Welcome to my newest Trip Report. For those who don’t know me, I am Jen.
That’s my Daughter Claire with me.
We just got back from an amazing vacation with several family members.
We traveled Nov. 1st thru the 15th, 2012. We rested our headed at 6 different places on this trip, and though it wasn’t always easy to keep moving from place to place, I am happy to have tried some new resorts out and stayed at some familiar ones as well.
This trip came about over a year ago. My Mom’s cousin Vicki wanted to take a trip with her and my Aunt Mary. Her Daughter Katie also wanted to come along.
After some talking and planning it became a group of 16 traveling. I was elected ring leader since I have quite a bit of Disney experience.
Plans were made, some were changed, and some were a little slower at making decisions than others.
My husband Skip is what is known in the Disney groups as a resistor and he decided NOT to come along. He was not so happy about the amount of time I was going to be gone.
The dates for the cruise were set first, Nov 4 through the 8th on the Disney Dream. We all planned to arrive a day early and stay at the Residence Inn near the port. Soon I decided that I must add a few Disney days, and so did everyone else eventually. I thin decide…heck lets add some more, and Claire and I ended up staying 3 more days after the rest left.
Then after doing some research and with a heads up from my good Dis-friend Carey, I was alerted to the fact that the last Halloween party was on Nov. 2nd. How could I pass that chance up? So Claire and I decided to fly in a day earlier than everyone else to hit that party. Claire and I also decided to fly out of Columbus. My family lives near the Toledo, OH area, and the best direct flights are out of Detroit. My youngest sister, who was not going on the cruise, lives in Columbus, and I was able to get a decent priced direct flight from there, so Claire and I drove down Nov. 1 and spent the night before our early flight.
Plans were finally all set in stone and we just had to wait for our time to arrive. Not an easy task, but we all managed.
Let me introduce you to the crew. This is a picture of a picture. My sister has the CD with the actual digital copy, but hasn’t yet loaded it to the computer, so I had to go with this for now till I can get a copy.
In the back row, left to right, we have my parents, Joe and Paula, next to them is my Uncle Geoff. Next to Geoff is cousin Vicki and her son in law Thad. Next to Thad is Pete, Vicki’s husband and then me. Aunt Mary is on the end, she is married to Uncle Geoff and my Mother’s sister.
Down towards the front, left to right, is my nieces Alexis and Abby with their parents Rob and Gail. Gail is my sister. Front and center is Claire. Behind Claire are Jude, and Katie. Katie is married to Thad and is Pete and Vicki’s Daughter. And then we have baby Luke in the stroller. He is only about 9 months old and what a cutie he is.
This trip had the usual ups and downs that most every family will have, but I have to admit things went much smoother than I planned. We never felt the need to kill each other for the most part. LOL
We had several cruise newbies and several Disney World newbies as well.
Please join me in reliving a very magical trip with all the places we traveled and all the people we met along the way!
We were heading to Cabanas after finally getting to the aft of the ship, ….even though all did not agree with this move, …..and up to Cabanas. We did not see the rest of the family at all and I just chose a couple of tables out on the back deck. I took a few pictures just like Geoff’s!
I took Claire and Alexis to get some food and then sat them down at the table. Soon Gail and Rob had found us. They said they waited at the elevator for a short time, but knew we would find our way and left.
We took turns going to get food and sat down for a feast.
YUM!
I did make more than one trip. At some point Rob showed up with a tropical drink in his hand. He told Gail he bought it for her, but he had done a pretty good job at drinking himself. LOL
I took a few more pictures off the back of the ship.
Someone had finally found the rest of the family inside eating. We were now going to head to our staterooms as it was just about time. We headed down, but actually had to wait a couple of minutes for them to drop the ropes. Actually the other side got dropped but our side was still up for a minute longer. I almost panicked that they had forgotten us!
We entered our room and soon saw our Castaway Club Member gift!
But wait! There is also something else on my bed as well.
It was from Gail! It contained a frame, a flash drive and a picture album. It was so nice of her! She said it was a thank you for arranging all the details of the trip.
Our room connected to Mom and Dads and we opened the doors and checked their room out as well. Pretty much identical to ours only facing the other way. Mom and Dad also got a gift from Gail. I can’t remember what it was though. I know part of it was onboard credit. We found out Mary and Geoff also got a gift, including champagne, from Gail too. Mom and Aunt Mary had inherited some money after their Uncle had died and they paid a big portion of our cruise with that.
