Mike & Missy Plus Six-A 9/11/11 Dream Trip Report! Update-12/08-COMPLETE!!

[Jennifer48]

Yay for princesses! Who cares what everyone else thinks, you are there to have fun!

Mmm Palo brunch, one of my faves! Did Gayle & Allen enjoy it also?

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Yummy! I love Palo Brunch! I am drooling on my keyboard.

 

[jenseib]

lunch looks wonderful. I am really wanting to do the brunch next year.
I have never booked Palo before...Can you book for 3, even if there is only one adult in your room? I want to book it for me and my parents, but not sure how that works. I thought I read somewhere you could only book for the number in your room.

 

[UGAFan0829]

What an awesome morning...and how very cool you got the alcove table in Palo (as I refer to it as!). Great pictures with the princesses, and I agree...Tiana is always a treat to interact with on the ships. We have never noticed strange looks with just us two adults waiting for characters, but then again I'm usually oblivious to those around me!

Aaaah...that's the word I was looking for--alcove! I was trying to think of a way to describe it and nothing would come to me!! That's perfect!!

I agree that Tiana is always fun!!!

Yay for princesses! Who cares what everyone else thinks, you are there to have fun!

Mmm Palo brunch, one of my faves! Did Gayle & Allen enjoy it also?

Yes, they did enjoy it, which I was glad about!!!

Yummy! I love Palo Brunch! I am drooling on my keyboard.

Sorry, Lessa...hope nothing shorted out!

lunch looks wonderful. I am really wanting to do the brunch next year.
I have never booked Palo before...Can you book for 3, even if there is only one adult in your room? I want to book it for me and my parents, but not sure how that works. I thought I read somewhere you could only book for the number in your room.

You HAVE to try Brunch. It's so worth it.

We actually had our reservations linked so that we'd be able to sit together at dinner...so, when I went in to make our reservations for Palo, it let me add them to our reservation since it was all linked up. That may be something that you want to try if your parents are going to be eating dinner with you as well.

 

[UGAFan0829]

When I last left off, we'd just said goodbye to Gayle and Allen after a wonderful meal at Palo. They were heading back to the room to don their pool gear, and Mike and I decided to return to our room as well to change into something a little more comfy. While we were there, we decided to check out the Navigator to see what the rest of the day may hold for us. In looking, I noticed that Remy was going to be making an appearance in the atrium and that they were holding two showings of 'Til We Meet Again, which made me happy! On our other cruises, they only had one show and it was always late--we usually ended up not being able to catch it since we had to get our luggage out in the hall, or if we did watch it, we had to haul it back to the room to get everything packed and out in time. So, it looked like the two showings would work out perfectly for us. And since there wasn't much else that we were interested in, we decided to catch the first one.

Once we were all changed, we headed on down to see if we could catch the famous cook. Thankfully we got in line pretty early as there ended up being a HUGE line behind us. I got a laugh when a lady came by and asked who we were in line for. I told her Remy and she wanted to know who that was. My reply was that he was from the movie "Ratatouille", and she said, "oh, the rat!" Poor Remy!

After meeting another one of our favorites, we decided to stroll around the ship while I took more random shots:

Finally, we decided to head up to deck 4 so that we could hopefully get a better view of the characters since I knew the atrium would more than likely be packed. And packed it was...this was well before the show started:

Before we knew it, the fun had began...well, not really fun since the whole idea is to wish everyone goodbye!

It was so much fun seeing all the characters together at once, but a little sad too. I really love that they are now doing two shows...it was nice to be able to watch and not feel rushed or hurried!

Up next: Our final dinner on the Dream

 

[UGAFan0829]

Not long after 'Til We Meet Again was over, it was time to head back to the room to get ready for dinner. It was right about now that the sadness hit, and the realization that the cruise was ending set in.

Tonight's dinner was once again in Royal Palace, which I was happy about since I LOVE the theming there!!

Everyone arrived on time, and we began our final meal just like we had with all the rest.

To start, Mike and Dustin had the Pomegrante Glazed Duck Breast:

And I went with the Double Baked Spinach Souffle:

We both decided to try Belle's French Onion soup as well, while Dustin decided to skip this one. I have to say that this was some of the best soup ever! I loved the baked cheese on top...It was delish!

As I was in the middle of my soup, I had to get up to make a visit to the restroom. I thought Mike knew that I wasn't finished, so I was sad when I came back and Bertram had taken my soup. He asked Mike if I was finished, and he told him yes! Mike felt really bad and offered to get me another, but it was okay. I knew another one would fill me up, so I declined. I think he felt like he did back in 2010 when he swatted a bee in my Ghirardelli shake and ruined it. I haven't let him live that one down, but I decided not to beat him up over the soup since I felt sorry that he felt so bad!

