My DW and I sailed on the 4 day Dream cruise leaving Port Canaveral on 4/30. This was our first Disney cruise, but our 8th cruise overall, the other 7 being on Royal ships. Will we sail Disney again? Read to the end to find out.
Not going to do the whole trip report thing with tons of pictures, because, frankly, I'm too lazy and there is no way I could do nearly as good of a job as many of the existing Dream reports out there.
We live in central Florida (Lakeland) and had no need of plane travel or Disney transportation.
We decided to enjoy the weekend on the coast before the Monday sail away and had a great time visiting Kennedy Space Center and having a quiet day on the coast. For those visiting the coast, please be very aware of the sea conditions. Just this past weekend there was at least one drowning due to rip currents. We walked the beach but really didn't do much ocean swimming. Stayed at the Hampton Inn about 10 minutes from the pier.
Our PAT was 11:00 AM. Left the hotel about 10:45 and were parked by 11. No traffic or any issues getting to the parking garage. Although the hotel offered a parking package, my DW and agreed that when leaving the ship, we wanted to just get to our car and go. This was the right decision for us.
We got through security in maybe 10 minutes or so and joined the line for check-in. The terminal was full of people (boarding hadn't started) and people were standing, mingling, sitting, or wandering pretty much everywhere.
Upon check in, we had our first disappointment. There were only 2 live shows. I had been looking forward to those shows as I think that is what Disney does best. I had expected a schedule of Golden Mickeys, Believe, the Avengers movie and Beauty and the Beast, with an added 2PM showing. Being that Avengers was still pretty new, I figured instead of some sort of touring live act, one night would include the movie. The actual scheduled ended up being Believe, Beauty, Avengers, Beauty (again). Personally, I found this to be a bummer. I felt that Disney cheated us on a show. We saw Beauty on the second rotation and the theater was about 50% full, so the explanation that they gave of giving everyone a chance to see the show seemed weak to me. I also didn't understand why Avengers, which had already opened world wide didn't play until night 3. In the Buena Vista theater, the first 2 days were Wrinkle in Time and Coco. Why they held Avengers back is a curiosity.
We had boarding group 7. It really didn't take long to board, although the terminal was a mess and we didn't get a chance to look at the model of the Magic nor even see if Captain Mickey or any other character was around for pictures (not that we wanted any). When they called #7, you kind of have to politely fight your way past people with higher numbers who stand around the queue and block your was to the boarding line.
Still, we were on board by just after noon, the whole process taking about an hour, which really is pretty good. No qualm about check in.
We had our only lunch at Cabanas. It was nice as we sat outside.
Food Review - I found the food inconsistent. Cabanas was hit and miss. We really only ate breakfast there. Standard cruise fare. My favorite was the poached egg with hollandaise sauce followed by the very crispy hash browns. We both loved those. Our first night was in AP, which was just okay. Neither of us was in love with this menu. I had a weak main course of Lemon and Thyme Chicken, which, surprisingly, was dry and had absolutely no hint or taste of lemon or thyme. DW had the salmon and gave it an average grade. The dessert of Chocolate Walnut cake was really good though. Richard (main) and Gilbert (assistance) were fine, no complaints. We found the menus and execution much better in EG and RP. Of special note are the Lobster Ravioli (best dish of the cruise), the seafood pasta on Pirate night, the shrimp and the scallops (which are hard to cook) were perfect. The banana cake thingy on Pirate Night was unique and delicious. The Chateaubriand in the RP was fantastic. Try the carrot soup with banana croutons. Had a very interesting flavor. On our final night at RP, I left the regular desserts behind and had my one and only (I promised I would only have one) Mickey Bar. The Eye Scream station on the pool deck only had Vanilla & Chocolate and Banana & Strawberry. We didn't get any other flavors like blueberry or mango or anything else. I did enjoy the banana and strawberry flavor, though. We ate at Serendipity on Castaway Cay and found the food to be outstanding. The rib-eye steaks were grilled and seasoned perfectly and all the sides we tried were good too. Worst item - the Cheeseburger at Flo's. Truly horrible. The meat was not seasoned, over cooked and covered by a tasteless slice of cheese on a slightly stale, or perhaps over-baked bun. That was surprising because it seems they bake the buns right there. We didn't finish it and had chicken tenders instead which were much better. I would give the food 8 out of 10. Try the desserts at the Cove Cafe, they do not have an extra charge and are very good. The coffee there is not free, however.
