5 kids, 7 grandchildren, 50 years of marriage & One Amazing Cruise on the Dream!

fractal · Jul 13, 2011

Great trip report and pics!

These Disney Cruise reports may finally convince me to book our first cruise.

PS - love the Pirate outfits!

erstwo · Jul 13, 2011

We headed up to Deck 11 to check it out:

It was perfect 4th of July weather!

By this time we were getting a little hungry, so we sat with the cousins to have a quick snack at Cabanas:

This was on display as we entered:

After eating we went outside to watch the ice sculpting demonstration. I think at this point my husband and son were waiting in line for the Aquaduck again:

It was awesome. He carved an eagle in about 5 to 10 minutes:

And it was HOT out there! There were going to be 2 4th of July shows. One at around 3 in the Atrium and one at 5 on the Deck Stage. I decided to head to the one at 3, because I figured the one at 5 would be uber crowded and hot as you know what.

Up next - the whole gang in the cutest 4th of July outfits ever!

erstwo · Jul 13, 2011

fractal said:
Great trip report and pics!

These Disney Cruise reports may finally convince me to book our first cruise.

PS - love the Pirate outfits!

Thank you so much! I am so glad you are enjoying it. I would recommend a Disney cruise to anyone - so much fun!

disneygirl1 · Jul 13, 2011

I will definitely do a TR after the cruise! We are in the process of figuring out howwe want to get to port now. We originally were just going to take the DCL bus from whatever WDW resort we are stayinh at, but I hear when taking the DCL transfers from the resorts ou don't get on the boat till well after 3! I want to get there early so we are now thinking of renting a car.

How's the drive to the port easy, hard, confusing?

HouCuseChickie · Jul 13, 2011

I did some looking around just b/c I was curious- I saw that a "Bright Star" announcement usually means there's a medical emergency.

On a more positive note, too cool to see Aladdin in his dress whites. Also love the ice sculpting. It's so amazing how they do those! & loved Loved LOVED the pirate costumes! :wave:

erstwo · Jul 14, 2011

disneygirl1 said:
I will definitely do a TR after the cruise! We are in the process of figuring out howwe want to get to port now. We originally were just going to take the DCL bus from whatever WDW resort we are stayinh at, but I hear when taking the DCL transfers from the resorts ou don't get on the boat till well after 3! I want to get there early so we are now thinking of renting a car.

How's the drive to the port easy, hard, confusing?

It is super easy to get there. Maybe others who have driven it more often can chime in, but essentially there is only ONE highway/ toll road (it is a toll road) that runs from Orlando directly to Port Canaveral. It takes a little less than an hour to get there from WDW if there is no traffic (and the only time we've ever seen traffic was after the shuttle launch.)

I bet that's right about the DCL transfers. Our 'assigned' boarding time was 2:00, but as you read, we got into the terminal around 10:30 & boarded around noon. Right after the 'sail away' party, I walked back to our room through Cabanas and there were people just arriving and getting food.

We'd been on the boat for hours at that point. I figured they were either people who A) stuck to their boarding time or B) took the DCL transfer and they held the boat for them.

HouCuseChickie said:
I did some looking around just b/c I was curious- I saw that a "Bright Star" announcement usually means there's a medical emergency.

On a more positive note, too cool to see Aladdin in his dress whites. Also love the ice sculpting. It's so amazing how they do those! & loved Loved LOVED the pirate costumes! :wave:

Ha! Great job with the Google!

I hadn't even thought to Google it yet! That was actually one of my guesses (medical emergency) since nothing seemed to be on fire - thank goodness!!!

Thank you so much! We had fun in those costumes.

Going to get this Trip Report finished this weekend (hopefully!)

disneygirl1 · Jul 15, 2011

erstwo said:
It is super easy to get there. Maybe others who have driven it more often can chime in, but essentially there is only ONE highway/ toll road (it is a toll road) that runs from Orlando directly to Port Canaveral. It takes a little less than an hour to get there from WDW if there is no traffic (and the only time we've ever seen traffic was after the shuttle launch.)

I bet that's right about the DCL transfers. Our 'assigned' boarding time was 2:00, but as you read, we got into the terminal around 10:30 & boarded around noon. Right after the 'sail away' party, I walked back to our room through Cabanas and there were people just arriving and getting food. We'd been on the boat for hours at that point. I figured they were either people who A) stuck to their boarding time or B) took the DCL transfer and they held the boat for them.

That is good to know! We are totally leaning towards renting a car!

That's my biggest fear about the DCL transfers to the ship. This is allof our first cruise and we want to spend as much time on the ship as possible. I don't want to be boarding SO late!!!

erstwo · Jul 16, 2011

disneygirl1 said:
That is good to know! We are totally leaning towards renting a car!

