Aimee and Lauren's Split Year Split Stay Part 2- Disney August 2016- Day 13- Cruise time!

[xAimeex]

Hi guys! Hope everyone is well! I've finally gotten round to making a start on writing up the cruise! I've been desperate to write about this for ages as couldn't wait to relive the memories!

Melissa (Pumba75) asked me to keep the details of the cruise to a minimum as her girls are keen to try a Disney Cruise so I kept it vague...vaguely 11,900 words hehe sorry Melissa! In fact I might dedicate this day to M and E hehe, I hope you enjoy reading girls (and you too Melissa!)

I actually googled the average length of a University Dissertation and apparently they range from 10,000-15,000 words so I hope you enjoy reading my dissertation on the Disney Dream hehe.

Honestly I can't believe I've managed to finish this day in 2 weeks as it also has 300 photos in it! I feel like I've invested a little bit of my soul in to in hehe. I wanted it to be really informative though as we had so many questions while planning this cruise! We know planning a Disney park trip like the back of our hands but a cruise was a whole new world to us and we didn't know where to start!

I fully understand if people don't read the whole thing and I actually almost separated this in to 2 parts so split it up if you do want to read the whole thing!

Ok I'm going to stop going on now! I hope you enjoy it!



Day 13- Friday 26th August 2016- Cruise Embarkation!


The day had finally arrived! Something we'd been waiting for for over a year! Today was the day we we're finally going on our first Disney Cruise!


We were about to spend the next 3 days aboard the Disney Dream travelling to the Bahamas and back!


It had been something we'd been dreaming of since 1998 when we'd watched a Disney planning VHS (old school!) which featured a section on Disney Cruise Line which was launching later that year!


It had never really worked out timing wise or cost wise before but when we looked in to the 4 of us sharing 1 large cabin it actually wasn't as much as we were expecting.


After a stressful 5am start 75 days earlier trying to do online check in for the cruise where of course Disney's 'fantastic' IT systems meant the site was down, we had luckily still managed to get the port arrival time we wanted from 11:30-11:45!


Today we were up at 8. We weren't being picked up until 10 so this seemed like plenty of time but it actually turned into a bit of a rush in the end so we probably should have woken up at 7 or 7:30.


We finished the last bit of packing and made sure the villa was cleared. It felt odd to be packing up but not flying home!


We all got ready for the day too. Almost a year before I'd ordered Lauren and myself some cute matching custom Disney Cruise Line Minnie ears!


I surprised her with them on Christmas Day so we'd been waiting to wear them for a long time!

DSC04460 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


They were from Modern Mouse Boutique on Etsy and I absolutely love them! You can buy DCL Minnie ears on the ship but I thought it would be nice to have some custom ones and so many people on the cruise came and asked where we'd bought ours!


As we had matching Minnie ears we'd decided to go one step further and wear full on matching outfits hehe. Mum used to dress us in matching outfits all the time when we were kids so she was thrilled to see us twinning it up again.

DSC04458 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


We'd decided to make our own from a design we'd had made up from another Etsy seller TiffanyandGirls!


We'd actually had the design made up for our door magnets on the ship but we loved it so much we decided they'd make the cutest t-shirts too!


Tiffany sends you the design as a PDF (they're really reasonable too, we got 4 personalised Mickey heads for £3.87) and also sends a reverse design so that if you want to use it for an iron on transfer the design is printed the right way round.


We both purchased a white t-shirt; just cheap ones from H&M/Primark as we were a bit worried about messing them up so didn't want to buy expensive shirts. I then ordered some iron on transfer paper from amazon.


We used a regular printer to print the design on to the transfer paper before cutting it out super carefully!


Ironing it on was completely nerve wracking but thankfully they both came out perfectly first time which was a relief!


We teamed our t-shirts and ears with some navy blue shorts to carry on the nautical theme!

DSC04455 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04456 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


I don't even care if people looked at us and thought we were weird for wearing matching clothes with our names printed on them! I absolutely loved these outfits!


I made sure the suitcase I was sending on to the Beach Club was securely locked before we called down to bell services for help with our luggage.


A CM arrived with a golf cart at 9:15 and helped us to load up all our stuff.


We said goodbye to the villa! Again we felt like we didn't make great use of the kitchen and I definitely wished I'd found time to use the jacuzzi bath more but we'd really enjoyed our stay!


It's a good job we had cancelled our Olivia's adr as we'd booked for 9 and I just don't think we'd have had time at all before being picked up at 10!


We left our stuff on a luggage cart and I made sure they had the right suitcase to send on to Beach Club for us.


Mum and Lauren popped in to the Conch Flats shop to use our last snack credit on a packet of Oreos, you get 10 in a pack for 1 snack credit. I haven't made a note of what they cost as we realised how late it was getting and we all started to get a bit stressed but I think they were around $3.50.


We dashed back round to Good's to Go to grab our breakfast.


This was really disappointing and not something we'd recommend but we didn't know how long it would be until we got to sit down for a proper meal and we had 4 CS credits left to use!


It wasn't busy there as most people were already heading to the parks but it was such slow service which was quite frustrating considering we were already feeling time conscious.


They did a kids French toast platter here which is one of Lauren's favourite breakfast items in Disney! It wasn't a great use of a credit but these were extra credits anyway after the rodent incident at Backlot Express the day before.

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Mum picked the same while Dad and I went for a croissant sandwich each which sounded yummy but was actually gross!


It had egg, bacon and cheese in it but the egg was soggy which just made the whole thing a pretty gross consistency. They were also cold so the cheese wasn't melted at all. We ate about half of them but it was nothing special! Had we had more time we'd have absolutely sent them back to be reheated!

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I wished I'd had the French toast although even that was a bit burnt so overall it wasn't an amazing breakfast but luckily we had the fudge and biscuits from last night and the Oreos if we got really hungry before lunch.


I've no idea what we did for drinks, think we may have grabbed bottles of orange juice but in the stress of the moment I haven't made a note.


I do know that it would have cost $34.36 OOP but we used our last 4 counter service credits!


Dining plan complete again!


It was almost 9:50 by the time we finished so after a quick toilet stop we went over to Bell Services to grab our cases and wait for our transfer!


We'd debated for a while after we first booked over whether to use the Disney Cruise Line bus or book a private transfer.


We'd heard mixed reviews of the cruise line bus as sometimes they don't get you to the port until later as you have to go round other resorts to collect first, a little like the Magical Express.


Unlike the Magical Express though it isn't free. I think it's around $35 per person so either way it was going to cost us to get there.


We've used Florida Magical Tours quite a few times now and always had fantastic service from them and found them really reliable so in the end we decided to book a private transfer with them on the way out and we'd book the Disney Cruise Line bus for the journey back to Beach Club as we do really love the theming of those buses!


When knew we'd need an SUV to fit all of our luggage in but when we started to look up prices we decided maybe we could stretch to a limo (no pun intended ) as a surprise for Mum and Dad!


We found a discount code which brought the price down a bit so we decided to go ahead and just book it! None of us had ever been in a limo before and we decided it would be a fab (not to mention comfy) way of driving down to the port! Plus it included soft drinks and water which would be nice as it's about an hour’s drive down to Port Canaveral and as I said the luxury of being able to stretch out and relax would be perfect!


It did cost £188 but honestly it was such a lovely addition to the cruise portion of the trip that we were so glad we booked it! You only live once and all that, something else to tick off the bucket list!


