Day #4
The day had finally arrived, we would be boarding the Disney Dream! I don't recall exactly how long it took us to drive to the port but I do know the drive was pretty uneventful.
Getting Closer!!
I had gotten the earliest port arrival time, I think it was 10:30. I want to say we were parked before 10:00. There was a small line of people waiting to enter the terminal. I know we did not have to wait very long.
I had put the kids in nice-ish clothes because I didn't know if our bags would arrive before dinner.
After we went through security we entered the terminal. (I'm not sure it's actually called a terminal but that's the word we are going with.)
There was a very short line for check in and then we just hung out waiting for our number to be called. I think we were boarding group #5. We decided to get in line for the kid's club wrist bands since we were waiting anyway and the line was pretty short. Well, shortly after we got in line the line became huge! I was glad we got in when we did.
It was so fun to be finally doing what I had seen tons of people do in their trip reports! In this pic you can see the kids are already wearing their wristbands.
It seemed before long they were calling our boarding group! Now, of course I wanted to get a super cool pic going through the Mickey ears. I guess I forgot to let my family know.
At least M was on the same page as me, lol!
As you can see M is holding my disney drink holder that I crafted with duct tape and a chick-fil-a drink caddie.
The first thing we did after boarding was go reserve tickets for the princess and frozen meet & greets. I am so glad that you can now reserve these online.
Then we headed to lunch. I had read that to avoid crowds you should go to the dining room instead of cabana's. Now, that is probably true, the Enchanted Garden was pretty empty and we had a nice relaxed lunch. I kind of suspect though that Cabana's would not have been too bad since we got on the ship so early.
I had packed our swimsuits so next we headed straight for the pool area. We wanted to get on that Aquaduck! Next cruise I would wear our suits under because it was a little crowded trying to change in the restrooms.
So I found a chair and we got right on the Aquaduck. After I had rode it once I was content to just sit in the sun and soak in my surroundings.
Now this next story I am going to relate to you is one of the very few negative experiences I had on this cruise. I was sitting, like I said, enjoying the sun when a young, handsome server approached me to see if I would like a drink. Now, I am not a big drinker but I definitely enjoy a tropical drink when I am on a cruise. So, I ordered a pina colada I think. Now, somewhere in the conversation the server knew how old I was and that I said I had 3 kids. I don't know how this came up but he was going on and on about how I looked so young etc. etc. Of course I was soaking it up.. who wouldn't?? When he returned with the receipt, I signed it. I am not sure exacty how much it said, but I know it said what I expected- maybe $8.00?? So, after I finish my drink, I am now walking around with this plastic cup. I didn't want to be a slob and just leave it sitting around so I asked a CM where I could put it. Well..she informs me that what I have is a souvenir cup and need to keep it because I can get drinks half price now for the rest of the cruise. I was very surprised because #1 my waiter friend never gave me the option of a souvenir cup and #2 I almost just set it down! I didn't mind having the souvenir cup but it would have been nice to know! I'll leave you with that...This is not the last time you will hear about the cup....