Disney Dream August 7, 2011

[Melrosgirl]

"Best vacation ever!!!!" is what my daughter says. DH and I agree! We had an absolutely perfect week. Highlights were parasailing in Castaway Cay (looked down to see a shark below us!!!), relaxing in a hammok and bike riding around CC, eating at Palo, all of the wonderful meals, sitting in the Goofy Pool watching movies, DD getting chosen to be one of the Dwarfs in The Golden Mickeys, singing Karaoke....oh too many to name!


Hope we can go back soon!!!

Were you on the Monday parasailing at 10 a.m.? I was on that one, too. My dd and I went right before you and your dd if I recall.

Great time! We booked two more cruises on this one. We circled once and at 11 a.m. we were told to go in. I think we were the first car to drop off luggage. Silver club and got boarding group #7. Boarded around 11:55.

 

[teach22180]

Sorry I didn't get to see you all at the meeting. I wasn't on board until 2:30 due to riding the resort bus, and I was really hungry. I headed to the buffet!

I did see Tinkerbelle's room down the hallway from me. I had a chalkboard on my door saying hi, so maybe you all saw my hello at least.

Wasn't the AquaDuck fun? I would have gone more than once but found getting into the float a bit difficult.

I also went onto Castaway Cay that second day. I read under cover at Cookies 2 for a little bit, but then the weather was just fine. They cancelled the food at Cookies 2 due to the low crowd, but then more people went ashore than they expected I think!

 

[kk92476]

Were you on the Monday parasailing at 10 a.m.? I was on that one, too. My dd and I went right before you and your dd if I recall.

Great time! We booked two more cruises on this one. We circled once and at 11 a.m. we were told to go in. I think we were the first car to drop off luggage. Silver club and got boarding group #7. Boarded around 11:55.

Yes! That was us! How funny--wish I'd realized it was you sooner. We ran into Faith and her 2 nieces just before the sail. That was so much fun!

 

[kk92476]

Sorry I didn't get to see you all at the meeting. I wasn't on board until 2:30 due to riding the resort bus, and I was really hungry. I headed to the buffet!

I did see Tinkerbelle's room down the hallway from me. I had a chalkboard on my door saying hi, so maybe you all saw my hello at least.

Wasn't the AquaDuck fun? I would have gone more than once but found getting into the float a bit difficult.

I also went onto Castaway Cay that second day. I read under cover at Cookies 2 for a little bit, but then the weather was just fine. They cancelled the food at Cookies 2 due to the low crowd, but then more people went ashore than they expected I think!

Same with us...got on board STARVING and dashed right to lunch! I did run into one family while we were delivering gifts!

 

[Weedy]

It was strict regarding arrival times....noone could get in before 11 am. (I'm not sure about those on DCL transfers.) Check in went very smoothly, we boarded by 12:15pm and were able to get any and all ressies that we wanted in the spa, Palo, tastings, etc.

Thanks for the info

 

[simbasmom2]

For future cruisers...we had an arrival time of 12-12:30. We arrived at 12:10...went to check in and they were on #21-gave us a #12 (?) so we walked straight on. We were only in the terminal 15 minutes tops!! SOOOOOOO smooth!!

 

[susiemmfan]

Thank you everyone for the FE gifts.

I agree. Check-in was smooth. We arrived at the parking garage at 11 and we were on the ship by 11:40. We were given boarding group 6 which was the next group called after we completed the check-in process. We basically spent no time in the terminal.

 

[pennymike]

Sorry I didn't get to see you all at the meeting. I wasn't on board until 2:30 due to riding the resort bus, and I was really hungry. I headed to the buffet!

I did see Tinkerbelle's room down the hallway from me. I had a chalkboard on my door saying hi, so maybe you all saw my hello at least.

Wasn't the AquaDuck fun? I would have gone more than once but found getting into the float a bit difficult.

I also went onto Castaway Cay that second day. I read under cover at Cookies 2 for a little bit, but then the weather was just fine. They cancelled the food at Cookies 2 due to the low crowd, but then more people went ashore than they expected I think!

