Nikki'sMommy
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2010
There have been so many disappointed cruisers on the boards about the Dream. Everyone will have a different experience, expectations and needs and the Dream exceeded all of ours.
About us- This is our 2nd DCL trip. We sailed the Wonder last year and enjoyed it very much. Our travel party consists of 3 families- Me, dh and dd(5)- our friends and their 5yr. old dd, and my BFF, her dh, and ds (8,9)- 10 of us.
Day before our 3 night cruise- dd is in kindergarten so we left South Florida after school on Wed.- (said goodbye to our furbabies and the house sitter) and went on our way. It is about a 2.5 hr. drive and we made great time to Port Canaveral where we checked into the Country Inn and Suites which we secured on Priceline for only $53. We were upgraded to a king suite which was a very nice beginning to a great weekend. We took a short ride to Ron-Jon for some shopping and then to Grills for dinner..Dinner was great but we ate outside and dd and dh got bit by mosquitos pretty bad. We ate pretty fast and headed back to the hotel for some Survivor and Modern Family before we settled for the night.
Thursday- We had an 11:00 check in and it couldn't come quick enough for all of us. I was concerned about getting to the port too early and be sent back but when we saw the shuttle starting to load people up at the hotel at 10:20 we decided to head right over. We were pleasantly surprised that we were able to drive right in, drop off our luggage to a porter, and park the car. There seemed to be quite a few people on the 3rd floor waiting to get into the terminal so we opted wait on the ground level until they opened it up,. We were allowed in around 10:40 breezed through security with our carry-on full of booze and were directed to fill out the health forms and go to the Castaway Club check in line which had 1 family before us. Check in was easy, we had boarding #3 and it was only 10:55. After getting the kids club bracelet (which we put on dd's ankle as she hates how cumbersome it is on her tiny wrist) and waited to board.
By 11:40 we were having our pictures taken and our introduction was made and we got our first look of the Dream. She is a gorgeous ship- the atrium was spectacular and enjoyed waving to Goofy who was waving from upstairs. We were directed to Enchanted Garden but had requested to go to Cabanas as we were meeting the rest of our party up there. (Our friends from Maryland had spent 2 days before at Universal so they came from Orlando and had a later check in)- We waited a few minutes for cabanas to open but had a lovely lunch. It is a bit confusing as people don't get the whole concept of the service but we ate plenty and had no issues. After lunch dd and her friend couldn't wait to go on the Mickey Slide. (dd is 5 but only 40 inches so she couldn't ride the AquaDuck which didn't have much of a line at this time). They went on the slide a dozen times and then to the pool. I get the issues with the pools. Yes, they are small for the number of people on the ship but our kids didn't seem to mind one bit. They spent the whole afternoon between the pools and the slide. I, on the other hand, was just waiting for 1:30 to come so I could check out the stateroom. We were in 9132 (cat 4a) and it was fantastic..We are only a family of 3 but found that we were spoiled with the extra room last year on the Wonder and since our friends who had 4 in their party insisted on the family size stateroom (we had adjoining rooms with them) we were very happy we did. We had 2 bags already delivered and was waiting on 2 more (1 was full with FE gifts). Our stateroom host,Edgar, was awesome. We explained that our needs are very minimal- all we wanted was our cooler filled with ice and our balcony opened to our connecting room so we could enjoy cocktails on the veranda. Not once did we have to request ice after that- twice a day he made sure it was full and our beer and champagne was cold. Besides being a great host he was a very nice man and we chatted often. -- The rest of our bags arrives, I unpacked and headed back to the pool..Let me say how much I loved the location of our room- I loved deck 9 aft!! It was so easy to climb the stairs to Cabanas, the drink station and the pools.. I would stay here again in a heartbeat...
After the muster drill we headed upstairs for the sail away party which unfortunately due to showers coming our way was moved inside-- This was not fun- the space was too small and our kids couldn't see anything- we were fighting to get a spot and then decided to just say forget it and check out the kids club.
