Our first Disney Cruise after the Half Marathon (04/24-04/28)

[LSLS]

So I'm writing this in part just to document our trip for myself and partly in hopes it will help others who are considering a DCL/getting ready for their first. Plus, I have some good pictures. So, here we go.

Background

So, a bit of background. My family consists of myself, my wife, and our 4 year old daughter. With our daughter, we have been to WDW probably 5-6 times (we were annual pass holders before our child), so we are grizzled Disney World vets. However, with all the price increases/falters in the parks, we were looking for a new way to get our Disney fix. We decided to price out a Disney Cruise, and to our surprise it was not that much more than our normal WDW trip. We decided to bite the bullet and do this during our Star Wars Half Marathon Weekend. My father has been dying to try a cruise, so he decided he wanted to tag along (my mother did not want to, so she got the fun of watching the pets). So after booking 2 rooms, we were set to go.

Pre-Cruise

So lets start with before the cruise. We ended up staying at the Hilton Buena Vista Palace from Friday-Monday. It was absolutely incredible. We went down for the race weekend (daughter ran the kids race Saturday, my wife and I ran the half). The hotel was beautiful and the rooms were huge. Great location, easy bus transport. I could review all of our restaurants, but just want to quickly mention Morimoto. We went right after my daughters race and she was still in her Rey costume. The hostess, Jamie, noticed this and actually came by and drew her a picture of Rey (turns out she is a comic book/graphic artist that had even helped on the movie). She was incredibly nice and made what was already a great meal even better.

After a day in Disney Springs on Saturday, we had an early night and woke up bright and early for the Star Wars Dark Side half. Ran the half and then headed on to Epcot for Flower and Garden. We ate an early dinner/late lunch at Biergarten (because what is better than a liter of beer after 13.1 miles), and then headed back to the hotel to swim a bit, then head to bed for the big day tomorrow.

 

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Embarkation Day (April 24)

So fair warning, we are an early morning family. 7:30 rolls around, and I decide to head over to the Boardwalk Bakery (because a breakfast of cinnamon rolls is always good). I pick up everyone’s order, and head back to the hotel. After scarfing our food down, we decide at 9:00 to check out and head to Port Canaveral. We had a car, so it was a pretty easy 1:15 drive over to the port.

Pulling up to the Port gives us our first view of the ship that we will call home for the next 4 nights. After parking ($80 for the trip, you pay on the way into the garage), we head into the terminal. Note that there is a walkway on level 3, so this is a great place to park in the garage. They will check you passports before entering the walkway to the terminal, so have them ready.

Upon entering the terminal, we see a large line to meet Mickey, and virtually no line for check in. We walk over to check in and get situated. At check in, they give you a card with your loading number (it’s called something else, just can’t think of it). We were in wave 8, and of course my first thought is “Great, we are going to be waiting forever.” We head over to the child watch check in to get our daughter her magic band, and then get in line for Minnie (who had taken over for Mickey). The line actually moved much faster than a lot of the WDW lines. Right before our turn, they make an announcement that they were beginning to board wave 1. About 2 minutes later, they announce wave 2. Long story short, my worries about waiting forever quickly dissipated, we were on board in no time.

After getting on board, we had three things we wanted to do. Get lunch, check with Guest Services, and check out the kids club. We started with Guest Services. We started by trying to get tickets for meeting the princesses (which I hadn’t been able to get before the cruise). That was plenty easy, and we had our tickets for the Day at Sea. Next was getting tickets for the Castaway Cay 5k (yes we ran the half on Sunday which did result in a stress fracture in my foot, but when would I get this chance again?) Once again, plenty of ease. Next, on to the Oceaneers Club. That place is absolutely incredible. We toured it, and it is everything they tout it as and more. There is something for EVERY kid. I wanted to stay. After seeing it (and our daughter falling in love), we decided to head up to eat lunch.

We knew Cabanas would be crowded, but Stone Crab and Shrimp, I couldn’t turn it down. To our surprise, it wasn’t as bad as we expected. Lunch was incredible. There was all sorts of food, and the Stone Crab was every bit as good as you get at any place in Florida.


Once finished, we headed to check out the state rooms. For our room, we had a room with a big port window (no balcony for us). The room had a good amount of storage under the beds, so we utilized the drawers and closets and stuck suit cases underneath. After this, we got some swimsuits on and headed up to the pools on Deck 11. We played in Nemo’s reef, and then headed off for the emergency drill. This went quick, and it was back up to the deck for the send off party. This was pretty entertaining with characters dancing and meeting some of the crew, but my daughter was much more interested in trying the Aquaduck. Lucky for us, she was tall enough by a couple of inches. The wait was around 15 minutes (never really got more than 30 if that), and it was well worth it. That is a fun water slide. It gets a bit cold going up the stairs if until you get inside the stairwell, but it was great.

On our way back to the room, we stopped at the spa and discovered the rainforest package, which gave you access to the private sauna, steam room, scrubs, and hot tubs each day for $169. Honestly, this was worth it. We sent our daughter to the kids club for a bit and decided to do the treatment. It was really relaxing.

