OneTreeHillAddict
CNC Photography of Myrtle Beach, SC
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2008
Hello! My name is Tammy, and I am a huge Disney fan! This is my first ever cruise report and during the vacation I had no intentions of writing one. (I didn't take notes and all that good stuff) It's not nearly as good as my older reads linked in the siggy, but it does have a lot of pictures for you to look at. Who needs words when you have pictures, right? This trip report starts off with our September cruise aboard The Disney Dream. We sailed for four nights, not nearly long enough. It was one of the best times we've ever had in our lives! Not only do you get the 4 night experience on the Dream, I will be adding over 500 (maybe 600-700) additional pictures from the Disney Fantasy starting on page 10. This trip report might just be a great read after all! Please leave a comment if you stop by, even if it's just a smiley face. Thanks for reading along.
This was our first ever Disney cruise, and it did not disappoint. This is also my first time writing a Disney cruise trip report. Since this trip was mixed in with a park visit, which I have started already on the Disney World board, I decided to just add the cruise parts over here.
Our cruise was booked last minute, and I had a lot to learn. Unfortunately a lot of this was learned while sailing on the Dream. We had a great experience and can not wait to go again. Next time we hope to do a 7 night on the Disney Fantasy. Of course that Panama Canal cruise is looking good too.
The cruising part of this trip report is about to begin. Are you guys ready?
The ship: Disney Dream
Length of Stay: 4 nights
Ports of call: Nassau & Castaway Cay, Bahamas
Dates: September 9th-September 13th
Category: 04D, deck 6
We have cruised a few times before, but never with Disney. This would be our first Disney cruise. We had actually booked the 15 night Hawaiian cruise last spring. We paid our deposits, we had Dismeets with other cruisers, we purchased the travel books and planned our excursions. We were all set and ready to go. Then state testing dates were released, and it is required in this state that we attend . We were planning to drive out from SC to CA (another dream vacation of ours), and we planned to visit Disneyland for two days prior to sailing. On the way back we were to take a different route visiting Las Vegas, friends and family in Colorado, and a few other stops as well. Both testing dates and make up dates fell within our travel period. We tried everything we could to get around this to no avail. We were devastated. Everything happens for a reason though, and we accepted that. I am always playing with the Disney cruise rates, checking the FL rates, military discounts, you name it.
One night my daughter and I were looking at the FL resident rates. They usually cost @ $175 per night per person, but not this time! It was more like $99 per night! I checked it in a couple of different ways ~ two inside rooms versus all of us in the verandah, and the difference was only $200. We chose the verandah so we could all be in the same room. After all, it was only a $200 difference! We booked within minutes and set sail soon after.
I had a lot of researching to do, FAST! Some people helped. Some people tried to help, but really didnt know much themselves. I felt like we went aboard completely unaware of everything. I am going to try and touch base on everything I can to help you have the best cruise experience possible. I uploaded the pictures in certain albums when I returned home. I had no intentions of doing a trip report at the time, so, the cruise section will be a little different than my typical trip reports.
Arrival ~ Port Canaveral
We left Disney and took the fastest toll road over. We probably spent $5-$6 on tolls and it felt like they came every few miles. It took us about an hour to get to PC. As we were coming across the bridge we could see the Dream and some other huge cruise ships waiting for their passengers to arrive. Talk about excitement! Upon arrival we went through a couple of gates. They checked our information and directed us to the luggage drop off area. (We arrived @ 11:30 and only a couple of cars were in front of us.) We told the guy we didnt need to stop and drop off the luggage so he sent us on around to park. I have a handicapped parking tag on the back of my car, so they told us the best place to park. I think it was level three. I was parked right by the door. We unloaded, walked in and across and we were right there at bag check. NOTE: YOU CAN BRING FULL SIZE LUGGAGE ON IN YOUR HAND (as long as your bag fits through this machine you are fine) I do not like leaving my items with strangers, and we like to use our own pillows when we travel. Not everyone is like that, but for those of you who are, its allowed. Yes, it is a pain in the booty to keep up with your stuff while waiting for your room to open up. That is a choice you need to make when it comes to luggage. Had I just brought in one big and one small suitcase we would have been fine. Even with all of our junk you see here, we did just fine. By the time we ate lunch the rooms were open anyway.
