My family just returned home last night from the June 3rd sailing of the dream. I browsed these boards so many months prior to our trip, and gained a wealth of knowledge. I just want to share my experiences. First, I must begin by saying that we had a wonderful time on our cruise. Although, there was one area we were not satisfied with, it was worth every dime that we paid for it! So, here's our thoughts:
COUNTRY INN AND SUITES: We stayed here on the night prior to our cruise and I must say this was a good hotel for the price we paid. We had one suite, and one queen room, and they were both clean and spacious. The complimentary breakfast was plentiful, tasty and there were a variety of choices offered. The hotel staff was courteous and helpful. The driver of the shuttle was especially helpful, and told funny jokes to help get everyone in the mood for our trip! The shuttle was on time both to drop us off and pick us up. The only thing I would change about the hotel is that the cruise parking is in a grassy lot in front of the hotel, and there is no driveway to it. When we returned, a light cover had been stolen from our SUV. I asked my husband if he thought maybe it had just come off, and he said he was sure it had been stolen because of the way it was removed. I guess if the hotel is going to charge you for parking there, they could have security patrol the cars.
CHECKIN: We arrived at the port around noon, and I was glad I listened to advice on the boards and showed up a little later. The lines were not long, and we were able to get up to the desk in about 10 minutes. We were given boarding number 23, but we were traveling in a large group and one of the families had been given number 15 at the airport, and we were allowed to board all together with them. We went through with no problems and before we knew it, they were announcing our names as we walked on the ship! The only word i can use is AMAZING!!!!!! The Dream is a beautiful ship! It was like walking into a palace! We were directed to Cabanas for lunch. We asked about going to Enchanted Garden because I had read that it was probably the best choice for a group with lots of kids. We had 11 kids with us. We were told that EG was already full so we headed to cabanas. We were glad we did! This became one of our favorite places to eat on the cruise. By the time we finished lunch, it was 1:30 and we headed to our stateroom on the 8th floor.
STATEROOM: For my family of 5, we had a deluxe family oceanview stateroom. My kids loved the large porthole and spent lots of time sitting and looking out through it. We immediately unpacked our FE and decorated our door. Our stateroom hostess Caroline arrived and she was wonderful throughout the trip. Nyasha who was servicing staterooms near us also proved to be helpful to us.
DINING: Our dining rotation was RP, AP, EG, EG. We were at the late seating. Our servers were Anita from Croatia and Rebekah from UK, and they had to be the slowest two servers on the ship!!!! This was our only complaint. The first night in RP, we thought maybe it was just the new sailing, and getting to know everyone. My sister, her DH, and their three kids were the only ones in our party assigned to different servers. On two nights, they arrived at dinner at least 10 minutes after we did, and ended up finishing their meal before we even got our main course. One night, my BIL ordered a second steak, and got it before we got our first one. It was ridiculous! Our kids could never leave the restaurant with the kids club staff, because they were never finished eating, and on one night, had not even gotten their food. Finally, I decided to say something about it. On the last night (tip night), the service was much quicker!!! Also, three children in our party were celebrating birthdays, and they were supposed to celebrate for them on the first night. When it hadn't happened by the third night (after two reminders), we had to speak to the head waiter. I did not leave them the full tip. I know they depend greatly upon this money, but if I had been in a regular restaurant and received that service, I would not have tipped at all. So, after much debate with my husband (who felt sorry for them after hearing about the long hours they work and wanted to leave the full tip), I did not. The food was good. My cousin who has cruised a couple of times said she like the food on Carnival better. My favorite dish was the NY steak in EG. It was SO GOOD!!!! My favorite appetizer was the pasta pursiettes in AP, and I also liked the jerk chicken salad in EG. My least favorite meal was in RP.
AQUADUCK: My kids loved it, and although I did not ride, they highly recommend it!
OCEANEER CLUB AND LAB: The younger kids in our party spent countless hours in this place. We had to drag them away! The counselors are wonderful and they do a great job keeping the kids engaged.
IT'S A SMALL WORLD NURSERY: i didn't need to use this service, but my sister did for her 7month old. She was skeptical about leaving her baby at first, but once she went in and met with the staff she felt better. There is one worker, Miss Chris, who she absolutely loved! She said that while the other workers were watching her baby closely, Miss Chris actually interacted with him and played with him. On the final night, she would not take her baby to the nursery because Miss Chris was not there.
