OUR ITINERARY
| Day | Port | Guest Ashore | /Guest Onboard |
| 1 | Port Canaveral, Florida | — | 3:45 p.m. |
| 2 | Nassau | 9:30 a.m. | 6:00 p.m. |
| 3 | Castaway Cay | 8:30 a.m. | 4:30 p.m. |
| 4 | At Sea | — | — |
| 5 | Port Canaveral, Florida | 7:30 a.m. | — |
After the mandatory safety drill is over, we can head back to our stateroom. We had originally booked a "Deluxe Ocean view Stateroom, with some obstructed view" We were in stateroom 8002, which is at the front of the ship. We booked this cruise along with our Walt Disney World portion of our stay months before I had become a Disney travel specialist. As I had helped plan, and give information to many friends over the years for trips to WDW, I had no experience with the Disney cruises. So, when we started planning this trip in July of 2011, I was very naive, and really had no idea what I was doing. I booked the stateroom based on price, as we were trying to be as frugal as possible, while still having a wonderful trip. That is all well and good, but now that I have been educated from my classes, and booked cruises for several clients, I now know that I really wanted to have a verandah with our stateroom. So, after talking this over with Paul, and told him about the minimal increase in cost, I called in and spoke to one of the agents at DCL to see if anything was available for us to make the change. We were allowed to make the upgrade, it cost us about $300.00 more, but with the added space, and the fact that we can have fresh air coming into the stateroom, will be well worth the cost. We were put up a deck from 8 to 9. I will not be posting our stateroom # here, for the sake if privacy. We are toward the back of the ship though, and close to the aft elevators which makes me happy, and I am told the elevators mid-ship get a bit busy.
So, with the change, this is what we have........
- Sleeps: 3 or 4
- Size: 246 sq. ft. including verandah
- Room Configuration: Queen-size bed, single convertible sofa, upper berth pull-down bed if sleeping 4, split bath with tub and shower
- View: Private verandah
All of the staterooms aboard the DCL ship are said to be a "cut above" the standard cruising cabin. On average, there is about 25% more space, most have the split baths. What is a split bath you ask? Well, here are the details. In most staterooms ranging from catagory 4 to 10, accomdations come with the split bathrooms. It's really like having 2 small bathrooms side by side. One has a sink and toilet, the other had a tub and shower. As I take longer in the bathroom than my husband, he is going to love this!
Most staterooms are outside staterooms of some kind, the inside staterooms are limited. The inside staterooms do have the magic porthole, which is unique to the Dream and the Fantasy.
Amenities include TV, Wave Phones (allowing you to call or text the other members of your party on the ship), telephone with voice mail, in-room safe and lots of drawer space. There is a lot of room under the bed as well to store your luggage and get it out of the way.
The other accomodations on the ship include the Deluxe Family Ocean veiw staterooms also with verandahs, and then there are the concierge level stateroom and the Roy O. Disney suite, and the Walter E. Disney suite. Unless I win the lottery, I will never be staying in one of them. I have been invited to take a tour of the Roy suite. Someone who is a member of my FB page for our cruise is staying in there with other people, and she has asked me if we would like to see it. If course! And pictures will be taken!
Isn't' this beautiful???
Next, let's take a tour of the swimming locations aboard the Disney Dream. Deck 11 is the location for the pools. Donald's Pool is the family pool and is found mid-ship. Mickey's Pool is strictly for kids and parents, and the Quiet Cove Pool is for adults only. We will be spending a lot of time in this location. As I have said before, I have children of my own (who are now grown young men), and I love kids, but this trip is for relaxing and as much quiet as we can get.......so, we won't be spending much time in Donald's pool. Nemo's Reef is a soft surface spray zone for the toddler set.
Also found on this ship up on Deck 12, is the 765 foot long "water coaster" called the AquaDuck! This propels guests through a clear tube on a thrilling journey that includes a trip OVER the ocean and then through the forward funnel, and then a 4 deck drop into a lazy river. I have been looking forward to this since we booked this cruise over a year ago!