Here we are waiting for our boarding number to be called.
When we arrived at PC we went right in line to register (without our documents because they had been sent to Miami) We just had the stuff you print out online, and the paperwork you can print in advance. We had all of that signed and ready. We were at the counter in an instant. Once there, the guy checked us in. He looked at our documents (we do not have passports yet), took our pictures, explained a few things to us since we were first time Disney cruisers, and we were on our way. This maybe took 15 minutes at the most. I was impressed. Now Im not sure if its always this quick. Our particular sailing was not full. I asked and I want to say he said we were at 60 or 70% capacity for that sailing.
I thought we would have too wait a while before boarding the ship. They had just called in #2 and we were in the late teens, so we got in line to meet Minnie. She was there for about 10 minutes and left. Next out came Mickey! We were in line for another 15 minutes when our number came across the loud speaker. We were next in line for Mickey so I asked the family to stay.
As soon as we took our Mickey picture we were heading through these big huge ears!
Shortly after you entered into this. Can you see the excitement on my little guys face? This was his first ever cruise and he could not wait to go on.
This line is where they check to make sure you are you. Then you proceed to a photo op. (I passed this because I was wearing zero makeup, and being a photographer myself, Im very picky about pictures.) You can leave the line and go ahead in if you dont want a picture taken. Thats what we did. Now we are entering the ship and they announce us as we enter. (My kids are having a fit now&excited more than ever) We were told about our dining options and we were hungry. (We had not eaten anything all day) We chose Enchanted Garden over Cabanas. If I had to do this over again Id choose differently. You can actually do both if you want. EG was set up with a buffet, but I feel sure Cabanas was better. They seemed to offer a lot more choices when it came to dining. Shortly after we ate (sorry, no pictures this time because I had everything packed up and I didnt want to chance losing anything) our cabin opened up.
We went in to drop off the luggage and to check things out. This was one sweet cabin! The kids could not wait for the beds to come of the ceiling and wall. We loved our room.
You can see the port outside the window in the last picture above.
We hung out in the room for about 15 minutes. Took a ton of pics that I will add later when I go to the other album, then left the room to explore this Dream of a ship.
400+ more pictures to come! Teen clubs, kids clubs, the food, the bathrooms...loads of detail to follow. Please do me a favor. Even if you're a lurker, just say "Hi, I'm here."
This was our first ever Disney cruise, and it did not disappoint. This is also my first time writing a Disney cruise trip report. Since this trip was mixed in with a park visit, which I have started already on the Disney World board, I decided to just add the cruise parts over here.
Our cruise was booked last minute, and I had a lot to learn. Unfortunately a lot of this was learned while sailing on the Dream. We had a great experience and can not wait to go again. Next time we hope to do a 7 night on the Disney Fantasy. Of course that Panama Canal cruise is looking good too.
The cruising part of this trip report is about to begin. Are you guys ready?
The ship: Disney Dream
Length of Stay: 4 nights
Ports of call: Nassau & Castaway Cay, Bahamas
Dates: September 9th-September 13th
Category: 04D, deck 6
We have cruised a few times before, but never with Disney. This would be our first Disney cruise. We had actually booked the 15 night Hawaiian cruise last spring. We paid our deposits, we had Dismeets with other cruisers, we purchased the travel books and planned our excursions. We were all set and ready to go. Then state testing dates were released, and it is required in this state that we attend . We were planning to drive out from SC to CA (another dream vacation of ours), and we planned to visit Disneyland for two days prior to sailing. On the way back we were to take a different route visiting Las Vegas, friends and family in Colorado, and a few other stops as well. Both testing dates and make up dates fell within our travel period. We tried everything we could to get around this to no avail. We were devastated. Everything happens for a reason though, and we accepted that. I am always playing with the Disney cruise rates, checking the FL rates, military discounts, you name it.
