Our 1st Cruise - Disney Dream/WDW/Legoland -Nov 30-Dec 8, 2011 (Updated 1/5/2012)

[mjbradeis]

Ok so I have debated about starting a TR, and decided that since I learned so much from others I would contribute. I will try to update as often as possible, and take it easy on me since this will be my first TR as well!

Cast:

DW, DD7, DD5, Me

Agenda: Chapters will be linked once completed

November 30 - Arrival at Country Inn and Suites
Country Inn and Suites
December 1- Port Canveral
Boarding the DCL Dream
Exploring the Dream
Checking out Stateroom and some swimming
Sailaway Party & Animators Palate
December 2 - Nassau, Bahamas
Nassau – Part 1
Nassau – Part 2, Enchanted Garden and Pirate Night
December 3 - Castaway Cay
Castaway Cay – Part 1
Castaway Cay – Part 2
Royal Palace
December 4 - Disembark DCL Dream/ POP Century / Animal Kingdom
December 5 - Magic Kingdom
December 6 - EPCOT
December 7 - Hollywood Studios
December 8 - Legoland Florida

 

[mjbradeis]

We live in New Jersey and drive down to FL, we left around 2:45 am on November 30th, and arrived at Country Inn and Suites around 9:00pm the same day.
Had a really bad experience in Key West at hotel and are gun shy since then on hotels that we have only seen internet picture of, so we were a little leery, but once we arrived those thoughts were gone. Check in was painless and we were quickly in our room.

After a long car ride we all were ready for a good night’s sleep.
My DD’s were very excited and we got very early and had to wait for an 11:00 am shuttle over to the port, so we decided to get some breakfast and then go for a car ride to see the Dream in port as well as the Cape Canaveral/Cocoa Beach scenery.
Once we returned to the hotel we parked the car and gathered our belongings and made our way to the hotel lobby. We were early but Duane (I am hoping I am spelling his name right) the shuttle driver said he had room for us on the shuttle and said we could head over early. Here is a picture of Duane giving his Disney Cruise spiel.

 

[mjbradeis]

We arrived at Port Canaveral and were dropped off at the DCL Terminal

We made our way through the security check and went up the escalator to the main terminal floor.

The cast member who checked us in said if we hurried Mickey would be right out for some pictures, as we turned around he was walking out

We decided to try and stand in line to get the kids arm bands for the clubs, of course we had time to wait for our boarding group to be called. After the picture we got in line and were the 3rd family, so we figured it would be a quick wait….. It turned out that they were having computer issues and couldn’t register the kids till it was corrected. It took a good 20-30mins for it to finally work
We decided to walkout side to see the Dream in all of its glory while we waited for our boarding group to be called.

While checking out the Dream we were very surprised of the number of manatees swimming between the boat and the dock.

We decided to go back into the terminal, and awaited them calling our boarding group.

After getting our family photo we made our way onto the Dream.

To be continued...

 

[mjbradeis]

I have to be honest I have seen a ton of pictures of how amazing the Dream is but when I walked into the lobby of the Dream for the first time I was blown away.

We decided to head up to Cabanas for lunch (if you were looking for food pictures, sorry to disappoint I only have a few of them)

After lunch we decided to walk around to explore the ship. (In hind sight we should have listened to everyone else on DIS and wore swimsuits so we could hit the Aquaduck and Pool, however it was chilly that morning and figured it would be cold. That was not the case as it was quite warm on deck, oh well we will know for the Fantasy next year!)

As you can see in these pictures there was no one in line for Aquaduck and the pools where empty

We decided to check out the Oceaneers Club, during the open house period. My DD’s where very excited about Andy’s Room and Pixie Hollow

To be continued...

 

[kelly1275]

Great start! Can't wait to hear the rest. My DS, DH & mother in law are going March 13 & can't wait.

 

[jenseib]

I'm in...great start! I never heard that the manatees were swimming there...super neat. I'll have to look next year....This year when we sailed it was raining on our boarding day, so I didn't get to see much outside.

 

[LuvEeyore]

Cant waitto hear more!!

 

[heaven2dc]

I'm definitely joining this party! Can't wait for more

 

[Kurby]

Looking forward to more

 

[mjbradeis]

Thanks I am glad you all enjoy it! Hope to have an update up shortly!

 

[mjbradeis]

After exploring the ship we went down to see if our stateroom was ready and at 1:30 on the dot they removed the barriers and went to find our room.

And no we are not DVC members, I was hoping DW surprised me with DVC (not the case at all lol)

My DD’s loved the porthole window

From our stateroom we got to watch dolphins swimming

After changing into swim suits we made our way back up to the pool. It was still relatively quiet and got on the Aquaduck with a minimal wait.

Sailaway Party is next!

 

[momtoejanda]

Cant wait to see your Legoland part. We are headed to the Dream/legoland/UA in January and really want some Legoland info!

 

[mjbradeis]

After swimming we headed back to our room and got changed, and then headed back up to deck 12 for a good spot for the sailaway party!

Our first night we had Animators Palate for dinner and our Server was Matt from Poland and Assistant Server was Haley from the UK (Pictures will be later). They both where exceptional!

My DD’s loved that they had their names written on their cups with a Mickey every night.

Dinner was wonderful; I really enjoyed the Cheddar Cheese and Bacon soup!

Our stateroom attendant had turned down our room while we were at dinner. We loved the stateroom; we stay at POP Century and wish the rooms where as functional as our stateroom.

We later took DD's to the Oceaneer’s Club; DW and I made our way to 687 to catch the Eagles vs. Seahawks game. On the way to the Oceaneer’s Club we ran into Donald Duck (We were really impressed on how much character interaction there was on the boat!)

We are a huge Philadelphia Eagles family and even though this has been a rough year I had to watch some of the Eagles game. With the way the Eagles playing we didn’t stay long!



We decided to get the girls and head to bed for the night. But stopped to get drinks on deck 11.

Before calling it a night we checked our location on the stateroom tv; this as well as the forward facing camera you can watch where very cool!

Up next is Day 2 - Nassau Bahamas

 

[mjbradeis]

Cant wait to see your Legoland part. We are headed to the Dream/legoland/UA in January and really want some Legoland info!

Thanks for joining in, we loved Legoland it was amazing!

 

[mjbradeis]

Our plan for the morning was to hit deck 12 and watch us pull into Nassau

You can see the damage the Straw Market took from Hurricane Irene

After sightseeing a little we went down to the lobby for the Princess Gathering (if you plan on doing any of the character meet & greets I would suggest trying to be early; we were about 20 minutes early to this one and the line got super long and went down towards Animators Palate)

Our plan for Nassau was to not to do an excursion, just walk around and see what Nassau had to offer and have lunch at Hard Rock Cafe.

To be continued…

 

[gretchenohar@hotmail]

Thank you for posting your beautiful TR. Just loving your pics.

 

[momtoejanda]

Thanks for joining in, we loved Legoland it was amazing!

Glad to hear.

Your pictures are great! Cant wait to see more! I love all the holiday outfits on the characters. too bad they wont still be in them next month

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

I love all of your pictures! Can't wait to see more.

 

[jenseib]

Great updates. I wish we could see the characters in holiday clothes. they looks so cute.

 

[mjbradeis]

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Thank you for posting your beautiful TR. Just loving your pics.

Thank you very much!

I love all of your pictures! Can't wait to see more.

Thanks we got some good ones this trip! Working on an update for today hopefully

Great updates. I wish we could see the characters in holiday clothes. they looks so cute.

I was amazed at how many great character interactions there where on the cruise!