There's Magic Everywhere! Dover - Barcelona August 2015 Trip Report - Day 1 & 2 added

[Peppermintangel]

Hi!

It's been a couple of months since we took our 2nd Disney cruise and whilst onboard we met lots of people off our FB group, including one lady who said they read my last TR (Med 2014) and that pushed them toward booking their first cruise - which is just lovely praise indeed - and knowing that people do read these (me included!) and it does make a difference to people thinking about booking .... I've finally gotten around to putting together my TR of our 2nd cruise

We were on the Dover to Barcelona cruise in August 2015, that's me (29), my OH (29) and our daughter, M (5). We booked this cruise on opening day - even before we'd been on our first cruise (around the Med in May 2014) and enjoyed that so much that we spent the next year looking forward to this one!

Day 1 (Traveling):

We're from the UK, so the fact that the cruise left from Dover was fab for us - we took the train down the day before (around 3 hours with a change in London) and stayed in the Premier Inn.





The hotel was 2 minutes from the beach so we took a walk down to the seafront and spent around an hour out there (with ice creams - of course!) We bumped into a few people from the FB group (including some of M's penpals who had been writing to each other for about 6 months before the cruise).



We ate in the hotel restuarant (fairly standard Premier Inn - perfectly fine for one night) - I'd recommend prebooking a taxi well in advance though, as it was chaos the next morning, we waited nearly an hour for ours that we'd booked the night before to arrive - even though we could see the Magic from where we were stood (just that bit too far to attempt to walk it with a 5 year old and too many suitcases though)!

Day 2 (Boarding):

We were up nice & early and the first thing we did was run downstairs to see the Magic just over the way! Excitement was building nicely now and we just couldn't wait to get onboard!





Apart from the hour wait for the taxi, everything went nice and smoothly! We queued for Minnie and Mickey in the terminal (only around a 5 minute queue for each) which passed the time and with Boarding Number 6, we were onboard around midday.







Our first call was the Port Adventure Desk where we booked our tickets for the Princess Gathering, the Frozen M&G and the Marvel M&G and then headed straight for Cariocas for lunch and tucked in!

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[Peppermintangel]

After lunch we went for an ice cream and then explored - despite having cruised around 18 months before, most of what we saw was "new" to M as she could only remember little bits from the last time so we took a walk around decks 9 & 10 - stopping to watch Under the Sea on the big screen, to have a quick game of table tennis and to photograph the beautiful White Cliffs of Dover.


(one of my favourite pics from the trip!)





A quick visit to the room to drop off our bags (we had a 9B cat - same as last year - and perfectly happy with it. M loves the big porthole and I don't think we'd use a veranda enough to make it worth paying the extra)

We then stopped off at the kids clubs for Open House. The same as last year, M is still shy with people she doesn't know...she's coming out of her shell all the time, but even so, she wouldn't enjoy being left on her own in the kids clubs and we were perfectly happy to not send her off. We did utilise the Open Hours a lot and went down to the clubs every day (we love the open hours as it gives us a chance to do the kids club things with M and she's got that "comfort blanket" of me being there with her, so she's happy too and we can enjoy the clubs together !)

We then went down to the Promenade Lounge for our FB meet up and it was lovely to meet the people I'd been planning our trip with for 18 months! Matilda got to meet her penpals that she'd been writing too and it was really nice to put faces to names!

We then headed out for our drill - last year we were in the theatre which was really nice, especially in the hot weather - but this year we were out on deck 4 and it was a little uncomfortable in the heat, still, it has to be done and we knew when it was over that we were soon on our way!

We then grabbed our spot on Deck 10 for the Sailaway party (having done Deck 9 the year before, we were quite happy to grab a front row spot up top and enjoyed it just as much from there!) There were tears (mostly me) and lots of excitement (all of us) and singing along (again, mostly me!)! We took a spot at the railing to wave goodbye to the UK and we were off!

 

[Peppermintangel]

We sailed away just after 5pm and we were early dining, so headed back to the room for a quick change and then out to Lumieres for our first MDR meal of the trip. Last year we were seated (3 of us) with a group of 5 who's first language wasn't English and it made for quite uncomfortable mealtimes as there was no attempt by them to chat to us and we obviously couldn't join in with conversation with them and didn't want to interrupt, that combined with servers who were just "ok" meant we only went 3 nights - this time we requested our own table in advance and were given one. I missed Lumieres last year and was dying to try the Escargot - so, that's what I had tonight!