Kids Club- so amazing!!! What an upgrade compared to the Wonder. The girls loved it....but still wanted us to stay with them. I call it only child syndrome- you see, we live in Florida, our families are all in NY so ever since dd was born (i didn't work) we always do everything as a family. Her preschool time was only a couple days a week and even though she is in kindergarten now- when she is not, we are all together. Last year she spent 2 hrs. in the kids club alone-- this year- 0 hours..But that is fine by us- we enjoy going in and sitting on a bench and watching the kids have fun- that is fun to us and we are fully aware that one day she will not want us to be with her all the time so we embrace what we have now..Oh wait, where was I??? I ramble a lot and lose where I was going with this.. The kids clubs are great and the CM's in there are so kind..Plus the sinks are the coolest things I have ever seen...
We went to the Golden Mickey's that night at 6:15- the girls were interviewed by Rona Rivers so that was fun to get on video. The show had some different themes from last year and it was enjoyable..After the show we headed back to the room for our nightly Happy Hour on the veranda before dinner.. I love that DCL lets you bring on your own drinks! We grabbed some glasses from the bar on deck 4 and enjoyed some wine and great conversation with our friends. DD loved the on-demand in the room and watched some of her favorite movies. Dinner the 1st night was at Enchanted Garden which was lovely.. Once again, we lucked out with servers and had Ekkaphon and Marcia who totally rocked..We are a party of 10- a bit rambunctious- but so happy to together and enjoying our experience. The servers were kind, funny and wonderful with the kids. After our last cruise, I wondered why we were even supposed to tip a Head Server, but ours, Faisal, proved that he deserved the gratuity as he did tricks with the kids and checked in a couple of times each evening... Dinner was delicious- We were a little unsure if we should request the late seating with kids so young (we felt so rushed last year after our day to rush back to the room and get ready for 6:00 dinner) but it turned out to be a great idea. The late hours were no problem for the kids- we got a snack either from room service or the food court around 5 every day to hold them over (and us).. We wouldn't hesitate to do the late seating again. After dinner we went back to the kids club for a short time and then back to bed.. As we approached our room we saw that the FE gifts had started to arrive and with excitement we went in and opened them!! Then it was off to bed..The linens were so soft- I think if I said "OMG I love these sheets so much" one more time, I may have been floating in the water somewhere between Miami and Nassau that night.
Friday- Nassau Day-- Since we live in South Florida we have been to the Bahamas many times and being this was a short cruise we wanted to enjoy every bit of this beautiful ship. I woke up early before 7 every morning, snuck out of the stateroom, got my coffee and enjoyed the serenity of the morning. I loved how peaceful it was and sitting on my veranda watching the sun come up, drinking my coffee and maybe a chocolate donut before breakfast (hey- it was vacation).. That time was precious to me.. Being that the princess gathering was at 9 and we knew from last year how crowded it got (and that was on a boat almost 1/2 the size) we decided that the moms would wait in line around 8ish and the dh's would get the girls dressed in their chosen princess dress and meet us down there..BEST DECISION EVER!!! By 8:30 the line was around corner and down past the entrance to the restaurant.. We were 2nd in line and by 9:15 we had quality time with the princesses and starting our day.. We had breakfast at Enchanted Garden that morning- which was a buffet but was just fine by us. Next was a day packed with Goofy Golf, midship detective agency, kids club, pool, lunch, bingo, the Villians Tonight show, and Champagne night happy hour on the veranda of 9132/9130.. Since it was pirate night, we all dressed up in some kind of garb whether it be a skull/crossbone t-shirt and bandana or in my dd's case we managed to find a pink, barbie pirate costume for her to wear. Dinner was at the Royal Palace which was a beautiful restaurant. Our servers were there to greet us and took excellent care of us. We had the very large round table in the middle of the room which was fun. After dinner, dh and I left dd with our friends and went down to the sports bar to watch some playoff baseball and have some time alone. (yes, that is OUR idea of nice time alone- I am a sports freak and needed my fix) It was a lovely day!!!
