You all will have an AMAZING time. There's no allergies in our family
I know this is unsolicited, but here's some tips we've picked up over our last few cruises...(this is our 5th time on the Dream)
Pirate Night
- Bring pirate costumes! At least the kids should. Some people go all out, but I feel sorry for all the folks (like us) who on the first cruise didn't know how serious pirate night is (It will be the day we're at Castaway Cay).
- Speaking of pirate night, the staff will tell you to sit on the starboard (right) side of the upper pool deck for the fireworks (because they're shot off the starboard side of the boat). I found the best place is actually on the normal deck on top of what is the Donald pool (which is covered on pirate night). If you actually sit towards the left side you get an amazing view of the show AND the fireworks.
Castaway Cay
- Don't feel like you have to reserve inner tubes, or floating mats or bikes for castaway cay in advance. There are a ton, and I've never seen them run out.
- There are two places to eat (Cookie's One and Cookie's Too) - they serve the exact same stuff.
- The beach chairs usually get "reserved" with towels by mid-morning - but if it's just a towel and no stuff - then the person is probably not ever coming back.
- They sell water right on the dock. Don't buy it. You can also get the same thing at the little shacks near the beaches - waiting to buy it will save you from lugging it to the beach. However, definitely take the free towels on the dock, they're not available elsewhere.
- If you go to the second stop (Pelican Point) you can eat at Cookie's too and bring soda from the soda station to the beach if you're thirsty and don't want to pay for any beverage.
- Take the tram. Unless you're going without any kids and gear and love walking in the heat. The cast members are forced to walk (unless there's empty seats on the tram), and I always feel sorry for them.
- If you're going to drop your kids off at Scuttle's Cove (the kids club area on Castaway Cay), please let them get wet first (in the ocean). It will be hot and scuttle's cove is mainly a playground on the sand.
Oceaneer's (Kids) Club
- If you have kids going to the kids club - When you get to the terminal, if your boarding group isn't up yet, you can head to the right to get them checked in. However, if it has been called, head onto the boat. You can get them registered in the oceaneers club during the open house on embarkation day.
- The open house is a great way to introduce your kids to the club and see what they'll get to do.
- When you pick up your kids you can ask the cast member WHERE in the club your kid is. The mickey bands have a kind of GPS in them and they can tell you exactly what section they're in - you just have to ask.
The pool deck:
- If you go to Nemo's Reef (the kids splash area), don't let your kids go down that stingray slide. It's a small waterslide that is SOMETIMES supervised by a cast member. When kids go down it, they do what all kids want to do and climb up the slide instead of taking the stairs to go down again. This slide is a deathtrap and I've seen several kids get hurt. If your kid absolutely must go down it and is too small for the other slides, stand at the bottom and protect them. Make sure no other kid comes down right after, and that no one is going up while they're going down. My DS cut his chin open on one cruise on this slide because he wanted to go back up when another kid came barreling down. We had to head to the ship doctor to get it stitched (really super-glued) together.
- The pools are small and crowded on the first and last day. If you really want to enjoy them, the crowd will be light on the Nassau day and really light on the Castaway Cay day.
- Go on the Aquaduck at night (except pirate night it will be closed) - Seriously, people are eating and watching shows. The lights are pretty and the wait is all of 5 minutes. The ride lasts about 1 minute. During the day on embarkation, and especially the afternoon on the sea day the wait will be 45 minutes.
Stateroom:
- If your kids take naps, tell the Room Attendant to leave your bunk open all the time. There is one that comes out of the ceiling but has a lock - which only they have the key for. If you have young kids, hide the ladder in the closet. Mine kept wanting to play on it.
- If you have a kid in diapers, free diaper genies are available on request. Just ask your room attendant.
Food:
- Second Seating is actually pretty great - It's my personal opinion, so take it for what it's worth (about 2 cents). At home my kids eat dinner between 5-6. But on this cruise there is ALWAYS food everywhere (and 24 hour room service - and please tip the server a buck or two)! I've found that no one in my family is actually hungry around 6:00 when we're on a cruise. Plus it's a pain to try to rush back after a beach day and get to dinner to eat. Second seating allows you to watch a show, rest, and take your time to get ready for dinner (and actually be a little hungry - which is rare on this cruise!)
- The menu is the same across all restaurants each night. (but of course, it's different each night)
- Palo is a great date night option, but it is also open for a pretty amazing brunch as well.
- If you like a formal breakfast head to the Royal Palace for a breakfast by menu. An in-between option for breakfast is in the enchanted garden. It has a buffet with servers, and is less chaotic than Cabana's for breakfast.
- If you need soda, hot water or milk (or a combination of hot water or milk) - the beverage station on the pool deck is open 24/7.
- If you like to drink alcohol, the classes are a lot of fun and at $20 a really great deal. You can book them on embarkation day (usually at guest services or in one of the bars). My favorite is Mixology where you learn to make some of the drinks they serve on the cruise.
Misc
- Don't miss the "midship detective agency" - It's a special mystery that you get to solve by running around the ship and holding a personalized card with a QR code on it toward special artwork on the ship. The artwork turns into a special video to help you solve YOUR mystery. The videos and mysteries are completely random so it's personalized for each player. You can play as many times as you want. The villain will be different each time. I recommend to do this on one of the first two days. By the time the sea day rolls around, families are looking for something to do, and there are usually lines at each artwork station. My kids love this and usually make me do it with them a few thousand times. To get started you check in at a special kiosk on Deck 5 (midship)
- Your daughters will love the Princess Gatherings - Usually this is on the last day. Instead of trying to get photos with each individually, you can get it all done in one shot with 5 or 6 princesses. Everyone works their way through the line.
- The show are amazing! Better than any other cruise line I've been on. But if you miss one - it's OKAY. They play in the stateroom the next day. On the final day all the shows are available on demand in the stateroom.
- The theater will show first run disney owned movies. Expect Ant-Man, Inside Out, Tomorrowland to be playing on our cruise.
I know it's unsolicited, but I hope it helps you guys!
However to see the personal navigators for a recent 4 night Disney Dream Bahamas cruise you can view PDFs of the paper navigator for each day here at the link below. This will give you and idea of the activities and help you plan. But note that this particular cruise was at the end of May and there will be some small differences.
