Anyone do a 4 night cruise on the Dream?

[Chandra C]

So I’ve only been on 3 night cruises so far, I’m excited to finally be going on a 4 night in September and luckily have my sister and her family going on a Disney Cruise for the first time! This will be my first time for the pirate night menu. From what I’ve read a lot of people don’t like that menu. Wondering if anyone actually likes it and if so what are your favorite items? Or should we just skip it altogether and maybe enjoy shorter lines on the aquaduck? I’m also reading that ships are having repeats of the nightly shows, that is a disappointment if true because I was looking forward to an additional night of entertainment that I haven’t had on 3 night cruises! Also if anyone has any general tips they’d like to share, I want this to be the best possible experience for my sisters family, they love Disneyworld but have never cruised before. Thanks

 

[mevelandry]

Book the Rainforest day passes. It's amazing.

 

[Trera]

We go to Palo for dinner on Pirate Night as we dont love the menu and it is a repeat of the same restaurant we ate dinner at the evening before.

 

[kid-at-heart]

Book the Rainforest day passes. It's amazing.

I am debating this. Is there enough time to enjoy the Rainforest on a four day cruise?

 

[hcox31]

We enjoy the pirate menu. I like the jerk chicken.

 

[MSPeeler]

Food: We did the 4-night Dream cruise in May 2016. I didn't hate the pirate night dinner at all. I don't really know why so many do, but then again, I always get the Sirloin SteakYep, every night. I enjoyed dressing up in my pirate gear with the kiddos, and our pirate night meal was at Animators Palate.
My husband and FIL got the Salmon I believe? I know they enjoyed their meal. My MIL is very picky and she didn't complain. You can always order and if you don't like what you have, try something else? It is "all you can eat" after all... to an extent of coarse!

Activities: We are going to try an early PAT this next cruise and do the Aquaduck when we get on the boat and maybe pools while everyone else is boarding, eating and unpacking. Last time we stayed on the boat till late morning on CC day and did the Aquaduck with LITERALLY no line that morning. We rode about 8 times in a row, but we almost missed lunch on the beach doing that and my knees hated me the rest of the day from those stairs.
Also, next time we sail Bahamas... we will stay on the boat in Nassau. I could have enjoyed myself much more on the boat than I did off of it that day.

Shows:
We really disliked Villians Tonight. I think I watched 10 minutes of it, my In-Laws didn't stay either... I don't even know if it is still showing and if it is, I don't know why honestly. If you like the Villians, crudeness and rude humor, then go for it... but it's not for me.
If it is showing, do not miss "The Golden Mickey's". We all thought it really was the best show.
I don't rememeber "Believe" and "Beauty and the Beast" wasn't showing on our sailing.

 

[Chandra C]

Food: We did the 4-night Dream cruise in May 2016. I didn't hate the pirate night dinner at all. I don't really know why so many do, but then again, I always get the Sirloin SteakYep, every night. I enjoyed dressing up in my pirate gear with the kiddos, and our pirate night meal was at Animators Palate.
My husband and FIL got the Salmon I believe? I know they enjoyed their meal. My MIL is very picky and she didn't complain. You can always order and if you don't like what you have, try something else? It is "all you can eat" after all... to an extent of coarse!

Activities: We are going to try an early PAT this next cruise and do the Aquaduck when we get on the boat and maybe pools while everyone else is boarding, eating and unpacking. Last time we stayed on the boat till late morning on CC day and did the Aquaduck with LITERALLY no line that morning. We rode about 8 times in a row, but we almost missed lunch on the beach doing that and my knees hated me the rest of the day from those stairs.
Also, next time we sail Bahamas... we will stay on the boat in Nassau. I could have enjoyed myself much more on the boat than I did off of it that day.

Shows:
We really disliked Villians Tonight. I think I watched 10 minutes of it, my In-Laws didn't stay either... I don't even know if it is still showing and if it is, I don't know why honestly. If you like the Villians, crudeness and rude humor, then go for it... but it's not for me.
If it is showing, do not miss "The Golden Mickey's". We all thought it really was the best show.
I don't rememeber "Believe" and "Beauty and the Beast" wasn't showing on our sailing.

From what I’ve read they got rid of the villains show, I think beauty and the beast replaced it. Have you tried this strategy of boarding early and riding the aquaduck before? My instinct has always been to go to cabanas to eat when we board but I may try this. My son was disappointed before, lines were long each time we checked and he only got to ride it once.

 

[MSPeeler]

From what I’ve read they got rid of the villains show, I think beauty and the beast replaced it. Have you tried this strategy of boarding early and riding the aquaduck before? My instinct has always been to go to cabanas to eat when we board but I may try this. My son was disappointed before, lines were long each time we checked and he only got to ride it once.

We haven't, however we have read success stories from others who have done so. Lots of people do as you have suggested. Board and Eat. That's what we did on our previous cruise. We had a late PAT (1:30 I think it was) so rooms were already open, but Hallways were crowded when we dropped our bags off and went to eat at Cabanas which was PACKED. My husband was stressed, and it was an overall bad impression of our first few minutes of the Disney Dream. That's why I'm going to try a bit of a different strategy this go around.

 

[DCL Repeaters]

Go to the MDR for dinner on pirate night since you’ve never been to form your own opinion. You may like it! Personally I like it even though the menu has been the same for about 15 years!

 

[mevelandry]

I am debating this. Is there enough time to enjoy the Rainforest on a four day cruise?

Of course!

Especially when you don't get off the ship (or get off for only for half a day) in Nassau!

