Dream Maiden Voyage Trip Report, A Dream Come True = Completed

[disney_princess_85]

Amazing pics Claire!

It's hard to believe that I'll be setting foot on the Dream myself in six months' time.

 

[squitty]

Ab Fab photo's Claire

Really loving the detailed report.

I'm glad you got your D&B bag in the end. It does look lovely.

 

[mandymouse]

WOW !! More amazing photos Claire I love the ones taken in Pink, it looks 'absolutely fabulous' too

I can't wait to read some more

 

[cannp123165]

Another great update! Your photos are brilliant! I love your Dooney & Bourke bags!

 

[saratogagirl]

The photos are amazing Claire, the ones at Nassau really do show what a huge ship she is - WOW!

I think that Pink may become my new best friend, I so cant wait to go there, what a clever idea that you get papped, too funny..

Ian didnt realise that there was mini golf, so he has put that that on the list for Nassau day.

I am loving the shopping, those bags are fab.

Another fab update, more, more, more please!!!! xxxx

 

[Tinks1984]

We need more, we need more, we need more....NOW!! Claire, you have me hooked big time! I'm reading things over and over again

I'm so wanting a sail on the Disney Dream

 

[Pegasus928]

I absolutely loved this trip report and think you have a fantastic eye for taking photos. Some of the angles you take them from give a totally different perspective to the ones we are used to seeing and it makes for a unique report. And those night time shots aboard - stunning.
The Universal resort looked amazing and certainly seemed to pay dividends when getting you in the park early. It was also good to see that Lee managed to get some hot chocolate as we all know how important that is for him And well done to him for standing up to all the queue jumpers as you were waiting to board the Dream. He deserved his cheer
After such a 'testing' start is was great to see that you quickly forgot it all once you got on board.
And as for the shopping You really live up to your tag don't you.

On a related note - after reading your report and being so very impressed with all the pictures me and DW have just this second decided that we will be on one of the Disney Cruiseliners for our 25 wedding anniversary (without kids ) We have about 4 years to go yet but that is a big step up from her saying that she doesn't fancy cruising at all - so thanks for that Claire

 

[irongirlof12]

lovin' the photo's , love the pins, fab bags, shame about the confusion and greedy people taking too many bags, bang out of order.

I didn't know that atlantis resort was so close to the port, photos look great with it in the background. I am not convinced about Nassau, hear good and bad about it.

can't wait to read more, but I don't want your cruise report to end either!

groovy cocktails missus

 

[Pinky166]

Oh wow Claire! This cruise looks incredible - you're so lucky!

I keep trying to convince my DBF to book a Dream cruise... he's slowly coming around to the idea, he suggested the date 2012 yesterday. I think it's the Aquaduck that is swinging it for him!

The Enchanted Garden looks gorgeous - and I love those Mickey ears!

Can't wait to hear more

Steffi xx

Thanks Steffi. The Enchanted Garden is a beautiful restaurant.

Hopefully i'll have another update ready later today.

Claire it looks all so fabulous.

I love your pictures of the adult only areas - what a great space for adults to relax

Also your food and drink pictures are stunning. Loving the look of Pink - no wonder you wanted to spend time there.

Can't wait to read more

Tam

Thanks Tam, the Cove area really was a gorgeous area to relax in with a cocktail or two.

WOW
WOW
WOW
WOW

and thats all I'm saying ....

apart from telling you that these photos are easily the best ones I have seen of the Dream, both interior and exterior ( and believe me I have seen a few !! ) Excellent photography !! ( what camera do you use ??? )

Awww thanks Sarah! We have a Canon 550d, we only got it a week before the holiday so it was a bit trial and error on some occasions.

We need more, we need more, we need more....NOW!! Claire, you have me hooked big time! I'm reading things over and over again

I'm so wanting a sail on the Disney Dream

Thanks Rachel, hopefully i'll have some more posted tonight.

I absolutely loved this trip report and think you have a fantastic eye for taking photos. Some of the angles you take them from give a totally different perspective to the ones we are used to seeing and it makes for a unique report. And those night time shots aboard - stunning.
The Universal resort looked amazing and certainly seemed to pay dividends when getting you in the park early. It was also good to see that Lee managed to get some hot chocolate as we all know how important that is for him And well done to him for standing up to all the queue jumpers as you were waiting to board the Dream. He deserved his cheer
After such a 'testing' start is was great to see that you quickly forgot it all once you got on board.
And as for the shopping You really live up to your tag don't you.

