Sailing on the Dream today September 6

[DSNYDREAMER]

We are so excited to be back onboard the Disney Dream! While I am a TA, I am on this cruise as a full fare paying passenger (no discounts available!). My husband and I are Platinum cruisers and have no children travelling with us. We are Canadian and have been in Florida since August 30th and will be staying in Florida for a week after the cruise. While I won't be doing a full report, I will try to answer questions. Also happy to answer questions for any fellow Canadians regarding flying to the US, testing etc. Keep in mind this sailing requires adults to be vaccinated and there is no testing at port. That starts September 13.

We took DCL transfers from the Caribbean Bach this morning. Yesterday we received a letter with our pick up time of 12:30, they advised we needed to have our luggage ready for 8 am and luggage services would pick it up. Check out was 11 am and the letter asked us to be in the lobby for noon. Last night we went to luggage services and asked for DCL bag tags (also mentioned on the letter), we also let them know we would be taking our own luggage to the bus. (this seemed to be an issue but the CM told someone). I also asked for and was given a noon check out.

Checking in with the DCL CM in the lobby and boarding the bus was easy. We had one pick up after us, and it looked like one was before us. We were then on our way.

When we arrived at the port, we needed to wait for a spot. Didn't take long, pulled up and were advised to stay onboard while the underside of the bus was emptied. We then got off, grabbed our carry on and were directed to a line where we waited to enter the building. By this time, I believe our Port Arrival Form was scanned 3 times. Families with children were in a separate line where they would be lead to the testing tents.

Once inside, there were several small kiosks with CM's completing the check in process for everyone. They scanned our passports, looked at our mask less faces and sent us through security. I was Boarding group 2, when we arrived they were doing boarding group 19 so we were able to head straight to the ears. They were allowing so many through at once, keeping everyone socially distanced and then we got to the doors for our big welcome!! After the welcome we were directed to a Gold Mickey circle mat, Captain Mickey and Minnie were on the stairway waving and welcoming us. Once all the circles were full, a brief musical number and we were on our way. Not going to lie, the eyes were a little wet and the goose bumps were out!

A CM directed us to our Muster Station location, once there the CM walked us through the process on the app, we scanned the sign and good to go.

EVERY single CM we encountered was amazing. The process was smooth, I felt probably the most safe in a public area since Covid started. Disney had the process down to a science.

Covid has been really tough on everyone, those of us in the travel industry for sure!! As a fan of travel and cruising I am so excited to be back on a ship. As a TA it feels like a first step to getting back to some sort of normal.

Tracey Heinrichs
Dreams Unlimited Travel

 

[LoveMickey]

What vaccine do you have Tracey? I heard that DCL was not approving some of the Canadian vaccines.

 

[OKW Lover]

Yay Tracey! Happy to hear you and Chris are sailing on the Dream. Looking forward to hearing your experiences. Will there be a video when you get back?

 

[DIS_MIKE]

I am on this cruise as well. I’ll be sure to keep a lookout for you so I can say hello….and also hopefully recruit you to book my next cruise!

 

[bcwife76]

I'm so excited for you!! And jealous as a fellow Canadian I can't sail because we have AZ/Moderna . Hope you have a wonderful trip, looking forward to reading all about it!

 

[DSNYDREAMER]

What vaccine do you have Tracey? I heard that DCL was not approving some of the Canadian vaccines.

I have Pfizer for both. My husband is Moderna/Pfizer. We were not able to sail RCL or Celebrity with the mixed.

 

[TinkerMouse]

I was Boarding group 2, when we arrived they were doing boarding group 19 so we were able to head straight to the ears.

Boarding group 19? Did anyone say why the bus was so late? Does this mean you were among the last to board the ship? Were the restaurants full/some food items already gone for the day? Was there zero chance of getting any last minute reservations so late in the boarding process? It kind of sounds like people staying on property now get punished for it by being let on after everyone else.

 

[LoveMickey]

We used DCL from the resorts before COVID and both times the busses left later in the morning. One was 11:30 the other was after noon. We stopped using their transportation and either rented a car or did private transportation. We wanted to be in the ship as early as we could.

 

[DSNYDREAMER]

Boarding group 19? Did anyone say why the bus was so late? Does this mean you were among the last to board the ship? Were the restaurants full/some food items already gone for the day? Was there zero chance of getting any last minute reservations so late in the boarding process? It kind of sounds like people staying on property now get punished for it by being let on after everyone else.

I don’t feel this is any later than pre covid, it may be a little. But the entire embarkation day is also later. Restaurants were still open, we chose cabanas for a light lunch as we are first dining. There were also people in the terminal waiting to board after us, certainly not as many as pre covid.

This was first time using dcl transfers from resort for me. I like to arrive and board early, but with current boarding process it worked out for us.

 

[DSNYDREAMER]

Boarding group 19? Did anyone say why the bus was so late? Does this mean you were among the last to board the ship? Were the restaurants full/some food items already gone for the day? Was there zero chance of getting any last minute reservations so late in the boarding process? It kind of sounds like people staying on property now get punished for it by being let on after everyone else.

I don’t feel this is any later than pre covid, it may be a little. But the entire embarkation day is also later. Restaurants were still open, we chose cabanas for a light lunch as we are first dining. There were also people in the terminal waiting to board after us, certainly not as many as pre covid.

This was first time using dcl transfers from resort for me. I like to arrive and board early, but with current boarding process it worked out for us.

 

[mullysisters]

Thanks for this. We are Canadians and booked April 2022. So much will change I'm sure. At what point in your process did you show proof of vaccinations? We are confused about the testing before and after. Our repo cruise ends in Vancouver before our flight home.

 

[mighty quack]

Thanks for this. We are Canadians and booked April 2022. So much will change I'm sure. At what point in your process did you show proof of vaccinations? We are confused about the testing before and after. Our repo cruise ends in Vancouver before our flight home.

Disney uses a website called safe passage where you submit your vaccination proof before the cruise and it gets verified and they give you a clear to arrive and or sail.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

It kind of sounds like people staying on property now get punished for it by being let on after everyone else.

We have stayed on property pre covid and still took private transfers to PC because the DCL buses are always later to arrive when coming from the resorts. The buses are initially stacked at the port to get debarking passengers to the airport. Perhaps they do more than one run back and forth between MCO and PC. When those are done the buses go to the resorts to take new cruisers to PC. This is why there will never be 10 or 11am pick ups from the resorts.

If you don't want to be part of that, hire private transfers. Not only will they come at a time that you can decide, they will also make a short grocery stop in case you need some last minute items. Most companies will do that if you request it at the time of booking. If you ask while in the car, they may be on a tight schedule and not have additional time to stop.

DCL transfers were convenient post cruise, especially when combined with Onboard Airline check in. Post covid, I just don't see the appeal in sharing my ride with 50 other people.

 

[TinkerMouse]

This was first time using dcl transfers from resort for me. I like to arrive and board early, but with current boarding process it worked out for us.

Were you able to see what time the dining team became available for rotation and other reservation changes? Had they just opened around 1:30p when you arrived or were they already closed by the time you boarded the ship?

 

[Disneylover06]

Which shows are available on your 4 night? I am hoping the Halloween sing-a-long doesn't replace Believe on the 4 nights.

 

[DSNYDREAMER]

Which shows are available on your 4 night? I am hoping the Halloween sing-a-long doesn't replace Believe on the 4 nights.

Believe was first night and is tomorrow night, Beauty and the Beast last night and tonight.