Dismom1025
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2011
- Messages
- 82
This was our 1st cruise ever, so I don't have anything to compare the Dream to, but all I can say is that our family LOVED it! Three nights was not long enough for us. We are going on another 3 nighter in September & we are trying to plan maybe a B2B for the end of the year. THAT is how much we loved sailing on the Dream!
Now for the Trip Report. I will try to cover as much as possible & I leave something out just ask me & I'll try my best to answer.
1. Port Arrival & Terminal: We arrived at the terminal at 10:15 & it was pretty empty compared to the amount of people that were there at 11:15. We checked in online so we didn't have anything to fill out besides the health form when we got there. They gave me boarding #6 when I got in line to check-in. It took 15 minutes to stand in line & check in! At 10:30 we were sitting down watching a Tinkerbell movie at one of the TV's. Even though I pre-registered my DD(8) & DS(5) online, I went ahead and got in line to get their bracelets because what else was I going to do until we boarded? They started the handing out bracelets at 11:00 & we were back watching Tinkerbell by 11:15.
We were traveling with my sister's family & just so happened my BIL's cousin was also sailing, my sister is a gold CC member & they got boarding #7 (they arrived about 15 minutes after us). My BIL's cousin, however, has never cruised with Disney also showed up 15 minutes after us & got boarding #5!? So we all got to board w/ the #5 boarding. They started boarding at 11:45, calling a new # about every 5 min. & we were walking the gangway, entering the ship by about 12:20 p.m. We were in Cabanas eating lunch no later than 12:30.
2. Embarkation Day: After lunch everyone was able to go to our staterooms & drop off our day bags & change into swimsuits (1:30 p.m). Then we all went to ride the Aquaduck. The wait time was 20 minutes & it was definitely 20 minutes. They are pretty accurate with the wait time. I didn't ride it that day because I wanted to take pictures of everyone on it. They all loved it, but they were freezing when they got off & it was like 85 degrees. The water is super cold & if you are the rider in the back, you get soaked!
The Sail Away Party was cool & even my sisters kids (13, 11, & 9) wanted to see it, even though this was their 6th Disney Cruise. We left Port Canaveral around 4:15 or so, wasn't wearing a watch anymore at this point
. I have to say, it was pretty special hearing the ship's horns for the 1st time! I have been so excited to take this trip for so long that I almost teared up when I heard them 
. Then we were on our way.
I was really worried that we would get sea sick, so based on everything I read on here, I was pretty prepared. DH & I started taking ginger tablets 3 days before we sailed & took Bonine the night before. We also had some Dramamine in case none of this worked. My kids are pretty good about motion sickness so I didn't want to give them medicine unless they needed it, brought it JIC though. I was really worried that all the preparedness wouldn't work when I saw how fast we were going, because I could really feel the motion that 1st night, but I ended up being fine, besides a few instances when the should would really tilt & my husband kept looking at me like I had been secretly drinking cocktails
We had 1st show, 2nd dinner seating with the AP, EG, RP restaurant rotation. I wasn't sure that we would like eating at 8:15 but it was kind of nice for the show to start at 6:15, get over at 7:15 & then have a little bit more time to finish getting ready before dinner. I really don't think I would have ever made it to dinner by 6:15! The shows were all really great & my sister's family enjoyed them also because some things were totally different than when they had been on the Wonder.
3. Dinner: We had dinner at AP the 1st night & it was pretty neat, especially because Crush spoke to our kids' table & they thought it was the coolest thing that he would talk to them & call them by name & ask them questions. One little problem we had the 1st night was our seating. Me & my sister's family were linked for everything, dining, rooms, etc., because we booked a gty ressie. Later when my sister found out her husband cousin was also sailing on the same cruise she linked the ressie to them to, but just with dining, the cousins also had another family of cousins traveling with them. When we got to AP the 1st nite, our seating arrangement was really messed up. They had my sister's family sitting with 1 set of cousins & my family with the other one. It wouldn't have been a big deal, but my family didn't know the other family
. We had an excellent server though & he was upset also at the way the tables had been set up, so immediately was trying to fix it and assured us that the tables would be set up correctly the rest of the cruise & it was! The food was good, I had the Pasta Purses (yummy), the tomato salad (also good), the beef tenderloin (good again) & the sweet temptations dessert (it was ok). I can give more insight to pretty much everyone else ordered at the table if you want, just ask me!
