Rozo Family 1st Dream Cruise

[yajaira74]

We just got back this Sunday from our 3-day Bahamas Dream Cruise and I'm still not sure if it was a dream (pun intended). Thank goodness I took a lot of pictures to prove to me it really happened.

Hopefully you took a peek at my pre-trip report and know how much this trip meant to all of us

It was short but totally amazing and magical Worth every penny

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3102006

Our cast of characters:
DD21 Celebrating her 21st birthday on the Disney Dream May 23rd Embarkation day! and college graduation!
DD15 Celebrating her Confirmation and finishing her 1st year of HS!
DD9 Celebrating passing her 1st year of state testing!
DH Celebrating Celebrating Celebrating
Me Cervical Cancer Survivor 1 year Cancer Free got the call the day before departing - Definitely worth Celebrating

It's also our yearly family reunion (DD21 live in in Massachusetts)

Before going on our 1st cruise I did a lot of lurking on the DIS Boards and got a lot of great tips. This is my way of giving back and hopefully it will help others.

 

[yajaira74]

We were packed and ready by Wednesday night. We live about 3-hours from the Port but needed to drop of our dog Nubi at Grandma's who lives an hour from the Port. This required us to be up at 5am and on the road by 6am. Even with 3 girls sharing 1 bathroom this went off with out a hitch:
We had 3 carry-on's and 3 check-in bags.
Carry on (1) drink-cups & 6 pack of water (2) Drinks: Champage, Wine, Vodka, 12-pack of beer (3) Change of clothes for Dinner

The Princesses were up and ready for a quick Dunken Donuts stop and off we went

We drove by several buses on our way to Grandma's and could sense the sadness of the many people who just got off the cruise. It just made us more excited.
once we dropped off the grand-doggy it was time to head towards The Radisson to drop off the car and grab their shuttle to the port

We used http://parkportcanaveral.com/ I paid a week before $6.99 a day which was much less than the port at $15 a day I later read that some who have paid months in advance paid only $3.99 a day what a deal.

It was very convenient. We parked across the street from The Radisson where I went into the office and presented my receipt and was given a parking pass for the front of the car. She also gave me a return ticket to give to the driver when we came back on Sunday.
While I was inside DH was unloading the luggage. Once he was done parking the car the shuttle pulled right up the driver loaded our luggage on the shuttle and we were on our way. The whole process took about 15 minutes.

5 minutes later we had arrived at the port! The shuttle made 1 stop at Carnival and then it was our turn
I was sitting right up front and the driver was nice enough to stay at the stop sign long enough for me to take a picture:

I'm pretty sure we skipped off the shuttle not before DH placed $6 in the tip jar ($1 a bag)
The driver took our luggage out and explained to us where to meet the shuttle for the return trip (section #4) at which point the Disney porters came to take our luggage and explain to us to have our ID's out and proceed to the terminal
DH tipped him $6 too

 

[Rx774]

Congrats on your trip.
You have a great looking family.
I take it you had a wonderful time.
More please.

 

[yajaira74]

We showed our IDs at the gate and proceeded to the terminal where they x-rayed our carry-ons and we walked through the metal detectors. (just like the airport but on a smaller scale) No pictures allowed

There were 2 lines and it was very quick. Up the escalator we went and we stepped into the terminal.

Everything was going according to plan! I had an 11:30 PAT

We stepped up to counter where they checked our paperwork, took our pictures, gave us our KTTW card and our boarding card. Checked the card and we still have late dining (I'd keep my fingers crossed and hope to be able to change it with the Maitre'd)

We were given boarding #10 which was great since I had heard someone say that they were boarding #35

We were approaching to take a picture in front of the model ship when a CM asked us if we would start the line for Minnie...YES!!! We'd more than love to.

It was now time to wait for our number to be called. The line for Kids clubs was 100 people deep. I quickly remembered reading on DIS that it is easier to register/check-in at the club during open hours. We took the time to pull out our homemade KTTW card holders to hang from our lanyards and quickly use the restroom. Oh yeah lets not forget to give DH the nausea meds. One drop behind each ear and he was ready to set sail!