And they were every bit as delicious as I thought they'd be! I honestly can't remember what I had for main (no photo, so that's no help!), OH likes plain food so he had steak or chicken every night with some form of potato and veg M ate mostly off the kids menu, but did try a lot of mine as well.

Here's pudding!



We were out in just over an hour, which was nice being able to go at our pace as we're not keen on overly drawn out dinners - especially with a 5 year old who's itching to be doing things!

Again, Deck 4 was a favourite place to relax - it was always pretty quiet (with only one or two other groups at there at most) and M loved running up and down the deck



We went out there after dinner for a 30 minute rest (for us) and run (for M) before going back inside to start the character meets! We're all about the characters and, as mentioned earlier, whilst M is very shy with people - she really lights up with characters and will happily chat to them, which is lovely to watch We did almost all the character meets (we probably missed less than 5 over the week!) and found the queues to be much quieter than last year (last year we queued on average 5- 10 minutes for each character - this year the *longest* we queued was 5 minutes, with most being done in just a couple of mins. On one afternoon we were on our own with Belle for around 5 minutes and got several photos before anyone else joined the queue)



M had done her own Autograph book before we went where she'd drawn a picture of each character on a page for them to sign and they loved it! She kept being referred to as "the little artist"

So after a quick M&G with the main mouse, we went off to get seats for the Welcome Aboard show

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[Peppermintangel]

The show is cheesy but we love it - as does M, so we wouldn't dream of missing it!



We *tried* to get M in bed at a reasonable time most nights, so were back in the room and settling down around 9.30pm. We were greeted by our first towel animal of the cruise and all M's teddies on her bed (we gained a Chip & Dale later in the week - we went to the shops and told M she could pick one toy as a treat, she picked up a Chip cuddly and a Dale...."One" we said, "but you never see them on their own"...you can't argue with that, the logic of a 5 year old won out & she got both!!)





The curtain in the room is a godsend (the night before in the hotel, M lay in bed staring at me until she eventually fell asleep near midnight!) and she was soon asleep. We came armed with kindles and various tablets ready for the evenings and in our long-standing tradition (which started last year...) we had a late-night "snack" from room service around midnight



Second dinner eaten, books read and tablets watched, we both went to sleep - looking forward to our first sea day tomorrow!

 

[Peppermintangel]

Day 2 (At Sea):

Not my favourite day ever....the ship was ever so rocky and got worse throughout the day. The day started off well...

As we had three Sea Days - we had a character breakfast at 8am this morning in Animators Palate, we arrived at the same time as one of M's penpals & her family and were seated with them. A lovely family from Matilda (Mum, Dad and little girl the same age as M). The fab 5 came round and the girls loved it - though not much breakfast was eaten as they were constantly looking out for the next character (we were near the door they came out of, so all eyes were on that *magic* door!)





After breakfast, me & M went over to the kids club to watch Nemo's Coral Reef Adventure - a puppet show which she really enjoyed. There were only 4 children watching and they all got involved



Followed by another quick visit to Deck 4...



We then went up to Deck 9 and watch about half of Cinderella on funnel vision (we ended up wrapped up in the blue blankets - a great Disney touch!)



It looks like it was a lovely day - a beautiful blue sky, but it was very cold on deck (and starting to rock a little - even though I get travel sick in cars, I haven't on ships (over 4 cruises) and didn't take anything for it...I'll be regretting that later!!)

 

[Peppermintangel]

We then went to the atrium to watch Jack Jack's diaper dash (or as M calls it "baby racing") - it's one of the few things she remembers as clear as day from our first cruise - she finds it hilarious!



Time for lunch - I think it was a cabanas day - I didn't take any pics though (I think I was starting to feel "not quite right" at this point) You could definiately feel the ship's movements now...I bumped into a lady from the FB group who was feeling terrible at this point and I said, and I quote, "I'm feeling not too bad actually, it hasn't seemed to affect me"....that's just asking for trouble!

We went out onto Deck 4 again, and OH and M played shuffleboard whilst I watched, whiling away the time until our Princess Meet & Greet.



We really like the new ticketed system for the big M&Gs - we got to meet Rapunzel, Belle and Cinderella with a queue of just 5 minutes - compared to the 90min+ queues we've been in in Disneyland Paris to meet just one Princess...







M was in her element - she's definitely a Princess fan and loved being able to spent time and chat to them It's moments like this that make a Disney cruise our preferred holiday every time...

 

[elena_n2o]

Beautiful pictures!! Your daughter looks very happy I also have a 4 year old little princess, we did our first cruise in June and it was a magical experience for all of us

Sorry that you were not feeling well though!!

