Hi everyone,
As promised here are some thoughts about the Dream cruise Steve and I just returned from. Take them for what they are worth as everyone's experiences are different! I'll do this in segments since I've got some errands to do today with my mom (who is a saint for looking after the kids while we were away!). She flies back home tomorrow so we'll miss her.
We went without the children so it was definitely a different experience from our last cruise. We were booked in room 12008 up in concierge and didn't do any of the family dining. We were in Palo for the first two nights and Remy for the last night. We booked the Atlantis aquaventure for our time in Nassau and booked cabana 19 on Serenity Bay while we were at
Castaway Cay.
The weather was gorgeous. We stayed the night before at the Radisson at the port. The Radisson was okay, but I prefer the CIS. The rooms were clean, but just looked a little tired. That said, my kids would love the Radisoon pool as it looks fun. Steve and I didn't swim in it. We went to Ron Jons and had a great time finding some sun stuff for the kids. Key thing was the Starbucks next door for all of you coffee lovers. We also walked down the street and took a walk on the beach. Very nice.
The love bugs were out so everyone was getting hit by the black non-biting bugs. Someone at Grills (where we ate the night before sailing) said it was common for these to come out for a couple of weeks during May. Once the ship sailed they were gone.
The next morning everything was smooth sailing. We returned our rental car to Hertz and hopped on the shuttle to the port. It took about five minutes max. We got there around 9:45 and there was a small line -- people were still disembarking. We stood in the shade, porters took our two duffles right away and then we went inside. Security didn't take too long. We were whisked over to the concierge check in line over by the window looking at the ship. Some back to backers were already waiting in the concierge area. We joined them and chatted. One of the B2Bers told me that she was disappointed in Palo -- it didn't seem to her as good as what she had experienced in the Wonder. I told her we were planning on eating there twice and she said that would be a mistake. Time would tell...
We got on board about 11ish. It was definitely crowded in the waiting area by then, but we were good in our comfy seats. Getting onboard was very seamless. The ship is gorgeous! Same excitement about getting on, being greeted by cast members and off to head upstairs to meet the concierge cast members upstairs. Our room, of course, wasn't ready, but the lounge had drinks, goodies, and Julia (one of the three concierge people) sat down and went over our itinerary. I gave her the two vinylmations to get signed, plus she added our additional Palo request. We left our carryons with her and then went to explore the ship.
All of the kids areas are incredible. We just kept saying wow as we moved around the ship. My children will never want to leave the kids area once they see it. It is over the top fantastic. All of the areas have great artwork, incredible chandeliers, all of the disney "touches" and then some. The ship looked so sparkly clean too. The pool areas weren't that busy (yet) and Steve went on Aquaduck then. No line at all. I didn't want to get wet yet, so watched and took pictures of him zooming around the tubes.
We ended up having nibblies at the concierge lounge again, so bypassed going to Cabanas or other spots to eat lunch. Our rooms were ready early, about 1pm, so we got unpacked and checked out the room. The balcony in 12008 is out on the bumpout so it was big compared to our deck on the Magic for our Halloween cruise. There was a book about the building of the Dream for us to keep, and a fruit platter. The room was great -- for two of us there was plenty of space. Tons more storage than on the smaller ships (lots of shelves and drawers all over the place), and ample storage under the bed for the luggage. The round bathtub with rainfall shower is different. Steve liked it but I prefer the tubs on the Magic which seemed more comfortable. But not a deal breaker, by any means.
We left the room and went exploring some more. People were starting to fill up the pool areas (yes, they are small). The spot for the littlest kids (can't remember the name) was very nice and in the shade. Lots of babies and toddlers were really enjoying the spot and it did seem better designed for their needs than the M and the W. There were people who had already plopped their towels on loungers and left them and I did see some crew members remove the towels. Over at the adult pool, people started partying early. I wouldn't say it was particularly "quiet" there, especially when lots of people are around, but it is fun to be there and there is a bar literally right by that pool so people can sit on barstools with their toes in the water. The hot tubs in the adult area were always full of people so no escaping there for quiet reflection! Steve and I also went to Vista Spa to check it out. We ended up getting a couples pass for the Rainforest Room -- it cost us $75 for the whole cruise. Steve used it more than I did, but it was definitely great and we'd buy it again.
More later.....I promise!
You have a good rate from LMT. With AAA, the rate is $179 and includes breakfast. I would love to get the government rate but don't know if they give that to teachers.
Seriously, Mondays are always rough but at least I know I have a cheerful thought each Tuesday and that is wonderful!
We can't believe we're going on our 3rd week of rain. Now, I'm missing sunny Florida.
The kids wanted to know if we could have a movie night every week forever. 
I keep trying to explain to them that it's just a countdown to the cruise but they say that then we can start another countdown right after this cruise for the cruise in 2012...
