Our last morning started early as we had the 6:45 breakfast because of our early dining time in the evening. We were back at Animator's Palette and had the standard breakfast fare. We got to spend one last meal with our new friends from Atlanta and everyone got to say good-bye.
Just before we finished eating they announced that the ship had been cleared and we could disembark at our leasure. So we finished up and made our way to the atrium to disembark. We were able to walk right off the ship into to the terminal and down the stairs to the baggage area and on to customs. Getting through customs was quick and we were soon heading out the door for the sad walk to the rental car shuttles. It was a it depressing standing there in sight of the ship but the good part was that this trip wasn't over yet. We still had a few days to spend in the bright Florida sun.
By 8:30 or so we had picked up our rental (brand new Camry Hybrid with 48 miles on it to date) and we on our way to Kissimmee to stay with the pooksma's family for a few days. Our plans included taking her parents to MK for their first trip ever and Declan was spending a day Universal with his Aunt and Uncle. It was his birthday present from them and he was pretty stoked to see Universal.
The drive to Kissimmee was pretty easy and included a stop at Downtown Disney with a quick walkthrough and the purchase of 5 one day tickets for MK. The stop did mess up my driving directions as we were all ready past the exit I was looking for but we just went to the next Kissimmee exit and kept going until we hit the route we were looking for. All in all we were at the house somewhere between 10:30 and 11.
Final thoughts from the cruise.
We had a great time on this cruise, just like the other two we have taken with Carnival. So many people on this board and others seem to relish in putting down different cruise lines and the people who use them. To us, a cruise and any vacation for that matter is what you make it. If you go in to it thinking it is going to be bad, it probably will be but if you keep an open mind and remember you are on vacation so just enjoy it, you will have a great vacation.
There are still some comparisons that I can make between Carnival and
DCL.
The ships - We enjoyed all three ships we were on but the Dream was certainly the nicest, of course it was quite a bit newer as well. It was the biggest ship we have sailed but we didn't find it difficult to get around.
The ports - we have sailed out of three different ports and I have enjoyed them all as they are all very different. I did think the DCL terminal was much nicer than either of the two Carnival terminals.
Embarkation - All three cruises were fairly painless. Overall, DCl was better but only because of the experience of the actual boarding.
Food - In the main dining rooms pooksma and I both felt the food on Carnival was just as good and maybe better than on the Dream. The buffets though are definitely better on the Dream. There was a much better selection and the set up was also better as it created less lines.
Cabins - not a fair comparison given the cabin we had on this trip but we did like having the separate shower and washrooms, this was very convenient. The rest of the layout was similar but I did like having the bed closer to the front of the cabin and the sitting area but the doors to the verandah.
Service - it was very similar on both lines, we had no complaints.
Entertainment - The shows were very different. I think the main room shows edge goes to DCL but that may be because they did 3 different shows in 4 nights. We didn't spend much time in the lounges so I can't really comment on that but I did miss the Punchliners comedy club. I always looked forward to those shows on the Carnival cruises.
The rest of the daytime entertainment was very similar with trivia, bingo and fun little games.
Disembarkation - Other than hustling you off the ship as quickly as they could, the edge certainly goes to DCL. It was very quick and efficient. With Carnival you wait until they call your group so it can be just the opposite of DCL. You don't get up as early (except in Tampa where non-US residents had to go to customs on-board before breakfast) but you do have to wait a fair bit before you get off.
Overall, both cruise lines offer you great trips and enjoyable vacations if you allow them to. So who will we cruise with next, most likely Norweigan.
Before all the DCL and Carnival supporters get out their pitchforks, Norweigan is the only line that does the cruise we are looking at.
So that's it for the cruise folks. I thank you for reading along and making comments if you were so inclined. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have and I invite you to take a look at all the photos from this cruise and our other WDW vacation in my Photobucket albums. You can find the link below.
One last note, I will add a bit of a report from our day at MK on to this report in a few days but this part did finish up the cruise portion of our trip.