We were sat with two other couples, also traveling without kids. We all found this arrangement perfect as all of us like meeting other people (hence no requests for tables of 2) and we had excellent company during our dinners. The conversation was lively and quite enjoyable.
Activities - We have no kids, so we can't comment on kids activities nor are we interested in character meet and greets. They seemed to always have long, slow moving lines, but that probably is unfair since we didn't stand in any. We would have like to get one picture, with the Chipmunks, but they never seemed to be out. By the time they came out in Castaway Cay, it was very late and most of us were already back on the ship. We rode the Aqua Duck once as it broke down the other times we were in line, or the lines just got too long. It did run in the evenings, but the wind and the temperatures were not really conducive to water play, except for perhaps the adult hot tub. We expected shorter lines in the morning in Nassau, but apparently this time has gotten out and they were not shorter, especially after having to leave the line, twice, due to break downs. The adult areas were nice, clean and rather empty. The pool not as crowded as the main pools, but so small that other than standing or sitting in the shallow end, you really couldn't "swim". We did like Satellite Falls during sea day when the sun was warm and that water was nice and cool. On Castaway Cay I rented a bike (although looking through my receipts, it seems like I was not charged for it) and rode out to the observation point and the ocean overlook. Goodness I enjoyed that. I love to ride a bike and I had a very pleasant time. They have all sorts of sizes available and the land is flat so biking is very easy. Wear sunscreen! Back on the ship, we also did the Muppets mystery at sea and this was a lot of fun. Couple of hints here, the clues are found forward or aft on most decks. However, all of the forward ones are on even numbered decks and the aft ones are on odd numbered decks. Don't do them in order (you don't have too, the game is amazingly designed that it follows you around, picking up on the next clue no matter which station you stop at). Also, the pictures the clues are tied to have separate animations from the game. My favorite was the pirate battle on Deck 5, I believe. Watch these little animations, they change 2 or 3 times, then play the game.
The art on the ship is amazing, we took a tour of all the stairwells just admiring the art.
Shows - Believe is outstanding, truly enjoyed it. It manages to incorporate songs from many animated and live actions shows into a new story. I liked the songs they picked and it was very lively. This magnifies my disappointment in not being given the Golden Mickeys as that would have taken a similar approach. Still rather peeved. We skipped most of Sail Away to enjoy the sights leaving Port Canaveral. We skipped the Avengers in the main theater because it ran long and right onto the pirate fireworks show. That was a mistake as they ended up holding the fireworks by a few minutes to accommodate that late ending. And those fireworks are pretty good, amazing really considering from where they are launching them. Funny aside here, I always have had a good feel for direction and I commented several time to DW I wondered just where the heck we were sailing! The ship seemed to be facing north (okay, Port Canaveral is in that direction), then west (what?), then north, then east, and we were moving pretty slowly, between 8 or 10 knots. Found out the next day the Captain was maneuvering the ship to avoid several heavy showers in the area. When I checked the map on the TV, the yellow line (where we've been) showed a crazy swirl as he moved about. He also kept us in the sunshine and shallow winds during sea day, making the outer decks much more comfortable.
The last show was Beauty and the Beast on the last night. Sigh. I've seen the movie, the Broadway play, the show at the Studios and the live action movie. Sorry to say, but BATB is just not my favorite and I've just about had enough of it How many ways can Disney keep telling the same story, over and over and over (not even Frozen has this many variations, yet). Yes, on the Dream they do an amazing show with a very technically advanced stage and very talented performers, especially Gaston and LeFou. But the canned music (no, the music is not live) over powers the performers quite often making it hard to understand what they are singing (the same is true of Believe), which probably isn't that bad as we all know all the lyrics anyway. But, it is the same story, nothing new here. As I love live shows, yes I enjoyed it, but I don't need to see it again.
