Just back from the Dream! (Updated with pictures!!!)

[MSTANG88]

First, these pictures are amazing! Thanks so much for them. The Dream looks truly stunning, even more than I had imagined. CANNOT WAIT for Feb 20th!

Second, I need a technology tutorial on what you are describing with the card and the lights. I get the waving the room key card in front of the door to open it, but I don't get what you mean about how the lights work in the room and what happens if you remove the card. Is the idea that there is a slot that you leave a card in to turn on and off the lights? Any card? Your room key card? Do the lights then operate individually once they are activated? Need to get my brain around this before we leave!

This is a power saving tool that hotels are using now. When you get into your room, you insert your key to the world card into a "key holder" above the light switches. This turns on the lights. You can then turn them on and off at your discretion.
If you remove the card, the lights will shut off. I assume that the TV would also turn off. It appeared that there was a time delay after you removed the card before the lights went out.
We did not try another type of card to see if this worked.

 

[jnsma]

On some of the pictures (here and another thread), I saw characters that I didn't think were on the cruises. Specifically Buzz and Dopey.
Were there any other characters that you don't normall see on DCL?

I'd also love to see a picture of the navigators if you had them.

Thanks so much for the pictures and information, this is great.

 

[Debbru]

Thanks so much for all that you have shared with us But, I still have some questions (b/c I was didn't have time to read thru everything and I'm an OCD planner!):

- refillable drink station: Can we bring our WDW resort mugs from a few yrs ago, or some other cup from home?

- key to turn TV on: If you just want the TV on at nite, can you do that? Thinking we might want to watch TV while the kids are sleeping, but don't know how since the KTTW card activates/deactivates both!

- wine: will the avg size bottle fit in the refrigerator, or would you recommend a box wine? Can we bring a glass of wine from our room to dinner? Thought I read that somewhere else before!

- Shutters: When do you think is the best time to go there?

- Was Guest Services packed when you first got on the ship? Was wondering when the best time would be to go and drop off signature items, etc.

- smoking: Is it still allowed on verandahs and if so, is there an ashtray? Unfortunately DH smokes

- Enchanted Garden: Think it would be worth it to request one of the circular booths? They turn around, right? Maybe I'm just confused and thinking of the teacup ride

- Aqua Duck: I'm sure you covered this somewher, so I apologize for asking again, but what are the hours?

- shows in the theatre: Noticed you took pics, I guess that's allowed?!

- laundry rooms: Where are they and hrs? Do you know how much the machines cost and how crowded were they?

SO psyched about no life jackets during muster drill! What time was that at - 4p? Just trying to figure out what time to plan the DISMeet and where (pls share any thoughts on that!)

Thanks again for all that you showed us - I can't wait for 8 more weeks

Also wondering about the veranda smoking/ashtrays & laundry rooms...

 

[lbgraves]

All of your favorites are still there... the calamari, the pizzas, the beef tenderloin, etc... but there is a TON of new dishes. For my appetizer I had a white Tuscan bean soup (I think that is the only soup they offered) and we really liked the potato gnocchi and Chianti braised beef ravioli for dinner as well (we tried them both). The other members of my party had salads which they loved, two chicken dishes which they thought were just OK and the shrimp penne pasta was great as always from what I hear. There was also a lemon mousse on the dessert menu. I wish I would've taken more photos of the menu! One change is that the antipasta dishes that they usually bring around on a plate to you at the beginning of the meal, they now bring around in a cart and they prepare your plate for you right at your table... it just adds a little extra elegance to the meal.

Ann Marie told me last week that after next week's dinner on Friday night Palo will be getting "a complete botox treatment" with new decor, new china and a new menu on the Magic [I didn't ask about the Wonder]. If you can post what pictures you have of the menu that will probably be close to what it will be on the Magic too. The CMs said that DCL wants some things to be uniform on all the ships, like no more life jackets worn to the safety drill on the Magic or Wonder because that isn't how it is going to be done on the Dream & Fantasy.