As I said we wanted to surprise Mum and Dad with it so we told them we'd booked an SUV and it was all sorted!


As we waited outside OKW I felt nervous about whether the surprise would all go to plan!


Thankfully it did! At 9:55 the limo turned the corner and we casually said oh look there's our car!

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They thought we were joking at first and Mum said don't be silly that's not for us!


The looks on their faces when we said we'd booked it as a surprise for them were great!


The driver was actually the same guy who had taken us to the airport from Hard Rock Hotel on our February trip earlier in the year!

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He loaded up all the cases into the boot and then showed us where the drinks were.


There was coke, sprite and bottled water so we were all happy!


It was lovely inside! The ceiling had little pin lights in it that changed colour, it was mesmerising to watch!

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Pull down tv screen

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Radio

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We set off promptly at 10 and caught our last few glimpses of Old Key West before we left the resort.

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Mum and Dad just had the biggest smiles on their faces the whole way there! It made it worth absolutely every penny!


They sat in the 2 seats at the back as they both like to travel facing forward while Lauren and I picked the sideways facing seats so we'd be able to look out of the windows better!


There was a touch screen radio in the back so you could control what you listened to.


Justin Beiber's 'sorry' played twice during the journey and now whenever I hear it I'm transported back to sitting in the limo filled with anticipation and excitement as I looked out at the Florida scenery passing us by!


We all felt so relaxed sitting in the back, if only we could always travel like that hehe.


It was an easy journey down to Port Canaveral and we didn't hit any traffic. As we got closer to the coast it started to look cloudier.

DSC04492 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

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Tropical Storm Gaston had been approaching for a couple of days now and truthfully we'd been a little worried about how it would affect the cruise but thankfully everything was fab apart from it being a little rocky this first night and a huge downpour as we were waiting to get back on to the ship at Castaway Cay.


Although tropical storms are obviously not the least bit funny (even more so recently after Hurricane Irma) there was some good memes around on Facebook/Instagram given the unfortunate (if rather apt for a Disney holiday) name choice for this one.

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As a precaution, even without the storm, we'd been taking Dramamine (bought in the US) for a couple of days now as we were all very worried about feeling sea sick. We took it every day on the cruise and for a couple of days upon returning from it to avoid land sickness.


Sea sickness worries were also part of the reason we only booked the 3 day cruise. We thought better to play it safe and go for the shortest cruise just in case. Although of course in hindsight we wished we'd booked the 4 day cruise in the end!


It wasn't long before we spotted the Disney Dream in all its glory!

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I can remember being glued to the window and watching the ship appear bigger and bigger as we drew closer to it!


We arrived at the port at 11 and were parking outside at 11:10 as there was a little wait for a space.


This whole moment just felt completely surreal! Stepping out of a limo and looking over at this ginormous beautiful ship about to embark on 3 days of magic and relaxation! It was like a dream!


A porter came over to load our cases to be taken on to the ship. He was very insistent that he take our hand luggage from us but we explained that we'd rather keep them. He said we'd really regret taking them with us as we wouldn't be able to get in to our stateroom for hours. We decided we'd keep them with us as it isn't compulsory to give them to the porters. I've mentioned before my reasons for liking to keep my cases close so I just felt a lot happier keeping our hand luggage close by.

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These are the labels Disney send you to attach to your cases!


With our big cases gone we headed over to the main terminal (is it even called a terminal at a port?! You know what I mean though hehe).

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As you're leaving the country obviously normal passport checks apply so you have to show them as you enter the building.


Once inside you are met with an airport style security area. Every bag has to go through an x-ray machine and then then you have to walk through a scanner.


Thankfully we all made it through with no issues!


There is an escalator ahead that leads you up to the main check in area.


This area is really beautiful!

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So many cute nautical details!

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Our first priority was to find the toilets as we'd had so much to drink in the limo that we were all bursting!


When we finished here we headed to the check in desk!


There was only a short line which took around 5 minutes or so.


We had a couple of forms to fill out and were also given our first Navigator which was exciting! For anyone that doesn't know these are like little newsletters that you receive for each day of the cruise to tell you the events and activities happening on the ship that day! They are the cutest newsletters ever!

DSC04504 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


We also received our key to the world cards for the ship! These are basically the same as the old kttw cards that were used at Disney before magic bands! It was quite nice to have cards again although it does make you realise how convenient the bands are! These act as your room key and also charging card as Disney Cruises are cashless (although you can pay off the charges in cash at guest services like you can at Disney resorts).

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We were all checked in by 11:30!


We were in boarding group 10 and they were only boarding groups 1-6 at the moment so we grabbed our bags and found some seats while we waited!


Our stateroom would be ready at 1:30 so we were very glad now we'd not handed over our hand luggage as keeping them with us for 2 hours was no hardship!


We were feeling a little peckish now so I broke out the cookies and cream fudge we'd bought in Magic Kingdom the night before.


Unfortunately it wasn't that nice, it was fine don't get me wrong but not something we'd get again.


As we were eating it a lady and her daughter came over to say hello as they'd read our trip reports before. They were Catherine and Alicia! Catherine's husband Les is a dibber OrlandoLes!


They were absolutely lovely! My greeting wasn't the most sophisticated as I had a mouthful of fudge at the time hehe. We had such a nice chat though!


Les and their son Lewis were holding their place in the line to meet Cruise Line Mickey but we met them all a few times over the cruise! They were such a lovely family!


Lauren and I went over to wait to see Cruise Line Mickey too but the line was quite long so we decided to give it a miss as we wanted to get on board promptly when group 10 was called as we were so excited to finally see inside the ship!


Group 10 was eventually called at 11:50 so we gathered our stuff together and heading over to the hidden Mickey tunnel! I can't even tell you how much we'd been anticipating this moment having read about it so many times in our research!


I just couldn't believe it was actually happening!

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After we walked through the tunnel there was a short line where we all had to scan our key to the world cards so they knew who had boarded I guess.

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We then walked on a little further and there was another short wait to have the official boarding photo taken!

582-19775143-Embrk Terminal-31755_GPR by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


We hadn't pre-purchased the photo package as it's quite pricey and we didn't know how many we'd actually want to buy so we decided we'd most likely buy a digital package at the end of the cruise which comes on a memory stick rather than printed copies.


We actually ended up with quite a few photos that we liked but picked our 10 favourites which cost $150 so still pricey but to pre-pay for all your photos was around $200 so we were glad we waited until we'd seen our photos in the end.


After we'd had our photo taken it was finally time to officially board the Disney Dream!


Before you walk on to the ship they ask your family name and as you walk on board they announce your arrival as you walk through a tunnel of cast members clapping you hehe it really does make it feel like quite an entrance!


As we walked through into the main atrium our jaws pretty much dropped to the ground as it is absolutely stunning in there!


We'd seen so many photos of it but nothing prepares you for how completely beautiful it looks in real life!


I was just in awe! I loved the Art Deco feel to it all! It felt like walking on to the Titanic (without the iceberg thankfully), it honestly looked like a movie set!


Everything about it is so glamorous and the hidden Disney touches like the hidden Mickey's on the chandelier and the characters on all the railings just make it so magical!


I honestly could have cried I was so excited and blown away by it all!