Boorish behavior - So, I have a bad right knee. Whenever we go to the theater, we have to sit and the right end of a section so I can stretch it out as not be to uncomfortable as sitting is my most uncomfortable position. Once the lights are down I can stretch my leg just a bit into the aisle and just to the right of the seat in front of me. I am always aware if the actors come into the aisle or if someone has to leave I am sure I am out of the way. So, during the performance, the family in front of us, who had a 2 1/2 or 3 year old with then had a hard time settling the child. Of course they did, that is far to young for this show, but the kid isn't mine, so I don't care. Until the parents stop watching the child and it decides now is the time to start to learn to climb stairs. Right where are sitting. Up and down, down and up she plays right there. Finally, the mother comes by and what does she do? She starts guiding the child up and down. Sorry, during the performance is NOT THE TIME to be doing step training. I had to finally ask her to either sit down or leave, she was quite intrusive. They left in a huff, but came back up and down the stairs 3 more times! For Pete's sake, you are NOT ALONE in the theater and if your child is bored, please respect the other members of the audience and leave. I saw many parents taking out restless children. The show is not really for the under 8 set. There, rant over.
Final thoughts - My DW and I have a tradition of walking the upper deck just before bed. The layout of the Dream makes this very difficult. There is no single deck that wraps around the ship. If you want to do the upper decks you have to go from 11 to 12 to 13, then back to 11 and then back to 13 on the other end. Deck 4 has a broad walk that does a complete circuit, but the neither the aft nor the forward have sea views.
I don't understand why there are multiple character interactions in the atrium at the same time early dinner is getting out. This places tons of people trying to navigate this area simultaneously. You have to try to move all the way to the forward elevators or use stairs to escape the area as the aft elevators are by the dining rooms and the main elevators are at atrium where everyone with kids is trying to arrive.
Great Cast Members, very interactive and friendly, especially Kevin who gave us some secrets about Pepe's door. We never met the cruise director or really any senior staff, but the cast members who really work the stuff like trivia or pool shows were all great.
Disembarkation was the easiest I've experienced. We had 6:45 breakfast and finished by 7:30. By then, you could leave the ship at will. There is no waiting for a number to be called, you just get off. We left the ship around 8, found our luggage, went through customs and were on the road by 8:20. Wow. Very, very easy. Even the custom agents stand outside of the little booths and ensure things move right along. I was quite impressed.
Will we sail Disney again? Probably not. A couple of reasons the most critical one being price. These four days were really expensive and we didn't do any add ons like Remy or Palo. I didn't find that Disney really earned a premium here. Of course, many of the activities were family related (we did do a lot of trivia though) which didn't appeal to us. We've sailed on the Royal Caribbean's Allure, which has about 1500 more passengers and the Dream felt much more crowded to us. Especially after dinner (see above). I can sail on the Allure, back to back in a balcony cabin for what I paid Disney 4 days for and feel much more engaged on the cruise than I did here. So, mostly based on price, we'll skip Disney cruises in the future. We'll remain pass-holders for the parks, but cruise on other lines.
Mind you, we knew what we were getting into and doing a Disney cruise was a bucket item list. So, item crossed off and next item is a back to back on the Allure.
Except for the one example, the passengers were great, the crew great and the ship fantastic, we just feel the audience here and the price do not fit into our idea of a perfect cruise.
I'm open for questions if anyone has any.
OWD
Not going to do the whole trip report thing with tons of pictures, because, frankly, I'm too lazy and there is no way I could do nearly as good of a job as many of the existing Dream reports out there.
We live in central Florida (Lakeland) and had no need of plane travel or Disney transportation.
We decided to enjoy the weekend on the coast before the Monday sail away and had a great time visiting Kennedy Space Center and having a quiet day on the coast. For those visiting the coast, please be very aware of the sea conditions. Just this past weekend there was at least one drowning due to rip currents. We walked the beach but really didn't do much ocean swimming. Stayed at the Hampton Inn about 10 minutes from the pier.