 

[mom2brooke76]

Is it true that there aren't hair dryers in the room? If there are hair dryers, are they the same type that are on the other ships? Thanks!

 

[Tink2300]

Thanks so much for all that you have shared with us But, I still have some questions (b/c I was didn't have time to read thru everything and I'm an OCD planner!):

- refillable drink station: Can we bring our WDW resort mugs from a few yrs ago, or some other cup from home?

- key to turn TV on: If you just want the TV on at nite, can you do that? Thinking we might want to watch TV while the kids are sleeping, but don't know how since the KTTW card activates/deactivates both!

- wine: will the avg size bottle fit in the refrigerator, or would you recommend a box wine? Can we bring a glass of wine from our room to dinner? Thought I read that somewhere else before!

- Shutters: When do you think is the best time to go there?

- Was Guest Services packed when you first got on the ship? Was wondering when the best time would be to go and drop off signature items, etc.

- smoking: Is it still allowed on verandahs and if so, is there an ashtray? Unfortunately DH smokes

- Enchanted Garden: Think it would be worth it to request one of the circular booths? They turn around, right? Maybe I'm just confused and thinking of the teacup ride

- Aqua Duck: I'm sure you covered this somewher, so I apologize for asking again, but what are the hours?

- shows in the theatre: Noticed you took pics, I guess that's allowed?!

- laundry rooms: Where are they and hrs? Do you know how much the machines cost and how crowded were they?

SO psyched about no life jackets during muster drill! What time was that at - 4p? Just trying to figure out what time to plan the DISMeet and where (pls share any thoughts on that!)

Thanks again for all that you showed us - I can't wait for 8 more weeks

I'll do my best!

- refillable drink station: Can we bring our WDW resort mugs from a few yrs ago, or some other cup from home?
Yes, bring your own! I do every time! It really saves on the trips to th drink stations!

- key to turn TV on: If you just want the TV on at nite, can you do that? Thinking we might want to watch TV while the kids are sleeping, but don't know how since the KTTW card activates/deactivates both!
Yes! Once you put your KTTW card in, that simply activates everything. From there, you can turn the switches on and off at your own discretion. Even if your card is in, you can still turn the lights off, but without your card in, nothing works. I would say there is a 30sec-1min lag time after you take your card out before everything shuts off, just fyi.


- wine: will the avg size bottle fit in the refrigerator, or would you recommend a box wine? Can we bring a glass of wine from our room to dinner? Thought I read that somewhere else before!
One of my friends brought a whole bottle and it worked just fine! One of my friends also took his drink with him to Palo and it didn't seem to be an issue.

- Shutters: When do you think is the best time to go there?
We went in the middle of the afternoon on the sea day and it was dead. I would say any of your normal "down times" would be best... i.e. afternoons, later at night, maybe when the first seating is dining. I would say the earlier the better though. It's pretty small and I could see it getting really crowded.

- Was Guest Services packed when you first got on the ship? Was wondering when the best time would be to go and drop off signature items, etc.
I looked over there and it was not. It's about twice the size of the old guest services. I would go there as soon as you get on though... although I never really saw a line there the whole cruise!

- smoking: Is it still allowed on verandahs and if so, is there an ashtray? Unfortunately DH smokes
Yes, we smelled smoke from our neighbor. I didn't see an ashtray out there, but maybe I just wasn't looking for one though!

- Enchanted Garden: Think it would be worth it to request one of the circular booths? They turn around, right? Maybe I'm just confused and thinking of the teacup ride
I think the circular booths were cool! I didn't see them move during dinner, but maybe they do... anywhere you sit in there is cool though, so don't be disappointed if you don't get one of those.

- Aqua Duck: I'm sure you covered this somewher, so I apologize for asking again, but what are the hours?
It was open from the time we got on until 3:30, then open again at 4:30 until 8:30. It closed at 8:30 every night, and I believe it either opened around 9:30 or 10 every morning.

