The Land Sea and Wedding Trip Oct 2015 - Day 16 Boarding the Disney Dream

[Lisa29]

The Land Sea and Wedding Trip Oct 2015 - Day 16, Boarding the Disney Dream

The previous day is HERE.

**Phil was reading my trip report recently and he pointed out that I had missed something from a previous day, so I need to add it now as it was quite a big deal. (At least I don't think I mentioned it.)

It was while we were packing on our last night at OKW. We were all packing, tidying, sorting, etc. and Phil went very quiet and started emptying all of his stuff. We asked what was wrong and he said he couldn't find the memory cards. The memory cards of the holiday so far, including all of the ones from the Wedding Day!

He looked awful. He literally emptied out all of his stuff and couldn't find them. If I remember correctly, he went through all of his stuff two or three times. Ryan's case was in the living area so he emptied his too, but still nothing. We (Phil, Mum, Dad, Bethany, Ryan and I) checked everywhere, all the cupboards, the bedrooms, the safe about four times and still couldn't find them. It was like the monorail episode on the Wedding day again, we were all so quiet, we couldn't believe it and didn't know where else to look or where they could be.

I was being really calm on the outside but inside I was so mad with him. He only had to look after his camera stuff and now he couldn't find all the memory cards and I just couldn't imagine telling Dan that he had lost all the Wedding photos.

One last look through everything and he decided to look down the sides and back of the sofas and THANKFULLY, he found them, yay! (He had been going through the photos earlier and had thought he had put the memory cards away.) We were all so relieved, it had been an absolutely horrendous 30 minutes or so and we all breathed a huge, collective sigh of relief when he found them. **

Anyway, back to the scheduled day.

Monday 26th October 2015

The alarm went off at 6.10am and Phil and I got straight up. With the Wedding Day being the first, this was the second most anticipated day of the holiday! We had the usual rush to get the last bits packed, showered, dressed, tidied, etc. I had accumulated quite a lot of toiletries!

Phil starting loading the car at 7.30am as we had planned the night before. As we were doing a final sweep of the rooms, I found this that Madison had left for Mousekeeping, bless her

We were all done and in the cars at 8am, 10 minutes later than we had hoped to leave. We drove up to the IHOP where we were meeting Dan, Dave and his family and arrived just before 8.30am. They had already been waiting quite a while for us, as we were late and it took us longer to get there than we thought it would.

We had arranged the times the night before and it turned out we hadn't discussed it enough. We were actually only an hour away from the port so we had met up too early. A few people decided they wanted some McDonalds for breakfast (there was one where we had met) so Phil had two sausage and egg McMuffins with a coffee ($8.82 inc tax). We had a SatNav but we couldn't get it to work so we decided that we would follow Bethany, with Dave and Adam following behind in their cars.

By 9.05am, we were on our way to the port.

We drove on the 528 and paid $1 at the first toll with the second being $1.25. There were two more tolls after this, both of which were $1 each.

As we got nearer, we were keeping our eyes peeled for our first glimpse of the ship and saw it way in the distance as we drove over one of the high bridges. We were all so excited!

A bit further and we got to see the Disney Dream in all its glory

We were even more excited now and all had big grins on our faces.

We drove round to the drop area and pulled up just after 10am. We unloaded everything from the car, then Phil and my Dad took the cars back to the Alamo car place. Phil filled the car before dropping it off, this cost $28.16.

One of the porters had come over to us to help with our bags and as he waited quite a while with us, I tipped him $15. We joined the line for security which was quite long.

Once through security, we went straight up into the terminal and joined the short line to check in. Joe checked us in (10.35am) and we were given boarding number 3, which I was really pleased with. We were also confirmed as having early seating and all being sat on the same table for dinner (table 8).

I took Madison and Kaley to check in at the Kids Club and they were given their bands. I think Phil got back then

We used the toilets then took a few photos

The terminal was busy but wasn't unbearable and the size of it easily coped with the number of people

Phil took a couple of photos of the model of the ship

And then Madison showing off her new cruise magic band

We waited for a little bit and soon the boarding numbers started being called. Mum and Dad had number 1 so they went ahead and I couldn't believe what a fast process it was. Boarding number 3 was called while they were still in the line, though they were very near the front. We joined the fast-moving line and soon it was almost our turn to board!

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[Lisa29]

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We stopped for our first pictures

Then walked up to get on the ship. We gave the CM our name and we were announced onto the ship!

