December 26, 2011 Dream Cruise

[tomandrobin]

six more days!!!

We are so i need of this break!

 

[cruiser830]

Sooo excited -- We leave Sunday morning for Orlando. Can't wait for the warm weather and cruising on the Dream

 

[BraveCruiser]

It's almost time! I'm officially on vacation! Today is packing! Hope everyone has a safe trip. Looking forward to the meet and greet on the 26th!

 

[travelbug24]

Leaving today to visit the Parks for a couple of days before the cruise.

 

[BraveCruiser]

Leaving today to visit the Parks for a couple of days before the cruise.

Have a blast! We are visiting the parks after the cruise.

 

[unkamike]

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

See you tomorrow!!

 

[BraveCruiser]

Thanks you to everyone for the FE gifts! And thanks to Mike for organizing. We had a great vacation; I hope everyone else did as well. Happy New Year!

 

[travelbug24]

Thanks you to everyone for the FE gifts! And thanks to Mike for organizing. We had a great vacation; I hope everyone else did as well. Happy New Year!

Yes thanks everyone. Received great gifts and enjoyed all the surprises each day! Hi to my "troll" friends - thanks for the note.

 

[DanieD0909]

Travelbug - those chocolate bars were yummy! The note was from my mom and her boyfriend. They live in Gibraltar, MI. Have a great one!

 

[cruiser830]

We just got home today! Had a great time on the cruise and lots of fun with the FE Exchange! thanks everyone for the gifts

 

[tomandrobin]

We had a great cruise!

We were a little disappointed that we didn't make it into Castaway Cay, but we had a real nice pool day instead. The crew was fantastic on our entire cruise...We made memories that will last a lifetime!

 

[lovin'fl]

My inlaws, 10 of them in 4 cabins, went on this cruise. We (my fam of 5) went with them for 6 nights at WDW...after that we came home while the other 10 went on this 3 day crusie. They hated it! It was a 1st cruise for 8 of them and they will never cruise again and all 10 will never cruise DCL again. Here are the problems they encountered:

1- Went to their cabins at 1:30...ropes were dropped around 1:45 and 2 of the 4 cabins were not quite clean. While the beds were made, they found half eaten food (big chocolate Mickey head in 1 cabin and hummus in fridge of other cabin) as well as crumbs and dirt and trash. They also found price tag stickers stuck to the folded up decorative thing at foot of the bed (that lays across comforter????). They figured the steward quickly made up the beds and put in clean towels, but didn't really clean or vacuum.

2- The ship was very crowded and tables and chairs were hard to find...especially by the pool. The pool was packed beyond what they deemed to be safe (they said a kid could be dead at the bottom and nobody would know). The grill/pizza area was way too small.

3- They hated Nassau (not cruiseline's fault...but it added to their disappointment in the cruise...and they did not do an excursion like Atlantis because they assumed they'd get their water day in at Castaway Cay).

4- Castaway Cay was skipped. They said the ship got super close and they could not understand how Disney does not have a Plan B to get folks on that Island...especially when those folks are paying thousands for the cruise (and twice as much as on...say...CCL or RCCL). Disney also did not have a plan B for what to do that day...only added a couple stupid things to the schedule and did not stop anywhere else. I am a cruiser and I know that 'thems the breaks' and it is clear in the cruise contract that the itin can be changed up anyway at anytime. And I feel that any day on a ship is better than any day at work/home. But, the newbies(my family) on this cruise were NOT pleased. Though, I can understand it being a bummer as CC is such a highlight and it was only a 3 day cruise (that cost the 10 of them a total of $8000 for).

5- Shops were a dud, they said. 2 of those who went on this cruise(MIL and FIL) cruised on the Disney Magic with us a few years ago...best cruise ever BTW. The shops and grill/pizza area layout was much better on the Magic, according to my MIL. She felt like Disney kept all the venus the same size and numbers while doubling the number of cabins...to get the most folks on the ship...to bring in the most $$$, but not increasing the public space for all those guests. MIL also said that the shows weren't as good as when we went on the Magic in 2007 as well as the food. She feels they cut back a bit.

6- Everyone was all set for the pirates party and the power went on and off a couple times. They moved the party to the lobby and not everyone could get to it...my inlaws could not(none of them). Many people had to miss out on it.

7- My BIL and his family were in 2 cabins and asked for a wake-up call for the last day. They never got it and had to rush to do their breakfast and get off by the time they were supposed to...which was early.

8- At the airport, they went to the gate that was printed on the boarding passes that DCL gave them. It was the wrong gate...it was for a flight to Germany. Thank goodness they were there several hours before their flight.

Oh and another thing that I forgot. When they were at WDW (Dec 20-26 and staying at OKW and SSR), 5 of them did not get any word on what they needed to do...what time they were getting the shuttle...what to do with their luggage...nothing on Dec 25th (the day before the cruise). They did not hear anything until the morning of the 26th by phone. They, luckily, had all their luggage packed and sitting by the door before they went to bed on the 25th. They asked OKW desk and were told that the DCL is seperate company from WDW.

Did anyone ele on this cruise feel completely disappointed?

And they did say that their MDR servers were wonderful. That was the best part of the trip in their opinion. The cabins were a nice size and they got some free goodies...MIL/FIL(nice lanyards and a beach bag thingy) for being second time cruisers on DCL and SIL/BIL(DVC hats, lanyards and a wooden box with DVC engraved) for being DVC owners.

 

[travelbug24]

I am so sorry lovin'fl that the cruise was not an enjoyable one. I almost feel as if we were on completely different cruises. As for our cabin hostess she was fabulous! I do not know how many cabins they are assigned to but every time I poked my head out looking for Nicki, she said, "here I am" magically appearing. Our cabin was spotless.

We always enjoy Nassau (fifth cruise), haggling in the straw market and shopping in the upscale stores as well.

We didn't go to the Pirate's Party, never attended it in five cruises but we did enjoy the fireworks on the Deck 12.

And I understand missing CC is a big disappointment because it is a highlight of the cruise. We took this day and enjoyed the spa.

If it was my first cruise, I too, would have been extremely disappointed and would have felt cheated that I didn't get to go to CC.

I do agree about the shops, I expected more.