We Survived! 9 days of land & sea - with a 3 year old! -9/1- NEW PIC I HAD TO SHARE!

[pinkxray]

I am officially joining in. I've read your whole trip report and I love it. WL CL looks so nice, then again I'm sure any CL would be nice.

Reid is so adorable. He looks like he had such a great time on this trip. We waited until DD was 5 for her first trip and I really wish we had done it earlier. I told DH we are starting the next kid we have much earlier. As soon as they are old enough to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse they are old enough to go to Disney right?

I love the shot of Reid passed out on the bed. Disney is exhausting!

How cool that you can get the fastpasses for doing the DVC tour. I want to take the tour next time we go. DH and I did the Wyndam presentation at Bonnet Creek last year and almost decided to go for it. We paid the deposit or whatever it was and had like a 30 day period to change our minds. Once we got home we decided it just wasn't for us and canceled the whole thing. I am thinking if those people could convince DH to do it surely he can be convinced to become a DVC member. Although I do know it probably wouldn't make sense for us since we won't be going back every year or two for the next 40 years. I'll be lucky to get DH back a few more times.

I can't wait to hear about the cruise portion of our trip. I am hoping we'll be able to do a Disney cruise in the summer of 2012.

 

[petals]

Luvin all the updates. How cool with all the pixie Dust for TSM. Cm's really do make the parks that extra bit more magical!

 

[emma212010]

Great update! The pic of Reid passed out on the bed is too cute!!! We all have those moments- we just don't look so darn cute!!

I'm really excited to read about your cruise portion of the TR!! I've never been on a Disney cruise, and I'm really interested in it!! Looking forward!!

 

[amandaw]

I am officially joining in. I've read your whole trip report and I love it. WL CL looks so nice, then again I'm sure any CL would be nice.

Yay! I'm so glad you're enjoying it. WL CL was really nice. I don't know that I would do CL again just because I don't know that we would ever fully get our money's worth for it. But, I'd say it's definitely worth trying at least once. If we ever do it again, it'll only be if I have another 40% discount!

Reid is so adorable. He looks like he had such a great time on this trip. We waited until DD was 5 for her first trip and I really wish we had done it earlier. I told DH we are starting the next kid we have much earlier. As soon as they are old enough to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse they are old enough to go to Disney right?

Thank you! He really had such a great trip. In fact, we just got done eating dinner & during dinner, he was talking about all of his favorite rides. My husband didn't want us to take him for his first trip until he was older. But, I just couldn't take all the waiting. And it's truly magical to them at such a young age. I agree with you - as soon as I see our next child enjoying all the Disney junior shows, we'll be on a plane!

I love the shot of Reid passed out on the bed. Disney is exhausting!

It sure is! I was actually surprised that this was the only night he did this. During our December trip, he looked like this every night when we got back to the hotel.

How cool that you can get the fastpasses for doing the DVC tour. I want to take the tour next time we go. DH and I did the Wyndam presentation at Bonnet Creek last year and almost decided to go for it. We paid the deposit or whatever it was and had like a 30 day period to change our minds. Once we got home we decided it just wasn't for us and canceled the whole thing. I am thinking if those people could convince DH to do it surely he can be convinced to become a DVC member. Although I do know it probably wouldn't make sense for us since we won't be going back every year or two for the next 40 years. I'll be lucky to get DH back a few more times.

I was very happy to hear that was our compensation for our time. Definitely helped with the time we had lost. We have really enjoyed our timeshare with Hilton & I know that we would love DVC. I'm hoping one day we'll be able to at least buy a small DVC package.

I can't wait to hear about the cruise portion of our trip. I am hoping we'll be able to do a Disney cruise in the summer of 2012.

Hopefully, I'll be able to do another update soon with us getting to the Dream. It probably won't be tomorrow because I have really got to start packing my house! But, probably in the next couple of days. Don't know if you've started looking into the summer 2012 cruises yet, but if not, I would definitely start. I've been told by DCL that the further away you can book, the cheaper your room will be. I wanted to do another one next year, but we're hoping to add to the family towards the end of next year so we're holding off on another cruise, for now!

 

[amandaw]

Luvin all the updates. How cool with all the pixie Dust for TSM. Cm's really do make the parks that extra bit more magical!

Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying! I could not believe our TSM pixie dust. It was truly magical! You know, they really do. I love talking to them. Even Ed is starting to see the enjoyment in just having conversations with some of the CM's.

Great update! The pic of Reid passed out on the bed is too cute!!! We all have those moments- we just don't look so darn cute!!

Thanks! I know I surely don't look so cute when I get back to the hotel after a day at Disney!

I'm really excited to read about your cruise portion of the TR!! I've never been on a Disney cruise, and I'm really interested in it!! Looking forward!!

I'm hoping to start on the cruise part in the next couple of days. Tomorrow, I have really got to start packing my house. We only have 16 days until moving day & I haven't started.

 

[emma212010]

Oh wow! Good luck with your packing!! I know it's a really tough job, we moved two years ago, and I think we found that we had more stuff than we thought we did!

 

[pinkxray]

I totally agree with you about the the boat ride to MK. We did it once in the morning and it seemed like we waited forever. Once you get on the boat it is a nice ride but you have to wait for a boat to show up. We took the buses when we went back and we were there in no time.

I haven't looked into cruises much yet. I know DH will kill me if I mention anything about a vacation any time soon. I need to give him a few months without any mention Disney or vacation.

We are really hoping to add to our family this year too so I have no idea what will happen in the next few years. I really hope to get pregnant soon and that will push everything back a few years, but I will be more than happy to do that

I did hop over to the disneycruise line website and it seems so overwhelming. I did ask DH if he wants to do the cruise to the Bahamas or Caribbean he picked Caribbean. Why? Based on the way it looks in the movies.

 

[CandleontheWater]

Great TR so far! I love reading TRs that feature preschool aged boys, because it gives me an idea of what I'll be up against in the not so distant future.

Reid is super cute- and has an awesome name!

There was a virtual storm of pixie dust surrounding TSM that day! How wonderful that you got to ride twice! DH and I love TSM, and we used to ride it all the time before Everett, but now it just isn't the same. We're super competitive, and need to work together to get the highest scores, and I'm thinking that Everett would have his own agenda.

I'm really looking forward to your cruise report. We've never been on a Disney cruise, but have done both Carnival and Norwegian. We really like cruising, but like Kate, want to wait until Everett is three and can go to the kids club.

 

[amandaw]

Oh wow! Good luck with your packing!! I know it's a really tough job, we moved two years ago, and I think we found that we had more stuff than we thought we did!

Thanks....I need it! It is a lot of work & I'm very stubborn, so I refuse to let anyone help me, even Ed. I figure that no one will do it the way I want it done, so I might as well do it all myself. You never realize how much stuff you have until you go to move. We've made a few moves in our (almost 12 years of) marriage & each time we have more & more stuff. And I'm not even a person who keeps a lot of stuff!

 

[amandaw]

I totally agree with you about the the boat ride to MK. We did it once in the morning and it seemed like we waited forever. Once you get on the boat it is a nice ride but you have to wait for a boat to show up. We took the buses when we went back and we were there in no time.

I was just sorry I didn't figure this out earlier in our trip. But, you live & learn. And now I know that if we ever stay at WL again, I will not do the boat to MK.

I haven't looked into cruises much yet. I know DH will kill me if I mention anything about a vacation any time soon. I need to give him a few months without any mention Disney or vacation.

He sounds like Ed. As soon as we got back, I started talking about doing another cruise next year. Ed just shook his head & rolled his eyes at me. Guess he didn't say much because he knew I'd change my mind once I started factoring in the expenses of our upcoming move & possibly having baby #2 next year.

We are really hoping to add to our family this year too so I have no idea what will happen in the next few years. I really hope to get pregnant soon and that will push everything back a few years, but I will be more than happy to do that

Sending best wishes to you for the family addition to go your way! I think we're going to start trying to get pregnant in November or December. I was trying to see if we could get in another Disney trip before I would have baby #2 in the second half of 2012, but I don't think it's going to happen.

I did hop over to the disneycruise line website and it seems so overwhelming. I did ask DH if he wants to do the cruise to the Bahamas or Caribbean he picked Caribbean. Why? Based on the way it looks in the movies.

That's funny that he chose the Caribbean because of the way it looks in the movies. They're both beautiful, you can't really go wrong either way. The only thing I would say is that whichever cruise you would pick, make sure it has a stop on the itinerary at Disney's island, Castaway Cay. I know the Bahamas cruises & the Eastern Caribbean cruises all stop there. But, I want to say the Western Caribbean cruises don't go there, but I'm not 100% positive on that.

