Back from a 4-day DREAM Concierge Cruise

[TestingH2O]

Questions?

TR with Navigators is posted.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Hope you had a great cruise.

 

[Quellman]

What a great trip report with all the photos! Looks like it was a good time and worth the time to invest in booking it. I know it must have been hard at points without your brother.

It sounds like you just left her in the stateroom at night (unsupervised) while she slept. If that was the case, were there any concerns that she would wakeup and be in an unfamiliar place and have no one with her? Or that she would open the door and wander out and about? (Obviously all kids are different.) This is what has primarily stopped us in the past, but of course a 3 year old is much more advanced than when we cruised at 14 months. It also wasn't too clear if you did any of the toddler play time activities. We didn't get a chance last time but are curious as to how they went.

Any special surprises for the anniversary celebrations? I hope it was especially memorable for all!

 

[TestingH2O]

What a great trip report with all the photos! Looks like it was a good time and worth the time to invest in booking it. I know it must have been hard at points without your brother.

It was challenging at times, but the fun really helped us focus on the moment. Thanks for your kind words.

It sounds like you just left her in the stateroom at night (unsupervised) while she slept. If that was the case, were there any concerns that she would wakeup and be in an unfamiliar place and have no one with her? Or that she would open the door and wander out and about? (Obviously all kids are different.) This is what has primarily stopped us in the past, but of course a 3 year old is much more advanced than when we cruised at 14 months. It also wasn't too clear if you did any of the toddler play time activities. We didn't get a chance last time but are curious as to how they went.

My parents had the cabin next to ours, so we opened the partition and spent a fair bit of time on the verandah chatting while she slept. We also took turns going out. The first night, DH and my dad stayed in while the ladies went to the tasting. The night the guys went for cigars, my mom and I stayed. We would run to the lounge a few times while she slept, but that was never for more than 10 minutes to grab refreshments or ask a question. We also rotated through. So Day 1, DH and I sat on the verandah for the first hour and my parents sat out for the second hour. It never felt like we were too restricted though since we had so many adults.

At this age, we have a pretty good feeling for how long she will nap, so we also don't need to be right next to her the whole time. Combine all of that with the fact that DH sees extra sleep as a huge benefit of vacation. In fact, he went to bed with her on one night!

We didn't go to Outlook but did do the play time in Nemo's Reef. She enjoyed that and liked getting a chance to play with some other kids. It was just so easy to have her with us, we didn't see a need to use formal child care.

Any special surprises for the anniversary celebrations? I hope it was especially memorable for all!

My parents got a certificate on the first day as well as buttons and a celebration cake at dinner all on the first day. DH and I got a certificate on our sea day and at Palo we got the cute chocolate writing plate. It was nice recognition but we really didn't need anything more. We were pretty happy celebrating ourselves.

 

[Trera]

Wow, great trip report!!

Having been on the Dream numerous times with our 2 year old DD, we understand trying keep our little one on a schedule as well. Traveling in the concierge level cabins as well as having a cabana definitely helps us with that. If it is available, we will definitely book it more than not while our DD still needs her naps. The concierge team does a great job raising the level of service during the trip as well.

 

[RebelHawk]

What a wonderful trip report. I think that will come in handy for many people looking for information for a long time to come.