They announced the 1st Family of the Day and promptly at 12:00 started boarding

15 minutes later we hear "now boarding 1-10" Hey that's us! Through the ears we go

As we wait in line on the gangway to take the boarding picture. Welcome flags

On the gangway it was time for the 1st picture. You hand the photographer your KTTW card and they snap quite a few.

The time had finally come we were about to step on the ship. We wait patiently at the entrance while they ask our family name

"Welcome the Rozo Family" and that's when the tears started. I somehow made it through the line and through my blubbering asked the CM...
"Which way to the aquaduck?"

 

[Cheryl726]

Looks like a great start, interested to read more! I just love the terminal and the welcome you get!

 

[bbn1122]

Thank you for sharing....what a beautiful family. 3 daughters....I have 3 sons, 19, 15 and 13.

I am looking forward to your whole report. We will be on the Dream 3 night for the 2nd time next August. When went the first time in 2011 we had to deal with the remnants of Hurricane Irene, so it was a little disappointing , no CC..

 

[Luv2Diz]

Fun TR so far.....looking forward to more!

 

[Arthur92]

can't wait for more of The Dream. my crew boards in August...

 

[wiigirl]

Can't wait to hear more.

 

[Rx774]

These never get old to me, its hard to explain it, but i can read TR's all day long, and can see pictures of the ship, all day long, and don't feel like its spoiling it for myself.
More please...

 

[Madzac]

Following too! You have a beautiful family!

 

[yajaira74]

"Awww" said the CM when she saw my face and then directed us to the elevators - Deck 11

]
Thanks to DIS (I'll be typing this a lot!) I knew to go straight to the Aquaduck to catch the shortest line. We wore our bathing suits under our clothes for easy presto-chango. We picked up a couple of towels and put our carry-ons on a chair closest to the entrance to the Aquaduck. The sign read 15 minutes but it was more like 5 minutes!Score! the deck is hot but if you step where others left a nice foot puddle your tootsies will be OK. If you have sensitive feet you are allowed water shoes. Unfortunately, I was too excited for pictures and they wouldn't let DD21 neither videotape nor take pictures so...

What a blast!!! Do NOT miss riding the Aquaduck if you can help it!

Cabanas is nestled right behind the Aquaduck. Time to get some yummys! DH has been looking forward to the Stone Crab Legs since we booked this cruise. Time to Manga! (My personal favorite was the lamb chop)

Look how tiny the CCL ship looks next to our Dream and there are still 2 more floors above us

Well its about 1:15 and I need to stop by Guest Services to sign-up for the Mixology class, drop off 2 pieces (picture frame and sash) for signatures and send DH to the maitre'd to change our dinner to main seating AND we want to make the ship tour at 2:00

We definitely had some pixie dust on the early dinning. DH said they changed with no pause The Sash not so much. FYI - if you want to have a piece signed make sure it is Disney or blank, otherwise they will not sign it. Luckily DD21 had a Mickey shirt (blank on the back) they accepted and delivered to us signed on the last night..Phew

Time to check out our room and drop off our carry-ons
We had Stateroom 6126 port side family deluxe with verandah

This room fit the 5 of us perfectly

And we totally loved the verandah (FYI unlock the door and slide it in towards the left) (also watch your step coming out of the bathrooms)

Thank you to everyone on DisDesign who designed all these wonderful magnets we used to decorate our door

Hate to leave such a comfy bed and awesome room but time to tour the Dream

 

[yajaira74]

The ship tour met in front of the Walt Disney Theater her is where we met are 1 of our favorite CM's Briana. She gave us a great tour that got us acquainted with the ship and really helped us get around. It took about an hour
Our Captain

WD Theater

Check out the ceiling. It is the astrological signs done in Disney Characters. Very Cool!

Shutters shelves

The District

687 Sports Bar

Evolution

Bathrooms

They also showed us the 3 MDR.