 

[amandaw]

Great TR so far! I love reading TRs that feature preschool aged boys, because it gives me an idea of what I'll be up against in the not so distant future.

Thanks! Even though all kids are different, I think reading these different TR's can at least give you a good idea of what to expect, what to do, what not to do, etc. I wish I had found the DIS before Reid's 1st trip this past December. I have a few friends with boys that are quiet, like to just sit & play with their toys. That is NOT my son. He is "all boy". Not sure if you can tell yet which category Everett will lean more towards, but man if he is the "all boy" type like Reid, they can just be exhausting. Fun, but exhausting. Reid wakes up early in the morning like the energizer bunny, ready to go. And goes full-speed-ahead all day long until bed time. He gave up naps around 2 1/2 so there's not much "down time" in our house. Every now & then, I can get to him to have some quiet time with me by laying in my bed & watching a movie, if I just need him to slow down for a little while.

Reid is super cute- and has an awesome name!

Thanks so much! We have a super-common last name, so when we were pregnant & trying to pick out a name, we knew we didn't want to pick out a common first name, even if we liked it. We liked that Reid was something that you don't hear every day but yet it's not a weird name.

There was a virtual storm of pixie dust surrounding TSM that day! How wonderful that you got to ride twice! DH and I love TSM, and we used to ride it all the time before Everett, but now it just isn't the same. We're super competitive, and need to work together to get the highest scores, and I'm thinking that Everett would have his own agenda.

I just simply could not believe all of our pixie dust for TSM! It was so magical after I had spent time earlier in the day sulking that we may not get to ride it, yet again. It will definitely change your ride experience once you start taking Everett on it. The same goes for the Buzz ride @ MK. Ed & I are competitive as well on these rides. With Buzz, it's not too bad because Reid would rather just spin the car rather than try & shoot the guns. We just have to try to minimize all the spinning that he likes to do. On TSM, we took turns holding him on our laps so that way each one of us got to ride & be able to play like we would want to. On TSM, whoever was holding him would let him hold the ball & we'd put our hand over his to control the pulling. Reid loves Buzz & he really loved TSM. He was just laughing the whole time!

I'm really looking forward to your cruise report. We've never been on a Disney cruise, but have done both Carnival and Norwegian. We really like cruising, but like Kate, want to wait until Everett is three and can go to the kids club.

I'm hoping to get to the cruise report in a day or two. I do think that's a wise choice to wait until Everett is 3 & go to the club. They do have a nursery, which looked cute, for smaller kids, but you have to pay for that. I was nervous about leaving Reid in the club because they do have to be completely self-sufficient in the potty. The counselors are not allowed to go in there & help them. Well, Reid just potty-trained around Christmas. He did very well because I waited until he was ready. But, he insists on completely taking off his shorts & underwear to go potty. Unfortunately, he struggles a bit in getting them back on sometimes. But, it worked out well.

 

[PirateKate]

Those DVC fastpasses would be very handy at Magic Kingdom, since there's so many fastpass rides that people under 40 inches can go on.

I've always found it too crowded to stop for pictures by the Partners statue, too. Too bad Reid wasn't more interested in posing, but he still looks cute.

I'm glad Reid didn't hurt himself when he fell at LTT. I wish more restaurants had the booster seats that actually strap to a chair. Those always seem best for Carter. He's sort of at that in between age, a little big for most high chairs, but not big enough to sit on a regular chair yet.

 

[amandaw]

Those DVC fastpasses would be very handy at Magic Kingdom, since there's so many fastpass rides that people under 40 inches can go on.

It really was awesome having those, especially since Reid loves Peter Pan so much!

I've always found it too crowded to stop for pictures by the Partners statue, too. Too bad Reid wasn't more interested in posing, but he still looks cute.

Thanks! He is normally the biggest ham when I take out the camera, but he just wasn't feeling it at this moment.

I'm glad Reid didn't hurt himself when he fell at LTT. I wish more restaurants had the booster seats that actually strap to a chair. Those always seem best for Carter. He's sort of at that in between age, a little big for most high chairs, but not big enough to sit on a regular chair yet.