Walking onto the Dream for the first time, the words wow, incredible, stunning, amazing, awesome, superb, unbelievable, extraordinary, cool, astounding, brilliant, excellent, inspired, epic and world class can all be used to describe this ship, but seriously, these words just do not do it justice! We had wanted to do a cruise for such a long time and we were now finally onboard! It was so cool being announced on and walking into the atrium was incredible. Our first impressions were far better than either of us had dreamed of, we were so impressed.

Phil started taking photos straight away

My Dad had gone up to a higher deck so he could video us all as we got on the ship

Bethany and I went straight up to deck 5 to go to the Port Adventures desk to get tickets for the Princess meet and greets. There was a short line but we didn't have to wait too long. We were able to get tickets to see Anna and Elsa at 11.30am on Nassau day and the Princesses at 9.15am on Castaway Cay day. We were disappointed with this but that was all they had available so we took it.

We went back downstairs to the atrium to meet up with the others. Phil had been taking lots of photos.

An empty Bon Voyage bar

There were lots of Halloween decorations

More excellent Disney theming

Guest Services

They had to take photos on the 'throne'

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[Floridaagogo]

Ooh the anticipation.i was well immersed then .cant wait for the next instalment

[Lisa29]

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I mentioned ages ago in my pre-trip that we were originally supposed to do a 3-night cruise at the end of our OKW stay but we had to switch to the 4-night cruise when the Dream went into dry dock. Because of this, it turned out that we were actually able to go straight to our staterooms, rather than waiting until after 1.30pm which was a big bonus!

As soon as Mum told us that, we went straight to the elevators (which are incredible by the way!) and went up to deck 6. Phil had chosen a stateroom that was located in mid-ship so we didn't have to walk too far down the corridor when we got up to deck 6.

Outside our door

Phil had specifically chosen this for its size and location. We had a deluxe family oceanview stateroom with verandah and we were so happy when we walked in and saw it for the first time. It was lovely and spacious and we were all so excited.

Lots of photos (sorry )

One of the wave phones

The verandah and our view

Kennedy Space Centre in the distance

We met our room host who was Bodi and he was really friendly and welcoming. We walked down the corridor to Ryan, Bethany and Piper's stateroom (6673). They had an inside stateroom and this was so much bigger than I was expecting it to be. They had a virtual porthole and it was really fun to watch for a few minutes.

We went up to deck 10 to look in Mum and Dad's stateroom (10162). They had a deluxe oceanview stateroom with verandah, and theirs was one at the back of the ship with a really large balcony.

Detailing on the lamps

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[Lisa29]

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Dan and Dave's stateroom was a few doors over (10662) and they also had one of the oversize verandahs.

It was around lunchtime by now so we took the aft elevators up to deck 10 to go to Cabanas for something to eat. We got a couple of tables by the window, near to the drinks station

Catching up on notes

The view

Another ship (nowhere near as good to look at as the Dream)

We took it in turns to go up and get some food. Our first impressions were again far better than we had expected, the choice was incredible! There were so many different options (I have lots of pictures on one of the other days) and there was plenty of everything and everywhere was spotlessly clean, as you would expect.

I went for a variety and had pizza, chips, pork noodles, fried rice, steak, lamb chops and prosciutto wrapped salmon

This was all so good, especially the steak and the lamb chops.

I have another pic, I think this was Madison's plate

For dessert, the girls had cookies and fruit and I tried the pumpkin pie

I wasn't sure if I would like this but I did, it was different but in a good way.

After we had eaten enough, we made our way down the stairs

To deck 3. It was just before 1pm and I wanted to try and get Palo reservations. We had to go to the Royal Palace for this, though we had to stop for many photos on the way

We arrived at the Royal Palace

There was already a bit of a queue and I wished we had got down here earlier. I joined the line, which involved sitting on the chairs that were set up and moving along each time the next person got to the front to sit with the staff, while Phil took Madison and Kaley back out to take some more photos

It didn't end up taking too long before it was my turn and I was seeing if they had Palo available. They had 10am on our at sea day so I booked this for us and Ryan and Bethany, and moved Mum and Dad's 10.30am reservation to ours so we would all be together.

Finished in here, I went outside to Phil and the girls and had a photo

I love this photo, it is one of my absolute favourites from the whole holiday.

