April 17, 2011 on the Dream

[scootch]

Deb did a great job explaining the fish extender. We did it on our last cruise and enjoyed it very much. Just one word of warning, it does take up alot of luggage space, something that became an issue for us since my hubby doesn't cruise with us making my 7 year old then needing to pull a carry on). Just thought I would throw that out as with the airlines charging so much for luggage these days, and many people who are trying to pack lightly, you will need some space for all the goodies you get.

 

[Mom 3 mouseketeers]

What a great group so far!!!

We just got back last night from 5 nights at the Yacht Club. We all had a great time, the kids were so sad to leave, but of course once I reminded them that 1 year from now we will on the cruise they felt a little bet better!

I had a great time but found myself constantly comparing it to the cruise. All I wanted at the end of the day was a nice cheese/fruit platter but couldn't find one anywhere! Where was All Hands on Deck when you need it???

 

[Deb T.]

All I wanted at the end of the day was a nice cheese/fruit platter but couldn't find one anywhere! Where was All Hands on Deck when you need it???

I'm right there with ya!

 

[scootch]

Oh, sounds good. I only got around to ordering one of those last cruise on arrival day.Won't let that happen on the the next ones! My first cruise was such a learning cruise, spent so much time trying to figure out the cruise itself that I had forgot many of the things I had learned ahead of time. When I got home it was like a lightbulb went off.. "oh, you should have done this more, or that".... so looking forward to enjoying this one more now that I feel I have one under my belt!

 

[Mom2BCCC]

The Edge tween club is for ages 11-13.

I love planning and having something to look forward to! I too am having a ball, and there is still so much to do!

I agree on the planning. I just wish we were closer.

Question on the Edge club - My DS's will be 12 and 14 and our friends DD will be almost 13 on our cruise. Will DS 14 be able to go to the Edge with the other two? He is small and young for his age and would never venture into the teen area without his brother (who is emotionally the older of the two).

 

[Mom2BCCC]

What a great group so far!!!
All I wanted at the end of the day was a nice cheese/fruit platter but couldn't find one anywhere! Where was All Hands on Deck when you need it???

Sounds heavenly. Is this something you order or do they just put it out as a buffet type thing?

 

[golfnsuch]

Okay, Scootch, you can't leave me hanging like that...

What do you wish you did more of? I'm trying to think through all of those things myself, but feel like I'm going to be a newbie all over again with the Dream being a new ship. I'll only have 3 months of trip reports to peruse, learn from and obsess over!

Seriously, though, what are your must-do's for the Dream cruise?

I'll start us off -
Aquaduck for the kids (and me)
Palo brunch on @ sea day, and
Konk Cooler standing with my feet in the water at CC

 

[jilljill]

Sounds heavenly. Is this something you order or do they just put it out as a buffet type thing?

The All Hands on Deck cheese platter is available from room service. The selection can vary from order to order.

 

[Ness2289]

Question on the Edge club - My DS's will be 12 and 14 and our friends DD will be almost 13 on our cruise. Will DS 14 be able to go to the Edge with the other two? He is small and young for his age and would never venture into the teen area without his brother (who is emotionally the older of the two).

I'm leaning towards yes just because of what I have read here on the boards about changes to the kids programming, but I don't have a definite answer.

Does anyone else know?

 

[jel0511]

I'm leaning towards yes just because of what I have read here on the boards about changes to the kids programming, but I don't have a definite answer.

Does anyone else know?

No definitive answer here... but when DD was in OQ over the summer, there is no definateive sign in/out so it's kind of come and go as you please, so I doubt they'd notice a younger 14YO in there.....

 

[Mom2BCCC]

No definitive answer here... but when DD was in OQ over the summer, there is no definateive sign in/out so it's kind of come and go as you please, so I doubt they'd notice a younger 14YO in there.....

That's what I'm thinking. Of course he has a whole year to grow and mature, but currently looks younger than other kids his age. I'm dreading puberty!

 

[scootch]

Okay, Scootch, you can't leave me hanging like that...

What do you wish you did more of? I'm trying to think through all of those things myself, but feel like I'm going to be a newbie all over again with the Dream being a new ship. I'll only have 3 months of trip reports to peruse, learn from and obsess over!

