Wishes 10/8/11 WP/GF-- Love's First Kiss-- Trip Report Complete

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

Slightly off-topic question: how many guests did you end up having at your wedding. You mentioned inviting a lot, but I don't recall how many actually attended.

 

[One_Song]

I completely agree!! ;D Stupid shoes taking up so much space haha. I won't be packing much by way of heels.. cause I hate being taller than Dave. We're only about 4" apart.. but me putting on heels puts me at eye level. I love feeling smaller than him. ha. I'm so weird.

Yay! <3 I could use any help possible! Bargain pricing and I love me some color! haha.

I feel the same way, I like to be smaller than Brandon. I chalk this up to instinct-- like you found the biggest caveman to ward off mastodons and predators (just like in Spaceship Earth!). I am lucky that Brandon is 8 inches taller than me, so shoes are not a problem! My sister is only an inch shorter than her husband, she wears flats all the time.

Slightly off-topic question: how many guests did you end up having at your wedding. You mentioned inviting a lot, but I don't recall how many actually attended.

I think I never actually said. Our actual attendance was 104, and that changed every day up until the wedding. We anticipated 100-120, so we were pretty close!

 

[One_Song]

Now that we were dressed for the evening, we first stopped by the Club Level lounge. I wish we had pictures of it, but Brandon must have been busy. The entrance was across from the elevators on our deck, and you needed your key to get in. There was a little entrance hallway, and it was lined with nautical-themed Disney art. Donald was the most common subject (apparently the entire Dream is "Donald themed"). I always love Disney art. I swear, when we get ready to have children, our nurseries are going to be Disney-ed out!!

In the lounge, there were several sitting areas with comfy, cushy chairs and sofas. A large TV played Disney cartoons in one corner, and another played news in the opposite corner. At the far end of the room there was a little buffet. Because it was late afternoon, it was cocktail & appetizer time. There was wine and Champagne to drink, and different little nibbles to munch on. I mentioned this during my planning phase, I would rather have a whole plate of small foods than one large entree. I just love little foods, and I love getting to taste more things.

 

[One_Song]

We each made a small plate to snack on and grabbed a drink. The lounge was never, ever full in our entire trip, so it was always easy to find a little table for yourself.

While we were enjoying our appetizers, Brandon noticed a man across the room-- he was convinced it was the owner of the wine tasting we went to at Epcot. I think it was just a man with a shaved head, and otherwise saw no resemblance. Brandon started saying things like, "I wish we had a bottle of NEIGE right now" (the name of the ice wine) to see if the man reacted at all. Of course, he never did (it wasn't him!) but that didn't stop Brandon from doing it several times. I was trying so hard not to laugh and draw MORE awkward attention to us, but it was so difficult! My Brandon is such a goof ball.

After a bit, we left (and said goodbye to Julia on the way out) and headed down to the lower decks.

The elevators are so pretty and shiny. Those monitors up top tell you what deck you're coming to and what is on them. Very helpful when you can't recall where each restaurant is.

Walking down a corridor we tried to get a picture of both of us, but it was tough with our height difference

Kissy!

 

[One_Song]

Then we came to the central lobby, which was crowded with people taking pictures.

The chandelier here was just gorgeous, I've never seen anything like it

We passed the area where you can see the pictures that are taken of you around the ship (with characters, at the picture points, at dinner). We never figured out how the system works because all of our pictures went to the Club Level lounge. It had something to do with these books and a computer monitor

We had a little bit of time before our dinner seating, so I suggested we play bingo! I love it, I have no idea why. I never expect to win money, I just enjoy the experience of playing.

Well we showed up about five minutes before the game was set to start, and boy, it was PACKED! Brandon went to buy our game cards, and I searched for open chairs. There really weren't any (and it was a fairly large room), but I asked some people if I could use the foot stools by their chairs and they said yes. I found two and dragged them next to each other. Brandon found me and we were ready to play!

A side note: At bingo you had the option to buy traditional paper sheets, or you could buy an electronic player. You had more chances to win with the electronic one (which was way more expensive), so the winner usually had one of those. The thing is, the electronic version played for you. You just sat there and watched, and did nothing. That seemed dumb to me.

Anyway, it was time for dinner, so we headed to our assigned restaurant-- Royal Palace!

 

[LittleKittyMarie]

I am loving your Dream TR so far. DF and I were on a Dream cruise this past summer, so reading along it a little bit like reliving the experience. Your room, however, is absolutely fantastic! We also were convinced to get one of those $15 drinks at the sail away party, you really can't say no once they've handed it to you.

Can't wait to hear about Royal Palace!

 

[lilsqueakrr]

More! More! More!

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

More! More! More!

What she said

 

[One_Song]

I am loving your Dream TR so far. DF and I were on a Dream cruise this past summer, so reading along it a little bit like reliving the experience. Your room, however, is absolutely fantastic! We also were convinced to get one of those $15 drinks at the sail away party, you really can't say no once they've handed it to you.