I really felt the motion of the ship in AP, which is Deck 3 Aft, but never got sick so that was good.
The next nite we had dinner in EG & I loved that one the most, although the room didn't change colors & our server told us it was because there is a problem with the ceiling & they have tried fixing it & just can't right now, so when the Fantasy comes out, the Dream will dry dock for a little bit to fix some of the bugs & hiccups that they have found since it started sailing. The food was excellent & our waiter admitted the food in EG was also his favorite menu. I had the Tuna & avocado tower, the spinach salad, the Pan-seared Sea Bass (my fav dinner the whole cruise!), & the chocolate torte. Our server decided to bring out some extra stuff because there were so many things we wanted so he also brought out the Caramelized Sea Scallops for me any my DH to share (DH had the NY Strip, which I tried & it was really tender & delicious). He also brought me the No-sugar added chocolate mousse because he thought I mind find the torte too dry & he was right, the mousse was really the better choice!
At Royal Palace, the food was really good too, but it was kind of a sad night because we knew we were leaving in the a.m. But back to food. I had the Escargot, I don't like it normally, but my sister raved about it & it was really good, I wish I would have ordered another now that I think about it. The only thing was that the escargot on the Wonder has cheese baked on it & it didn't have that on the Dream. My sister said it was better with the cheese. I then had the Avocado & Citrus Salad (really good) & Belle's French Onion soup (also good), the beef tenderloing with lobster medallions, & the Creme Brulee for dessert (by far the best dessert on the ship!). Every night, we had coffee & it was some of the best coffee. My husband goes to the Panama Canal every year for business & he raves about the coffee there & he said that the coffee at dinner was just like the coffee in Panama! It is different from the Nescafe they serve at the drink stations or either they actually BREW it in the restaurants rather than mix it like the drink stations do, whatever it is, it is like drinking a little bit of heaven!
Cabanas & Flo's: We ate at Cabanas for breakfast every morning except debarkation day, we ate at RP that morning. It was ok for breakfast, I'm not a big breakfast person, I'd rather have some greek yogurt and coffee and save my calories for later
, I ate some of the blueberry pancakes and they were really dry. I didn't see any Mickey waffles so I guess that issue hasn't been resolved yet. I really like the Cabanas menu for lunch though. They boiled shrimp were really huge and good & l like the fish offerings at lunch time. I felt like you could really eat a healthy meal at Cabanas at lunch time if you wanted to.
We also got food at Flo's V8 Cafe food stations, which the kids loved because there was pizza, hot dogs, fries, etc. But they also had grilled chicken sandwiches, which were pretty good, mini sandwich wraps, fruit & salads. This was really great for us because we had the late dinner & we got a snack everyday from here. The mini wraps were great because I didn't want something huge to snack on they were the perfect snack size. And the fruit everywhere on the ship was soooo gooood! So fresh & sweet, especially the watermelon!
Nassau Day & Pirate Night: We didn't get off the ship the day the ship ported in Nassau. We went to the pool for a couple of hours before lunch, rode the Aquaduck (my 1st time was this day, I was the back rider, got soaked, & froze my booty off). The the kids went to the Oceaneer Club/Lab for a few hours, I worked out & got a massage
, while the hubby took a nap! The kids didn't want to leave the clubs, they also went for about an hour the 1st day too, in between the show & dinner. We watched the pirate show with Mickey, but the kids couldn't really see anything, from deck 11, even the screen because there were so many people. At dinner, we didn't have a pirate menu, which I was kind of glad because I really wanted to eat off the regular menu at EG. Our server used a washable crayon & water & painted the boys faces to look like pirates. They loved it. We then went to deck 12 to watch the Pirates show w/Jack Sparrow & fireworks. Then we stayed for the kids to dance at Club Pirate.
Activities: The kids loved the Oceaneer Club/Lab. They didn't want to leave any time we went to pick them up. The made flubber & played games, made cookies & all kinds of other things considering they probally only spent about 6 hours max in there the whole cruise. The oldest cousin is 13 & she was allowed to go in the clubs with the younger ones as a guest, which was nice because she would have been miserable alone in the teen clubs, she's really shy. Another thing the kids loved to do was go to the sports deck. The must have played putt-putt about 10 times. My son & his cousin even played several holes with Goofy on the Nassau day. My son (5) was so thrilled that he beat Goofy. They were so ecstatic about that, I just wished i had gotten it on camera. The pools were packed, but I didn't get in & the kids didn't really seem to care, so I didn't.