Around this time, we started getting some pretty heavy winds/choppy seas. We headed back to the stateroom, and a quick look at the bridge report showed 30 knot winds. We were whipping around pretty well. We picked our daughter up for dinner at the Royal Palace (we had the late dinner). Now, something we learned this day. Naps are important. We usually eat early, and our daughter is usually getting into bed by 730. She was REALLY upset during dinner this night, and I felt for our poor waiter Wut (who by the way was OUTSTANDING). The food here was superb. I had the rack of lamb which was amazing, and started with the French Onion soup which was a lot heavier than you would think. With my daughter dying on me, I decided to take her back to bed and have my wife/father bring me back some desert. Lucky for me, they brought a delicious crème brule along with a chocolate cake. The night ended with us rolling all over our bed from the high winds/rough weather (which is not indicative of how great the first day was).

 

[LSLS]

Nassau Day (04/25)

This day started MUCH smoother than the previous day ended (from a weather standpoint). We decided to start with dinner in the Enchanted Garden as the ship pulled into Nassau. The breakfast was your standard breakfast buffet on the ship (which meant much better than we were used to at WDW). After much debate, we decided that we would rather spend the day on the boat than going to Atlantis with us entering the port at 930. After breakfast, my wife and I went to the spa to use our rainforest treatment. Around 1030, we decided to leave the boat to at least say we went to Nassau. We wandered the shops for about 45 minutes and decided we would MUCH rather be on the boat, and headed back for lunch at Cabanas.

After eating, it was swimming time. We rode the Aquaduck a couple more times, and then swam in the pools for some time. Around 3:00, after learning our lesson the previous day, it was nap time. Our daughter was out within 10 minutes. She slept for a few hours, and around 530, we began getting ready to head to the Villains show. My wife snagged a mani/pedi at 6, so she bailed on the show while the rest of us went. The show was incredible. The jokes were amazing, great singing, just an amazing show. You know they did something right when a 34 year old metal head, his 60 year old father, and 4 year old diva daughter all loved the show.

After the show, it was time for dinner. Our daughter wanted to go to kids club, so we grabbed her some quick pizza from Tow Maders area, and then sent her there while we went to dinner at Artist’s Palate. Again, this was absolutely amazing. I ended up with a sirloin (strictly for Yorkshire pudding) and some pasta for an app. We also got an extra main to try the pork chop, which was absolutely incredible. I ordered my desert, and our waiter Wut mentioned I missed a great desert last night in the suffle (which my dad agreed with). He then proceeded to bring me up that desert as well to make sure I got to try it. Again, outstanding service. After dinner, we were again exhausted, so we picked up the daughter from kids club and it was off to bed.

 

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Castaway Cay (04/26)

The day starts off early as we prep for the 5k. At 7:00, we head to Cabanas to get some pastries to hold us over for the race. We head down to Evolution for the 5k meeting at 8:00, where we receive our bibs and get to check out the course. After this quick meeting, we get to head off the ship, and it is a quick walk to the start line. I position myself in the back since with my stress fracture in my foot I know I will be taking my time. The race starts and you run down the bike path to the air strip. From the air strip, you do the bike path loop. This is pretty rough as with all of the trees, no wind really passes through here, and it gets pretty hot pretty fast. Once you make it through the mile long loop, it’s a quick jog off to Serenity Bay, and then you turn around and head back from where you came (including the loop). This time, I decided I was going up the tower on the bike path since I saw nobody else doing it (and as I said before, this is the most leisurely 5K I will ever do). It was an incredible view, so if you run this and just want to enjoy it, I definitely recommend making the quick trip up it (pics don’t do it justice). As you get back and cross the finish line, you receive your medal, and there are some shirts and other souvenirs to purchase. I figured the 5K was free, so $25 for a shirt was like the entrance fee (at least that is how I justified it to myself).

Right around this time, my father and daughter were getting to the beach, so we found a nice set of lounge chairs under a palm tree and set up camp. There were PLENTY of lounge chairs, so that was never a concern. We then went down to the water (which was much colder than we expected) and we wandered. We ended up at the slides and took a ride on them. They were much faster than they looked, but a blast. We then tried some snorkeling, though my wife did not do well with it (FYI, we bought snorkels at Walmart for $10 before we left so we didn’t blow a ton of money if we didn’t like it).

At this point, it was time for lunch at Cookies, so we headed over. The food was great. There were chicken sandwiches, hamburgers, potato salad, etc. Like I said, very good. After this, we took my daughter to the kids club on the island while we went to Serenity Bay. This was the highlight for ALL of us. My daughter could not stop raving about the kids club and how much fun she had. And Serenity Bay was a MUST check out. It was so peaceful, and when we wandered into the water, it was amazing the wildlife we saw. We saw sea slugs, starfish, and tons of fish (even one that looked like a tuna, but it went by so fast it was tough to tell).

Around 130, we decided it was time to head back to the boat so that we could catch the new Beauty and the Beast in the movie theater. I really didn’t like it, but that is a different discussion. Anyways, after the movie, it was nap time. Everyone took a nap but me, and I headed to the bar and got a beer mug. Around 645, everyone awoke, and it was time to head to the Boutique for the Pirate makeover. They did a great job and my daughter loved it. From here, we headed up to the deck for the Mickey Pirate show. It was ok, and but next we got to head for dinner at Artist Palate. The food was all great, and Wut again did a GREAT job taking care of us.