That's my biggest fear about the DCL transfers to the ship. This is allof our first cruise and we want to spend as much time on the ship as possible. I don't want to be boarding SO late!!!

If it isn't just crazy expensive - I'd say go for it!!! I am so glad we were able to transport ourselves - no one wants to wait on a shuttle or be on someone else's time schedule when the Dream is just soooooooooo close! (Or at least that's how I felt!

)

And I'm already looking forward to your report!

erstwo · Jul 16, 2011

I think I mentioned earlier (and if I didn't, please bear with me) that there were going to be 2 July 4th Celebrations. One at 3ish on Deck 3 in the atrium and one at 5ish on main stage on Deck 11.

They would both essentially be the same show - with the characters - but the one on Deck 11 would have a little more 'pre show' to it. The one indoors, on Deck 3 had a preshow too and - most importantly to me due to my lingering head cold - it would be air conditioned!

So I headed down to Deck 3 to see the show. The first part was that magician/ comedian guy from the nightclub, Jeff Civilico, doing some party game type things with volunteers from the audience.

And then................

Could it be?????

It IS!!!!

Cutest 4th of July costumes ever!

SUCH a cute performance! From Deck 5, we had seen a group of dancers practicing in the atrium on Night 1 or Night 2 and I *almost* took a picture, but decided not to. Knowing what I know now, it would have been fun to have that picture and match the 'friend' with the character!

And then the main mouse himself joined the show

erstwo · Jul 16, 2011

It was just so much fun and so patriotic. A flag waving celebration!

And then in true Disney style - a Grand Finish!

erstwo · Jul 16, 2011

We returned to Deck 11 (where it was still HOT - Can you believe that? In the Caribbean? On July 4th?

:lol

It was busy, busy on Deck 11. Pools were full, wait for Aquaduck was just over an hour.

They had some fun and games going on for everyone sitting around. I thought this was so great - they got the teens from the teen clubs to participate in the Watermelon Eating Contest:

The guys weren't allowed to touch the watermelon with anything but their mouths. The girls had to feed the watermelon to them without looking. They had no idea about this before they were up on the deck and under the camera! :lol:

As we were watching the Watermelon Contest, one of the CastMembers came by and asked my husband if he would participate in the 'Disney Legs' contest. My husband is always up for anything, so he said yes and was up on stage shortly:

erstwo · Jul 16, 2011

Introducing himself:

They had 5 women and 5 men up on the stage. Then they announced that the women would be judging the men and that they would be assigning a Disney character to each man based on his legs. Funny stuff!

So each guy had to parade across the stage and show off his legs.

Most of the guys got club music, Black Eyed Peas, and the whatnot, but when it was time for my husband to go - he got "The Chicken Dance." :lol:

Guys got Disney Characters like "Prince Charming" and "Fairy Godmother" My husband got "Chicken Little"

They did a kick line at the end -

We congratulated Daddy:

And he got a complimentary drink:

After a little while, I wanted to go downstairs and rest. I woke up about an hour later when they all returned to our room.

Still loving that verandah:

erstwo · Jul 16, 2011

We all got dressed for dinner and the shows. It was the last night of the cruise and we had still not met 3 characters I was dying to see - Chip & Dale and Daisy. Sadly, there would be no chance at meeting Chip & Dale, but Daisy was on the schedule that night.

I took the kids down early. A few yummies while we waited:

(I can't remember what this place was called, but it's a little bar right next to Shutters. That case is full of the yummiest tiny desserts - a must try!)

Everyone was getting their formal pictures made:

I could stare at this for hours:

I swear I did not pose my daughter for this. It just happened this way. Wish I had turned on the flash!

But right then Daisy showed up. In her formal wear! Yay!

So fab!

erstwo · Jul 16, 2011

We had some time to kill before "Believe" so we stopped by the Art shop:

And the D Lounge - which was empty:

One must remember, all the world's a stage:

And then it was time for Believe!

It was fantastic!

HollyBelle · Jul 16, 2011

Be still my beating heart... the July 4th attire is absolutely adorable! Seriously. Loving your review!

erstwo · Jul 16, 2011

So many wonderful movies and characters in this show! And then.....Tiana and the gang came out

with Lottie!!!

Love, love, love Lottie. The Princess and the Frog was the first movie our kids ever saw in a movie theater. When Lottie came on the screen, my husband and I laughed hysterically and then turned and looked at each other and laughed more. I really do think they came into our house and based Lottie on our daughter. From the blonde curls, to the affinity for all things pink, to the cat squeezing, to calling my husband "Big Daddy," it's like they put our daughter into a cartoon and made her just a little bit larger than life (only we don't live in New Orleans.