We took a few photos although it was fairly busy at this time with other people who had just boarded so we decided to head up to Deck 11 to grab some lunch at Cabanas as after our disappointing breakfast and snack experiences we were really hungry!

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Cabanas is the buffet restaurant on board the ship! One of our favourite things about going on a cruise was that all the food is included in the cost! There are a few exceptions on board the Dream; Palo and Remy's cost extra as do all alcoholic beverages, popcorn and the sweets and cakes on offer in Vanelope's.


The main atrium is on Deck 3 so we had to take the elevator up to Deck 11. As I said the ship is huge and it's easy to get lost on there but thankfully there are lots of signs telling you where things are! (Forward is the front of the ship and aft is the back and obviously midship is in the middle hehe).

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Continued below…

[xAimeex]

…Continued


Even getting the lift was an experience on DCL! I loved how the lever to tell you which level it was at was shaped like Mickey's hand and then when we entered the lift and started moving, we watched as a mural of various flying Disney characters passed us on the way up!

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We strolled along the Deck towards Cananas trying to get our bearings! I thought we'd struggle massively to navigate the ship but apart from a couple of times I don't think we got lost too badly, as I said it's well sign posted and there's lots of cast members around to ask!

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This is the seating area near Flo’s Café

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As we arrived at Cabanas we were handed an anti-bacterial wipe which we were impressed by! This happened when you entered every restaurant on board and we were happy to see that hygiene practices were so good!

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Cutlery was also indivually wrapped again for hygiene reasons I’d imagine


Cabanas wasn't as busy as we'd been expecting so we managed to grab a lovely table by the window! As we hadn't left the port yet the view wasn't particularly amazing (although we could see some water) hehe but oh to be back there now!

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The theming is lovely in here and it felt as though you were dining at a Beach resort! I didn’t get too many photos today but did snap a couple of the theming!

DSC04568 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
Mum loves the Mine Mine Mine birds from Finding Nemo!


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The selection of food on offer was just incredible! We were absolutely spoilt for choice!


I tried to get as many photos as I could but they're not the best quality as I always feel a bit awkward standing at a buffet taking pictures!

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Crab and shrimp

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Salad bar

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Wraps and cheeses

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Grilled steak and fries

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Lamb chops

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Prosciutto wrapped salmon

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Grilled sword fish with an apple and lime sauce

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Bread selection

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Penne pasta in provencal sauce and macaroni with mushrooms

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Buttered vegetables and chicken tenders

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Macaroni cheese

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Creamy mushroom soup and chicken noodle soup


We were all in absolute food heaven! Mum, Dad and Lauren are all seafood fans so they enjoyed the crab and shrimp on offer!

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A couple of our plates


The only thing I tried that I wasn't too keen on was the turkey wrap as it was quite spicy which I wasn't expecting.


As I was helping myself to some chicken tenders I accidentally knocked the tongs off and it was almost like slow motion as they slid off but I managed to catch them thankfully before they clattered to the floor!


The chef behind the counter said I had reflexes like a sports player haha. That's a compliment I've literally never had before!


Which reminds me the only things that weren't self-service were the wraps and all the desserts. There are chefs behind the counters who will get them for you if you ask.


I'd filled up on savoury and sadly only had room for 2 desserts although I knew I'd certainly be making up for that over the next 3 days!

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Dessert selection

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Mixed berry pudding


I had the mixed berry pudding and the carrot cake! Both were very nice!

DSC04564 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


The others had ice cream but I don’t have a photo sorry!


Drinks are self-service here and one bonus was that they had POG juice on tap! This is the passion fruit, orange and guava juice mix more commonly known as jungle juice in Disney! It is the best juice in the world! I had coke to start and then a glass of POG juice after!


DSC04560 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
Even the cups are super cute with hidden Mickey’s!


We really enjoyed our embarkment lunch here! We'd been expecting it to be crazy and a little chaotic but it wasn't at all! It was a really relaxing start to our cruise!

DSC04565 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

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We walked out via Vanelope’s sweet shop! This is themed around Wreck it Ralph! As mentioned above none of the treats in here are included in the cost of the cruise unlike most of the food on board. It can all be charged back to your account via the key to the world card. Again the theming in here was fab!

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We were still a little early for our room so we headed back down to the main atrium as it just so beautiful in there!

There are some nice cosy sofas around this area so we found one for Mum and Dad to chill out on while Lauren and I went on a little explore to get our bearings!

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There was announcement when Mickey and Minnie boarded the ship which was cute!


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Continued below…

[xAimeex]

…Continued

DSC04621 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

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This is the on board cinema

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Some of the films showing on the cruise!

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You can purchase popcorn for the cinema here, as with Vanelope’s this costs extra

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I loved the art deco design!

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One of the side entrances for the Walt Disney theatre, this is where the ships stage shows are performed each night

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The main entrance to the Walt Disney Theatre all set up for the show tonight, The Golden Mickey’s!

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The on board gallery

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As we were wandering we spotted Pluto in his Cruise outfit on a walk around the ship. This is one difference to the parks, although there are scheduled character meets on board they also have random character wandering around from time to time.


They are with a character handler but no photographer. They may not always be able to stop but where they can they'll have their photos taken with you! The character handler is happy to take them on your camera or phone! I'm not sure if they sign autographs or not at these unscheduled meets as we don't collect them.

DSC04625 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


We passed by the 3 main shops which are all located in a semi-circle near the Walt Disney Theatre. Due to port regulations the shops must remain closed while the ship is docked but we had a quick browse through the windows.

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We even stopped off in the rest rooms for pictures hehe. We loved the Mickey mirrors!

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Even the toilet doors were beautiful


We headed back up to deck 11 again on our exploration so we could check out the pools!


We passed a cast member on the way who thought we were twins hehe we were in matching outfits to be fair although this happens even when we're dressed differently bizarrely!


We stopped at the family pool first which was busy as you'd expect. We weren't planning to use this pool but it was nice to see it anyway.

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Unbeknownst to us at the time we'd passed dibber Juliab and her family who we'd met in Magic Kingdom a couple of nights before! We realised once we were home when Julia spotted her husband Scott in our photos!

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Setting up for the sailing away party!

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We carried on over towards the adults only area! The pool was small, again as you'd expect, but so beautiful! The whole area just felt so calm and peaceful and I hoped we'd be able to find the time to relax down here!

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The adult only pool


We also spotted the glass bottomed hot tubs! I didn’t take any pictures until later but these are beautiful and literally on the edge of the boat so you can sit in them and stare out at the miles of ocean around you! We couldn't wait to be chilling out in these later!


We did have our swimwear in our hand luggage so we could all have come up to use the pool/hot tub now but we'd been keen to navigate the ship a little first!


After this we headed back down to meet Mum and Dad.


We still had about 10 minutes until we could go to our stateroom so Mum and Dad took their turn to go and explore a little!


Lauren and I signed up for 50mb of free Wi-Fi. This is the only free Wi-Fi available throughout the cruise and after that it gets very pricey so we weren't planning to buy any!

21764511_1663527720389383_98942989_o by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
Wi-Fi costs

Lauren used hers to post an arrival picture on our Instagram while I messaged my boyfriend for a little while as we'd been planning to FaceTime in the morning but hadn't been able to get the connection to work and then we were rushing to leave Old Key West so it was nice to be able to message a little while longer!