Well I completely forgot about the Topsiders the day we went to Atlantis. We ended up ordering room service and it took forever and it wasn't very good..... wish I would have thought we could eat up there. Another thing.. where wavebands and such was.... we never even ventured there for a moment on the cruise other than to get our dining rotation. Just been more orgnaized with clothes and such. Brought a clock. Let the stateroom host know we were not going to breakfast on the last morning so he wouldnt' have walked in on us! Yikes..... Eat in the restaurants(can you believe we only ate there once!!) and if the kids don't want a long sit down meal, let them go to the kids club. Hmm... things like that. It was like once I got home, I would read a post and say, oh darn... i remember reading that beforehand but never did it(ordering mickey bars).. get my drift. Don't bash me here but I liked the cruise but did not fall in love with it(oh... I feel the eggs being thrown at me ) but I think part of that was it was our first time, it was all new and since this is just a girls trip, that puts alot of responsibility on just me... keeping track of the luggage, double checking the navigator, being sure we had all the things we needed for atlantis(sunscreen, credit card, ect...), figuring out where to go for the muster drill, where is dinner, where is the shows... all those first time things. So I am hoping this trip I will feel like I at least know a bit of the routine of it all. I have a whole year to memorize the layout of the ship and even though it will be larger, I think the layout looks very similar to the Wonder lay out........so with some extra effort on my part before the cruise, I wont' feel quite as lost. I also did not want my kids in the kids club. I just felt it is a family vacation they need to be with me 24/7. I did let my youngest go in and even encouraged my oldest to go in(which she is so shy, she refused)...... but even Kenzey, i only let her stay in for 45 min here and there. Next time I will let them enjoy their time in the club if they want it and also realize that it is ok for mom to have some grownup fun too!! That is a reflection of my life at home though, having had trouble getting pregnant and staying pregnant, I have pretty much devoted every waking moment to my girls.

Originally Posted by Mom2BCCC
Question on the Edge club - My DS's will be 12 and 14 and our friends DD will be almost 13 on our cruise. Will DS 14 be able to go to the Edge with the other two? He is small and young for his age and would never venture into the teen area without his brother (who is emotionally the older of the two).
Does anyone else know?

My guess is they will be fine with it. On the Wonder my youngest was in the 6/7 age group and we tried everything to get my newly turned 10 year old to go into the club. They even told me she could go with her sister in the 6/7 club and that was back before they combined clubs. They really want the kids to be happy. Happy kids make Happy parents...... so I don't think there will be any problem with the 14 year old in the Edge. Just my thought.

 

[golfnsuch]

Scootch, sounds like you need a bit of time in the Dream equivalent of the Deck 4 lounge chairs.

That's something else I would add to my list. DH and I would sit with the pager thingy between us and take in the ocean view.

 

[scootch]

Scootch, sounds like you need a bit of time in the Dream equivalent of the Deck 4 lounge chairs.

That's something else I would add to my list. DH and I wound sit with the pager thingy between us and take in the ocean view.

ya know.. I never sat once on a lounge chair on our first cruise!! yes, add that to my list too! Part of it too, with the three night if you get off at both ports, there really isn't time to enjoy the ship much. I am glad we did get off though as I thoroughly enjoyed Atlantis and also CC.

Well since we are doing the B2B with the three night first, I can be the tourguide and show everyone where everything is when you all board.

 

[Z'sDisneyMom]

Hi Everyone!

Another week closer to our cruise.

I have been enjoying the posts about the must do's for the cruise.

What does everyone plan to do in Nassau?

I vote for staying on board and enjoying the ship as we've been to Nassau quite a few times, but I may be out voted and we might end up doing the Atlantis water park either through the ship or Comfort Suites depending on the spring break room rates...

 

[golfnsuch]

Hi Z'sDisMom

Personally, I'm torn for Nassau day. Last time, we stayed onboard which was great for getting to know the ship and visiting all of the different areas on the various decks, but it almost backfired on us when the waves were so big on CC day that we didn't get to dock. Luckily, they were able to just swap out our at sea day and we went to CC the last day of the 4 day cruise instead, then back to PC.

Given that its a new ship we haven't been on before and that we are going to the beach after our cruise, I'm thinking of staying onboard again while at Nassau. But we've been toying with the idea of an Atlantis vacation at some point in the future, so maybe we should get off and at least look around...

