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DISNEY DREAM detailed review May 5 -8, 2011

FoghornLeghorn

By FoghornLeghorn,
in Disney Cruise Line

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goofymom71

goofymom71

Posted
Posted
WOW - what a wonderful cruise! No problems or complaints.

 

I will begin posting my review in segments. I'll take you day by day. A show report, dining report, Castaway Cay report, Embarking and Disembarking.

 

I have all my Navigators - so ask away!

No kids with us, so I'm afraid I won't be much help on their programs.

 

Let's get this show on the road.....

 

 

The Cast:

 

Me – Reba (4th cruise)

Childhood friend & First Time Cruiser – Mary

 

Cruise Director: Rachel Quinn, South Yorkshire, UK

Our servers: Carlos and Thomas

Our Stateroom host: Raylend

 

Deck 10 – Room 10014 Verandah

5A

 

Dinner rotation: Royal Palace, Animators Palate, Enchanted Garden

8:15 (late dining)

6:15 show

 

Beautiful weather the entire trip.

No problems, or delays, or complaints for the entire trip.

The whole trip was smooth!

 

 

what time was your check in at the hyatt? what time did you arrive in orlando

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  • 2 weeks later...
funtom

funtom

Posted
Posted

Thank you for the review!

We are preparing for the cruise on the Dream.

At the beginning I thought this review would be one of those bland "wow reviews".

No way. You gave us so many details to think about and really lowered our expectations about the ship.

And this is a real help to prevent disappointment.

Thanks again.

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FoghornLeghorn

FoghornLeghorn

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Thank you for the review!

We are preparing for the cruise on the Dream.

At the beginning I thought this review would be one of those bland "wow reviews".

No way. You gave us so many details to think about and really lowered our expectations about the ship.

And this is a real help to prevent disappointment.

Thanks again.

 

 

Oh my.... I thank you for the kind words....

but I didn't want to lower your expectations about the ship :)

 

I hope you have a wonderful cruise and enjoy The Dream for the beautiful ship that she is.

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mykds36

mykds36

Posted
Posted

Love this review, you have a wonderful sense of humor! Glad to hear you can order from the kids menu. I can't say I find the salads appealing on the adult menus so I was hoping I could order from other menus. I have come to the opinion (from reading other threads too) that it would seem easiest to stay at the hotel @ the airport, take the cruise first, and then take in WDW or stay around the port area. Anyway, thanks for the review and information.

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FoghornLeghorn

FoghornLeghorn

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Mykds:

 

Thank you!

 

Yes, I loved staying at the Hyatt the day before.

(no WDW on this trip)

 

However, last year when I went on the Disney Wonder, we did WDW first.

I highly recommend doing WDW first, and then enjoying a relaxing time on the ocean.

 

We used Disney transport from Old Key West to the port. They picked up our luggage the morning of the cruise and the next time we saw it was in our stateroom. It was actually waiting on us when we entered our stateroom. We were picked up about 11:45. An hour later we were checking in and on board by 1:00.

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FoghornLeghorn

FoghornLeghorn

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The lines to the characters looked a lot shorter than at WDW. But, yes, expect a wait. The characters also gather in the Atrium and do a dance or mingle around some. So, sometimes you can just grab a shot of them interacting with your kids.

 

The characters also periodically walk around the decks at random.

There are specific times listed for "the princesses", etc. and those lines seem to be the longest. But, if you can catch some of the times they appear with several other characters in the Atrium, you can get good interaction with them.

 

Autograph Plates:

We took square white thick plastic plates.

Like the old "melac" plates from the 50's and 60's.

We put them in a LARGE ziplock bag with black and red permanent markers.

We got them back the same way.

 

Some people did sippy cups, pillowcases and mat/frames.

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FoghornLeghorn

FoghornLeghorn

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Theme nights:

I know there is a Pirate night. So, most everyone (including adults) had costumes on, or at least "something" pirate on. (eye patch, hat, hook hand, etc)

 

The room steward will also leave some pirate things on your bed the day of the Pirate Theme.

We got bandanas, eye patches and cardboard hats to put together.

 

We saw a LOT of kids dressed up for dinner in a costume. Lots of princess dresses, Peter Pan outfits...some with just their favorite character shirt on with their shorts or pants. Lots of tiaras worn by the little girls.

 

The Animator's Palate night, since Crush would be entertaining during dinner....we saw lots of Nemo shirts and hats.

 

The kids really seemed to enjoy getting to wear their Disney costumes to dinner and around the ship. People made a fuss over them, and they just beemed!

 

Autographing products:

I found this out from CRUISE CRITIC! :)

Years ago, they did more than two items per room...but, I guess with the requests and especially the size of The Dream, they cut back.

 

You take your requested items to be signed to the Purser's desk the FIRST day/evening.

Include your name and cabin number and the "markers"

 

tip: make sure they can read your name and cabin number, as on the last day they had several items that the name was illegible, as was the room number.

 

On our last evening, we got our items back, including the markers we had in the ziplock. They were on the bed when we came back from dinner. The plates were signed by about 8 to 10 characters in their "special" autographs.