Can't wait to hear about Royal Palace!

I know, they really do trick you into those drinks. I would have been pretty mad if they weren't so tasty! For my next cruise, I know to put my blinders on and just dash straight to the bar!

More! More! More!

What she said

Coming up, ladies!

 

[One_Song]

We made our way to Royal Palace and got checked in. We were led straight to our table. The whole restaurant is princess themed and has tons of beautiful details from all the princess movies.

I started to wonder if Disney has a file on me somewhere. Look what was right by our table

There were pictures like this all around the room-- each princess when she
was common, and then in her fancy dress. They were so pretty!

It had such a fun ambiance, somehow frilly but not at all stuffy

A pretty chandelier

We got to meet our waiter and assistant. I hate that I can't remember either of their names. Our waiter was nice, but our assistant was really tops. We had the most interaction with her, and by the second day of our cruise she remembered our preferences for certain things (like how I took my coffee).

We put our orders in, and our food came our surprisingly quick.

I started with iced lobster and jumbo shrimp

Brandon had double baked spinach soufflé with three cheese cream

AND Belle’s French onion soup!

(I love that about cruise ships-- your food is prepaid, so if you want two appetizers, you can have them!)

The french soup was the best of the course.

For the main course, I had Royal Palace aged angus grilled beef tenderloin and lobster medallions (I had a lobster theme going on here)

And Brandon had pan seared tofu with roasted zucchini, eggplant and red peppers

As soon as Brandon ordered, our waiter asked if he was vegetarian. Sometimes Brandon and I eat vegetarian meals, not so much because of an aversion for meat, but just because we don't feel like a meal has to have a meat. I often cook vegetarian dinners unintentionally, I just enjoy cooking with vegetables. I sometimes experiment with meat-substitutes, too, just for the heck of it. Anyway, we get some raised eyebrows when we order the vegetarian meal but reveal ourselves not to be vegetarians.

If anyone reading is vegetarian, would you please share with me how to make a yummy tofu recipe? I have tried twice and it came out NASTY!

 

[One_Song]

We decided to split a dessert. This was the Sweet Temptations trio

(peanut butter mousse, mango cheesecake, Tahitian vanilla crème brulee)

We also ordered some after dinner drinks (we did this all the time on the honeymoon, boy did I love it). Mine was coffee with Godiva chocolate liquor and Brandon's was Bailey’s over ice. (I try not to drink coffee at home because of the caffeine; in college I was up to almost ten diet sodas a day and it took me a long time to wean myself down. However, if I could, I would drink coffee with Godiva liquor every day!! It was sooooooo good)

Also, we noticed that Neige (the apple ice wine from our Epcot tasting) was on the menu! How cool!

To be honest, our dinner food was good (but not great), but our little desserts were awesome! Absolutely delish!

To top it off, our waitstaff and the manager came by to congratulate us-- and give us this chocolate mousse!

 

[DoomBuggy0922]

-Oohh the Club level lounge sounds nice. I love Disney art too: we were going to buy a piece during our honeymoon, but the piece I fell in love with was… well, it was the cost of another Disney vacation.
-Ha! Brandon makes me laugh too.
-Um, who would want bingo to be played FOR them?! That’s bizarre!
-Yay you got your girl!!
-I wish I liked seafood. All of your food looks great. And I’m totally with you on the no-meat thing: at Le Cellier, I ordered the quiche, and it simply came up on the receipt as “Vegetarian.” Like, what’s up with that?!
-Okay, how is ice wine? Is it fruity? I really want to try some, but I haven’t worked up the nerve to pay $23 a glass.
-Can’t wait for more!!

 

[Zarabear]

Allright, at the risk of sounding like a nut job... I just found your report and read ALL 53 pages of it in one sitting!!

Thank you for sharing all of this, it was so fun to read and I just couldn't stop. I was married young, and we are coming up on our 10 year anniversary in Sept. Someday, I want that fairytale wedding that we never had. (someday!!) Thank you for taking me along on yours!


~Zara

 

[lilsqueakrr]

Gorgeous! Gorgeous! Gorgeous! I love it all. I'm so jealous of that retstaurant. All the food looks delicious and it sounds amazing.

I think they may have been stalking you.. that's just too coincidental! lol

I think we should go on a girls cruise since Dave doesn't want to chance it.. lol. Before we all start making babies. The DIS girls can flood the cruise!

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

I think that lilsqueakrr and I are becoming your fan girls. I'm pretty sure this should be a problem, but whatever.

The food looks awesome! I've always been a bit dubious of cruise line food, but not for any rational reason. I think I worry about it being kept fresh in the cargo hold of the ship, or maybe I ready too many pirate adventure novels as a kid, and am worried I'm going to contract scurvy or something, but your food looks fantastic!

