Trip Report Halloween on the High Seas and Some Not So Scary Fun with Friends - All Just a *Dream* Away!

Well it's been a little over 24 hours since I've returned back from my adventures from the past week. It's a gloomy, chilly day here so I figured it's a great time to start my trip report.

First, let's introduce ourselves. Here are the four cruisers who together make up the awesome-ness that is known as "Table 65."

Left to right - Yours truly (Jessica), Shalon, Aurora and James. Just a little backstory - up until recently I spent the past 4 1/2 years as an agent for Kingdom Konsultant Travel. Unfortunately, life is a bit crazy right now and I needed to step out of it for a bit (but still remain close friends with my KK family!). Shalon was actually one of my very first clients I ever worked with in 2009. Since her trip, she relocated to the Orlando area and we have become close friends. Aurora and James are husband and wife, also living in Central Florida, who are good friends to Shalon. There would also be a few appearances by some other friends during the trip.

At the end of September Shalon texted me saying that there was an awesome FL resident rate out for the Dream, but she didn't want to go. I called my oh-so-wonderful husband and asked if he would mind, and he encouraged me to go (he's awesome-er than awesome, I tell ya). I texted Shalon and she got us booked and ready! And not long after we had two more cruisers join us - Aurora and James. They would be celebrating their anniversary during our cruise. When all was said and done, we had about 31 days to wait. Not too shabby of a countdown

We would be on a 4-night Bahamian on the Disney Dream, with stops in Nassau and Castaway Cay. Our actual sail dates were 10/27 - 10/31. I booked my air to fly in on the 26th. Originally I was set to fly home on the 31st. Then I decided that flying home on the 1st of November would be better. Then I discovered that some friends who I've known for a couple of years via social media would be in WDW and I really wanted to see them, so I decided to come home on November 2nd. The friends who would be making appearances would be Danielle, Nicole and Deb (aka @DisneyDebNJ ), as well as my friend Tommy and his family all the way from Canada!

So, after all was said and done, here is what my plan was:

10/26: Arrive in Orlando, some park time at MK, spend the night at Shalon's.
10/27 - 10/31: Disney Dream-ing!
10/31 - 11/2: WDW time!

This would be my first cruise after years of peer pressure from @Disneyfalcon to get my behind on a Disney cruise Totally kidding. Tammy's been telling me for years I would love it, but I was so afraid to tear away from my beloved WDW. I was nervous that I would end up regretting going on the cruise and feel like I wasted precious time that I could have spent in WDW. Now I laugh, because the only regret I had was not doing it earlier!

So I guess now's the time to stop rambling and get on with the show!

 

[Disneyfalcon]

This would be my first cruise after years of peer pressure from @Disneyfalcon to get my behind on a Disney cruise Totally kidding. Tammy's been telling me for years I would love it, but I was so afraid to tear away from my beloved WDW. I was nervous that I would end up regretting going on the cruise and feel like I wasted precious time that I could have spent in WDW. Now I laugh, because the only regret I had was not doing it earlier!

So I guess now's the time to stop rambling and get on with the show!

I will refrain from I told you so's.

 

[Disney_Belle]

Saturday, October 26th - The Search for the Red Bag

Normally when I fly out to WDW, I pick the earliest flight possible to get in as much park time as I can. With such short notice, it wasn't working in my favor in terms of airfare pricing. Everything for the first flight out was at least $100 more than an early afternoon flight. And, well, that's $100 I could spend on something else. I ended up booking a 12:05pm departure non-stop flight from Providence to Orlando on Southwest.

The flight went smoothly. We were set to land at 3:00 pm, but landed about 10 minutes early. We had to wait for the plane at our gate to move out so we could pull up. It wasn't long before I was getting ready for the "first unofficial ride" of any Disney vacation.

Main terminal! Woohoo!

This was the first trip since Magical Express was introduced that I didn't use it. DME is one of those things I love that signify the kick-off of a Disney vacation, so it was a little weird not to be using it this trip. However, when Shalon caught up with me at baggage claim, she had a little surprise waiting for me - my OWN Magical Express

It's the little things that make me so happy - like a personalized DME sign. We waited for my bag to arrive... and waited... and kept waiting... and waited some more. It was a no-show. We went to the Southwest desk and gave them the info on my bag. It was a large rolling suitcase, with Mickeys on it. And it was red. Remember that - red. The agent at the service desk asked me to name 3 unique items that were in my bag. She got a good chuckle when I said "cat ears." The cat ears were important. You'll see why, later At this point I was aggravated, and nervous. It wasn't like I would be in WDW for the week. I was sailing off the next day and needed all of this stuff! The agent asked when we would be departing and we told her we would be getting on the ship around 11:30. Her response was that if needed, she could have it delivered to ship before we disembark. What?! NO. Not happening. It was just too risky. I was courteous with her (this was the first problem I'd ever had with Southwest in the 15 years I've been devotedly flying with them). I held out hope that we would get a phone call that my bag would arrive.