Saturday-Castaway Cay
We received our little paper model cabana in our stateroom the night before with the wristbands for our party and I couldn't wait to get the day started..DD, however, had other plans..I guess the late nights had caught up to her and we wanted her to get her sleep so she didn't wake up until after 9 that morning.. I, once again, enjoyed my quiet morning and even had breakfast alone this morning. I brought back fruit, croissants, cereal etc. for dd and dh which was fine by them. Once dd was awake and had a bite to eat we were off the ship and on our way to see our cabana.. This was something that we were all in agreeement that we wanted very badly. Unfortunately, being silver there weren't any available when the booking window was open.. I checked every day, twice a day to see if one became available and about 40 days before our trip, #17 opened up and I snagged it.. Between the 10 of us the price came out to only $233 per family and worth every penny!!! I was concerned at first about the location of #17- it is the last one on the beach and the area in front of the cabana doesn't have any beach chair and you aren't supposed to "swim" there. You are able to play, float etc. in the water there but a lifeguard can't see you there so they don't want the guests to actually swim there. We got there around 10 AM and brought schlepped the beach chairs and some floats to our area. The concierge was wonderful and offered to help us carry some down which we said was not necessary. The cabana was loaded with towels, a safe, an overhead fan, cushioned chaise lounges and chairs, a refridgerator stocked with Evian, sodas,fruit and chilled towels. We were able to have snorkel equipment, bike rentals (which we didn't use) and the floats. As it turned out, being at #17 was a blessing in disguise- we didn't have anyone next to us on the right so it was very private. It was a perfect sunny day and we enjoyed this day so much. I love the food at Cookies!! The kids had a great time with building sand castles, playing with the floats, burying me in the sand... We stayed until we were kicked off the island!! We looked for Casey the Cat but a CM said they saw her in the morning but hadn't since..oh well..I had some fish for her
When we got back to the ship we went right up to the pools which were pretty crowded, got a quick bite to eat (i was obsessed with the grilled bacon, tomato and brie panini's--vacation right??) and dd wanted some "down time" in the room before showers and dinner. This is when I went to the Aquaduck!! During the 1st dinner seating the line is next to nothing! It was fantastic, I really enjoyed it and rode about 4 times until the ride shut down because some kid (who as it turns out wasn't holding on and trying to "get air') fell of the raft and had to be rescued.. It was down about 30 minutes and when it opened I rode one more time and had to get ready for dinner..Our last dinner was at Animators- lucky again for us we were seated right in front of a screen where Crush spoke with the whole table..So fun!! Another obsession is the mushroom risotto which I ordered more than 1 portion of.. Dinner was great, service wonderful and company the best.. I was off to shutters to get some pictures (i ordered the 20 credit package- not available on the ship but only online)..It was a zoo.... I put down my camera to look at the book and walked away for 1 minute until I realized it was gone..
I couldn't find it anywhere and the CM's said they hadn't seen it..It was my whole trip on that camera...videos, pictures, memories that could not be replaced..I went to guest services- the line was so long- my heart was racing-- I finally get to a CM and ask if they found my camera- they ask the brand and I say Sony--the guy is in the back for what seems forever- he comes out and says "this one was just turned in but it is a Canon" I scream, "that's mine, I don't even know my own name half the time let alone what brand of camera I have" we look a the pictures, he sees that it is me and I get it back...I was so relieved!! Must have been pixie dust... The night is coming to an end- we watch the See you real soon party- or whatever it is called, head back to the room, sit on the veranda for a while chatting with our friends about another amazing trip...We were off the ship by 8 the next morning and home in time to set up our fantasy football lineups..
My final thought about the Dream-- it is a big, lovely ship..There are a lot of people on it but the only time we felt it was "really" crowded was at the pools- which, as I have said before, if the kids didn't mind, we didn't mind. We swim all year round so even if they didn't swim it wouldn't have been a big deal. The service was fantastic..We were very fortunate to have such a great team. Our room was very nice as well as the location. Shows were good, the girls loved them. My advice is to go prepared for the a busy ship-It's still vacation- enjoy and don't stress the small stuff..The FE gifts were awesome!! We got so many incredible gifts- many handmade ones, cool toys for the kids, and some great goodies for my belly... I prefer a longer trip- dh is happy with the shorter one-- we'll be back next year for another cruise- not sure if it will be back on the Dream or the Magic (prices for the Fantasy are pretty high right now)..Who knows, maybe with the addition of the new ship they may be able to offer some florida resident rates next year (which saved us tons of $$ last year)..
