Trip Report Lebeau Family Trip Report 2015: Universal Studios and a Disney Dream Cruise

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For the last few years, our big family vacations have mostly involved going to Walt Disney World. Last year, we made a special trip to check out Disney's latest additions in Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom. At the airport on the way home, we got into an elevator with a guy carrying a clipboard with the Universal logo on it. He asked if we enjoyed our trip. We said we had. Then he asked if we got to visit "the fun place" and tapped his clipboard. We said we hadn't because the girls were still a bit young. He chuckled and said, "Those are good Disney ages."

This year, I wanted to do something different. For one thing, Disney wasn't offering anything new. But we were also getting a bit tired of the typical Disney World vacation which is simply exhausting. I didn't think the girls were old enough for Universal, so I looked into a Disney cruise instead. Over the course of planning the trip, we allowed a little time in Florida both before and after the cruise. When I realized that the day before we boarded the ship was Father's Day, I decided to spend a day at Universal to get a taste of what we had been missing.Before I get into the details of the trip, let me introduce the cast.

There's me obviously. Presumably you know a bit about me. It's my blog you're reading. I'm a middle-aged dad with a young wife and two daughters. I'm a theme park junkie and the primary vacation planner thus the repeated trips to Walt Disney World.

Mindy is my wife. She's been slowly losing patience with my "Disney obsession." She reluctantly agreed to my Disney cruise plan because it involved going to the Bahamas, something she had wanted to do for quite some time. She's also a Harry Potter fan. Not enough to own a robe or wand, but enough to have read all the books.

Josie is our oldest daughter. She's now a ten-year-old. Josie's a bit shy and tends to be cautious when trying new things. But when she gets to giggling, her silly side comes out. She's read some of the Harry Potter books and has recently become an avid viewer of The Simpsons.

Kara is our youngest. She's a real spitfire. At six years old, she's barely tall enough to ride most of the rides at Disney and Universal. But she's a bit timid about the scarier attractions. If it's possible for a ride to scare a kid, it will probably scare Kara. What sold her on our Universal day was the minions from Despicable Me and the promise that she wouldn't have to ride anything she didn't want to.

This trip report is going to be large, so I'm going to break it down into chapters. If you want to read specific sections, here is a table of contents:

Escape From Gringotts

Breakfast in Springfield and Men in Black

Mel's Diner and Minion Mayhem

Universal Monsters Cafe, Transformers and The ET Adventure

Lunch at Fast Food Blvd

Exploring Diagon Alley

Hogwarts Express and Jurassic Park

Hogsmeade and Seuss Landing

Marvel Super Heroes and Cabana Bay

Arriving at Port Canaveral in Style

Boarding the ship

Kids clubs

Setting Sail

Dinner at Enchanted Garden

The Golden Mickeys

Castaway Cay

The Midship Detective Agency

Dinner at Royal Palace

Princesses!

Anna and Elsa

Dolphin Encounter at Atlantis

Pirate Night

Another Day on Castaway Cay

Anyone Can Cook

Animator’s Palate

One Final Thing

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Before our adventures at Universal Orlando could begin, we had to get there. We flew into the Orlando International Airport on Saturday afternoon. I had arranged car service from the airport to the Cabana Bay Beach Resort where we would be staying for the weekend. Based on a recommendation from Mousesavers.com, I used Happy Limo. We had a driver from the airport to the hotel and another driver scheduled to take us from the hotel to Port Canaveral on the morning of the cruise.

On the whole, I was pleased with the service. The night before our flight I received a text message from our first driver, Jesus. He confirmed what time he was picking us up and indicated that I should text him when we had arrived at the airport. Unfortunately, it was storming when we landed. Due to thunder and lightning, we weren't able to exit the plane immediately. We sat on the plane for about ten minutes while the storm passed. Mindy is extremely claustrophobic but she managed to hold it together.

I texted Jesus to let him know about the delay. All the planes unloaded at roughly the same time so the airport was flooded with people all at once. By the time we got to baggage claim, it was about 30 minutes after the time we were scheduled to meet our driver. Jesus remained very patient and helped us get our luggage. The car service cost a little more than a rental car or some of our other options. But let me tell you, it was well worth it. The car was parked right next to baggage claim. From there, it was a stress-free ride to our hotel.

"This is soooo much better than Magical Express," Mindy commented in reference to Disney's shuttle service. I nodded in agreement. As we approached the hotel, we could see several of the attractions at Islands of Adventure including the Hulk roller coaster, Dr. Doom's Fear Fall and Hogwarts castle. I also scoped out the deluxe resorts for future visits.