One night my daughter and I were looking at the FL resident rates. They usually cost @ $175 per night per person, but not this time! It was more like $99 per night! I checked it in a couple of different ways ~ two inside rooms versus all of us in the verandah, and the difference was only $200. We chose the verandah so we could all be in the same room. After all, it was only a $200 difference! We booked within minutes and set sail soon after.
I had a lot of researching to do, FAST! Some people helped. Some people tried to help, but really didnt know much themselves. I felt like we went aboard completely unaware of everything. I am going to try and touch base on everything I can to help you have the best cruise experience possible. I uploaded the pictures in certain albums when I returned home. I had no intentions of doing a trip report at the time, so, the cruise section will be a little different than my typical trip reports.
Arrival ~ Port Canaveral
We left Disney and took the fastest toll road over. We probably spent $5-$6 on tolls and it felt like they came every few miles. It took us about an hour to get to PC. As we were coming across the bridge we could see the Dream and some other huge cruise ships waiting for their passengers to arrive. Talk about excitement! Upon arrival we went through a couple of gates. They checked our information and directed us to the luggage drop off area. (We arrived @ 11:30 and only a couple of cars were in front of us.) We told the guy we didnt need to stop and drop off the luggage so he sent us on around to park. I have a handicapped parking tag on the back of my car, so they told us the best place to park. I think it was level three. I was parked right by the door. We unloaded, walked in and across and we were right there at bag check. NOTE: YOU CAN BRING FULL SIZE LUGGAGE ON IN YOUR HAND (as long as your bag fits through this machine you are fine) I do not like leaving my items with strangers, and we like to use our own pillows when we travel. Not everyone is like that, but for those of you who are, its allowed. Yes, it is a pain in the booty to keep up with your stuff while waiting for your room to open up. That is a choice you need to make when it comes to luggage. Had I just brought in one big and one small suitcase we would have been fine. Even with all of our junk you see here, we did just fine. By the time we ate lunch the rooms were open anyway.
Here we are waiting for our boarding number to be called.
When we arrived at PC we went right in line to register (without our documents because they had been sent to Miami) We just had the stuff you print out online, and the paperwork you can print in advance. We had all of that signed and ready. We were at the counter in an instant. Once there, the guy checked us in. He looked at our documents (we do not have passports yet), took our pictures, explained a few things to us since we were first time Disney cruisers, and we were on our way. This maybe took 15 minutes at the most. I was impressed. Now Im not sure if its always this quick. Our particular sailing was not full. I asked and I want to say he said we were at 60 or 70% capacity for that sailing.
I thought we would have too wait a while before boarding the ship. They had just called in #2 and we were in the late teens, so we got in line to meet Minnie. She was there for about 10 minutes and left. Next out came Mickey! We were in line for another 15 minutes when our number came across the loud speaker. We were next in line for Mickey so I asked the family to stay.
As soon as we took our Mickey picture we were heading through these big huge ears!
Shortly after you entered into this. Can you see the excitement on my little guys face? This was his first ever cruise and he could not wait to go on.
This line is where they check to make sure you are you. Then you proceed to a photo op. (I passed this because I was wearing zero makeup, and being a photographer myself, Im very picky about pictures.) You can leave the line and go ahead in if you dont want a picture taken. Thats what we did. Now we are entering the ship and they announce us as we enter. (My kids are having a fit now&excited more than ever) We were told about our dining options and we were hungry. (We had not eaten anything all day) We chose Enchanted Garden over Cabanas. If I had to do this over again Id choose differently. You can actually do both if you want. EG was set up with a buffet, but I feel sure Cabanas was better. They seemed to offer a lot more choices when it came to dining. Shortly after we ate (sorry, no pictures this time because I had everything packed up and I didnt want to chance losing anything) our cabin opened up.
We went in to drop off the luggage and to check things out. This was one sweet cabin! The kids could not wait for the beds to come of the ceiling and wall. We loved our room.
You can see the port outside the window in the last picture above.
We hung out in the room for about 15 minutes. Took a ton of pics that I will add later when I go to the other album, then left the room to explore this Dream of a ship.
400+ more pictures to come! Teen clubs, kids clubs, the food, the bathrooms...loads of detail to follow. Please do me a favor. Even if you're a lurker, just say "Hi, I'm here."