pixarmom
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2009
- Messages
- 6,932
I've learned so much from these boards, so I'm sharing a few thoughts regarding our August 25, 2011 3-night Dream cruise! We're a family of five, and our three boys are ages 4, 11 and 12.
Transportation: Super easy! After much research and deliberation, we decided to use DCL transfers from BWI to the port. We were so happy with our decision. We all slept in (that means 7am for our family), got our luggage ready for DCL to pick up from our room, enjoyed coffee on our beautiful balcony at BWI, breakfast in the club lounge and some shopping around the Epcot area (we planned to swim, but were enjoying our slow pace around Crescent Lake.) We had a great early lunch at Beaches N' Cream and then returned to BWI for a 12:45pm pick up. I'll admit that the night before, we were just a little disappointed by the 12:45pm pick up time, but in the end it was great. We had plenty of time for our B&C lunch and a slow morning. (Were a rope drop family, so we never have a slow morning at WDW, but we really enjoyed it!) The DCL bus stopped at Pop Century and then we were on our way. We really enjoyed the bus ride - fun DCL video, then the video turned to a "name that character" game, Disney trivia and cute short cartoons. We had so much fun playing the games, and as the video ended, we were reaching the port. Very exciting to see the Dream for the first time! We would definitely take DCL transfers again, even though less expensive options exist and we could have arrived at the port earlier. It was really convenient. The way back to WDW (port to BC) seemed to take longer we disembarked quite early, so we had a bit of a wait before the bus pulled away from the port.
Embarkation: Again, super easy! We arrived at the port around 2:15pm and check-in was a breeze. We had a short wait for photos once we went through the mouse ears (we didn't want to skip the photo - it was our first cruise!) It was so exciting to board the ship and a CM took us aside to explain our options while our 4-year-old jumped up and down with excitement in the atrium! It was crazy crowded on Deck 11, so we were really happy that we had lunch at Beaches and Cream earlier and didnt need to feed hungry kids! We were also happy that we planned to swim early the next morning when the pools were literally empty, instead of that afternoon.
Dining: We really enjoyed dinners and were happy with the food quality. As a basis for comparison, at WDW we usually make two ADRs per day and our dinner ADR is usually at a signature. Our 12-year-old is interested in trying new foods and this was a great opportunity. Our younger boys were very happy with the children's menu! We ranked the food at AP the best, with EG second and RP last (but still good.) As for atmosphere, the boys ranked AP best, RP second and EG last. But I'd put RP before AP because we had an amazing view through a huge porthole at RP! We didnt order the wine package, but might do that next time. It was so nice to order a bottle of wine and when we didnt finish it, see it appear in the next restaurant the next night. The service was seriously outstanding. Delarno was a particularly great assistant server - he was really engaged with our family, funny, thoughtful and just seemed like a genuinely nice guy.
Before the cruise, I was worried about the length of meals we usually wrap up dinners at signature restaurants in 1.25 hours or less because we know what we are going to order and we dont order multiple courses. (We have three boys and lots to do at WDW, so we save longer meals for date nights at home!) We knew our older boys would be fine, and our 4-year-old is great in signatures, but we werent sure how he would fare during 2-hour meals on the cruise. We had even planned to skip dessert and coffee because we thought it would be too long for him. But that wasnt necessary and the length of the meals wasnt a problem at all. We all enjoyed dinner and were often among the last to leave the dining room. The service was quick and efficient, but we were still enjoying talking with our boys and with our servers. Lunches were just OK, but Im not a fan of buffets anywhere and I thought Flos Café was average.
Stateroom: We were in a deluxe family stateroom with verandah 6594. Loved it! I get very claustrophobic and was concerned about three nights in a small cabin with five people. Not a problem at all. Yes, the bathroom(s) are tiny, but the split bathroom makes good sense and the rest of the room was comfortable. I couldnt do it without the verandah, though! It was really wonderful sitting out on the verandah at various times of day and night so relaxing and just a completely unique experience when we were sailing. We didnt experience any of the issues that others reported regarding noise or smoking it was quiet and smoke-free on our cruise. I read about the lifeboats right under the verandah and how some experienced cruisers didnt like that because you cant see straight down to the water. But that didnt bother us in the least. In fact, I kind of liked it as a first-time cruiser with a very active four-year-old who required close supervision on the verandah! The midship location was perfect for us and I was surprised that the staircases were so large and so open. We rarely took the elevator we easily took the stairs up to Deck 11 and down to the kids clubs, lobby, theater and restaurants. Room service was always super quick.