EDGE TWEEN CLUB: My twelve year old daughter went to Edge a couple of times, but did not seem to like it. Once she asked if I thought they would let her into the oceaneer lab with her younger siblings. She said it seemed like they were having much more fun.
FISH EXTENDER: My family loved participating in the FE. This was one of the highlights of our trip. It was great returning to our stateroom and finding the gifts. We received some really nice things that we will treasure for many years. I highly recommend participating in the FE. The only bad thing for us was finding time to walk all over the ship to deliver our gifts.
ENTERTAINMENT: I loved going to see all the shows, but Believe was by far my favorite!!! It was wonderful!
CASTAWAY CAY: We truly enjoyed our day on Castaway Cay. The food at Cookies BBQ was wonderful. On our next trip, we plan to do a 5day so that we can visit Castaway Cay twice. We did not like the Bahamas very much.
SHUTTERS: Before we left home, I called Disney to purchase the $89 photo package with 10 credits. I was told that I did not need to purchase it in advance, and it would be offered on the ship. The representative said that its offered online for family members who may not be going on the cruise but want to give a gift to those who were. We got on the cruise and got to Shutters only to find that THIS PACKAGE WAS NOT OFFERED!!!! The cheapest package is the 20 credit package for $149. It was only after speaking to the manager Lui, that we were able to get them to agree to sell us the $89 package. So, if you want the $89 package, buy it online prior to departing.
These are just our views and opinions, someone else may have had different experiences. I am interested to know if anyone received slow service in the restaurants during this sailing. I feel that DCL should have assigned more servers to such a large party (22 people). I forgot to mention that my cousin was placed at a different table from her 8 year old daughter. They did not get to sit together throughout the whole cruise because if any of the rest of us would have switched seats with them, we would not have room for our own families to remain together at any of the tables.
Overall, my experience was good, and we do plan to sail on DCL again. When asked, my kids said they would choose the cruise over going to the parks on every occasion! Coming from them, that says alot because they absolutely LOVE going to the parks!!!!
COUNTRY INN AND SUITES: We stayed here on the night prior to our cruise and I must say this was a good hotel for the price we paid. We had one suite, and one queen room, and they were both clean and spacious. The complimentary breakfast was plentiful, tasty and there were a variety of choices offered. The hotel staff was courteous and helpful. The driver of the shuttle was especially helpful, and told funny jokes to help get everyone in the mood for our trip! The shuttle was on time both to drop us off and pick us up. The only thing I would change about the hotel is that the cruise parking is in a grassy lot in front of the hotel, and there is no driveway to it. When we returned, a light cover had been stolen from our SUV. I asked my husband if he thought maybe it had just come off, and he said he was sure it had been stolen because of the way it was removed. I guess if the hotel is going to charge you for parking there, they could have security patrol the cars.
CHECKIN: We arrived at the port around noon, and I was glad I listened to advice on the boards and showed up a little later. The lines were not long, and we were able to get up to the desk in about 10 minutes. We were given boarding number 23, but we were traveling in a large group and one of the families had been given number 15 at the airport, and we were allowed to board all together with them. We went through with no problems and before we knew it, they were announcing our names as we walked on the ship! The only word i can use is AMAZING!!!!!! The Dream is a beautiful ship! It was like walking into a palace! We were directed to Cabanas for lunch. We asked about going to Enchanted Garden because I had read that it was probably the best choice for a group with lots of kids. We had 11 kids with us. We were told that EG was already full so we headed to cabanas. We were glad we did! This became one of our favorite places to eat on the cruise. By the time we finished lunch, it was 1:30 and we headed to our stateroom on the 8th floor.
STATEROOM: For my family of 5, we had a deluxe family oceanview stateroom. My kids loved the large porthole and spent lots of time sitting and looking out through it. We immediately unpacked our FE and decorated our door. Our stateroom hostess Caroline arrived and she was wonderful throughout the trip. Nyasha who was servicing staterooms near us also proved to be helpful to us.