 

[Alohagirl73]

Thank you for starting a new report. Looks like your daughter is enjoying herself. Sorry you didn't feel well. Hope it got better.

I remember your last report and enjoyed it. It helped convince me to take my daughter on an European cruise! We are going on the British Isles one in June. Thank you!

Can't wait to read and see more!

 

[Peppermintangel]

Beautiful pictures!! Your daughter looks very happy I also have a 4 year old little princess, we did our first cruise in June and it was a magical experience for all of us

Sorry that you were not feeling well though!!

Thank you for starting a new report. Looks like your daughter is enjoying herself. Sorry you didn't feel well. Hope it got better.

I remember your last report and enjoyed it. It helped convince me to take my daughter on an European cruise! We are going on the British Isles one in June. Thank you!

Can't wait to read and see more!

Thank you both - luckily it only lasted the first sea day and I was fine the next morning xx

 

[Peppermintangel]

We had our Marvel Meet & Greet straight after the Princesses. She's never seen the Marvel films but DD enjoyed meeting Thor, Spiderman & Captain America - though I think OH & I enjoyed it more - we're both big Avengers fans!



It was formal night tonight, so we made our way round the characters in their formal clothes - Daisy & Donald first...





We also met Mickey & Minnie (though my photo-taking skills were getting pretty bad by this point - I blame the rocking & sea-sickness!!)

and finally Chip & Dale...



That's where my photos for the evening finish (and how you can tell I wasn't well - I'll normally take 100s of pictures a day from the minute we're up until the minute we go to bed!)

We had our formal night meal in Animators Palate and M and OH really enjoyed theirs...as soon as the starter arrived at the table, the smell set me off and I had to do a quick escape back to the room to be sick

(When we got back, there was a lot of discussion on our FB group about this day and several people said they saw others throwing up all over the ship that evening - and two other ladies mentioned not making it through their meals....it was not a good night!)

I went straight into bed when I got back to the cabin and didn't stir again until morning (when...thank goodness...I felt much better!). OH & M really enjoyed the Animators Palate show & M was over the moon when Sorcerer Mickey came out & round the room.

They went to meet Donald again as there was no queue and M got her photo with Donald and her penpal from Malta before coming back to the room around 8.30pm to bed.

All-in-all, it wasn't a great day for me - and I'll be pre-empting it and taking motion sickness tablets next year before I even feel anything! Tomorrow will be much better....

 

[Peppermintangel]

Day 3 (At Sea):

Woke up this morning feeling much better - a good nights sleep & coming out of the Bay of Biscay had sorted it out!!

We were lucky enough to have both the Frozen Day and Pirate night on this cruise and today was, to the delight of my 5 year old girl, Frozen Day! We woke up to icicles in the atrium



We started off with an early morning (8.15am) Frozen Meet & Greet with Anna, Elsa & Olaf (the only chance to meet them during the cruise) in a very frosty & blue Animators Palate







Again, we thought the ticketing system here was brilliant - we waited only 2 minutes before getting to meet Anna & Elsa and they were brilliant with M, we stayed back to take photos and there was lots of hushed talking & giggling going on between them which was great to see from a usually very shy M.



After leaving, we headed off for breakfast, although we got distracted going back through the atrium with several characters around and short queues!

As well as M's autograph book where she'd drawn the characters, we also took the Disney Encyclopedia which has a page on (most) characters and got them to sign their page..we went to meet Captain Hook & Mr Smee, Hook signed his page and Smee took the book to look for his, he didn't have one and started "crying", M thought this was hilariously funny and one of the things she still talks about when we mention the holiday!

Whilst Smee signed Hook's page, Captain Hook took M for a dance around the atrium



We also met Jake and Goofy before heading upstairs to Cabanas, with 7 characters met before 10am it was shaping up to be a good day!

 

[gemmybear83]

Living your trip report, we went on the 7 night med this year and booked onto the transatlantic for next year so enjoying all info on sea days

 

[Alohagirl73]

So glad you were better the next morning!

Terrific update and love that the ticketed meet and greets made the wait much easier!

Really hope we get Frozen theme night on our cruise next June!

 

[pepe3penelope]

Joining in!!! BTW, I'm from the Los Angeles area. I've been on 3 DCL cruises (2 out of california & 1 out of port canaveral). We are used to being on very full cruises so it really surprises me that you only waited about 5 minutes for character meets!!! We averaged 15 minutes and as long as 45 minutes for Jack Skellington and Sally! We learned to line up 20-30 minutes beforehand to be 1st to 10th in line!

Does this mean the cruise wasn't that full and there weren't many children?

