Disney Dream 3 night Bahamian Cruise - Intro & Day 1

[OrlandoLes]

Disney Dream Trip report 10/4/15 - 13/4/2015

Introduction:
I have always enjoyed reading the trip reports here on the Dibb but never felt I would be able to contribute. I do think that there aren't so many written with regards to the Disney cruises & yet more & more dibbers seem to be showing an interest. For any of those considering then stop & just get it booked... It was amazing & certainly made our holiday this year.

We came to Florida for 2 weeks last Easter which like every one says was going to be a one off special holiday which we (read: I) enjoyed so much that we decided to book again once the flights at the 11 month mark where out. We booked a fly drive through Charter travel with Virgin & booked a lovely Dibb villa on High Grove.

The cruise was mentioned but we weren't sure due to a previous cruise 15 years ago that appeared on an ITV show twice - problem was it was called "Cruises from hell! " Some of you may have seen it & it basically showed the Thomson run Topaz mentioned twice for basically sailing in very bad seas (it was a small ship & not balanced - I think that's the term) & food poisoning breakouts. We can laugh (read: still cry) about it now as we spent most of the time being ill - thought it was the sea sickness but then again who knows!? I remember lying in bed & feeling like I was lying on a bouncy castle whilst 10 tonne Tess (sorry Tess) was jumping up & down at the side of me!

Anyway this put us off cruising until now as we knew the kids would enjoy it & we thought we would just get a massive stash of sea sick tablets & hope for the best!

We booked the cruise with Charter Travel as well & it cost us around £1300 for the 3 night Bahamian cruise on the Disney Dream on a 5C Stateroom (room 8568). I know some recommendations on the Dibb are to use American TA's or Direct with Disney & I did get quotes off both but found CT to be the cheapest (just) - maybe I got a discount for booking the Fly drive with them. We booked the cruise near the end of the holiday (9 days into our 14 day holiday) & originally considered just booking a villa for 9 days then the cruise & a couple of days at a hotel before we flew home but after talking to George the villa owner we decided to book the full 2 weeks at the villa as we had both somewhere to return to which we knew & could leave a lot of our clothes & meant we didn't have to lug all 4 suitcases onto the ship.

The room we booked was ideal & big enough for the 4 of us - who by the way was also DW - Catherine, DS13 - Lewis & DD9 - Alicia, it also had a balcony & the room was on the correct side to view Castaway Cay as we sailed in & out.



The cruise -Day 1

It didn't actually start too well to be honest due to a problem with our hire car the day before we traveled to Port Canaveral which meant a detour to the airport the evening before to swap cars (although it did result in free fuel & a $100 voucher off our next car hire ).
This meant it was a bit hectic both the night & morning before setting off to port.

We left the Villa at about 10:00 in the end & our Port arrival time was 11:30/11:45 so we should have had plenty of time but for the usual delays on the I4, anyway we ended up arriving bang on 11:45 & I don't think late arrival for your PAT's are that much of a problem.



We paid the $60 for parking in the multi storey on site & parked on level 3 which meant we could walk straight across & into the departures hall without having to use any escalators or lifts, the queue's where very short & so booking in was a breeze & if not for queuing to see Minnie we would have been on the ship in about 5 to 10 minutes.



First bit of good advice coming up I think as we didn't do this & should of done!
You can queue to get the kids into there relevant clubs before you get on the ship but it seemed quite long so we thought we would do it later - mistake! What we should of done was do it as soon as we got on the ship as there are meet & greets that you need to book & one in particular gets fully booked which is Anna & Elsa - damn, as I thought we could have got our DD to do this then we didn't have to do the MK one by FP late on our last night (22:00) & could then watch the fireworks instead - failed We also saw Chip & Dale one time but the CM told us we needed to have booked to have photo's with them!

We had a little wander then went up to Cabanas for our lunch, this was great as loads of choice for all tastes & really nice, all 4 of us ate well & that's unusual for us as we are all very fussy.







Once fed we went down to our room where one case was waiting (it was about 1:30/2:00) the second case came not long after so we unpacked & then had a good wander around the ship before the boring (but being sensible) the most important part of the cruise - the muster station & what I'll call "what you do if the ship starts too sink" explanation! It wasn't long & then we could wander up onto deck to watch the Sail away party.





We had booked the early dining slot & we went AER so Animators, Enchanted Garden & Royal Palace on our last night. Looking back I think our favourite was Animators Palate as the feel was more relaxed & talking to Crush (read: him taking the Mickey out of me) was a big highlight but more for the wife & kids than me - as my son put it - I was "completely owned by a Turtle! " - if I get more than 20 views then I will divulge more I promise



The meal was great & don't worry if you want things slightly plainer as we asked for two of our meals changed slightly & nothing was too much trouble.



Can't get much plainer than chips & ketchup

Anybody that knows us will also know we are late for everything & even though the meal was booked for 5:45 each night it was between 6:00 & 6:15 when we sat down & we still had plenty of time to finish our meals & never felt hurried - in fact I reckon we got a more relaxed service being that little bit later than the initial 5:45 rush.

After our meal we wobbled around the ship a bit more & then went into the main theatre for the show sitting in the circle (which incidentally we sat in the stalls for the next two nights & found these seats about 8 rows from the front much better).



The show as you can imagine was great but I would place it 3rd when comparing to the other two on our second & third nights.

Once the show had finished it was about 10:00 & due to getting up at 6am we where now all flagging so chose to make it an early night & return to our nicely made up room - covers turned back, bunk beds made, towel animal & chocolate, yes chocolate before bed!





What a great first day & by the way a quick update on the sea sickness - we (DW & I) both took precautionary tablets as we had our lunch but I reckon we didn't need them & in fact didn't take any more all cruise!


Day 2 - Nassau (but we stayed on the ship)

... To be continued...

[LDISNEYFOX]

Great first day! I really enjoyed reading your report and I am looking forward to your day in Nassau.

We did our first cruise in August, it was fantastic and have our second booked for next August!

[Dilly]

Thanks for taking the time to share. I've never done a cruise but the only one I would contemplate would be a Disney one!

The ship looks lovely.

I for one want to know how you were owned by a turtle!

[OrlandoLes]

Originally Posted by Dilly

I for one want to know how you were owned by a turtle!

See more...

Another 18 views & I'll spill the beans...

[mrsdjh]

It's nice to read a cruise report from a first timer as its something I'd like to do. Looking forward to picking up some tips and hearing all about your encounter with Crush 😊

[Cutiepie]

Great day Disney Cruises really are awesome

[Mrs Valentine]

Really interesting, wouldn't know the first thing to do on a cruise, so glad your giving loads of info.

[daffodil92]

Great - thanks for posting
Really looking forward to reading the next instalment - and finding out what Crush did to you!

[Tor32]

Thanks for posting. I'm trying to convince my husband so keep going!

[KarenG]

Great start, and looking forward to your next day