I'm sure I am sitting still, but I'm sure my house is swaying...
We left on March 3rd and spent a week before our cruise at ASMo resort, did Universal, Orlando Zoo, MK, Epcot and Downtown Disney. Our cruise was March 9-13/2012
I chose to use Disney's Transportation after alot of debating....I am now glad I did. They really took care of us and it was a peace of mind that I didn't have to worry about. This vacation from beginning to end had alot of "Murphys Law" situations.
The bus picked us up from ASMo at 11:30 am, we stopped at Saratoga Springs to pick up some additional passengers.
We arrived at Port Canavral around 12:45 pm.
We were in awe at our first sight of the Dream, she's just so beautiful! We entered thru the double green doors as instructed and went thru all the steps very quickly and easily. All the Disney staff were very friendly and directed us very clearly in our next direction.....we had our family photo taken by Shutters before we boarded, this too went quickly with 3 photographers working and keeping us moving.
We finally boarded and our names were announced. The photos of the Dream don't do it any justice, it's breathtaking! We wandered around a bit oohing and aahing at everything, then headed for the elevator to take us to Cabanna's for a late lunch. We had a plate-ful and when going for dessert noticed there was even more food at that end that we didn't see! We had a table right next to a window and enjoyed our lunch with a view
By this time our cabin was ready and we headed up, only to find that some of our FE group had already been making deliveries!! We went into the cabin, it was an inside cabin with the magic port hole. My 8 yr old had to go to the bathroom, but everytime she tried, something went by the porthole and she wouldn't go...in fear of missing something!
My thoughts of our room. It was really nice, lots of wonderful design ideas...but some improvement could be made. We are a family of four, we each had a suitcase. I started out packing light, but of course it didn't end up that way in the end! Yes there's lots of room under the bed for the cases, but I was a little disappointed in the actual drawer/room storage. I like to unpack most of our clothes and there just wasn't room. My 16yr old used all 3 of the little drawers in the desk, my 8 yr. old used the trunk/coffee table and my dh and I used what hangers were left after hanging the girls dresses up and using the shelves. We kept alot in our cases.
I purchased an over the door shoe holder, but I found the storage space in the bathroom to be just right with the 3 shelves, so I didn't use it.
I read many times about how the shower works, but of course my first shower on board became a bit of a confusing time! I finally figured it out....
Our room attendant was Fran from Trinidad, she was wonderful, made the neatest towel animals for us!
I had posted ages ago about my worry about the food selections on board, since my whole family is pretty finicky! Yes the dining rooms were a bit of a problem for us....all of us. Our first night I ordered the chicken and baked potato, it was good. My 16 yr. old ordered from the childrens menu, but was a bit embarrassed when the dining assistant pointed it out with wriggling eyebrows
so she opted to only order something small and not eat much after that.
Our main server was Allan from Phillipines and he was great, the assistant was Andrai from Romania. The girls thought him very cute, and he was in a brooding, quiet way. He didn't smile much, did a good job...but wasn't overly friendly. We met the head server once, very briefly our first night, but that was it.
We enjoyed all 3 dining room decor, they're all so beautiful. I had the chicken all three nights, so I cannot say how good the menu items were, there wasn't anything on them I was even willing to try!!
Our 1st stop was Nassau, we booked thru CS an got a taxi to take us from the port to the CS. Now in hindsight, I wish we hadn't. Yes we saved lots of money doing it this way, but for us it was very stressful! We've never travelled outside the US before, so it was kind of confusing and scary. I think I would have been more at ease with something more like an organized group... We managed to get the taxi to CS, checked in and given the direction to head for our wristbands...we got lost several times. We were following the signs for "wristbands and towels" only to find out we were supposed to be following "Aquaadventure" that's hidden out of the way. I have a very bad knee(surgery soon) so all the walking was painful! We finally got the wristbands and headed out...looking for the ocean! This whole process from getting off the boat at 10am to actually getting to the beach took over an hour!
We found some lounge chairs, undressed and headed for the water. My 8 yr. old said it was too cold and my 16 yr. old doesn't like swimming with fish apparently. So we packed it all up looking for the play/pool area. It's a really large resort and difficult to find areas as the signage wasn't the greatest. We found the pool area and there were hundreds of lounge chairs, all taken....So my dh stood with our stuff while I took the girls in, then I came out and he went in. I got very lucky and noticed a family leaving and asked if I could have there spot, yay!
I so needed to sit, my toes were starting to get really swollen!
We ate lunch, I didn't find it too terribly expensive. We each got the hot dog, chips and pop for $8.00. We were done by 2pm, we had already seen the aquarium while lost or looking for the beach, so we headed back to the ship for a swim and relax by the pool. The weather was pretty good that day, and we got our first burns that week! It was so cool out!