I totally agree with you. There's no way Reid would go into a high chair now, even if he could fit. And he's just a little too short to sit on his bottom in a chair & eat. But, he definitely wasn't hurt. I think he was more embarrassed than anything, poor baby.

 

[KatMark]

And in no time at all, we were in our cup ready to spin! In case anyone has forgotten by now, this is one of Reid & Ed's favorite rides.






Love these..these two pictures just say, "can't you feel the Disney magic?"

Thanks, Reid! He was a little better to pose with the Dumbo statue:



My hubby gets his picture taken with Dumbo every year.


We had just gotten into the room when this happened:

What a tired little boy!

Sounds like a perfect day to me at the MK!

 

[amandaw]

Love these..these two pictures just say, "can't you feel the Disney magic?"

Thanks! One of my favorite things to do while we're on the teacups is just put my camera into multiple frame mode & shoot Reid during the whole time. I usually come away from each ride with a few pictures where his face is just full of pure joy.

My hubby gets his picture taken with Dumbo every year.

I love that! I hope when Reid is a grown man, he'll still love going to Disney & getting his picture taken with it, as well.

What a tired little boy!

He sure was! And let me tell you, it takes A LOT to wear out my little boy!

Sounds like a perfect day to me at the MK!

It really was. I couldn't have asked for a better time in the parks!

 

[amandaw]

Tip of the Day: If you are going on the Dream with children & plan to drop them off at the Oceaneer's Club and/or Lab, register them online when you do your online check-in. This way, you don't have to stand in line at the terminal to register them. You can just go to the club on your first night & they will already have all the info for your child & will just print out their electronic band to put on them.

Okay, so I've been packing up my house for the last few days but I needed a break. I thought an update to my TR would be a great break since it would allow me to relive the moment we first got on the Dream. Are y'all ready? Yeah, I know this is what everyone's been waiting for. So, let's go to the Dream!

This day we woke up at 7:00 am. I had set the alarm for 6:30 am but just couldn't make it up at that time. But, we did get up & got ready to leave WDW. While I finished packing our suitcases, Ed went over to the Club & got some breakfast items to bring back to our room. He & Reid ate breakfast at the table in our room while I finished all the hard work.

Now, when we (by "we" I mean "I") were in the planning stages of our vacation, we tossed around quite a few ideas of how to get to and from Port Canaveral. Neither Ed or I have ever been there, so we were unsure as to how easy it was to drive there. We ended up booking a private driver for the way there & a rental car for the return trip. While I was finishing the packing I received a call from the private car company (Spaceport Transport) to confirm that we would be picked up at WL at 9:45 am. Before I knew it, it was time to head out of the room to go wait on our transportation. But, I had to take one last look off the balcony before leaving.





I have to say that the view off of our balcony was my absolute favorite thing about WL. Not that any part of it was bad. The staff was very friendly. The rooms were nice. My only negative is that I felt the rooms to be a tad small. Also, Club Level was very nice. I'll say this: I don't think we would ever truly get our moneys worth out of Club Level. But, we knew that going in & were ok with that. I would probably only do Club Level again if I had another 40% discount code. Having breakfast items conveniently available was just great for us.

After I took my one last look off the balcony & wiped away my tears (ok, I didn't really cry), I headed out the door. We made our way downstairs to the front of the resort. Our driver from Spaceport Transport showed up at 10:00 am. She had got lost inside WDW. The vehicle was a Town & Country mini-van. The inside was fine & they had a car seat waiting in it for Reid. However, the car seat was not secured. And it proved to be a very odd car seat. Or at least odd to us and very unlike our car seats at home. But, Ed managed to get Reid secured in the car seat. Well, let's just say that Ed told me Reid was secure & I chose not to look too, too hard at the car seat. I sat in the row behind Reid & Ed, so I sat on the edge of the seat right behind Reid, ready to use my mommy-ninja-catlike reflexes just in case.

We made it safely to Port Canaveral. Ed & I realized what an easy drive it was and were kicking ourselves for not renting a car. But, lesson learned! We had left WL at 10:15 am & arrived at the terminal at 11:30 am. We hopped out of the van & were greeted right away by a DCL luggage porter. He got our luggage situated & sent us on our way towards the terminal. I had read horror stories on here about not getting to the terminal first thing in the morning & how it was a terrible wait to get into the terminal & then onto the boat. So, I was a little unsure of how this was going to go since it was 11:30.