We now find our way to a party! The Sail Away Deck Party to be exact. When you say deck party, the best place to find one is on a Disney Cruise Line ship. This celebration on the Dream, will be found by Donald's Pool, continuing with daily dance fests with Disney characters, live bands and fireworks. Wow, seems like you can find any reason to party aboard this ship!
And, not to mention the party at night, Pirates IN the Caribbean Party! We can't wait for that one! We have our pirate contumes all ready as a double from how we will be dressed for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom!
Shopping on board. Well, as I work in retail, it's not my favorite thing to do. However, I am looking forward to shopping on board this ship. I mean, it will be a totally different experience than just walking into a Kohl's or Macy's. There are several shops on the ship, and we will definitely take advantage of the tax-free (on all items) and duty-free on selected items. What is the difference with tax-free and duty free you ask? I was not sure myself until I did some research. So, this is the lowdown:
The Difference Between Duty-Free and Tax-Free Purchase
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In simplistic terms, the difference between these two tax exempt statuses really relates to the movement of the products purchased. Duty-free products would result in the consumer saving the normal government taxes (i.e., duties) assessed on products moving out of the country, while tax-free products would result in the consumer saving the normal government taxes (i.e., sales tax) assessed on products produced and sold within a country.
the shops aboard the ship are:
Mickey's Mailsail, Sea Treasures and Whitecaps all located on Deck 3. Whozits and Whatzits is located on deck 11 near the pools. It sells tanning lotions, sunglasses, magazines and the like.
Finally today, we will talk about the Princess Autograph Sessions. The Personal Navigator that we will receive in our stateroom will have details about this times and dates, but from my understanding this does happen at least once per cruise. Such royals as Cinderella, Snow White, and Princess Aurora, Belle and Tiana make an appearance. I would love to get my picture taken with each one. Besides the Princesses, the other Disney character you may find on board are:
Character Greetings, where kids and adults can meet and greet Disney Characters, occur throughout the Disney Dream, both in designated places and during special surprise appearances.
Share hugs with Snow White and Cinderella. Enjoy a hearty laugh or two with Goofy and Donald Duck. And collect one-of-a-kind autographs from the likes of the lovable, but scheming, chipmunks Chip 'n Dale.
A Disney Cruise Line cruise offers you what no others can—memorable experiences with Disney Characters. Although subject to change, Disney Characters you are likely to see during your cruise may include:
- Mickey Mouse
- Minnie Mouse
- Donald Duck
- Daisy Duck
- Chip & Dale
- Goofy
- Pluto
- Max
- Captain Hook
- Peter Pan
- Lilo
- Stitch
- Cinderella
- Belle
- Snow White
- Princess Aurora
- Princess Tiana
- Ariel
- Captain Jack Sparrow
- Dopey
- the Lobby Atrium
- Gangway
- Donald's Pool area
- Disney's Oceaneer Lab
- Disney's Oceaneer Club
- D Lounge
Character Greetings are available throughout the day. For a schedule of Disney Character appearances, check the Personal Navigator—the Disney Cruise Line daily newsletter detailing all there is to see and do—once you're onboard the ship. You can also dial 7-PALS from your stateroom phone or check the message board in the Lobby Atrium for more details about Character Greetings.
Available on all Disney cruises, a final farewell reception lets you share goodbye hugs and snap some last-minute pictures of your favorite Disney Characters, Disney Cruise Crew Members and stars of the Disney Cruise Line Live Shows before your cruise vacation draws to an end.
Sea Ya' Real Soon! Party
Sea Ya' Real Soon! is a 45-minute deck party located on Decks 3 and 4 in the Lobby Atrium that begins at approximately 10:00 p.m. the night before Debarkation Day. Available on all Disney Dream cruises, this final farewell event invites you to share goodbye hugs and snap some last-minute pictures of your favorite Disney Characters and Disney Cruise Crew Members before your cruise vacation draws to an end.
Information via the Disney Cruise Line website.
So there you have our coverage for this week. Next week we will go more in depth with a deck by deck breakdown of the ship, and what is located there, as well as more information about all the restaurants on the ship. Until then, smooth sailing for the rest of your week!
You have soo much to look forward to!! How exciting this all is!
ReplyDeleteI know! I feel like I have not even cracked the surface of this story!!
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