I absolutely love your daughter's dress on embarkation day. I'd wear it!!!

I'm sorry you didn't feel well. Are the seas on your cruise known to be rocky?

Hopefully next time M will be able to go to the kids club so you and OH can have adult time.

 

[wilma-bride]

Reading along as I was very tempted to book this cruise for next year.

 

[shezfrombermuda]

I am enjoying your report. Great pictures!

 

[Peppermintangel]

Living your trip report, we went on the 7 night med this year and booked onto the transatlantic for next year so enjoying all info on sea days

Thank you We loved having the extra sea day (although not as many as the transatlantic - would love to do this one year!)

So glad you were better the next morning!

Terrific update and love that the ticketed meet and greets made the wait much easier!

Really hope we get Frozen theme night on our cruise next June!

Thanks It really did - Anna, Elsa & Olaf with a less than 5 minute queue! We went to DLP a few months beforehand and didn't queue to meet them there as it was 3+ hours!

Joining in!!! BTW, I'm from the Los Angeles area. I've been on 3 DCL cruises (2 out of california & 1 out of port canaveral). We are used to being on very full cruises so it really surprises me that you only waited about 5 minutes for character meets!!! We averaged 15 minutes and as long as 45 minutes for Jack Skellington and Sally! We learned to line up 20-30 minutes beforehand to be 1st to 10th in line!

Does this mean the cruise wasn't that full and there weren't many children?

I absolutely love your daughter's dress on embarkation day. I'd wear it!!!

I'm sorry you didn't feel well. Are the seas on your cruise known to be rocky?

Hopefully next time M will be able to go to the kids club so you and OH can have adult time.

The queues were so quiet compared to our Med cruise last year (that cruise was probably 10-15 minutes at most meets). I don't really know why it was - if we just managed to time it right or if there weren't that many people who wanted to do them! I believe the cruise was full (or close to), I looked a couple of weeks before we went and it was sold out.

Most queues we joined has the same people in! There were maybe 10 or so groups that I recognised that did every single character meet with us - perhaps everyone else was happy with just once for each character? There seemed to be no real reason for it being so quiet that I could see - the shows, films, deck parties were all packed!

Her dress was a t-shirt from ebay that I bought her (it was a couple of sizes too big, but I loved it!). She wouldn't wear it as a t-shirt for some reason, until I added some bows & she wore it as a dress!

The Bay of Biscay is where we went through on the 1st sea day - and I had been told by a couple of people that it could be rocky...I thought I'd be ok though! Will be prepared next time!

Reading along as I was very tempted to book this cruise for next year.

Thank you for reading I'd recommend it - we loved Vigo (went to Isle Cies) and Lisbon (and gibraltar too - but I don't think the 2016 one goes there)

I am enjoying your report. Great pictures!

Thank you x

 

[Peppermintangel]

We had a late(ish) brekafast at Cabanas, wasn't too busy really. We got a table outside and, of course, had the cruise breakfast of donuts & waffles!



(this is one of my pictures I've been showing people when they ask why we love cruises - a 5 year old's dream breakfast, and a fabulous view!)

We went for a swim after breakfast - last year we only went in the pools once and this year we went almost every day! We never found the pools too busy - I guess that was partly the weather (the first couple of days it was pretty chilly on deck) and partly timing it right!

Loved the jackets for the kids - M isn't a strong swimmer, but has got much more confident recently and loved wearing the jacket and bobbing around in the pool!



After a quick swim (whilst watching Finding Nemo), we went to the atrium to watch Oaken's Maypole something or other. M is (as most 5 year old girls are) a massive Frozen fan so we did all the Frozen bits today

And that's just reminded me of the Treasure Hunt. We had a letter from Anna on the first day about her Scavenger hunt - we had three clues in each days Navigator where we had to find a large sticker and write down the picture on it. M thought this was brilliant - she enjoyed guessing the places the clues were for, then running round the ship to find the stickers. A great little addition to the cruise that I'd imagine would cost Disney not a lot.

Anyway...back to the Maypole...

The event was hosted by two of Oakens "cousins" (Yoooo hoooo, cousin!)



It was a fun event for M - and she'd probably enjoy it for a couple more years, but I don't think it had much appeal for older children (10+) really. They picked several children to hold ribbons and lead them in a dance around the maypole. Then they invited all the rest of the children up and, again, the Cousins taught everyone a dance. Finally they chose some adults (I avoided eye contact for this bit!) and taught them a (more complicated) maypole dance - it passed away a fun 20 minutes or so







Next we rushed off to Fathoms to get a place for Mickey 200...