In the mean time, I'd scheduled to meet Kingdom Camera Rentals at 4:00 pm at the Polynesian to pick up a lens I'd rented. I had to call them and let them know the situation and that it'd be closer to 4:30 when I would get there. I always sing praises for them, and again, they came through and were okay with meeting me a bit later.

So off Shalon and I went to meet Lenise from KCR at the Poly for the lens pickup.

Oh look, I know where we are!

 

[Disney_Belle]

I will refrain from I told you so's.

You're so thoughtful, because I deserve every one of them

 

[Disney_Belle]

I was supposed to be heading to MK right after meeting up with Lenise. The plans were to meet up with my friend Danielle who is part of the College Program right now. She also happens to be the daughter of Pam (@Kingdom Konsultant )! When we got back out to the car, my phone rang. It was Southwest! They had my bag! They told us they could deliver it to Shalon's apartment within the next 1-5 hours, but we would have to be there. No! My precious MK time! Shalon and I agreed it would be easier for us to go back to the airport and pick it up and head straight back to the park.

We got to the airport and I gave the agent my claim ticket. I looked around nervously and didn't see my red bag. I asked the agent where it was and she said, "It's over there," pointing in the direction of about a dozen bags. And then I found my suitcase. Standing there, all alone, big, bulky and NOT red. But gray. My bag was gray. When DH and I got married, my aunt bought us a 6-piece luggage set. Three pieces red, three pieces gray. Whenever DH and I travel together, I use the red and he the gray. However, my red suitcase was looking a little rough, so a couple of days before the trip I switched to Rich's suitcase. Somehow, I completely spaced it out and was looking for my red suitcase on the baggage claim belt. Oops. However, the agent reassured me that my bag did in fact come in on a later flight than I was on. Probably because I'd gotten to the airport in Providence way earlier than needed. At least I had my bag and I could enjoy the rest of my trip now.

Before I knew it, we were back at MK again. And it was crazy crowded. The park was open until 1:00 am (and that was sans EMH)! Thankfully, I didn't intend on doing much, mostly just catching up with Danielle and visiting my friend Nicole who lives local to WDW and is a CM at Liberty Tree Tavern.

Shalon and I were so hungry after the bag fiasco. We met Dani (who was FaceTiming her mom) in front of Pinocchio's Village Haus. Okay, I have to admit, in all of trips to WDW, I'd never eaten here. Ever. But there's a first time for everything!

Shalon and I both got the BBQ Chicken Flatbread (so good!) and Dani got the pepperoni. We pretty much devoured them

Halloween cups!

 

[Disney_Belle]

After dinner we walked through Fantasyland and made a pit stop at the Tangled bathrooms, before continuing on to the Haunted Mansion. The Main Street Electrical Parade was just about ready to step off, so we didn't have much of a wait.

After HM, we waited for the last couple of MSEP floats to pass by and we cut through the crowd and headed to Liberty Tree Tavern. I was able to see Nicole and spend a few minutes chatting with her. I've known Nicole for about 12 years. She lived locally to me here in Massachusetts, but relocated with her parents to the Orlando area right after she graduated high school (I don't blame her). We chatted for a bit before she had to get back to her tables. The crowds had cleared out of the area and we made our way over to Country Bear Jamboree. DH isn't a fan at all, so I was happen to enjoy the show without him groaning and grumbling about it.

After CBJ, it was about 10:00 and Shalon and I knew we had an early morning. I was sad to have only spent a couple of short hours with Dani. Stupid luggage fiasco We said our see ya real soons and headed to Shalon's apartment. It was setting in that I would be on my very first cruise the next morning. To say I was excited was an understatement. Shalon and I watched a DCL special she had on DVR that aired on Destination America. I didn't know how I would be able to sleep that night. But thankfully the guest bed at Shalon's house was super comfy and I slept very well. I did wake up earlier than my alarm, but I was excited and ready to go!

 

[Disney_Belle]

Sunday, October 27th - We are sailing, sailing away!