But, there was no line to get into the terminal. We gave the man our names, drivers licenses & stateroom number. He verified that we were who we said we were & sent us to the terminal. Now, I believe there is a ground level entry for the terminal or you can up to enter. He told us to go up, so that is what we did. When we stepped off the elevator, we saw a line to go through security. This moved fairly quick. I also have to say that the people working security here were very friendly & were joking around with people.

From there, we made our way into the terminal. This is when I had a mini-stroke. We walked into this huge room & all we could see was a sea of people. Boarding had not begun for the boat & already all these people were here before us! But, we forged ahead!

There are numerous round tables when you enter the terminal. We had to go to one & fill out a family health questionnaire that was on the table. From there, we took the questionnaire with us & headed to the check-in line. At the beginning of the line was a lady who was giving people their boarding number. She gave us number 16! I thought, oh well, we'll get on the boat eventually. There was hardly anyone in line waiting to check-in & we made our way rather quickly to another lady to complete our check-in. I gave her the printed & signed cruise document from my online check-in & then we had to show her our travel documents. I had decided to risk it & just use Reid's birth certificate for him & that worked out well. Ed & I had gone ahead & gotten passports. Word to the wise - if you get a passport, don't forget to sign it, like some people I know.

Now, we were done in no time with the check-in process. But, before we left, she handed me a card. I looked down at it & it's another boarding number - 5!!! Yay! We found a spot as close as we could to the embarkation area. This isn't the best picture, but you can see the Dream through the windows.



Boarding began promptly at noon. When they call your boarding number, you go into the next room where you have to present your room keys to be swiped. From there, you go to another area to take your family photo. Now, you can buy this photo later. However, I heard a CM telling a passenger that taking the picture isn't optional because they use it for facial recognition with your other photos that are taken during the cruise by their photographers, to make sure your photos make it into your photo folder at Shutters. Okay, I hope that makes sense because I'm giving myself a headache trying to think of how to explain that.

From there, you finally make it onto the boat! Now, this is the coolest thing: You don't just walk onto the boat. They stop each family, 1 by 1, and ask for your family name. Then, 1 family at a time, they announce you onto the ship & everyone (CM's & nearby passengers) claps for you! I felt like a celebrity - and it felt good! I've read on here that some people like to make up funny names for their announcement. I had told Ed this prior to our vacation. He wanted us to use "Mr. & Mrs. Art Vandelay". That's from Seinfeld, for anyone out there who didn't watch that show. Obviously, my husband was a big fan of Seinfeld. But, I told him no, that maybe on our next cruise. For our 1st cruise, I just wanted to be ourselves, even if we have a plain, common last name.

Then, we were in the atrium of the Dream. It is absolutely breathtaking! If you'll remember from the very beginning of my TR, we had only been on 1 other cruise back in 2004. It was on Carnival & it was horrible. The moment I stepped onto the Dream, I knew this was going to be a completely different experience for us. I'm getting all teary-eyed over here while I type remembering seeing it for the first time. It is just amazing!!! But, we didn't look around too much at this point. It was 12:30 (yep, just 30 minutes to get onto the boat) and Reid was needing some lunch. Now, we were told that we could either go to Enchanted Garden (one of the main dining rooms which was set up with a buffet for lunch) or Cabanas (the all-the-time buffet). We went to the elevators & chose to eat here:



This was an option the crew wasn't promoting, but it was open. It's basically fast food windows on the pool deck. They had a sandwich/salad window, pizza window, burgers/chicken strips window & maybe 1 more, I can't remember. And yes, they were all Cars themed. We decided to eat at Mater's Grill. Ed & I had cheeseburgers & french fries. And Reid had the chicken strips & french fries.



The burgers were good, nothing special. Ed said he preferred Reid's chicken strips. As you can see, not too many people chose the same lunch option as us:



With our bellies full, we decided to start touring the boat. Since we were already on the pool deck, we checked it our first.





That was the only time during our 3 days on the boat that there wasn't a line for the AquaDuck. From there, I wanted to head back to the atrium for some pictures. What, y'all thought I wasn't going to show the atrium?!?







No, there isn't any radiation on the boat making Ed & Reid look like glo-worms. They're just glowing with happiness. Yeah, happiness. It couldn't be that I did something funky to my camera settings.