We were right down your hall! I kept seeing your sign on your SeaHorse Extender, and it reassured me that I was in the right place to go to the right and find 'our house'. Sorry we didn't get to meet!

Didn't make the Dis meets......too much going on with later transfer from the resorts, traveling with in laws, and new ship to investigate. Had a FABULOUS week! Only real complaint was the teeny-tiny Quiet Cove pool! Well....we were actually quite disappointed about NOT having to wear the big orange monstrosities (life jackets) to the Muster Drill....we have a traditional photo in the orange jackets at our station....missed that! Hope you all had a great time! We loved every minute.....even with some rainy weather!
Penny

 

[BelleBway]

Clearly something is wrong with me because our check in experience at the DCL terminal was anything but smooth and easy. OK, I suppose it was easy... but the lines were a pain. Although part of that was because I didn't realize there was a special CC member line until we had waited quite awhile in the general line. And another part was that the taxi the hotel was supposed to have called for us never came. Ah, well... once we got through the security and check in lines, we walked right on the ship; once we got on the ship, all those hassles were quickly forgotten.

Thanks again to everyone for the FE gifts!

All in all, we had an amazing time! My nieces were doused with an incredible amount of pixie dust both at sea and on land at wdw. I am already plotting the next trip...

 

[kk92476]

Random cruise question. For those of you who went to Palo...how much tip did you leave? DH and I had an absolutely beautiful dinner, great service. It was just the 2 of us, so $40 plus one cocktail. At the end of dinner we realized that we had NO idea how much would be the appropriate tip. We actually asked both the waiter himself and the manager and both said "there is no correct amount...whatever you feel appropriate..."

Just wondering...

 

[Mackie Mouse]

We tipped the suggested 18% at Remy - our bill actually showed suggested amounts, since you are supposed to tip on just the food, not the alcohol. I've seen many a thread on these boards get pretty heated on the issue of tipping...so I'm sure whatever you tipped was just fine!

If it helps, I got yelled at by my husband for tipping more than just a few dollars on the massage I got Tipping is such a weird practice in general, I've got to say...

I've also got to say that I am now in serious Disney withdrawal! Has anyone else been obsessively looking through their pictures...?

 

[kk92476]

We tipped the suggested 18% at Remy - our bill actually showed suggested amounts, since you are supposed to tip on just the food, not the alcohol. I've seen many a thread on these boards get pretty heated on the issue of tipping...so I'm sure whatever you tipped was just fine!

If it helps, I got yelled at by my husband for tipping more than just a few dollars on the massage I got Tipping is such a weird practice in general, I've got to say...

Gotcha--this makes me feel better! I've also heard that the $20/head charge basically IS for the gratuity....not for the food which is technically included in the cruise.

 

[artifex85]

Random cruise question. For those of you who went to Palo...how much tip did you leave? DH and I had an absolutely beautiful dinner, great service. It was just the 2 of us, so $40 plus one cocktail. At the end of dinner we realized that we had NO idea how much would be the appropriate tip. We actually asked both the waiter himself and the manager and both said "there is no correct amount...whatever you feel appropriate..."

Just wondering...

Since that's not included in the general fooding and tipping, I tipped our guy 20%...especially since he (Zsolt) was pretty awesome. According to the ladyfriend, it was the "best date night ever".

Score!

 

[Marypoppinsiam]

we had an awesome time on the cruise. Sorry about the meet up, but time got away from us... Anyway all the FE gifts were great! You guys were awesome!! We rebooked while on board and are going to sail on the Fantasy over New Years eve next year. I want to see how Disney brings in the new year.

I have already started the album so that helps with the withdrawal.

We dined at Remy for our anniversary and all I can say is "that was sure an adventure in dining." I thought I was going to choke when they brought me the first wine list with that $25,000 bottle of wine on it. I thought geez I could go on 5 cruises for that. I don't think I will do Remy again just because I really missed my chocolate souffle and I missed all the good Italian dishes. Don't get me wrong we had a wonderful time at Remy, I just prefer Palo. Missed the brunch on this cruise too. I just love the brunch.

