So details about us so you can gauge how it may help you all.
2 adults 2 kids 6 & 4. We did WDW before getting on the cruise. We have never cruised. We are used to All-Inclusive - namely Barcelo Maya Palace Deluxe.
Ship - Amazing, truly awesome. We saw other ships from the outside and Disney does such a good job up keeping the Dream. Huge, constantly getting lost, lower decks watch out cause depending on which elevator it won't connect to the mid/aft etc. Decor, paintings, environment all awesome.
Staff - Amazing, we tipped more for 3 out of the 4 people, sorry we rarely saw our head server. Juni, Pradeep where amazing at dinner.
Our Trip.
Day 1 -
Got to the port via Interplex transportation aka Noble Transport -- Very very good, on time, with a stop to Grocery/Liquor store at 10:50. Unloaded, tipped porters about $1 per bag, prolly a bit more. Showed passports at entrance gate and walked over to security. Got screened and up in the check in line around 11:10. Checked in, no real room upgrades. Tip - As soon as you are in the check in process and they have verified your kids/spouse have your spouse go to the kids club registration area and get your kids bands. Highly recommend registering them online, so you dont have to fill out any paperwork while in line. All lines moved very fast. The line for Minnie by the Dream model was way too long. By 12:30 or so they called our boarding group 7. Picture lines where disorganized - they had 3 photographers and what looked like 3 lines but they were pulling people from the same lines, wouldnt have bothered me but we where in the line that people where not getting called. Also, please note there are people coming from an elevator entrance, most with disabilities, please be nice and let them in front of you. Got our pictures, went on the ship they announced our names, pretty cool. We went straight up to deck 11 and ate lunch. Went to the room by 1:30-2:00, then went out again to explore the ship. Did the Dream tour. Went to the muster drill. Walked around the ship, watched the Carnival Sensation leave (You will pass it and then see it again after you dock in Nassau). Had snacks, then relaxed for a bit outside the veranda, got ready went to Golden Mickeys. BTW our daughter talked on the interview thing, but its live so we were not able to record it. If your child plans on talking to the camera, have someone inside ready to record. We enjoyed the Golden Mickeys. Then our first dinner rotation was at the Royal Palace. Our favorite sit down menu out of the whole cruise. Had dinner, then took kids to kids club for an hour and walked around the ship played the detective game with my wife. Picked up kids went to bed.
Day 2:
Woke up to the ship getting ready to dock in Nassau it was around 7ish am. If you have a veranda definitely worth watching the whole process. Went grabbed breakfast, then came back and got ready. The whole family (wives) wanted to go check out the shopping. We got off around 11 or so, shopped bought some souvenirs. Took pictures, recommend getting one of the family behind the Dream ship at the port. Got back on around 1ish went straight to Cabana's had lunch. Half the family went for a nap, Other half went to the pool and Aquaduck and Mickey slides. Rushed back to get ready for the pirate show before dinner, think at this point we already missed the main evening show. Pirate show was a blast!!! Kids had a great time, then off to Dinner we went. Animators palate, awesome decor most of our party had issues with food - bland mushrooms didnt really cut it, wait that might have been the 3rd night, lol. Dropped the kids off, did the detective game, walked around, then bed.
Day 3:
Woke up to beautiful CC. We hurried up went ate breakfast, came back sun blocked, and went out. Half the party made sand castles and hung out in the shade, other half was on the beach. Went snorkeling, go to all the orange buoy's to see stuff in the water. To me the snorkeling the snorkeling area was good although I expected more. We did see a green moray about 4 feet, barracuda, fish, some corals. We ate the BBQ at Cookies - the chicken was really good, veggie patty according to the vegsters was nasty. The switched to burgers with nothing in it. Went back for a while longer, then got back on the ship around 3-4. Washed up, rested, before we knew it we missed the last show, but was probably a good thing. We had to pack everything up besides the next days clothes as they take your bags between 8:30 and 10:30 pm. Many bags where put out late afterwards and we didnt see them collected, so make sure you do that. Enchanted garden, we were not impressed with the food. Took kids to kids club afterwards, then relaxed for last evening, got kids walked around then too bed. We where hoping to catch a movie but missed that as well.