Our PAT was 11:00 AM. Left the hotel about 10:45 and were parked by 11. No traffic or any issues getting to the parking garage. Although the hotel offered a parking package, my DW and agreed that when leaving the ship, we wanted to just get to our car and go. This was the right decision for us.
We got through security in maybe 10 minutes or so and joined the line for check-in. The terminal was full of people (boarding hadn't started) and people were standing, mingling, sitting, or wandering pretty much everywhere.
Upon check in, we had our first disappointment. There were only 2 live shows. I had been looking forward to those shows as I think that is what Disney does best. I had expected a schedule of Golden Mickeys, Believe, the Avengers movie and Beauty and the Beast, with an added 2PM showing. Being that Avengers was still pretty new, I figured instead of some sort of touring live act, one night would include the movie. The actual scheduled ended up being Believe, Beauty, Avengers, Beauty (again). Personally, I found this to be a bummer. I felt that Disney cheated us on a show. We saw Beauty on the second rotation and the theater was about 50% full, so the explanation that they gave of giving everyone a chance to see the show seemed weak to me. I also didn't understand why Avengers, which had already opened world wide didn't play until night 3. In the Buena Vista theater, the first 2 days were Wrinkle in Time and Coco. Why they held Avengers back is a curiosity.
We had boarding group 7. It really didn't take long to board, although the terminal was a mess and we didn't get a chance to look at the model of the Magic nor even see if Captain Mickey or any other character was around for pictures (not that we wanted any). When they called #7, you kind of have to politely fight your way past people with higher numbers who stand around the queue and block your was to the boarding line.
Still, we were on board by just after noon, the whole process taking about an hour, which really is pretty good. No qualm about check in.
We had our only lunch at Cabanas. It was nice as we sat outside.
Food Review - I found the food inconsistent. Cabanas was hit and miss. We really only ate breakfast there. Standard cruise fare. My favorite was the poached egg with hollandaise sauce followed by the very crispy hash browns. We both loved those. Our first night was in AP, which was just okay. Neither of us was in love with this menu. I had a weak main course of Lemon and Thyme Chicken, which, surprisingly, was dry and had absolutely no hint or taste of lemon or thyme. DW had the salmon and gave it an average grade. The dessert of Chocolate Walnut cake was really good though. Richard (main) and Gilbert (assistance) were fine, no complaints. We found the menus and execution much better in EG and RP. Of special note are the Lobster Ravioli (best dish of the cruise), the seafood pasta on Pirate night, the shrimp and the scallops (which are hard to cook) were perfect. The banana cake thingy on Pirate Night was unique and delicious. The Chateaubriand in the RP was fantastic. Try the carrot soup with banana croutons. Had a very interesting flavor. On our final night at RP, I left the regular desserts behind and had my one and only (I promised I would only have one) Mickey Bar. The Eye Scream station on the pool deck only had Vanilla & Chocolate and Banana & Strawberry. We didn't get any other flavors like blueberry or mango or anything else. I did enjoy the banana and strawberry flavor, though. We ate at Serendipity on Castaway Cay and found the food to be outstanding. The rib-eye steaks were grilled and seasoned perfectly and all the sides we tried were good too. Worst item - the Cheeseburger at Flo's. Truly horrible. The meat was not seasoned, over cooked and covered by a tasteless slice of cheese on a slightly stale, or perhaps over-baked bun. That was surprising because it seems they bake the buns right there. We didn't finish it and had chicken tenders instead which were much better. I would give the food 8 out of 10. Try the desserts at the Cove Cafe, they do not have an extra charge and are very good. The coffee there is not free, however.
We were sat with two other couples, also traveling without kids. We all found this arrangement perfect as all of us like meeting other people (hence no requests for tables of 2) and we had excellent company during our dinners. The conversation was lively and quite enjoyable.
