Ok, I finally had some time to get all my pictures uploaded and so I thought I'd just share some of my thoughts on the Dream. BTW, I was on the cruise immediately prior to the one that stopped twice at Castaway Cay. SOOOOOOOOOOO mad about that!! 
Obviously, the ship is beautiful as it still has that new ship smell. Our room was beautiful. We booked an inside stateroom so that we could experience the virtual porthole, which was pretty cool. We were in stateroom 10545, which was hard to find when we boarded, b/c it's in a hallway between the starboard and port corridors. I actually had to ask a room steward to get us to our room.
Two drawbacks to our room. First, we didn't have the split bathroom. We've been so spoiled with the split bathroom in the past that NOT having it was a real adjustment. Not horrible, just an adjustment. Second, we could hear some kind of ship noise VERY loudly at all times of the day and night. It kept us awake at night, to be honest. It was BOOM, BOOM, Boom, Boom, Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. . . There were times when it would start every 2 or 3 minutes; and other times where we didn't notice it for a couple hours. We mentioned it to our room steward after the second night, who said that he was report it, but nothing came of it.
Other than that, however, everything was extraordinary, IMHO. Cabana's is definitely a step up from Topsider's. The only thing I didn't like about Cabana's is that there are no lines. People just wander between the counters trying to decide what to choose. I loved the new Animator's Palette. The interaction with Crush was a hoot. My brother-in-law has a beard and Crush asked him why he had sea moss on his face. From that moment on, our assistant server (Alex, who was WONDERFUL) called him Sea Moss for the remainder of the cruise. I also thought the other two restaurants were very nice. I really liked the Garden, and the Royal Palace was nice; but Animator's was the best for me.
And while we're talking about dining, would anyone care to venture a guess as to who else was sitting in our Server's section? Anyone? Well, on one side, we had Alfred and Seymour, who do a "high energy" comedy act onboard. We got to talk to them a little, and they seemed pretty nice. And on the other side (drum roll, please. . . seriously, do a little drum roll on your desk, it's totally worth it.) On the other side was Karl Holz, President of Disney Cruise Line, and his family! I kid you not. Our server, Kendell, was picked specifically to wait on the Holz family, and we had also requested Kendell when we first booked the cruise a year ago. I also got to speak briefly with Mr. Holz, but didn't have the nerve to ask for a picture.
I did the Art of the Cruise Ship walking tour, which was really good. We walked through Palo and Remy, which are both GORGEOUS. I also really liked The District, especially the 687 lounge and the Skyline lounge. We played video games that don't require a handheld controller in 687 and had a great time with that.
Quiet Cove was great, even though I think the pool is substantially smaller than the pool on the "classic ships", as they call the Magic and Wonder now. I loved the hot tub with the glass bottom so you can look down into the ocean.
I was very surprised at how "uncrowded" the ship felt, even with all the extra passengers aboard. The only place that felt packed ALL the time was the quick serve food service on Deck 11 (pizza, chicken fingers, etc.) That was always a mob scene, no matter when you walked through.
Ok, that's enough for now. We can talk about the shows and the shopping later. For now, here's a picture of my stateroom with the virtual porthole turned on. (You want me to post all my pictures here, or do it gradually in the DCL picture of the day thread?)
Obviously, the ship is beautiful as it still has that new ship smell. Our room was beautiful. We booked an inside stateroom so that we could experience the virtual porthole, which was pretty cool. We were in stateroom 10545, which was hard to find when we boarded, b/c it's in a hallway between the starboard and port corridors. I actually had to ask a room steward to get us to our room.
Two drawbacks to our room. First, we didn't have the split bathroom. We've been so spoiled with the split bathroom in the past that NOT having it was a real adjustment. Not horrible, just an adjustment. Second, we could hear some kind of ship noise VERY loudly at all times of the day and night. It kept us awake at night, to be honest. It was BOOM, BOOM, Boom, Boom, Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. . . There were times when it would start every 2 or 3 minutes; and other times where we didn't notice it for a couple hours. We mentioned it to our room steward after the second night, who said that he was report it, but nothing came of it.
Other than that, however, everything was extraordinary, IMHO. Cabana's is definitely a step up from Topsider's. The only thing I didn't like about Cabana's is that there are no lines. People just wander between the counters trying to decide what to choose. I loved the new Animator's Palette. The interaction with Crush was a hoot. My brother-in-law has a beard and Crush asked him why he had sea moss on his face. From that moment on, our assistant server (Alex, who was WONDERFUL) called him Sea Moss for the remainder of the cruise. I also thought the other two restaurants were very nice. I really liked the Garden, and the Royal Palace was nice; but Animator's was the best for me.
And while we're talking about dining, would anyone care to venture a guess as to who else was sitting in our Server's section? Anyone? Well, on one side, we had Alfred and Seymour, who do a "high energy" comedy act onboard. We got to talk to them a little, and they seemed pretty nice. And on the other side (drum roll, please. . . seriously, do a little drum roll on your desk, it's totally worth it.) On the other side was Karl Holz, President of Disney Cruise Line, and his family! I kid you not. Our server, Kendell, was picked specifically to wait on the Holz family, and we had also requested Kendell when we first booked the cruise a year ago. I also got to speak briefly with Mr. Holz, but didn't have the nerve to ask for a picture.
I did the Art of the Cruise Ship walking tour, which was really good. We walked through Palo and Remy, which are both GORGEOUS. I also really liked The District, especially the 687 lounge and the Skyline lounge. We played video games that don't require a handheld controller in 687 and had a great time with that.
Quiet Cove was great, even though I think the pool is substantially smaller than the pool on the "classic ships", as they call the Magic and Wonder now. I loved the hot tub with the glass bottom so you can look down into the ocean.
I was very surprised at how "uncrowded" the ship felt, even with all the extra passengers aboard. The only place that felt packed ALL the time was the quick serve food service on Deck 11 (pizza, chicken fingers, etc.) That was always a mob scene, no matter when you walked through.
Ok, that's enough for now. We can talk about the shows and the shopping later. For now, here's a picture of my stateroom with the virtual porthole turned on. (You want me to post all my pictures here, or do it gradually in the DCL picture of the day thread?)