Day 4:
Woke u by 7, got ready and headed for breakfast at Enchanted garden, they said you breakfast is the same spot as your last dining rotation meal location. We were all done with the food so dont think anyone splurged and we headed out. Stopped by guest services because we had a question on the bill. We had a credit card associated so you really dont need to do anything. They have a gratuity charge per individual on the cruise, this number didnt look like the same breakdown for the 4 people you tipped, but if you add them up it will equal the total gratuity, just fyi. Got off around 8:30ish, through customs, we got a porter, and out infront Interplex waiting at 9:00am.
Final thoughts.
These are my opinions so hope no one gets upset. For the price paid, I was really hoping for more of a Magical experience ie I dont see why its so difficult at the sit down dinners they can't have characters. Also the character meet and greets you will waste alot of time in line. The last evening they have most of the characters, do that and have 1 parent in one line while another parent is another line. Always have your camera you never know when you might run into a character. Everyone in our group it was the first cruise. Comparing it to my normal vacation spot, Barcelo Maya Palace wins hands down for dining, snorkeling. I will try another cruise, but not Disney just to see the difference and also cause there is no tight schedules to follow for the casino
We all pretty much after the first day missed pretty much any of the events we wanted to go to which were pretty much movies and the shows. BTW, we luckily caught the fireworks from our balcony 6648. We relaxed, didnt stress over not being able to go but would have liked it if we at least made some more shows. My wife did get the pedicure, an hour, had nothing but great things to say. I can say for sure SERVICE rocks on Disney. Glad we did WDW first. Side note, kids in our party were 6, 4, 4, 2. Between WDW and the cruise, we did AK and MK - MK was truly a magical experience highly recommend the princess lunch. Everything else really was less than what we expected. Dont get me wrong we had a GREAT time. But was really expecting more out of the cruise. I will go on to say I dont think cruising is for me as I was partially sea sick - will try the patch next time. I also think 4 day cruise is NOT enough time, but cant see myself spending the money on a 7 day Disney cruise for the bang for the buck factor. I mean 1st day really is a half day, the last day you rush to get off should not even count We asked them if they could make different food ie Indian food for the veggie kids/adults but they said they dont do that anymore, esp the short cruises. Not sure what your experience is on the 4 day Dream but would be interested in seeing if anyone had better luck.
Please feel free to ask me any questions.
2 adults 2 kids 6 & 4. We did WDW before getting on the cruise. We have never cruised. We are used to All-Inclusive - namely Barcelo Maya Palace Deluxe.
Ship - Amazing, truly awesome. We saw other ships from the outside and Disney does such a good job up keeping the Dream. Huge, constantly getting lost, lower decks watch out cause depending on which elevator it won't connect to the mid/aft etc. Decor, paintings, environment all awesome.
Staff - Amazing, we tipped more for 3 out of the 4 people, sorry we rarely saw our head server. Juni, Pradeep where amazing at dinner.
Our Trip.
Day 1 -
Got to the port via Interplex transportation aka Noble Transport -- Very very good, on time, with a stop to Grocery/Liquor store at 10:50. Unloaded, tipped porters about $1 per bag, prolly a bit more. Showed passports at entrance gate and walked over to security. Got screened and up in the check in line around 11:10. Checked in, no real room upgrades. Tip - As soon as you are in the check in process and they have verified your kids/spouse have your spouse go to the kids club registration area and get your kids bands. Highly recommend registering them online, so you dont have to fill out any paperwork while in line. All lines moved very fast. The line for Minnie by the Dream model was way too long. By 12:30 or so they called our boarding group 7. Picture lines where disorganized - they had 3 photographers and what looked like 3 lines but they were pulling people from the same lines, wouldnt have bothered me but we where in the line that people where not getting called. Also, please note there are people coming from an elevator entrance, most with disabilities, please be nice and let them in front of you. Got our pictures, went on the ship they announced our names, pretty cool. We went straight up to deck 11 and ate lunch. Went to the room by 1:30-2:00, then went out again to explore the ship. Did the Dream tour. Went to the muster drill. Walked around the ship, watched the Carnival Sensation leave (You will pass it and then see it again after you dock in Nassau). Had snacks, then relaxed for a bit outside the veranda, got ready went to Golden Mickeys. BTW our daughter talked on the interview thing, but its live so we were not able to record it. If your child plans on talking to the camera, have someone inside ready to record. We enjoyed the Golden Mickeys. Then our first dinner rotation was at the Royal Palace. Our favorite sit down menu out of the whole cruise. Had dinner, then took kids to kids club for an hour and walked around the ship played the detective game with my wife. Picked up kids went to bed.
