!! DISNEY DREAM !! To Bahamas ^_^ The Ultimate Review and Complete Pictorial Guide

[TravlGrl]

No need for them to be Disney-related. :)

 

Actually, the way fish extenders typically work is that you join a group doing it and have a list of staterooms that you are exchanging gifts with. That way everyone is getting something and you know how much you need to bring.

 

Jim

Ah, ok, I didn't realize that. Thanks for the clarification! :)

 

Okay, I have to ask, what is a fish extender?? I keep seeing them mentioned and I feel so dumb.... :(

Here's an image of what it could look like, but I've seen lots and lots of variations of how people create and present their pockets.

[wednesday]

Disney ships have fish outside of them. These fish extend from the wall slightly and so you can hang things on them. DCL often tucks "mail" in them for staterooms...things like Palo reservation reminders, invites to Disney Vacation club meetings, etc.

 

People also hang things from them called fish extenders. These are things with pockets (sometimes one for each person in the room, sometimes not) on them. You then get into a group (before the cruise...you can find groups on various forums) and it becomes a gift exchange. You drop things off for everyone else on the list and in return you get something in your fish extender from everyone else.

 

My daughter loves going back to the room throughout the cruise and finding all sorts of little goodies in the fish extender. Candy, pencils, bookmarks, cd's with music, xmas ornaments, etc. Pretty much anything and everything. :)

 

Jim

 

Here's an image of what it could look like, but I've seen lots and lots of variations of how people create and present their pockets.

 

Thanks! :) Sounds like a fun idea.

[loyalroyal17]

Hi Gambee!

Sorry I'm late to the party and still not caught up yet, but I wanted to say how truly sorry I am about your beloved dog, Milo. I've had to put one of my cats to sleep a few years back, and even though it's different with a cat, it hurts to lose part of the family. I still think of him every day, and I still have his sister. It was a blessing in disguise that your job wouldn't let you go on the Breeze. You would have missed out on saying goodbye, or he would have suffered longer waiting for you to send him to doggie heaven. Thank you for sharing so much of yourself with us, and the pictures of Milo. Hugs to you my friend!

Celeste

[letscruiseasap]

Hey Gambee! I'm not caught up yet, but loving what I've read so far! Think we may consider a 7 day Disney cruise as our next one... Thanks so much for another fabulous review!!! MUAH ;-)

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[gambee]

Day 3, Disney's Castaway Cay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

A good friend of mine brought up a good point. He mainly asked about the general experience for traveling without kids. Those who have read my past reviews might have noticed that I am not keen about kids. Now, please don't get me wrong, it is not like I hate them them or anything. I am just easily irritated by misbehaved out of control children. I will admit that part of the Disney experience is that there is so much laughter and excitement aboard this ship. And trust me it radiates, children have a way of getting excited over the most mundane things, and in a way that extends to people that surround them.

 

I would be lying if I said that there were no out of control kids on the ship. But I will admit that I honestly think that my encounter with them was rather limited. Maybe a total of 3 times that I can count, that I said to myself let me just move away from here. Think about it, that is really not that bad. Ironically in Celebrity I had the worst neighbors ever and I wished I was on another cabin the entire cruise.

 

As you might have noticed we spent most of the time on the Adult pool area, and kids can only go through that area to get to other places. Disney is very strict with their policies. On one occasion two teenagers maybe 17 years old came into the adult section and sat on the ledge of the of pool with their feet touching the water. I will be 100% honest here, I swear to you, I never heard one word from them. Actually they looked pretty miserable, I think they really disliked the family pool, and I am not sure why they did not go to the teen pool. Anyway back to the story, about 5 minutes passed and a crew member approached them and they started talking. They handed their key card to him and made a few calls, before leaving. The teens stayed there… Soon after he came back with two of his superiors, and they exchanged a few more words. Eventually reluctantly they were kicked out of the adult area. Something tells me that either they knew someone higher up, or maybe it had to something that they lost their parents and were waiting for them there. I saw them later on the outside of the adult area, just sitting there with horrible faces. I think those 2 kids were the only ones that I saw having a bad time on Disney. I noticed two more occasions were they brought kids into the adult pool, and within minutes they were told to leave.

 

I am not entirely sure how, but trust me the system works. Maybe there is simply too much for them to do and they are always kept busy and happy. Or who knows maybe it was me, and I was mentally prepared for it. But honestly I don't think so. While there are certainly a lot more kids than on your regular cruise, you can always find a nice quiet spot if that is what you're looking for.

 

Thumbs up Disney!

[gambee]

We woke up to the ship vibrating again and made our way to balcony. It was a gorgeous day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

Love This picture!

 

 

 

The staff arriving.

 

 

Here is a short video from the balcony, such a nice day.

 

 

[gambee]

Lets talk a little about Disney's Castaway Cay. So this is my new favorite private island, there is simply no question about it. While Labadee is nice, it is simply no match for Castaway. And great stirrup cay, is so inferior that it would not be fair to even put them on a challenge. Castaway Cay is very unique, as you can imagine Disney always does everything over the top, and this island follows that format. The way they divide the beaches is just great! We truly enjoyed how tranquil serenity bay was. The food was actually really good as well, as was the service. The entire island is accessible by tram, and all the roads are paved. This little getaway offers so much, that this is actually the first private island that I can say that I really want to back again!

 

From there is were all the boat shore excursions leave from.

 

 

 

Notice how they tried to disguise their radio tower?

 

 

 

 

You can rent a bike and go there.

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

 

We just waiting there while the ship docked and we used the internet to try to access one of my mom email accounts.