 

[One_Song]

-Oohh the Club level lounge sounds nice. I love Disney art too: we were going to buy a piece during our honeymoon, but the piece I fell in love with was… well, it was the cost of another Disney vacation.
-Ha! Brandon makes me laugh too.
-Um, who would want bingo to be played FOR them?! That’s bizarre!
-Yay you got your girl!!
-I wish I liked seafood. All of your food looks great. And I’m totally with you on the no-meat thing: at Le Cellier, I ordered the quiche, and it simply came up on the receipt as “Vegetarian.” Like, what’s up with that?!
-Okay, how is ice wine? Is it fruity? I really want to try some, but I haven’t worked up the nerve to pay $23 a glass.
-Can’t wait for more!!

-I always want to buy one of the pieces in the art stores. Brandon wouldn't let me even if we had money to burn-- he thinks they're all massively overpriced since they're lithographs and giclees. But theyr'e so preeetty!
-Isn't the bingo thing weird? I mean, playing bingo is never "cool", but how dumb to just watch a little machine play it for you
-I live for seafood. When I met Brandon, he didn't like any. Slowly I've turned him on to certain types of fish. He's still a big no on shrimp, crab, and oysters, though.
-Ice wine is good, but very sweet. Think even sweeter than a Rose. With the Neige, you could tell it was made from apples, but it didn't taste like biting into an apple-- it was like the taste of an apple concentrated down, so sweeter and more intense. It would not be my drink of choice, but I like very dry wines.

Allright, at the risk of sounding like a nut job... I just found your report and read ALL 53 pages of it in one sitting!!

Thank you for sharing all of this, it was so fun to read and I just couldn't stop. I was married young, and we are coming up on our 10 year anniversary in Sept. Someday, I want that fairytale wedding that we never had. (someday!!) Thank you for taking me along on yours!


~Zara

Thank you so much! That was exactly what I did on my very first day on the Dis! The first TR I found had me spellbound and I just couldn't stop reading. I am so glad you enjoyed mine. I never intended to marry this young, I just found my husband really quickly. We just get more time together I hope you will have your fantasy VR, every girl deserves it once!

Gorgeous! Gorgeous! Gorgeous! I love it all. I'm so jealous of that retstaurant. All the food looks delicious and it sounds amazing.

I think they may have been stalking you.. that's just too coincidental! lol

I think we should go on a girls cruise since Dave doesn't want to chance it.. lol. Before we all start making babies. The DIS girls can flood the cruise!

A girls cruise may be the best idea I've ever heard!! Oh my gosh how fun would that be, a bunch of us hanging out by the pool, seeing the shows, drinks in the bars...Now all I need is vacation time and some extra money!

I think that lilsqueakrr and I are becoming your fan girls. I'm pretty sure this should be a problem, but whatever.

The food looks awesome! I've always been a bit dubious of cruise line food, but not for any rational reason. I think I worry about it being kept fresh in the cargo hold of the ship, or maybe I ready too many pirate adventure novels as a kid, and am worried I'm going to contract scurvy or something, but your food looks fantastic!

Chatting with you and Jenifer gets me through many a boring day! I'd be crushed if you didn't!

Haha, the cruise food never made us sick, I think it's all safe (it's the food at the ports you have to worry about). Scurvy makes me think of an Eddie Izzard (awesome comedian, also happens to be a transvestite) bit I like about how no one knows what certain vitamins do... except he knows Vitamin C wards off scurvy
Eddie Izzard & Scurvy
^^This is in no way wedding related. Just what's going through my head right now

 

[One_Song]

After dinner, we explored the lobby a bit more

How cute is this Donald? I wish I could have him in my yard

This little bar was right off the lobby. The Dream had lots of bars stashed all over-- it really was a great ship for adult families

 

[One_Song]

We made our way over to the adult's only area, called The District

It had something like 5 or 6 bars, and each one had it's own feel. Some were laid back, one was a dance club, some were cozy. My favorite was called Pink, and it specialized in Champagne. Somehow, I have no pictures of it! I don't know how that happened. It was mostly pink (as you might guess), had very plush, pink & gray furniture, and the walls were decorated to look like bubbles.

At some point, Brandon had to use the bathroom. He thought the design was so cool that he took some pictures

Love the Mickey mirror

How cool are the stall doors?

In one of the bars, Brandon got a glowing martini!

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

everything looks fabulous! I'm surprised you have a picture of the bathroom, but not the bar, though. You have pictures of everything!

 

[Jennifer48]

You have the option of playing electronic Bingo? Whats the fun in that?!

I can't wait to experience Royal Palace! DH & I are booked on the maiden voyage of the Fantasy and we are super excited! We haven't made it to the Dream yet but soon I hope!

So many bars, so little time!