Day 2:
Woke up to the ship getting ready to dock in Nassau it was around 7ish am. If you have a veranda definitely worth watching the whole process. Went grabbed breakfast, then came back and got ready. The whole family (wives) wanted to go check out the shopping. We got off around 11 or so, shopped bought some souvenirs. Took pictures, recommend getting one of the family behind the Dream ship at the port. Got back on around 1ish went straight to Cabana's had lunch. Half the family went for a nap, Other half went to the pool and Aquaduck and Mickey slides. Rushed back to get ready for the pirate show before dinner, think at this point we already missed the main evening show. Pirate show was a blast!!! Kids had a great time, then off to Dinner we went. Animators palate, awesome decor most of our party had issues with food - bland mushrooms didnt really cut it, wait that might have been the 3rd night, lol. Dropped the kids off, did the detective game, walked around, then bed.
Day 3:
Woke up to beautiful CC. We hurried up went ate breakfast, came back sun blocked, and went out. Half the party made sand castles and hung out in the shade, other half was on the beach. Went snorkeling, go to all the orange buoy's to see stuff in the water. To me the snorkeling the snorkeling area was good although I expected more. We did see a green moray about 4 feet, barracuda, fish, some corals. We ate the BBQ at Cookies - the chicken was really good, veggie patty according to the vegsters was nasty. The switched to burgers with nothing in it. Went back for a while longer, then got back on the ship around 3-4. Washed up, rested, before we knew it we missed the last show, but was probably a good thing. We had to pack everything up besides the next days clothes as they take your bags between 8:30 and 10:30 pm. Many bags where put out late afterwards and we didnt see them collected, so make sure you do that. Enchanted garden, we were not impressed with the food. Took kids to kids club afterwards, then relaxed for last evening, got kids walked around then too bed. We where hoping to catch a movie but missed that as well.
Day 4:
Woke u by 7, got ready and headed for breakfast at Enchanted garden, they said you breakfast is the same spot as your last dining rotation meal location. We were all done with the food so dont think anyone splurged and we headed out. Stopped by guest services because we had a question on the bill. We had a credit card associated so you really dont need to do anything. They have a gratuity charge per individual on the cruise, this number didnt look like the same breakdown for the 4 people you tipped, but if you add them up it will equal the total gratuity, just fyi. Got off around 8:30ish, through customs, we got a porter, and out infront Interplex waiting at 9:00am.
Final thoughts.
These are my opinions so hope no one gets upset. For the price paid, I was really hoping for more of a Magical experience ie I dont see why its so difficult at the sit down dinners they can't have characters. Also the character meet and greets you will waste alot of time in line. The last evening they have most of the characters, do that and have 1 parent in one line while another parent is another line. Always have your camera you never know when you might run into a character. Everyone in our group it was the first cruise. Comparing it to my normal vacation spot, Barcelo Maya Palace wins hands down for dining, snorkeling. I will try another cruise, but not Disney just to see the difference and also cause there is no tight schedules to follow for the casino
We all pretty much after the first day missed pretty much any of the events we wanted to go to which were pretty much movies and the shows. BTW, we luckily caught the fireworks from our balcony 6648. We relaxed, didnt stress over not being able to go but would have liked it if we at least made some more shows. My wife did get the pedicure, an hour, had nothing but great things to say. I can say for sure SERVICE rocks on Disney. Glad we did WDW first. Side note, kids in our party were 6, 4, 4, 2. Between WDW and the cruise, we did AK and MK - MK was truly a magical experience highly recommend the princess lunch. Everything else really was less than what we expected. Dont get me wrong we had a GREAT time. But was really expecting more out of the cruise. I will go on to say I dont think cruising is for me as I was partially sea sick - will try the patch next time. I also think 4 day cruise is NOT enough time, but cant see myself spending the money on a 7 day Disney cruise for the bang for the buck factor. I mean 1st day really is a half day, the last day you rush to get off should not even count We asked them if they could make different food ie Indian food for the veggie kids/adults but they said they dont do that anymore, esp the short cruises. Not sure what your experience is on the 4 day Dream but would be interested in seeing if anyone had better luck. Please feel free to ask me any questions.