Pirate Night: Now that was a ton of fun! Our youngest is still singing Aye, Aye, Captain! at home. We brought complete pirate costumes for the boys and the BWI IPO helped us plan a pirate celebration in our BWI room before the cruise. (BWI IPO is amazing and Jackie, the BWI CM who set it up in our room, is one of the best at WDW!) It was super fun for the boys to dress up. They danced at the early pirate party (even in the rain) and then headed to the Edge to get additional face paint / pirate stuff with the tweens. We met them up on Deck 11 right as the late pirate party started and everyone was a little sleepy by then. But the fireworks were amazing well miss those in Alaska next summer!
A note about parties Sail Away (we were inside due to weather), Pirate, See Ya Real Soon, dance parties, etc.: We decided that we actually like to be on the ground floor instead of watching from the decks above. On the decks above, we always found it difficult to get a spot by the railings and when we did, we were shoved aside a bit. The ground floor crowd didnt shove as much and even if the view wasnt perfect, it was usually good and the whole atmosphere was festive.
Shows: I think were in the minority because our family LOVED Villains Tonight. It was a clear favorite with Believe in second and Golden Mickeys in third place. Villains Tonight was funny, entertaining to Villain-loving boys and the music was catchy. Hades was hilarious seems like he improvised a few times which was even more funny.
Ports: We dont know! We planned to stay on the ship in Nassau anyway, but the ship was extra crowded with cancelled excursions, etc. resulting from Hurricane Irene. At dinner on our second night, the Captain announced that we would not be able to dock at Castaway Cay the next day. We sailed around a bit at night and returned to Nassau instead. Again, we stayed on the ship. Our boys really enjoyed the activities on the ship, and I stayed with our youngest in the Oceaneer Club and Lab quite a bit I left a few times to grab a drink on our verandah with my husband but our youngest always summoned us back to the club. (Not because he wanted to leave he just wanted us to hang out there with him!)
We did everything from mini golf to midship detective agency to basketball to a few minutes in the theater to all sorts of planned activities. One of the highlights was the dance party in the atrium with the characters on the first Nassau day. Wow really fun. While we enjoyed our second full day on the ship, we were looking forward to Castaway Cay so its hard to evaluate the cruise because we didnt get the whole in port experience. But it was hard to be grumpy about that the CMs were all so cheerful and we were all safe and sound.
Crowds: Hmmm. mixed. I absolutely loved the ship first thing in the morning. Amazing. Quiet. Beautiful. We ate breakfast early (always around 7am) and were in the pools by around 8am. Both mornings of the cruise, our youngest was the only one in the Mickey pool, we were the only family in the hot tubs, and we were first in line for the Aquaduck at 9am, so no wait. It was wonderful. Later in the day, however, we really didnt want to venture anywhere near Deck 11. Now, I know this might be different on other cruises because you dont usually have two days on the ship, sitting in port at Nassau with most excursions cancelled. Much of this could be due to Hurricane Irene. But early mornings on Deck 11 were really wonderful.
The Edge: Our boys really enjoyed the Edge at night. They didnt participate in any daytime activities and really didnt use all the technology available there, but at night it was fun for them to stay up late, eat snacks, watch movies and have some independence. Based on recommendations from others here, I encouraged them to go to the Edge on the first night. They did that without hesitation and were very happy with that decision. Even though they didnt participate in everything, they have great things to say about the Edge.
Oceaneer Club/Lab: Wow, thats a nice space. The activities were interesting to our 4-year-old, and the counselors really got kids involved. Our older boys were able to participate in the sloppy science activities as visitors, and they stopped by to watch our youngest participate in the Piston Cup Challenge, and a Stitch activity (very cool they built towers out of huge blocks in teams and then a Turtle Talk style Stitch appeared on the screen and interacted with the kids.) Our youngest LOVED Plutos PJ party he really danced up a storm! As I mentioned earlier, I spent a good deal of time in the club with our youngest and I thought it was really well organized. I rarely saw an unhappy child and when I did, he/she was surrounded by at least one and often two CMs handling the situation very well.
Disembarkation: Another very positive experience. We lined up moments before guests started leaving the ship and the line moved quickly. We picked up our luggage within moments and cleared customs just minutes later. It all went very smoothly!
Future plans: I dont think we would do a 3-day cruise again, but we had a great time and Im glad we did this. And Im really not sure I can evaluate the whole experience accurately because we didnt stop at Castaway and our cruise was different from most due to Hurricane Irene. But we did learn enough from this experience to book the Disney Wonder to Alaska in August 2012! We are really looking forward to it for many reasons. First, as much as I love warm weather and beaches, I also love anything on the Pacific Coast from Southern California to Whistler. So I think well enjoy venturing even further north. Second, were all excited to see something new and the excursions in Alaska really appeal to us. Im also looking forward to a smaller, lower key ship. I was initially worried about going from the fantastic Dream to an older ship like the Wonder, but I actually think it will be a good (maybe even better) fit for us.
