I'm on a boat! Disney Dream TR 0ct 20-23 (last update pg 7 12/1)

[Scotty69]

Great job on the report. We had a real good time on the cruise as well. I wish we coulr have meet you at the meet and greet on the first day. I am so glad you enjoyed the FE.

 

[ksl5f123]

Wow! You are moving out on this TR! I can't believe you have already done 2 days. I am learning so much about Disney cruises.

The catsup Mickey heads on all of Caitlin's plates are so cute.

I would be confused about the starboard/aft/etc stuff too. I don't know enough about boats to keep that all straight. Good thing there are maps.

The port in Nassau looks really close to Atlantis. I wouldn't have guessed that. The slides looked really big! Since your family loves pool slides, I bet they had a great time. The shark looked pretty big to me in the picture - if he was bigger in real life. Too bad about the cloudy sky all day.

Your meals all look so fancy! Could you explain a little about how the dining works? For example, you mentioned DH needing to pay for his wine. What food/drinks are included and what is extra?

I love the towel monkey!!!!! That is so creative!

 

[pinkxray]

Sleeping when you returned! Love it!

Sounds like your evening was a good one! And how wonderful you were able to get some adult alone time in.

It was a very pleasant evening. Adult time was wonderful. Caitlin increased the amount of time she spent in the kids club each night so I am hoping if we do a 7 night one day we will have plenty of time to check out all of the adult areas.

Sounds like y'all were really having a good time on the Dream. I can't believe Caitlin wanted y'all to pick her up after 40 minutes in the kids club. Reid would've stayed in there all day & night if I had let him! But, at least y'all got some adult-only time. And that martini looks delicious! I wish we had made it to the fireworks. But, I knew Reid wouldn't care for them since he doesn't like the loud noise. Can't wait to hear what y'all thought of Castaway Cay!

I think we ended up picking her up after about an hour that night. She did seem to like it but can be a bit she. I'm sure on a longer cruise she would spend longer periods of time there.

Girls and the attitude...it occurs at all ages. Wait til she is 17!! I dont have a daughter of my own...I have a goddaughter that calls be bymy name but when she introduces me I am her mom or God Mom. I have never tolerated the attitude. She knows get over it fast...traveling with me is a priveledge not a right!! Even at 17 if she gets "the look" she apoligizes or asks what she did to get "the look". She recently got the attitude with me over taking her boyfriend home, got over it quickly. Now car keys leave and grounding means something different when her friends cant come over or she cant go out.

I am not looking foward to Caitlin as a teenage

However we have talked to her about her attitude and how it will not be tolerated. She has been much better since we have been home. Apparently she just wanted to ruin the cruise for everyone

What is the temperature of the water at Atlantis? I read somewhere that the water is not heated and is cold. Is this true?

The water never seemed cold to me so I am guessing it was heated? It was a tiny bit chilly but once we were on the slides and pools we were fine. The beach water was so warm, it was like a nice warm bath.

 

[KatMark]

Great updates, Diane. Food looks yummy...as does your drink.

I love the pirate bandanas.

I'm with hubby...I would have skipped the bananas myself.

The pirate party looks like fun.

Glad you and DH got some "alone" time.

 

[pinkxray]

Great job on the report. We had a real good time on the cruise as well. I wish we coulr have meet you at the meet and greet on the first day. I am so glad you enjoyed the FE.

Thank you. We loved everything about the Dream and I don't think I could find one negative thing to say about it. I am trying my hardest to get us booked on the Fantasy but DH doesn't want to hear about it right now.

I loved particapating in the FE. We loved pass everything out and seeing what others gave. I can't wait for the chance to do it all over again.

Wow! You are moving out on this TR! I can't believe you have already done 2 days. I am learning so much about Disney cruises.

The catsup Mickey heads on all of Caitlin's plates are so cute.

I would be confused about the starboard/aft/etc stuff too. I don't know enough about boats to keep that all straight. Good thing there are maps.

The port in Nassau looks really close to Atlantis. I wouldn't have guessed that. The slides looked really big! Since your family loves pool slides, I bet they had a great time. The shark looked pretty big to me in the picture - if he was bigger in real life. Too bad about the cloudy sky all day.