Other than that I thought the cruise was wonderful and the Dream is beautiful. I loved the adult district, especially Pink. That was just so different than any of the other bars I have been in before.

Loved the shows of course and the restaurants--wow! Loved the Enchanted Garden and Animators Palate.

 

[simbasmom2]

We always tip more than normal...mostly due to my Husband wanting to. I was a waitress in High School & College (we have been together since High School) and he always got upset if i said I had a rough night and was tipped poorly. So therefore we tend to tip nicely. We give/gave 20.00 in Palo for brunch, 30.00 for Dinner and 35.00 for Remy. It is whatever you feel is appropriate. Our service was awesome. We had the same server in Palo for dinner and brunch. He happened to be the server we had a few years ago...so that was nice to see him. My DH likes to tip big...I think he thinks it brings him good Karma. So far so good!! BTW...already using the FE gifts-the frames already have pix in them, the keychain is in use, magnets on the fridge, etc.

 

[Mackie Mouse]

We dined at Remy for our anniversary and all I can say is "that was sure an adventure in dining." I thought I was going to choke when they brought me the first wine list with that $25,000 bottle of wine on it. I thought geez I could go on 5 cruises for that. I don't think I will do Remy again just because I really missed my chocolate souffle and I missed all the good Italian dishes. Don't get me wrong we had a wonderful time at Remy, I just prefer Palo. Missed the brunch on this cruise too. I just love the brunch.

We did Remy dinner and got our Palo brunch this cruise. The brunch was crazy! Similar to the brunch on the Magic but the way things were laid out it seemed like even more food I will also say that we had the BEST team of servers this go-round...after Artifex's night in Palo and a passing comment that we would sorely miss having chocolate souffle this trip, they brought us some chocolate souffle on semi-formal night! It was pretty epic.

Fun fact we learned on our ship tour: the Dream always keeps two of the $25,000 bottles of wine on board (which, incidentally, are the same wine that the restaurant critic in Ratatouille orders). Both bottles were purchased on the cruise before ours. By the same table.

 

[Marypoppinsiam]

OMG! I wish I had that kind of money to put down on bottle of wine, but then again, I am not a wine connoisseur.

When we were rebooking the people before us booked a cat 1 back to back on the Fantasy which cost over $50,000. Now that is some cash to drop.

The kids did get their crab legs one night because we were in Nassau when they had the seafood buffet. Our server Edward brought the kids almost 2 lbs of crab legs for dinner as a surprise. It is this kind of service is why we keep coming back to DCL.

Now I must do the brunch on the Fantasy. Did they have the Stolen bread with strawberries and whip cream?

 

[kk92476]

OMG! I wish I had that kind of money to put down on bottle of wine, but then again, I am not a wine connoisseur.

When we were rebooking the people before us booked a cat 1 back to back on the Fantasy which cost over $50,000. Now that is some cash to drop.

The kids did get their crab legs one night because we were in Nassau when they had the seafood buffet. Our server Edward brought the kids almost 2 lbs of crab legs for dinner as a surprise. It is this kind of service is why we keep coming back to DCL.

Now I must do the brunch on the Fantasy. Did they have the Stolen bread with strawberries and whip cream?

I'm jealous--we so wanted the brunch but never got off of the waiting list! Oh well. After we came home and raved about our DCL, our friends booked for February vacation...a concierge level suite! Cha ching! They take our advice but then do it RIGHT!

 

[Mackie Mouse]

The kids did get their crab legs one night because we were in Nassau when they had the seafood buffet. Our server Edward brought the kids almost 2 lbs of crab legs for dinner as a surprise. It is this kind of service is why we keep coming back to DCL.

I am pretty sure I did about this amount of damage to the brunch buffet crab legs at Palo!

Now I must do the brunch on the Fantasy. Did they have the Stolen bread with strawberries and whip cream?

YES THEY DID.

Clearly I am missing Palo brunch a lot today. Thanks goodness there's a ticker countdown in my signature reminding me that I have another one to look forward to

 

[Marypoppinsiam]

ohhh... what I would do for a piece of Stolen bread with strawberries and whip cream.

Sweet, Alaska... Have a great time!