Now it was time to check-in DD9 into Oceaneer Club. Unlike the huge line at the terminal at their was only one family ahead of us. Here is the ID tag DD9 had to wear. she had self-checkin and out privileges

Time to play in the kids area

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-
RhSkvpv0VhY/UaPR4K75btI/AAAAAAAAPZc/_DLjjEyX8wo/w640-h480-no/Disney+Dream+5.23+105.jpg

Pixie Hollow

Monsters Lab

Time to check-out Vibe - Teen Club

DD15 was not sure she wanted to hang at Vibe. On the last night she cried as she said goodbye to all the friends she made and her counselors.

4:30 hit and it was time to head towards are Muster Station. We headed back to our room just to be sure where we were suppose to be. Oh that what that big G is on our KTTW Card. G is our muster station. Thank goodness for all those that showed us the way.

This was serious business. We stood as a family in hieght order and squished together until all familes were accounted for
This was truly the only time I could tell that we were on this boat with 3,000 other people

It was kind of like a fire drill. loud alarms and all. but 15 minutes later it was done and we were free to go to the Sail Away Party.
We rode the elevator to Deck 11 and climbed the stairs to Deck 12 so we could watch the Sail Away Party above at DD21 request. As the shortest on of the family she wanted to make sure she had a great unobstructed view. But 1st lets stop for a nice cocktail to enjoy the show.

As we got comfortable guess who passed by to give us streamers...One of our favorite CM's Briana!
This is where the CM's introduce themselves and of course the characters

Do NOT miss the Sail Away Party! It was really fun and exciting! PS DH who said this was a way to distract everyone from the movement of the boat was really excited to excitedly start yelling "We're moving" yup the Disney magic turned him into an excited kid. It was great to see!

What?! Its already 5pm...Time to get ready for dinner. I had request Royal Palace for DD21 Birthday Dinner and couldn't wait for her to be treated like the Princess that she is

 

[kittychatalot]

I am learning so much!

 

[biged9973]

Congratulations on being 1 year cancer free. My wife is 3 years cancer free, also cervical cancer. There is nothing like going thru treatment etc to give you perspective on the important things in life.

You guys look like you had an amazing time and I'm looking forward to more!!

 

[yajaira74]

My TA made sure to put on our reservation that we were celebrating DD21 birthday. Her crown and sash made everyone on the ship aware of this and everyone we ran into said Happy Birthday. I had called DCL and requested Royal Palace on the 1st night. Royal Palace is definitely made for a Princess.

We ordered the Escargot for everyone to share (I figured this may be the only chance to get the girls to taste it... They can't say no to Mickey

Our Waiters were amazing Jo-Jo and Andre. They would place our napkins on our laps and Jo-Jo would cut DD9 meat every night and even feed her a bite!

It had been quite a long and exciting day and DD15 barely made it through dinner.

For dessert several of the waiters came to sing Happy Birthday and bought her a special dessert.

Take time to walk around the restaurant after dinner. Check out the Princess art, window treatments, floors, chandeliers and chair designs it is majestic!

DD15 wanted to change before heading to the Golden Mickeys Show so I hung out on the balcony while she changed. I also filled out the room service card that is in the dresser drawer so that we would have coffee, tea and juice delivered at 7AM. This served as our wake -up every morning

On our way to the theater guess who we ran into.

The Girls walked the red carpet and were interviewed for the show. It was televised on the screen inside the theater. Very Cool!

FYI Filming and picture taking is not allowed inside the theater. But it was Amazing!!! This is where we meat our Cruise Director Christian. He was hilarious. (He is also on the TV explaining next day procedures)

It was time for to split up. DD9 went to the Oceaneer Club. DD15 went running off to Vibe (She had met some teens at the Sail Away party and was not excited to hang out). DD21, DH and I were off to dance the night away at Evolutions We agreed to all meet back at the room at Midnight since we were getting up early the next day for the Bahamas.

We shook our booties till clock struck 12. Then like Cinderella DD21 came back shoeless

We were welcomed by a swan and some sleepy chocolates

It was late and we were getting ready for bed but DD9 wanted to try room service and order Milk and Cookies. The girls in their PJs went up to the 11th floor with their cups to get water for the night. It also gave DD21 a chance to ride the corner glass elevator alone so she could video the characters on the wall.