It's here, it's here! The big day had finally arrived! My alarm was set for 7:00 am, but I woke up at 6:48.

I got myself together and got my bags settled and separated according to what I needed at the time and what I could do without until we were reunited with our bags again. After we loaded up Shalon's car, we headed out and picked up Aurora and James. We stopped to fuel up Shalon's car and it was off to Port Canaveral! On the way I checked my Navigator App (I could only use it for the countdown clock):

We parked at Park N' Cruise, not too far from where the ship was. See the blimp balloon? That's where we parked!

We unloaded the bags and waited for our shuttle. About 15 minutes later we were on our way to the ship.

Shalon's luggage and my Vera and not-red suitcase.

Aurora and James brought along their Duffy, or as he is known "Duffmeister," He even had his own outfit for the cruise and his own little piece of luggage with some clothes in it (@sweetpee_1993 I know you'll love this!)

The shuttle was full and one person would have to stand. The driver offered us the option of waiting for the next one. I volunteered (without hesitation) to stand because I just wanted to get to the terminal! Looking back I should have taken the passenger seat so I could have gotten pictures as we were getting closer to the terminal. Oh well. Shalon made a great co-pilot!

I did get a couple peeks of the Dream as we were getting closer. Thankfully I had sunglasses on because I may or may not have gotten some watery eyes

Within minutes we were dropped off and waiting to enter the terminal.

I see her!!!

We got through security and headed to check in. My excitement level was through the roof!

Shalon, James and Aurora have all sailed before. We had also checked in online, so we were given our boarding group number in no time.

I apologize in advance for how chipped my nails will be in future photos. I brought my nail polish with me for touch-ups, but neglected to actually use it.

We waited in line to get our photo with Minnie. But before we arrived, she had left and Captain Mickey arrived. While we were getting our photo with him, our boarding number was called. While waiting for our picture time, James headed off to get us a Navigator to look at. He looks like such a tourist

 

[Disney_Belle]

Once we boarded the ship, we bee-lined it for Palo. We were trying to get a brunch reservation but had no luck before boarding. Thankfully, we were able to score a 10:00 am brunch for the next morning!

Next we headed up to Cabanas for lunch. Speaking of lunch - we had an awesome dining rotation: Royal Palace, Animator's, Animator's and then Enchanted Garden. Woot!

The whole "it's 5 o'clock somewhere" rule doesn't really apply to me as I'm not much of a drinker, but if it did - look! It's almost 5:00 at Disneyland Paris!

My well balanced meal:

While eating outside, an older couple approached Aurora and said their Duffy could beat up her Duffy! This is a no-Duffy-fighting zone ma'am! Their Duffy had his adorable pumpkin costume on.

Shalon actually ran into someone she knew while we were at Cabanas. I guess a lot of people had taken advantage of the FL resident rate. I can't blame them, it was pretty awesome.

After we finished lunch, we headed out to explore the nursery, kids' and teens' clubs.

Now I know how first time WDW visitors feel about taking pictures of Cinderella Castle because I took way too many of the atrium lobby chandelier. I'll spare you and just throw in one here and there.

While I was admiring the chandelier, someone ran up beside me as if they were going to jump off the balcony and scared the heck out of me. I should've known it was this guy...

 

[RMichael21]

Great trip Report thus far! Excited to see more!

 

[Disney_Belle]

Great trip Report thus far! Excited to see more!

Thank you! I've got lots more to post

 

[ejsanta13]

After dinner we walked through Fantasyland and made a pit stop at the Tangled bathrooms, before continuing on to the Haunted Mansion. The Main Street Electrical Parade was just about ready to step off, so we didn't have much of a wait.

After HM, we waited for the last couple of MSEP floats to pass by and we cut through the crowd and headed to Liberty Tree Tavern. I was able to see Nicole and spend a few minutes chatting with her. I've known Nicole for about 12 years. She lived locally to me here in Massachusetts, but relocated with her parents to the Orlando area right after she graduated high school (I don't blame her). We chatted for a bit before she had to get back to her tables. The crowds had cleared out of the area and we made our way over to Country Bear Jamboree. DH isn't a fan at all, so I was happen to enjoy the show without him groaning and grumbling about it.

