We also were on the Dream last week, here are our thoughts

[DisneyCowgirl]

I did not know about a champagne bar! Is that on all the ships? We're still deciding what to do with our placeholder.

The Dream also has a champagne bar, "Pink" which was great.

 

[KashasMom]

Just got off the Dream yesterday after the 3 night cruise. I love Disney, don’t mind the price, and we splurged on concierge this time so I felt like it was a little easier to avoid most of the kids. My problem isn’t with the kids, however - it’s with the PARENTS. Kids are going to make comments during shows. You hear “oohs” and “ahhs” and “WOAH!”... I can handle that. But when a father decides to explain everything that’s going on to his kid - not whispering, he’s talking - for ten minutes straight? Annoying! They know better, or SHOULD. When your child decides after the show lets out that sitting or laying on the stairs is a good idea while people are trying to get to dinner, staterooms, shops, etc.? You should know better. Pick him/her up, carry him if need be. When your son or daughter decides to pitch an ever-loving fit during dinner and rather than take him OUTSIDE or to the BATHROOM, you take him to the entrance of the restaurant so now the corridor AND the restaurant can hear him bellow? That’s on YOU, guys. Adults should know better. I’m an AP, I’m at Disney all the time, I love kids and I’m used to dealing with them... I really do love seeing their faces when they board the ship, meet the princesses or characters, and just experience Disney magic in general. But my main beef is with parents who completely check out and decide their vacation is also a break from being a parent. If your kid is traveling with you, you don’t have that option.

Even worse are the parents who blatantly ignore the rules thinking rules don't apply to their little darlings. One of my favorites was a mother who had her child in the pool with swim diapers on. She was told by the lifeguard that diapers were not allowed in the pool. She argued with him for quite a while. Finally left in a huff only to come back 10 minutes later with the kid in NO diapers. I doubt he was potty trained that quickly! Just disgusting.

 

[pezgirlroy]

The only people this would apply to would be folks staying in Concierge on Deck 11. On deck 12, you can take the midship stairs up and over to enter the forward section on 12. When we sail concierge, this is what we do every time. The rest of the decks are down and you can take any sets of stairs or elevators to get down there.

Yes, it is a less than ideal design, but you don't have to be inconvenienced at all. It just takes two seconds of thinking.

Yes, I was staying in Concierge and it did affect us.

 

[pezgirlroy]

We did not mind one bit when kids walked through. All we wanted was peace and quiet--kids walking through did not disturb that. Now, if it had been MY kids, I would have to go around because they cannot do anything quietly!!

Thank you. I was starting to feel awful about it. Mine were very quiet and we were very respectful about it.

 

[Catvondita]

I'm an adult who sort of feels over run with kids but not immensely. It mostly comes from the fact that it seems that there are more activities that run late for kids- which for me I would think it should be the opposite. Like don't these kids have bed times? lol. For me and my husbands cruise, the adult activities ended at 12AM and there were kids activities starting as late as 1AM. For some reason I would assume that the adults would be the ones with the later options. Also the only bar that stayed open past 12 was kind of lame and had a not so great DJ pumping out the same 5 top 40's songs. Of course we made it work and had a great time. We would end up just going to the room and watching movies and ordering room service.

 

[mmouse37]

Solo adult who has never felt overrun with kids. I felt far more overrun by them on HAL where their kid activity place was limited hours and based on the whining I heard when parents were trying to cajole them into going was nothing to hold their interest. So on s ship with many fewer kids than DCL I saw and heard them more.

As far as movies... I do not even know what this Nutcracker thing is around November. But given that I am about the only person on earth who doesn’t give a rat’s behind about the Avengers showing that one makes sense. Something that I have seen zip about (and I go to a couple of movies a month) I would be shocked if it superseded a show one night.

But I know everyone experiences things differently. I’m sorry your cruise was not good OP.

I have been seeing the previews for it at our movie theatre. Its called the Nutcracker and the Four Realms


https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5523010/

MJ

 

[Dug720]

I have been seeing the previews for it at our movie theatre. Its called the Nutcracker and the Four Realms


https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5523010/

MJ

Ew. Pass with gusto.

 

[Shanti]

I'm an adult who sort of feels over run with kids but not immensely. It mostly comes from the fact that it seems that there are more activities that run late for kids- which for me I would think it should be the opposite. Like don't these kids have bed times? lol.

Families are often up past midnight touring the parks at WDW, so they'll do the same thing with activities on the ships. It's a fun privilege for the kids to get to stay up late during the cruise. Everyone under 18 doesn't need to hit the sack by 9pm on their vacation.

 

[kennc]

Thank you. I was starting to feel awful about it. Mine were very quiet and we were very respectful about it.

For specific reasons I can't recall, we have walked through the adult pool area with our two boys (7 and 9 now) several times over the last 4 years. We tell them before we enter, "quite, not a word "and "walk with a purpose." We walk around the outer edge of the area.

Estimate no more than ten seconds. Probably more like 5. I believe that is reasonable and respectful. I will continue that practice if necessary.

 

[Disney maygirl]

The only people this would apply to would be folks staying in Concierge on Deck 11. On deck 12, you can take the midship stairs up and over to enter the forward section on 12. When we sail concierge, this is what we do every time. The rest of the decks are down and you can take any sets of stairs or elevators to get down there.