Once we were done, NORMALLY, it would be time for fireworks. However, we had a medical emergency occur, and around 600, we began to race back to Nassau (and I mean race, we were flying). They rescheduled the fireworks for the next night as we were going to be in Nassau around the time of fireworks. Credit to everyone on board. I never once heard anything close to a complaint. Everyone only mentioned how great it was that we were able to get back to help the person and they hoped everything ended up ok.

So, with the change in plans, we took our daughter to kids club, and we went to a Whiskey tasting. This is something I had no idea occurred on the ship, but they do all sorts of tastings (wine, beer, whiskey, martinis, tequila, etc.). It was $25, and you got 4 whiskeys to try (and they are expensive ones). Novi (the cast member who ran it) had a TON of knowledge, and I learned a lot about whiskey while gaining a greater appreciation for the flavors. It was EASILY one of the best deals we found on the ship. After this, we went to pick the little one up, and it was off to bed again.

 

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Day at Sea (4/27)

With nothing to wake up for, we slept late for our family and headed to breakfast at Cabanas. After breakfast, it was time for our first tickets of the day, meeting the Princesses. Tickets were gone before they even opened for us, but we picked them up on the first day. We got to meet Belle, Cinderella, Tiana, and Rapunzel. Great way to meet the princesses without the lines. We then went to ride the Aquaduck a few more times before lunch at Royal Palace and our next meet and greet, Frozen. Elsa was not their (of course, the cute answer of “She was at Castaway Cay still because Olaf had melted and she had to bring back his snow flurries.”). This is Artist Palate, where they change all of the murals to Frozen Murals. These tickets did not go as quick as princesses, and it was really cool to see the room all in Frozen.

After the meet and greet, it was nap time for everyone except me, who proceeded to go watch Star Wars Rogue 1, which I absolutely loved. After the movie, everyone was waking up and it was time for the Disney Believe show. This was absolutely incredible. More than once my 4 year old daughter was wiping away tears because she was so moved by it. If you see this on your itinerary, jump on it immediately. I can not say enough about how funny and moving this was.

Next it was time for our final dinner (let me add before dinner, I put our suitcases outside our rooms to be picked up. They take them to the port before you arrive in the morning and you stick with a carry on, same as with when you board), which was in the Enchanted Gardens. This was my favorite food of any of the restaurants. I started with the Lobster ravioli which had large chunks of lobster claws in them. Absolutely incredible. I then got the cream of asparagus soup which again, was amazing with the crab meat. My entrée was the Prime Rib which was incredibly tender. Our table also had Sea Bass and Scallops which were equally cooked perfectly and delicious.

After dinner, our daughter wanted to go to kids club one final time, so we dropped her off there and headed to check out Pink. I grabbed a beer with my beer club mug from just outside, and my wife and father got the champagne trio. Expensive, but the champagnes were good, and the ambiance is really amazing. We found out before heading down that the concept is based off of Dumbo, and if you look inside the bubbles, a pink elephant appears. Sure enough, that is the case. This is the little magic Disney includes on the Dream that (in my opinion) has been lacking the past few years at WDW. Once we finished, it was off to bed in our rooms for the final time.

 

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Debarkation Day (04/28)

I woke up extra early for some reason and was unable to go to bed again. This allowed me to sit at our window and watch as we pulled into port. Once everyone awoke, we finished putting our things together, gave the room a final check, and headed to breakfast (which occurs at the place you ate dinner the night before). One final note on that, the late dinner can be rough if you have kids if you don’t use naps to prepare. However, it also gives you the 8:00 breakfast as opposed to the 6:45 one, which is nice. Breakfast honestly was eh, food was fine, but they did not have a lot of things you grow accustomed to on the ship (mickey waffles, for example).

After breakfast, you leave the ship. We departed and saw a MASSIVE line waiting for us. I let out a huge sigh about this one. However, the lines flew by. What looked like an hour-2 hour line really only ended up around 15-20 minutes. Customs went quick, and we were out of the building and heading to our car in no time, concluding our Disney Dream Cruise.

Final Thoughts

I can’t say enough good things about this trip. This was more fun, more relaxing and a better experience than any WDW trip we have done in a long time, and for a very similar cost. You can book your next Cruise on the ship, and if they went further out, we would have done it immediately. I honestly could start counting the days to the next cruise today. There were plenty of things we still did not get to experience (we never did the Mid Ship Detectives, for example). Also, my free internet was completely spent while my internet was off (my wife still had some in the same room. I don’t know). But they don’t automatically keep charging you, you have to approve more. If you don’t, your app still works and nothing else, so it worked out great. Another thing I really loved. Anyways, if you are on the fence or considering a DCL at all, I can’t stress enough to take it, you will not be disappointed.

 

[chamberlain]

Glad you and your family had such a good time! Thanks for writing a trip report.

 

[TestingH2O]

Great report! I'm so glad you had such a wonderful time.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

What a great trip report! Thanks for writing it.