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No sooner had our bags hit the curb then an attendant in a Hawaiian-print shirt was picking them up and carrying them into the lobby. I barely had time to tip the driver before the attendant ushered us into the lobby to check in. Check-in was smooth and the hostess was friendly. A few minutes later, we were wheeling our luggage cart down the long hallways to our room.

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I had asked for a room close to the lobby. The bus stop and the food court are located in the central building of the resort and I wanted to be close to both of them. The girl at check-in told me she couldn't get us close to the lobby because the hotel was completely booked. But she had a room that was close to the bus station. Since the bus station was next to the lobby, I wasn't entirely certain how we could be close to one without being close to the other.

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Our room was 6243. That meant we were in building six on the second floor in the forty-third room. Building six is part of the Americana section which is the closest to the bus station. But to get to building six, you must first walk past or through building five. Room 43 was at the far end of building six. So we ended up having quite a long walk from the lobby to our room. The girls began grumbling.

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We eventually figured out that the zigzag pattern of the hallways made for an indirect route to and from the room. It was faster to exit the hallway and cut through the pool area.

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We quickly settled into the room. We wouldn't be staying here very long, so we only unpacked what we needed for the weekend. It was past our regular dinner time and everyone was hungry, but the girls didn't want to walk back down that long hallway to the food court. The hotel offers pizza delivery which we considered. But one way or another, I had to go to the lobby to use the Will Call Desk in order to print our theme park tickets. So even if the girls ordered pizza, I was going back to the lobby.

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Reluctantly, the girls agreed to accompany me because they couldn't make up their minds regarding dinner. I had been told by the girl at the check-in counter that I needed to get to the Will Call Desk before it closed. It turns out, that probably wasn't true. The guy at the Will Call Desk gave me a coupon book and then directed me to a kiosk where I printed up my tickets. It was a great convenience that would save us time when entering the parks the next morning.

Next: Bayliner Diner and City Walk

 

[Mukta]

We really did have a great time at Universal and will be returning there before we even think about going back to WDW. Hopefully the TR will help you get ready for your cruise. You're gonna have a blast.

I just realized that you stayed concierge level on the Dream. I am too! This is all so helpful for me. Thanks.

 

[lebeau]

Great report! I keep bouncing back between here and your blog to make sure I dont miss anything. How you handle being outnumbered 3-1 by the ladies on your trip is a feat in itself, lol.

lol

By this point, I'm an old pro when it comes to being the only guy in the room. Thanks for reading. I'm glad you're enjoying the report.

The overall TR was broken down into three chapters:

Chapter One: Universal
Chapter Two: Disney Dream Pt 1
Chapter Three: Disney Dream Pt 2

As supplementary material, I also wrote a review of Cabana Bay Beach Resort.

Now that the TR is complete on the site, I'm getting back to regular blog business over there. For those who want to read the TR here, I'll be copying and pasting it here a couple pages at a time.

I just realized that you stayed concierge level on the Dream. I am too! This is all so helpful for me. Thanks.

When I was planning the trip, I was a bit frustrated by how little info was out there about the concierge experience. So I made documenting that a priority. If you have any questions, let me know. Bottom line, they take care of you in concierge. You will enjoy it for sure.

 

[lebeau]

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Disney Cruise Line uses a system they call "rotational dining" for dinner. The boat is divided into two rotations. One group eats early (5:45) and is offered a stage show after dinner (8:30). The other group does things in the reverse order. We were in the first dining group. The Dream has three main dining rooms. Both groups will have dinner scheduled in each of the three restaurants. Our assigned rotation was that we would eat in Enchanted Garden on the first night, Royal Palace the next two nights and Animator's Palate on the final night of our cruise.

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The restaurant's name gives away the theme. The fairies of Pixie Hollow wouldn't feel out of place here.

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In the center of the restaurant is a fountain featuring Mickey Mouse as cupid.

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Before the cruise, I had called the onshore concierge desk to inquire about seating arrangements. I didn't have a specific table request, but I wanted to know if they had any recommendations for the best table. The cast-member I spoke to told me that since we were traveling concierge, we didn't have to ask for a good table. We would automatically be given a private table (meaning we wouldn't have to share with another family) and we would be in the section with the most experienced servers.

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We were assigned to table #106. That meant that in each of the three main dining rooms, we would always be sitting at whatever table was numbered #106. At Enchanted Garden, that meant we had a table for four next to a porthole. It was a pretty sweet view.

When we were seated, we were introduced to our wait staff. One of the features of Disney's rotational dining is that your waiters travel with you from restaurant to restaurant. I had read stories of guests forming close relationships with their wait staff and being sad to part with them at the end of the trip. No way was that going to happen with me, I thought. I'm a good tipper, but I'm not looking to make friends with the waiters.

