Spring Break Sea & Land - 3 Day Dream Cruise *Updated 5/4*

[teetee830]

I thought I’d try my hand at this trip report thing. I’ve read so many over the years in anticipation for upcoming trips I thought I try my hand at one. I figure since this is a land and sea (or in our case sea and land) trip I’ll post the cruise portion in the cruise forum and the land portion in the Disney Trip Reports forum and link the other for each, does that make sense?

The Plan

Typically, when we travel my mom joins us, but this year it was just myself and my son who is 10.




This all started about 8 months ago when we decided to try our first Disney Cruise. I wanted to do a 5 day Bahamas out of Miami on the Magic but my son wanted to go on the Disney Dream for the Star Wars area of the Oceaneer Club. Since I wasn’t sure when we might do a Disney cruise again and at 10 he might age out of the kid’s club and (gasp!) into the teen area before we cruised again, I relented and booked a 3 day on the Dream. I also decided pretty much right away that I would surprise my son with a trip to Kennedy Space Center when we got off the ship. He is a big space fan (notice the planet Mickey shirt?) and is determined to be the first person to step on Mars, he’s already writing his own “One Step for Man” speech for the occasion.

I also decided this would be a fun trip to take on spring break. I used up my vacation time pretty quickly last year and I didn’t think I would make it until summer before taking a vacation. Our school system does spring break a bit differently than others we get one week and two days out of school, from Friday through the following Monday. This meant a Friday embarkation day would work for us so March 17 – 20 for the cruise would be perfect. Then in January my son broke his foot, or to be technical his 5th Metatarsal.



I was freaked out that he would end up in a cast or need surgery before our trip but everything healed nicely. A very nice benefit my employer offers is accident insurance and since we didn’t need a lot of extra treatment for the foot this money didn’t need to supplement my medical insurance so bonus now I could add on a couple days at Walt Disney World! Somehow I managed to keep this a secret from my son too!

So here are our final plans:

Thursday, March 16th I would leave work early and we would take an evening flight to MCO. Also through a bonus program through work I could use points to book the Hyatt Regency MCO so we wouldn’t have to drive to a hotel for the night.

Friday, March 17th – Monday, March 20th on the Disney Dream 3 day Bahamas with stops at Nassau and Castaway Cay.

Monday, March 20th Kennedy Space Center, Disney Springs and check in at Port Orleans Riverside, this is a first for us at this resort.

Tuesday, March 21st – Wednesday, March 22nd at Walt Disney World. Magic Kingdom on Tuesday, Epcot and Flower & Garden Festival on Wednesday.

Thursday, March 23rd take a 12:15 flight home.

I hope everyone enjoys this and follows along. Thanks for reading!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

You got on the cruise, the day we got off!! I'm missing it every day since I got off!!

 

[teetee830]

You got on the cruise, the day we got off!! I'm missing it every day since I got off!!

I miss it already! A 3 day was not near long enough. I'm trying to decide if we can fit one in for 2018.

 

[teetee830]

Day One – Thursday, March 16th Travel Day

I started packing almost a month before we left (do you think I was ready for a vacation?) I know this sounds crazy but really it was mostly because I needed to see what clothes I might need to purchase for the trip and since it was still cold in Indiana and would, hopefully, be warm in Florida/Bahamas it’s not like we were wearing any of that stuff. Yes, I’m trying to justify. Hahaha



Anyway, do you think this meant I was any closer to being ready to go come time? Nope, I was up finishing laundry and packing until almost midnight the night before. We still had to get up and go to work/school the day we left so we were up at 5:30 like normal. Before leaving the house, I made sure the car was packed except for my son’s back pack he was taking. We made a pile on the sofa of all the stuff to go in there and a bag with the stuff for the dog to go to the doggie hotel. My son’s school lets out at 2:20 and I made arrangements for my dad to pick him up, don’t even ask how he normally gets home it’s a crazy story. I left work at 3:00, I should have left earlier but I’ll get to that. I ran home, practically threw the kid and the dog into the car and off to the kennel we went. By the time we left the house it was after 3:30 and we finally got out of town at 4:10. We live just about an hour from the airport and our plane left at 6:40. Sounds like it shouldn’t be a problem, right? Well in theory that should work. However, leaving town 4:10 had us getting to Indianapolis right at the start of rush hours, there was construction and an accident on I-465, no shock there. Neither of us had had supper so we ran to the Starbucks kiosk, it was the closest to our gate, at grabbed a bottle of water to share and sandwiches and chips for the plane. We ended up getting to the gate and they were already pre-boarding. My son was in a panic because as any of you that fly Southwest know the chances that he wouldn’t be able to sit by me are great. We had an A boarding group but if we missed that we were in trouble, the plane originated in Baltimore so there were already people on board and it was a full flight! Luckily we just made it! It was a very uneventful flight and we made it to MCO in good time and landed just before 9:00 pm.