The 50mb went fast but it was nice to have it all the same. In some ways it was actually quite nice to have a break from social media for a few days but it was hard not being able to message loved ones back home.


Mum and Dad arrived back at 1:25 so we gathered all the bags together and headed to the lifts.

Continued below…

[xAimeex]

…Continued

We were on Deck 6 but once we were up there it was a bit of a trek to our stateroom.


You really appreciate just how big the ship is as you're walking along these long corridors! Mind you they are decorated beautifully and have Disney music playing from speakers so it really isn't that bad!

DSC04795 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
The long coridors! The carpets reminded us a little of those at the Yacht Club

DSC04687 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

Soon enough we found stateroom 6514!

DSC04630 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

We used our key to the world cards to enter and excitedly went inside!


We'd booked this stateroom specifically because it is square shaped rather than the usual rectangular rooms.


Knowing we'd be 4 adults sharing we knew the space would be much appreciated!


We were absolutely blown away by how big it was!

DSC04633 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04632 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04634 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04635 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


Another bonus for booking this room was that we had 2 large port holes!

DSC04639 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


When we'd first been discussing options for the cruise we'd said how lovely it would be to have a verandah and while it would have been we decided that space would be more of a priority.

Having the large port holes meant we could also take pretentious pictures like this-

DSC04644 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04648 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


Hehe and nice ones like this-

DSC04649 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04651 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04658 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
They were so big that I could just about stand up in them!


There was a double bed for Mum and Dad to sleep on (not sure if this was double or kingsize but it was certainly big enough).


One brilliant thing about Disney Cruise ships is that the beds are raised high enough for suitcases to fit underneath! This is a fantastic space saving idea!

DSC04646 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04672 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


We managed to fit my suitcase, plus Mum and Dad's under there and a couple of hand luggage cases too. In hindsight there almost certainly would have been enough room for my extra case in the cabin!


Lauren and I would be sleeping in the bunk beds!


These are only set up at night after your stateroom host has been in to prepare the room for you so I'll share a photo of them later on.


The sofa turns in to the bottom bunk and the top bunk is pulled down from the ceiling the same as the rectangular shaped rooms. We loved the detailing above the top bunk, it looked like constellations of Peter Pan and co.!

DSC04636 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04632 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
The top bunk is hidden away in that alcove

We took it in turns to sleep on the top bunk as that one wasn't really as comfortable and was quite squeaky when you moved. That may have been as we're adults and heavier than a child although length wise they are full single beds.


We were so impressed with all the storage space! We had 2 wardrobes with plenty of hangers! The safe and life jackets could also be found in here!

DSC04654 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04655 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04673 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

Dad and I tried them on and took the obligatory photos hehe.

DSC04680 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04684 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


There was a chair and a small ottoman table which opened up to provide more storage space!

DSC04645 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


The regular rectangular room also have the double closet and ottoman but I'm not sure about the extra chair.


There was a desk too which contained the wave phones, these can be used to keep in contact around the ship although we never did get round to using them!

DSC04639 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

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DSC04665 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr



There was a proper hairdryer too in the drawer! You could also find the room service menu and the breakfast order sheets here, these could be filled out the night before and hung on the door. At the time specified the next day your breakfast is then delivered! Does it get better than that! All room service orders incur a $1 per item tip but other than that it is all included in the cost of the cruise! Yes, unlimited room service at only a small extra cost!


Waiting on the desk were our tickets for the cruise activities we'd booked. Lauren and I had booked the Princess meet and greet and the Frozen meet and greet. These are included in the cost of the cruise but do have to be pre-booked.


For Castaway Cay day we'd pre-booked 2 tubes for floating in the sea on and also 2 lots of snorkel gear (flippers, snorkel and mask) as Lauren and I were planning to do this.


You can take your own snorkel equipment from home if you have it and don't mind it taking up a bit of space in the suitcase (or buy some in Walmart/Target when you arrive). It was pricey to rent these so if you can I'd recommend bringing stuff with you. Lauren and I don't own any so we ended up forking out $31 each to rent them for the day!


The tubes were more reasonable at $10 each for the day. We got far more use out of these than the snorkel gear so would definitely recommend hiring these at Castaway Cay!


Back to the stateroom! The bathroom area here was the other main difference between the square cabin and the rectangular cabin as the latter have split bathrooms. This means there are 2 bathroom areas, 1 with a toilet and sink and another with a sink and small bathtub. This means 2 people can be getting ready at once which is useful!


In our stateroom (category 8a) we just had a single bathroom with a sink, toilet and small bathtub. We really didn't suffer at all not having the second bathroom area especially on a 3 day cruise and again the extra space in the room trumped it.

DSC04641 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04642 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


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DSC04677 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


All staterooms feature a tv. Ours was beside the door so between the main bed and the sofa. It could be swivelled round to face either way though. There is an information channel on here with things about the ship but our favourite part was that you could select almost any Disney film to watch! Again it was our kind of tv! I'm not sure whether it had any regular tv channels as A) we obviously didn't sit around watching tv much on the cruise and B) if we did we watched Disney movies hehe.

DSC04640 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

It really was just a fantastic stateroom, we were thrilled with it! We loved all the little Disney touches!

DSC04637 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

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DSC04685 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


Our view out of the port holes currently was the area where the DCL buses drop off. We could see lots of hustle and bustle outside as they transported luggage towards the ships! We couldn't wait to get out to sea so our view was endless miles of ocean!

DSC04678 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04679 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
Loved the Mickey touches on the building!

Mum, Dad and Lauren were all quite tired and decided to have a little power nap.


I'm generally a bit beyond napping by this point in the holiday which was a good thing as without the bunk beds set up there was only room for 3 to sleep!


Dad kindly let Lauren take a turn sleeping in the bed so she and Mum slept there while Dad napped on the sofa.


We pulled both the curtains across in the room. They're well lined so make it nice and dark in there!


I climbed behind one of the curtains and lay down in the port hole window seat! This is a perfect area to lie in as they're well padded so I was very comfy hidden away in my little nook! I made a note to do this when we were out at sea too!


It was lovely and warm too against the window. The staterooms are all air conditioned but I feel the cold really badly so this was a little haven of warmth snuggled up here!


I took the time to catch up on my notes, as I'm sure you can tell (as this is already over 5000 words up to this point) I had a lot to remember hehe.


I used the last of my 50mb of free Wi-Fi to send a couple more messages to my boyfriend and watched all the goings on outside at the port.

DSC04660 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04661 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04663 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


When I looked up I realised I could see the little pod where the captain sails the ship from!

DSC04662 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


Our stateroom was quite near the front of the ship and I was pretty sure I could feel it moving slightly with the waves already but it wasn't overly noticeable as we were still docked.


Apparently the more midship you are the less you'll feel movement (I think being on a lower deck helps too) but again we wanted this style of cabin so we didn't really have a choice about where our stateroom was. We found it fine though even with the tropical storm nearby and had no trouble sleeping and no nausea or sea sickness thankfully!


I honestly felt so relaxed! After 12 nights of hammering the parks it was really nice to just stop and not feel like we needed to rush anywhere. Although of course with only 3 nights we did feel like we needed to cram a lot in to the cruise!


Unless you have genuine concern like we did over sea sickness I'd definitely recommend booking a 4 night cruise if the budget stretches as there really is just so much to do on board but I'll get to all of that in good time!