Our bags were already in our room, all except Moms. Last time we cruise, Mom’s bag was the last to make, so I reassured her it was still on its way. She mentioned that she wondered if it had been delayed because she packed an iron! WHAT!!!!!!! She knew irons were not allowed. I had told her the time before and we used the laundry room to iron when needed. I had also told Geoff and Mary this as well because Geoff likes everything perfect and wanted to bring one. I told him it was a big no-no, and he asked about a steamer and I told him that was frowned upon as well. Well Mom said her and Geoff decided they were going to each bring one anyways. UGH!
We got Claire’s swimsuit out and I took a few pictures from our balcony.
I would love to try a Royal Caribbean cruise out some day too.
I don’t think I mentioned this before but I have become a verandah snob. LOL! Once you sail with one, it is so addicting. The view is amazing and just sitting there and relaxing is wonderful. When I had met with Rinky earlier this day she had told me that they had a verandah this time, while last time they had an inside room. She said I was so right about the verandahs. She doesn’t know how she could ever go back to an inside room!
After we had our suits on, we headed down to Gail and Robs room.
Rob, Alexis, Claire and I were on a mission to go on the Aqua Duck.
Their room was connected to Aunt Mary and Geoffs, so we headed in through the connecting door. We didn’t want Abby to see what we were doing.
Geoff and Mary and Gail and Rob, Katie and Thad, and Vicki and Pete were a bit down the hall from us and had bigger rooms. I was kind of jealous. It wasn’t a lot more room, but still it was nice.
Mary and Geoff’s room had a murphy bed in it, but it was never needed or used.
We snuck out of the room and headed up through Cabanas.
We found a lounger and set our stuff down and headed to the Aqua Duck. The line was about 20 minutes, not too bad. The girls were measured and they got a wrist band saying that they could only ride with an adult. Rob and Alexis went first and then it was our turn! It was super fun once again. The cold water does go up your back, but it still is really a fun thing to do. I just wish there was a graceful way to get off the thing. I am sure if you videoed me getting off my raft, it would be a winner on Americas Funniest Home Videos. HA!
We then hopped in the pool a bit. It was packed. Pure people soup! The girls were bummed that they couldn’t actually swim, but I told them cruise pools just aren’t made for real swimming. The girls decided then to go on the slide.
I went up to the top deck and watched.
Rob went off to find something to drink. I had to laugh a little later when I saw him carrying a bucket of beer. I had thought he meant he was getting something from the drink station like I had. I sat up top and kind of watched the girls from there.
Rob handed me a beer. I took it, but I couldn’t get it opened.
I had to get a cast member to open it for me. I then sat with my feet in the water drinking my beer. Well that’s a no-no! I was soon tapped by a CM and told I had to take my drink away from the pool. No problem.
While standing off to the side I took a quick shot of the area and Aqua Duck.
I turned around and look who I found! Vicki, Mom and Geoff starting off the cruise with special drink.
The girls wanted a snack at this point and ice-cream was calling to them. I took them to get a cone and they were happy. Gail is a little strict with the amount of junk that the girls have, so you have to sneak it in when you can. LOL! Actually Gail let them eat quite a bit on this trip, much to Alexis’ delight!
Before you knew it, it was time to head to our muster stations. I guess I took this on the way. LOL!!
I think we made a stop in the room first and then off to the muster drill. This was the first Disney cruise where I had an outside muster station. It was pretty warm out there and they really cram us together. I kept a look out for my parents, but never saw them. I would’ve assumed we had the same spot since we had connecting rooms, but they must’ve been further down or something, because I did not see them at all. I know I asked if they went, and they did, but I don’t remember where they said they were. I got to talking a guy and his wife standing next to us. They were part of the pod cast group onboard. They were fun to talk to and the guy was very passionate about Disney. My kind of person! I think this was their 5th cruise, if I remember right. I love finding people who are geeked up about Disney like I am. After we went through the drill and directions we were released and it was a mad house. They had us using crew stairs as well as the public ones. Claire and I made our way up to the top of the ship to find a spot to watch the sail away show. This was exciting. Last time we sailed the Dream, our embarkation day was rainy …I mean pouring buckets rain, and our sail away party was in the atrium. We now were going to get to see it outdoors on the Dream for the first time!
We found a spot up top. I was amazed at how busy the top area was already and people were squeezing right in. I kept my eye out for family members, but never did see any of them during the whole party. As we stood there waiting for the party, I thought how different this day was compared to the day I boarded the Magic. On that day I had toured so much of the ship in the few hours before we sailed away. Today I ate and hung at the pool! LOL Both were fun though.
We stood on the lookout for family members, but never saw any.
This is a picture from that time period that Geoff took of Alexis and Abby. This was taken after the muster drill I believe.
From what I gathered later on, Gail’s family did come up on deck to watch the sail away, but Geoff, Mary, Pete, Vicki, Mom and Dad all headed towards Geoff and Mary’s room and drank some champagne. I am not sure what Katie’s family did.
