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

[amylia403]

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/

Hmmm.... we will have to seriously reconsider our cruise then. Can't have my son needing a hospital while we are hundreds of miles away from land. The cast member on board specificly told us that there was no smoking on attached verandahs. Must not have been familliar with the policy. Sigh... that's really unfortunate

 

[RayaniFoxmur]

Hmmm.... we will have to seriously reconsider our cruise then. Can't have my son needing a hospital while we are hundreds of miles away from land. The cast member on board specificly told us that there was no smoking on attached verandahs. Must not have been familliar with the policy. Sigh... that's really unfortunate

Do you need a veranda? The Oceanview staterooms have huge windows and if you're sailing the dream you might get one with a window seat right in it. That would make it so that you won't have to smell any smoke from a neighbor...

 

[Tink2300]

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

They had one tasting only, I believe it was a wine tasting! I'm sure they will do more for the regular cruises though!

 

[Tink2300]

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!

Yes! All of the lounges are connected, it's very cool. If you walk in from the D-Lounge area, you enter in to the live music/lounge area on your left and then on the right is a bar and the door to Pink. Just ahead on the left after the lounge area is 687, the sports bar. After 687 is the restroom area and a set up for the late-night buffet (don't worry, they aren't right beside each other - it's not gross). Then there is a hallway that leads into Evolution, and inside Evolution is a door to go into the Skyline Lounge as well. It's a very cool setup and really allows for people to move freely to and from each area!

 

[Tink2300]

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!

Ahh, I so wish I had my navigators, but I didn't think to bring them with me! I didn't hit up Cabanas, so I honestly don't know what nights they were open. For lunch, I believe it was open until 2. Breakfast ended at Cabanas at 10:45 and ended at the Royal Palace at 9:30.

 

[DMMarla07860]

did they have any family type dance party's when you were on the ship? Just wondering I've seen some while walking around the first night when I went on the Wonder back in 2009 so was wondering about that.

 

[Tink2300]

did they have any family type dance party's when you were on the ship? Just wondering I've seen some while walking around the first night when I went on the Wonder back in 2009 so was wondering about that.

I did not see any, sorry!

 

[DMMarla07860]

I did not see any, sorry!

figured this would be the case since it was only a preview cruise and thought I remember you saying it was 75% adults sailing

 

[princessemily21]

Thank you so much for your wonderful pictures and details! Kind of disappointed in the lack of cruise staff presence... they've always been my favorite CMs around the ships and I've enjoyed getting to know them. Hopefully things will be back to normal as the regular cruises start.

Count me in as another college kid who is hoping for an active college club! This will be my first cruise as an over 18 and my first cruise out of The Stack, so I'm really excited about it.

 

[DMMarla07860]

Thank you so much for your wonderful pictures and details! Kind of disappointed in the lack of cruise staff presence... they've always been my favorite CMs around the ships and I've enjoyed getting to know them. Hopefully things will be back to normal as the regular cruises start.

Count me in as another college kid who is hoping for an active college club! This will be my first cruise as an over 18 and my first cruise out of The Stack, so I'm really excited about it.

I won't say there is a active active college club on most cruises actually they have been better on 7 night cruises I've been on, but if they have if and 5 college age people show up then that's a

 

[princessemily21]

I won't say there is a active active college club on most cruises actually they have been better on 7 night cruises I've been on, but if they have if and 5 college age people show up then that's a lmao:

Yeah, not looking for a ton of people to show up, but just for a few people to hang out with around my age. I'm cruising over my spring break, so I'm hoping some others will be out of school that week too.

 

[DMMarla07860]

Yeah, not looking for a ton of people to show up, but just for a few people to hang out with around my age. I'm cruising over my spring break, so I'm hoping some others will be out of school that week too.

yeah I went on a back-2-back 7 night in 2009 the first week before most spring breaks started and there was really no one second week spring breaks start and there were like 7-9 of us same as March 2010 when I went during time when people had spring break

 

[txsoccermom]

Tink - Thanks soooo much for taking the time to answer all my questions! You've really helped this OCD planner

 

[DisneyDee27]

Thanks for sharing!
Dee

 

[tjbole71]

I am curious. How have you seen the Dream already? I was wondering (and asked) how to get on the ship on its transatlantic voyage and was told they were not accepting any passengers. Tell me your secret!