After CBJ, it was about 10:00 and Shalon and I knew we had an early morning. I was sad to have only spent a couple of short hours with Dani. Stupid luggage fiasco We said our see ya real soons and headed to Shalon's apartment. It was setting in that I would be on my very first cruise the next morning. To say I was excited was an understatement. Shalon and I watched a DCL special she had on DVR that aired on Destination America. I didn't know how I would be able to sleep that night. But thankfully the guest bed at Shalon's house was super comfy and I slept very well. I did wake up earlier than my alarm, but I was excited and ready to go!

Glad you were able to get your bag. More nervewracking when you are not going to be in the place where your bag is supposed to be for any extended period. Stress over and back to relaxing with Mickey. I think that the DCL special that you watched was the one my fam was watching a few weeks back, and because of it, we actually booked a last minute 5 Night Western Carribean cruise on the newly imagineered Magic. Only 6 more days until we step on that majestic vessel. Like you, we are going down a day early (mostly because of the $130 r/t, n/s airfare direct from Logan to Miami!!!). Free night in a Mariott w/ pts only a couple of miles from the port. This week at work is going to be soooooo looooooooong............ Can't wait to read the rest of your report.

 

[Tiggerish]

How exciting! I just had my first DCL cruise on the Dream, and it'll be fun to hear and see your first-time views of it as well!

I love that they put a pumpkin face in a porthole for Halloween. I'm taking my hubby on a Dream cruise, we'll be on board for Valentine's Day, I've been wondering if they'll do anything special.

 

[Tiggerfanatic]

Great report so far - can't wait to read the rest. I'm really loving all the pictures - for some reason I didn't take very many (mainly so there wouldn't be any evidence that could be used later!)

Glad to hear you found your luggage - that's always been my one fear with flying. I had a situation in resverse last year coming back from Scotland. We had a Edinburgh to Newark to Pittsburgh flight home. Got thru Customs in Newark and headed to our gate for a 6-hour layover. Saw there was an earlier flight to Pittsburgh, and was going to check the cost of changing flights, but knew it wasn't feasible because we had 4 checked bags. Anywho, we get to our gate and find our flight has been delayed. We finally get to Pittsburgh at midnight, which is 3 hours later than we were supposed to. Coming down the escalator, and there stands hubby WITH OUR LUGGAGE! It had been put on the earlier flight! We had to laugh; otherwise I would have broken down and bawled!

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

LOVE this TR Jess!!! I might have gotten a little teary eyed when YOU talked about how you might have gotten a little teary eyed when you first saw the Dream. She is a beauty!

Jealous you got a Palo brunch ressie. We didn't do Palo brunch on the girls cruise but at the last second I thought we should have but they didn't have anything open! Next cruise for sure!!!

OMG, I LOVEEEEEE the chocolate chip cookies at Cabanas!! I could eat those for days!!!

More, more! I need something to keep me occupied til I leave on Wednesday night!

 

[Disney_Belle]

After our run in with Donald, we headed to the nursery, kids clubs and teen clubs to check them out.

Aurora was impressed by the hand washing systems the kids have...

 

[Disney_Belle]

Next, we headed up to see Vibe and Edge.

Ariel mingling with her two-legged human friends:

My two-legged human friends:

As we were walking over to the elevators, Cinderella came strolling by and decided to take a peek at Rora's pins:

On our way in to Vibe:

 

[Disney_Belle]

Glad you were able to get your bag. More nervewracking when you are not going to be in the place where your bag is supposed to be for any extended period. Stress over and back to relaxing with Mickey. I think that the DCL special that you watched was the one my fam was watching a few weeks back, and because of it, we actually booked a last minute 5 Night Western Carribean cruise on the newly imagineered Magic. Only 6 more days until we step on that majestic vessel. Like you, we are going down a day early (mostly because of the $130 r/t, n/s airfare direct from Logan to Miami!!!). Free night in a Mariott w/ pts only a couple of miles from the port. This week at work is going to be soooooo looooooooong............ Can't wait to read the rest of your report.

Wooohoo! Enjoy your cruise! It will be here before you know it! I was so stressed about the bag. I kept running what-if scenarios through my head until I got it back. Thankfully it wasn't a very long ordeal.

How exciting! I just had my first DCL cruise on the Dream, and it'll be fun to hear and see your first-time views of it as well!

I love that they put a pumpkin face in a porthole for Halloween. I'm taking my hubby on a Dream cruise, we'll be on board for Valentine's Day, I've been wondering if they'll do anything special.

They had awesome Halloween stuff all about. There were spider web portholes as well. I think I have pictures of them. The front of the Guest Services desk also had them. It was really cute. I was bummed I didn't get to do the girls' cruise this year, but this helped ease the sadness And Valentine's Day is a great day to celebrate (it just happens it's also my birthday haha). Hopefully they'll do something fun for you all!

