Dream June 29 - July 4th Double Castaway!!!

[golfcane]

Hello fellow cruisers. This was our 12th Disney family cruise and 2nd on the Dream. There are only a couple of things I would do differently and will note them in the report.

We are me, Dad, DW, DD13, DS10(turn 11 Aug 1), My brother, his DW, DD14, DS12. My mom 29(some anniversary of it).

The reason for the cruise was a celebration of life of my Dad who passed away March 29th. Mission accomplished. This was the first time Mom smiled, laughed, ate and slept well.

We booked on a Florida Resident Special 75 days out on a Veranda gty for 3 cabins. We got Deck 9 9052, 9054, and 9056. 2 rooms connected and all rooms connected on the balcony! This was awesome. Not only do you get more space but you can look forward or ast and see without getting up from your chair with a clear view! The rooms were awesome and the only time on elevators was to go to dinner and shows. Everything else was stairs up to 11. We were between Mid and forward elevators. Dont bother with Mid ship elevators. They stop at almost every floor. Forward were the best!

All Seasons Travel notifies us of FL res specials and do a great job of booking us. They are good agents.

We live 2 hours south of the port and drive there. We left at 9:30 am, arrived at 11:20 am. Dropped the luggage, parked in the garage, went to the terminal and cleared security.

We are Platinum CC members.(My family) Everyone in the party is covered. We were sent to the Concierge check in. Signed in in 3 minutes. All of our kids were Edge this trip(no problem for our 10yo to move up with the others this trip) so we did not need bracelets or special check in for them. From there we stepped on the ship immediately. We prefer to eat in doors for Grandma and had to wait a few minutes for Enchanted Garden to open and then we were onto the shrimp and other goodies! Yum. The lamb chops were superb on this buffet. I recommend the inside dining for this meal because the kids can focus with out pools and slides in their view!

Aquaduck wait line on first day before life boat drill and sail away party was over an hour. Our 2 boys left Buena Vista theater muster station at the end of the drill and were first in line when it reopened for the Sail Away! Just a note to you or a recommendation!

Weather and Seas - For our cruise were absolutely perfect. Debbie had cleared out and the rain and rough seas were gone.! Thank goodness.

Stateroom access was at 1:30 pm this cruise.

Palo/Remy - We were not able to book online but they opened reservations at 1pm and I got a dinner and brunch reservations for the day and time exactly as I wanted. Don't worry if you cant get it online. We could have eaten in either that we wanted when we wanted. On one previouscruise, a four day on the Wonder in the past we ate in Palo every night of the cruise! It can be done. (For the board police, we still tipped our Servers the recommended amount that cruise even though we never saw them. It was not their fault we did not show)

Luggage- Ours was at our room before 2 pm and was put away and unpacked before Life boat drills.

More to come in a future post............Gosh I miss Oana (pronounced Wana) our hostess from Romania. She was one of the best we have ever had!

All the best

 

[ohboyx3]

Can't wait to hear more! We're going on our first cruise aboard the dream in October. I'm curious to see how the kids liked the Edge. I have two that will be that age.

 

[Skyw]

Were also on on this cruise!!! I agree about the midship elevators. Avoid them. We were aft and did that same that you did. Also deck 9. Loved it.

We had an excellent time!!!!!

My DS8 (going on 9) never hit the clubs. DH wondered if when we went it looked too kiddie. I know people like the way that kids can go between the two clubs but to DS it looked like a preschool. He was not interested. Boo for me. Maybe in 2 years the edge will be better.

 

[juliebug1997]

Hi! We were on this cruise too.

We were midship again on Deck Six and, if we ever found the elevators too crowded, we were close enough to walk down or up. Thankfully, we didn't have to do the up but once.

I'm sorry to hear about your dad. Were you guys the group that met every morning for Bill W.?

 

[iloverags2]

My deepest sympathy...so happy you were able to enjoy your cruise, and your mom was able to as well.

Looking forward to reading all about your cruise!

 

[golfcane]

Thank you all for the kind words. A little late getting back to this post but today will be a review of "The Edge" as taken from 14 and 13 girls and 12 and 11 boys.

Registration: There is none required at check in. There are no wrist bands or check in or check outs required. Kids just come and go as they desire.

A recommendation is that the parent goes to the club and then has the child walk them back to the room so they know where they are going.

Our kids loved the freedom of choice to go or not as the activities they wanted to do varied in times and locations.

Our son is a sports fanatic and he always had buddies to play B-ball with on the sports deck. There always seemed to be a late night game of dodgeball or something else as well as a group that wants to go on the Aquaduck.

Our girls 14 & 13 wanted to go to Vibe and we opposed. The 14 did go but she came back shortly. I think I would recommend letting them go there if they have already been in high school because there is a big gap in younger teens and teens.

All 4 of our kids lovewd edge and they have about 25 new facebook freinds since we are back.

If you have specific questions please ask in this thread and I will go to my panel of experts for the answers!

 

[EWL]

Thanks for the review! We leave on 8/5 and are thinking about whether DD10-1/2 would go to the Lab or Edge. Have seen conflicting reports about whether they're allowed to do both, or must pick one. Sounds like yours all did Edge; do you know if your 10-yo could also have done the Lab?

P.S.:

Were you guys the group that met every morning for Bill W.?

That's the codeword for the AA meeting (Bill Wilson was the co-founder of AA).

 

[hamm1207]

Thanks for the review! I can't wait to read more!

Do you have any recommendations for servers? We're heading out on the Dream in September, and any suggestions would be great! Thanks.

 

[iloverags2]

Excellent idea about having the kids walk you back to the stateroom! Had not thought about that.

Our niece turns 13 this year, so I'm thinking we will give it another year or two before taking her on DCL. Edge would be too young for her, but she also would not feel comfortable with the older kids. *sigh*

 

[juliebug1997]

Thanks for the review! We leave on 8/5 and are thinking about whether DD10-1/2 would go to the Lab or Edge. Have seen conflicting reports about whether they're allowed to do both, or must pick one. Sounds like yours all did Edge; do you know if your 10-yo could also have done the Lab?

P.S.:



That's the codeword for the AA meeting (Bill Wilson was the co-founder of AA).

Thanks for the information. I think that's great that the cruise line does this for people who have struggled with sobriety.

 

[clpainter2001]

we, me, DH, DD10, DS8 and my parents all were on this cruise. We were aft and those elevators were never busy. Loved it. My kids wanted to do dine and play but our waiter never got them done in time to go so they only went twice. My 10 year old thought it was a bit young for her. Loved almost everything but the day at sea was crazy at the pool. Everything else but the waiter was great.