Trip Report Double Double Dip Trip June 2017 (Completed!)

Hello all and welcome to my trip report. My husband, Brad, and I just got back from a WDW trip and a Disney cruise on the Dream. Why am I calling it a double double dip? Well, we checked in and out of WDW twice, our cruise was a double dip (2 stops at Castaway Cay), and we had 2 birthdays to celebrate. So sit back and relax and enjoy my trip report.

Dates of vacation: June 18 to July 1

Resort: Pop Century (both times)

Cruise: Disney Dream

Travelers: Me (Amy) and my husband (Brad)

I'm tagging a few people that have followed my past reports. If I missed you, sorry, but please follow anyway. If you are new, welcome. And if I tagged you and you don't want to read, no problem!

@figmentfan423 @MinnieM123 @Cesar R M @donaldtoo @MySmallWorldof4 @MOXOMUMD @JenniferS @PacNWTigger @Tuvalu @Gabe1 @betty rose @Songbird76 @sheriffwoody @bee @blgauger @BuddyThomas @fractal @93boomer @MouseDreaming @Wrangler-Rick @PUSH @Mr Ferret 88 @amjt660 @Minnesota disney fan


June 18: Our first day of vacation was not a Disney day. We live near Minneapolis (about 1 hour 15 min from the airport) and we decided to spend the night before at a hotel so we didn't have to get up so early. When my husband got home from work around noon we headed over to Minneapolis and went to one of our favorite spots, the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. We go here a lot and I was hoping to catch the peonies in full bloom but we missed the full bloom by about 4 days. That was disappointing as it is my favorite flower, but there were still some peonies and the roses were blooming nicely. We had a nice time walking around, and a local symphony was giving a concert so we listened to that for a bit. Hubby was pleased when they played a Star Wars medley. So here are some pictures.

The peony walk, as you can see not in full bloom.

Some of the roses.

The Arboretum often has changing botanical displays and so for these might be my favorite. It is a kaleidoscope and the bowl with the flowers spins, it is fun to look through.

After the Arboretum we headed to the Mall of America and did the Flying over America attraction since I had a 50% coupon. It is a take on Disney's Soarin. We had done the America version here before and they were running a limited showing of Flying over Canada so we opted for that. It was fine but no Disney. Although the seats at the Mall of America version are more comfortable.

Dinner that night was a the Hard Rock Cafe, we hadn't eaten at a Hard Rock in years. Neither of us could make a decision about where to eat so we settled on this since it was a few steps away from the exit of Flying over America. Now when I say settled, that soon changed when we started eating our burgers, hubs got a special Memphis burger and I had a Guinness burger. We both had herbed fries. And the meal was fantastic. Sorry no food pics of this, perhaps on another visit.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

You are making me so excited for my next cruise! I haven't given it a lot of thought because I'm focused on planning my Disney World trip. I am a tad nervous about the cruise because we are leaving from San Juan and the flight there will be long with a two year old...

Leaving from San Juan should be fun though, I always thought Puerto Rico would be a fun place to go. I've never traveled with a 2 year old so good luck with that!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Okay, I’m so glad to see that you love Skipper Canteen. I have dinner reservations here at the end of October. I think the menu looks fantastic!

Your meals from Cali Grill look so good! That risotto looks amazing!

Happy Anniversary! Not a bad way to spend it at all!

I was worried that the first time was a fluke at Skipper Canteen and we would eat there again it I wouldn't like it but as I reported we were very pleased. Thanks for the anniversary wishes!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

"Relaxing" & "Disney" are not two words that you would usually find in the same sentence !! The cruise certainly looks it though & I look forward to hearing about the rest of your trip.

It is weird to think of Disney and relaxing at the same time, but for us that is what the ship is. Sure there are a lot of activities, and some we want to be sure to do, but for the most part it is just lounging and hanging out.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Monday June 26: Our first dip on the Double Dip Cruise, the cruise was to have two stops at Castaway Cay (Double Dip)

Hubs and I are usually early risers so we ordered room service the night before and had our breakfast (or pre-breakfast as Brad called it) on the veranda. Coffee, doughnuts, and crossiants. This we ordered every morning it had the delivery time around 6:30-7am.