Im happy to answer any questions about the Dream, and Im also grateful for any advice regarding the Wonder or Alaska!
Transportation: Super easy! After much research and deliberation, we decided to use DCL transfers from BWI to the port. We were so happy with our decision. We all slept in (that means 7am for our family), got our luggage ready for DCL to pick up from our room, enjoyed coffee on our beautiful balcony at BWI, breakfast in the club lounge and some shopping around the Epcot area (we planned to swim, but were enjoying our slow pace around Crescent Lake.) We had a great early lunch at Beaches N' Cream and then returned to BWI for a 12:45pm pick up. I'll admit that the night before, we were just a little disappointed by the 12:45pm pick up time, but in the end it was great. We had plenty of time for our B&C lunch and a slow morning. (Were a rope drop family, so we never have a slow morning at WDW, but we really enjoyed it!) The DCL bus stopped at Pop Century and then we were on our way. We really enjoyed the bus ride - fun DCL video, then the video turned to a "name that character" game, Disney trivia and cute short cartoons. We had so much fun playing the games, and as the video ended, we were reaching the port. Very exciting to see the Dream for the first time! We would definitely take DCL transfers again, even though less expensive options exist and we could have arrived at the port earlier. It was really convenient. The way back to WDW (port to BC) seemed to take longer we disembarked quite early, so we had a bit of a wait before the bus pulled away from the port.
Embarkation: Again, super easy! We arrived at the port around 2:15pm and check-in was a breeze. We had a short wait for photos once we went through the mouse ears (we didn't want to skip the photo - it was our first cruise!) It was so exciting to board the ship and a CM took us aside to explain our options while our 4-year-old jumped up and down with excitement in the atrium! It was crazy crowded on Deck 11, so we were really happy that we had lunch at Beaches and Cream earlier and didnt need to feed hungry kids! We were also happy that we planned to swim early the next morning when the pools were literally empty, instead of that afternoon.
Dining: We really enjoyed dinners and were happy with the food quality. As a basis for comparison, at WDW we usually make two ADRs per day and our dinner ADR is usually at a signature. Our 12-year-old is interested in trying new foods and this was a great opportunity. Our younger boys were very happy with the children's menu! We ranked the food at AP the best, with EG second and RP last (but still good.) As for atmosphere, the boys ranked AP best, RP second and EG last. But I'd put RP before AP because we had an amazing view through a huge porthole at RP! We didnt order the wine package, but might do that next time. It was so nice to order a bottle of wine and when we didnt finish it, see it appear in the next restaurant the next night. The service was seriously outstanding. Delarno was a particularly great assistant server - he was really engaged with our family, funny, thoughtful and just seemed like a genuinely nice guy.
Before the cruise, I was worried about the length of meals we usually wrap up dinners at signature restaurants in 1.25 hours or less because we know what we are going to order and we dont order multiple courses. (We have three boys and lots to do at WDW, so we save longer meals for date nights at home!) We knew our older boys would be fine, and our 4-year-old is great in signatures, but we werent sure how he would fare during 2-hour meals on the cruise. We had even planned to skip dessert and coffee because we thought it would be too long for him. But that wasnt necessary and the length of the meals wasnt a problem at all. We all enjoyed dinner and were often among the last to leave the dining room. The service was quick and efficient, but we were still enjoying talking with our boys and with our servers. Lunches were just OK, but Im not a fan of buffets anywhere and I thought Flos Café was average.
Stateroom: We were in a deluxe family stateroom with verandah 6594. Loved it! I get very claustrophobic and was concerned about three nights in a small cabin with five people. Not a problem at all. Yes, the bathroom(s) are tiny, but the split bathroom makes good sense and the rest of the room was comfortable. I couldnt do it without the verandah, though! It was really wonderful sitting out on the verandah at various times of day and night so relaxing and just a completely unique experience when we were sailing. We didnt experience any of the issues that others reported regarding noise or smoking it was quiet and smoke-free on our cruise. I read about the lifeboats right under the verandah and how some experienced cruisers didnt like that because you cant see straight down to the water. But that didnt bother us in the least. In fact, I kind of liked it as a first-time cruiser with a very active four-year-old who required close supervision on the verandah! The midship location was perfect for us and I was surprised that the staircases were so large and so open. We rarely took the elevator we easily took the stairs up to Deck 11 and down to the kids clubs, lobby, theater and restaurants. Room service was always super quick.
Pirate Night: Now that was a ton of fun! Our youngest is still singing Aye, Aye, Captain! at home. We brought complete pirate costumes for the boys and the BWI IPO helped us plan a pirate celebration in our BWI room before the cruise. (BWI IPO is amazing and Jackie, the BWI CM who set it up in our room, is one of the best at WDW!) It was super fun for the boys to dress up. They danced at the early pirate party (even in the rain) and then headed to the Edge to get additional face paint / pirate stuff with the tweens. We met them up on Deck 11 right as the late pirate party started and everyone was a little sleepy by then. But the fireworks were amazing well miss those in Alaska next summer!