Your meals all look so fancy! Could you explain a little about how the dining works? For example, you mentioned DH needing to pay for his wine. What food/drinks are included and what is extra?

I love the towel monkey!!!!! That is so creative!

I am trying to get this done quickly. I don't have many days at work this month but things start picking up in Nov and Dec. so I don't want to have to worry about finishing.

Atlantis looks closer than it was. DH said he could walk there faster than take the shuttle Once you get off the ship you get on the shuttle which head through the town for a few minutes and then over a huge bridge than goes over the water. It was about a 20 minute drive and could take longer depending on traffic.


I would love to explain what is included-
All of the meals at the buffet, quick service places, room service and the 3 main dining rooms are covered.

There is a free drink station by the pool deck that has the standard soda, lemonade, stuff you see at Disney. They do have milk available there though.

Any alcoholic beverages are not covered. There are also smoothies that are offered and they are not covered. Juice, soda, milk is all covered at meal times.

Coffee is free on the pool deck and also through room service. (RS taste much better) There is a speciality coffee place that has flavored coffees and lattes, etc and you have to pay for those.

If for some reason you want to buy cans of soda, soda at the bar or bottles water you would have to pay for that.

Room service is free, but there are some items that have a charge like cans of soda, mms and some other stuff. We would usually grab drinks by the pool if we ordered room service at night. Otherwise the coffee, juice and milk in glasses was free.

There could be something I am forgetting. I think there a concession stand outside the movie theater that you have to pay for but you can bring your own snacks(if you sign up for the FE you will have plenty of candy to bring along)

Oh yes, there is also a charge if you dine at Palo or Remy. I don't know the charge though b/c we stuck to the main dining room.

We didn't pay for any food items except the alcoholic beverages and a few dollars for tip when ordering room service. It is pretty easy to avoid any extras fees, pretty much everything you need is available for free. It's just those darn alcoholic drinks. I budgeted $100 and came in a little under so I don't think that was too bad. I rarely drink at home so I didn't feel bad indulging a bit, besides traveling with Caitlin earned me those drinks

 

[pinkxray]

Great updates, Diane. Food looks yummy...as does your drink.

I love the pirate bandanas.

I'm with hubby...I would have skipped the bananas myself.

The pirate party looks like fun.

Glad you and DH got some "alone" time.

The food was great. People seem to rank Enchanted Garden as the lowest of the 3 main dining rooms, but I thought it had some of the best food we had.

If I had know half a banana would be stuffed in the cup and taken up so much of the space for ice cream, I would have skipped it too. I was thinking more along the lines of 'Ohana's bread pudding topping where there are just slices.

We enjoyed every second of the hour we had. I am looking forward to have more time on a longer cruise. We have been talking about an adults only cruise in 2012 but DH wants RCL. I told him if he really wants to do it we should book now before prices rise. He is dragging his feet though, so we'll see what happens.

 

[dizneeat]

Remy is a $75,- surcharge per person and Palo is $20,- for brunch and dinner, high tea is $15,- if I remember correctly!

 

[pinkxray]

Remy is a $75,- surcharge per person and Palo is $20,- for brunch and dinner, high tea is $15,- if I remember correctly!

That is what I thought. We will probably never make it to either though. I might be able to convince DH to do the brunch though. That isn't super formal is it?

 

[pinkxray]

Before going to bed the previous night I ordered room service to be delivered at 7am. What I was thinking I don’t know. I figured I would be up since I am always up early on Disney vacation. Also I had read in the navigator that the Aquaduck would be closed most of the day for maintenance. It would only be open 8-2 so if we won’t a chance to ride it we would need to do so before leaving for Castaway Cay.


I managed to once again pull the plug out of the alarm clock and could not reset it. Yes, I was defeated by this darn alarm clock. When I set an alarm clock, I pick it up to look at the buttons but this alarm had only about an inch of cord so it kept pulling out. I didn’t want to be sleeping for room service so I called for a wakeup call at 655.


I woke up and was still pretty tired. I figured it must be like 3am and looked forward to going back to sleep. I checked the clock on the phone and it was already 6:45. Darn it!


