DCL First Timers (and won't be our last!) *It's about dang time update 10/16/13*

[Batgirl67]

Post more when you can Danny...ya just can't leave us on the port

 

[hmurray2008]

Waiting for the next entry! Can't wait!

 

[DannyDisneyFreak]

So this is it we are about to set sail on the Dream! I am so excited There there comes the lines It actually didn't take that long but it was frustrating with two excited kids, especially with Noah who is bouncing all over the place and we are all tired from our travels, a late night last night then up early for an almost hour and a half drive. I didn't realize we would have to go through "airport security" at the port, I guess DUH! should be the response but just didn't think about it. Come to think of it I don't remember where our luggage went, it may have been picked up at the curb by Disney... oh wait yes as I think about it that is what happened because I remember debating bringing Noah’s stroller or not but we let them take it for us. Isn’t it good I don’t write this TR off the cuff and I carefully plan out what I’m going to say? Well anyway… So we make it through to check in, Minnie Mouse was in the terminal greeting folks but that was one more line that we didn’t want to wait in so we waited in line to check in, then waited in line to register the kids for the kids club which I found particularly annoying because I had preregistered them online but I guess that didn’t matter! By this time the kids were really antsy and Cathleen was having nicotine withdrawal and somewhat frustrated and I was about to explode with excitement! Then FINALLY we get to step onto the ship!


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We get out picture taken, and walk the gangway and walk into the beautiful atrium to see crew members waving to us with big Mickey hands on and announce us as we enter "Welcome Penque family!" or something like that. It was all just kind of a magical haze for me. The atrium was even more breathtaking and I was just fascinated by the beauty of the ship. I took this pics later on in the trip but to just give you and example if you have yet to do DCL:

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We then made our way up to Cabanas for lunch since our room wouldn't be ready for a little while and we got more first glimpses of the ship:



So now as we entered Cabanas we approached what I thought was going to be another frustrating line but as we started grabbing plates for the buffet a CM came over and took Noah by the hand and said “want me to help you little guy?” Noah was disturbingly willing to go with a stranger but I gave the CM a smile and nod of approval as I realized this was the Disney touch, she took Noah off and we never saw him again… No just kidding she went off and got him a plate full of food that there was no way in all the seven seas that he would ever finish it all but that was another thing we quickly learned, we needed to abandon the notion that our kids wouldn’t be spoiled this trip. Our typical “you need to finish your food before dessert” and “eat your vegetables” was sacrificed to our servers pampering them with Mickey shaped ketchup and Mickey ice cream bars. We were also told buy my son’s kidnapper to not worry about standing in line but we could walk up to any of the stations without having to stand behind people waiting to pass the stuff you don’t want. I didn’t get any food pics but I remember getting lamb chops for the first time which was surprisingly absolutely delish, lots of shrimp and pineapple. Cathleen got for dessert some delicious pineapple and coconut ice cream which we disappointedly couldn’t get the rest of the trip because they ran out. After eating we made our way to our room.

Here's the kids being goofy on the veranda and our navigator






Okay well I am running out of time to finish the rest of the day now but I will maybe later today. You guys please keep on me to get through this this because I get really busy with all I going on but I don't want to disappoint you guys. Stay tuned for some risqué behavior! maybe you guys could make some guesses as to what the risqué behavior could be.

 

[acpalmer]

Glad to see an update!

 

[DWGal210]

New reader but loving your TR so far!

Your family is adorable! The kids look like are having a great time so far.

How neat that you got to go to the Welcome Center and meet Teresa! How fun!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[DannyDisneyFreak]

New reader but loving your TR so far!

Your family is adorable! The kids look like are having a great time so far.

How neat that you got to go to the Welcome Center and meet Teresa! How fun!

Can't wait to read more!

Thanks and it was great to meet Teresa I was excited and Cathleen was making fun. We met Pete and the guys at Food and Wine a few weeks ago, I told him I met Teresa and he told me meeting him was way more exciting lol

 

[Poolrat]

Catching up around here.

Glad you finally made it on the ship.

Isn't it great when Disney just takes over and you can really have a vacation?

 

[WDWLinda]

We leave for our first ever cruise on the Dream in 13 days and I need more info please!!! Your TR is fun and informative so far, please continue!

~Linda

 

[DannyDisneyFreak]

We leave for our first ever cruise on the Dream in 13 days and I need more info please!!! Your TR is fun and informative so far, please continue!

~Linda

Ok I will try to update as much as I can in the next 2 weeks for you! I'm at McDonalds at the moment trying not to murder my 4 yr old. If he ate a quarter as much as he talked he would have eaten 25 quarter pounders by now!

