Surprise! We're NOT going to Disney! 9/18-9/25 <<Update 3/24 Page 21>>

[petals]

Gabby smiles! just kidding. she's so cute with her little scrunched up nose

I love the I am full plate so funny

Glad Juliana got her ice cream after swimming as well

 

[jenseib]

Diiner looks delicious. Claire is all about Steaks and filets too. I think next time we'll have to order her one as well.

 

[Elevationist]

Gosh, reading your TR is making me want to take a Disney Cruise, and I don't even like boats! I can't wait to read more!

 

[that's nice]

Following along, I loved the video her reaction is priceless. Didn't you know the dollar store is so much more fun than a Disney cruise!

thanks for reading!

Next time we should just surprise her with a trip to the dollar store... it would be a LOT cheaper.

The boat looks great and your room has nice space in it, I am looking forward to hearing what you think as one day I might take a Disney cruise.

Honestly, the boat was spotless. Probably the nicest ship we have ever been on. We've cruised on the Magic, 4 Carnival cruises, and a Norwegian cruise.

I got lucky and caught your update just before heading to bed.

And I am just responding... 4 days later.

First, I really wish Gabby would smile more...she has just a heartwarming smile...beautiful.

She does smile but I can never catch it on film.

You do have a habit of running just a tad late for things, don't you?

Just a bit. We try to make it on time but it just doesn't happen.

I'm guessing Barry called in and told them not to sit anyone with the "that's nice" family at dinner.

I wouldn't doubt that.

Nice deal on the wine for the length of the cruise.

We figured we would splurge a bit. Honestly, besides the wine, I think I only had 3-4 beers on the ship.

I am not surprised at all that Juliana ate almost her entire filet.

She is not shy to eat. Sometimes she does shock me.

I want a bite of Christopher's Mickey Bar.

You could of tried, but I don't think he would of let you.

Can't wait to hear what the first port of call is.

Chicago!

BIG Update! You don't mess around do you?

No, no I don't.

the boat is beautiful!!! late for everything? I know that feeling a little too well..

We try our hardest, really, we do, but it just wasn't happening for us.

at least you did get 2 free drinks! nothing like trying to liquor up the guests to tell them safety! Or was this for the ceremony?! While i am at it.. YAY FOR ROBERT MONDAVI!!!

No, this was for the DVC talk. Liquoring us up to get us to buy more points.

I agree your daughters smile could light up anything. what a sweetie!

Awwww, thank you!

no photography?!?!?! WHAT?!?

Apparently. I took hundreds of pictures of the shows when we cruised on the Magic.

your selfie is adorable! sauce face and all!!!

I think this was after wiping her face off.

You had a very eventful day! I'm exhausted!!! the room is still fantastic. You were on the Dream right?

Tell me about it. I was tired just writing about it.

Yes, we were on the Dream.

If we do the cruise we would go 2016. where is a good question and when is even better.

Well in true Disney fashion, time to start planning!

 

[that's nice]

That’s why they have stewards…
Trash away.

You know, our steward was awesome too. Always had the room looking good after we left in the morning.

You did say this was going to be a running theme

I wish I was joking about this.

Like all other Disney offerings, it’s all about Rope Drop.
At least you did get some of the complimentary stuff.

I'm thinking it is worse than RD. Looking back we should of set our watches 15 minutes ahead... errrr make that 30 minutes ahead.

Yah that’s unfortunate.
Was the gathering open to anyone or just for the folks that are already DVC?
It seems a bit wrongheaded to be hard selling those that have already made the plunge.

This was for current DVC owners. Basically they entice you with free cocktails. However that could be one of the most expensive cocktails ever if you decided to add on.

(Unless they’re viewing it as more of a pusher/addict kind of relationship )

I think this is a true statement. They asked during the presentation how many resorts people owned at. More than 1/2 the people there owned at 2 or more resorts.

That use to be true but it’s gotten a bit more lax over time.
That said, it’s still good that everyone at least see what’s expected from the process
(even if they’re not quite paying attention)

Listen, people should know what's going on. With technology, these ships are being monitored 24/7 but the ocean is not something anyone should mess with.