Continued below…

[xAimeex]

…Continued


The others woke from their power naps at 2:30 as we didn't want to waste too much time in the cabin!


We checked outside and our main suitcases had arrived!


Looking at our empty door reminded us that we had door magnets to put on!


This is a bit of a Disney Cruise tradition (not sure about other Cruise Lines). As the doors are metal, lots of people make magnets to decorate them with!


You can buy sets from the shops on board the cruise (as mentioned the shops are only open when the ship is at sea) or you can design and make your own.


We hadn't quite gone as far as designing our own but we had picked some designs on Etsy to have printed into magnets ourselves.


They were the design Lauren and I had printed on our t-shirts plus one each for Mum and Dad (they hadn't wanted to be part of our matching t-shirt brigade although I think Mum would have but didn't want Dad to be left out).


They were all made by Etsy seller TiffanyandGirls! They were an absolute bargain, as mentioned above we bought a family pack of 4 for £3.87!


As with our t-shirts Tiffany sends them as a PDF file so no shipping costs!


The magnetic paper I bought was from amazon. This was around £1.75 for 2 A4 sheets but annoyingly I printed the first lot the wrong way on the paper!


If you decide to do this it's worth printing out on regular paper first to check you have the page alignment right!


I learnt my lesson the second time round and managed to fit 2 Mickey heads onto one sheet of A4!


It's not the easiest of stuff to print on to as it's very thick and not as yielding as regular paper. My printer is only a cheap one and did manage ok though.


You can buy magnetic strips I believe to go on the backs of a design printed on regular paper but I thought they'd look better printed fully magnetic.


The only issue we had was with the dark blue colour on Lauren's as it didn't seem to 'sink in' to the paper very well so did smudge a bit which was a shame.


After ordering these Tiffany sent me a discount code and I couldn't resist ordering this super cute anchor design! Unfortunately I left it stuck on our fridge at home! I was so annoyed with myself as it's such a cute magnet! I'd been so organised with everything else. It does look lovely on our fridge though hehe. With our discount code it cost £2.99 and again I printed it myself on magnetic paper.

21682628_1663527793722709_1632557142_o by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


When we'd been looking for magnets on Etsy we'd spotted some super cute pre-made ones shaped like Disney cast member badges! These were a little more expensive as obviously you don't print them yourself. Thankfully they were from a U.K seller so the shipping wasn't crazy!


I ordered one for each of us at £2 each and with shipping it came to £14.


They were made by spoonfulofsugarhull. Along with our other cruise door magnets, these take pride of place on our fridge!

DSC04670 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
Our stateroom door!


Another tradition on Disney Cruises (and possibly other Cruises too I'm not sure) is becoming part of a fish extender group.


To the side of the door is a hook shaped like a fish. The idea is that you make or buy some hanging pockets (aka a fish extender) and then sign up to a group with other people on the cruise (this is not organised by Disney Cruise Line. For our cruise someone had created a Facebook group and then set up the fish extender group on there for people to join). Everyone in the group then buys small gifts for everyone on the list and you go round and deliver them to people's staterooms, leaving them in the pockets hanging on the fish hook.

21764353_1663546870387468_407222266_o by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
Some of the hanging fish extenders you can buy are super cute!


As this was our first cruise we'd decided not to take part in the fish extender group. I'm sure it would have been a lot of fun but we felt it might impact on our time to be going round delivering things to various staterooms. As we'd discovered while walking to our cabin, the ship is absolutely huge with hundreds of staterooms (1250 in total!) if you got a group with lots of people staying in staterooms on the other side of the ship and on different decks etc it would probably take a little while to get round everybody.


With our door decorated and our bags safely back in our possession we decided to order some room service while we unpacked!


It took us a while to work out how to use the main phone in the cabin and we had to go through a few options before we got through to room service.


We ordered the All Hands on Deck cheeseboard and a fruit bowl (I forgot to take a picture of the menu sorry). Light options as we were on the early dining rotation (which we had requested) so didn't want to fill up too much.


We put Peter Pan on while we unpacked as it's one of our favourites and one Mum, Lauren and I watched over and over again when we were little (as none of the parents die! We were banned from watching any like that after our hysterical tears the first time we saw Bambi and the Lion King).


It was lovely to get unpacked and settled into our cosy little room!


Our food arrived around 10 minutes or so later. We gave them a $2 tip, again I wish we'd had more time to order room service!

DSC04681 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

This was all very good! It was nice to have some snacks while we watched the film and unpacked. In hindsight we should have ordered 2 of the cheeseboards hehe but it was a nice little snack to keep us going! We also had the big Mickey head cookie we'd bought the night before to munch on. It turns out I did remember to take a picture of the cookie after all!

DSC04666 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


We were all quite thirsty now! You can get unlimited self-service refills of soft drinks up on board deck 11 near the pool areas.


They provide cups for you to drink them from but you are more than welcome to fill up your own drink container. The only stipulation being that you mustn't fill it up directly from the dispenser. You have to fill up one of their cups and then pour it into your own cup or bottle. This is for hygiene reasons I believe, I guess to prevent germs spreading.


As another Christmas surprise (we were all about DCL on Christmas Day 2015) Lauren had ordered us all these ridiculously cute custom DCL tumbler!

DSC04686 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
We each had one with our name on!


Again you can buy tumblers on board from the various shops but we really loved the idea of having matching personalised cups. Lauren also ordered these from Etsy.


We took all the cups up to bring drinks back at 3:15.


The lifeboat drill was at 3:45 so we sat in the cabin watching some more of Peter Pan until then.


You aren't required to bring your life jacket to the drill (obviously in a real emergency you would be) but it is compulsory that every guest on board attend. They suspend activities on the ship between 3:30 and 4:15 anyway so you're not missing out on anything.


We were required to meet at Muster Station D (the letter is printed on your key to the world card) which was in the Walt Disney Theatre. The muster stations are where you'd have to go if there was a real life emergency situation.


We walked down in plenty of time (from what I remember the lifts/elevators are not in use during the drill as per an actual emergency) and found the letter D outside the theatre. This was at the door that opens into the right hand side of the upper floor seating in the theatre.


DSC04688 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


This was a very well organised exercise as you'd expect from Disney! There are lots of cast members around to guide you in the right direction (the details of how to find your muster station are also on the back of your stateroom door if I remember right).


They check your stateroom number upon entering so they can make sure everyone has attended.


Once everybody was present and correct the actual drill only took around 10-15 minutes. Everybody was asked to put electrical devices away on silent as the drill required your full attention but as always there are some people who think the rules don't apply to them. I'd imagine it was people who have cruised before but like planes I'm sure it varies based on different ships and different muster stations.


The Sail Away Party started at 4:30 and we wanted to get a good view so when we finished here we headed straight up in the lifts to Deck 12 to find a good spot to watch it from.

DSC04690 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
The view of the sea from Deck 12.


The show actually takes place on Deck 11 just in front of the funnel with the screen on aka funnel vision! This also showed Disney Movies all day long so you can watch them from the family pool!


The pool is covered over for the duration of the show as the main viewing area is down there.

DSC04699 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


We'd read however that for a better view it was a good idea to stand up on Deck 12 and look down on it!


We managed to get a great spot just to the side of the stage but one Deck up obviously. Only problem was it was a little breezy being up this high (deck 11 has plexiglass walls surrounding the pool areas so not so much of a problem down there) and my Minnie ears blew off my head! Luckily we caught them as I’d have been gutted if they'd blown in to the sea!