About us- This is our 2nd DCL trip. We sailed the Wonder last year and enjoyed it very much. Our travel party consists of 3 families- Me, dh and dd(5)- our friends and their 5yr. old dd, and my BFF, her dh, and ds (8,9)- 10 of us.
Day before our 3 night cruise- dd is in kindergarten so we left South Florida after school on Wed.- (said goodbye to our furbabies and the house sitter) and went on our way. It is about a 2.5 hr. drive and we made great time to Port Canaveral where we checked into the Country Inn and Suites which we secured on Priceline for only $53. We were upgraded to a king suite which was a very nice beginning to a great weekend. We took a short ride to Ron-Jon for some shopping and then to Grills for dinner..Dinner was great but we ate outside and dd and dh got bit by mosquitos pretty bad. We ate pretty fast and headed back to the hotel for some Survivor and Modern Family before we settled for the night.
Thursday- We had an 11:00 check in and it couldn't come quick enough for all of us. I was concerned about getting to the port too early and be sent back but when we saw the shuttle starting to load people up at the hotel at 10:20 we decided to head right over. We were pleasantly surprised that we were able to drive right in, drop off our luggage to a porter, and park the car. There seemed to be quite a few people on the 3rd floor waiting to get into the terminal so we opted wait on the ground level until they opened it up,. We were allowed in around 10:40 breezed through security with our carry-on full of booze and were directed to fill out the health forms and go to the Castaway Club check in line which had 1 family before us. Check in was easy, we had boarding #3 and it was only 10:55. After getting the kids club bracelet (which we put on dd's ankle as she hates how cumbersome it is on her tiny wrist) and waited to board.
By 11:40 we were having our pictures taken and our introduction was made and we got our first look of the Dream. She is a gorgeous ship- the atrium was spectacular and enjoyed waving to Goofy who was waving from upstairs. We were directed to Enchanted Garden but had requested to go to Cabanas as we were meeting the rest of our party up there. (Our friends from Maryland had spent 2 days before at Universal so they came from Orlando and had a later check in)- We waited a few minutes for cabanas to open but had a lovely lunch. It is a bit confusing as people don't get the whole concept of the service but we ate plenty and had no issues. After lunch dd and her friend couldn't wait to go on the Mickey Slide. (dd is 5 but only 40 inches so she couldn't ride the AquaDuck which didn't have much of a line at this time). They went on the slide a dozen times and then to the pool. I get the issues with the pools. Yes, they are small for the number of people on the ship but our kids didn't seem to mind one bit. They spent the whole afternoon between the pools and the slide. I, on the other hand, was just waiting for 1:30 to come so I could check out the stateroom. We were in 9132 (cat 4a) and it was fantastic..We are only a family of 3 but found that we were spoiled with the extra room last year on the Wonder and since our friends who had 4 in their party insisted on the family size stateroom (we had adjoining rooms with them) we were very happy we did. We had 2 bags already delivered and was waiting on 2 more (1 was full with FE gifts). Our stateroom host,Edgar, was awesome. We explained that our needs are very minimal- all we wanted was our cooler filled with ice and our balcony opened to our connecting room so we could enjoy cocktails on the veranda. Not once did we have to request ice after that- twice a day he made sure it was full and our beer and champagne was cold. Besides being a great host he was a very nice man and we chatted often. -- The rest of our bags arrives, I unpacked and headed back to the pool..Let me say how much I loved the location of our room- I loved deck 9 aft!! It was so easy to climb the stairs to Cabanas, the drink station and the pools.. I would stay here again in a heartbeat...
