We just got home this morning from the 3 night Dream and I have to say I was in heaven! This was our first Disney Cruise so I cant compare the experience with the other ships but Im not always easily pleased and I thought it was a fantastic time!
Arrival and Embarking:
We showed up at 10:30 a.m. fully expecting to be turned away but we were waved right through the gate. Our arrival time was supposed to be 11:00 so we were only a bit early. Based on some other experiences Ive read on here, I was very surprised. We dropped off the luggage to a porter and then parked on the 3rd floor and got in line for the walkway that connects the terminal and garage. We were inside the terminal just after 11:00, went through security, checked in and had gotten my sons kids club band by 11:20. We were group 3 and onboard by 11:40. I was stunned how smooth it went!! We went straight to Cabanas for lunch and were done by 12:30 and off to explore the ship.
The Dream:
What a beautiful ship! I was surprised how clean it seemed when you consider there were almost 4000 people. The layout didnt faze me as it has with some but again, I cant compare it with the other ships. I got to explore a bit when handing out the FE gifts and I can see how some people may complain about how long of a hike they have to their cabin. This is one long ship! But its fantastic!
Stateroom:
We were mid ship on the 10th floor and I loved our location! It was nice to be just a floor down from the pools and Cabanas. It was easy to get a drink or a snack and running down to the room to grab something was so convenient. When we were on the verandah we could hear the chairs being dragged around and some noise but inside, nothing. The room seemed a bit small but it was very clean and Narciso, our Stateroom host, did a great job. Aside from tight quarters, there was plenty of space for the 3 of us to put our belongings and all 5 bags fit under the bed easy. Closet and drawer space was excellent and the separate bathrooms were awesome. Also plenty of space for us but I can see it getting tight with a bigger family- especially ones with more than 1 girl! I thought it was cool how the sofa flips over to make a single bed. It was nice so I could enjoy the balcony at night without having to crawl over the youngen! One complaint was we got an awful sewage smell in the bathroom the first night. I was going to complain but it was gone the next morning. It came back that night but not nearly as bad. I never did mention it.
Pools:
I have to say that I was a little disappointed in the size of the pools and facilities. The Dream is 40% larger than the classic ships and has 1900 more beds but its like they forgot to increase the size of the facilities to accommodate all the people. However, in looking at the ship, I dont see how they could make the pools much larger in the space provided and still have room for loungers and such. Still, we enjoyed the pools and the Aquaduck. The lines were almost always long but we still went down 6 times and enjoyed. The small slide for the kids under 12 was great for my 6 y/o. He probably went on it 30 times.
The pools did not seem cloudy to me but definitely packed. The deeper pool- I dont know what they call it- had to be drained. Of course, someone took their kid in who wasnt potty trained and the kid had a blowout. That just irritates me to no end! Maybe they should put up a sign or something to make it more clear who can and cannot use that pool.
Shows:
We didnt go to any of the main shows but we did go to the pirate one in the D Lounge. My husband got pulled up to be a mast along with another Dad. It was a cute show. The Pirate Party is good. Not amazing, not bad. But we arent a family that gets into that kind of stuff really. Fireworks were great and the dance party is a great people watching experience!!
Food and Service:
On the first night we ate at the Royal Palace. Our Server was Henry from Guatemala, Asst. Server-Chris from Jamaica and the Head Server was Fitz! Id read about how awesome he is on the boards and told him so. He said he was blushing but we just didnt know it because hes dark skinned. He was just as awesome as I heard.
In talking with Chris, we found out that he supports his entire family in Jamaica. He is married with a little girl and also supports his mother and brothers. He also pays for his brothers to go to school. His father had been the soul supporter of the family and when he passed, Chris took on that responsibility. He was a great humored, kind and generous young man!
RP was very good. We both had lamb chops- yum!!