Castaway Cay: We absolutely loved being on the island! My sister has always said that this is their favorite day of the cruise & that's why they love the 5 nights, cause you get to go twice. We were off the boat at 8:35, can you tell we were excited?
We snorkeled, swam, layed in the hammocks, buried my BIL in the sand, went down the slides, ate at Cookies, which was really good BBQ considering we weren't in the south 
. We're from the south, so good BBQ is important, lol. We were one of the last groups off the beach at like 3:45, we didn't want to leave. We got back on the ship & rode the aquaduck before we it was time to get ready for the show. This was when it was really great to have the late dinner because I was no where even close to being ready so my husband took the kids to the show & I finished getting ready & just came a little late to the show.
Service: I have to say, we received excellent service overall. Our server was the best, he played with the kids, gave us whatever we wanted & even gave us insights into the ship & being a cast/crewmember which I really liked. It's so interesting to me. My sister had him before on the Wonder & he had told her he was going to the Dream, so she requested him & we have also requested him for our cruise in September. He told us some interesting things about the ship like that when the Imagineers designed the ship, they forgot to add bathrooms! HaHa, we thought that was pretty hilarious. Our beverage server disappeared after the 1st night & we had a new one the other 2 nights, he was much better than the 1st one. Our server told us that so many of the crew members are new & some are from the Magic & Wonder. He said the biggest difference between the Magic & Wonder crew was that the Magic is used to 7 night cruises & things are much more relaxed, but the Wonder crew are used to doing the shorter cruises they move at a much faster pace. He said they are constantly trying to the Magic crew to speed up!
Overall, I was so happy that we took this cruise & we can't wait to go again. Hopefully we can plan a B2B cruise for this winter, because we really want to spend a longer time on the ship. Sorry that the review is so long, but I tried to get everything major in here. If there is something I didn't cover or you have more questions feel free to ask, like stateroom info, elevators, etc. There is a lot more info, but this review would have taken forever to put it all down. Hope you all find my review helpful!
Now for the Trip Report. I will try to cover as much as possible & I leave something out just ask me & I'll try my best to answer.
1. Port Arrival & Terminal: We arrived at the terminal at 10:15 & it was pretty empty compared to the amount of people that were there at 11:15. We checked in online so we didn't have anything to fill out besides the health form when we got there. They gave me boarding #6 when I got in line to check-in. It took 15 minutes to stand in line & check in! At 10:30 we were sitting down watching a Tinkerbell movie at one of the TV's. Even though I pre-registered my DD(8) & DS(5) online, I went ahead and got in line to get their bracelets because what else was I going to do until we boarded? They started the handing out bracelets at 11:00 & we were back watching Tinkerbell by 11:15.
We were traveling with my sister's family & just so happened my BIL's cousin was also sailing, my sister is a gold CC member & they got boarding #7 (they arrived about 15 minutes after us). My BIL's cousin, however, has never cruised with Disney also showed up 15 minutes after us & got boarding #5!? So we all got to board w/ the #5 boarding. They started boarding at 11:45, calling a new # about every 5 min. & we were walking the gangway, entering the ship by about 12:20 p.m. We were in Cabanas eating lunch no later than 12:30.
2. Embarkation Day: After lunch everyone was able to go to our staterooms & drop off our day bags & change into swimsuits (1:30 p.m). Then we all went to ride the Aquaduck. The wait time was 20 minutes & it was definitely 20 minutes. They are pretty accurate with the wait time. I didn't ride it that day because I wanted to take pictures of everyone on it. They all loved it, but they were freezing when they got off & it was like 85 degrees. The water is super cold & if you are the rider in the back, you get soaked!