After the muster drill we headed upstairs for the sail away party which unfortunately due to showers coming our way was moved inside-- This was not fun- the space was too small and our kids couldn't see anything- we were fighting to get a spot and then decided to just say forget it and check out the kids club. Kids Club- so amazing!!! What an upgrade compared to the Wonder. The girls loved it....but still wanted us to stay with them. I call it only child syndrome- you see, we live in Florida, our families are all in NY so ever since dd was born (i didn't work) we always do everything as a family. Her preschool time was only a couple days a week and even though she is in kindergarten now- when she is not, we are all together. Last year she spent 2 hrs. in the kids club alone-- this year- 0 hours..But that is fine by us- we enjoy going in and sitting on a bench and watching the kids have fun- that is fun to us and we are fully aware that one day she will not want us to be with her all the time so we embrace what we have now..Oh wait, where was I??? I ramble a lot and lose where I was going with this.. The kids clubs are great and the CM's in there are so kind..Plus the sinks are the coolest things I have ever seen...
We went to the Golden Mickey's that night at 6:15- the girls were interviewed by Rona Rivers so that was fun to get on video. The show had some different themes from last year and it was enjoyable..After the show we headed back to the room for our nightly Happy Hour on the veranda before dinner.. I love that DCL lets you bring on your own drinks! We grabbed some glasses from the bar on deck 4 and enjoyed some wine and great conversation with our friends. DD loved the on-demand in the room and watched some of her favorite movies. Dinner the 1st night was at Enchanted Garden which was lovely.. Once again, we lucked out with servers and had Ekkaphon and Marcia who totally rocked..We are a party of 10- a bit rambunctious- but so happy to together and enjoying our experience. The servers were kind, funny and wonderful with the kids. After our last cruise, I wondered why we were even supposed to tip a Head Server, but ours, Faisal, proved that he deserved the gratuity as he did tricks with the kids and checked in a couple of times each evening... Dinner was delicious- We were a little unsure if we should request the late seating with kids so young (we felt so rushed last year after our day to rush back to the room and get ready for 6:00 dinner) but it turned out to be a great idea. The late hours were no problem for the kids- we got a snack either from room service or the food court around 5 every day to hold them over (and us).. We wouldn't hesitate to do the late seating again. After dinner we went back to the kids club for a short time and then back to bed.. As we approached our room we saw that the FE gifts had started to arrive and with excitement we went in and opened them!! Then it was off to bed..The linens were so soft- I think if I said "OMG I love these sheets so much" one more time, I may have been floating in the water somewhere between Miami and Nassau that night.
Friday- Nassau Day-- Since we live in South Florida we have been to the Bahamas many times and being this was a short cruise we wanted to enjoy every bit of this beautiful ship. I woke up early before 7 every morning, snuck out of the stateroom, got my coffee and enjoyed the serenity of the morning. I loved how peaceful it was and sitting on my veranda watching the sun come up, drinking my coffee and maybe a chocolate donut before breakfast (hey- it was vacation).. That time was precious to me.. Being that the princess gathering was at 9 and we knew from last year how crowded it got (and that was on a boat almost 1/2 the size) we decided that the moms would wait in line around 8ish and the dh's would get the girls dressed in their chosen princess dress and meet us down there..BEST DECISION EVER!!! By 8:30 the line was around corner and down past the entrance to the restaurant.. We were 2nd in line and by 9:15 we had quality time with the princesses and starting our day.. We had breakfast at Enchanted Garden that morning- which was a buffet but was just fine by us. Next was a day packed with Goofy Golf, midship detective agency, kids club, pool, lunch, bingo, the Villians Tonight show, and Champagne night happy hour on the veranda of 9132/9130.. Since it was pirate night, we all dressed up in some kind of garb whether it be a skull/crossbone t-shirt and bandana or in my dd's case we managed to find a pink, barbie pirate costume for her to wear. Dinner was at the Royal Palace which was a beautiful restaurant. Our servers were there to greet us and took excellent care of us. We had the very large round table in the middle of the room which was fun. After dinner, dh and I left dd with our friends and went down to the sports bar to watch some playoff baseball and have some time alone. (yes, that is OUR idea of nice time alone- I am a sports freak and needed my fix) It was a lovely day!!!
