Mother-Daughter Memories Aboard the Dream (3/13-17/17) *New* 6/24

TinkerbellLuvr7

Tinkerbellluvr7
Joined
Feb 11, 2007
Mother-Daughter Memories Aboard the Dream
(March 13-17, 2017)

Hello everyone! I can't believe it's been almost 2 weeks since we set sail on the Dream and I've been thinking about it since I got off!

Welcome... as I relive my amazing trip with my mom and the memories we've made!




 
Trip Details:

*Welcome again! I hope you enjoy our look back through a wonderful trip with exciting memories, new experiences, and some tears too!*

Characters:
Megan (me): 32 year old teacher who lives in the Orlando area and works at Disney seasonally. This was my 3rd cruise...all have been on Disney and all have been on the Dream.



Chris (mom): Lives in the Pittsburgh, PA area and is a WDW AP holder. This was her 2nd cruise..all have been on Disney and all have been on the Dream too!


Pre Cruise (3/12): 1 Night at Coronado Springs Resort (Standard View)

Cruise Details:

~ Parked in the parking garage at P.C.
~ Category 7A, stateroom 9512
~ Dining Rotation Requested...EAAR
~ Dining Rotation Given: ERRA
~ Palo Brunch at 10:00am
~ No Excursions

~ Frozen Meet and Greet 9:45am (Day 2)
~ Participated in a FE group for the first time


Post Cruise (3-17): Home to my apartment :sad2:
 
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Preparing Fish Extender Gifts

After much debate, Mom and I decided to participate in our first ever Fish Extender (FE) group. The organizer said there was enough mother-daughter and adults only so we were a part of an adults only group made up of mostly mother-daughter pairings.

I ordered our FE from Susan who owns The Busy Thimble on FB
(not sure if I'm allowed to mention that on here?)
Anyways..she did an amazing job. I got in contact with her around Christmas time, ordered the first of January and it arrived in a week. I decided not to have names added in case I use it again and mom isn't with me. Later, you'll see how we attached names!





I am NOT crafty at all so at first I had a difficult time trying to decide what to do. In the end, I decided on the following...

Dads + Grandpas
(Movie Candy, Star Wars Coozie, and Gum)





Moms + Grandmas:
(WDW Princess notepad, Pen, Tissues)



Daughters + Girls in their 20s:
(Towel Clips, Homemade Hair Ties, and
Blistex Lip Balm)




I also wanted to give a stateroom gift that incorporated Salt Water Taffy since I live in FL but I was worried to pre-package the bags before the cruise so I packaged them while we waited for our luggage to arrive and added in a cute BBW hand sanitizer that I came across a few days before we left...




 
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Pre-Cruise + Travel Woes!
(sorry, not pic heavy this post!)

Finally the day(s) have arrived to the Pre-Cruise! Technically vacation began when I was finished teaching at noon on 3/10. I had a great weekend planned in prep for the cruise! Friday included relaxing/packing , Saturday included getting my nails done, relaxing/packing, and Sunday was the check-in day at CSR!

Saturday: 3/11

My nail appt was set for 9:30am. I arrived on time with a tea from Starbucks (travel nerves were beginning to set in!) I thought the mani-pedi would be relaxing!




My nail tech insisted that I have "hidden Mickey's" since it was a Disney Cruise! They turned out very cute! Did you see them??!!

After the mani-pedi, I decided to distract myself and go to the pool with my roommate and friend. I knew I was in good shape with packing and laundry so I distracted my upset-nervous tummy with going to the apt. pool! After fun in the sun, we had a cook-out with 'Ohana inspired food (except at home!) The girls cooked and I packed, including tearing the Dreams gift basket apart to pack it..



I finally finished packing and laundry around 11pm and went to bed.

Sunday: 3/12

I woke up bright and early ready to head to the hotel! Mom wouldn't be arriving until 6pm but I planned a relaxing day by the pool at CSR. Thankfully my tummy was starting to feel better and so I loaded my car and off I went. I made a stop at Publix for some last minute items and put gas in the car. At that point, I got a message from one of our FE members and she declared she forgot her FE gifts at home...travel woes!!