I got up, took a super speedy shower and tried to make myself presentable. I walked out on the verandah and we were here. Castaway Cay was in our sights! I was so excited. I had been very nervous after reading that sometimes DCL is unable to dock at Castaway Cay. The weather wasn’t too bad but it had been very windy. No worries today, we would be able to dock.

That’s right folks. We are at Castaway Cay. Are you excited?

I guess not.

Room service arrived a few minutes after 7. I had ordered coffee, juice, pastries and doughnuts. I also ordered a bowl of fruit but ended up getting 3. I didn’t realize they would automatically give us 3, so I felt a bit bad about getting way too much. We got chocolate frosted doughnuts, which Caitlin will not eat. Most of the items were for DH and Caitlin since I was going to head up to Cabanas if I was up early enough.


I had a cup of coffee out on the balcony before heading up to Cabanas. I had hoped to make it to Royal Palace for breakfast but never made it there. I grabbed a hash brown, some potatoes, asparagus and I had to give the Mickey waffle another shot. This time I had it with strawberry compote and whipped cream and they were much better than the previous day. I am hoping the previous day had just been an off day. Maybe everything had been sitting around since we were some of the firsts on there?


Anyway, I sat by the window and enjoyed the view for a little bit before heading back down to the room to wake everyone up. I wanted to make sure we were on the pool deck at 8am on the dot to ride the aquaduck
DH was waking up when I returned. I explained that the aquaduck would be closed later today and we had to ride now. After all, this could be the only time we sail on this ship and we might not be back right? DH’s response? “Why would we not come back?” That’s right; DH knows there will be another Disney cruise in his future. Just testing you.


It was a bit tough waking Caitlin up, but she went a little faster when I told her I would meet her up on the aquaduct. She quickly got dressed and had her glazed doughnut, and finally we were on our way .I was a bit annoyed when the clock tick tocked past 8, and DH assured me that not everyone would be rushing to the pool deck like the crazy person I was.


Here is the pool deck when we arrived. Maybe we didn't need to rush

We rode the Aquaduck which was fun. It was pretty cold though so one time was enough for me. DH and Caitlin rode one more time

Afterwards we hit the hot tub for about 20 minutes. There were only 2 other in there. Every other time I saw the hot tub it was completely packed. I wish we could have stayed there all day, but we had somewhere even better to be.


We ran back to our room to grab our stuff and headed off the ship. I don’t remember what happened this morning but Caitlin had something she was complaining about. As we walked down the stairs to deck 1 (DH insisted we take the stairs everywhere, from deck 1 to deck 11. He said I would thank him when my pants still fit at the end of the cruise) her look of misery returned. She was stomping down the stairs with her arms across her chest. There were no arguments that took place so I don’t know what the issue was?

I said that I would like to stop in front of the ship to get a family picture. You know, proof that I was actually on this trip. She didn’t want to.

DH and I were in awe of how beautiful the island was. I kept saying things like
“Look at the color of the water. Isn’t that the prettiest thing you have ever seen?”

DH would reply something like “Yes, it is absolutely break taking”

Caitlin would respond “No, it’s not”

DH started to get very angry with Caitlin and walked in front of us a bit.

Caitlin sulked and lagged behind while I walked and took pictures. She cheered up a little when I gave her a camera to take pictures since she had left hers aboard.

She got very happy when we spotted the island cat.

 

[pinkxray]

I was hoping to settle down near Pelican Plunge since I had heard it was less crowded and less rocky, but DH’s knee was bothering him and he was still a bit mad at Caitlin.

DH took a seat. This day was not looking good.

I decided to give him a break. Caitlin and I walked in the water a bit, but it was kind of chilly. We walked down the beach to rent snorkeling gear. I had a little talk with her about her attitude and told her that if DH was not happy, the day would be awful for her. He is the one who likes water and she would have a much better time with him in the water than me. We headed back and we all agreed to start over and have a good time.


We headed to the snorkeling section. Caitlin had a hard time last year at Discovery Cove with the gear and completely freaked out when a fish came near. I was hoping this time would be better.

DH helped Caitlin get used to using the snorkel gear and float on her belly. I used the time to use my flippers and swim around. I have never done this before and it was so much fun.