Saturday-Castaway Cay
We received our little paper model cabana in our stateroom the night before with the wristbands for our party and I couldn't wait to get the day started..DD, however, had other plans..I guess the late nights had caught up to her and we wanted her to get her sleep so she didn't wake up until after 9 that morning.. I, once again, enjoyed my quiet morning and even had breakfast alone this morning. I brought back fruit, croissants, cereal etc. for dd and dh which was fine by them. Once dd was awake and had a bite to eat we were off the ship and on our way to see our cabana.. This was something that we were all in agreeement that we wanted very badly. Unfortunately, being silver there weren't any available when the booking window was open.. I checked every day, twice a day to see if one became available and about 40 days before our trip, #17 opened up and I snagged it.. Between the 10 of us the price came out to only $233 per family and worth every penny!!! I was concerned at first about the location of #17- it is the last one on the beach and the area in front of the cabana doesn't have any beach chair and you aren't supposed to "swim" there. You are able to play, float etc. in the water there but a lifeguard can't see you there so they don't want the guests to actually swim there. We got there around 10 AM and brought schlepped the beach chairs and some floats to our area. The concierge was wonderful and offered to help us carry some down which we said was not necessary. The cabana was loaded with towels, a safe, an overhead fan, cushioned chaise lounges and chairs, a refridgerator stocked with Evian, sodas,fruit and chilled towels. We were able to have snorkel equipment, bike rentals (which we didn't use) and the floats. As it turned out, being at #17 was a blessing in disguise- we didn't have anyone next to us on the right so it was very private. It was a perfect sunny day and we enjoyed this day so much. I love the food at Cookies!! The kids had a great time with building sand castles, playing with the floats, burying me in the sand... We stayed until we were kicked off the island!! We looked for Casey the Cat but a CM said they saw her in the morning but hadn't since..oh well..I had some fish for her
When we got back to the ship we went right up to the pools which were pretty crowded, got a quick bite to eat (i was obsessed with the grilled bacon, tomato and brie panini's--vacation right??) and dd wanted some "down time" in the room before showers and dinner. This is when I went to the Aquaduck!! During the 1st dinner seating the line is next to nothing! It was fantastic, I really enjoyed it and rode about 4 times until the ride shut down because some kid (who as it turns out wasn't holding on and trying to "get air') fell of the raft and had to be rescued.. It was down about 30 minutes and when it opened I rode one more time and had to get ready for dinner..Our last dinner was at Animators- lucky again for us we were seated right in front of a screen where Crush spoke with the whole table..So fun!! Another obsession is the mushroom risotto which I ordered more than 1 portion of.. Dinner was great, service wonderful and company the best.. I was off to shutters to get some pictures (i ordered the 20 credit package- not available on the ship but only online)..It was a zoo.... I put down my camera to look at the book and walked away for 1 minute until I realized it was gone.. I couldn't find it anywhere and the CM's said they hadn't seen it..It was my whole trip on that camera...videos, pictures, memories that could not be replaced..I went to guest services- the line was so long- my heart was racing-- I finally get to a CM and ask if they found my camera- they ask the brand and I say Sony--the guy is in the back for what seems forever- he comes out and says "this one was just turned in but it is a Canon" I scream, "that's mine, I don't even know my own name half the time let alone what brand of camera I have" we look a the pictures, he sees that it is me and I get it back...I was so relieved!! Must have been pixie dust... The night is coming to an end- we watch the See you real soon party- or whatever it is called, head back to the room, sit on the veranda for a while chatting with our friends about another amazing trip...We were off the ship by 8 the next morning and home in time to set up our fantasy football lineups..My final thought about the Dream-- it is a big, lovely ship..There are a lot of people on it but the only time we felt it was "really" crowded was at the pools- which, as I have said before, if the kids didn't mind, we didn't mind. We swim all year round so even if they didn't swim it wouldn't have been a big deal. The service was fantastic..We were very fortunate to have such a great team. Our room was very nice as well as the location. Shows were good, the girls loved them. My advice is to go prepared for the a busy ship-It's still vacation- enjoy and don't stress the small stuff..The FE gifts were awesome!! We got so many incredible gifts- many handmade ones, cool toys for the kids, and some great goodies for my belly... I prefer a longer trip- dh is happy with the shorter one-- we'll be back next year for another cruise- not sure if it will be back on the Dream or the Magic (prices for the Fantasy are pretty high right now)..Who knows, maybe with the addition of the new ship they may be able to offer some florida resident rates next year (which saved us tons of $$ last year)..