Oh it’s even more exciting than that.
Meeting in the theater means that “in the case of an actual emergency”, y’all would find yourselves not in one of the large “Mickey Yellow” life boats, but rather in one of the more adventitious and roly-poly rafts.

Fun, fun, fun…

Oh really? That's nice.

Wait, do the blow up rafts have wi-fi?

Sorry… If I’d have known y’all were going DCL cursing I’d have warned you about such things or pointed you to my TR about what to expect when aboard DCL ships. When it comes to the Muster… if you’re on time, you’re late.

It is really crazy that people arrive there so early. But I guess they figure the earlier to the muster the earlier they can get outta there?

Even here it’s a Rope Drop thing… sheesse.
On the up side, at least they no longer require everyone to show up wearing their life preservers.
The whole process use to be a good bit more involved.

I remember showing up years ago wearing life jackets on other cruise lines. Also I was a lot younger and I'm sure full of alcohol during the muster.

“Consider it marked.”

I’d consider that as a major bonus.
As a family of three, we’ve always shared tables. It’s generally a bit awkward.

We shared tables on other cruises and on our Magic cruise a few years ago. I'm sure we would of been fun to share a table with.

And that’s one of the hallmarks of DCL.

They really were great. Too bad we couldn't of taken them home with us.

Says much for the quality of the dinner.

That’s pretty much a tradition on cruses. Our first time out my son was not interested in desert that first evening either and received a similar plate emblazed with the word “Nothing!”
(oddly he has since always ordered desert when cursing)

I guess he learned his lesson. Much like Juliana, she ordered dessert the next 2 nights.

The best instance of this game I’ve ever witnessed though occurred our last time out. The family we were sharing a table with made a point to partake of any and every available opportunity for adventure during the sailing. As such, their kids were right exhausted by the time dinner would roll around. One evening the youngest actually fell asleep, head down on the table, between the main course and desert. The servers, not ones to miss a trick, brought her a similar chocolate sauce plate.

The word printed on it?


ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzz…

That's great!

When I was a kid there were a few occasions I ended up sleeping at dinner with my head on the table.

 

[pas130]

Gosh, reading your TR is making me want to take a Disney Cruise, and I don't even like boats! I can't wait to read more!

lol I was thinking the same thing

 

[that's nice]

​

Have a wonderful Halloween!

Thanks Mo. I had to work but Melody took the kids out trick-or-treating.

I liked the $100 gift shop credit we got from Aulani's presentation.

That would of been really nice!

Sir, we need you to tie this concrete block to your ankles.

Yea, sure. I'm good at following directions.

Spoiler alert: it's blue up there. With some clouds.

Thanks a lot. Guess I never need to look up again.

Heh. Sucker.

Ahhhh, what cha donna do? She really wanted to swim and I didn't want to goto bed yet.

Pretty cool that they put the game on the big screen, though.

It was. There were a ton of Falcons fans wearing jerseys. They were happy. The Bucs fans weren't so happy. The final score- ATL 58, TB 14.

Looks like a wonderful first day. Makes me want to take another Disney cruise!

It was great... we really had a fun time. We want to go on another cruise too!

 

[that's nice]

Gabby smiles! just kidding. she's so cute with her little scrunched up nose

She is cute. I wish I could just catch her on camera more often.

I love the I am full plate so funny

That will probably NEVER happen again.

Glad Juliana got her ice cream after swimming as well

See, don't feel too bad for her. She still ate ice cream.

Diiner looks delicious. Claire is all about Steaks and filets too. I think next time we'll have to order her one as well.

Dinner was great. I wish I took pictures of all of our food. I didn't go crazy with pictures this trip for whatever reason. I think it was because I had my hands full most of the time.

Gosh, reading your TR is making me want to take a Disney Cruise, and I don't even like boats! I can't wait to read more!

Thanks for sticking with my slow updates. I want to go again too!!!

lol I was thinking the same thing

Geez... looks like the cruise bug is going around!

