagne, pear vodka and a blueberry – delicious!

The menu..

Our waiter introduced himself, Gabriel (from Paris) – and from start to finish was one of the best servers I’ve ever had! He seemed to genuinely enjoy his job, making great suggestions and giving us enough attention without hovering around our table.

There are two set menus at Remy, or you can choose from the a la carte menu – we decided to go for the set menus – I think they are called ‘gout’ and ‘saveur’, one is by the French chef and the other by the American chef.

My purse even got it’s own seat!

We were served about five dishes each.. and every single one was divine! The meal was perfectly paced, plenty of time between courses. The maitre-d came over a few times to check we were ok, one time bringing a red rose for me (he said to Steve “this was the right time sir said to bring a rose, non?!”).

We both were given an ‘amuse bouche’ when we arrived, which as a tomato croquette – and then a chilled watercress soup..

Other dishes we had… ratatouille, shrimp and lobster, shrimp and parma ham, duck three ways, organic chicken, beef wagyu, seabass….

The cheese course was one of the most memorable parts of the meal. Rasmus came to our table with a huge selection of cheeses,

He described each one and then asked if we would like him to make a selection for us to try. Gabriel brought us a selection of breads to have with the cheese, and suggested we order some port to have with our cheese. Neither of us had every drunk port before, and probably never will again, but it was the perfect pairing with the cheeses!
We particularly liked the goats cheese served with honeycomb, the tastes went so well together.

Desserts were like pieces of art…

And then there was one more course to share… chef’s own marshmallows, chocolates, truffles and lollipops!

....

 

[disneybarbie]

....

The best way ever to celebrate one week of marriage…

We got to meet the chef too as he walked around each table to talk to guests (he looked very much like Gusteau from Ratatouille!)

We spoke to our server quite a lot during our meal, he was from the south of France but had moved to Paris as an adult – and worked at Nobu in the city, which had since shut down. He asked us where else we were going on our honeymoon, and when we said Disney World, he started to tell us all about which rides we should go on! He couldn’t think of the translation in French for ‘thrill rides’, so was telling us about the great ‘sensations’ of the Tower of Terror and the Rock n’ Roller Coaster.


After a nearly 3 hour meal, it was unfortunately time to leave the restaurant! The maitre’d asked if we’d sign the guestbook on our way out – I hope one day we can return and see our note in that book!

We got back to our room, and found one more little treat from Remy..


A thank you card along with a box of truffles!

We thought this was the most wonderful touch, where else in the world can a restaurant send you a thank you gift?!

As our suitcases were being collected at 11pm, we decided to get changed out of our formalwear and changed into more casual outfits, and headed down to the District.. there was one bar we hadn’t tried and I couldn’t leave the Dream without going there…

Pink!

We walked in, and there was just one couple sat at the bar with two bartenders serving! They didn’t mind us joining in, and we had a wonderful hour sat at the bar, talking with the crew members.

We ordered two glasses of the Dream exclusive Tattinger champagne – it was a real splurge but felt like the right way to toast our last night on what had been a truly wonderful cruise.

The barman also gave us a glass of a creamy fruit dessert, which we ate despite being full of Remy food!

The barman was from Portugal, Paulo, and he chatted for quite a while with Steve about football (soccer) – the other couple there were American and were also on their honeymoon. Paulo and the other server, Maria, gave all four of us a complimentary drink – it was crème de menthe and Baileys, not sure what it was called! And also some plates of chocolate-covered strawberries. It was interesting to talk to the crew members about life onboard the ship, they spend 4-6 months onboard at a time!

We left the bar and headed up to Deck 11 for one last walk around the top deck – it was surprisingly busy, guess everyone wanted to make the most of our last night onboard!

Soon it was time for bed, we had an early start in the morning.. and onto the next part of our honeymoon…. Walt Disney World!!

 

[disneybarbie]

Just wanted to share a pic of my room key for the cruise.. I thought it was quite cute!

It shows on here your table number and the order of your rotational restaurant dinners. We noticed people had silver and gold cards, I guess they were in the Castaway Club.



Emma x

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Woops, I missed the last update somehow!

Your cruise sounded perfect! I'm so glad you guys had such a great time on the Dream and I can't wait to hear about WDW!

 

[mamaboogie]

Fantastic update!

That meal looks amazing!

 

[Dugette]

Sounds like a wonderful meal/experience at Remy's. Every honeymoon needs a memorable meal like that! I love that they sent you a thank you card and truffles too.