DSC04691 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


The other thing was that you don't get a front on view obviously but for someone who lacks height (like Mum and I) we had a better view from up here than trying to see over the heads of other people (and iPads!)


We had about 10 minutes until the show started so we took some selfies as you do.

DSC04694 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04703 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


While we were waiting we met another dibber piratecol! Colin was also on his first Disney cruise with his wife Julia and son Fraser! He'd spotted us from across the deck and came to say hello! We'd also been messaging before the Cruise when we realised we were on the same one! It was lovely to finally meet in person!

DSC04705 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
It was busier down on Deck 11 now


As the show started they were showing clips of the crowd on Funnel Vision. We were just standing watching when all of a sudden I realised I was looking at us up on the big screen! It was one of those awkward moments where you realise too late and then scrabble round tapping the people next to you to say look it's us! I was so excited I didn't get a picture but Katherine who we'd met earlier took one of us and kindly sent it!

21767697_1663527167056105_415100204_n by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


The show was really fun, very high energy! It features Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale all in their cruise outfits singing and dancing with the performers from the ship!

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DSC04711 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
If the guy on the end could have jumped a little higher my OCD would be happy hehe

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Mickey pushing Minnie, shocking!

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Goofy twerking

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Donald and Daisy shaking their tail feathers!

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DSC04779 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


I can't lie this really wasn't Dad's thing at all but he was a good sport and did enjoy counting down to the ship sailing away!


Even at the end of the countdown we couldn't tell when the ship started moving as it was so smooth!


We all turned and went across to the railings on the outside of the boat. This is another advantage to standing on Deck 12 to watch! We watched as we moved away from the port and out to sea! This was just such a magical moment, again it felt completely surreal!

DSC04781 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


According to my notes 'When will I see you again?' from Wreck it Ralph was playing and while a slightly odd choice for a sailing away party on a cruise ship given that we hoped we'd be seeing people again in 3 days , it is the favourite song of the children I nanny for and always reminds me of them!

DSC04783 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04784 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04785 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
Stormy skies!


As we passed out of the harbour we started to feel the movement of the boat! It did take a bit of getting used to as you could feel the rocking motion and we knew due to tropical storm Gaston things were possibly going to be a little rockier than normal!

DSC04782 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
I love that Donald was stuck in the funnel hehe

Continued below…

[xAimeex]

…Continued


As we passed by the coastline it started to spit so we headed backward inside to watch from our stateroom. We were really grateful to have 2 big portholes to sit in as it meant all 4 of us had a great view!

DSC04787 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


It was quite hazy and grey out so not the sunniest start to the cruise but Lauren spotted a turtle in the sea which was exciting!

21764481_1663528287055993_1103543893_o by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


As we sat watching the sea pass us by there was a knock at the door. It was our stateroom hostess Sri who had come to introduce herself!


If you've been on a Disney Cruise before or even read about them I'm sure you'll know or have heard how amazing the stateroom hosts/hostesses are!


One thing that really is just so brilliant about a Disney Cruise (and possibly all cruises I don't know) is the level of amazing service and the hosts and hostesses are at the forefront of that along with the dinner servers!


Sri was absolutely lovely, she called me and Lauren, Miss Aimee and Miss Lauren and said if there was anything any of us needed at all for the room she was happy to help.


They work so hard while all the guests are up at dinner/watching shows. They set up the bunk beds, replace toiletries and do a turn down service in the room including leaving amazing towel animals behind and a chocolate on the bed plus the navigator news sheet for the next day!


After Sri left we put Tangled on the tv while we all got ready for dinner. We noticed it was becoming a little rockier now we were getting further out to sea.


We took it in turns to have quick showers before changing in to our outfits for the evening.


Another aspect of the cruise we loved was the chance to get a little dressed up. There's no official formal night on the cruise but the dress code for dinner is similar to that at the signature restaurants in Disney, smart casual I'd say.

DSC04789 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04790 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04794 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
No photo of Dad but he wore a white shirt and beige chinos


There was an announcement over the speakers (every room has one in the ceiling for this purpose and for emergencies) to explain what would be happening overnight and that by the time we woke up the next morning we'd already be approaching the port in Nassau!


As I said earlier we'd requested the early seating for dinner as we thought we'd prefer to eat first and then see the shows later rather than the other way round but it was totally down to personal preference. The first seating is at 5:45 and the second at 8:15.


They have a rotational dining schedule on Disney Cruises which means you get the opportunity to eat at the 3 main restaurants on board. The Dream has Animator's Palate, Enchanted Garden and Royal Palace!


There are also Palo and Remy, as I mentioned above, that you have to pay extra for. If we'd have booked a 4 night cruise we definitely would have booked Palo for dinner I think but we didn't want to miss any of the rotational dining restaurants.


Our restaurant for tonight was Animator's Palate! This is probably the least fine dining in terms of decor of the 3 main places but the food was amazing, in fact we had one of our favourite dishes from the whole cruise here!


We headed down in plenty of time! It's located on deck 3 which is the same level as the main atrium. The walkway down to it is beautiful! It has large portholes on one side and the wall opposite is lined with beautiful framed sketches of the Disney Characters! As you get closer the character sketches are actually on the wall leading you in to the restaurant!

DSC04798 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
DSC04844 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
I loved looking out of the port holes and seeing endless miles of sea!

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We were handed an anti-bac wipe upon entering before we were shown to our table.


Conveniently we were number 1! A month or two before the cruise I had called to request a private table.

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As with most cruises, tables here tend to seat multiple parties, often 6-8 people to a table I think.


It's not that we're anti-social at all and in fact have always enjoyed dining with other families at Teppan Edo.


For us though the cruise was very much a family thing (as it is for most I guess) but we wanted to be able to have conversations as a family and not as a group. Also you sit with the same people throughout the cruise so if you don't like them you're stuck eating with them every night.


We just decided we'd rather not take the risk on our first Disney cruise.


It was only a request though and up to this point we didn't know if it had been granted or not but thankfully it had! We felt very lucky and I do think it made our meals more enjoyable as a family. Not that we'd have been rude if we had been sat with somebody else. It was just nice to be able to dictate our own conversations.


At the rotational restaurants you have 2 servers and they are with you throughout the cruise at every dinner (not sure if it's the same on longer cruises). A main server who takes your food order and then serves it and an assistant who takes your drink order and also serves food and drink if I remember right.


As I said DCL is renowned for its amazing service and we weren't disappointed here. We had 2 absolutely fantastic servers who truly made each meal so special!


Our main server was called Zdravco and our assistant server was called Grevil.


Another server came over and said we were lucky as Zdravco was one of the best! I don't know about any of the others but we certainly agreed with that about both our servers!


Zdravco handed us all a menu and explained a little about the restaurant! It is themed literally around an Animator's Palate! Even the pillars look like pencils and paintbrushes being dipped in to a palette! The detailing is amazing even down to the butter knives being shaped like paint brushes! Literally every detail has been thought about!

DSC04803 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

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DSC04829 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
It doesn’t show up well in the photo but the palette on the ceiling was full of twinkling LED lights!


The USP with Animators Palate on the Dream is that throughout the meal Crush from Finding Nemo/Dory appears on screens around the restaurant and interacts with the guests! This is similar to Turtle Talk with Crush at Epcot.