The Sail Away Party was cool & even my sisters kids (13, 11, & 9) wanted to see it, even though this was their 6th Disney Cruise. We left Port Canaveral around 4:15 or so, wasn't wearing a watch anymore at this point
. I have to say, it was pretty special hearing the ship's horns for the 1st time! I have been so excited to take this trip for so long that I almost teared up when I heard them . Then we were on our way. I was really worried that we would get sea sick, so based on everything I read on here, I was pretty prepared. DH & I started taking ginger tablets 3 days before we sailed & took Bonine the night before. We also had some Dramamine in case none of this worked. My kids are pretty good about motion sickness so I didn't want to give them medicine unless they needed it, brought it JIC though. I was really worried that all the preparedness wouldn't work when I saw how fast we were going, because I could really feel the motion that 1st night, but I ended up being fine, besides a few instances when the should would really tilt & my husband kept looking at me like I had been secretly drinking cocktails
We had 1st show, 2nd dinner seating with the AP, EG, RP restaurant rotation. I wasn't sure that we would like eating at 8:15 but it was kind of nice for the show to start at 6:15, get over at 7:15 & then have a little bit more time to finish getting ready before dinner. I really don't think I would have ever made it to dinner by 6:15! The shows were all really great & my sister's family enjoyed them also because some things were totally different than when they had been on the Wonder.
3. Dinner: We had dinner at AP the 1st night & it was pretty neat, especially because Crush spoke to our kids' table & they thought it was the coolest thing that he would talk to them & call them by name & ask them questions. One little problem we had the 1st night was our seating. Me & my sister's family were linked for everything, dining, rooms, etc., because we booked a gty ressie. Later when my sister found out her husband cousin was also sailing on the same cruise she linked the ressie to them to, but just with dining, the cousins also had another family of cousins traveling with them. When we got to AP the 1st nite, our seating arrangement was really messed up. They had my sister's family sitting with 1 set of cousins & my family with the other one. It wouldn't have been a big deal, but my family didn't know the other family
. We had an excellent server though & he was upset also at the way the tables had been set up, so immediately was trying to fix it and assured us that the tables would be set up correctly the rest of the cruise & it was! The food was good, I had the Pasta Purses (yummy), the tomato salad (also good), the beef tenderloin (good again) & the sweet temptations dessert (it was ok). I can give more insight to pretty much everyone else ordered at the table if you want, just ask me!I really felt the motion of the ship in AP, which is Deck 3 Aft, but never got sick so that was good.
The next nite we had dinner in EG & I loved that one the most, although the room didn't change colors & our server told us it was because there is a problem with the ceiling & they have tried fixing it & just can't right now, so when the Fantasy comes out, the Dream will dry dock for a little bit to fix some of the bugs & hiccups that they have found since it started sailing. The food was excellent & our waiter admitted the food in EG was also his favorite menu. I had the Tuna & avocado tower, the spinach salad, the Pan-seared Sea Bass (my fav dinner the whole cruise!), & the chocolate torte. Our server decided to bring out some extra stuff because there were so many things we wanted so he also brought out the Caramelized Sea Scallops for me any my DH to share (DH had the NY Strip, which I tried & it was really tender & delicious). He also brought me the No-sugar added chocolate mousse because he thought I mind find the torte too dry & he was right, the mousse was really the better choice!
At Royal Palace, the food was really good too, but it was kind of a sad night because we knew we were leaving in the a.m. But back to food. I had the Escargot, I don't like it normally, but my sister raved about it & it was really good, I wish I would have ordered another now that I think about it. The only thing was that the escargot on the Wonder has cheese baked on it & it didn't have that on the Dream. My sister said it was better with the cheese. I then had the Avocado & Citrus Salad (really good) & Belle's French Onion soup (also good), the beef tenderloing with lobster medallions, & the Creme Brulee for dessert (by far the best dessert on the ship!). Every night, we had coffee & it was some of the best coffee. My husband goes to the Panama Canal every year for business & he raves about the coffee there & he said that the coffee at dinner was just like the coffee in Panama! It is different from the Nescafe they serve at the drink stations or either they actually BREW it in the restaurants rather than mix it like the drink stations do, whatever it is, it is like drinking a little bit of heaven!