Or at night when the cruise will repeat one of the shows since it seems to be the new trend.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

I love the MDR's during pirates night. The crew make it a lot of fun. The food isn't bad - it's the same as other nights.

The day at sea is actually my favorite day on the ship. It's why I don't like the 3 day cruises. I don't think I had them repeat shows on a 4 day cruise though. Usually it's only the 7 day cruises that I remember repeat shows on (they usually repeat 1-2 nights on a 7 day). If I look at navigators from 2018, looks like they are doing Golden Mickeys, Believe, some magic show, and Beauty and the Beast.

Tip: activities like Palo, Senses, etc go quick on sea day. Get online as soon as your cruise allows if you want any chance.

 

[Sytrace]

So I’ve only been on 3 night cruises so far, I’m excited to finally be going on a 4 night in September and luckily have my sister and her family going on a Disney Cruise for the first time! This will be my first time for the pirate night menu. From what I’ve read a lot of people don’t like that menu. Wondering if anyone actually likes it and if so what are your favorite items? Or should we just skip it altogether and maybe enjoy shorter lines on the aquaduck? I’m also reading that ships are having repeats of the nightly shows, that is a disappointment if true because I was looking forward to an additional night of entertainment that I haven’t had on 3 night cruises! Also if anyone has any general tips they’d like to share, I want this to be the best possible experience for my sisters family, they love Disneyworld but have never cruised before. Thanks

We are not fans of Pirate night menu...BUT your sisters family should experience the full effect at least once. On a 4 night cruise, you will also have a Halloween day/night of festivities, so be sure they bring costumes for that ...or just be Pirates for Halloween and cut down on an outfit or suitcase. lol
The food options are not horrible...but I think that most people that have experienced it more than a couple of times, just aren't as excited.

 

[DCLPrincess]

I like the pirate menu though I liked the old version better. I miss my potstickers. Since you have an extra day play mini golf and do the midship detective agency.

 

[kylaura]

We're not fans of the pirate menu, but that's after 4 cruises. Cruise #5, went to Remy on that night. Daughter went to Cabanas that night, said it was good. Try it once though.

 

[Shanti]

So I’ve only been on 3 night cruises so far, I’m excited to finally be going on a 4 night in September and luckily have my sister and her family going on a Disney Cruise for the first time! This will be my first time for the pirate night menu. From what I’ve read a lot of people don’t like that menu. Wondering if anyone actually likes it and if so what are your favorite items? Or should we just skip it altogether and maybe enjoy shorter lines on the aquaduck? I’m also reading that ships are having repeats of the nightly shows, that is a disappointment if true because I was looking forward to an additional night of entertainment that I haven’t had on 3 night cruises! Also if anyone has any general tips they’d like to share, I want this to be the best possible experience for my sisters family, they love Disneyworld but have never cruised before. Thanks

• Pirate Night: We enjoy dressing up slightly for this, and seeing others dressed up. I like to eat but am not a "foodie", so in all our cruises I never really remembered which menus had which dishes, but I've also never noticed Pirate Night having bad food. Some people will like certain dishes & others won't, but that's just a matter of personal preference. I recommend experiencing Pirate Night in the MDR since you haven't done it yet.
• Beauty & the Beast is the Dream's new show, and it is shown for 2 days of the cruise, so that everyone will have a chance to see it without hundreds of people having to endure standing room only. It's the best show I've seen on DCL by far.
• The very best times to ride the Aquaduck are immediately after an early boarding (don't stop for lunch first), and on the morning of Castaway Cay. Other reasonable times to ride it are in the evening, and/or when the other dining rotation is having dinner. Sea day afternoons are the very worst times to ride it, predictably.

 

[serenitynow]

Make sure to ride the Aquaduck at night at least once. It’s a different experience in the dark with the lights in the tube against the backdrop of the dark sea as you ride!

 

[Quellman]

Just remember the aquaduck and pools close early on pirate night.

 

[dvcdisney]

We don't mind the menu, but it's not our favourite. We don't generally skip MDR unless we booked Palo. We always find something we are fine with.

 

[ScooterScott44]

Just remember the aquaduck and pools close early on pirate night.

On the Fantasy in late May DS and I rode the aqua duck on pirate night and even though the pools were closed. We enjoyed it so many times with little or no wait. I do not recall the exact time we stopped but it was still open when we left but it was probably a little after 7pm. If you haven’t done pirate night it would be good to give the evenings events and menu a try, unless the aqua duck is really more fun for you.

If you are on the fence about the options you can look over the menu choices once you are on the ship and log into the app. Remember you can pick the day from the app and see the dining choices.

 

[southerngirl528]

So I’ve only been on 3 night cruises so far, I’m excited to finally be going on a 4 night in September and luckily have my sister and her family going on a Disney Cruise for the first time!

Personally, I think you will love the 4 night even MORE than you did the 3 night! A 3 night cruise gives you 2 full days, whereas you will have a whole extra day to enjoy on the Dream! YIPPEE!! I find the longer the cruise, the more "chill" the feel is to the ship. IOW, folks aren't so frenetic to cram way too much in way too little time. JMHO. ENJOY!!

Shows:
We really disliked Villians Tonight. I think I watched 10 minutes of it, my In-Laws didn't stay either... I don't even know if it is still showing and if it is, I don't know why honestly. If you like the Villians, crudeness and rude humor, then go for it... but it's not for me.
If it is showing, do not miss "The Golden Mickey's". We all thought it really was the best show.

Boy! Do I agree with you on those points, MSPeeler!!