Stateroom 9543… our base of operations for the next few days. As you can see, we wasted no time at all hanging up our F/E and slapping several “cruise magnets” on the door. I just have a lot of fun putting these bits of nonsense together, so I end up making far more then we could possibly fit onto one door. Given that I can’t afford two doors on my current salary… I also end up changing the magnets out daily. I’ll waste a bit more of your valuable time on these in the next post (consider that a threat).
Now then… Just like at The World, your KTTW card is the device that unlocks the door to adventure (and/or either relaxation or exhaustion depending on you traveling style). But, unlike the resorts in the vicinity of Bay Lake… the
DCL key cards don’t have a magnetic strip. Instead there is an RFID chip built in so rather then swiping the card through a reader, you just “tap” it against the lock sensor to gain access to your domicile.
So just what’s on the other side of that door? This…
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! 
Sorry about that… just ignore the fat ugly guy ruining the picture.
What we have here is failure to communicate… No, no ,no, no… I mean… what you have there (once you get past the fat ugly guy) is a standard inside Cat-11 stateroom. It ain’t a two-bedroom at OKW, but it’ll do for us. Actually this is one of the smallest types of stateroom on the ship so almost anything you book aboard a DCL ship will actually be larger then this one. Although they’re best for couples, three people can fit but it’s a bit tight (so make sure you’re all on good speaking terms). There is queen bed with enough room underneath to stow all your empty suitcases and such…
…a desk/vanity/dresser area (the refrigerator is built into this cabinet as well)…
(I didn’t get great pictures of all the cabin areas, so some of these were found on passporter.com)
…and a couch that folds out into a single bed (Max’ bunk for the duration).
One of these here first days, I hope to be in temporary possession of enough extra Benjamins to get one of the larger cabins… maybe even one with a veranda. But then again, we fit in here just fine (even with a teenager). Besides, if you don’t plan to spend that much time in your cabin, do you really need the extra space? I mean… it would be nice and all, but… do you need it?
Once you get in your stateroom on sailing day you’ll find a copy of the Navigator (the ships newspaper and daily schedule) and a few other bits of important info waiting on you.
I’ll be giving y’all a better look at today’s “Navi” right after I finish up here and will also do so for each sailing day (so you’ll get to see ‘em all).
Being as we were returning cruisers, there was also a nice little “Castaway Gift” waiting as well. At our current “Silver Level” this consisted of the really cool travel duffel you see here…
…and tucked inside were lanyards, a couple of drink bottles, a key ring and few other whats-its (just another bit of Disney Magic).
Now for the other major part of your cabin… the “head” (yep… bathroom pictures… classy ehh?) Most cabins on DCL ships have a split plan that includes a sink & shower in one space, and the rest of the facilities in a separate space. Our Cat-11 however has only one combined area (but we didn’t really mind).
The design of the showers aboard the Dream is better then on the Magic & Wonder. It’s still tight, but it is also a bit wider and the curtain is better designed so you don’t feel quite so crowded.
Another thing to know is that the tub faucet does not work like you’d expect. Instead of the normal US left-hot-red and right-cold-blue configuration, the right knob controls the mix between hot and cold and the left is the “on-off switch” and determines the amount of water flowing to either the faucet or the shower head (depending on which way you turn it). Just thought I tuck that in there so you don’t get a rude shock your first bleary-eyed morning… it’s worth testing to get the hang of.
Another good idea for organizing this part of you cabin is to get an inexpensive shoe caddy similar to this…
…hang it up on the door and have everyone tuck their toothbrushes, toothpaste, hairbrushes, razors and what ever else you may need into the various pockets. This keeps all that stuff handy without having to keep a bunch of travel bags spread out on the e-x-t-r-e-m-e-l-y limited counter space (we actually keep this with our suitcases now and bring it along when ever we travel). You might also want to bring a liquid soap dispenser to set on the counter (it’s easier to manage and a lot less messy then the bar soap that is supplied).
Being as this is an inside stateroom, there ain’t nary a window to be seen, but the space does have another one of them there new fangled Disney type contraptions: a “Virtual Porthole”
It’s a video screen showing a feed form one of the ships cameras, so when it’s turned on (and you can control that), you see exactly the same view as the folks with actual portholes (or verandas for that matter). This added bit of electronica also gave the Imagineers another chance to perform little bit o magic. If you’re paying attention, every so often you’ll notice that Tinkerbelle will fly by off in the distance. When you see this, consider it your warning and watch the “VP” for just a minute or two. Before long you’ll be presented with another bit of animated performance art by one or more of the other Disney characters. We did think to record a couple of examples of this and you can take a look at ‘em here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAbpst-piBg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDOYSgomEBQ
A couple more tidbits about the cabin before we head off to explore the ship some more… Just as you open the door and right above the light switches, there’s a little receptacle where you’re supposed to insert one of your KTTW cards as you’re entering.