I will tell you that we had the BEST character interactions while onboard that day. My youngest watched cartoons with Goofy sitting on the deck chairs at his pool with the big screen that morning, while at the same time my older boy and DH were playing basketball on the sports deck with Mickey. Later that same morning, Mickey played ping pong with both of them. All of these were spontaneous meetings, no standing in any lines.

E.

 

[Mom 3 mouseketeers]

We've done both in Nassau. On our 4-day we got off in Nassau and went to Atlantis. On the 3-day we stayed onboard. We really enjoyed staying on, we sat by the pool all day, my youngest had his picture taken with every character that came by.

We are doing a B2B with this cruise doing the 3 night following, we've decided to get off the boat for one and go back to Atlantis and stay on for one. The question is which one do we stay on for? We'd prefer to stay on the boat when more people get off, right? Any idea which one that might be?

 

[Z'sDisneyMom]

Ok, the possibility of extra character interaction may have my DD changing her vote.

golfnsuch:
Your story brought back memories from our '06 Wonder cruise. I went to pick DD up from the club one evening and she was sitting with Mulan reading a story. Needless to say she was not ready to leave.
Don't you just love those moments!

Mom 3 mouseketeers:
Crowd wise in the ports, it does not appear to be much difference between the 2 sailings. I looked up the ships that are expected to be in port in Nassau and the estimate is for 9400 passengers on Apr 18th and 10000 on the 22nd. Take a look: http://cruisett.com/ports.php?PortID=455&date=32

Decisions, decisions...

 

[princessdaisy]

Hi, we are booked the Dream and can't wait to check her out. This will be out 12th Disney cruise. Will be DH, me, DS (8) and DD (18) on spring break. Will be the first time that DD, won't be able to go to the clubs She has been enjoying the clubs since she was only 7yrs old...but she can do Palo! Yumms!

Are there any other 18yr olds on board? would be nice for her to meet up with new friends.

Steph

 

[Ness2289]

Welcome, princessdaisy!! We're glad to have you join us! I've added you to our roster. Do you think you'll join the Fish Extender group as well?

Disney Dream- April 17, 2011

1. Outahere, DW, DS(16)
2. Lildeb724 (Debbie), DH, DD(10) DS(7)
3. Verandah Man, DW, DD, DD’s BF (Bryan) (I think there's a wedding now...Delete?)
4. Mom 3 mouseketeers, DH, DS(10/11), DD(9), DS(7)
5. Castlegazer, DH, DS(9), DD(6)
6. Muhhhrrisssa (19), Mom, Dad
7. CSX2, DW, DD(15)
8. Curlybop (Amanda), DH (Mark), DD(8), DD(2)
9. Irishone21 (Chris), DH (Mike), DS(7), DD(3)
10. Rdevine10 (Robin), DH, DD(5), DD(8)
11. Scootch(Amy), DD-Mattisyn(11), DD-Kenzey(9)
12. Akjtmax, DH, DS, DD
13. Freddyfishsticks, DW, DD(12), DS(9)
14. MissMousey, DH, DD(14), DS(11)
15. Mom2Elliot, DH, Kids(13,9,3)
16. Deb T., DH(Jeff)
17. Ness2289, DD(12)
18. Jilljill, DH, DD(16)
19. Pershing (Sue), DS(16), DS(14), DS(13)
20. Tiger1313 (Cathy), DGD (17)
21. Cleopahd, DH
22. jel0511, Dh, DD(13), DS(10)
23. Disney1fan2002 (Marie), DH, DS(14), DD(12), and DS(11)
24. Mom2BCCC (Barbara) DH, DS(14), DS(12), DS(10), DD(5)
25. KerryDVC, DH, DD(7), DD(5), DS(3), DM, DF
26. Golfnsuch, DH, DS(11), DS(7)
27. WPoohgirl (Wendy), DH, DD(14), DS(12)
28. NYDisneyfamily, DH, DS(13), DS(8)
29. Z'sDisneyMom (Robin), DH, DD(12)
30. ydrj (Yvonne), DH, DS(16), DD(14)
31. Quagmire, DW, DD(14)
32. JasonDVC, DW, DD(2) and DTBA(6mo)
33. princessdaisy (Steph), DH, DS(8) and DD(18)