- shows in the theatre: Noticed you took pics, I guess that's allowed?!
I took pics without flash. We sat in the second row to get good pics. I don't recall seeing anyone taking flash pictures, but tons of people were taking pics without flash!

- laundry rooms: Where are they and hrs? Do you know how much the machines cost and how crowded were they?
This I am not sure of, sorry... one of my friends went there once to iron a shirt, but he didn't say anything about how nice they were, etc. Sorry!

SO psyched about no life jackets during muster drill! What time was that at - 4p? Just trying to figure out what time to plan the DISMeet and where (pls share any thoughts on that!)
Yes, same time! The sail away party starts at 4:30, so I'm sure everyone will want to go there. With the first seating being at 6, I would say you would want to do it at 3 or so, wouldn't you think? That would give people time to explore the ship after getting on and would give you plenty of time to finish before heading to the drill. One word of caution though, in the past didn't you all do this meet at the Promenade Lounge? That is no longer on these ships, so I'm not exactly sure where there would be a good place to have this meet-and-greet. That was the only lounge that was kind of out in the open on the other ships, but there's nothing like that on this ship... there is a coffee bar/lounge area on deck 4 (I think it's deck 4, maybe 5), just one floor up from the main lobby and directly above the gangplank where you first walk onto the ship. That might be a good place to have it!

 

[Tink2300]

Is it true that there aren't hair dryers in the room? If there are hair dryers, are they the same type that are on the other ships? Thanks!

The hair dryers aren't on the wall anymore, they are in a bag labeled "hair dryer" and that bag is hanging on a hook in the part of the bath that has the toilet and sink. I honestly never looked in the bag to see what the hair dryer looked like though since I had brought my own from home. It looked like it was going to be a real hair dryer though!

 

[Tink2300]

Ann Marie told me last week that after next week's dinner on Friday night Palo will be getting "a complete botox treatment" with new decor, new china and a new menu on the Magic [I didn't ask about the Wonder]. If you can post what pictures you have of the menu that will probably be close to what it will be on the Magic too. The CMs said that DCL wants some things to be uniform on all the ships, like no more life jackets worn to the safety drill on the Magic or Wonder because that isn't how it is going to be done on the Dream & Fantasy.

I'm sad I didn't take any pics of the menu... why didn't I think of these things??

 

[Tink2300]

On some of the pictures (here and another thread), I saw characters that I didn't think were on the cruises. Specifically Buzz and Dopey.
Were there any other characters that you don't normall see on DCL?

I'd also love to see a picture of the navigators if you had them.

Thanks so much for the pictures and information, this is great.

I felt like the characters that were out the most were Donald and Daisy. We aren't sure if that is because Donald is the statue in the lobby or what, but they were definitely out a ton. All the princesses were out together, Chip & Dale were out a ton... I felt like there was just characters galore out there every time you walked by the lobby. I'm sure they stepped up their character meet-and-greets up for the first few months of these of cruises!

 

[Tink2300]

This is a power saving tool that hotels are using now. When you get into your room, you insert your key to the world card into a "key holder" above the light switches. This turns on the lights. You can then turn them on and off at your discretion.
If you remove the card, the lights will shut off. I assume that the TV would also turn off. It appeared that there was a time delay after you removed the card before the lights went out.
We did not try another type of card to see if this worked.

Yes, you are correct. When you put your card in, that doesn't mean everything has to stay on the whole time, it just means you now have the ability to turn things on and off. The light switches or TV won't work at all if you don't have that card in. I would say it is about a 30 second to 1 minute delay before things shut off when you remove your card (just be fast about it if someone whose card is in the wall wants to leave - as soon as they take their card out, put someone else's in!)... and don't do what I did and walk out and leave your card in the wall and lock yourself out!