Nigel was our assistant waiter. We met him first as he got our drinks. He remembered our preferences and had them waiting at our table when we arrived every night after that. Kara's drinks always had a lid and a straw to prevent spills. We never asked for that but I thought it was a thoughtful precaution.

Our main waiter was Georgi. Georgi was from Bulgaria. He spoke with an accent and I have to admit I probably missed about one out of every three words. Before we ordered, Georgi always gave us his thoughts on the menu. Enchanted Garden, he said, was one of the better ones. He offered recommendations of what was good and what we should avoid. For the most part, I went ahead and took his suggestions and I never regretted it.

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For appetizers, Georgi recommended the lobster ravioli. It was served in a light tomato broth. It was good enough that I could have eaten a full order of the pasta as my main course. But the two ravioli I was served made for a nice appetizer. I believe Mindy and the kids all had salads.

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Mindy and I both followed Georgi's recommendation for the entree. It was a grilled New York strip steak with a double baked potato. The steak was good. How could it not be. It was drowning in butter! The butter sauce was optional but when Nigel offered I couldn't say "no". He definitely hooked me up on the butter. The potato was okay. The top part was light and creamy. But the bottom was just a dense baked potato.

The kids had mac and cheese with french fries. They ate the same meal almost every night. When Nigel would give them ketchup for their fries, he would apply it to their plate in the shape of Mickey ears.

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For dessert, I ordered a sticky bread pudding. It was soaked in a butterscotch caramel sauce and served with vanilla ice cream.

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Mindy ordered the esterhazy cake which is layers of almond cake soaked in maraschino liqueur and pastry cream. I would compare it to a Napoleon. We sampled each others desserts and each preferred the ones we had selected.

Georgi brought the girls Mickey ice cream bars. They are just like the ones served at the theme parks but they are covered in colorful Mickey Mouse sprinkles. On subsequent dinners, the girls were offered a choice of desserts but they almost always went for the Mickey bars.

Each of our dinners ended with Georgi giving us a rundown of tomorrow's activities. He would tell us where we were docking, what the weather was like, where dinner would be and basically just share his opinions on all of our options. It wasn't always easy understanding the whole presentation and he really wasn't telling me anything I didn't already know, but I appreciated the effort.

Next: The Golden Mickeys

 

[FlaggNL]

A more than great report! Love all the cruise pics and stories! Maybe someday in the future a cruise is something for us

 

[lebeau]

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After dinner, we had some time before our first stage show. Tonight, it would be The Golden Mickeys. We headed back to the room to change back into our comfy clothes.

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Along the way, I snapped a few pictures of the ship. There are beautiful details everywhere you look. But since this is a Disney ship, you can also expect lots of Disney touches. Disney characters are integrated into the decorations, but not in cartoonish ways. The Disney flourishes are more elegant than childish, but finding Goofy in the stair rail will still delight children and Disney fans.

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When we got back to our room, there were lots of surprises waiting for us. First of all, our fish extenders were full. What's a fish extender you ask? It's kind of like a Secret Santa program on Disney cruises. The entire thing is organized by fans on forums or Facebook. In our case, Pam put together a fish extender group among those who were traveling with Kingdom Konsultants. We were one of seven families participating.

Before we left, I put together the wall-hanger pictured above. It was really simple. I bought a $20 pack of canvas bags at Michael's, glued them together and ironed-on decorations. As fish extenders go, ours was really simplistic. As you walk around the boat, you will see some very elaborate decorations on some of the cabin doors.

I really have to hand it to the families we received gifts from. They went all out. We came back with an entire carry-on full of fish extender gifts. We're still sorting through them all. On the first night, the girls each received a pail and shovel with their initial printed inside Mickey ears. Gifts ranged from snacks to mementos. Someone gave us a handmade travel planner. Most everything was personalized with our names and/or favorite character.

Let me fess up that the fish extender gifts I prepared were nowhere near that elaborate. As a first timer, I didn't realize how high the bar was going to be set. So my apologies to the other families in our little group. If we do this again, I'm going to have to up my game in terms of fish extender gifts. Meaning, I'm going to have to shop around on Etsy basically because I don't have a craftsy bone in my body.

Every day, Josie and I would roam the boat delivering our fish extender gifts. It was a fun way to see the ship. Josie especially enjoyed sneaking around and trying not to be caught delivering gifts. More than once, someone opened their door while we were filling pockets with stuff. Once we narrowly avoided detection. The six other families were scattered all over the boat. The first night, it took us nearly an hour to find them all. By the final fish extender run, we hit them all in under 15 minutes.