(image supplied by passporter.com)
This controls the electricity in you cabin and if you don’t plug something into it, you’re going to be sitting in the dark. They designed it this way to help save power and cut fuel costs. The idea being that you’ll take your card when you leave thus automatically shutting down everything electric in your cabin. Since nothing will be left running, none of it will be pulling power form the generators. This little trick has been known to cause some serious tongue waging on these here boards. That being said, it’s really not all that hard to deal with, and anything the size of a credit card will work. I just plugged one of the leftover room keys from The Rad into it and didn’t really have to worry much from there on. Unless we were just stepping out for a minute or two, we did play along with this little reindeer game though and shut everything down whenever we left. With an inside cabin however, you do need to remember to plug a card back into this puppy before you close the door or it will be a whole lot like looking at the backside of you eyelids.
Next tidbit… Wave Phones.
(image found by passporter.com)
Cell phone service aboard a ship is spotty at best and expensive in all cases (so turn them off and put them away), but DCL is here to help. Each stateroom comes equipped with two small wireless “wave phones” that you can use aboard the ship (and even out on
Castaway Cay) to keep in touch with each other. You can also request additional phones from the purser’s desk (with a deposit). The three of us pretty much kept together as a group so we didn’t use these much, but they do work pretty well. Keep in mind that if you loose one, it’ll cost you better then $200 bucks, so keep track of ‘em.
Last tidbit… when you turn on the TV; take a minute to go though the menus (and I have a reason for telling you this). There are a number of fairly interesting diversions here and there is also a submenu of on-demand movies and shows (particularly useful when young’ens need to be entertained while the adults are getting dressed for dinner). Actually the selection of movies is pretty broad. They’re mostly Disney properties (well duh…), but there is still a good bit to choose from. This little service is something we didn’t realize existed until the forth day (my reason for telling you about it now) so don’t make that same mistake.
OK… enough of that noise. We had two other fish to fry before shoving off for the Caribbean. The first was a Cruise-Meet. Our group had planned to gather in the Vista Café at 3:00ish. We figured most folks should be aboard by then and it was just before the Lifeboat drill. Much fun was had meeting everyone and finally being able to put faces to names (and yet I didn’t think to take any pictures). There was also a prize to be retrieved. Several of the families in our group went together and bought custom lanyards for everyone in the group as their contribution to the F/E. That was actually the reason I did the artwork for this sailing in the first place, so that they could use it in the lanyards. These had the sailing dates and the tag line from the image weaved into the straps along with a pocket for carrying your KTTW and IDs, the result looks a whole lot like this:
After meeting everyone (and getting into that pastry case over there in the corner), it was just about time to fry that other fish I was talking about… The Muster (also known as: the lifeboat drill), is a mandatory performance. No ifs, ands or buts. Ya’ gott’a do it. The ship ain’t leaving port without first having the Coast Guard inspect and approve the process. Generally it’s held right at Eight-Bells on the afternoon watch (that’s 4:00pm to you landlubbers) but the exact time will also be listed in your Navigator. You should check the evacuation chart on the back of your cabin door, and follow that path down to you assigned lifeboat (which is also identified on you KTTW if you remember where I showed that to you earlier). Don’t use the elevators and… don’t wait for the ships horn to start sounding or your already late. I’d head down there about five or ten minutes before hand. Also make sure someone in the group has their key card, ‘cause they’ll run that by a handheld reader to certify that the group from your cabin was actually there (you really don’t want to be getting a nasty letter from the captain so be there and check in). One nice change to this little square dance is that you no longer have to actually wear your life preserver during the drill. This was the case on previous cruises (as seen here during our stint aboard the Magic in 2009)
But now they’re no longer required…
(Although this for some reason this particular shot has somehow or other become a tradition of ours… go figure.)
Once the USCG approves and the CMs assigned to your position release you. It’s time to party. The Sail-Away festivities are just about to get going up on the upper decks and the crew will be cranking up the thrusters and pulling away from the quay in about thirty minutes or less. Then we’ll be traveling up “The Cut” and headed out to open water.
That's about the only thing I drink. Nothing beats fresh brewed sweet tea.