Activities - We have no kids, so we can't comment on kids activities nor are we interested in character meet and greets. They seemed to always have long, slow moving lines, but that probably is unfair since we didn't stand in any. We would have like to get one picture, with the Chipmunks, but they never seemed to be out. By the time they came out in Castaway Cay, it was very late and most of us were already back on the ship. We rode the Aqua Duck once as it broke down the other times we were in line, or the lines just got too long. It did run in the evenings, but the wind and the temperatures were not really conducive to water play, except for perhaps the adult hot tub. We expected shorter lines in the morning in Nassau, but apparently this time has gotten out and they were not shorter, especially after having to leave the line, twice, due to break downs. The adult areas were nice, clean and rather empty. The pool not as crowded as the main pools, but so small that other than standing or sitting in the shallow end, you really couldn't "swim". We did like Satellite Falls during sea day when the sun was warm and that water was nice and cool. On Castaway Cay I rented a bike (although looking through my receipts, it seems like I was not charged for it) and rode out to the observation point and the ocean overlook. Goodness I enjoyed that. I love to ride a bike and I had a very pleasant time. They have all sorts of sizes available and the land is flat so biking is very easy. Wear sunscreen! Back on the ship, we also did the Muppets mystery at sea and this was a lot of fun. Couple of hints here, the clues are found forward or aft on most decks. However, all of the forward ones are on even numbered decks and the aft ones are on odd numbered decks. Don't do them in order (you don't have too, the game is amazingly designed that it follows you around, picking up on the next clue no matter which station you stop at). Also, the pictures the clues are tied to have separate animations from the game. My favorite was the pirate battle on Deck 5, I believe. Watch these little animations, they change 2 or 3 times, then play the game.
The art on the ship is amazing, we took a tour of all the stairwells just admiring the art.
Shows - Believe is outstanding, truly enjoyed it. It manages to incorporate songs from many animated and live actions shows into a new story. I liked the songs they picked and it was very lively. This magnifies my disappointment in not being given the Golden Mickeys as that would have taken a similar approach. Still rather peeved. We skipped most of Sail Away to enjoy the sights leaving Port Canaveral. We skipped the Avengers in the main theater because it ran long and right onto the pirate fireworks show. That was a mistake as they ended up holding the fireworks by a few minutes to accommodate that late ending. And those fireworks are pretty good, amazing really considering from where they are launching them. Funny aside here, I always have had a good feel for direction and I commented several time to DW I wondered just where the heck we were sailing! The ship seemed to be facing north (okay, Port Canaveral is in that direction), then west (what?), then north, then east, and we were moving pretty slowly, between 8 or 10 knots. Found out the next day the Captain was maneuvering the ship to avoid several heavy showers in the area. When I checked the map on the TV, the yellow line (where we've been) showed a crazy swirl as he moved about. He also kept us in the sunshine and shallow winds during sea day, making the outer decks much more comfortable.
The last show was Beauty and the Beast on the last night. Sigh. I've seen the movie, the Broadway play, the show at the Studios and the live action movie. Sorry to say, but BATB is just not my favorite and I've just about had enough of it How many ways can Disney keep telling the same story, over and over and over (not even Frozen has this many variations, yet). Yes, on the Dream they do an amazing show with a very technically advanced stage and very talented performers, especially Gaston and LeFou. But the canned music (no, the music is not live) over powers the performers quite often making it hard to understand what they are singing (the same is true of Believe), which probably isn't that bad as we all know all the lyrics anyway. But, it is the same story, nothing new here. As I love live shows, yes I enjoyed it, but I don't need to see it again.
