February 3rd, 2011: 3-NIGHT DREAM CRUISE (lots of pics!) - COMPLETED 3/3!

[MrsKP]

Thank you so much for posting. I am loving this! However, DH is complaining. sigh

 

[FWRR3]

We were on that cruise, too, and really enjoying your report. And the great photos! Not to detract from your photo skills, but what camera do you use?
Thanks!

 

[JennLK]

“Red Carpet Arrivals” occurred, and outside the theatre, Rona Rivers is interviewing people, and in the balcony, a guy (already forgot his “name”, but he performed Hades in “Villains Tonight” and the Genie in “Believe”) was interviewing people.

Did you see my daughter get interviewed ? She thought it was the coolest thing to ever happen in her whole 11 years LOL.

[/IMG]

We were at the 5 o clock show as well.

 

[JennLK]

Great report. I wanted to do a TR on this sailing as well but I didn't take nearly as many pictures as you did. I was so busy doing everything I forgot to snap away !!

 

[orangemom]

Thank you for such great pictures and TR.
I simply cannot say thank you enough for answering my questions here and there.

we leave in the morning to go to FL....

my report will just fill in the blanks so to speak from a kid perspective as i am travelling with two kids and family members ages 1-65.

No internet for us till we get back...

 

[budbeerlady]

Thanks for this GREAT trip report!!! I am reading up for our 1st Disney cruise and this has been very helpful!!!!! Cannot wait to read more!

 

[scrapycruiser]

This the BEST trip report I've read yet !! Your pictures are awesome !!
Thanks soooooooo much for posting !!
It's so refreshing to have a positive review !!

 

[Timon]

Great report so far

I felt the same way about Skyline but the background I kept seeing was Chicago

I feel sorry for that little girl who was scared enough to pee herself, she must have been really scared to do that!!

 

[KevieKev05]

Thanks a bunch for the information Now I can do the happy . I just love cute free stuff.

You're welcome! Free goodies are always a good thing!

Thank you so much for posting. I am loving this! However, DH is complaining. sigh

Complaining?! But why?!

We were on that cruise, too, and really enjoying your report. And the great photos! Not to detract from your photo skills, but what camera do you use?
Thanks!

Wow...thanks for your kind words about my photos! It's funny, because I'm not overly pleased with them. As a matter of fact, I just purchased a Nikon D3100 DSLR camera so I can take even better pictures! But, the camera I used for this cruise was a Canon PowerShot SD850 IS (http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerSh...0420/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1297815369&sr=8-1)

“Red Carpet Arrivals” occurred, and outside the theatre, Rona Rivers is interviewing people, and in the balcony, a guy (already forgot his “name”, but he performed Hades in “Villains Tonight” and the Genie in “Believe”) was interviewing people.

Did you see my daughter get interviewed ? She thought it was the coolest thing to ever happen in her whole 11 years LOL.

We were at the 5 o clock show as well.

I totally remember her! And I'm glad it was such an enjoyable experience for her!

Great report. I wanted to do a TR on this sailing as well but I didn't take nearly as many pictures as you did. I was so busy doing everything I forgot to snap away !!

I completely understand! To give you an idea, I took roughly 150-200 photos on my 2-night preview cruise because I was just so busy taking it all in. On this 3-night cruise, I took almost 1,000 photos!

Thank you for such great pictures and TR.
I simply cannot say thank you enough for answering my questions here and there.

we leave in the morning to go to FL....

my report will just fill in the blanks so to speak from a kid perspective as i am travelling with two kids and family members ages 1-65.

No internet for us till we get back...

Have a great cruise! I know you'll have a great time!

Thanks for this GREAT trip report!!! I am reading up for our 1st Disney cruise and this has been very helpful!!!!! Cannot wait to read more!

Thank you so much! I hope to have another update tonight or tomorrow!

This the BEST trip report I've read yet !! Your pictures are awesome !!
Thanks soooooooo much for posting !!
It's so refreshing to have a positive review !!

Wow...I appreciate your kind words! I'm glad you're enjoying reading the report!

Great report so far

I felt the same way about Skyline but the background I kept seeing was Chicago

I feel sorry for that little girl who was scared enough to pee herself, she must have been really scared to do that!!

Hahaha...I was getting so frustrated with Skyline! It's such a neat area though, so I couldn't be too upset.

 

[Dizney73]

Love, love, loving this TR! We are onboard the Dream in August! I am just loving all of your little tidbits and tours!

 

[twins4disney]

Skyline question, I am guessing that the backgrounds change? I have tried looking up different areas in the ship, but find it difficult to find a lot of good info all in one place.

 

[KevieKev05]

Skyline question, I am guessing that the backgrounds change? I have tried looking up different areas in the ship, but find it difficult to find a lot of good info all in one place.

Yes! I don't know how frequently they change, but there are five cities it supposedly rotates through. The city shown in my pictures is of Rio de Janeiro. The other cities are New York, Chicago, Paris, and Hong Kong. It really is a neat lounge!

 

[KevieKev05]

DAY 2 - February 4th, 2011 - Nassau (Part 2)

We were waiting outside the Walt Disney Theatre by 4:30pm. The doors opened within a few minutes, and off we went to get our seats. While waiting for the show to start, Pain and Panic come through the theatre interacting with guests.

