A Beautiful Dream in December

[Shanti]

We just woke up from our beautiful dream, having disembarked from our 3-night cruise on the Disney Dream yesterday morning. She set sail from Port Canaveral on December 26th, stopped at Castaway Cay on the 27th, spent a day at sea on the 28th, then returned to Port Canaveral on the 29th.

This unique 3-night itinerary, featuring a day at sea instead of Nassau, was the same one we'd enjoyed on our very first cruise, a 3-night New Year's cruise on the Disney Magic. I'd wanted to book it ever since it came out, but didn't, as it was extremely expensive. Being a teacher who has to travel during school vacations does have a few drawbacks. But about 6 weeks before the cruise, GT rates came out that made a verandah cabin much cheaper than even the cheapest inside stateroom had been on opening day. So I bit, buying the cruise as a Christmas & birthday gift for myself, for my 13 year-old son, and for my 73 year-old mother. That simplified the Christmas & birthday shopping a little bit this season (we all have winter birthdays).

Airline prices were extremely high. There was no way to drive from central Texas to Florida without missing Christmas Day at home (unthinkable for our family), so paying for flights was the only option for us if we were going to cruise. I managed to find semi-decent rates through SWA and Jet Blue, but the cost of the flights for 3 people almost stopped me from booking the trip. I went through with it, mostly because I know my mother is getting on and she's already starting to have mobility issues. This cruise was very much for her, so that she could enjoy a special vacation with her grandson & me before she gets too old to do so.

 

[Shanti]

I'm sorry I've been away for so long, but I'm still officially on vacation.

Weather was unusually cold in our home state of Texas in December- we even got a snow day, which almost never happens anymore. So it was pleasant to pack for the cruise, knowing we would get to spend a few days in a much warmer climate. As we were flying in the morning of the cruise, we decided not to check any bags, so packing space was at a premium. Nevertheless, I still had some space-hogging items, particularly my son's nice leather shoes for formal night (he likes to wear his suit to that), my heavy-duty Tevas waterproof sandals, and of course, our Fish Extender gifts.

I booked the cruise about 6 weeks out, which was just enough time to join a last-minute 5-family Fish Extender group via Facebook. We really like doing the FE exchange, so I was very glad that worked out. I'm a busy working mom, so as usual I did cabin gifts rather than individualized gifts. Each cabin received a DCL-themed "Yacht Sea" game, a Steamboat Mickey-themed cloth baggie for carrying small items, a set of sanitizing wipes, a highlighter, and a card that has the Dream's attraction locations, which can be carried with your lanyard or do duty in the power slot by the stateroom door. I wrapped the gifts in vintage 1980's Mickey Mouse Christmas wrapping paper that I got on Etsy.

 

[Shanti]

Yikes! I found that I can't attach any of my trip photos onto this report as they're too large. Don't have time to fix each one, so I'll have to do a picture-free report, at least for now.

 

[heaven2dc]

Joining in! And I'm the first one!! Anxious to hear all about your cruise So glad your mom got to go on the cruise - I'm 64 years young and my kids worry about my vacation planning (I think they think I'm getting old. Maybe if I were 125 then they can start thinking of me as a little older lol).

 

[Shanti]

We flew in the morning of the cruise. Given that the day before was Christmas, flying in day-of was the only thing I was willing to do. It was a 6:50am, nonstop flight from temperate Texas to Florida on good old SWA, so the risk of a delay long enough to endanger our cruise was miniscule. And sure enough, the flight was on time with no hiccups. We did carry-on bags only, and landed in Orlando a little before 10:30am.

Arriving at the DCL transfer area of the airport always creates such anticipation! There were plenty of people already there, but chairs were still available. We checked in and were given Mickey tickets to indicate which bus we should line up for. Only one bus was ahead of us, and that was for travelers with Stitch tickets.

The bus ride was comfortable and peaceful, as usual. So peaceful, that my mother fell asleep. That was the first indication that her decision to wake up at 3am that morning to get ready had been a bit much for her. My son and I watched the Disney cartoons and answered the trivia questions together. As the beautiful ship came into to view, the anticipation built more, and then we were walked off the bus and into the port. It was a pretty day with clear skies, around 70 degrees. Already a big improvement over chilly Austin, and we weren't even onboard yet!

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

We just woke up from our beautiful dream, having disembarked from our 3-night cruise on the Disney Dream yesterday morning. She set sail from Port Canaveral on December 26th, stopped at Castaway Cay on the 27th, spent a day at sea on the 28th, then returned to Port Canaveral on the 29th.

This unique 3-night itinerary, featuring a day at sea instead of Nassau, was the same one we'd enjoyed on our very first cruise, a 3-night New Year's cruise on the Disney Magic. I'd wanted to book it ever since it came out, but didn't, as it was extremely expensive. Being a teacher who has to travel during school vacations does have a few drawbacks. But about 6 weeks before the cruise, GT rates came out that made a verandah cabin much cheaper than even the cheapest inside stateroom had been on opening day. So I bit, buying the cruise as a Christmas & birthday gift for myself, for my 13 year-old son, and for my 73 year-old mother. That simplified the Christmas & birthday shopping a little bit this season (we all have winter birthdays).

Airline prices were extremely high. There was no way to drive from central Texas to Florida without missing Christmas Day at home (unthinkable for our family), so paying for flights was the only option for us if we were going to cruise. I managed to find semi-decent rates through SWA and Jet Blue, but the cost of the flights for 3 people almost stopped me from booking the trip. I went through with it, mostly because I know my mother is getting on and she's already starting to have mobility issues. This cruise was very much for her, so that she could enjoy a special vacation with her grandson & me before she gets too old to do so.

Our first Disney cruise was also a 3 night Bahamas with a sea day!
And wasn't it just crazy cold everywhere for a couple of weeks? I read it's been all of North America including Florida where Orlando had frost for days and I this it snowed near Jacksonville. Wild unusual cold everywhere.
Looking forward to more

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Sounds awesome so far... you have a lucky mom.