The second night was Animators Palette and it was fine but it wasnt amazing. However, the technology is amazing and I really was impressed with the interaction of Crush. Our wait staff changed that night. Apparently Henry, who was very good btw, took a fall the evening before and was en route to Honduras for surgery. Our new head server was Byron from Guatemala. He usually works at Paulo(?) and he is FANTASTIC!!! He volunteered to fill in for Henry and we were lucky to get him.
Enchanted Gardens was the BEST meal we had. I couldnt decide what I wanted so I got both the scallops and sea bass and they were delicious! I didnt eat all the other stuff on the plate though. Not a total glutton! DH had the prime rib and was also impressed.
On the last night I asked Byron how the tip thing was going to work b/c we had pre-paid that morning and Henrys name showed up on the slip. I wanted to make sure that he was being properly compensated. He told me that Henry was his friend and really needed the money right now with the surgery so to please not worry about it. I was so impressed by that! My husband only had a $20 on him so we gave it to him and he tried to refuse but ultimately accepted and was very appreciative. Our service overall was outstanding and I never felt pressured to give an excellent review.
Cabanas food was pretty good. Its a cluster in there and the lines got ridiculous at times but what can you expect with that many people? It almost feels stupid to complain about it. When going on a cruise with almost 4000 people, you have to expect lines! So I just stayed patient and remained grateful that I was on a cruise!
Castaway Cay:
We didnt go until about 10:30 and missed the rush. We took the tram to Pelican Plunge and found a single lounger below an umbrella. We spent no time there so it was just a place for our stuff but it still miffed me when we came back and the family next to us moved our lounger over and put in some chairs under the umbrella instead. Just rude!
Aside from the salt burn to the vegetation, it didnt appear that CC was damaged. Everything looked fine to me.
PP isnt exactly what we expected but it was cool. We only did it once because my son ended up taking in some salt water on the swim to the slide and also when he landed in the water after the slide. I think he would have enjoyed it more if he was bigger. I thought it was fun.
We did the stingray excursion and it really was neat. We got to feed them about 3 times and then snorkel around the lagoon. After about 20 minutes of snorkeling we got out. Its awesome to see, feed and touch all the rays but there is only so many times you can watch them swim by or bury themselves under the sand before it loses the appeal. Glad we did it and money well spent but once was enough. We didnt end up snorkeling further out but weve done a lot it in our travels both here in the US and internationally so we didnt feel like we were missing out that much I hope.
Food at Cookies was fine. We caught the tail end of it so maybe it just wasnt as good as it may have been when it was fresher and just out.
Shutters:
We had NO intention of spending much money on pictures. However, when we went to look at the pics each day we realized we would! Our dilemma was it seems everything came in an 8x10 and I have no interest in bunch that size. So, we decided to get a photo book for $149. The CM told us we needed to get more pics to fill it and I felt like the last day all we did was hunt a photographer! In the end, we just didnt have enough pictures. We got a bunch taken but not the right ones. We needed more with characters to really fill the book properly. Finally, we settled on a CD with all the pictures for $199. The pics lack the cool Disney logos and such but at least we can do with it what we want. My husband is excellent with Photoshop so we are going to play around and make our own labels and then Ill make a photo album. MY RECOMMENDATION: If you want a photo book, make sure you get as many pics as humanly possible- especially on the 3 night cruise. Make sure you get before dinner pics, dinner pics, character pics, etc. You will need it to fill the book. Those on longer cruises will have more photo ops and its probably much easier to fill the book.
Overall:
I could probably write 50 more paragraphs but the above gives you the gist. Overall, we had a great time. There were things here and there that didnt WOW me but thats ok! Disney cant please everyone all the time but they do a fantastic job of trying!
One thing I did notice that drove me crazy is that it seems people lose all sense of common sense and courtesy on a cruise ship. I just dont get it. Grown woman standing in front of little kids in the front row to watch the pirate show. The people on the beach who moved our lounger. Teens laying on the floor in front of the elevators with their parents standing right there. People mobbing the elevators before they let anyone out. An adult cutting in front of us by going under the rope to get on the aquaduck. The list can go on. Do all manners get thrown out the window when they go on vacation?