Next Stop The Bahamas

 

[iloverags2]

Enjoying your report! Love the family pic outside the terminal when you arrived at the port...beautiful!

And what celebrations you had for your cruise! Wonderful!

 

[yajaira74]

*Knock Knock Knock* Room Service! Bed was too comfy so I sent DH to answer the door
Nothing like tea or coffee or juice on the veranda! It felt amazing another must do if you have a veranda room!

We wore our swimsuits under our clothes since DH wanted to take a quick dip at the public beach after our walking tour. We packed our water bottles that were kept nice and cold in the refrigerator and headed down to Enchanted Garden for the Breakfast buffet.

Enchanted Garden has awesome scenery that changes lighting according to the time of day. Very Pretty

I was looking forward to Mickey Waffles and Eggs Benedict but the buffet did not have Eggs Benedict. Our server heard me say this and 10 minutes later she brought me a plate of Eggs Benedict!

PS Try the sausage they were yumtastic!

With our belly full and happy it was time to meet the princess. We headed to the Princess Gathering in the Atrium. While we were waiting guess who appears

The CM's were very impressed with the autograph books I printed from the DisDesign. Each character had their own page (They liked that)

Well it was time to tour Nassau! I had gone online and printed this walking tour. it was really informative and had great directions. It was a great tour and it was FREE

http://www.brentjes.com/nassau.html

The welcome center was busy and fun full of music and great colorful designs

Our 1st stop was get our 1st passports stamp. We walked to that tall yellow building. They checked our ID's at security and told us to go the last office down the hall. There we were greeted by 2 Bahamian Officials who stamped our passports and then proceeded to sing Happy Birthday to DD21 who was wearing her birthday crown.

Time to tour the island: Parliament, Pubic Library, Queens Staircase, Fort Fincastle, Water Tower

 

[iloverags2]

You did my favorite thing in Nassau...touring on our own! We always get our passports stamped there (tons of stamps, so they now just welcome me back when they open my book! LOL), and love walking over to Ft. Fincastle and Queen's Staircase. I think these two spots are completely overlooked, which is a shame because they are quite charming.

Looking forward to seeing which beach you ended up at!

 

[yajaira74]

It was a beautifully sunny day and we worked up a nice sweat touring the island it was now time to take a dip in the beach. But first a quick stop at Diamond International for our free charm bracelet. Outside the shopping show on the ship they gave the girls boat charms and a coupon for a free bracelet. We walked into the store they directed us to a table in the back where there was an employee handing out the bracelet. I didn't even need the coupon, I just had to tell him which ship I was on. No strings attached! Free Souvenir Score!

We headed to the free public beach Junkanoo Beach

There was a Tiki Bar on the beach selling 3 bahama mama shots and 3 beers for $10. Yes Please

A street vendor was selling chonch whistles 3 for $5 I offered him 3 and he accepted. I was told to always haggle and it works

It was now time to head back to the ship for lunch. DH needed his daily crab and shrimp fix So we headed to Cabanas. The sushi was delish!

When we got to the room we had a couple of cool surprises.
Our Pirate bandanas were waiting for us with our invitation to the booking desk

Comfy robes

Chocolate covered strawberries

The strawberries came with an apology note. That morning, our toilet was not flushing. We called Guest Services and they had it taken care of in 20 min. They didn't even have to come to the room. We just heard a *woosh* coming from the toilet and it was all good again. You gotta love Disney service

The girls went to the pool while DH and I went to the 3PM Mixology class. It was $15 per person and was totally worth it. It was held in the Skyline Bar. The Skyline Bar has changing "windows" which take you on an international skyline tour. Brazil, Hong Kong, New York, France. It was very cool. The bartender teaches the class to make 4 drinks and then you get to make them for the rest of the class. We made B-52, Paris Martini, Pirate Treasure (I liked this one the most) & Capirinha. It was really fun, informative and yes you do walk out with a bit of a buzz.

Once the class was over we walked over to the booking desk and booked a dummy date for 2014

We told the girls to be in the room at 4:30 so we could be ready for Pirate Night. They were in the room when we came in waving our receipt from the booking desk

Time to get our Pirate on