We nipped back up to our stateroom quickly

Phil had already decorated the door with the magnets he had made

All of our luggage was already there and it was only a bit after 1pm. We then went for a wander around the ship

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[Lisa29]

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Our first stop of course had to be deck 5 and the Oceaneers Club and Lab, which were both open for everyone to view. The words listed above when we walked onto the ship can all be inserted in here again! We walked in and my mouth hit the floor, I so wanted to be a kid again and just run around and play on/with everything!

I apologise now, we took photos of EVERYTHING and I NEED to share them as I know I would like to see them all if I was reading someone's trip report and I hope anyone reading mine feels the same.

First up was Andy's bedroom

This room was themed so well, it was just like being in a Toy Story movie.

Next up was the main, open-floor area

This area was really big and was where they had lots of group games.

Next up was two big, long rooms that could be closed off, where they did the cooking/baking and crafting. Nothing was going on when we were in here so we just saw it empty

The Animator's Studio was next

The girls loved this area straight away and spent quite a bot of time playing in here. We had to drag them away to carry on exploring!

The Wheelhouse

Pixie Hollow/fairy area

They both played on the tablets for a while

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[Lisa29]

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Of the many upgrades made to the ship during dry dock, the addition of two new areas to the Oceaneers Club and Lab were the Disney Infinity room and the Star Wars room. The detail in the Star Wars room was incredible

I can imagine there were lots of parents that would have loved to just stay in here!

The last area was the new Infinity bit, this was so cool, they had every figure (Phil was very jealous) and it was so bright and inviting

Madison and Kaley enjoy playing this at home so they really liked it in here.

We had spent quite a bit of time in here and the girls said they definitely wanted to come back without us! We continued on with our wander around the ship and came across this stateroom door

We all liked this and the girls loved how small it was.

The District area

Lovely staircase

We went outside onto the deck briefly

The elegant staircase in the lobby

Outside the Walt Disney theatre area

The Halloween tree

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[Lisa29]

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More photos from deck 5, looking down at the atrium

We went back down to deck 3 to go to Guest Services. I wanted to check our onboard credit was correct. There was a bit of a line and Kaley wanted a drink, so Phil took her and Madison up to Cabanas to get one. When it was my turn, our onboard credit wasn't right and it took a while for the CM to sort it. He said that by the next day, it would be correct (it was). Phil, Madison and Kaley came back just after I had finished, they had taken a wrong turn so were gone for a while.

We decided to go up to deck 11 to look at the pool area.

Self-serve ice cream

The pool area, slide and a bit of the AquaDuck

Details

Frozen was playing on Funnel Vision

Getting drinks from the self-serve station

Nemo's reef

We went back down to our stateroom and got the girls changed into their swimsuits as they were desperate to go in the pool. We went back up to deck 11, found a couple of seats by the edge of the pool and let the girls loose. The AquaDuck had a 30 minute wait so Phil decided to leave it for now.

After a little while, it started to rain so we got the girls out of the water. We were going to wait it out a bit but the rain got quite heavy so we went back to our stateroom. Madison and Kaley had showers and I unpacked the case that had all our cruise stuff in.

It was almost 4pm now so we went to deck 4, section J, for the lifeboat drill. Wow, was the siren for this loud! It is such a horrible noise! We all lined up in rows, by stateroom, and then in height order of each stateroom, so Phil, me, Madison, then Kaley at the front. We had to show one of our room keys to be checked off the list. There were about 6 staterooms where the people weren't there. They were called quite a few times but no one stepped forward. I'm not sure if anything actually happens to the people that don't show up for the lifeboat drill?

Once this was over, we went up to deck 11 for the Sail Away Party and got a great spot to watch. Unfortunately, we then found out that it had been moved inside due to expected incoming bad weather so we hotfooted it to the Atrium where it was being held instead but it was already jam packed and we only managed to get a semi-decent spot to watch from.

I picked Kaley up so she could see. Madison couldn't see much at all so Phil had to hold her too. Phil managed to get some photos, in between recording it and holding Madison.

This was a great show, the music was so much fun and they played 'Shut Up and Dance' which has ended up being our holiday song. This was our first time seeing the entertainers and they were amazing, they had so much energy and looked like they were having an incredible time.

When this had finished, we went back to our stateroom to watch us sailing away. We had missed going past the camera as we had been gone a long while and hadn't even realised we had started going. (I suppose the whole Sail Away Party should have given away that we were in fact sailing away! )

Phil and I got showered and dressed for dinner and then we sat on the verandah for a bit

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[Lisa29]

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Our view of the bridge from our verandah

Soon enough, it was time for us to go down to deck 3, to Animator's Palette, for the 5.45pm dinner seating. We met everyone else down there and went to table 8. The theming in this restaurant is incredible, the attention to detail was amazing.