Around 10:30am, I arrived at CSR! I checked in, the CM was not very magical. She said she had an open room but I wanted to try for a refurbished model room so I said I would wait. After I left the desk, I bought a bottle of water to test my room charge..which worked!

I then hit the food court for breakfast. It was greasy, yucky, and not worth a picture. I did spot this beauty on the way out...



I parked over near the Casita's buildings and walked over the pool. The weather was less than stellar compared to the 93 degrees we had today! On my way I found some butterfly gardens!







I found a great seat at the pool and got settled in. Nerves began to settle in again as I was sitting and attempting to relax....travel woes!


Long story short, I had been monitoring blood pressure the last few weeks and I knew it was going up and down like crazy. I was also have tummy issues from breakfast which wasn't helping too! After a round in the hot tub and an attempt in the chilly pool, I got a text around 11:35am that my room was ready and it was a new refurbished model!

I walked back to the room with the hopes my magic band would open the room
...it did!


Enjoy the refurbished model!












I instantly fell in love with the new room. There are FINALLY two sinks, TONS OF STORAGE, including under the raised beds, and a huge TV! The fridge had a glass front so you could see inside and the dresser had plenty of drawers. The bed was like sleeping on a cloud! The shower had a double shower head and a built in shelf. The only thing lacking were the upgraded H20 products including shower gel and lotion. Housekeeping did bring my lotion but couldn't find shower gel. Of course our big DCL one that I had bought was packed in the car so I lived with a bar of soap for the night!

After I unpacked a little bit, I decided to go back to the pool. I caught this pretty pic on the way..



For lunch, I got a kids meal since my tummy was still feeling blah from breakfast. I picked at it for a bit then just threw it away. At that point, it had begun raining so I decided to head back to the room, shower, and try to sleep until I needed to leave for the airport. Again my BP was going up and down like a roller coaster. Finally after some tummy medicine that subsided and I tried to rest and watch Stacey until I noticed it was around 2:45pm and mom HAD NOT ARRIVED AT THE AIRPORT FOR HER 4PM FLIGHT YET!...travel woes!!!

In a panic, I called her. She said she hit traffic and would be arriving shortly. Luckily she had TSA pre check, made her flight with plenty of time, and her bags arrived.

Around 5:30pm, I left for the airport. Of course she landed early and I found a lucky close parking spot at MCO. By the time I arrived (from hitting traffic,) she was at baggage, I more or less ran up to her and hugged her so tightly....things happen when you are stressed and you can't see your mom as often as you'd like! There were many tears and I was glad she had arrived and was safe!

We got to the hotel before 7pm, she unloaded some bags, and then we headed to my brother and sister-in-law's house. At 8:15pm we had an ADR at Kona.
I didn't take any pics..sorry! I had the amazing pork chops and pot stickers!

We got back to CSR around 10:30pm. Mom was unpacking some things for the night and we began talking about pop-up hampers. She said she brought hers, went to get it...
AND HER ZIPPER WAS COMPLETELY GONE FROM HER SUITCASE! ..travel woes!!!

I honestly couldn't believe my eyes...gone..We busted into the suitcase then debated if we were going to get one of mine from my apt, buy a new one, or get safety pins and pin it. So at 11pm, we were at Target to get safety pins. The funny thing is mom said those were on the DCL suggesting packing list and it was the only thing she didn't pack! :headache:

We finally got the bag pinned, packed and repacked, my BP was finally going down, my tummy was adjusted to normal again, and went to bed around 1:00a
m.

Before we were even in bed...my phone and I were so happy!




 
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See, you don't have fireworks either. Why'd they take away the fireworks?!?:sad1:

Oh well, I guess the important part is that it says "it's time!"