After the soup incident, our main courses arrived. I believe that once again Mike and Dustin went with the same thing, which was the Roasted Wild Boar Tenderloin:

And I decided on the Wild Mushroom Filled Pasta:

As we were finishing up our main course, Mike decided to sneak outside to try and get some shots of our last sunset onboard. Sunsets are some one of my favorite things to photograph, so I think he did a pretty good job:

Finally, it was time for dessert. And this time, all 3 of us went with the same--the Creme Brulee, which was pretty good:

Once we were finished eating, we handed out our tip envelopes and thanked them for their wonderful service. We knew we'd see them in the morning, but sometimes the disembarkation breakfast is really rushed, so we wanted to make sure we gave our thanks while we had time. And we got one last picture before we headed out for our last night onboard:

We left Royal Palace and headed over towards the shops where we all tried to figure out what we were going to spend our last night doing. I was hoping to be able to see "Believe", and thankfully everyone else agreed that they wanted to do the same. We were even able to talk the two Dustins into going with us as well!!

So, after we lounged a bit to let our dinner settle, we headed into the WD Theater and found a seat. I was really excited about this show--we'd never seen it before (I think it was a new show for the Dream), and the previews I'd seen looked really good.
Continued in next post...

 

[UGAFan0829]

Before the show started, Mike ordered one of his favorite adult beverages-A Peach Colada:

And I, of course, snapped a couple shots of the beautiful details of the theater:

Within minutes, our CD, Rachel was introducing the show and the festivities had begun:

I have to say, I was SO very glad that we decided to see this. It was definitely and by far one the best shows that we've ever seen aboard a DCL ship. And I have to admit that I did get a little teary eyed as well. This is a don't miss show!!

I think having everyone there to watch it with us--epsecially the Dustins--made it so much better. It was an absolute perfect ending to the night.

Once the show was over, we all headed back to the room to pack up and get all our luggage out in the hall. We found our final towel animal waiting when we arrived:

After making sure Dustin had everything he needed for the next day and double-checking our own bags, we shuffled it all out in the hall and then settled in for our final sleep on the Dream.

Next up: A Dismal Disembarkation

 

[Pinkocto]

Thanks for the pictures of the Wild Mushroom filled pasta, that's the first I've seen it. Was it good? My mother's a vegetarian so I'm trying to make sure she'll have good choices.

So glad you were able to see the 'Til We Meet Again show. It must be so bittersweet on that last day. You want to make sure you see and do lots of wonderful things, but the sadness that it will soon be over is not good.

I can't wait to hear how the new cruisers felt about the whole vacation.

 

[Jennifer48]

How wonderful that you met Remy!

I love the idea that they have two "Til We Meet Again" shows! Very smart on their part.

I've read so many great reviews of Dreams. I can't wait to see it for myself!

 

[LuvEeyore]

Love the pictures, especially of Remy. What was that Lady thinking saying "the Rat". Some rat he is, he has a very good restraunt named after him!!!
Sounds like you had a great last day.

 

[iloverags2]

Your last evening sounds absolutely wonderful! I'm sure that was much needed after a few hiccups (sunburn anyone?). Always good to end on such a great note.

Hate to see your report coming to an end...

 

[jenseib]

Wonderful last evening.

 

[UGAFan0829]

Thanks for the pictures of the Wild Mushroom filled pasta, that's the first I've seen it. Was it good? My mother's a vegetarian so I'm trying to make sure she'll have good choices.

So glad you were able to see the 'Til We Meet Again show. It must be so bittersweet on that last day. You want to make sure you see and do lots of wonderful things, but the sadness that it will soon be over is not good.

I can't wait to hear how the new cruisers felt about the whole vacation.

The Mushroom Pasta was just okay. It was somewhat bland, but it wasn't terrible either.

How wonderful that you met Remy!

I love the idea that they have two "Til We Meet Again" shows! Very smart on their part.

I've read so many great reviews of Dreams. I can't wait to see it for myself!

I agree that it was very smart to have added a 2nd Til We Meet Again. I think DCL really did a good job of making accomodations for all the additional people that the Dream holds.

Love the pictures, especially of Remy. What was that Lady thinking saying "the Rat". Some rat he is, he has a very good restraunt named after him!!!
Sounds like you had a great last day.

I know...I had to laugh at the "rat" comment also!!

Your last evening sounds absolutely wonderful! I'm sure that was much needed after a few hiccups (sunburn anyone?). Always good to end on such a great note.

Hate to see your report coming to an end...

It was wonderful!!!

Wonderful last evening.

It was, indeed!

 

[UGAFan0829]

The alarm clock went off fairly early on this morning, followed soon after by a wake up call. Though I was wide awake and had gotten a good night's sleep, I didn't want to have to get up!!

The first thing I did was pull back the curtain to see what the view looked like, and I was sad to see that we were already back in PC:

Before long, we were up and about and had gotten our showers and were ready for the task ahead. We let Dustin sleep until the very last minute before waking him since this was extremely early for him.

We slowly gathered all our belongings and made our last exit from the room. We made our way around to Gayle and Allen's room where we had agreed to meet before heading to breakfast. After Gayle asked me to take a picture of their gang with their stateroom host, I realized that I never got a picture of ours. So, I sent Mike around the corner, and he came back with this shot of Gerald who had been a wonderful host:

He had been very quiet and didn't talk very much througout the cruise, but he always took very good care of our room.