I can now see why alot of cruisers don't bother with Nasseu, I wasn't that impressed,and we had a great time on board!
Our next day was Castaway Cay, what a beautiful island! We didn't rush off, we had room service and got our beach stuff together and headed out about 10:30 am. The tram picked us up and we found a shady spot near cookies 2. It was only about 77 and breezy. We browsed around, tried the ocean but it was too cold for us! Lunch was served at 11:30 and we brought food back to the lounge chairs at first, but we ended up packing up and heading over to the covered dining area...rain It stayed drizzly, but we met a nice family from Michigan across from us!
We left around 1:30 with the masses, I guess everyone figured that was it for the nice day. It's too bad, it really looks like a nice place to spend the day. However, from what I've gleaned on this vacay...we aren't beach people....heated pools, yes...but beach, no!
The next day was our at sea day. In my opinion as a first time cruiser, I would have loved this day to be our first day! I would have had time to unpack properly, toured the ship etc... It felt a bit rushed to get everything done before our Nassau day. We enjoyed our sea day, but it became apparent that my 8 yr. old who at the beginning of our trip had a slight cold was getting worse. She was coughing, vomiting, fever, no eating and sleeping for hours and hours. So my dh and I decided to take her to the Dr., they were very nice there. The Dr. knew what she had, cause she had it too. We left with anitbiotics, cough syrup, advil and $300. less in our wallet! By her second dose she was already starting to feel a bit better. We knew we had to fly home the next day and in the shape she was in, there was no way she would have made it!
So I'm glad we took her, it was worth our peace of mind!
Our debarking went smoothly, by Disney again! Ran into a bit of a problem at the MCO with my knee brace setting the alarms off! Good thing we were so early, I had to wait for a bit for someone to come and do an inspection on me!
We found the food court, a booth so my 8yr old could sleep while we had lunch and we boarded our plane on time!
I think if I was to cruise again, or I should say when....I wouldn't add so much to the itinerary as I had this time! It was just too much with my bad knee, sick daughter and too many plans going on!
We are now home, I'm still swaying while I'm typing! I miss being there already and see why so many of you cruise multiple times! I got a peek at the veranda rooms and they are a bit bigger and nice with the big window.....hmmmmmmmm I think I'm dream'in again....
To all of you who answered all my little and big questions over the past two years while planning this special vacation, I thank you!
I could not have done it without your experience and your willingness to share it with us. 
I need to go to bed now, I need a vacation.....
We left on March 3rd and spent a week before our cruise at ASMo resort, did Universal, Orlando Zoo, MK, Epcot and Downtown Disney. Our cruise was March 9-13/2012
I chose to use Disney's Transportation after alot of debating....I am now glad I did. They really took care of us and it was a peace of mind that I didn't have to worry about. This vacation from beginning to end had alot of "Murphys Law" situations.
The bus picked us up from ASMo at 11:30 am, we stopped at Saratoga Springs to pick up some additional passengers.
We arrived at Port Canavral around 12:45 pm.
We were in awe at our first sight of the Dream, she's just so beautiful! We entered thru the double green doors as instructed and went thru all the steps very quickly and easily. All the Disney staff were very friendly and directed us very clearly in our next direction.....we had our family photo taken by Shutters before we boarded, this too went quickly with 3 photographers working and keeping us moving.
We finally boarded and our names were announced. The photos of the Dream don't do it any justice, it's breathtaking! We wandered around a bit oohing and aahing at everything, then headed for the elevator to take us to Cabanna's for a late lunch. We had a plate-ful and when going for dessert noticed there was even more food at that end that we didn't see! We had a table right next to a window and enjoyed our lunch with a view
By this time our cabin was ready and we headed up, only to find that some of our FE group had already been making deliveries!! We went into the cabin, it was an inside cabin with the magic port hole. My 8 yr old had to go to the bathroom, but everytime she tried, something went by the porthole and she wouldn't go...in fear of missing something!
My thoughts of our room. It was really nice, lots of wonderful design ideas...but some improvement could be made. We are a family of four, we each had a suitcase. I started out packing light, but of course it didn't end up that way in the end! Yes there's lots of room under the bed for the cases, but I was a little disappointed in the actual drawer/room storage. I like to unpack most of our clothes and there just wasn't room. My 16yr old used all 3 of the little drawers in the desk, my 8 yr. old used the trunk/coffee table and my dh and I used what hangers were left after hanging the girls dresses up and using the shelves. We kept alot in our cases.
I purchased an over the door shoe holder, but I found the storage space in the bathroom to be just right with the 3 shelves, so I didn't use it.
I read many times about how the shower works, but of course my first shower on board became a bit of a confusing time! I finally figured it out....
Our room attendant was Fran from Trinidad, she was wonderful, made the neatest towel animals for us!