Guess not??? I didn't even recognize that until you said something! It was such a whirlwind of a day and knowing that I had to drive the hour to PC and navigate the parking lot at Port, I guess I had other things on my mind lol



This is too cute! I think I need this when I cruise!​

Thank you!!! All I said was "white flowers, please" She bling'ed it with the sparkles and insisted on the Mickey's. Those were every so popular with my 6-9 year olds at school when I got back! Sadly my one toe chipped on day 1 on the ship :rolleyes: Mom's only forgotten thing was her safety pins..mine was the bottle of nail polish :upsidedow
 
Port Arrival!
(March 13, 2017)

*Happy Saturday friends!! Feeling a little blue today...my sister/bff, plus my roommate, and friend are all on cruises right now and I'm not! My sister found bugs in her DD5's bed this morning. DCL did a great guest recovery..helped move their luggage, laundered everything that might be contaminated and upgraded their 2 rooms which were standard inside rooms to cat. 7A rooms! They also sent a gift package to the room. I can't imagine it being my first DCL cruise and have this! I told her if she does a TR it needs to be called, "The April Fools Joke that was NO Joke!!" Anyways..happy weekend everyone!!!*

The alarms were set for 6:45am! I had not slept hardly at all. Turns out sleeping on a cloud the night before a cruise is not so magical after all. By 6:30am, I gave up and got up to shower. Mom got up shortly after I was done. We had decided before bed that we didn't want breakfast at the CSR food court so we chose POP instead!



By 7:50am, we were showered, packed, and ready to go! We almost forgot to attach the DCL tags before we put the bags in the car. We left the resort right on time! We got to POP and decided on Mickey Waffles. I thought I had taken a pic but I guess not...

Around 8:30-8:40am, we were ready to hit the road!

The drive to PC was easy and not a lot of traffic..I was thankful for that! Before too long, we were getting close!!






I literally cried as we got closer! I kept thanking mom for such a great trip that hadn't even begun yet. Don't get me wrong, its wonderful living in Orlando and having the theme parks in your back yard but that becomes your vacations quite often too! I was so excited to be getting away with the same level of service!

We pulled up to find no line at all and were directed to #5. There were several shuttles dropping off so we had to wait a few mins for a porter to take our bags and then we were on the way!

We pre-paid parking, it was quick and easy and parked on level 3. I re-parked the car 3x bc I kept thinking I was too close to the car next to me.haahaa!!!

The line hadn't opened yet but wasn't long either. Around 10:15am, the line opened and we were on our way!







We got in the terminal and there was no line for the CC check-in. We were given our boarding number...2!!!!!, our room keys, lanyards (mom's first official CC one!) and the Navigator. We also got our dining rotation which was..ERRA. I had requested EAAR but this was close enough! Now the wait to see who we'd be dining with!!!




After a potty stop, we got in line for Mickey! We chatted up the mother-daughter duo in front of us. The little girl asked if I wanted a pic of her magic band! Out of curiosity, I wondered what their dining rotation was..it wasn't ours but how funny had it been and if they had bene our tablemates!







The pic was our top 3 fav of the trip and we bought it!

After the Mickey pic, we walked towards the penny machines to get my niece pressed pennies since they were cruising out of Miami...(she's the poor little one with the bugs in her bed this morning!)



We then decided to walk outside to get some pics. It was getting super busy and people were smoking so we snapped pics quickly and went back inside.








Back inside the crowds had formed. The kids club line was past the bathroom area but they were close to boarding time.

We stood near the roped off area and I asked mom to take a pic of me with the ears in the background. The CM lifted the gate and told us to come in for a pic. Apparently it's rare that they do that unless your family of the day. We weren't family of the day but we were special!




Finally at 11:20am they began boarding! The mom and her daughter were in group 2 as well so we chatted some more! They were in front of us to board. We did the arrival pic without a wait and then made our way onto the beautiful Disney Dream! By 11:30am we were on the ship!!!
VACATION HAS BEGUN!!!!








 
Just curious, did sea sickness get to you
Port Arrival!
(March 13, 2017)

*Happy Saturday friends!! Feeling a little blue today...my sister/bff, plus my roommate, and friend are all on cruises right now and I'm not! My sister found bugs in her DD5's bed this morning. DCL did a great guest recovery..helped move their luggage, laundered everything that might be contaminated and upgraded their 2 rooms which were standard inside rooms to cat. 7A rooms! They also sent a gift package to the room. I can't imagine it being my first DCL cruise and have this! I told her if she does a TR it needs to be called, "The April Fools Joke that was NO Joke!!" Anyways..happy weekend everyone!!!*

The alarms were set for 6:45am! I had not slept hardly at all. Turns out sleeping on a cloud the night before a cruise is not so magical after all. By 6:30am, I gave up and got up to shower. Mom got up shortly after I was done. We had decided before bed that we didn't want breakfast at the CSR food court so we chose POP instead!



