ptcbass
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2008
We stayed at WDW POR for a few nights before our cruise. We were blessed enough to have wonderful weather for our entire trip. At check in at POR they told us we had a free upgrade to a Royal Room. That was such a great way to start out our vacation! We enjoyed a few days at the parks walking a ton and wearing ourselves out in the normal Disney way. Then it was time for our cruise. I told the family that we didn't need to leave till about 9 or 9:15 but they were so excited that we were on our way by about 8:15. Of course this put us at the port early and I didn't know what to expect. We had a 10:30 PAT. When we got there they told us it wasn't quite time to drop off the luggage and that we could park and then circle back around at 10 to drop off the luggage. We parked and looked around a few minutes and before we knew it it was 10 so we circled back around and dropped off our checked luggage. After we parked again there was a line waiting to get through security to go down the bridge to the main building. Everything I had read said it didn't take long but it took us an hour to get into the main building. I am not sure if more people showed up really early too or what the problem was but it took so long (especially when your super excited). By the time we got into the building and checked in (check in only took about 15 minutes). They were already calling boarding numbers. They called #1, about 2 minutes later called #2 (that was us!!), before we could get to the area to go in they called #3 and then about 20 seconds later #4. Within about 4 minutes they called #'s 1-4. It was crazy with everyone trying to go onto the ship. Once on our family was announced and everyone spread out. We went and enjoyed lunch and then wasn't quite sure what to do. We didn't want to swim yet and really just wanted to hang out till our room was ready. We walked around a bit and then at 1:30 went to check on our room (#9662 with large porthole aft). There wasnt an announcement saying they were ready but they were and our luggage was already in the hallway waiting for us. We put everything in the room and checked it out and then went to explore the ship. It was SO beautiful. We left port and then it was time to eat. Being a first time cruiser it was so strange to me sitting and eating and being able to feel movement but not seeing any movement. Dinner at AP the first night was great. The servers were great! There really isn't anything bad I can say about the ship or the service. The next day in Nassau we were super excited to just go walk around Atlantis, check out some shopping at the straw market and then back to the ship. Well getting through to the city was a little frustrating. The guys waiting for you at the main building were all lined up and each one would try to get you to go on a tour with them. One even said "taxi service?" and I ask him taxi or tour and then he said taxi with the tour so I said no thank you and kept walking. Most of them would accept no thank you but one followed my husband and kept talking to him even though he had said no several times. Finally he stopped to listen to what he had to say and then politely said no thank you again. They guy got mad and kind of made a face and threw up his hands. They kept hounding us till we got into the building where a guy pointed us to where to stand if you needed a taxi. Then they took us outside to a bunch of taxi's waiting and we were off. We did make sure he had his license hanging around his neck and verified the charges before we got in with him. Once in Atlantis we kept finding doors with guards standing at them. You can't see much of anything without paying for a pass to see the rest of the resort. We looked at a few shops and got a taxi back. The ride back was interesting. They all blew their horns at each other. People would walk or ride bikes right out in front of cars. It was a little like laid back craziness. Once back at the ship there were more waiting to sell us a tour and we were sick of all of it and just went back to the ship. Next time I will probably just stay on the ship.
The next day was our CC day and it was beautiful coming into port and warm and sunny all day (We all have burns to prove it
). The island is SO SO nice and clean. There were plenty of chairs; the food was pretty good but not great. They had all you can eat cookies and ice-cream too. Before we knew it our time was up and we bought our t-shirts and headed back to the ship to get ready for dinner. We had to be back by 4:45 and by 5:05 we were already pulling out of port. They don't waste any time! The seas were calm and I was super glad since this was my first cruise. We could tell when we were going through the Florida Straits but it wasn't bad. The most movement I felt was at the shows in the afternoon. The theater is forward so that is probably why.
Getting off the ship was a very easy process. We have never been through customs getting back into the US so I wasnt really prepared for them to ask me a lot of questions. They ask if we had alcohol and what jewelry we bought. We didnt buy either one so I told him none. He asked us to list what we bought so I listed out things like T-shirts, handbags (gotta have my Dooney and Vera!), Disney pins, etc He seemed to be happy with my answers but it certainly wasnt a warm fuzzy feeling at all. The porter told us they catch people all the time trying to get into the states with expensive jewelry and Cuban cigars. I am not sure how they catch them since they dont look at any of our luggage and it isnt even scanned or anything but I guess they do.
If anyone has questions I will try to answer them. I will also post some pics once I get all my pics organized.
I brought my hairdryer but the only port was for an international plug so I couldn't use it. Thiers worked good enough to get the job done though.
Great cruise and we cant wait for another one! Some complain about the Dream and how a 3 day is just too short but for our first cruise and on the back end of WDW we thought it was just right. I asked my family if we took another one would they want it to be on another ship (Wonder or Magic) or what and they said they LOVED the Dream and wanted to do it again. We might do a 4 night and not WDW in the same trip. As far as it being relaxing I guess it could be but we didnt have much time to relax. We were up till about 2am every night (and we are usually in bed by 10:30) and then up by 6am every morning. We were super tired by the time we got back home. Next time I will plan an extra day to relax at home before headed back to work.
The next day was our CC day and it was beautiful coming into port and warm and sunny all day (We all have burns to prove it
). The island is SO SO nice and clean. There were plenty of chairs; the food was pretty good but not great. They had all you can eat cookies and ice-cream too. Before we knew it our time was up and we bought our t-shirts and headed back to the ship to get ready for dinner. We had to be back by 4:45 and by 5:05 we were already pulling out of port. They don't waste any time! The seas were calm and I was super glad since this was my first cruise. We could tell when we were going through the Florida Straits but it wasn't bad. The most movement I felt was at the shows in the afternoon. The theater is forward so that is probably why. Getting off the ship was a very easy process. We have never been through customs getting back into the US so I wasnt really prepared for them to ask me a lot of questions. They ask if we had alcohol and what jewelry we bought. We didnt buy either one so I told him none. He asked us to list what we bought so I listed out things like T-shirts, handbags (gotta have my Dooney and Vera!), Disney pins, etc He seemed to be happy with my answers but it certainly wasnt a warm fuzzy feeling at all. The porter told us they catch people all the time trying to get into the states with expensive jewelry and Cuban cigars. I am not sure how they catch them since they dont look at any of our luggage and it isnt even scanned or anything but I guess they do.
If anyone has questions I will try to answer them. I will also post some pics once I get all my pics organized.
I brought my hairdryer but the only port was for an international plug so I couldn't use it. Thiers worked good enough to get the job done though.
Great cruise and we cant wait for another one! Some complain about the Dream and how a 3 day is just too short but for our first cruise and on the back end of WDW we thought it was just right. I asked my family if we took another one would they want it to be on another ship (Wonder or Magic) or what and they said they LOVED the Dream and wanted to do it again. We might do a 4 night and not WDW in the same trip. As far as it being relaxing I guess it could be but we didnt have much time to relax. We were up till about 2am every night (and we are usually in bed by 10:30) and then up by 6am every morning. We were super tired by the time we got back home. Next time I will plan an extra day to relax at home before headed back to work.
awesome trip!