From there, we walked around the boat some more trying to get the lay of the land (or should I say the sea?). The halls all have these great big porthole windows that you can even sit in.



Now, we were told that they would open up the halls to the staterooms at 1:30 pm. It was getting close to this time, so we decided to head to deck 6 & wait for our hall to open. And it did, promptly at 1:30 pm. We made our way all the way to the back of the boat to find our room:



Would you like a tour of the stateroom? Well, alright, come on in!



Please ignore our bags on the bed.





Bathroom #1



Bathroom #2





Our veranda. Being on the aft of the boat is really great for a couple of reasons: your veranda is B-I-G and the boats are docked aft first in port so you get really pretty views of the port from your veranda.

While we were docked in Port Canaveral, we could see NASA from our veranda.



We decided to go out & do some more exploring. When I opened our door, all of our luggage was already right there for us. And it wasn't even 3:00 pm! We brought in the suitcases & tried to find spots for them. Ed & I both like to have everything unpacked when we're on vacation, even if we're only there for a few nights. But, I just didn't want to unpack at this moment. I wanted to explore!

UP NEXT: Where will our Dream explorations take us?

 

[WDWCPALUM03]

You've only broken the service on the Crusie part of vacation and you already have me wanting to price DCL now lol!

 

[amandaw]

You've only broken the service on the Crusie part of vacation and you already have me wanting to price DCL now lol!

I know the Disney cruises aren't cheap, but not many vacations are these days. But, I will say that a Disney cruise is worth every penny. I think even if someone has to save for a couple of years, it's worth it to go on a Disney cruise at least once in your life! Now, go check out those prices!

 

[pinkxray]

If I knew what was good for me I would unsubscribe from this thread and back away from the computer.

DH has mentioned he would consider doing a Disney cruise in the future which in his mind means in about 5 years, but of course in my mind that meant checking the DCL website asap. I found a Nov. 2011 cruise that is over our 10 anniversary and since Veteran's day is that week Caitlin would only miss 1 day of school. He shot that one down since it is too soon, however when I mentioned a 4 day cruise in June 2012 he just rolled his eyes. I didn't hear a no anywhere. Normally I would take that non- no answer and have it booked by now, but since we are trying to get pregnant I am going to wait and see what happens.

I was checking the prices and thought I could be cheap and not get a veranda but those pictures have me thinking otherwise. Did you get much use out of it?

 

[amandaw]

If I knew what was good for me I would unsubscribe from this thread and back away from the computer.

You can't leave me now!

DH has mentioned he would consider doing a Disney cruise in the future which in his mind means in about 5 years, but of course in my mind that meant checking the DCL website asap. I found a Nov. 2011 cruise that is over our 10 anniversary and since Veteran's day is that week Caitlin would only miss 1 day of school. He shot that one down since it is too soon, however when I mentioned a 4 day cruise in June 2012 he just rolled his eyes. I didn't hear a no anywhere. Normally I would take that non- no answer and have it booked by now, but since we are trying to get pregnant I am going to wait and see what happens.

Oh man, that Nov. 2011 would be perfect for y'all! I say wear him down and get him to agree to it! Usually, if I keep talking about something I want to do, Ed will tell me yes just to shut me up. Maybe that tactic would work for you.

I know how hard it is wanting to plan a vacation but you can't really because of pregnancy plans. I had wanted to book us another cruise while we were on the boat because we would've gotten 10% off plus a $200 onboard credit. I had found the perfect cruise for Nov. 2012. But, then I remembered that that's about the time we're hoping to be bringing home baby #2. So, I couldn't book it. And with DCL, you can't sail once you're past 25 weeks pregnant & babies can't sail until they're 3 months or older.

I was checking the prices and thought I could be cheap and not get a veranda but those pictures have me thinking otherwise. Did you get much use out of it?

I'll be honest, while we loved having the veranda, we didn't use it a whole lot. I was probably out there the most for picture taking. But, I will say this: we have both said that we won't sail without a veranda again (it's just nice knowing you have the extra space) and on a longer cruise, we would definitely use it more. Now, Ed is thinking he wants to be more midship for our next cruise. Those verandas are not as large as the aft. I, personally, want to be in the aft again. It was so quiet being in the back of the boat and, again, the verandas are big. In fact, for the cruise in Nov. 2012 that I was thinking about booking, I had us in room 6690 (just a couple doors down from where we were on the Dream).