A note about parties Sail Away (we were inside due to weather), Pirate, See Ya Real Soon, dance parties, etc.: We decided that we actually like to be on the ground floor instead of watching from the decks above. On the decks above, we always found it difficult to get a spot by the railings and when we did, we were shoved aside a bit. The ground floor crowd didnt shove as much and even if the view wasnt perfect, it was usually good and the whole atmosphere was festive.
Shows: I think were in the minority because our family LOVED Villains Tonight. It was a clear favorite with Believe in second and Golden Mickeys in third place. Villains Tonight was funny, entertaining to Villain-loving boys and the music was catchy. Hades was hilarious seems like he improvised a few times which was even more funny.
Ports: We dont know! We planned to stay on the ship in Nassau anyway, but the ship was extra crowded with cancelled excursions, etc. resulting from Hurricane Irene. At dinner on our second night, the Captain announced that we would not be able to dock at Castaway Cay the next day. We sailed around a bit at night and returned to Nassau instead. Again, we stayed on the ship. Our boys really enjoyed the activities on the ship, and I stayed with our youngest in the Oceaneer Club and Lab quite a bit I left a few times to grab a drink on our verandah with my husband but our youngest always summoned us back to the club. (Not because he wanted to leave he just wanted us to hang out there with him!)
We did everything from mini golf to midship detective agency to basketball to a few minutes in the theater to all sorts of planned activities. One of the highlights was the dance party in the atrium with the characters on the first Nassau day. Wow really fun. While we enjoyed our second full day on the ship, we were looking forward to Castaway Cay so its hard to evaluate the cruise because we didnt get the whole in port experience. But it was hard to be grumpy about that the CMs were all so cheerful and we were all safe and sound.
Crowds: Hmmm. mixed. I absolutely loved the ship first thing in the morning. Amazing. Quiet. Beautiful. We ate breakfast early (always around 7am) and were in the pools by around 8am. Both mornings of the cruise, our youngest was the only one in the Mickey pool, we were the only family in the hot tubs, and we were first in line for the Aquaduck at 9am, so no wait. It was wonderful. Later in the day, however, we really didnt want to venture anywhere near Deck 11. Now, I know this might be different on other cruises because you dont usually have two days on the ship, sitting in port at Nassau with most excursions cancelled. Much of this could be due to Hurricane Irene. But early mornings on Deck 11 were really wonderful.
The Edge: Our boys really enjoyed the Edge at night. They didnt participate in any daytime activities and really didnt use all the technology available there, but at night it was fun for them to stay up late, eat snacks, watch movies and have some independence. Based on recommendations from others here, I encouraged them to go to the Edge on the first night. They did that without hesitation and were very happy with that decision. Even though they didnt participate in everything, they have great things to say about the Edge.
Oceaneer Club/Lab: Wow, thats a nice space. The activities were interesting to our 4-year-old, and the counselors really got kids involved. Our older boys were able to participate in the sloppy science activities as visitors, and they stopped by to watch our youngest participate in the Piston Cup Challenge, and a Stitch activity (very cool they built towers out of huge blocks in teams and then a Turtle Talk style Stitch appeared on the screen and interacted with the kids.) Our youngest LOVED Plutos PJ party he really danced up a storm! As I mentioned earlier, I spent a good deal of time in the club with our youngest and I thought it was really well organized. I rarely saw an unhappy child and when I did, he/she was surrounded by at least one and often two CMs handling the situation very well.
Disembarkation: Another very positive experience. We lined up moments before guests started leaving the ship and the line moved quickly. We picked up our luggage within moments and cleared customs just minutes later. It all went very smoothly!
Future plans: I dont think we would do a 3-day cruise again, but we had a great time and Im glad we did this. And Im really not sure I can evaluate the whole experience accurately because we didnt stop at Castaway and our cruise was different from most due to Hurricane Irene. But we did learn enough from this experience to book the Disney Wonder to Alaska in August 2012! We are really looking forward to it for many reasons. First, as much as I love warm weather and beaches, I also love anything on the Pacific Coast from Southern California to Whistler. So I think well enjoy venturing even further north. Second, were all excited to see something new and the excursions in Alaska really appeal to us. Im also looking forward to a smaller, lower key ship. I was initially worried about going from the fantastic Dream to an older ship like the Wonder, but I actually think it will be a good (maybe even better) fit for us.
Im happy to answer any questions about the Dream, and Im also grateful for any advice regarding the Wonder or Alaska!