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Housekeeping had come while we were at dinner. They left us some towel animals and pulled down the bunk bed.

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Since we were a family of four, we didn't really need the bunk beds, but Kara was very excited about sleeping on the top bunk once she saw it.

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Part of the appeal of the top bunk was that it had a starfield printed over it. Within the constellations are outlines of the characters from Peter Pan flying off to Neverland.

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By the time Josie and I had returned from our first fish extender gift run of the trip, it was time to head to the Walt Disney Theater for The Golden Mickeys.

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I had been advised to arrive to the show early for a decent seat. We got to the theater about 15 minutes before show time which landed us under the balcony. We had a decent view of the stage, but we were excluded from some of the in-theater effects like bubbles and confetti. Not a big deal, but if you want a primo seat you should consider arriving for the show shortly after it begins seating which is a half hour before showtime. If we had arrived much later, it would have been difficult to find four seats together.

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Before the show starts, the ship's cruise director comes out and does a presentation. It's equal parts stand-up comedy and information about the cruise. Cruise director Mike reiterated a lot of the same basic information that had already been covered by the concierge desk, the Navigator, the Sail Away Party and our waiter, but I understand the need to disseminate this information to all guests on the first day. It did make me wonder a little why I did so much research. Did people really spend thousands of dollars on a cruise and not know the ship offered a kids program or night clubs?

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Disney likes to refer to the onboards shows as "Broadway calibre" which is true in terms of the production values. There are some really neat effects in all of the shows. The actual content of the shows is less deserving of Broadway. Each show is essentially a loose framework holding together a series of Disney songs. In The Golden Mickeys, a lowly stagehand is called upon to host a swanky awards show, but she doesn't believe she is up for the challenge.

The show includes video taped segments featuring Disney notables like voice of Buzz Lightyear, Tim Allen. Disney CEO Bob Iger plays a key role in the show encouraging the stagehand to give it her best shot and never give up. I kept waiting for him to break character and starts slashing the show's budget. "What could we save if we lost the lighting effects?" But Uncle Bob invokes the name of company founder Walt Disney and inspires the frumpy stagehand to put on a Belle-like dress for the final number which is presented as a life-changing event.

The show included songs from some of Disney's less memorable animated features of the 90's like The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Tarzan and Pocahontas. The Tarzan sequence in particular was exciting as the Ape Man swing around the stage on vines. Toy Story, Snow White, Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmations and Tangled were also represented.

Next: Our first night on the Disney Dream

 

[lebeau]

A more than great report! Love all the cruise pics and stories! Maybe someday in the future a cruise is something for us

I would recommend a Disney cruise to any Disney fan. Even if it means skipping a trip to Walt Disney World or three. I can't compare a Disney cruise to other cruise lines, but I can say that it is a superior product to what is currently being offered in the parks. We can't wait to do it again.

 

[Figgy1]

I would recommend a Disney cruise to any Disney fan. Even if it means skipping a trip to Walt Disney World or three. I can't compare a Disney cruise to other cruise lines, but I can say that it is a superior product to what is currently being offered in the parks. We can't wait to do it again.

THNX My dh and I are planning a cruise sans children for our vacation after next year's blow out. Not sure if it is going to be a Disney cruise or not,we'll just have to see what works out. I want Disney but my dh wants something out of NY as it's easy for us to get to.

 

[lebeau]

THNX My dh and I are planning a cruise sans children for our vacation after next year's blow out. Not sure if it is going to be a Disney cruise or not,we'll just have to see what works out. I want Disney but my dh wants something out of NY as it's easy for us to get to.

I know a lot of people who cruise with other cruise lines and they love it. I'm sure you will enjoy yourself either way. Disney is top of the line from what I understand. But there are other cruise lines offering similar products for less. Without the kids, might as well go for the best deal or most convenient port.

 

[lebeau]

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After the show, the girls wanted to go swimming. Kara had been chomping at the bit to get into a hot tub ever since we first boarded the ship. So we suited up and I took the girls to the family pool. The pool was fairly empty and I soon realized why. The water was freezing. It had been filled sometime after the Sail Away Party and it hadn't had a chance to get warm yet. I dipped my feet but that was as far as I was willing to go. I could sit and watch whatever movie was showing on Funnelvision at the time. I think it may have been The Incredibles. The kids played for a while, but soon they were ready to scout out the hot tub.