I loved this picture showing the four ships

Our table number

Finding our seats (the kids menus were all near each other)

The restaurant

The chairs

The bread basket

The front of the menu

The place settings

Our Head Server was Rexson, from India, our Server was Norman, also from India, and our Assistant Server was Bonny, from Honduras. We didn't see an awful lot of Rexson so can't comment on him much, but Norman and Bonny were excellent, they worked so hard, always had a smile on their faces and were so helpful and friendly. They provided the sort of service that everyone raves about when it comes to Disney Cruise Line.

They quickly brought out our bread

And we got to perusing the menu

The kids menu

Kaley had the salad to start and mini cheeseburger for main and Madison had the sweet corn chowder to start and cheeseburger for main

Madison ate all of her food, Kaley only really ate the chips.

To start, Phil had the Tomato Tarte - with grazed goats cheese and shredded radish

I had the Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes - pasta purses filled with truffle scented cheese and coated with a delicate champagne sauce

My pasta was delicious and I really enjoyed it.

For the soup and salad course, Phil had Chicken and Walnut Salad - craissins, red onion and a cranberry dressing, no photo sorry.

I had the Baked Potato and Cheddar Cheese Soup - with bacon bits and cheese

This was also really good but a tiny bit rich for me.

For main, Phil had Grilled Tuna Steak - with fingerling confit, caponata, sundried tomato pesto and aioli

I had the Herb Crusted Pork Chop - roast pork chop brushed with Dijon mustard and crusted with herbed breadcrumbs served with sundried tomato risotto and a barolo wine sauce

This was lovely, especially the risotto. I love risotto and this was a very good one.

For dessert, Madison and Kaley both had strawberry ice cream

As did Piper

They all really liked this and unsurprisingly, ate all of it.

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[Lisa29]

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We had a look at the dessert menu

Phil had Cookies n Cream Sundae - cookies and cream ice cream with chocolate sauce and chocolate chip cookies

And I had the White Chocolate Fudge Cheesecake - with whipped cream and raspberry coulis

Mine was only ok, it just should have been so much better, especially considering how good everything else had been.

Norman and Bonny brought Madison and Kaley out a chocolate cake each and sang a Happy Birthday song to them, which was really cute and a lovely gesture

We were sat quite close to the interactive screens and Crush came and spoke to Madison, Kaley and Piper. He spoke to them about their birthday and did a tune-type thing to Happy Birthday for them. They loved this and it was great to watch.

We were done with dinner around 7.20pm

We went up to the portrait area on deck 3 and had some photos taken

There was no line and the photographer was really good.

When we were finished here, we went to have a look in the shops. I got some stickers and a scrapbooking set from Mickey's Mainsail ($21.90)

And then bought some photo frames, Christmas ornaments, a postcard and a reusable shopper bag ($74.70)

The Castaway Cay set was purchased a couple of days later on Castaway Cay

After shopping, we went round to the Walt Disney theatre to wait to go in for our first show. While we were waiting, I went up to deck 11 to get some water to take into the theatre. The doors opened while I was gone so Phil and the girls went and got us some seats.

I came back down and went in to join them. We had about 20 minutes to wait before the show started. The theatre was really beautiful and it filled up quickly.

I have written in my notes that our Captain is Henry Anderson so I think he came out to welcome us or our Cruise Director Christian told us, I can't remember which. We were told that there were over 1,500 crew onboard and the ship was at capacity, though I never felt it was too busy.

Other than the photos earlier before I got there, we didn't take anymore in the theatre as it is not permitted during the show.

Tonight's show was The Golden Mickeys. We all really enjoyed this, it was such a good show and so well done.

Once the show was over, we went back up to our room where we found our towel animal

And the bunk bed had been set and made

Madison and Kaley went straight to bed as they were tired. I sorted some of the luggage and read through the Navigator for tomorrow before going to bed.

We had loved our first day on the ship, it really is incredible and really has to be seen to see how amazing it is. I will say that I had really felt the movement of the ship today, I didn't feel sick or anything, I just felt a bit dizzy and unsteady on my feet, a bit like that feeling as a child when you have spun round and round!


Up next, day 17 - Nassau day and spending time on the Disney Dream is HERE