Anyways, Geoff took a few atrium pictures on his way to back to the room.
Claire and I on the other hand were waiting on a PARTY!
I didn’t even think about it earlier, but I should’ve changed lenses on my camera. I had a shorter one on and the rest were back in the room. Oh well, I did the best I could.
The party has started!!!!
I noticed that the big screen must be on a delay because they it is slightly off one what the dancers on stage were doing.
It was a fun party and we were ready to cruise!! Our vacation was officially underway.
Claire and I then moved over to the side to watch us pull out.
In the words of Bugs Bunny ….Bon Voyageeeee! And with a blare of the Disney horn it makes it all the more exciting.
After waving to everyone, we decided to head down to our room and wave from our balcony. Also with early dinner, we needed to already start getting ready. I never did find Gail and her family but she said she did see us walking down the stairs as we were heading to our room.
As we walked through Cabanas I made a quick stop for the mural …and then as I am clicking the picture I got a little photobomber!
Meanwhile …while Claire and I were boogying our booties off up top, the “older” crowd were taking it easy in their rooms.
Geoff played with some settings on his camera and got some neat sun pictures.
Claire and I made it back to our room and we took some pictures from the balcony. Evidently Geoff and I have the same likes, because many of our pictures are very similar.
Before we knew it, it was time to get ready for dinner. I will tell up right now, I do NOT like early dinner. I much prefer to go to the show first and then eat. We often eat late at home too, so I am used to eating later. Another disadvantage with early dinner is that they do not offer dine and play. If that had been offered for this meal, I think I wouldn’t have minded it so much. But our kids got a little jumpy before we all finished. They brought the kids food out fast and then they were bored waiting on us. Some nights, some got a little more feisty than other nights.
So Claire and I made our way to the dining room. We had the same rotation as we did last cruise. Our first night was Enchanted Garden, which I think is such a pretty restaurant.
They had the table set up, but they had all the kids at one end. This doesn’t work well for our family, and probably most others. Kids like to be by each other, but we do need an adult in the mix to help them out. And in the case of little ones like Abby and Jude, you just have to have an adult near them.
I took these before I sat down.
Soon the family all arrived and we settled into our spots and looked over the menu. Rolls were brought out right away.
Benjamin was our server and Rasheeta was our assistant. Of the 3 DCL cruises I have taken, they were my least favorite servers. They weren’t horrid, just not as good. And Rasheeta was SLOW. She was REALLY nice, but she was not very fast with anything. She seemed to take a liking to me right away and I felt bad because she was just so nice, but service wise, this did not seem to be her calling.
Our Menu for this evening.
Cheers Geoff!
We made our orders and soon the appetizers arrived. It was funny, because Pete was just impressed that you could order more than one thing if you wanted to. Rob was all for this as well. I took several pictures of the foods brought out tonight. As the cruise went on, I usually only took mostly my food, and sometimes another picture of something else here and there.
I had the North Atlantic Lobster Ravioli with roasted garlic and sweet basil in a light tomato broth.
I have no clue what this is, but I think Pete ordered it.
I believe this is mine and I think it’s the Thyme and Garlic Brioche filled with chanterelle, hedgehog and black trumpet mushrooms and leek stew in a light buttermilk cream.
I am not sure who ordered this, probably Pete, as he sat across from me and let me take pictures of his food.
Romaine Wedge; Fresh crisp romaine topped with a creamy Romano dressing and homemade spiced croutons.
And these are all from family members around me as well.
The menus online don’t appear to have all the same items, so I am thinking the menu has changed slightly since the last time it was updated online.
The kid’s meals came out right away. This is nice if you have late dining and the kids can leave for the kids clubs after they eat. For early dining, it just makes for a lot of extra time the kids have to wait for the parents to finish up.
Jude was adventurous tonight. Katie asked him what he wanted and he said fish. She said he never eats fish and wasn’t sure if he knew what it even was, but he was insistent that he wanted fish.
I ordered 2 entrees this evening.
First was the Caramelized Sea Scallops with roasted asparagus, sun-dried tomatoes, and pearl pasta, garnished with caramelized leeks and veal jus reduction. I don’t care for the pearl pasta at all, but I like the scallops.
I think both Rob and I had the Grilled NY Strip Steak; Thyme roasted vegetables, double-baked potato topped with handmade herb butter. I took pictures of both. Mine being the one that is rarer.
Dessert time!!!! Most of the kids got Mickey bars!
Katie’s birthday was on Halloween and I had it noted to celebrate it on her reservation. She was totally shocked they knew. They brought out a cake for her and though she seemed happy, I think she was a bit embarrassed too, more because she didn’t know.
Jude was VERY happy with his choice of the Mickey bar.