By 7:50am, we were showered, packed, and ready to go! We almost forgot to attach the DCL tags before we put the bags in the car. We left the resort right on time! We got to POP and decided on Mickey Waffles. I thought I had taken a pic but I guess not...

Around 8:30-8:40am, we were ready to hit the road!

The drive to PC was easy and not a lot of traffic..I was thankful for that! Before too long, we were getting close!!






I literally cried as we got closer! I kept thanking mom for such a great trip that hadn't even begun yet. Don't get me wrong, its wonderful living in Orlando and having the theme parks in your back yard but that becomes your vacations quite often too! I was so excited to be getting away with the same level of service!

We pulled up to find no line at all and were directed to #5. There were several shuttles dropping off so we had to wait a few mins for a porter to take our bags and then we were on the way!

We pre-paid parking, it was quick and easy and parked on level 3. I re-parked the car 3x bc I kept thinking I was too close to the car next to me.haahaa!!!

The line hadn't opened yet but wasn't long either. Around 10:15am, the line opened and we were on our way!







We got in the terminal and there was no line for the CC check-in. We were given our boarding number...2!!!!!, our room keys, lanyards (mom's first official CC one!) and the Navigator. We also got our dining rotation which was..ERRA. I had requested EAAR but this was close enough! Now the wait to see who we'd be dining with!!!




After a potty stop, we got in line for Mickey! We chatted up the mother-daughter duo in front of us. The little girl asked if I wanted a pic of her magic band! Out of curiosity, I wondered what their dining rotation was..it wasn't ours but how funny had it been and if they had bene our tablemates!







The pic was our top 3 fav of the trip and we bought it!

After the Mickey pic, we walked towards the penny machines to get my niece pressed pennies since they were cruising out of Miami...(she's the poor little one with the bugs in her bed this morning!)



We then decided to walk outside to get some pics. It was getting super busy and people were smoking so we snapped pics quickly and went back inside.








Back inside the crowds had formed. The kids club line was past the bathroom area but they were close to boarding time.

We stood near the roped off area and I asked mom to take a pic of me with the ears in the background. The CM lifted the gate and told us to come in for a pic. Apparently it's rare that they do that unless your family of the day. We weren't family of the day but we were special!




Finally at 11:20am they began boarding! The mom and her daughter were in group 2 as well so we chatted some more! They were in front of us to board. We did the arrival pic without a wait and then made our way onto the beautiful Disney Dream! By 11:30am we were on the ship!!!
VACATION HAS BEGUN!!!!








Just curious, did sea sickness get to you? It really got to me after CC.
 
Eeek I would freak if I found bugs in my dd's bed. Glad DCL made it right though! Enjoying your TR!

I would too! I once found them at POP and all the offered was to change the room which happened to be the furthest room from anything but bug free far away was better than bugs close by!

That totally sounds like something I would do with my mom.

It's such a nice time! I told her, I would love doing this every other year in leu of birthday and Christmas gifts that I don't need. Making those memories are so wonderful! Dad just asked that next time we go in the summer so he doesn't have to worry about snow and trying to get to work plus dealing with 2 dogs lol.

Wow nice and early! What was your PAT?

PAT was the first slot at 10:30am. We didn't intend on arriving early but it's amazing what 10 mins later looked like. I was okay waiting in the parking garage line!

Just curious, did sea sickness get to you

Just curious, did sea sickness get to you? It really got to me after CC.

No seasickness which is amazing based on all the health concerns I had leading up to the cruise!! I did take Bonine the first night at dinner as a preventative but didn't take it after that.
 
Welcome Aboard!!!
(3/13/17)


After all of our fun check-in activities, it was finally time to board!

Around 11:15am, they began calling for boarding. The family of the day had a billion people in their group so that took a few mins, followed by group one and then finally group 2..us! The mom and daughter that we had met during the Mickey pic were in front of us which was fun bc we chit chatted again. There was one family in front of us to scan our room keys and to take the boarding pic and then finally we were announced and on the Dream at 11:30am!