Boorish behavior - So, I have a bad right knee. Whenever we go to the theater, we have to sit and the right end of a section so I can stretch it out as not be to uncomfortable as sitting is my most uncomfortable position. Once the lights are down I can stretch my leg just a bit into the aisle and just to the right of the seat in front of me. I am always aware if the actors come into the aisle or if someone has to leave I am sure I am out of the way. So, during the performance, the family in front of us, who had a 2 1/2 or 3 year old with then had a hard time settling the child. Of course they did, that is far to young for this show, but the kid isn't mine, so I don't care. Until the parents stop watching the child and it decides now is the time to start to learn to climb stairs. Right where are sitting. Up and down, down and up she plays right there. Finally, the mother comes by and what does she do? She starts guiding the child up and down. Sorry, during the performance is NOT THE TIME to be doing step training. I had to finally ask her to either sit down or leave, she was quite intrusive. They left in a huff, but came back up and down the stairs 3 more times! For Pete's sake, you are NOT ALONE in the theater and if your child is bored, please respect the other members of the audience and leave. I saw many parents taking out restless children. The show is not really for the under 8 set. There, rant over.
Final thoughts - My DW and I have a tradition of walking the upper deck just before bed. The layout of the Dream makes this very difficult. There is no single deck that wraps around the ship. If you want to do the upper decks you have to go from 11 to 12 to 13, then back to 11 and then back to 13 on the other end. Deck 4 has a broad walk that does a complete circuit, but the neither the aft nor the forward have sea views.
I don't understand why there are multiple character interactions in the atrium at the same time early dinner is getting out. This places tons of people trying to navigate this area simultaneously. You have to try to move all the way to the forward elevators or use stairs to escape the area as the aft elevators are by the dining rooms and the main elevators are at atrium where everyone with kids is trying to arrive.
Great Cast Members, very interactive and friendly, especially Kevin who gave us some secrets about Pepe's door. We never met the cruise director or really any senior staff, but the cast members who really work the stuff like trivia or pool shows were all great.
Disembarkation was the easiest I've experienced. We had 6:45 breakfast and finished by 7:30. By then, you could leave the ship at will. There is no waiting for a number to be called, you just get off. We left the ship around 8, found our luggage, went through customs and were on the road by 8:20. Wow. Very, very easy. Even the custom agents stand outside of the little booths and ensure things move right along. I was quite impressed.
Will we sail Disney again? Probably not. A couple of reasons the most critical one being price. These four days were really expensive and we didn't do any add ons like Remy or Palo. I didn't find that Disney really earned a premium here. Of course, many of the activities were family related (we did do a lot of trivia though) which didn't appeal to us. We've sailed on the Royal Caribbean's Allure, which has about 1500 more passengers and the Dream felt much more crowded to us. Especially after dinner (see above). I can sail on the Allure, back to back in a balcony cabin for what I paid Disney 4 days for and feel much more engaged on the cruise than I did here. So, mostly based on price, we'll skip Disney cruises in the future. We'll remain pass-holders for the parks, but cruise on other lines.
Mind you, we knew what we were getting into and doing a Disney cruise was a bucket item list. So, item crossed off and next item is a back to back on the Allure.
Except for the one example, the passengers were great, the crew great and the ship fantastic, we just feel the audience here and the price do not fit into our idea of a perfect cruise.
I'm open for questions if anyone has any.
OWD
This is basically us as well. We tried other lines (NCL, Princess, Carnival) before our first Disney cruise, and didn't enjoy any of them nearly as much as we loved our first Disney cruise (and every one since). We're always open to new experiences, though, so we're trying Celebrity later this summer based on recommendations we've received.
The primary reason for us not to choose Disney again is cost. For us, a lack of perceived value, or the "Disney" effect did not offset the higher cost of cruising with them. I really liked walking around and hearing the Disney tunes, especially when they followed you in the elevator and I was not shy about humming or even singing along. The art, including the interactive art, was fantastic. The female violinist on board was truly amazing (she needs to play with the Piano Guys). Having three beautiful dining rooms to enjoy is a plus as well and Disney did a great job of pairing us up with "like" couples so that we all enjoyed each others company. Yes, the 'Disney" touches were impressive (except for the handling of the shows). If they were priced in the RC, NCL or Princess range, they certainly would be in our future consideration, but their prices keep going up faster and higher than the competition. Now, to their credit, they keep filling the ships, so good for them, they must be doing something right. But we found it too pricey for us and we didn't even do Palo or Remy or buy a single picture.