 

[lbgraves]

Do you have any thoughts about the teen club being forward on deck 5? Is the entrance on the portside of the hall? Did you see the area and hear any noise coming from the club in the hallway? We always stay forward and enjoy the fact that there is less foot traffic in the hallway so it's relatively quiet. I am concerned about teens running through deck 5 forward to get to the club after the week we just had with a midship stateroom and noise until after midnight in the hallway.

We also enjoyed not having the life jackets on for the drill. It allowed us to go directly to deck 9 after the drill for the sail away party. Talking about it afterwards though it makes a lot of sense. Those jackets were probably never cleaned but were handled every cruise and in contact with everyone's hands and face [and the mouths of kids]. Last January on the Wonder there was an issue with Norwalk for a couple weeks and someone got sick at the life boat drill in AP on our cruise. Over the three days every stateroom in our friends' hallway got it.

 

[maria-fan-22]

We also enjoyed not having the life jackets on for the drill. It allowed us to go directly to deck 9 after the drill for the sail away party. Talking about it afterwards though it makes a lot of sense. Those jackets were probably never cleaned but were handled every cruise and in contact with everyone's hands and face [and the mouths of kids]. Last January on the Wonder there was an issue with Norwalk for a couple weeks and someone got sick at the life boat drill in AP on our cruise. Over the three days every stateroom in our friends' hallway got it.

WAIT... Disney has stopped requiring life jackets at the muster drill?????

 

[alenushka]

All of the quick service stations on board are included as well... the only things you should have to pay for are: Palo and Remy, there is a smoothie station right next to the quick service stations that does charge for special-made smoothies now (this is new), any coffees you get in the coffee bars (the Cove Cafe right next to the adult pool and the coffee bar that overlooks the main lobby on deck 5 across from Shutters), any alcoholic drinks you get on board (you can bring your own on board though. My group brought wine on board), any spa services, any internet usage, merchandise in he gift shops, shore excursions... and I think that might be it! Room service is actually included as well, but there might be a couple items you have to pay for (if you order sodas they do charge you to bring it to your room, so I suggest going to get it yourself for free on the deck!). Pictures are extra too, but you can always give your camera to the photo person and they will take the very same photo for you on your camera. Tipping is automatically included on bar tabs, tips in Palo are optional (although I always leave 5-10 additional at least) and DCL will tell you what the suggested tipping rates are for your head server, assistant server, main server and stateroom host/hostess. Just be sure to account for those tips before you leave, because they can add up. Parking at the port is also $!5 per day, and we always give the luggage guys at a the port a few dollars as well for handling our bags.

That might sound like a lot, but when it comes down to it, if you don't buy pictures, bring your own alcohol or don't drink at all, stay out of the spa and don't eat at Palo or Remy (the regular dining rooms are fantastic, don't worry), then you don't have to worry about a big bill at all. I actually did a cruise once where I went to Palo (back when it was $10) and I had one drink and that's all I bought and my grand total for the cruise was $30. We split the parking 4 ways among friends and that was about $10 each. Not too shabby. Of course, my bills seem to be going up and up and up the more I cruise (this was #9)!

Thank you for taking time to share pictures and answer so many questions. We spent the last two hours with my DD reading posts/looking at your pictures. A few questions:
in AP, does it matter where you sit to allow interaction with characters? My DD is very concerned....If you had a choice of a table, where would you like to be seated in AP?
Do you know prices for photos?
Do you have to buy a "spa-pass" to be able to use "hot chairs"/sauna; how much was it?; if you had spa services reservations, was it part of the package?
You mentioned waterslide was opened when you first got there on embarkation day...do you remember about what time was it? was it already crowded?

Thank you for any info you could tell us!

 

[catdance23]

Thank you so much for the pics. I'm going in November and I've added your site to my favorites so I can go anytime I need a fix.

 

[happiest in Disney]

TO bring your own wine etc. do you carry it on or put it in your checked bags?