Our first thing was to check our OBC from our Dreams TA but the family of the day had the idea to go to GS as well so we decided to forego that and come back later. We took the midship elevators up to deck 11 to have lunch at Cabanas except we got side tracked when they decided to bombard us with the Drink of the Day...of course we stopped!




After our drink stop, we got into Cabanas and it seemed like everyone else decided to do that too! Mom wanted a window seat but didn't want to sit inside. I suggested we walk around the back where there would be open tables. There were open tables but none that mom was fond of so and the 2nd buffet side wasn't opened so we walked all the way back, passed the mom and her daughter twice and they waved! We got the last window table in the first seating section and then it got crazy. Side 2 still wasn't open and they were telling everyone to not form a line and just cut in but it was wall to wall with people and impossible to just cut. I managed to get some food on a plate and then switched so mom could go up.



I then had a mini adult meltdown over the crowds and the 2nd buffet not being open. When mom returned, my food was done and I declared we were leaving and going to Enchanted Garden. Within 10 mins, the 2nd buffet opened and the crowds thinned out so we ended up staying. I think next time I'd like to try EG though for a change. Because of the nonsense of lunch, I didn't take any other pics besides our table view. The food was good but I had a feeling that we wouldn't be eating there the rest of the trip and try other dining options instead...I was right.


After lunch, we decided to walk around the ship and I wanted to show mom the kids clubs. We walked out of Cabanas and I had a memory glitch as to where the aft elevators were. Mom recalled that she thought they were in Cabanas and she was right so we walked back into the restaurant and found the elevators. We took them down to see the kids clubs.

















After the kids clubs, we decided to find a potty pit stop since it wasn't quite 1:30pm yet. We knew there was a bathroom outside AP so we walked down to deck 3 and it was empty. I did my traditional porthole pic that you can't see!



I wanted to check out BBB before it officially opened and got busy so we went to deck 4 to check it out. I had worked at BBB MK in 2008-2009 so I excited to see what a ship BBB looked like! I took a atrium pic on the way and we also stopped at Shutters to see what our folder number was.






I loved the look of BBB, it was adorable! It was also quite popular on Pirate and Dress-Up nights! The CM was very nice and told us to look around we talked about the 2 BBB differences. I loved all the dresses they had! I did not get pixie dust though which I regretted!

It was getting closer to 1:30pm so we decided to go to GS. The line was shorter and our OBC was there so all was set! We still had about 20 mins to kill so I suggested we tour the spa. I didn't realize it would be a full tour where they talk to you about various treatments (none of which we were interested in.) At the end of the tour they didn't even give us a pricing sheet, just one for classes offers which I thought was odd. Needless to say we didn't make it back to the spa this time.

We walked down 2 decks to 9 and in less than 5 mins our room was ready right at 1:30pm!




 
Hey there. I haven't posted on here a lot lately with addition of facebook, but heard you were doing a TR, so had to come and check it out!!

Love the look of the new rooms at CSR. All extra space in bathroom looks nice. Love the 2 sinks.

Sounds like you timed your arrival perfectly at the port

Never cruised before, so trying to figure out a few things.

What is OBC? I am guessing GS is guest services. What do you mean by folder number?

Oh and your dining rotation, ERRA or something like that. What do the letters stand for?

Cute manicure!!

Those kids club look like so much fun

Can't wait to read more

:teacher:
 
Hi I'm here! Love your trip so far! I'm sorry you weren't feeling well pre-trip, it didnt' sound like your meals in the beginning were that great, but DAMN that CSR room looks amazing! It looks like a deluxe room, just without the fancier body stuff. But I'm so glad you posted this as CSR may be on our radar for another trip!

I love embarkation day, it's probably one of my favorite days, it's just so much excitement as you enter the port, and get on the boat. Yay! That is a really cute pic of you and your mom with Captain Mickey!
Cabanas sounds crazy...as usual. Probably best to do EG on embarkation day. The kids clubs look amazing on the Dream. I love going to open house. Looking forward to more!
 

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