) So fun!

I think she would be so much fun to meet and greet in the parks!

erstwo · Jul 16, 2011

Someone didn't make it all the way through the show:

Dinner tonight was at the Royal Garden again. There was a special 4th of July menu in addition to the regular menu:

It was another wonderful dinner.

More 4th of July Decorations:

The same lovely entertainer from the first night was singing again tonight. For the first time, people weren't really rushing past her. People were stopping to listen and film her and some were even dancing a little. So sweet!

And when we got back to our stateroom, our pillowcases were waiting on us! I didn't photograph them on the ship, but here they are at home. This is what I was sewing at the last minute as I began this trip report - oh so long ago!

You can drop off a pillowcase and some fabric markers in a large zip lock bag at Guest Services on the first day of your cruise and the characters will sign it for you and it will return it to your stateroom on the final night of your cruise! My kids LOVED it! I also included some candy in my bag to 'thank' those who signed the pillow case. My son just got everyone but the princesses and my daughter got everyone AND the princesses.
ETA - you can also have them sign other things - I've heard of photo mats being signed, so you can put a photo from the cruise in the mat and then hang it on the wall - I think that would be a great idea too!

erstwo · Jul 16, 2011

I can't remember all the fun things we did that night. I know my husband and I ran back to the room to pack like crazy people - trying to get all of our luggage outside of our door by the 10:30 cutoff!

If I could give one piece of advice about disembarking - especially on a cruise where you have a last day 'at sea,' it would be to take an hour or so to pack up as much as you can that afternoon. I know you hate to even think about it, but you as much as you don't want to that afternoon, you REALLY won't want to do it that night!

My 75 year old mother in law took my son on the Aquaduck (her one and only ride!) that last night while we were packing and we missed it! because we hadn't packed yet. I really hated that! Such a special moment.

After we got the bags out, the kids visited the Kids Clubs one last time. They were SO sad to leave at around 11:30.

We turned in their Mickey bands on the way out.

I loved the disembarkation video. So funny when the Cruise Director reminds you to keep a change of clothes for yourself for disembarkation day. She said she's seen it all over the years - even people disembarking in pillow cases because they packed everything up the night before and had nothing to wear off the ship! :lol:

We finally went to bed, sad to think this was the last night on the ship. Our breakfast time was 8:00 at the Royal Palace.

erstwo · Jul 16, 2011

All too early the next morning the Captain came over the loudspeakers to announce that we were docked and could disembark at any time. We collected our things, got dressed and said a sad goodbye to 9604.

Remember that 'always empty' hallway??? Well at 7:30 that morning it was PACKED. As in, standstill!

It was a nightmare. The atrium was no better. People trying to stay together, pulling luggage, pushing. It was crazy I tell you!

We had a nice breakfast with my inlaws, discussing our plans. They were all staying another night in Cape Canaveral, with some of them planning to stay through Friday for the final shuttle launch. :sohappy: We were headed back home, by way of WDW.

We considered staying longer with my inlaws, but we had been gone 10 days at this point. I missed my house, my pets - my bed, so home it was!

While we were eating, we watched through the open doors as the line in the atrium grew smaller and smaller until finally the crowd had almost completely diminished. We said our goodbyes and hurried out to the disembarkation line in the atrium (which had already started to grow long again as people finished their 8:00 breakfast and headed out.)

We breezed through luggage claim/ Customs (the morning before you are given tags for your luggage that indicate a 'zone' for your luggage - ours was in Green/ Tinkerbell. We had 5 pieces of luggage and found them all within 3 minutes of arriving at our zone. The line through customs was still a little long with the initial rush of people getting off the boat, but we seemed to time things perfectly because just 10 minutes later the line was 4 times as long.

We were finally through the terminal and back where we had started. Outside the gates to the terminal at 'area 1' waiting on the Raddisson shuttle. Other lucky people were already lined up to board the Dream that afternoon for their cruise.

erstwo · Jul 16, 2011

The Raddisson shuttle was great. Quick and efficient. We were soon in our car and headed for the Magic Kingdom. My daughter had been asking to ride the Haunted Mansion.

You could tell the instant you pulled onto WDW property that it was July 4th week. Busy and hot! We opted for the Resort Monorail loop as the MK express monorail line was super long and the ferry boat looked to be about 2 boats away from when we would board.

Checking wait times:

Soon we were walking..... well you know the rest.

It never gets old does it?

The boys ran ahead to ride one of the mountains. We planned to meet up at HM. My daughter and I took in some of the sights and sounds.

We listened to them sing a song or two. Such talented performers!