 

The "signature" mats you can get at your local hobby store are very popular. Then just place a special picture of the kids in it with the characters.

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Hornet

Hornet

Posted
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So glad this thread was brought back up and thank you Reba for such an easy to read and informative review. We've been sailing with Princess for many years and this will be our first time on Disney. We are very much looking forward to this cruise.

 

Gail

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Hornet

Hornet

Posted
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Reba - I'm picturing these balcony cabins more like the mini-suite on Princess (sofa and tub). We have four balcony rooms in a row booked for our family - cat 5E. But...the extra toliet and sink will be a real plus.

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shipmate13

shipmate13

Posted
Posted

Wow, I am out of breath reading your post. Have you ever thought about writing books, what talent you have! I have been on the Disney Wonder and will be going on Disney Dream in May. Even though I am not new to cruising, you really put so much thought into your post and provided me and others with information that will certainly be helpful. I guess we are all kids at heart, The Disney ships just brings it out of us, even if it is just for a few days. Glad you had an amazing trip and thank you once again. :)

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FM

FM

Posted
Posted
Thank you, Gail.

 

I love Princess too.

The thing I love about Disney Balcony rooms, compared to Princess is:

a two part bathroom with tub and shower

and

a sofa

(my balcony rooms on Princess did not have a sofa, just a chair and did not have a tub)

 

Loved reading your review - quite informative. Especially from a viewpoint from a party of two travelling on their own. We have cruised other lines and also love Princess; but after becoming Platinum members, we are looking for something different. We just came back from our first Celebrity cruise aboard the Silhouette - it was great! Now we're wanting to try Disney. Just had a few quick questions ...

  • The tables for two in the various dining rooms - they weren't just stuck in a corner were they? Or crammed in between two large tables?
  • Did you find the service was attentive enough for two - that is Disney paid as much attention to a couple as it would to a large family of five or more?
  • Was it really loud in the dining room or rushed? Did you find it too frenetic throughout the ship? I love dining at the Character Meals at WDW so I know it won't be as peaceful as when we were dining at the specialty restaurant Blu aboard the Silhouette ;)

 

P.S. I just love Looney Tunes - Bugs, Taz, Marvin, K-9 ... and of course, Leghorn, Henery Hawk and ... THAT dog ... :) As Foghorn would say ...

"That's a joke, I say, that's a joke, son."

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FoghornLeghorn

FoghornLeghorn

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lol FM - Fellow Looney Tunes fan :)

 

Our table for two was not in the corner, even though I wouldn't have minded. The dining rooms are so interesting I can't think of any place that wouldn't be okay. We were mid-section each evening. There was a table of four next to us in each different restaurant, but not intrusive at all.

 

Our waiters were very attentive to us. They moved our dinner along at the perfect pace, even though we were ahead of the other larger tables around us. I've had some cruise lines, want to keep us all on the same pace, even there was only two of us.

We were in and out in about an hour each evening, without being rushed.

(we did stay longer on the Animator's Palete night by our own choice)

 

I did not find any excessive noise in the dining rooms. Disney is very professional and attentive to your needs.

I have had much louder and chaotic dinners on other cruises with unruly, demanding adults. Especially when they had had way too many pre-dinner drinks. :)

 

The children on our dinner rotation were well-behaved. They were so adorable all dressed up in their costumes, or dressed up in more formal clothes. They were in awe of the things around them. They seem to be taking in everything around them, eating in a speciality dining room, etc.

 

Since you eat somewhere different each evening, there is so much to see. People are looking around, snapping pictures. All our meals were quiet, even with numerous children around, and very enjoyable. Now, when CRUSH appeared, there were cries of excitement and lots of oooh-ing and awe-ing..... and sometimes even from the kids :D

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FM

FM

Posted
Posted
The lines to the characters looked a lot shorter than at WDW. But, yes, expect a wait. The characters also gather in the Atrium and do a dance or mingle around some. So, sometimes you can just grab a shot of them interacting with your kids.

 

The characters also periodically walk around the decks at random.

There are specific times listed for "the princesses", etc. and those lines seem to be the longest. But, if you can catch some of the times they appear with several other characters in the Atrium, you can get good interaction with them.

 

Autograph Plates:

We took square white thick plastic plates.

Like the old "melac" plates from the 50's and 60's.

We put them in a LARGE ziplock bag with black and red permanent markers.

We got them back the same way.

 

Some people did sippy cups, pillowcases and mat/frames.

 

Love the idea about the autograph plates - were all the autographs on the front side of the plate?

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  • 4 weeks later...
DreamCruisers4

DreamCruisers4

Posted
Posted

HI everyone! Only a few more days to go!!! We are racking our brains about what to do with a 5 and 3 year old at Nassau. We don't want to pay for the long and expensive excursions that are offered and just want a relaxing few hours ona clean nice beach and then back to the ship to enjoy that as well. Does anyone have suggestions about a good beach to try. We won't have carseats with us and heard the driving is aweful there anyway. Not suer about beach access at Atlantis even if we can take the water taxi. HELP!!!

 

Thanks.

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