 

[afwdwfan]

Wow, Juliana is really making the most of this cruise opportunity! Ordering multiple entrees, packing in as much pool time as possible, catching the shows... How are you and Melody ever going to keep up with her????

 

[that's nice]

Wow, Juliana is really making the most of this cruise opportunity! Ordering multiple entrees, packing in as much pool time as possible, catching the shows... How are you and Melody ever going to keep up with her????

Tell me about it. She was like a seasoned cruiser. Glad she was with us.... Melody & I need to take pointers from her.

 

[that's nice]

I woke up a few times during the night from noise... there was banging & screeching coming from above our room. It got worse closer to morning and woke Gabby up about 6am. I quickly grabbed her from the pack-n-play and put her in the bed with Melody & me. Gabby fell back asleep but I didn't. The moving of deck chairs was really, really annoying. Luckily, everyone else stayed asleep till 7. Juliana woke up and we went out to the veranda to look around.....



We could see land in the distance- Nassau wasn't too far away. Juliana and I sat out just taking in the sights. We could see a boat in the distance off the starboard side. As we got closer the boat started moving toward us.





It isn't like it was trying to sneak up towards us. The engine was really loud. The boat ended up pulling along side us and stayed next to the Dream for about 1 minute before pulling away.



I couldn't see what was going on because the rescue boats were in my way but I thought it was a little odd. What could the boat be transferring to the Dream- or vice versa? We were about to be in port within the hour. Hummm... guess we'll never know. (unless anyone reading has any idea?)

Christopher and Gabby both woke up and came out to see what we could see. We were getting very close to docking.



This is the British Colonial Hilton where we would be spending our day in Nassau. We bought day passes there which cost $60 per adult and $30 per child but $40 per adult and $20 were returned to us in food and drink vouchers. We felt it was a good deal for us because we did want to get off of the boat in port but didn't want to book any excursions since we had a 16 month old.



Gabby was enjoying the view...



So was Christopher and Juliana. Oh look Juliana is already in her bathing suit.



The boat started turning, did a 180, and backed into the dock. Looking towards the lighthouse.



We headed to breakfast and I forgot to bring my camera. DOH! We ended up eating at the Enchanted Gardens. They had a buffet which was not really what we were looking for but it worked out because we were able to eat pretty quickly. We stopped back at the room to grab our bags and headed off the ship- which went very quickly and smoothly.

Sunny Nassau!

 

[that's nice]

We started our walk to the Hilton walking by hundreds of people trying to sell us clothes, offering rides around the island, offering horse & buggy rides, selling nik-naks, etc. You try to be nice and say no thank you till you just stop answering all together.

We did see a pirate on our walk.



It took us about 10-15 minutes of walking before we arrived at the Hilton. A quick stop at the front deck to check in and receive some wristbands, then we were heading out to the beach. There was a little building where you received beach towels and Juliana was able to use snorkel equipment.



Looking back towards the hotel....



There were great views from the beach with the Dream as a backdrop.







Poor Gabby wasn't impressed.



We tried to get one more picture before the next ship pulled into port, however the people we asked to take the picture weren't impressed with the Dream.



One more unobstructed view of the Dream.



Ok... Enough pictures, lets get to playing.... if we can figure out how to get these buckets apart.





Ok, now she's ready!



There were a bunch of beach toys that the kids got to use for free. They were vey excited about that, considering we never made it to the dollar store. LOL

Mel & I were able to grab a few adult drinks while the the kids played.





This beach was a perfect spot for our kids as you can see- the water was extremely calm.



Pay no attention to those dark clouds, it couldn't possibly rain...



Is that the Loch Ness Monster swimming in the dark?



Nah... it's just Juliana snorkeling.

Geez, it's getting hard to see. Is that Bubba smiling?



Looks like it. Was that thunder in the distance? I really hope not. We were on the beach for less than an hour!


Up next..... it couldn't possibly rain, could it?

 

[KatMark]

Twice in a row that I'm about to log off and you have another update. You'd think I was stalking you or something.

So did you ever figure out what the noise was above you that woke you and Gabby up?

Does Ana sleep in her bathing suit?

Very strange about that little boat pulling up along side of the ship.