Once it was show time, Pain and Panic went onto the stage and the show began! Now, I was skeptical about this show based on what I’ve heard and read. Though it is definitely my least favorite show that DCL offers, it isn’t *too* awful. It had its moments. And it had its shortcomings. I thoroughly enjoyed the “Emperor’s New Groove” portion as well as the Cruella segment. However, there was no Dr. Facilier scene that I was looking forward to...it appears this isn’t in the version on the Dream. Is it in the version on the Magic? I remember watching rehearsal footage from when they were developing the show...I’m curious as to what happened. Also, the initial casting notice for the Dream included Facilier! Interesting...anyway, here are some pictures:

 

[KevieKev05]

After the show, we went back to our stateroom to change for dinner. This is the sight we saw from our porthole as we were leaving Nassau:

I’m not sure what was going on! Once we changed, we went downstairs to peruse the gift shop some more and this time I took a picture of some of the “Maiden Voyage” apparel that was still being sold.

At about 7:30, we went up to the upper decks to prepare for “Mickey’s Pirates in the Caribbean” party that was starting at 8:00.

As we were waiting, we noticed that another cruise ship was pretty close to us!

The party started and it was definitely cute and character heavy. We were being taught how to be a pirate and then low and behold, Captain Hook comes along to challenge Mickey. Not thinking we now know the pirate ways, Captain Hook is shocked when we know all about being a pirate and thus loses! Yay for Mickey and friends! Here are some pictures:

 

[KevieKev05]

At about 8:20-8:25 it ended, so we booked it downstairs for our 8:30 seating in Animator’s Palate. It was CRAZY down there. People everywhere waiting to get in and you could hardly move. I felt bad for the people just trying to pass through the area. Once again, let me reiterate that it is NOT necessary to be there at your precise seating time.

The doors opened, and we were directed to our table. We didn’t have to walk far...it was just off the main path on the interior of the restaurant (not near a video screen for Crush interactions). And know that the tables here are incredibly close together...everything was really tight in this restaurant.

Now, we walked through this restaurant during the day on our Preview Cruise, and though it was neat, I definitely missed the “black and white” to “color” feel of the Animator’s from the Magic and Wonder. I came into this dinner with an open-mind, and once we left I loved it for it’s differences! However, we did notice just how PIXAR heavy this restaurant is. There are barely a handful of figures and references that AREN’T Pixar. Interesting...

Anyway, here are some of the initial pictures I took:

For appetizers, James ordered the black truffle pasta and I ordered the mushroom risotto:

James’ was SO good that, after I tasted it, I asked for my own dish!

Around the time the appetizers arrived, we were “transported” under the sea for our dinner adventure! They did this with some neat lighting effects and we enjoyed a lovely blue lighting scheme throughout the meal since we were “underwater”! As we were eating our appetizers, Crush came on one of the screens near us and we listened in on his conversation. At this point I took some more interior shots of the restaurant and then my cheddar and baked potato soup arrived.

While enjoying the soup, we saw Bloat pass on by the screens around us.

Before we knew it, our entrees arrived! James got the trio of veal:

And I got the white shrimp pennette pasta:

After devouring our entrees, it was time for dessert!:

While waiting for our desserts, we saw the moonfish making figures near us:

 

[KevieKev05]

Our desserts arrived promptly. I ordered the lemon mousse and dense chocolate cake (both were "no-sugar added" and that wasn’t intentional). They were just average in my opinion.

James got the chocolate brownie cheesecake and loved it! (Sorry, no picture.)

There was an interactive component to this meal involving playing a sort of “Simon Says” with Crush. Our servers were REALLY into this, and made sure to get us involved! As the meal was ending, the video screens became artist sketches of Pixar characters:

And one screen was showing the “blue screen of death” most computer users are familiar with:

While walking out (at around 10:00), we spotted a non-Pixar character amidst all the Pixar ones, so we were sure to take a picture!

We went straight up to the upper decks to stake out a spot for the “Buccaneer Blast” fireworks show. We found a spot easily, but as 10:30 got closer and closer, the crowd got larger and larger! The fireworks went off a little late, but it was a lovely show.

At the conclusion, all focus was to the stage for “Club Pirate”. This show is definitely geared more toward an older crowd as it’s darker, but I REALLY liked it. The dancer costumes were awesome and slightly scary and then they performed a spectacular dance number. Captain Jack Sparrow even made an appearance! Here are the photos I took from “Club Pirate”:

Once that ended, we went back to our room to start winding down for the night. Here’s the bed we came back to...it took us awhile to figure out the towel animal, haha.

We turned on “D2: The Mighty Ducks” and fell asleep before we knew it. Next up, CASTAWAY CAY!


TO BE CONTINUED...

 

[Señor DonDuck]

Nice show and food pics! BSOD = too funny

 

[DisneyMomforLife]

Your TR is amazing and the photos are spectacular!

We have cruised on the Magic for an Eastern and been on the Wonder twice for 3 day trips and love it.

I will say that we are planning a cruise for next April and had been planning on waiting for one of the newer ships and hoping that the kids vacation falls on a Western sailing. At some point, the REST of my family seemed to have FORGOTTEN that plan and we are now for some crazy reason going back and forth between trying out RCCL or just sticking with what we know, even though we'll be on the 2nd or even 3rd sailing of the Fantasy.

I will say, your photos and report make me LONG to be back with DCL. I don't think I could FULLY enjoy a RCCL cruise knowing what I would be missing out on. Thanks!!!

Kat

 

[princess aleya]

Great report and pictures, thanks for sharing. Can't wait to hear more!!!!

 

[jenseib]

This is great. Is the towel animal an shark?