Great report so far - can't wait to read the rest. I'm really loving all the pictures - for some reason I didn't take very many (mainly so there wouldn't be any evidence that could be used later!)

Glad to hear you found your luggage - that's always been my one fear with flying. I had a situation in resverse last year coming back from Scotland. We had a Edinburgh to Newark to Pittsburgh flight home. Got thru Customs in Newark and headed to our gate for a 6-hour layover. Saw there was an earlier flight to Pittsburgh, and was going to check the cost of changing flights, but knew it wasn't feasible because we had 4 checked bags. Anywho, we get to our gate and find our flight has been delayed. We finally get to Pittsburgh at midnight, which is 3 hours later than we were supposed to. Coming down the escalator, and there stands hubby WITH OUR LUGGAGE! It had been put on the earlier flight! We had to laugh; otherwise I would have broken down and bawled!

Thank you! I came back with thousands of pictures. Thousands. This was the first issue I've had with Southwest in my 15 years of flying with them, so I guess it's not too bad of a track record, especially because I usually fly in and out a few times each year! That is so funny about your hubby coming down the escalator with the luggage - what a relief!

LOVE this TR Jess!!! I might have gotten a little teary eyed when YOU talked about how you might have gotten a little teary eyed when you first saw the Dream. She is a beauty!

Jealous you got a Palo brunch ressie. We didn't do Palo brunch on the girls cruise but at the last second I thought we should have but they didn't have anything open! Next cruise for sure!!!

OMG, I LOVEEEEEE the chocolate chip cookies at Cabanas!! I could eat those for days!!!

More, more! I need something to keep me occupied til I leave on Wednesday night!

The cookies were SO good! Palo brunch was amazing. Ah. Maz. Ing. Loved it. Definitely worth the $25! I'll try to keep up with my report to keep you busy until Wednesday

 

[Disney_Belle]

After checking out the teen clubs, it was finally time to get into our staterooms! Yay!

Shalon and I were in room 8528, Aurora and James were in the room connected to ours, 8530. Our stateroom host was chai. He was so sweet, we loved him. When we got in our rooms we asked if he could open up the wall between our verandahs, but because of the wind, he wouldn't be able to until the next day. Oh well! We spent some time in our rooms while we waited for our luggage, which arrived a short time later.

Quite possibly the creepiest photo of the entire trip:

Rora had some decorations made for our door. One had all of my favorite characters on it. On the other one, each letter of my name had a different Vera Bradley pattern in it. I love my Vera

That's us!

Waving to our port neighbors from our verandah:

And now we're back inside:

 

[Disney_Belle]

Next up was our safety drill. We were stationed on deck 4, group H. Man was that sun strong. The poor guy next to me looked like he was about to pass out. Thankfully he didn't

After the drill, we headed up to deck 12 for the Sail Away party! Unfortunately we couldn't get any clear space for me to take photos, so this is all I got from that:

A little boy was too little and his float got stuck:

Before I knew it, we were counting down and the horn blasted off! And of course, I cried. Shalon took video, but I shall not post that

I made a small sign with a Red Sox "B" on it to hold up for the webcam, but no one in my family could find me. I looked at a replay of the video when I got home and there we were! I had my sign up against the glass because I was afraid it would blow away. Unfortunately, it wasn't easy to see. But our boys won - so that's all that matters!

Here we are on deck 12, I'm in red with a cream colored headband, next to me is Shalon, then Rora and James:

 

[Disney_Belle]

After the Sail Away Party and waving to the webcam, we headed back to our staterooms to finish unpacking and start getting ready for that night's show and dinner. We had second seating for our dining rotation. Tonight would be the magic show with Kyle Knight and Mistie. We ended up leaving about halfway through. I've never been one to be interested in magic shows. I prefer my magic in pixie dust and mouse ear form. Since we had some time to pass before our dinner time, we did a little wandering and shopping.

Deck 4 Shuffleboard toes for Tammy!

Rora had her eyes on a DCL Dooney she wanted, so before dinner we stopped to get it. In that time we met a CM named Nick who clearly amused her. This would be the first a few run-ins for the two of them. Each time was funnier than the last.

The beautiful wall of Vera!

I really was excited about these DCL Veras, however seeing them in person I just wasn't as excited. If the patterns were unique to DCL or Disney, then I would've bought them. But for the price, I just didn't love them so much.