A great picture of all of you in front of the Islands of the Bahamas sign.

That's a pretty darn good deal on the beach and food and drink. I'd imagine it would be hard to do excursions with Gabby still being so young, so this turned out perfect.

Gabby was very determined to get those buckets apart.

Great pics on the beach that is getting darker and darker as you post them. I truly hope it doesn't end up raining. Or if it does, not for long.

 

[Luv0fDisney]

i love reading your trip report.
Never been on a Disney cruise before.

 

[Chicago Mo]

Your pictures really put in perspective in how B-I-G huge the ship is!!!
humm maybe you can climb up there and hide their chairs?!? that would be a feat! How was the buffet food for breakfast??
you are selling me on this cruise!!!!

As always your family is just the cutest!

Official beer of the Bahama's.. and the verdict was?!?!?!

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

I woke up a few times during the night from noise... there was banging & screeching coming from above our room. It got worse closer to morning and woke Gabby up about 6am.

Hummmm…
There’s a fairly important thing to keep in mind when booking cabins on Deck-10.
Will have to file that one away for future reference.

We could see a boat in the distance off the starboard side. As we got closer the boat started moving toward us…

I couldn't see what was going on because the rescue boats were in my way but I thought it was a little odd. What could the boat be transferring to the Dream- or vice versa? We were about to be in port within the hour. Hummm... guess we'll never know. (unless anyone reading has any idea?)

That’s the Pilot Boat.

No large ship is ever allowed to enter a controlled harbor without an experienced Harbor Pilot who is certified for those waters being on board. Were it not for the obstructions you’d have seen someone from the boat grab onto a rope ladder and climb aboard the Dream. Once aboard, the pilot is effectively in charge of the ship and tells the Captain where and how he wants him to go about entering and docking within the harbor.


It would have looked something like this...

This is the British Colonial Hilton where we would be spending our day in Nassau. We bought day passes there which cost $60 per adult and $30 per child but $40 per adult and $20 were returned to us in food and drink vouchers.

Not a bad deal comparatively. Will also make not of that one.

We started our walk to the Hilton walking by hundreds of people trying to sell us clothes, offering rides around the island, offering horse & buggy rides, selling nik-naks, etc. You try to be nice and say no thank you till you just stop answering all together.

Yah, they can be right persistent.
Silence is the best policy here. They’ll move on quicker if you don’t answer. Once you start talking, they figure they’ve got a shot.

There were great views from the beach with the Dream as a backdrop.

Excellent image there. That is a right nice location for a port day in Nassau

There were a bunch of beach toys that the kids got to use for free. They were vey excited about that, considering we never made it to the dollar store. LOL

A dollar saved

Mel & I were able to grab a few adult drinks while the the kids played.

And this place just got even better.

Was that thunder in the distance? I really hope not. We were on the beach for less than an hour!

Hummmm… bad omen there. Rain is a near daily fixture in the summer time down that way.
May that either miss y’all or move on quickly.

 

[afwdwfan]

Yuck... I hope the loud chair scooters above you don't do that all night every night.

Great pictures of the boat from your spot on the beach. That actually looks like a great spot to swim and spend some time hanging around with the backdrop of getting to watch ships move in and out of the harbor.

Just your luck. Spend all that money for some beach time, only to get rained out. Barry had to have something to do with it.

 

[jedijill]

Ugh...sorry about the chairs scraping! Not a great way to wake up. Looks like (most) everyone was having fun at the beach!

I rode up the elevator with the habor pilot in Barbados...not sure that means anything but I thought it was cool.

Jill in CO

 

[schmass]

Oh no, I hope it didn't end up raining on you guys!

That looks like the perfect excursion for Nassau. We weren't overly impressed with the island when we went a few years ago (the people trying to sell you something every 2 feet gets old), but you guys had a great idea! I will definitely keep that in mind if we end up with Nassau on a future itinerary.

 

[obxlvr13]

What was that noise? Was it the chairs on deck? Why in the world would they be moving them at 6:30am?? Oh well, the views were gorgeous off your deck! The beach looked like fun but those dark clouds sure looked menacing!!