Had a minute to write a quick review, so here goes....
We had planned to arrive at the port around 10, but got a later start from Orlando due to having to search for a new digital camera when ours died that morning. Our on-line arrival time was 11:00, but we actually arrived around 12:30. We waited behind one car to check in with the person at the podium, unloaded and I parked while the rest of my party went inside. There was no wait to get through security at 12:40 when I came through. By the time I got inside the terminal, my family was finishing up the check-in process. We were given boarding #5 and they were calling #12 I think, so we were able to walk right on (PERFECT timing for those of you who struggle, like I did, over this. It led me to believe the boarding numbers are assigned based on your assigned on-line time).
We were on the ship by 1:15, took a few pictures in the lobby, then decided to find our rooms to drop off our carry-ons before lunch. We had 5046 (cat 5 with extended balcony) and 5013 (cat 11). A word about the rooms. They definitely felt smaller than the other Disney ships. To be fair, we had only sailed in a 10 and 6 before, but the cat 5 felt smaller in comparison to the 6 and the 11 was downright tiny (you could not pass another person in the entry hallway, but had to take turns). Also, I chose these rooms because they did not seem far from eachother based on the deck plans. Well, my idea was flawed since I was basing it on my experience on the Wonder. The Dream is much bigger, obviously making the halls much longer, a that fact just escaped me when I booked. We did appreciate the extended balcony and would definitely book that room again. 5013, even apart from the size, was so far forward that we would not book it again. It was also pretty noisy, a lot of banging although I never figured out the source. On a side note, you CAN go from forward to mid-ship without changing decks on deck 5, a fact that had been reported not possible in earlier reports. There is a big door beside the theater that may have remained closed in earlier sailings, leading to that report. The funny part was, I didn't realize this until the third day when I was going to pick up the kids with my husband and walked towards the stairs. He asked where I was going and when told him you have to go to another level then back to 5 to get to mid-ship, he thought I was crazy and showed me that I was wrong. Wished he would have told me sooner
.
Will try to post more soon. Any questions, feel free to ask.
We had planned to arrive at the port around 10, but got a later start from Orlando due to having to search for a new digital camera when ours died that morning. Our on-line arrival time was 11:00, but we actually arrived around 12:30. We waited behind one car to check in with the person at the podium, unloaded and I parked while the rest of my party went inside. There was no wait to get through security at 12:40 when I came through. By the time I got inside the terminal, my family was finishing up the check-in process. We were given boarding #5 and they were calling #12 I think, so we were able to walk right on (PERFECT timing for those of you who struggle, like I did, over this. It led me to believe the boarding numbers are assigned based on your assigned on-line time).
We were on the ship by 1:15, took a few pictures in the lobby, then decided to find our rooms to drop off our carry-ons before lunch. We had 5046 (cat 5 with extended balcony) and 5013 (cat 11). A word about the rooms. They definitely felt smaller than the other Disney ships. To be fair, we had only sailed in a 10 and 6 before, but the cat 5 felt smaller in comparison to the 6 and the 11 was downright tiny (you could not pass another person in the entry hallway, but had to take turns). Also, I chose these rooms because they did not seem far from eachother based on the deck plans. Well, my idea was flawed since I was basing it on my experience on the Wonder. The Dream is much bigger, obviously making the halls much longer, a that fact just escaped me when I booked. We did appreciate the extended balcony and would definitely book that room again. 5013, even apart from the size, was so far forward that we would not book it again. It was also pretty noisy, a lot of banging although I never figured out the source. On a side note, you CAN go from forward to mid-ship without changing decks on deck 5, a fact that had been reported not possible in earlier reports. There is a big door beside the theater that may have remained closed in earlier sailings, leading to that report. The funny part was, I didn't realize this until the third day when I was going to pick up the kids with my husband and walked towards the stairs. He asked where I was going and when told him you have to go to another level then back to 5 to get to mid-ship, he thought I was crazy and showed me that I was wrong. Wished he would have told me sooner
. Will try to post more soon. Any questions, feel free to ask.