I asked a cast-member if there was a hot tub that kids could use. He pointed me towards the slide shaped like Mickey Mouse's glove. Next to it was a hot tub just like the one Kara had seen in the adult's section. Since it was dark out, it was a bit hard to spot. But now that it had been pointed out to us, we knew where to go. There is a sign asking guests not to spend more than 15 minutes at a time in the hot tub. I don't know how long we spent there, but I'd wager it was at least twice that long.

I would have liked to have checked out the Aquaduck. It is lit up at night and I imagined the line was short to non-existent at this hour. But since I had both girls by myself, that just wasn't possible. I couldn't leave Kara by herself to ride with Josie. The only way it would have worked out was if Kara would agree to ride with me and Josie would ride by herself. Neither of those things was going to happen so I didn't even bring it up.

Eventually, I dragged the girls back to the room. The sting of being pulled away from the precious hot tub was reduced by the presence of late night soft serve. I lost count of how many cones we grabbed at Eye Scream. We passed it every time we left our stateroom and I think we stopped for a cone about half of those times. You just don't appreciate the pleasures of on demand soft serve ice cream until you've experienced it and had it taken away.

Everyone slept soundly that first night except me. I had been fine the entire first day, but when I laid down on the bed I could really feel the motion of the ocean. It was kind of like being rocked to sleep. Around 3am, I was feeling a bit queasy and it woke me up. I had to hunt the dark stateroom for some motion sickness remedy. Fortunately, I found some without having to wake anyone up. After that, I never had another issue with motion sickness for the rest of the trip.

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The next morning, we woke bright and early as the ship was pulling in to Disney's private island, Castaway Cay. This was the view that greeted me from the verandah.

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Facing the other direction, I could see some of the support buildings on the island. On the left hand side of the picture, you can also see the hot tub from Senses Spa. That meant that people using the hot tub could also see us if we stepped all the way out onto our verandah. Something to be aware of if you are in stateroom 11022. Make sure you're wearing pants.

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Our plan was to beat the crowds to the beach that morning. So for breakfast, we went up one deck to the concierge lounge where they were serving a continental breakfast. They had an assortment of pastries and deli meats. Way more smoked meats and cheeses than I ever considered for breakfast. There was cold cereal, fruit and muesli. It was a bit on the fancy side for the girls although they made due. They had these tiny little donuts covered in Mickey sprinkles that tasted very much like the marshmallows in Lucky Charms.

The primary allure of the concierge lounge in the morning was the coffee machine. The lounge is equipped with a $20,000 German coffee maker that can prepare pretty much anything you could want. Disney resorts are known for serving lousy coffee. From what I had read, that was true on the ship too unless you bought a fancy coffee at one of the cafes. But thanks to this machine, I had a delicious cafe late every morning at no added expense.

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When we had been in the lounge for the initial presentation, it was jam-packed. But this morning, it was mostly empty. Aside from our family, there were two women. A middle-aged woman was sitting at a table in the center of the room sipping at her coffee. And an older woman was collecting a few things to eat. They had struck up a conversation before we arrived, but the woman in the center of the room was doing all of the talking.

I was not involved in the conversation and I was not inclined to eavesdrop. But there was simply no avoiding the woman in the center of the room. She wasn't so much talking to the older woman with whom she was presumably having the conversation so much as announcing to the world that she was a very important person. She was talking about her husband who was not traveling with her. As she did so, she would drop bits of information like the fact that she is a physician, her husband works for BP and is "very important". he "has been all over the world", restrictions on drilling are killing the American economy and also, her husband is very, very important. Presumably too important to join her for this cruise.

Eventually, the little old lady left the room and no one at our table would make eye contact with the physician who was married to a very important engineer, so things got quiet in the lounge while we finished our breakfast. When we left, no one was full. But no one was hungry either.

Next: Castaway Cay

 

[Figgy1]

I know a lot of people who cruise with other cruise lines and they love it. I'm sure you will enjoy yourself either way. Disney is top of the line from what I understand. But there are other cruise lines offering similar products for less. Without the kids, might as well go for the best deal or most convenient port.

THNX!

 

[TheMouseFan]

THNX My dh and I are planning a cruise sans children for our vacation after next year's blow out. Not sure if it is going to be a Disney cruise or not,we'll just have to see what works out. I want Disney but my dh wants something out of NY as it's easy for us to get to.

Disney has some cruises from NY next year. Not sure when, but might be worth checking out!!

 

[Figgy1]

Disney has some cruises from NY next year. Not sure when, but might be worth checking out!!

THNX we're looking at summer 2017, but I'll keep that in mind!

 

[TheMouseFan]

THNX we're looking at summer 2017, but I'll keep that in mind!

