Getting to the port and Embarkation Day Part 1
We boarded
DCL buses from the All-Star Music Resort and we left at around 8:20. We had 4 buses for our whole group and we got the first one! It was my first time taking a DCL to the port and it was exciting! Loved the video they played as well as the trivia (and Disney shorts), even though they had a lot of spelling errors lol
I was looking forward to seeing if we would have to make a detour because of that big truck explosion that happened just before I left for home but it was painless. They just closed off the bridge and you could go around. When we passed by the bridge part of the overpass was completely gone and when we drove back to the airport on Thursday, they had already built a good portion of it. Here is a pic I took on the way back..
A few minutes later, I caught my first glimpse of the Dream
We got to the terminal at about 9:15am but the ship hadn't cleared so we drove over near the temporary parking lot and waited there for at least 30 mins. We all watched in awe from the bus...people were mostly commenting about the Aquaduck
Hey Baltimore!
I was able to chat on Skype to my friends Nancy, Mike & Robin (too early to call anyone back home!) and even did a webcam chat with Nanc!
More waiting...
Finally, our bus headed over to where the buses drop us off but we weren't allowed off

Talk about a tease!!!!
We were told that customs still hadn't cleared everyone off and we saw passengers from the MV coming out after 10:15 am!!
More waiting and then we saw an ambulance and a woman being carried away in a stretcher. We were told that a DCL bus driver was injured and had to go to the hospital and that our driver was called over to take her place on the bus back to the airport. That was the only reason they let our bus over there. After some more waiting, finally we were let into the terminal!
One of the agents we had met (Baltimore!) had just spoken to his boss who was just getting off the MV and had told him that they had some major problems on the cruise in regards to people stealing things. We later found out that a good portion of those nice red pillows were taken as well as the hard cover folder-books, towels, butter knives from Animator's Palate and some glasses from a pub/bar/lounge.
After a quick zip through security, Baltimore and I went up the stairs into the terminal. Michelle had already made her way to the concierge desk to check-in as she is a platinum CC member. B and I were stopped and had to fill out a health questionnaire. The last time I was in the terminal, the store was still there so I had a hard time finding the Concierge desk but I finally made it to check-in. We got a #1 boarding card but because there are so many more concierge rooms on the Dream compared to the Magic, we weren't allowed into the little waiting area. No biggie for me, I would rather walk around the terminal anyway!
They had me listed as a first-time cruiser so I asked the lady if she could put my CC card # on my reservation but said she couldn't do anything about that. For a concierge CM, she wasn't very helpful at all.

She told me that I had to go to Guest Services on the ship and get it done there. Well, I did that and the CM there told me that SHE couldn't do anything about it and it had to be done on land so I'm just hoping it will be all figured out.
They take your picture while you check-in now, which is a HUGE improvement from the last time I cruised when you had to go to a separate line and get it done. That was just chaos and a 30-minute wait, so it's good to see they no longer make you do that!
I walked around the terminal for a while getting some pics and video...
It wasn't long (about 11:45pm) that we began boarding. There were tons of people just crowding around the entrance which made it a little difficult to get to the front but we made it and we were so excited so finally get on the ship!!
They scan your card just after getting through the Mickey Ears...you can see my mug shot here
Just before the photo area...
We bypassed the photo and just walked on the ship. They announced "The Disney Dream would like to welcome Michelle and Cass!!!" or something similar to that and we were both in awe looking around!
The Atrium is even more beautiful in person but we didn't have time to linger, we needed to get to the kids clubs!
We were originally supposed to have a private tour before general boarding but because we had 170 agents, they cancelled it and gave us a brochure with a list of places we can tour on our own. What a joke!
So, before all the kiddos invaded, I wanted to get some photos/videos of the kids club so that is where we first went. It wasn't open just yet so we had to wait about 10 minutes.
WoW wOw WoW!!!!! The club/lab was awesome!! More on that later

We also toured It's a Small Word Nursery which was also awesome! More later!
Then we ran to the Vibe...well we tried....but couldn't find it
A very nice CM pointed us in the right direction and after deciphering clues, discovering secret passwords and promising my second-born, I was let into the teen club

Just kidding! But it sure was hidden well! I bet most adults would just give up after looking for it for 10 minutes LOL!
The Vibe was awesome!! It made me want to be a teenager again...but just for 4 days
After that, I think we went our separate ways because Michelle wanted to ride the Aquaduck while it wasn't too busy.
I went to our room as it was now about 1:45pm. We had a cat 5A Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah on deck 9. It was cabin 9534 and it was awesome.
....I know...I used the word awesome yet again....I can't help it, it really was awesome....so get used to the word...I will be using it again....often.
Awesome
More later on staterooms....it will be my next chapter actually!
After checking out the room, I took a tour of the Spa....a place I wish I could have spent more time in!! By then it was 2:30pm and I was starving so I headed to Cabanas to see what they had for the embarkation lunch. I took photos but I didn't really want that kind of food. I really just wanted a hot dog so I headed down to Flo's Cafe. I ran into Michelle on the way there and she joined me for some lunch.
The only table available was in the sun and it was too hot for me so I ate fast and then left! With my Lupus, I can't be in the sun for long
The hot dog was blah (yucky whole wheat bun) but the fries were....can you guess????
YUP!! They were awesome!!!!!!!!!! They were really good and I made sure to have them every day LOL!
OK, this is getting really long so I will have to continue this in the next post....