Yes, it is a less than ideal design, but you don't have to be inconvenienced at all. It just takes two seconds of thinking.

We are sailing concierge Deck 11, July/August 2018. The kids will be 8, 11, 14, 15 at this time. I have been kind of stressing about the design of this ship as well.....going to make my chickens go up/down and not through that "adult-only" pool. I would just die if someone said something, but it is the right thing to do.

 

[Racer X]

FWIW a few years ago when our room was located on that side of the ship I asked the CM if it was "OK" if we just passed thru the adult area with our under age son. He answered immediately, yes! no problem. I don't think that is the primary problem rather the kids that seem to want to hang or not pay attention to the posted signs.

 

[Disney maygirl]

FWIW a few years ago when our room was located on that side of the ship I asked the CM if it was "OK" if we just passed thru the adult area with our under age son. He answered immediately, yes! no problem. I don't think that is the primary problem rather the kids that seem to want to hang or not pay attention to the posted signs.

Well, my kiddos are probably old enough to avoid the area.....younger kids can be whisked through probably....will see how it works out!!!!

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

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

We are with you 100%. We love Disney but agree that the cruise line product does not warrant the price. We also have noticed an extreme sense if entitlement by Disney passengers in general, not just those with children, and especially when compared with other cruise lines. I think some of this comes with the price tag, that many people feel like I paid ______ for this cruise and therefore my child gets to have whatever they want all the time. It can be quite disheartening to be around and takes away from the "magic." The good news is that most of DCL's competitors provide a superior product at a significantly discounted price with less spoiled children on board. lol. But no Mickey mouse. We visit him at the parks! Thanks for your review.

 

[cadien]

I doubt Disney has any more "spoiled" children on board than any other line. The parents are an issue much more often. There were a few times I saw parents pressuring their very young kids into a photo op they didn't want because of how much the parents spent, with the kids crying in fear, and that's really the opposite of spoiled.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

I doubt Disney has any more "spoiled" children on board than any other line. The parents are an issue much more often. There were a few times I saw parents pressuring their very young kids into a photo op they didn't want because of how much the parents spent, with the kids crying in fear, and that's really the opposite of spoiled.

As Garfield says, "One man's sip is another man's gulp!"

 

[pearljammer]

It seems that some parents use Disney as their babysitter and think that it's their vacation from parenting. For us it's a family vacation but we still discipline our child like we would anywhere else. We also don't stay up late except pirate night as we believe bedtime is important. So yes, that means we go to bed as well. He's a bit older now so his bedtime may be later than previous years but it's there just the same. A lot of the meltdowns (and there are many) occur because the kids aren't rested. Yes it's our vacation too but we see vacations more as a family experience. So even on vacation, parenting doesn't stop nor does the expectations of my child over his behavior. I may be a bit lax in some things on vacation but it's our place to watch my child, not Disney, nor other adults so we can enjoy a cocktail! Yes, I've seen parents oblivious to their children acting a fool while they socialize and drink. Now, I don't want this to now turn into a discussion on the definition of "fool" as it's subjective I suppose. ;o)

 

[TestingH2O]

It seems that some parents use Disney as their babysitter and think that it's their vacation from parenting. For us it's a family vacation but we still discipline our child like we would anywhere else. We also don't stay up late except pirate night as we believe bedtime is important. So yes, that means we go to bed as well. He's a bit older now so his bedtime may be later than previous years but it's there just the same. A lot of the meltdowns (and there are many) occur because the kids aren't rested. Yes it's our vacation too but we see vacations more as a family experience. So even on vacation, parenting doesn't stop nor does the expectations of my child over his behavior. I may be a bit lax in some things on vacation but it's our place to watch my child, not Disney, nor other adults so we can enjoy a cocktail! Yes, I've seen parents oblivious to their children acting a fool while they socialize and drink. Now, I don't want this to now turn into a discussion on the definition of "fool" as it's subjective I suppose. ;o)

I agree with so much of this. In Alaska, it was especially important to keep that routine so we could do all of our excursions. We will see how this summer goes since she no longer naps and there will be a couple days when she doesn't have to get up and go. We certainly won't be seeing midnight or 1 AM though.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

Ew. Pass with gusto.

 

[Catvondita]

Families are often up past midnight touring the parks at WDW, so they'll do the same thing with activities on the ships. It's a fun privilege for the kids to get to stay up late during the cruise. Everyone under 18 doesn't need to hit the sack by 9pm on their vacation.

Absolutely. I just wish there was more activities for actual adults. Even a 24 hour arcade or something. My husband is a bit of a game and the only gaming options they had were for teens

 

[smiths02]

Two shows and a movie that sounds disappointing. We are about to do a 4 night on the Dream.

I've always found that there are only touring/live acts on longer cruises. Sometimes maybe a comedian on the 7 day cruises and definitely more acts on the longer ones but never on the 4 day ones. So there wouldn't be a substitution of a live act with a newly released movie since there aren't any to replace. IMHO you didn't miss anything by not having the Golden Mickeys. We saw it twice (different cruises) in the hopes that maybe the first time was an anomaly but I just didn't find it very interesting. But then, I actually liked Villians which most people hate.

Some of the personal navigators I was looking at had 3 shows and a magician for 4 night Dream sailings.

I guess it will be fine as we might want to skip the show a night or two anyhow, but still I was thinking we would have a choice between 3 shows and an entertainer.