Cabanas & Flo's: We ate at Cabanas for breakfast every morning except debarkation day, we ate at RP that morning. It was ok for breakfast, I'm not a big breakfast person, I'd rather have some greek yogurt and coffee and save my calories for later
, I ate some of the blueberry pancakes and they were really dry. I didn't see any Mickey waffles so I guess that issue hasn't been resolved yet. I really like the Cabanas menu for lunch though. They boiled shrimp were really huge and good & l like the fish offerings at lunch time. I felt like you could really eat a healthy meal at Cabanas at lunch time if you wanted to. We also got food at Flo's V8 Cafe food stations, which the kids loved because there was pizza, hot dogs, fries, etc. But they also had grilled chicken sandwiches, which were pretty good, mini sandwich wraps, fruit & salads. This was really great for us because we had the late dinner & we got a snack everyday from here. The mini wraps were great because I didn't want something huge to snack on they were the perfect snack size. And the fruit everywhere on the ship was soooo gooood! So fresh & sweet, especially the watermelon!
Nassau Day & Pirate Night: We didn't get off the ship the day the ship ported in Nassau. We went to the pool for a couple of hours before lunch, rode the Aquaduck (my 1st time was this day, I was the back rider, got soaked, & froze my booty off). The the kids went to the Oceaneer Club/Lab for a few hours, I worked out & got a massage
, while the hubby took a nap! The kids didn't want to leave the clubs, they also went for about an hour the 1st day too, in between the show & dinner. We watched the pirate show with Mickey, but the kids couldn't really see anything, from deck 11, even the screen because there were so many people. At dinner, we didn't have a pirate menu, which I was kind of glad because I really wanted to eat off the regular menu at EG. Our server used a washable crayon & water & painted the boys faces to look like pirates. They loved it. We then went to deck 12 to watch the Pirates show w/Jack Sparrow & fireworks. Then we stayed for the kids to dance at Club Pirate. Activities: The kids loved the Oceaneer Club/Lab. They didn't want to leave any time we went to pick them up. The made flubber & played games, made cookies & all kinds of other things considering they probally only spent about 6 hours max in there the whole cruise. The oldest cousin is 13 & she was allowed to go in the clubs with the younger ones as a guest, which was nice because she would have been miserable alone in the teen clubs, she's really shy. Another thing the kids loved to do was go to the sports deck. The must have played putt-putt about 10 times. My son & his cousin even played several holes with Goofy on the Nassau day. My son (5) was so thrilled that he beat Goofy
. They were so ecstatic about that, I just wished i had gotten it on camera. The pools were packed, but I didn't get in & the kids didn't really seem to care, so I didn't. Castaway Cay: We absolutely loved being on the island! My sister has always said that this is their favorite day of the cruise & that's why they love the 5 nights, cause you get to go twice. We were off the boat at 8:35, can you tell we were excited?
We snorkeled, swam, layed in the hammocks, buried my BIL in the sand, went down the slides, ate at Cookies, which was really good BBQ considering we weren't in the south . We're from the south, so good BBQ is important, lol. We were one of the last groups off the beach at like 3:45, we didn't want to leave. We got back on the ship & rode the aquaduck before we it was time to get ready for the show. This was when it was really great to have the late dinner because I was no where even close to being ready so my husband took the kids to the show & I finished getting ready & just came a little late to the show. Service: I have to say, we received excellent service overall. Our server was the best, he played with the kids, gave us whatever we wanted & even gave us insights into the ship & being a cast/crewmember which I really liked. It's so interesting to me. My sister had him before on the Wonder & he had told her he was going to the Dream, so she requested him & we have also requested him for our cruise in September. He told us some interesting things about the ship like that when the Imagineers designed the ship, they forgot to add bathrooms! HaHa, we thought that was pretty hilarious. Our beverage server disappeared after the 1st night & we had a new one the other 2 nights, he was much better than the 1st one. Our server told us that so many of the crew members are new & some are from the Magic & Wonder. He said the biggest difference between the Magic & Wonder crew was that the Magic is used to 7 night cruises & things are much more relaxed, but the Wonder crew are used to doing the shorter cruises they move at a much faster pace. He said they are constantly trying to the Magic crew to speed up!
Overall, I was so happy that we took this cruise & we can't wait to go again. Hopefully we can plan a B2B cruise for this winter, because we really want to spend a longer time on the ship. Sorry that the review is so long, but I tried to get everything major in here. If there is something I didn't cover or you have more questions feel free to ask, like stateroom info, elevators, etc. There is a lot more info, but this review would have taken forever to put it all down. Hope you all find my review helpful!