View in the morning

So after pre-breakfast, getting ready, and a little more to eat at the breakfast buffett at Cabanas it was time to get off the ship and head for the paradise of Castaway Cay.

On the first tram

We were going to walk to the Serenity Bay tram stop, which is located at the family beach but it was really hot and humid. So Castaway Cay is for being lazy (at least for us) so we trammed it.

View of the ship.

On the Serenity Bay tram.

I'm pretty sure we were the first ones on Serenity Bay.....where should we get a spot at?

Doesn't it look like a paradise?! That is because it is. Well, we still have to decide where to perch ourselves for the day.....

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

How about here?!

Yep we had a cabana for the day. How I was able to book one, I still don't know, I think it was just a matter of perfect timing. On the day we could start booking activities, I was super busy at work and at home and then about 6:30 pm I went on to the DCL website just to see what excursions were on Castaway Cay. I thought maybe we would do the stingray thing. That's when I saw there was 1 cabana open for the first Castaway Cay day and it was on Serenity Bay. I booked it thinking I would probably cancel it later, it was kind of expensive after all. Well, as you can see I didn't cancel. The more I kept thinking about it the more I talked myself into it. I'm really glad I didn't cancel, it was a very lovely day and to us it was worth the money.

So let me take you on a tour of the cabana....
The entry.

The outside from the little roadway.

A peek inside.

Our view.

Our private hammock. I was really looking forward to this but it was never in the shade. That would probably be my only compliant. I really like being in the shade, and it was a hot day so I didn't want to roast in the hammock. In the corner you can see there were floaties and tubes for us to use in the water.

Entrance to the beach and water.

The big perk was we always had shade and in this area there was a ceiling fan. So with a nice breeze, a fan, and shade it was fantastic and led to some wonderful naps on these chairs.

 

[blreinsel]

The cabana looks amazing! Definitely sounds like it was worth the money to me.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

A loaded fridge complete with cool towels.

Some snacks, fruit was delivered later.

After some swimming and lounging we had "worked" up an appetite. Time to press the button and summon our attendant and order some drinks.
We both got a Konk Kooler. Think pina colada with passion fruit.

Around 11:30 we pressed the button again and our attendant came and picked us up for lunch at the BBQ area. When we were done he also drove us back. This was the view as we waited for him.

I zoomed in in and we could spot the ship from here.

After lunch we did some more "hard work" of swimming, lounging, napping, and ordering another drink. Brad still got a Konk Kooler. I opted for a mojito.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

The cabana looks amazing! Definitely sounds like it was worth the money to me.

It was a nice treat. I used to think people were just wasting their money on them. But the older I get the more I enjoy comfort. Sure the chairs at the beach are fairly comfortable, but cushions and my own private space, so worth it! And this was only our 3rd cruise so really the odds of us being able to book one was fairly slim. Usually the concierge and higher level Castaway Club members snatch them up.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

The day in the cabana was awesome, and because of the floaties I ended up with a little sunburn on my back. But it was just a moderate burn. Sadly the day had to come to an end.
A last look at the cabana.

At one point in the day, my geek came out and I took a screen shot of the compass on my phone so I would know the exact location of my seat on the cabana. Oh I guess it was at 12:41pm.

Okay time to leave. Our attendant came to pick us up and he drove us all the way back to the the aft loading ramp of the ship. He asked if we had the cabana again for the next time we stopped and we sadly said now. He asked because the people in the cabana next to us had their cabana again and he was stocking certain things for them in their fridge and wanted to know if we wanted anything special. Once back on the ship I was tempted to go to Guest Relations and see if a cabana was open for the next time but I didn't.