I just went and looked it up. They are fall of next year, but maybe they will have more in 2017!

 

[Figgy1]

I just went and looked it up. They are fall of next year, but maybe they will have more in 2017!

THNX fingers crossed hoping they'll have summer

 

[FlaggNL]

I would recommend a Disney cruise to any Disney fan. Even if it means skipping a trip to Walt Disney World or three. I can't compare a Disney cruise to other cruise lines, but I can say that it is a superior product to what is currently being offered in the parks. We can't wait to do it again.

We still have a lot to see in WDW! So meybe in the future a cruise is something for us. To be honest it feels like its not our thing. the fact that you can't 100% go wherever you want is something that bothers us a little. You have to stay on the ship.... off course you can get off at some times, but well... guess you know what I mean

 

[lebeau]

We still have a lot to see in WDW! So meybe in the future a cruise is something for us. To be honest it feels like its not our thing. the fact that you can't 100% go wherever you want is something that bothers us a little. You have to stay on the ship.... off course you can get off at some times, but well... guess you know what I mean

Yes, I know exactly what you mean. With Mindy's claustrophobia, that was a concern for us as well. I definitely don't discount that. A year ago, if you had asked me, I'd have told you we weren't "cruise people". Mindy was worried about the size of the room, getting sea sick and feeling stranded at sea. I was worried I'd be bored. But none of those things turned out to be an issue at all. The ship is so big and there's so much to see and do, we never felt trapped on it at all. And on our specific itinerary, we were at a port every single day. So from 8 am till 5 pm (approximately) we were free to come and go as we pleased. But yes, obviously there are restrictions and safety concerns that must be taken into consideration any time you take a cruise.

We have kind of run out of things to see in WDW. There's old favorites I wouldn't mind revisiting. But when I think about the lines, the crowds, the bus service, not to mention the cost, it just all seems like a lot more trouble than it's worth. On the ship, once we got on board that was that. None of the hassles of a day at WDW were present. Sure, there's no rides. But we didn't miss them. I may feel differently if we take several more cruises. I'll be the first to admit the cruise line has a "newness" factor that the parks don't have for us. But the service we received on the ship was a million times better than what you'll find at WDW and it's a much less stressful and more relaxing experience.

Keep it in mind as a "someday" thing. I bet if you try it some time down the line, you'll be glad you did. We were.

 

[lebeau]

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Minutes later, we were out on the beach. Since Disney owns the island, they are able to dock right up to the beach. It was a short walk or an even shorter tram ride to get to the family beach. I have read that sometimes the family beaches can be crowded. But at this time of day, we had the place all to ourselves. We plopped down our stuff on a pair of beach chairs situated under an umbrella and we were all set.

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This was the girls' first time in the ocean ever. The water was crystal blue and smooth as glass.

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They spent most of their time trying to catch tiny little fish in their buckets or hunting for shells. The shells that were near the water were exceptionally small, but there were larger ones higher on the beach where the chairs and umbrellas were. Eventually, they would shift their shell searching efforts up to the dry sand.

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A little further down the beach, there is a play area. The structure is in the water and there are things for kids to climb on. For our first day on Castaway Cay, we didn't explore much. We stayed close to where we had planted our stuff. Mindy and I took turns with whichever girl wanted to go into the water at any given time. There was a lot of back and forth between hunting the beach for shells and playing in the clear blue water.

One game I remember the girls particularly enjoyed was playing "school" with me. Ever since she was in daycare, Josie has enjoyed playing teacher. She likes the feeling of being an authority figure, I guess. I had to convince her to also let Kara be a teacher as well. That left me to be the student. The teachers were trying to enlighten me on the subject of sand. Yes, sand. Josie kept trying to tell me the difference between wet sand and dry sand. It's more interesting than some lectures I have heard.

The instruction never really got very far because I decided to play dumb. I mean, really dumb. Whatever I was instructed to do, I did the opposite. I got every question wrong. As wrong as I possibly could. When the girls asked me to follow them, I started wandering aimlessly in the other direction. For whatever reason, this absolutely cracked the girls up.

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We spent the entire morning on the beach. Gradually, it got busier but I would never call it crowded. From what I could see, chairs and umbrellas remained available to anyone who wanted them. Hammocks were another matter. I would definitely recommend getting to the beach at Castaway Cay early. It's nice having it to yourself. But if you sleep in, it's not the worst thing in the world. We never saw it reach the point of being uncomfortable.

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We decided to return to the ship for lunch. I had read pretty mixed things about the barbecue fare served on the island. We had another stop at Castaway Cay during which to explore more of the island. So we thought we'd check out Aquaduck while the ship was empty and have lunch at Cabanas.