As a side note, there was a gentleman sitting next to my son on the plane and as we were waiting to get off the plane he told me I have a very nice, well behaved son. That always makes me feel so warm and fuzzy when someone complements my son’s behavior.

The Hyatt will gather your luggage for you for a $10 fee but my son being the worry wort he is didn’t want someone else to get our bags. You never know when bell services might lose their minds and steal all our stuff. So off we went to baggage claim then back up to the hotel. Check in at the Hyatt was very quick and easy. We were given a room overlooking the main terminal. I forgot to take pictures of the room but it was very nice. Here is a picture of our view.



My son was thrilled to be staying here and to be able to see the terminal from the room. It was kind of novel to be able to look over the airport. The bed was terribly uncomfortable and this stupid fountain kept me awake half the night!





All in all, it was very convenient to stay here and given the same situation, coming in later in the evening and just for one night I’d stay again. Next time my son gets the bed closer to the balcony though.

 

[teetee830]

Day 2 pt. 1– Embarkation Day!

We had a port arrival time of 10:45 am so my goal was to leave MCO by 9:00 – 9:30ish. We woke up around 7:00, which is our normal sleep in time. Got ready gathered our things and were out of the room around 8:30. I decided that I wasn’t in the mood for food court food or the wait or cost of the hotel breakfast so I thought we’d just stop on the way to the port and get something quick. We went down to the National Car Rental counter and between the person that was already there and the women that thought the line was just a suggestion we didn’t end up leaving with our rental car until after 9:00 sometime. I soon found out, after asking a toll booth worker, there is nothing on FL-528 until you get to Coco. Don’t make my mistake get something to eat at the airport if you need it! We saw the beautiful ship, and by passed it still looking for breakfast.




At this point it was after 10:00 and I knew we would be able to eat lunch not long after boarding. I also realized I had forgotten to pack a hair brush! We stopped at a Dollar General store and grabbed a brush and some Hostess donuts for something quick, not my most proud moment for nutritious breakfasts. We did get orange juice though. We arrived at the port and apparently, I’m quite shifty looking, going into the gate after parking I got pulled aside for wanding (is that a real word?), the nice security lady says it’s because I was the 25th woman but I’m starting to get a complex. We made it through and at security I forgot to take off my bracelets so I set of the metal detector and got my second wanding of the day. Like I said I’m shifty looking. They were very quick and professional about it both times. Soon we finally saw the beloved Mickey Ears leading to the ship.


Check in was not very busy and took no time at all and got boarding group C. We still had about 15 minutes or so before they started boarding so we got in the line for check in/registration for the kid’s clubs. I know you can do this on the ship but I figured we were waiting anyway we might as well wait in line. The process here is very well run in my opinion. While in line someone came around and made sure you had your paper work completed, as the line moves along you come to a cast member with the bands, a bit further along another cast member checks for allergies and puts the appropriate tie strap on for that then you’re at the counter to complete. We were almost to the front of this line when they started boarding and just as we were being called to the next cast member to complete our registration, our boarding group was called.

A scary thing happened while we were waiting in the line. A lady further along behind us in line passed out! I heard her thud on the ground and I believe hit her head. Cast members were very quick to respond and get to her to help. My son was very upset because he was worried about her. We said a little prayer that she was okay, finished up in line and got out of the way.

Boarding was quick as we by passed the photo and soon they were calling our family name to board. The first sight of the atrium is a beautiful sight to behold and we were so excited to finally be on the ship.

 

[kkayluvsdis]

Great start! Looking forward to more

 

[teetee830]

Sorry for the long delay between posts. That stupid thing called life really gets in my way sometimes. So all the sudden it won't let m


Day 2 pt. 2– Embarkation Day!

After boarding we were after that lunch I had been promising my son we’d eventually get. We were both boarding on hangry at that point, except you can’t be that hangry when you are so happy to be on board. Up to Cabanas we went. We have only cruised once before with Royal Caribbean but I have to say the Cabanas buffet lunch was immensely better than the Royal Caribbean, or it could be that everything Disney just tastes more magical. Max and I both got similar plates, crab legs, shrimp, roast beef, corned beef (since it was St. Patrick’s Day I had to live up to my Irish heritage since I forgot to pack green), a southwest chicken I forget the name of and asparagus. Everything was hot fresh and cooked very well. The asparagus was perfectly crisp and the chicken was so good I wish I had more.