DH called me back over so that Caitlin could practice swimming with her snorkel. She did a few passes between DH and I. She seemed to be okay but I knew that she wouldn’t be able to go out to far. I suggested that I should swim out and come back later, where DH could swim out alone. No, we should stick together. I got bored after a bit and headed back to the beach. I had told DH about the sunken items to see and Caitlin wanted to try to see them. I knew they would be out to far for her, but they were determined to try.


I made my way to the beach. I decided to find a restroom and shower to rinse out my hair. I brought my room key just in case.

The beach was pretty empty until around 10am. I don’t know if people just slept in or if it was b/c there was no sun out. It was still warm enough to swim, especially once you went in the water. The deeper you go the warmer it was.


On the way back to the chair, I picked up the famous Konk Kooler. This seems to be a favorite amount the Disers but I thought it was gross. It reminded me of baby food with alcohol in it. I didn’t drink much.

(time s/b an hour later)
Yes, I was drinking before 11am. Did you see the company I was with? Plus, it was noon somewhere

Caitlin and DH were waiting when I got back. Apparently there swim didn’t last long. DH dropped Caitlin off and headed back to go snorkel alone.
Caitlin was mad that she could see the underwater statues and sulked. She wanted me to go in the water with her but I didn’t want to leave my $8 drink unattended so I told her I would in about 15 minutes.


I looked around and kids were playing in the sand, running in and out of the water and having a blast. I looked at my daughter and she was sitting in a chair sulking. I always feel guilty that she is an only child and felt bad for a minute. Maybe if she had a brother or sister, she would be having fun. I looked to my right and a few chairs down was a little girl, alone playing in the sand, happy as could be. I looked ahead of me and there were a few kids that looked to be only children all by themselves in the water. I didn’t feel so bad now.


After a little bit we headed towards the water. It was warm once you got in, but pretty cold along the edges. We didn’t last long. Back to the chairs. Caitlin slumped down and looked miserable. (If you think I was letting her bring me down you would be wrong, it was a little tiring with her grumpy face but I was in Castaway Cay and there was nothing that could bring me down”
It was close to 11 and I saw some kids eating ice cream. I thought it would be a nice surprise to go have some ice cream. I told her we were going to go for a walk.

“I don’t want to”
“Are you sure, I think it will be very fun”
“I don’t want to go for a walk”

Sigh. I sat her down next to me and we had a very long talk about how she needed to listen. If I say we are going for a walk, we go. She needed to change her attitude or she would never come on another vacation like this again.


I told her she had one more shot. Any more problems she was off to the kids club for the day (not that that is really punishment, but what else was there. I didn’t want to spend my day in the room) and she would stay at Grandma’s house every time Daddy and I went away.

Finally, she dropped her attitude and I haven’t really seen it since. She was great for the rest of the day and was a completely different kid the next day at MK.

We headed off to get some ice cream. Once we got back, DH had returned. I was starting to get hungry so we headed off for some lunch at Cookies.
Caitlin showed us where to go.

 

[pinkxray]

I picked up a burger for myself and Caitlin. I also got some ribs, chicken and corn. Caitlin had a bag of chips and a cookie.

I had a bite of the burger. Didn’t like it. It was kind of cold and bland. Caitlin didn’t like hers either and she is not picky at all about her burgers. DH had no issue and scarfed down his burgers, hot dogs, chips and portions of the uneaten burgers.

The ribs and chicken were sooooo good so I headed back for more of those, and picked up a hot dog for Caitlin.

I was happy enough with the food. I am sure I could have gotten another burger and it would have been fine, but the ribs and chicken were so good, I didn’t bother. I would like to try the place at the adult beach next time since they have a few different selections.

We relaxed at the beach for a bit and Dh took a picture of Caitlin and I see. See, I told you I was on this trip.

We decided to pack up our stuff and move to Pelican Plunge. As we were walking we heard a family ask a CM when lunch was over. He replied 2pm. They asked what time it was and the CM said 1:43. I remarked to DH that the day had flown by. Our cell phones were off the whole trip and neither one of us had a watch. To tell the time I would use my camera, snap a picture of the ground and add an hour. I have no idea why I never just changed the camera clock to the right time, but I didn’t. Since my other camera with no clock is the waterproof one, I didn’t use it much here. If a CM tells me it is almost 2pm, it is almost 2pm.