I had posted ages ago about my worry about the food selections on board, since my whole family is pretty finicky! Yes the dining rooms were a bit of a problem for us....all of us. Our first night I ordered the chicken and baked potato, it was good. My 16 yr. old ordered from the childrens menu, but was a bit embarrassed when the dining assistant pointed it out with wriggling eyebrows
so she opted to only order something small and not eat much after that.Our main server was Allan from Phillipines and he was great, the assistant was Andrai from Romania. The girls thought him very cute, and he was in a brooding, quiet way. He didn't smile much, did a good job...but wasn't overly friendly. We met the head server once, very briefly our first night, but that was it.
We enjoyed all 3 dining room decor, they're all so beautiful. I had the chicken all three nights, so I cannot say how good the menu items were, there wasn't anything on them I was even willing to try!!
Our 1st stop was Nassau, we booked thru CS an got a taxi to take us from the port to the CS. Now in hindsight, I wish we hadn't. Yes we saved lots of money doing it this way, but for us it was very stressful! We've never travelled outside the US before, so it was kind of confusing and scary. I think I would have been more at ease with something more like an organized group... We managed to get the taxi to CS, checked in and given the direction to head for our wristbands...we got lost several times. We were following the signs for "wristbands and towels" only to find out we were supposed to be following "Aquaadventure" that's hidden out of the way. I have a very bad knee(surgery soon) so all the walking was painful! We finally got the wristbands and headed out...looking for the ocean! This whole process from getting off the boat at 10am to actually getting to the beach took over an hour!
We found some lounge chairs, undressed and headed for the water. My 8 yr. old said it was too cold and my 16 yr. old doesn't like swimming with fish apparently. So we packed it all up looking for the play/pool area. It's a really large resort and difficult to find areas as the signage wasn't the greatest. We found the pool area and there were hundreds of lounge chairs, all taken....So my dh stood with our stuff while I took the girls in, then I came out and he went in. I got very lucky and noticed a family leaving and asked if I could have there spot, yay!
I so needed to sit, my toes were starting to get really swollen!We ate lunch, I didn't find it too terribly expensive. We each got the hot dog, chips and pop for $8.00. We were done by 2pm, we had already seen the aquarium while lost or looking for the beach, so we headed back to the ship for a swim and relax by the pool. The weather was pretty good that day, and we got our first burns that week! It was so cool out!
I can now see why alot of cruisers don't bother with Nasseu, I wasn't that impressed,and we had a great time on board!
Our next day was Castaway Cay, what a beautiful island! We didn't rush off, we had room service and got our beach stuff together and headed out about 10:30 am. The tram picked us up and we found a shady spot near cookies 2. It was only about 77 and breezy. We browsed around, tried the ocean but it was too cold for us! Lunch was served at 11:30 and we brought food back to the lounge chairs at first, but we ended up packing up and heading over to the covered dining area...rain
It stayed drizzly, but we met a nice family from Michigan across from us!We left around 1:30 with the masses, I guess everyone figured that was it for the nice day. It's too bad, it really looks like a nice place to spend the day. However, from what I've gleaned on this vacay...we aren't beach people....heated pools, yes...but beach, no!
The next day was our at sea day. In my opinion as a first time cruiser, I would have loved this day to be our first day! I would have had time to unpack properly, toured the ship etc... It felt a bit rushed to get everything done before our Nassau day. We enjoyed our sea day, but it became apparent that my 8 yr. old who at the beginning of our trip had a slight cold was getting worse. She was coughing, vomiting, fever, no eating and sleeping for hours and hours. So my dh and I decided to take her to the Dr., they were very nice there. The Dr. knew what she had, cause she had it too. We left with anitbiotics, cough syrup, advil and $300. less in our wallet! By her second dose she was already starting to feel a bit better. We knew we had to fly home the next day and in the shape she was in, there was no way she would have made it!
So I'm glad we took her, it was worth our peace of mind!Our debarking went smoothly, by Disney again! Ran into a bit of a problem at the MCO with my knee brace setting the alarms off! Good thing we were so early, I had to wait for a bit for someone to come and do an inspection on me!
We found the food court, a booth so my 8yr old could sleep while we had lunch and we boarded our plane on time!
I think if I was to cruise again, or I should say when....I wouldn't add so much to the itinerary as I had this time! It was just too much with my bad knee, sick daughter and too many plans going on!
We are now home, I'm still swaying while I'm typing! I miss being there already and see why so many of you cruise multiple times! I got a peek at the veranda rooms and they are a bit bigger and nice with the big window.....hmmmmmmmm I think I'm dream'in again....
To all of you who answered all my little and big questions over the past two years while planning this special vacation, I thank you!
I could not have done it without your experience and your willingness to share it with us. I need to go to bed now, I need a vacation.....
Yo Ho Yo Ho a Pirates Life for Me