DSC04819 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


I believe on some of the other ships the restaurant starts in black and white and slowly changes into colour and I think you can design your own animation and see it appear on the screens around you.


No colour changing or animation here but it is still a fantastic restaurant! We loved all the little Mickey touches, the obvious one being the chairs! The carpet also had hidden Mickey's in too!


There were small grey statues of lots of the Pixar characters dotted around on shelves and even the server's shirts were printed with sketches of Disney characters and they wore Mickey Mouse belt buckles!

DSC04816 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


As I said every detail has been thought of here and it's the most overly Disney of all the restaurants I'd say!


We didn't get too much interaction from Crush as we didn't have a screen next to our table but we could see him on the wall opposite and Dad did get a shout out from Crush as the dude with the same hairstyle as him haha.

DSC04830 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


We were served water and bread to start before Grevil took our drinks order.

DSC04810 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


The bread was amazing as you'd expect! As always when there is bread on the table we were all careful not to eat too much so we didn't fill up on it!


Zdravco came and took our food order once we had our drinks. The servers are very good at recommending things from the menu, again very similar to a signature restaurant in Disney. He addressed us all by name when asking what we'd like which again was a nice touch and made the service feel more personal.


Dinner at the 3 main restaurants consists of 4 courses. An appetiser (starter), soup/salad course, entree (main course) and dessert.


We decided to skip the soup course today as we didn't think we'd be able to manage 4 courses plus bread although now I wish we had as I'm sure it would have been amazing! Looking at the menu there was a baked potato and cheddar cheese soup with bacon bits in! I think not trying that is my biggest regret of the holiday hehe.


After we'd ordered, one of the cruise photographers came round to take pictures of us at the table. This happens at the first 2 nights dinners (unless you're on a longer cruise) but not the last night dinner as by then the pictures are already being printed. A couple from tonight made it in to our final 10 to be put on a memory stick!


582-19785442-C Animators Palate-31804_GPR by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

582-19785426-C Animators Palate-31804_GPR by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


To start we all went with Zdravco's recommendation of black truffle pasta purseittes.


This is pasta purses filled with truffle-scented cheese in a champagne sauce!

DSC04812 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04813 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


This was absolutely amazing! Honestly one of the best things we ate this holiday! It was very rich but so delicious. The portion size was just right although we definitely could have eaten more if we hadn't had 2 more courses after it.


For our main course Lauren and I decided to play it safe and went for the penne bolognese. Again we regretted a little not trying something a bit different but it was a nice meal. You can't really go wrong with bolognese plus it was served with a slice of toasted garlic ciabatta (garlic bread to you and me hehe).

DSC04822 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


Dad went for the ginger-teriyaki dusted (yes dusted!) Angus beef tenderloin.

DSC04823 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


He said this was superb! It was served on a bed of wasabi mashed potato with bok choi and a tamarind-barbecue reduction. Similar to a fancy restaurant they do like to make everything sound a little pretentious hehe.


Mum picked the lemon thyme marinated chicken breast. This was served with sour cream mashed potato, roasted root vegetables and grain mustard jus. She enjoyed this and was grateful for something a little lighter after such a rich starter and bread.

DSC04824 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


Every main course has a suggested wine pairing with it. This of course costs extra but if you're more of a foodie that we are it's nice to have that suggestion.


There was also a couple of vegetarian mains and a few lighter main course options too. They really do cater for everybody on a Disney cruise!


After we'd eaten our entrees a cast member in a blue suit came over (the dining room head server I'm assuming) to ask how our day had been and if we'd had good food and service tonight. We told him the food had been delicious and the service top class!


When our plates had been cleared Zdravco came to take our dessert order.

DSC04826 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


He said if Lauren and I wanted we could have the Mickey premium bar that they serve to the children for dessert if we'd prefer that hehe.


We picked from the adults menu instead though!


I, along with Mum and Dad went for the sweet temptations dish. This was a trio of miniature desserts, a white chocolate fudge cheesecake, a lemon raspberry tart and a chilled mango mousse!

DSC04835 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04836 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr



They were all absolutely amazing! This is my perfect kind of dessert hehe. My favourite was the lemon raspberry tart while Mum's was the mango mousse but they were all absolutely delicious!


Lauren picked a cookies 'n' cream sundae which again was perfect for her as she much prefers an ice cream dessert to anything overly fancy.

DSC04834 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr



Grevil insisted on bringing me and Lauren a Mickey premium bar as he said calories don't count on Disney Cruises hehe.

DSC04833 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


While we were waiting for dessert Mum went to the rest rooms and Zdravco came straight over to check she wasn't feeling sea sick but we said she was fine. He told us it was unusually rough tonight with the effects of Gaston. He reassured us that it should calm down a little around 10pm as we left the Gulf of Mexico and passed in to Bahamian waters.


We were all absolutely stuffed by the time we'd finished eating!


Zdravco came to check how everything had been and then told us all the information we needed about our options for breakfast and lunch the next day plus where our dinner would be in the evening.


Grevil also came to check we'd had a great meal as we were leaving and we said again how amazing the food was and that it had been some of the best service we'd ever had. He asked a nearby cast member (again the head server I'm guessing) if he'd heard what we'd said and he told him not to let it go to his head hehe, it was funny to see the banter between them!


They really were fantastic servers and earned every cent of their gratuity! Tipping is a little different on the cruise to in normal restaurants. Basically every member of your party tips $12 per day and this is taken from your card at the end of the cruise. Or you can pay it in cash at guest services the night before I believe. For a 3 night cruise our tips were $36 each or $144 in total.


This tip is split between your main server, assistant server, the dining room head server and your stateroom host. It is split as $4 per person per night to your main server, $3 pp pn to the assistant server, $1 pp pn to the head server and $4 pp pn the room host.


As I said Zdravco. Grevil and also Sri more than earned their tips each day!


You are given 4 envelopes at the end of the cruise with slips of paper to put inside and hand to the servers and stateroom host to let them know what you have tipped them I believe. You have the option to add more money in cash to the envelopes if you feel the service has warranted it. We added extra for Zdravco, Grevil and Sri at the end as the service had truly been impeccable and was something that makes a cruise that bit more special!


There are some services on board that have an automatic tip added on top of the cost of them such as spa treatments (18%) and alcohol (15%) and as I said earlier $1 per item for room service.


It felt especially rocky as we left and every now and then the boat would rock and I felt myself stumbling to the side which was an odd sensation!

continued below…

[xAimeex]

…Continued


We stopped for a couple of pictures in the port holes, on the Cinderella chair and some on the main stairs before heading back to our stateroom to change as Lauren and I wanted to go in the hot tub before the show at 8:30!

DSC04853 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04855 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04867 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04871 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04859 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04864 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
So kind of Disney to match the carpet to my dress hehe

DSC04856 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
I loved this art work of Mermaid Lagoon!


When we got to our room Sri had been to set up our room!

DSC04876 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
Bunk beds for me and Lauren!
DSC05341 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC05342 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC05343 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
Peter Pan character over the top bunk!

DSC04877 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
Another picture of all the floor space just because!

DSC04879 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
Another random picture of the sea just because, hehe (I have hundreds like this over the course of the cruise


She'd left us a lovely if slightly phallic looking towel animal. Truth be told I'm still not exactly sure what animal it's meant to be! A swan maybe?!