I stopped to get a Tropical Depression. It was okay. I choose the konk kooler and tropical depression based on reviews, but once I got home I saw the Castaway Cay menu and probably would have liked another drink better. Oh well, at least this one was better than the last.

Our destination was Pelican Plunge. When we arrived Dh said something along the lines that he wished we had come over here since it was less crowded. Isn’t that exactly what I had wanted to do that morning. But when you DH looks like this at Castaway Cay you don’t say anything about walking further.

I was already pretty dry so I decided to skip the slides. I was a bit nervous that Caitlin would freak out if the water was deep but apparently she has become a much better swimmer over the past few months and had no issues. She dropped into the water and swam right out. I was very proud of her.

One of the little girls ahead of them freaked out when she came down. She had a life jacket on but seemed to be alone in line. I don’t think I would have let Caitlin go alone, even with a jacket, for the first time until I knew what the drop zone was like. She had to be a little younger than Caitlin. She came down the slide, freaked out and grabbed onto the bar that separates the two areas. I assumed someone was following her and would help get her out of there but no one appeared. I didn’t see anyone on the slide or near the exit that seemed to be concerned with her. The lifeguard asked if she would be able to swim out and she just cried. The lifeguard had to swim out and retrieve her. Poor thing.

It made me nervous that Caitlin would have a hard time but at least DH could help her if needed. She was fine though and could have made it without DH.

 

[pinkxray]

They decided to go on again so I made my way to the shop that was close by and also took a few pictures.

We stopped at the store on the way out but didn’t see much worth buying. The tram pulled up and we were on our way back to the ship.

We washed off the sand

They scanned our room key and we went back to the room where it was now 1:50.


Hadn’t it been 1:43 awhile ago. I don’t know why I never used my camera to check the time especially if you look back at the pictures from right before Pelican Plunge. It must have been around 12:30 when the CM said it was 1:43. Now what? We still had a few hours to check out Castaway Cay. I checked the navigator and there was an animator class at 3 that I wanted to attend. There was also a DVC presentation I was hoping to catch at 4.

DH decided to return to Castaway Cay while Caitlin and I decided to go to the class after spending a little time in the pool.


We headed up to the Donald pool for about a half hour. It wasn’t too busy and Caitlin had plenty of room to swim around. It was too cold for me so I hung out near the pool. I would have skipped the animation class for the hot tub but it was packed like sardines in a can.

After a quick swim we grabbed some chicken fingers and fries and headed to the room. We took turns eating and showering.


We made our way to the animation class. There were only about 2 or 3 other groups at the tables, but more people showed up during the class. We drew Mickey and Donald. I have always wanted to do the animation class at DHS, but always miss it. I thought it was pretty fun.

We returned to a cute frame in the FE. (I really tried to get pictures of all of gifts but usually Caitlin grabbed them before I had a chance)

DH returned right before 4. He was going to grab some ice cream so I decided to skip the DVC presentation. Like DH would ever agree to do that anyway. That would cut into his cruise money.


DH said snorkeling was awesome and managed to find all the sunken items

 

[pinkxray]

He also checked out the adult beach. He didn’t like it much though. He said the water was choppy and there was much more sea grass in the water. (It was probably due to weather that had been windy and I believe there had been bad weather the previous week)

We had some ice cream. DH tried the banana which ended up in the trash.

Up next: Our last night on the Dream and dinner at Royal Palace

 

[iloverags2]

DH hit the jackpot snorkeling! Great pictures of his finds in the water. Sorry you had a bit of a rough day with DD, although it sounds like you handled it so well!

Hate to see your trip coming to its final evening...

 

[amandaw]

I'm so glad y'all enjoyed Castaway Cay! We loved it there. I wish I could live there. The animators class sounds like fun - I'd like to do that one day. When I read that your DH's banana ice cream ended up in the trash, I wanted to yell, "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" But, I figured it wouldn't do me any good. Ed & I LOVED the banana ice cream!

So glad that it seems like y'all really enjoyed the cruise. I, honest to goodness, would've felt terrible if y'all had hated it. Can't wait to hear about MNSSHP!