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For added thrills, the Aquaduck has a loop that extends over the side of the ship. On the way back, I snapped this picture of the overhanging loop. Soon, I would be rushing through that. To be honest, it all goes by so fast that even though the tubing is clear, I wasn't paying enough attention to know whether or not we were extended over the side of the boat. But it makes for a neat visual.

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While we were still in our bathing suits, we decided to hit the pools. Josie and I wanted to try out the Aquaduck "water coaster". The Aquaduck is a water slide that runs the length of the ship. There are lighting effects at the supports, the aforementioned loop that extends over the ship's edge and a couple of hills and dips. Yes, hills. The water pressure of Aquaduck actually pushes the rider up a hill. Here's a POV video:

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Aquaduck turned out to be a really fun and moderately thrilling ride. Josie loved it and wanted to ride again. When Kara and Mindy saw Josie's enthusiastic reaction, they decided to give it a true too. So all four of us went up for another ride. Kara and Mindy went first. As soon as their tube moves, Kara started squealing with delight. Sure enough, we had to do it again. Fortunately, since most of the passengers were on the island, we didn't have to wait at all in between rides. We just had to climb a few flights of stairs and get back into the tube. For the third ride-through, Josie rode with Mindy and I rode with Kara. Once again, she screamed throughout. But they were fun screams.

I don't remember how many times we rode the waterslide, but eventually hunger won out and we decided to grab a little lunch.

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When we got back to our stateroom, we found a surprise left for us by the concierge team. It was a little plate of cookies. Half were oatmeal raisin and the other half chocolate chip. To be completely honest, the cookies themselves were just okay. They didn't hold a candle to Mindy's cookies. I'm pretty sure they were the same cookies we could have ordered for ourselves using free room service. But it was a nice gesture all the same.

The cookies didn't go to waste. I tried one of each and I think Josie ate the rest. We would get another delivery of cookies from the concierge team later in the trip and I'm pretty sure Josie ate that plate solo.

Next: The Midship Detective Agency[/embed]

 

[lebeau]

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We got changed out of our swim clothes and headed to Cabanas for lunch. We had a lot of food options on the cruise. Frankly, the food was better at a lot of the other locations. In terms of quality, it was hard to beat the concierge lounge. But the snacks there were a bit sophisticated for children's palates and they were really snacks as opposed to a full meal. For breakfast and lunch, Cabanas always had something for everyone. Especially the kids who could not get enough of the mac and cheese, chicken tenders and french fries. They ate some veggies too and occasionally would try something new.

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Cabanas has a Finding Nemo theme. There's a lot of Nemo on the Dream. There's a kids water play area, a room in the Oceanographer's club, Cabanas and the Animator's Palate. I can't think of another Disney movie that is so well-represented on the ship. It makes sense that a movie that takes place in the ocean would have a presence on a cruise ship. But Nemo really is all over the place.

After we had filled up at the buffet, Josie and I went on our daily fish extender run. We got through it just a little bit faster than we did the day before. And since the ship was empty, we didn't get caught by anyone this time. Our last two rooms were on the fifth floor which is where the Midship Detective Agency is located. So we decided to sign up for a game.

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Here's how the game works. You are given a card and a map of the ship. The map has the location of certain "paintings" which serve as game locations. The paintings are actually video screens which start to move if a guest approaches them. Whether you are playing the game or not, it can be fun just to activate the moving pictures by moving towards them.

The game is basically an interactive scavenger hunt. In the game we played, a Disney villain had stolen painting from the ship and we had to search for clues. Using the clues, we could eliminate certain suspects. For example, when we found a finger print from the thief's left hand we could eliminate Captain Hook because his left hand is missing.

To play the game, you go all over the ship to the marked locations indicating interactive paintings. You activate the game by holding your card up in front of you. You then use the card to do something simple and you are rewarded with a clue. Once you have found all the clues and correctly guessed the identity of the villain, you win the game.

Josie and I did a couple of floors on our own. Then we decided to go back to the stateroom to check in. When we got there, Mindy decided she wanted to go shopping. Unfortunately, the shops on the boat were closed in the afternoon. So instead, we all played the Midship Detective Agency.

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Josie and Kara alternated who held the card at each station. I trailed behind snapping pictures of some of the artwork on the ship. There is just so much to take in.

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Kara took a break from the game long enough to sit in a throne. I think you'll agree it suits her.

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And they both agreed to pose for me by the Donald Duck statue in the center of the lobby.

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Above us hung the massive chandelier that had made such an impression as we boarded the ship.