On a related note - after reading your report and being so very impressed with all the pictures me and DW have just this second decided that we will be on one of the Disney Cruiseliners for our 25 wedding anniversary (without kids ) We have about 4 years to go yet but that is a big step up from her saying that she doesn't fancy cruising at all - so thanks for that Claire

I wondered if anyone would pick up on my hubby's obssession with Hot Chocolate! I've never been forgiven for making him stay at Old Key West as they don't have it there.

Well I would disagree about my shopping habit but our credit card bill was delivered yesterday and Lee thought it was a phone directory dropping through the letter box....so I think i'll conceed on that one.

I am glad my report has persuaded Elaine to do a cruise. You guys will love it but a warning - it's addictive!!!! It will be your first of many!

 

[Pinky166]

lovin' the photo's , love the pins, fab bags, shame about the confusion and greedy people taking too many bags, bang out of order.

I didn't know that atlantis resort was so close to the port, photos look great with it in the background. I am not convinced about Nassau, hear good and bad about it.

can't wait to read more, but I don't want your cruise report to end either!

groovy cocktails missus

Thanks Andrea.

Alantis is about 5-10 mins in a cab. Going to Alantis or on a Disney excursion is the only reason we would get off the ship in Nassau.

 

[Pinky166]

Friday 28th January 2011 – A Dreamy Day at Sea!



Well once again I was awake before 6am! We lazed in bed for a while then got up and went up to the Cove Café, we got two Hot Chocolates and found the perfect spot to sit and drink them. We snuggled up on the round bed and watched the sunrise, it was bliss and we could have stayed there all day.

Inside Cove Café:

We thought we’d better move before we fell asleep in the big round comfy lounger so we went for a walk the upper decks and I popped into Senses Spa to see if their was any chance of getting a manicure booked in today, there was availability at 11am.

We decided on a game of Mini Golf and for once I BEAT LEE!!!!! I took great delight in teasing him all day, what with him being the golfer! Afterwards we went to Cabana’s for some breakfast, we had the usual Sausages, Bacon, Omelette, Hash Browns and an English Muffin.


We popped down to Deck 4 to Shutters to view our photos, we’d had some taken at the tables during meals and a few in the Atrium before dinner both nights. Shutters is so much better on the Dream, you scan your Key to the World card on a screen and it tells you which bookcase your photos are in, which colour album and what number. For example: Minnie, Blue, 12. Then when you locate your album on the shelf all your photos are together in one place.

Some of the photos we bought (I took photos of the photos to show you so they aren’t great quality):

It was almost time for my manicure so I went up to the Spa and Lee headed off back to the room. I had a Shellac manicure, which I hadn’t heard of before but it is basically applied the same as gels and cured under a UV lamp but much more natural looking as it is just like normal nail varnish rather than thick like gels. I chose a bright pink colour, it cost $45. I was very impressed with the results, it lasted for over 3 weeks without peeling or chipping. Whilst I was in the Spa we got a glimpse of Castaway Cay in the distance from the window, then the ship turned and it went out of sight. Just as they finished doing my nails and I was paying we heard the ships horn play “When you wish upon a star” I dashed out onto Deck and it was crowded with hundreds of people but there right in front of me was Castaway Cay and the Magic! With that the Magic played “When you wish upon a star” and we replied “Makes no difference who you are” and that was me all weepy eyed! Everyone on the Dream and the Magic/Castaway Cay were cheering. The Magic kept playing “When you wish upon a star” and each time the Dream would respond with a different tune:

“Makes no difference who you are”
“Hey Diddly Dee an actor’s life for me”
“Be Our Guest, Be Our Guest, Put our service to the test”
“Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate’s life for me”
“It’s a Small World After all”


I was by the stairs up to Deck 13 so I went up and spotted Lee right at the front taking photo’s and filming the horn battle. I joined him and we stood looking the Magic for a while, eventually as we sailed away we waved and said see you in September!

Shortly after an announcement came over the tannoy that Donald would be officially Christening the AquaDuck, so we found a good spot so we could take some photos and waited. Firstly a cast member out holding two bottles of water, one was from Typhoon Lagoon and the other from Blizzard Beach and they poured them into the running water on the AquaDuck. Daisy came out to watch her man then Donald appeared and headed up the stairs for the official christening…..it was so funny to watch, especially when he got out at the end, he was very water logged and shuffled off with his tail feathers between his legs!

Continued below………..​

 

[Pinky166]

For those interested, this is where you exit the AquaDuck:

We took some more photos around the upper decks:

We went to Waves for a drink and chilled out for a while, Lee had a Lava Smoothie and I had a Mango Margarita:

We went back to our room and picked up the Don “Ducky” Williams Lithograph as he was onboard and doing a signing session from 2-4pm. The queue was already quite large, Lee joined the queue whilst I went in to the shop look at the pins. The queue was so long and winding around different corridors and blocking the shops etc that they decided to move it – what a disaster!!!!!! As they moved us that had been queuing for an hour people were just jumping in all over the place so we ended up further back, people were unsurprising furious! Eventually after an hour and a half we got our picture signed with Don.