 

Here are the plans prices

 

 

The internet was extremely fast, the fastest that I have used on a ship. I am not sure if maybe being on the island helped if they were sharing towers? But it was very fast. One thing I did not like was that unlike every other cruise line I have been one once the next minute starts (0:01) they charge you for that entire minute. On all the other cruise lines they charge you when you cross the 0:49 mark. Nothing horrible, but just something to note. In the past I have been able to send emails without paying for a minute at all, that is not possible on Disney.

 

Sarah mentioned that we should leave early if wanted to get a good spot on the beach. I think she had more knowledge about Disney than I did, there were a few times which she told me some details that I was not aware off. I mean it is pretty common sense to get early and get a good spot on the beach, but it was other things particularly related to Disney.

 

I remember having a killer migraine that morning. But I believe I got rid of it fairly fast that day. So we got ready, but mom and I decided to skip breakfast that morning. I was still recovering from everything that ate the night before… Trust me it was pretty bad, and since my mom rarely eats in the morning she also decided to skip that meal. Sarah went to the buffet and grabbed a light breakfast for herself. I believe I just sat on the balcony and enjoyed some tunes and the ocean breeze.

 

 

[gambee]

After Sarah ate her breakfast, she left the room to go down.

 

 

They have a towel stand, and they will give you as many towels as you need.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

Nice Cat

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

 

 

 

The trams are just like the ones on Disney World.

 

 

[gambee]

Here is short Video on the tram, there a tour guide on the speakers.

 

 

 

 

The first tram has 2 stops, the first one on the sports bay, and the second one on the family beach. Everyone gets off there, including those going to serenity bay. Another tram will come and pick you up there to go to serenity bay, the wait is very short. They are always on the move.

 

 

 

So to get to Serenity bay you go on a airplane runway, yes that is correct a runway. So Sarah told me that Disney has filmed movies in this runway in the past. But something told me that runway was used in the past for just a little more than movies :D, lol. After a little research I found just what I thought. The island has a dark history, full of drugs and crime. The runway was built in the 50's by a business man who saw potential in the island. But it soon because a prime landing spot for drug dealers, and crime erupted in the near vicinities of the island. He tried to put a stop to it, but failed. Eventually he was forced to sell his piece of heaven to a private company, that later sold it to Disney. Now it is the amazing resort that Disney has converted it to. The really cool thing about it, is that planes in the island were wrecks left there from the old days of drug trafficking. How cool is that? I thought Disney had brought them in for the movie filming.

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

And here you have it Serenity bay, our piece of heaven. This is truly a very amazing place for adults only. Unfortunately for us when we were there it was in low tide, but the gentleman behind me said that he was there the week before on high tide and he saw a barracuda and stingray. None the less snorkeling was still really good. I though that the only good snorkeling was going to be in the family beach area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

We took the second umbrella, the place was practically empty it was so neat. Chairs and umbrellas are included in your cruise fare. My mom took a lounger and decided to relax i little, Sarah was looking around and enjoying the scenery. I grabbed one of the chairs and took in into the water with me.

 

 

 

While there are a few shells, it is nowhere near as bad as Labadee.

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

See the mom fish with the baby?

 

 

 

 

Like I said it was low tide.

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

 

Sarah eventually joined me out on the water.

 

 

After sometime had passed, I noticed a few people snorkeling far from the shore. So I decided to grab my snorkel equipment and go for a swim.

 

 

He looks so mad, lol. "GET AWAY FROM ME!!!!" Yes Sir!

 

 

 

[gambee]

Whattt?

 

 

 

Well hello there buddy?

 

 

Love the blue stripe

 

 

This guy was huge!

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

Love this picture!

 

 

So neat how there is only one yellow one

 

 

These are always cute.

 

 

 

[gambee]

Some kind of worm

 

 

These guys were tinny and fast. It was so hard to get that picture, it took me forever to get a clear shot of them.

 

 

Snorkeling was possibly the best ever on a private island, Sarah even saw a stingray.

 

Ok folks that it is for now :). I will work on the next set and post when ready. Getting close to the end :(...

 

 

[cruzinlady1947]

Great underwater shots. Can't believe how clear the water is for a private island. Disney sure does things right....:D

 

Gwen :)

[gambee]

Hi Gambee,

 

I am really enjoying reading your trip report. I have been on the Dream twice now and it's really great to read someone else's perspective of the ship.

 

Royal Palace is my favorite MDR. I tend to over eat while there but all the food is so good. The Grand Marnier Souflee is amazing. I hope you save room for it next time. ;)

 

I can't wait to read about your day at Castaway Cay. :)

 

I really wanted to try the Souflee, but at that point it would of been a complete waste of food. Maybe next time. I think the reason that I was not very thrilled about the Royal Palace was because I was so full by the time I went inside.

 

Hope you're enjoying the Castaway section so far.

[gambee]

Hi Gambee!

Sorry I'm late to the party and still not caught up yet, but I wanted to say how truly sorry I am about your beloved dog, Milo. I've had to put one of my cats to sleep a few years back, and even though it's different with a cat, it hurts to lose part of the family. I still think of him every day, and I still have his sister. It was a blessing in disguise that your job wouldn't let you go on the Breeze. You would have missed out on saying goodbye, or he would have suffered longer waiting for you to send him to doggie heaven. Thank you for sharing so much of yourself with us, and the pictures of Milo. Hugs to you my friend!

Celeste

 

Thank you for the Kind words Celeste, I am sorry hear about your kitty. I am doing much better now, and I think seeing him wag his tail is helping a lot in this healing process.

 

I hope you enjoy this review as much as the other ones, welcome aboard!