 

[WDWLinda]

My solution for things like that was to time them and make it a race - "Let's see how many seconds it takes for you to eat that/clean that/get dressed...I bet you can't do it in 25 secs..."

It still works with my 8 yr old, of course he also shoves food down his throat like a hyena, but that's another thing to conquer.

Thanks!!

 

[time4somemagic]

Thanks for sharing...our first dc is coming soon!

 

[laydbk98*]

Loving your trip reports Dan. First time cruiser was to be on the Re-imaged Magic this past week but it was cancelled now cruises in January on the Magic.

 

[DannyDisneyFreak]

Loving your trip reports Dan. First time cruiser was to be on the Re-imaged Magic this past week but it was cancelled now cruises in January on the Magic.

We will be on the 1/6/14 Magic, so EXCITED

 

[DannyDisneyFreak]

My solution for things like that was to time them and make it a race - "Let's see how many seconds it takes for you to eat that/clean that/get dressed...I bet you can't do it in 25 secs..."

It still works with my 8 yr old, of course he also shoves food down his throat like a hyena, but that's another thing to conquer.

Thanks!!

It works to buy his ice cream cone when everyone else is done eating and waiting on him, then set it in front of him so he can watch it melt if he doesn't stop goofing off and eat. I'm so mean but it worked.

 

[DannyDisneyFreak]

Okay folks I promise today an update. For first time cruisers or Dreamers I will tell you a couple of my tips.
1.) Do the detective agency thing on the ship, it looked fun but we never made time for it.
2.) Get to the port and on the ship as soon as possible! Get to enjoy the ship earlier and then take a nap before it sail away party. Naps are always nice.
3.) Don't miss the sail away party
4.) Get off the ship as early as possible in Castaway Cay, we didn't realize how much we would enjoy CC and we didn't get off until lunch time.
5.) Don't take too much time in Nassau, use that day to enjoy the ship and do the Aquaduck because at sea day the pool area is way more crowed. Do a movie on at sea day maybe.

Okay ya real soon!

 

[DannyDisneyFreak]

After getting acclimated we soon had to go for the mandatory safety drill which is where everyone on the ship has to participate. It must have taken until about 4:00 because next Hannah and I went up to deck 11 for the sail away party. Noah was super cranky and Cathleen was tired so they opted to skip the party and test out the beds in our stateroom. The sail away party was a lot of fun; it was a much bigger deal than I thought it would be. It was a whole show with Mickey and the gang and music and everyone got streamers to wave as the ship set sail and the cruise officially started. If you click on the second smaller pic below it will take you to a video clip of the party.





Okay so now for the risqué part! Now apparently the entire ruckus from the party made it a bit difficult for Cathleen and Noah to sleep too long. They did nap for a short bit but they heard a lot of excitement and went out on the veranda to see many people waving to the ship. I guess there were some very “enthusiastic” young ladies on shore who were excited to wish the ship a Bon Voyage and they were lifting their shirts. Unfortunately Cathleen didn’t get any pics and fortunately Noah didn’t notice but Cathleen was talking to the family on the veranda next to ours and the little girl was asking why the girls were showing their tummies. So just a word of wisdom; take your children to the sail away party. If you don’t have children and you are on the starboard side of the ship bring bead necklaces, sit on your veranda and wave farewell to those ashore!

In all seriousness t was great to finally set sail, here is a nice shot from our veranda:





We had first seating for dinner which was at 5:45pm so we relaxed for a short bit and got ready for dinner at Enchanted Garden. In your staterooms you will get a card like the ones below showing your dining schedule with your seating time, restaurant each night and table number. The second ticket showing breakfast was for disembarkation morning only.



We were a little disappointed with the dining room at Enchanted Garden, not that it wasn't a lovely restaurant, but where we were seated we really didn't feel we got to enjoy the ambiance. We got seated in one of the large circular booths when you first enter the restaurant. We were in the very first booth on the right as you enter in fact. We met our servers and had a lovely meal. It really is a beautiful meal I just wish we were seated near the back more. I don’t remember what we ate that night. The food was good every meal but I wouldn't say anything was that out of this world amazing. The great thing about the dining rooms is that they will get you anything you ask for. Here we are talking a selfie at diner.






The Golden Mickey's was the show that night, it was our least favorite of the performances on the cruise. To me it was nothing really special, now I will make the disclaimer that we did have very crappy seats. We were all the way in the front off to the far right and from that spot we couldn't see that well. There are 2 screens up on each side of the stage and they showed different clip on each screen and whatever showed on the right side one we could not see at all. Work to the wise, get there early for a good seat or take a back seat over a crappy front one.