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At the top of the stairwell is this landing. This is area is commonly used for character meet and greets. This is where our near-miss with Pluto happened the day before.

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The gold plating includes images of Disney characters enjoying vacation activities.

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Our scavenger hunt took us into the Vista Gallery which sells all kinds of fantastic Disney art. In the lower-left-hand corner is Jessica Rabbit who of course was voiced by WTHH subject Kathleen Turner.

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I didn't check price tags. I'm sure I would have gotten sticker shock if I had. In one of the fancier shops, Josie found a jeweled Minnie Mouse that cost more than the cruise!

Next: Solving the case

 

[lebeau]

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While I was actively avoiding sticker shock, the girls were solving a mystery. As you can see, they were very engrossed in the game.

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All the artwork is Disney-related, but there is a wide variety of styles. Abstract Mickey Mouse anyone?

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These princess paintings have an appropriately romantic quality about them.

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To get this clue, Josie had to use her card to squeegee the picture.

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Since Josie and I had done a couple of fish extender runs by this point, we were more familiar with the ship than Mindy or Kara. They really hadn't had a chance to take in the decorations on other people's stateroom doors or the wide variety of artwork all over the ship. This was a great way for them to get to explore along with us.

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The game took us near the Walt Disney Theater. Not surprisingly, the area is filled with images of the company's founder. Walt himself was very fond of cruises and took them frequently.

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Here's a view of the lobby from the fifth floor. It's pretty empty now but in a few hours it would be very busy. Two of the main dining rooms are right off of this area. Down by the piano, there are live musical performances. And of course there are also meet and greets around dinner time.

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In order to play the game, you had to hold the card perfectly vertically. Sometimes, Kara needed a little help with that.

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The stairwells are lined with actual Disney artwork. The ship is like a floating Disney museum. Here is the final design of Geppetto's work bench from Pinocchio.

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The carpet has these nautical globe designs. If you know what to look for, they can be helpful in navigating the ship. If you stand so that the globe is facing right-side-up, north will be forward and south will be aft. I never did learn port and starboard but it will tell you that too. The nautical flags supposedly spell out the name of the ship so they would look different on board the Fantasy.

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Here are some designs for King Louie from The Jungle Book.

We hadn't really planned to solve the mystery all at once. My original idea was that Josie and I would play a couple rounds every day while dropping off fish extender gifts. But eventually, we were so close there was no point in not finishing. There was a second game Josie and I could register for if we wanted to play some more.

When the game ended, we correctly identified the villain and were rewarded with a congratulatory message on the screen. Mindy found it anticlimactic. I'm not sure what she was expecting but apparently she thought actual prizes were involved.

Next: Dinner at the Royal Palace

 

[FlaggNL]

Yes, I know exactly what you mean. With Mindy's claustrophobia, that was a concern for us as well. I definitely don't discount that. A year ago, if you had asked me, I'd have told you we weren't "cruise people". Mindy was worried about the size of the room, getting sea sick and feeling stranded at sea. I was worried I'd be bored. But none of those things turned out to be an issue at all. The ship is so big and there's so much to see and do, we never felt trapped on it at all. And on our specific itinerary, we were at a port every single day. So from 8 am till 5 pm (approximately) we were free to come and go as we pleased. But yes, obviously there are restrictions and safety concerns that must be taken into consideration any time you take a cruise. We have kind of run out of things to see in WDW. There's old favorites I wouldn't mind revisiting. But when I think about the lines, the crowds, the bus service, not to mention the cost, it just all seems like a lot more trouble than it's worth. On the ship, once we got on board that was that. None of the hassles of a day at WDW were present. Sure, there's no rides. But we didn't miss them. I may feel differently if we take several more cruises. I'll be the first to admit the cruise line has a "newness" factor that the parks don't have for us. But the service we received on the ship was a million times better than what you'll find at WDW and it's a much less stressful and more relaxing experience. Keep it in mind as a "someday" thing. I bet if you try it some time down the line, you'll be glad you did. We were.

You describe it just the way we feel! And I think I can imagine what you meant by the less stressfull and more relaxing experience. But for us Europeans WDW is so great! We have been to DLP for years and mostly a couple of times a year. I was in WDW when I was 18, but that was so long ago. We consider last October as our maiden trip. There is so much we haven't seen in WDW and its resorts. This year will be the first time we stay on side, last year was in a villa. In 2016 we also stay on the resort. But I think even after the two trips we have in future will bring us everything. We also wanna do a SW weekend someday, and maybe to California someday. So we'll see. Somewhere in time we will do a Disney Cruise

Updates are as great as always! Thanks for the share!