 

[AKL LOVER]

The dream really is a beautiful ship!

Question about Atlantis--does it seem like there would be enough there to keep you busy for a few days? I'd love to take the kids there, but worried about getting bored. Guess I've been to Disney too much, eh??

 

[pinkxray]

DH hit the jackpot snorkeling! Great pictures of his finds in the water. Sorry you had a bit of a rough day with DD, although it sounds like you handled it so well!

Hate to see your trip coming to its final evening...

I wish I had been able to go with DH. He offered to watch Caitlin so that I could go but I wouldn't like going without him. I'm not a huge fan of being out in deep water, especially after reports of jellyfish, baracudas and lion fish. I don't know why having DH would help, but I just felt better. Next time if Caitlin isn't able to do it, we'll drop her off for an hour or so to go together.

I'm so glad y'all enjoyed Castaway Cay! We loved it there. I wish I could live there. The animators class sounds like fun - I'd like to do that one day. When I read that your DH's banana ice cream ended up in the trash, I wanted to yell, "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" But, I figured it wouldn't do me any good. Ed & I LOVED the banana ice cream!

So glad that it seems like y'all really enjoyed the cruise. I, honest to goodness, would've felt terrible if y'all had hated it. Can't wait to hear about MNSSHP!

I thought of you each time I saw the banana ice cream. I never tried it and was surprised when DH did.

There is so much stuff I wanted to do but just didn't have the time. That's why we need the 7 nights. I really want to see a cooking demonstration, hang out on the promenade watching the water go by, sit in a porthole window for awhile, actually take some pictures with characters, etc.

I am so glad we went. DH is usually the cheapest person ever, but has decided he needs to go on a cruise every year from now on. He wants to try RCL and NCL before we go back to DCL, but he did say he loved DCL and would go more often if it wasn't so much more expensive than the others.

 

[pinkxray]

The dream really is a beautiful ship!

Question about Atlantis--does it seem like there would be enough there to keep you busy for a few days? I'd love to take the kids there, but worried about getting bored. Guess I've been to Disney too much, eh??

The Dream is so pretty.

Tough question. Before we took the cruise I thought about switching to 4 days at Atlantis. I was happy we didn't do it.

I asked DH if he would go back just for Atlantis for just a few days and he said no. He is the one who loves pools, waterslides and beaches so I was surprised. He thinks it was too big and hard to get around.

I would go back when Caitlin is older. The waterpark was so big that you can't just sit down and let the kids play. The entrances to the slides were never anywhere near where you come out. You could let them go in the pools and chill out while they are there though. I liked the beach and did see some activites going on, but didn't see what they were.

I didn't see much in Nassau that I wanted to do so we would probably never leave the actual Atlanits resort. I think there would be enough to do with the waterpark, dolphin swim and snorkeling but Caitlin was a bit too young to do the Dolphin swim and snorkeling.

I asked Caitlin if she would like to spend a few days there and she said yes. I am sure kids would love the waterslides and pools, but I hated having to follow them around everywhere. Plus, if they aren't 48" they can't go on anything besides the kids area.

Also it wasn't very busy when we were there. I am guessing the weather played a part, but I have heard the slides get very busy and can have long waits. We didn't have any wait on anything.

I priced it out for fall and they had really good deals, the towers rooms were 40% off plus they gave you an flight credit it or buy 3 nights get the 4th free. I have seen it the last few years so I am sure they will offer it again.

Here is a thread I saw once about Atlantis http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2690168&highlight=atlantis

 

[Nermel9]

The Aquaduck looks fun, although I'm not sure I'd like the part where it goes out over the water!

Castaway Cay looks beautiful, I almost wish they had a Disney Cruise that skipped the Bahamas and just went to Castaway Cay.

Ugh that first drink you had looks disgusting, the 2nd one at least looked pretty!

Snorkeling looks like fun, especially seeing all of the sunken treasures, but I'm not sure I'd do that alone!

 

[KatMark]

Great updates, Diane. Castaway Cay looks really great. I'm glad you had a sit down with Caitlin and that she got better the rest of the trip. Glad DH was able to find part of the sunken treasure.

You guys did good at the animation class. You really ought to try and do it at the DHS the next time you go.