 

[Tink2300]

Did the cruise you go on have the college club, since it was a preview cruise I'm going to guess it might not have, but from cruise staff I talk with they all said the college club would be on the Dream. Usually it is run by one or two members of the cruise staff.

I did not see anything on the navigators about a college club, sorry... but once again, maybe just because this cruise was a preview. I would say this ship was 75 percent adults honestly. Not too many kids at all running around.

 

[FJS961]

Ann Marie told me last week that after next week's dinner on Friday night Palo will be getting "a complete botox treatment" with new decor, new china and a new menu on the Magic [I didn't ask about the Wonder]. If you can post what pictures you have of the menu that will probably be close to what it will be on the Magic too. The CMs said that DCL wants some things to be uniform on all the ships, like no more life jackets worn to the safety drill on the Magic or Wonder because that isn't how it is going to be done on the Dream & Fantasy.

cool! does that mean I'll see a new and improved Palo in April?

 

[DMMarla07860]

I did not see anything on the navigators about a college club, sorry... but once again, maybe just because this cruise was a preview. I would say this ship was 75 percent adults honestly. Not too many kids at all running around.

Ok, thanks for all the anwsers, I did hear from Ponz and David, that there was going to be a college club, but like you say it was a preview cruise, so that could be why none. I know my friend is going on one of the first real cruises and she'll do college club, so I'll be able to ask her.

 

[amylia403]

We had a verandah on our last cruise. Our son has a severe reaction to inhaling smoke so we asked about the smoking situation since we were concerned about our son having to breathe it in from neighbors. We were informed, (and there was an announcment made as well over the PA system) that smoking was not allowed on verandahs on any Disney cruise.

 

[Friscorays]

We had a verandah on our last cruise. Our son has a severe reaction to inhaling smoke so we asked about the smoking situation since we were concerned about our son having to breathe it in from neighbors. We were informed, (and there was an announcment made as well over the PA system) that smoking was not allowed on verandahs on any Disney cruise.

I am a non-smoker and I do my best to avoid second-hand smoke so that would be great news but the Disney site says this:

"Where can I smoke on board?

Answer
Disney Cruise Line has never allowed smoking in Guest staterooms. In addition, smoking is prohibited in all interior spaces throughout our ships. However, private verandahs and starboard-side open-air decks 9 and 10 have been designated as smoking areas in an effort to provide a cruise experience that satisfies both our non-smoking and smoking Guests. Between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., smoking is also allowed on the starboard-side of Deck 4. The remaining hours are dedicated to those wishing to jog or walk along the Promenade.

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/faqs/health-safety/smoking/

 

[HallsofVA]

Dopey was on the Magic in September, so not completely new for the Dream!

 

[Minerva6116]

Thanks for answering all these questions, your pictures are awesome! I was very excited to see all the pictures of the adult lounges/bars. I'm wondering about the setup of that area. It sounds like most of the lounges are connected to each other so you can wander between them all? If I buy a drink in one lounge can I carry it with me while I roam the others? Thank you!

 

[epcotrulz]

Thanks for answering all these questions, your pictures are awesome! I was very excited to see all the pictures of the adult lounges/bars. I'm wondering about the setup of that area. It sounds like most of the lounges are connected to each other so you can wander between them all? If I buy a drink in one lounge can I carry it with me while I roam the others? Thank you!

You can walk almost anywhere on the ship with a drink -- I will often times get an after dinner drink in the dining room and take it with me as we stroll around the ship after dinner -- so yes.

 

[branv]

Just thought of another question -- was hoping if you still have your navigators if you can tell what nights Cabanas is open for dinner. I know on the Wonder, for the four-night, it's typically open only the second and third night for dinner. I know you didn't do a typical four-nighter, but was wondering if it showed it open every night or just a night or two.

And do you happen to knwo what Lunch hours are?

Thanks!

 

[Fatima1922]

Can you tell me if they had the different tastings - beer, wine, tequila?