We were very hungry by now so went to Flo’s Café and grabbed a Hot Dog for Lee and a Cheeseburger for me, once we had eaten we took the picture back to the room and chilled for a while.


After a while we decided to go and investigate some of the pictures on the walls that are all around the ship. They play little movie clips, on one of the Decks there are two pictures side by side they are pirate ships and have a battle against one another. Very cool!!! We also discovered that they are an interactive game too (think Kim Possible at Epcot), on Deck 5 is a desk where you enrol as a Detective.

You get a detective badge (a card with a barcode on it) and select which crime you want to solve either find some missing paintings or find the missing Dalmatian puppies. You hold your detective agency badge in front of the pictures (which are all over the ship) and it scans the card and plays a clip which gives clues to solve the mystery. It was very good and I can imagine kids loving it!

We stopped off at the Bon Voyage bar in the Atrium and had a drink, a Corona for Lee & a Pineapple Mojito for me:

Continued below……………………​

 

[Pinky166]

After our drink we headed back to our room and showered and dressed for dinner, tonight was formal night. I know a lot of people don’t bother dressing up on a four night cruise but Lee chose to wear a suit. We had our photo taken in the Atrium before dinner:

Dinner this evening was in the Royal Palace again, although it was the normal menu not the Pirates menu we had last night. We were seated in Tiana’s room again and were soon joined by Karen & Sophie.


I began with a Speciality Cocktail, Double Crowned – Crown Royal, Chambord, Cointreau, Cranberry Juice and Sour Mix. Lee had a Corona.

I loved the napkins:

For Appetizers Lee had Pomegranate Glazed Duck Breast :

I had Iced Lobster & Jumbo Shrimp (although Lee had my Lobster as I don’t like it):

Next up, Lee had The Comtesse Du Barry’s Soup – Rich Velvety Cauliflower Cream, topped with Salmon Caviar Crutons:

I had an Avocado Citrus Salad:

For Main Course Lee chose Roasted Wild Boar Tenderlion, with Sweet Carrot and Onion Potato Cake and a Redcurrant Reduction:

I went with the Double Cut Rack of Lamb with a Dijon Crust, Green Beans, Gratin Potatoes and a Rosemary Jus:

For dessert we both chose the Vanilla Crème Brulee:

We were really tired after dinner and after a walk around Deck 12 we headed off to bed around midnight, where we were met by another towel animal and another gift!!!!!


This little face reminded my of my doggies

A book all about the Dream and how it was made!

Next up – Castaway Cay! ​

 

[wickesy]

The 'new and improved' Shutters sounds great! Certainly a lot easier than wandering around the racks hoping to stumble across your photos. Sounds like Disney really need to get their act together with the merchandise and signing queues in the future.

We had lots of surprise gifts on the inaugural Baltic cruise - they really round off the day nicely don't they.

 

[Pinky166]

The 'new and improved' Shutters sounds great! Certainly a lot easier than wandering around the racks hoping to stumble across your photos. Sounds like Disney really need to get their act together with the merchandise and signing queues in the future.

We had lots of surprise gifts on the inaugural Baltic cruise - they really round off the day nicely don't they.

Shutters is SO much better! I hope they eventually change it on the Wonder & Magic too.

The queue situation was just plain crazy! To make matters worse he was doing another signing session the next day aswell but they hadn't told everyone that! So everyone was there on the first day as we all understandably wanted to get them signed.

 

[mandymouse]

Another fab day Claire, I love your pics of Donald christening the AquaDuck and seeing the Magic at Castaway Cay. Your Shutters photos are stunning too, you must be thrilled to bits with them

 

[TanzUnited99]

Loving the reviews! That round bed to watch the sunrise sounds lovely...if only you could do that every day!

on seeing Castaway Cay and the horn battle sounds like fun! Love the atrium picture and the food looks delish. Had never considered a Disney cruise but your photos are making me want to book one!

 

[Pegasus928]

Love the pics of Donald on the slide. Bet that was great fun to watch

And didn't you and Lee look all smart for your meal at the Royal Palace. The 2 of you scrub up well don't ya

Still loving the report - its written so well it's like we're there with you sharing all the excitement

 

[Chilly]

Brilliant photos of Donald.

 

[disney_princess_85]

Great cocktail research Claire! They all look lovely.

You both looked very nice on formal night. I didn't know that a lot of people don't bother getting dressed up on a four night cruise. We're definitely going to!

I love the look of the book you received.