DINING: Our dining rotation was RP, AP, EG, EG. We were at the late seating. Our servers were Anita from Croatia and Rebekah from UK, and they had to be the slowest two servers on the ship!!!! This was our only complaint. The first night in RP, we thought maybe it was just the new sailing, and getting to know everyone. My sister, her DH, and their three kids were the only ones in our party assigned to different servers. On two nights, they arrived at dinner at least 10 minutes after we did, and ended up finishing their meal before we even got our main course. One night, my BIL ordered a second steak, and got it before we got our first one. It was ridiculous! Our kids could never leave the restaurant with the kids club staff, because they were never finished eating, and on one night, had not even gotten their food. Finally, I decided to say something about it. On the last night (tip night), the service was much quicker!!! Also, three children in our party were celebrating birthdays, and they were supposed to celebrate for them on the first night. When it hadn't happened by the third night (after two reminders), we had to speak to the head waiter. I did not leave them the full tip. I know they depend greatly upon this money, but if I had been in a regular restaurant and received that service, I would not have tipped at all. So, after much debate with my husband (who felt sorry for them after hearing about the long hours they work and wanted to leave the full tip), I did not. The food was good. My cousin who has cruised a couple of times said she like the food on Carnival better. My favorite dish was the NY steak in EG. It was SO GOOD!!!! My favorite appetizer was the pasta pursiettes in AP, and I also liked the jerk chicken salad in EG. My least favorite meal was in RP.
AQUADUCK: My kids loved it, and although I did not ride, they highly recommend it!
OCEANEER CLUB AND LAB: The younger kids in our party spent countless hours in this place. We had to drag them away! The counselors are wonderful and they do a great job keeping the kids engaged.
IT'S A SMALL WORLD NURSERY: i didn't need to use this service, but my sister did for her 7month old. She was skeptical about leaving her baby at first, but once she went in and met with the staff she felt better. There is one worker, Miss Chris, who she absolutely loved! She said that while the other workers were watching her baby closely, Miss Chris actually interacted with him and played with him. On the final night, she would not take her baby to the nursery because Miss Chris was not there.
EDGE TWEEN CLUB: My twelve year old daughter went to Edge a couple of times, but did not seem to like it. Once she asked if I thought they would let her into the oceaneer lab with her younger siblings. She said it seemed like they were having much more fun.
FISH EXTENDER: My family loved participating in the FE. This was one of the highlights of our trip. It was great returning to our stateroom and finding the gifts. We received some really nice things that we will treasure for many years. I highly recommend participating in the FE. The only bad thing for us was finding time to walk all over the ship to deliver our gifts.
ENTERTAINMENT: I loved going to see all the shows, but Believe was by far my favorite!!! It was wonderful!
CASTAWAY CAY: We truly enjoyed our day on Castaway Cay. The food at Cookies BBQ was wonderful. On our next trip, we plan to do a 5day so that we can visit Castaway Cay twice. We did not like the Bahamas very much.
SHUTTERS: Before we left home, I called Disney to purchase the $89 photo package with 10 credits. I was told that I did not need to purchase it in advance, and it would be offered on the ship. The representative said that its offered online for family members who may not be going on the cruise but want to give a gift to those who were. We got on the cruise and got to Shutters only to find that THIS PACKAGE WAS NOT OFFERED!!!! The cheapest package is the 20 credit package for $149. It was only after speaking to the manager Lui, that we were able to get them to agree to sell us the $89 package. So, if you want the $89 package, buy it online prior to departing.
These are just our views and opinions, someone else may have had different experiences. I am interested to know if anyone received slow service in the restaurants during this sailing. I feel that DCL should have assigned more servers to such a large party (22 people). I forgot to mention that my cousin was placed at a different table from her 8 year old daughter. They did not get to sit together throughout the whole cruise because if any of the rest of us would have switched seats with them, we would not have room for our own families to remain together at any of the tables.
Overall, my experience was good, and we do plan to sail on DCL again. When asked, my kids said they would choose the cruise over going to the parks on every occasion! Coming from them, that says alot because they absolutely LOVE going to the parks!!!!
Thanks for the review. Sounds like you and your family had a wonderful time. We can't wait to take our daughter on one. I think we are going to wait until she is 3.