(I forgot to take a picture until I had already started eating so sorry for mostly eaten chicken, its a theme for the trip).

Then we decided to share one each of the cute mini desserts.


Clockwise starting from the left were, Oreo Cheesecake, Carmel Pecan Cupcake, Raspberry Cream Pot and NSA Chocolate Marquise. Our favorites in order were the Raspberry Cream Pot, Oreo Cheesecake, NSA Chocolate Marquise and Carmel Pecan Cupcake. Everything was good but the cupcake was a bit dry and tough. After lunch we headed for the pool, along with everyone else on the ship.

As a side note, be aware that everyone was changing their children into swimsuits using the ladies’ restroom outside Cabanas. By this point I was in desperate need of the facilities and I found this to be a bit annoying! Ok rant done.

We lucked into chairs close to the pool beside the Mickey slide (I can’t remember the technical name of it) and I settled myself in with the welcome aboard drink (which I also can’t remember the name of). It was very refreshing and tasty.


The boy played in the pool and on the slide for just a few minutes, he was over it pretty quickly because of the crowd and since I wasn’t swimming.


It wasn’t quite time to be able to find our state room yet and we decided to explore the ship. We headed up to the sports deck and ran into our favorite alien Stitch.


We really enjoyed the sports deck during the cruise. We started our trip long foosball tournament, with me as the victor. The miniature golf equipment wasn’t out yet so we headed back down to continue exploring. By this time Venelope’s was open so we stopped in to browse/drool same difference.


Then headed off to find our stateroom. We were in 8684 aft with one of the extended verandahs. We both loved this stateroom. Plenty of room and storage for both of us and I’d imagine it would be comfortable for the 4 it sleeps. Since we had only cruised once before and our stateroom on that ship was mid-ship I wasn’t sure about feeling movement. Neither of us felt any bad effects from our first cruise but you never can tell. In this cabin, it was no more noticeable in my opinion. I had also read the occasionally the diesel smell might be bad the only day I noticed it was when we were backing out of Nassau and into Castaway Cay, and only briefly. It was a very quiet location and our stateroom attendant was very efficient and attentive. Overall I would defiantly book this stateroom again and would try a similar stateroom if I cruised with another cruise line.


As an added bonus, we could see the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center while we were still docked at port. At that time my son didn’t know we’d be going after we got off the ship. He did take it as a sign he will one day work for NASA.

After checking out our room we headed down to check out the kid’s club before muster and dinner. Lots of fun activities but my son is kind of shy when he is on his own and not much of a joiner. He loved the options of the club but not the structure that went along with hit. He would have much preferred to be able to do what he wanted, as long as he wanted. He ended up only spending about 3 hours there one day.

We went the sail away party and then on to dinner. For some reason, I didn’t take many more pictures this day. I also didn’t take pictures at dinners because we were sat with another family and didn’t want to intrude on them. Our dining rotation was Enchanted Garden, Royal Palace and Animator’s Pallet.

After dinner, we saw the show for the evening The Golden Mickey’s. We both really enjoyed it but it ended up being the only one of the three shows we caught for the trip. Afterwards we stopped by the D-Lounge for a So You Think You Know Your Family game. The boy was sad to not get picked to play on stage but it was still a fun time.

Shortly after was when we met our new friend at Guest Services. When we got back to our room I tried the door with my card for the first time, the boy likes to be the one to open doors, and it didn’t work. We ran down to get it corrected and Andre was on duty. He was a lot of fun and started teasing Max about locking me out the room etc. They quickly got me a new card but this wouldn’t be the first time we visited with Guest Services this trip.

We headed back to room for our favorite cruise bedtime snack…..the fruit and cheese plate. I was a bit worried because when I booked the cruise they had taken this off the room service menu luckily it was quickly put back on the menu.


(see it didn’t last long enough for a good picture.)

There might have been a mutiny if my son couldn’t have his favorite cruise bed time snack. Mousekeeping, (do they call them that on DCL?) had visited to turn down our beds and the boy was very excited to be able to sleep in the upper berth and have the fun celling picture (which I neglected to take a picture of sorry).

The room was very quiet and we had no trouble falling right to sleep quite the difference from our room the night before at the hotel. I found that for such a short cruise the early port arrival time really helped feel like you have one more day aboard.