We appreciated it all the same as towel animals in Disney resorts seem to be becoming a thing of the past these days sadly.

DSC04872 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04875 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04874 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


Despite being so full from dinner we did all manage to eat the yummy Ghirardelli milk chocolate square!

DSC04883 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


We changed into our swimwear and grabbed a cover up to head up to the adult only pool area!


We passed Sri in the corridor and thanked her for making our room look so lovely and for the towel animal! She asked our plans for the evening, as I said she was so lovely!


As we arrived up on deck it was raining quite a lot out but thankfully the hot tubs are behind plexiglass walls so we happily jumped in and sat looking at the stormy skies.

21640356_1663527753722713_299520101_o by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


It was such a cosy moment sitting in the warm bubbly water looking out over the sea stretching for miles ahead of us with the rain falling but the plexiglass protecting us from it.


I think these hot tubs were one of our favourite areas on the ship as they were rarely busy and we often had a whole hot tub to ourselves! They had the most perfect panoramic views of the ocean from them too! I always felt so relaxed when we were here!

21764411_1663527730389382_20800603_o by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
The glass bottom looked down over the life boat and the water!


We eventually got out to head back to the room at 7:50 as we wanted to get down to the theatre early to get good seats.


There are towels available on deck so no need to bring your own from your stateroom!


We changed back in to our dresses from earlier and headed back to the theatre with Mum and Dad as they suggest you arrive with all your party if you want to secure seats together. They ask you not to reserve seats for guests who haven't arrived yet as a courtesy to others but of course some people aren't courteous and don't have any manners!

DSC04885 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04886 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


We'd been hoping to get seats in the front row of the upper seating but of course as soon as we arrived (a full half hour early for the show) every front row seat was either taken (which was fair enough as those parties had stayed together) or had something on it with one solitary family member guarding all of them!


Oh it annoys me as it's so selfish! One woman was saving an entire row of about 8 seats! There were lots of Dad's dotted around guarding seats too ready for the Mum to come along with the kids 5 minutes before it started! I can see why this would seem like a nice option as who wants to sit in a theatre with bored kids for half an hour but other people's children had managed it!


Truthfully it did annoy me a little that cast members didn't enforce this rule.


We grabbed seats a couple of rows back from the front and still had a very good view but it was more the principle of the matter.

DSC04887 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04890 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
Spot the hidden Mickey!

DSC04892 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04893 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
[We loved all the detailing around the theatre, especially the hidden Mickey’s![/B]


Tonight's show was the Golden Mickey's!

DSC04888 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr



Before it began the ships cruise director Trent came out on stage to introduce himself and give a little talk about some of the other activities happening on the cruise.


The show was absolutely incredible and I think probably my favourite of the 3 performances on the Dream!


It was very old school musical theatre mixed in with a lot of Disney of course! I loved all the glamour and the staging was just incredible! It's honestly a Broadway/West End worthy production! Truly amazing, it bought tears to my eyes!


Mum and Lauren absolutely loved it too! I can't lie, again this wasn't exactly Dad's thing hehe but he's a trooper and he could appreciate the incredible staging and I think of all 3 this was his favourite music wise too!


The show finished at 9:30. Mum and Dad headed back to the room after as they were both feeling quite tired now.


Lauren and I stayed out as we wanted to go and meet Minnie in her cruise outfit! She was meeting in the atrium so we headed over there.


We waited around 10 minutes or so to see her! I was really glad we'd met her in our nicer dresses! This was one of the meets that has a photographer present! From memory we had to hand over one of our key to the world cards first for them to scan so that the photo could be added to our account.


They will also take the photo on your own camera too!


This was another one of the professional photos we had added to our memory stick as we both liked how it came out although the one on my camera was nice too but obviously you don't get the nice border on it.

DSC04894 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
The photo on my camera

582-19799679-Classic Minnie Sailo-31766_GPR by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
The professional photo


When we finished here we bumped into Catherine, Les, Alicia and Lewis again! We stood chatting for absolutely ages, they really were lovely and it's always nice to be able to chat Disney with people who get it!

DSC04896 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


After this Lauren and I headed for a look in the shops as they'd been closed before we'd set sail due to the port regulations as I mentioned earlier.


We had a browse and wanted to buy just about everything!


One thing I'd had my eye on since before we left the UK was a Disney Cruise Line Dooney and Bourke handbag!


There was a couple that I liked. The one I liked most was a little more than I'd budgeted to spend so I went for my second favourite which was still really nice and actually a more practical size too!

DSC06161 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC06162 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
This cost $198.

20160829_175345 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
I didn’t take a photo of it but this was the bag I like most but it was quite a bit more expensive


Unfortunately my bag broke about 9 months after we got home. I spoke to Disney to try and see if they could help but I was basically told not a chance as I'd bought it so long ago which is a real shame considering it's a $200 handbag that didn't last a year!

21682577_1663542247054597_856710526_o by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
Sad times!


I love Dooney's and have never had problems with my others but this did make me a little wary of buying one again.


As it had now been a few hours since we'd eaten a whole 3 course meal plus bread and an extra dessert what better thing to do than to head up to Deck 11 to visit Flo's Cafe! This consists of 3 Cars inspired food stations- Luigi's Pizza, Tow Mater's Grill and Fillmore's Favourites.


These have fast food options such as chicken nuggets, burgers, pizza, hot dogs and sandwiches. Again this is all included in the price of the cruise!


As we had already eaten a big meal we just grabbed a couple of slices of cheese pizza from Luigi's! We also grabbed a drink each from the self-service drink station.

DSC04901 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


They were showing Avengers: Age of Ultron up on funnel vision and we do love a Marvel superhero film so we took our snacks and watched that for a while but didn't stay until the end as we were quite tired and wanted to be up in plenty of time to see the ship docking in Nassau tomorrow!

DSC04900 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr

DSC04897 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
The adult pool was all covered over now, I think it closed around 10 if I remember right


We eventually went back to our stateroom at 11.


Mum and Dad were already asleep so we changed very quietly in to the super cute matching Disney Cruise Line pyjamas I'd ordered for Lauren and I the year before our trip to be delivered to Wilderness Lodge when we'd stayed there (again another 2015 cruise themed Christmas present hehe).

19849184_1663545720387583_1070486739_n by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
Our Christmas Day 2015 Disney cruise haul hehe


I was on the top bunk tonight and it was very creaky climbing up there but plenty comfortable!


The motion of the boat was actually very relaxing, it was like being rocked to sleep so it wasn't long until we were fast asleep and dreaming!


Thanks for reading x

[Dissie]

What a fantastic first day. You make it all sound so amazing and have given lots of useful facts. I love your matching T-shirts. DH and I would love to do a 3 day cruise and reading this makes me want to do it even more. It sounds awesome and you've only written day 1. Can't wait to read the next instalment.

I always love your trip reports you go into a lot of brilliant detail and give such good information so thank you so much for taking the time to do them

[Unexpectedpenny]

Amazing day!
Thank you for writing in such detail. I'm a bit nervous of boats but the more I read of Disney cruises the more I want to be brave and do it. Looking forward to the rest

[Flimsey]

Fab post but what have you done Aimee! I have just told the Hubby, we must do a Disney Cruise..he isn't that impressed with me 💰 😂😂
Looking forward to the rest.