Once our stateroom host's face was documented on film, we were off to the Royal Palace for our very early breakfast. I *think* our scheduled time was 6:45, but I'm not 100% certain on that. Either way, I know it was a lot earlier than I wanted it to be!

As we were seated the first rude awakening that we'd soon be leaving the ship hit me right in the face, in the form of this:

Mike and I both had a yummy doughnut while we waited for our orders to arrive:

And all to soon, our last meal was being delivered:

As we were eating, I noticed that I had a good view of the sunrise if I pulled the curtains back a little:

And just like that we had said our final goodbyes and were in the atrium with our luggage. I miss the old Mickey banner that use to hang from above, as they've now replaced it with this:

Somehow this one wasn't nearly as sad as seeing Mickey wave goodbye from above.

Before we stared our walk off, Mike noticed Captain Henry was standing nearby, so he decided to go over and tell him thanks for a wonderful voyage.

He was super friendly and easy to talk to. This was the first time that we'd ever encountered one of the Captains, so we thought it was pretty cool!

And then, the walk of doom began:

We breezed right through customs and decided to let a porter help us out with our bags this time which isn't something we normally do. He was a big help, and when I found out that he was from Florida, but wasn't a Florida Gators fan I tipped him big!!

With all our luggage neatly stacked in the trunk, we piled inside and made our way out of the port, while waving goodbye to the Dream:

At breakfast we all decided that we wanted to make one last stop before heading home...so we made our way here:

Where we spent close to an hour looking around. I ended up picking up a shirt for my Dad since they had one with a pocket on the front and a Tervis tumbler for my Mom.

We headed out of Ron Jon's and made a stop at the first gas station to fuel up before our long ride home...

And just like that...the trip had come to an end.

Next up: Final thoughts and future plans!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Awww, it is over! The Dream looked wonderful and it sounds like you had a nice trip.

 

[Jennifer48]

Ok first of all, where is the Mickey 'see ya real soon banner?' Thats just not the same! You are right though, its not nearly as sad but still, its nice that Mickey bids you farewell!

So sad leaving the DCL ships. I feel your pain.

 

[UGAFan0829]

Awww, it is over! The Dream looked wonderful and it sounds like you had a nice trip.

Thanks for reading along, Lessa!!
It was a great trip, and I'm glad we were able to share it with family!

Ok first of all, where is the Mickey 'see ya real soon banner?' Thats just not the same! You are right though, its not nearly as sad but still, its nice that Mickey bids you farewell!

So sad leaving the DCL ships. I feel your pain.

I agree about the Mickey banner--I definitley missed seeing it!!
Leaving the ships is tough...definitely not something to look forward to!

 

[UGAFan0829]

Final Thoughts:
Overall, I think we really enjoyed our voyage on the Dream. However, because this was our 3rd cruise in 3 years, we didn't have as much of a gung-ho attitude about things as much as we have in the past. We missed Castaway which is something we wouldn't have done in the past. And though we did get to enjoy the AquaDuck a couple times, we never spent any time in the pools. As you can see, there was a lot that we didn't take advantage of that most people do. Mostly, I think the reason we cruised was because of the new ship and not just because of the cruise itself.

As for Gayle and Allen and their gang--I think they all had a great time, though they don't express themselves in the same way that we do. If we're having a good time it shows, however, they are a lot more reserved than us, so it's sometimes hard to tell. But I do know that having been on Carnival before, Gayle definitely agrees that Disney's level of service is way above the rest. And for that reason alone, she wants to cruise the Eastern Caribbean with DCL sometime in the next few years. Allen wants to do the Alaskan cruise, though he didn't specify whether he wants to do DCL or another line.

I think the two Dustin's had a great time, but I think it may have been a little boring to them at times. Since it was their first time cruising, I don’t think they really understood what it was all about. If I had it to do over again, I think I would have asked Dustin to spend more time with me/us, but I wanted him to be able to relax and do what he wanted.

I think the biggest memories that I took away from this trip is that fact that we were able to share it with family—having Dustin with us was certainly special, and knowing that we were able to take him on his first cruise meant a lot to me. And of course Brandi and Brandon getting engaged was definitely a special memory as well! I’m so glad that they’ve found each other and am very much looking forward to being a part of their big day!

Future Plans:
As far as us (Mike and I) cruising again, while we do love it, I think it’s definitely time to take a few years off. We haven’t been able to take a real WDW vacation in a while, so we want to do that for the next couple years. We actually have a trip planned for May, which I am very excited about. My niece and nephew are 8 and 9, and we are surprising them with this trip, which will be their first!!! I cannot wait!! We’re staying at Port Orleans Riverside in one of the new Royal Guest Rooms!! I’ve already booked our ADR’s, too!! I’m not positive if I’ll do a PTR for that one, but if I do, it will be a while before I start it.

Thanks for sticking around and letting me share my trip with you all…it’s been fun re-telling and re-living it with all of you!!

 

[LuvEeyore]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us. I hope that you enjoy your WDWtrip and even if you dont write a pretrip report maybe you will do a trip report.!!

Have a Merry Christmas!!

 

[Pinkocto]

Thanks so much for sharing!

Happy Holidays and I hope the wedding goes perfectly.