Bye bye Serenity Bay. I thought we were the last ones off the beach but Brad said he saw a guest go into the bathroom by the bar as we drove away.

Some ship pictures taken on the ride.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Once back in our room we hung out on the veranda for awhile. It was nice being at the back of the ship to get some of these cool photos of the island.

And as we were sailing away we could hear the ships horn sound again, it is so fun to hear the Disney tunes played on the ships horn.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Tonight's dinner was in the Enchanted Garden. I like the design of the restaurant, supposedly its inspiration was the gardens of Versailles. Having been to Versailles and the gardens, I don't see the resemblance but I suppose if you stretch it there could be. Both have the theme of a garden. I do like how the lighting changes in the restaurant and goes from daylight, twilight to night. That is pretty cool. It does have my least favorite menu of the rotational restaurants, it seems like there is a lot of seafood on this menu. I do not like seafood. I did manage to find some tasty stuff though.

My salad

Brad's tuna tower or something tuna...It had avocado in it and Brad loved it. He claims to not like avocado, yet when he eats it in things he likes it.

I got beef, I think it was prime rib. It was super tender and flavorful.

We both tried the pork medallions too. I couldn't remember if I liked them or not from the last cruise. They were okay, but dry. The hashbrown patty thing was good though.

Seafood stuff for hubs.

I got the pecan tart for dessert. I love pecan pie, but rarely have it because of all the sugar and the fact Brad doesn't like it at all. So this was a real treat for me.

Brad had another ice cream sundae.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

A couple looks at the restaurant....

Time to play bingo. We didn't win.

Another nice view of the sunset

 

[becca_]

The cabana looks amazing! Definitely sounds like it was worth the money to me.

I think I've been convinced to try & rent one if I can whenever I go on a cruise!! I agree, looks like it'd be a pretty dang good value!

 

[MinnieM123]

First time I've ever seen photos of the cabanas there--very nice inside and out. (All I could think of were those hideous cabana "tents" that they put in the MK some months ago--remember those? ) At least you got something pleasant for your money on the island.

The food in the Enchanted Garden looked really delish!

Bingo has come a long way with those digital devices they gave you. Even though you didn't win, it looked like you and Brad still had fun!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I think I've been convinced to try & rent one if I can whenever I go on a cruise!! I agree, looks like it'd be a pretty dang good value!

Good luck getting one, I think there are only 25 on the island between the family and adult beach. But it is worth trying to get one.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

First time I've ever seen photos of the cabanas there--very nice inside and out. (All I could think of were those hideous cabana "tents" that they put in the MK some months ago--remember those? ) At least you got something pleasant for your money on the island.

The food in the Enchanted Garden looked really delish!

Bingo has come a long way with those digital devices they gave you. Even though you didn't win, it looked like you and Brad still had fun!

Yeah, I don't think a tent cabana would have been worth the extra dough. Those in the MK looked terrible, I'm glad they didn't do well and were removed.

The electronic Bingo is okay, but I still like playing with the paper ones, it makes me feel like I'm actually playing. Disney's bingo sessions are fun, and they have a lot of jokes and humor to the game. It is a lot different than the Moose Lodge bingo at home where everyone is so serious about it.

 

[Courtney6682]

That water is BEAUTIFUL!!!

So glad you all had a great time for your anniversary!!

 

[MotherofaPrincessLover]

Leaving from San Juan should be fun though, I always thought Puerto Rico would be a fun place to go. I've never traveled with a 2 year old so good luck with that!

The sad thing about this cruise, no Castaway Cay

 

[Jedi Stitch]

I miss the Dream. That was a fun ship to be on.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

That water is BEAUTIFUL!!!

So glad you all had a great time for your anniversary!!

That is the great thing about the Caribbean area, beautiful water.

The sad thing about this cruise, no Castaway Cay

Oh that is sad.

I miss the Dream. That was a fun ship to be on.

We have only sailed on the Dream, but we love the ship. Someday we would like to try one of the other Disney ships.