After the show it was time for the kids to experience the kids club! AKA it was time for the adults to get some kid-free time! We had stopped by there earlier to check the place out but now were checking them in.
It was nice to get some time together Cathleen and I, we headed over to the adult district, grabbed a couple of adult beverages and went to the Evolution club. There was a really cool illusionist/magician show. It was nice for some adult entertainment. Cathleen and I explored the ship a little afterward and then picked up the kids who had a fun time. They were super excited that the bunks were pulled down back in the stateroom and we ordered room service: milk and cookies on the veranda before bed. We also ordered a carafe of coffee for the morning, it stays warm all night.




Finally got through the day!

 

[WDWLinda]

So that first night, did you need the Bonine? I read the first night you may feel the motion of the boat, and I'm a little worried about my stomach.

Thanks for all the details, and for fitting this in for me!! 11 more days - YIKES!

~Linda

 

[twindaddy]

Keep the great TR coming, nice to see a dad on here that is as Disney Crazy as I am!

I will keep an eye out for the flashers on my next cruise, I need to verify that this actually occurs, for documenting purposes of course

 

[DannyDisneyFreak]

So that first night, did you need the Bonine? I read the first night you may feel the motion of the boat, and I'm a little worried about my stomach.

Thanks for all the details, and for fitting this in for me!! 11 more days - YIKES!

~Linda

We started taking the Bonine the day before at home before we got on the plane and took it 2 times a day. The first night and last night you feel more motion on the boat because of whatever current the ship is passing through but with the Bonine it didn't make me sick. It was strange to me because I felt motion at times that would typically make me feel queezy but I felt fine. On the last night Cathleen forgot to take hers and it bothered her a little. The Bonine really helps, they say take it a couple days before the cruise and I'm glad I did before even the flight, it was the best plane ride I've ever had. They have it for free on the ship also if you go to the clinic they had a big bowl full of single packets.

 

[DannyDisneyFreak]

Monday January 7th 2013 – Our first full day of the cruise! As the title suggests lewdness may be a running theme of our trip… not really but a late night at Señor Frog's and some sort of debauchery should be expected, but we’ll get to that later.
So I woke up at just about dawn, I couldn’t sleep any longer! I quietly snuck past the room dividing curtain and sleeping children to the veranda. I stepped out on the veranda to find us surrounded by the sea. I decided while everyone else was still asleep I would go up and get some coffee and explore the ship. I headed up to deck 11 where Cabanas and the pools are. Cabanas was serving breakfast. I got a coffee, juice and a banana to hold me over till breakfast had had the most magnificent morning view:




After enjoying my morning coffee and view I headed over to the front of the ship to see where we were headed and if any land was in sight. It was very windy up there and I’m sure we were going at pretty good speed towards Nassau. After about 10 minutes or so I could start to see a little bit of land. I also got some pics while the deck was still empty.







After some quiet time I went back to the room and got the kids to go swim and have breakfast while Cathleen slept in. I recommend getting up early to enjoy the pool area with or without kids, it really is relaxing and nice before it gets crowded. Nemo's Reefs is so fun for the little ones. The AquaDuck wasn't open yet but Hannah went down the yellow slide about a million times. We then had breakfast in Cabana's, you can notice outside the window in Cabanas that by this time we were in port and you can see other ships next to us. We then brought a plate back to the room for Cathleen. I didn't found out until after the cruise that they have room service for breakfast they just didn't have it on the room service menu. I will put up a pic of the normal room service menu that they serve until midnight!









Cathleen was up and just about ready when we got back to the room. We soon got on our way to head off the ship to explore Nassau. I had gotten a few ideas about what to do in Nassau from some DIS friends but we decided that we didn't want to spend too much time there. We were just going to check out the market and head back to the boat for lunch. Well the first thing to wrong with that plan was we took a wrong turn and got lost pretty fast! It wouldn't have been so bad but we had a 4 and 8 year old with us and where we ended up the sidewalk ended and there was heavy traffic! It was also a somewhat of a shady area, Cathleen has never been out of the country other than Canada so it was a bit of culture shock for her. She couldn't believe how dirty it was there. We quickly got ourselves turned around and in more friendly territory. We ended up going into a store and getting a couple of key chains. We also met a guy playing steel drums who let the kids have a try, which afterwards was not so subtle in asking for a tip. The smallest bill I had was a $10 so I said I would leave him $5 if he had change so I ended up with $5 in Bahamian cash. By this point we were all extremely hot and hungry so we headed back to the boat.




I'll post a bit more later...