About to book Disney dream

[Garyjames220]

hey

So we are booking three nights on the dream tomorrow

I was just wondering

- what side of the ship are we best getting. For best views of castaway cay etc

- I think it’s aboht 100 more for a veranda instead of an ocean view. Would you say it’s worth the extra

- we are going to be staying at CBR before. I really don’t want to miss lunch and be on the ship to late. Are we better getting the transfer from the airport to the ship. Will there be much a difference if we do that compared to getting it from CBR which would be easier right enough

 

[PrincessShmoo]

hey

So we are booking three nights on the dream tomorrow

I was just wondering

- what side of the ship are we best getting. For best views of castaway cay etc

- I think it’s aboht 100 more for a veranda instead of an ocean view. Would you say it’s worth the extra

- we are going to be staying at CBR before. I really don’t want to miss lunch and be on the ship to late. Are we better getting the transfer from the airport to the ship. Will there be much a difference if we do that compared to getting it from CBR which would be easier right enough

Define "best". The port side sees the dock area and one side of the island, while the starboard side views the lagoon/beach areas:


We typically "do" oceanview rooms. But a verandah is nice. Only you can say whether it's worth $100 to you.

Going from resort to airport to port, yes you can catch an earlier bus, but you're going to double the time your "in transit". It's about an hour from resort to airport, and an hour from airport to port. While it's only the one hour from resort to port.

Yes, you arrive later coming from the resort than you can by arriving from the airport, but IMO it's not worth the time investment. Plus you need to handle your own bags from resort to airport to DCL transfer desk.

We've done the resort/port transfers at least 4 times, and have never missed lunch yet.

 

[Garyjames220]

Define "best". The starboard side sees the dock area and one side of the island, while the starboard side views the lagoon/beach areas:
View attachment 324126

We typically "do" oceanview rooms. But a verandah is nice. Only you can say whether it's worth $100 to you.

Going from resort to airport to port, yes you can catch an earlier bus, but you're going to double the time your "in transit". It's about an hour from resort to airport, and an hour from airport to port. While it's only the one hour from resort to port.

Yes, you arrive later coming from the resort than you can by arriving from the airport, but IMO it's not worth the time investment. Plus you need to handle your own bags from resort to airport to DCL transfer desk.

We've done the resort/port transfers at least 4 times, and have never missed lunch yet.

You have put starboard side in twice

So what side is best for a nice view of castaway cay as your coming in

Yeah that is a bit of putting then the 2 hours on a bus

How long is it from CBR to airport in a taxi.

What times did you normally get on the ship for roughly

 

[PrincessShmoo]

You have put starboard side in twice

So what side is best for a nice view of castaway cay as your coming in

Yeah that is a bit of putting then the 2 hours on a bus

How long is it from CBR to airport in a taxi.

What times did you normally get on the ship for roughly

Fixed it. Port side view (from Dream)

Starboard side view



It's still about an hour. And a taxi cost is about $100.

We've typically been picked up at our resort around 12:30. And on the ship by 1:30. The resort busses typically arrive starting around 12:30-12:45 at the port, depending on what time the pick up are. Pick up windows start around 10:45 from the resorts.

Also, arriving after the Open Boarding call means no lines in the terminal or boarding. If you get on after 1:30, you can drop your bags in your room, and not have to mess with them during lunch.

 

[Garyjames220]

Fixed it. Port side view (from Dream)
View attachment 324129
Starboard side view
View attachment 324130


It's still about an hour. And a taxi cost is about $100.

We've typically been picked up at our resort around 12:30. And on the ship by 1:30. The resort busses typically arrive starting around 12:30-12:45 at the port, depending on what time the pick up are. Pick up windows start around 10:45 from the resorts.

Also, arriving after the Open Boarding call means no lines in the terminal or boarding. If you get on after 1:30, you can drop your bags in your room, and not have to mess with them during lunch.

That’s a hard one with the views. What side did you like better

Can’t beleive the airport is a hour away. I thought it was like 15 minutes away. God knows why

So if I got a bus and got it from airport I would have an extra two hours roughly on the ship

So what time does the buffet close at

 

[Garyjames220]

Also any ideas what we can do on the final day before we fly home. I don’t expect our flight will be until about 6/7pm that day

 

[Dug720]

I prefer viewing the natural side of Castaway, so that is usually the Port side.

Just as a note, while the vast majority of the time they back in at Castaway, on occasion they have to do drills or maintenance that requires going in forward.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

That’s a hard one with the views. What side did you like better

Can’t beleive the airport is a hour away. I thought it was like 15 minutes away. God knows why

So if I got a bus and got it from airport I would have an extra two hours roughly on the ship

So what time does the buffet close at

I like the port views.

No, you wouldn't necessarily have 2 extra hours onboard. Your resort pick up could be at 10:45 (you won't know this until the night before). In that case, you could be at the port around 12:00. Boarding begins around 11:30, so that's only 1/2 hour extra, if you go to the airport and take the, say, 10:15-10:30 bus to the port you could be there by 11:30. However, your boarding number may require you to wait.

 

[Garyjames220]

I like the port views.

No, you wouldn't necessarily have 2 extra hours onboard. Your resort pick up could be at 10:45 (you won't know this until the night before). In that case, you could be at the port around 12:00. Boarding begins around 11:30, so that's only 1/2 hour extra, if you go to the airport and take the, say, 10:15-10:30 bus to the port you could be there by 11:30. However, your boarding number may require you to wait.

Mybe just do it from the resort then

When does the buffet close for lunch. Don’t want to miss that

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Mybe just do it from the resort then

When does the buffet close for lunch. Don’t want to miss that

Cabanas is open for lunch 11:45-3:00.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Also, you can't count on an early boarding time=early boarding. The last time we had the first boarding time slot, they didn't start boarding until 12pm+. The terminal was shear hell. Packed bumper to bumper with people, many sprawled all over the floor, kids screaming, everyone crowded and pretty much pushing towards the Mickey ears entry way. I swear every passenger arrived early or something. When they finally started boarding, we witnessed two separate fights between people trying to get through the crowds to board. Huge fail for DCL. They need to organize boarding better. I told DH, "Last time we do early boarding. From now on 1:30 or after." He said, "Last time we do DCL." (lol. He's quite the comedian. )

 

[Sytrace]

Here is a view from Starboard side:
We prefer Starboard personally but I have some nice photos of Port side as well that I will try to post here.

As for if a veranda is worth it or not? For us it is in regards to the fresh air and relaxation aspect. Sometimes we don't want to be up on deck with lots of other people and the veranda is a nice spot to go and read or have a nice drink or two. Purely a personal decision on value though.

Getting to the port from a Disney resort directly is going to be more efficient. You will most likely arrive by 12:00 noon if you are on the first bus out from your resort. If you were to catch a bus from the airport (assuming you are staying at the airport hotel right there, might get you to port earlier but does not mean you would be able to board among the first groups at 11:30 AM. I would just bus from resort to port and enjoy the ride.

 

[Sytrace]

Here is the view from Port side

 

[MomOTwins]

We took the resort bus. It picked us up at 11, made one more resort stop, and we were at the port at 12:30ish. I was worried we would get the last boarding number but they assigned us the number that was currently boarding at the time so we walked right on. It worked great! Will do it again next time.

 

[Quellman]

If you book an aft facing room you can look at both sides!

 

[Garyjames220]

Thanks for the tips

Think we will just go for it from the resort and hope it’s not to late ‍

 

[Garyjames220]

Any ideas what we could do on the day we leave the ship and our flight isn’t until nearly 7pm