Three is a magic number: Our 3rd cruise for 3 nights on the 3rd Disney ship built with the return of most activities (Final 7/3)

[greensombrero]

Introduction

We just got back from our latest amazing adventure, a spring break cruise on the Dream. It's always hard to come home but writing a trip report gives me a chance to relive the excitement and make it last a bit longer. This report will feature a look at the latest state of cruising. We had a Sail Away Party, real Pirate Night, Art of the Theme Show Tour and more. It felt very much like pre pandemic in many ways. We also got a heaping load of pixie dust to make some once in a lifetime magic on our pre cruise resort stay. It was the most epic hotel experience I've ever had but you'll have to stay tuned because I'm getting ahead of myself.

How this Adventure Came to Be

We booked our last cruise on opening day never dreaming it would be the first revenue cruise for the Wonder post shutdown. You can read all about it here. It was supposed to be a 7 night but was reduced to 4 as it would be the first cruise back and they weren't ready for longer cruises for a while. As a result we got a decent discount from DCL for a future cruise in addition to the refund for missed days. Even better the discount was stackable with our onboard placeholder discount. So we left that cruise with a big discount burning a hole in our pockets. We really loved that cruise Covid changes and all and couldn't wait to cruise again. Additionally the discount was only good until Sept of 2022 so we'd have to do something soonish.

We pulled the kids out of school for our Wonder cruise and didn't want to do that again this school year. So I started looking at spring break or summer options. I didn't like the inflated prices, I wanted the discount we had to feel like a deal not just bring a higher price cruise to normal prices. Our school's spring break was later this year tied to Easter and I realized there was a 3 night on the Dream that was reasonably priced and would only require the kids to miss our return home day. We could spend some time in Orlando before the cruise, spend a weekend on the Dream and come back.

However a 3 night cruise didn't really excite me at first. Then I got to thinking we cruised the Magic, then the Wonder and we had the Fantasy booked for Fall of 2022, another opening day booking we did. If we fit a Dream sailing in before the Fantasy we'd complete a grand slam in the order the ships were built which sounded pretty cool to me. Plus then we'd cruise again sooner and have a higher likelihood we might still be on a reduced capacity sailing which we really enjoyed with the Wonder.

So a quick call to our travel agent and before we knew it we had an unexpected extra cruise booked. It would be our 3rd cruise be on the 3rd ship Disney built and be for 3 nights, it just seemed meant to be. Plus our 4 nights on the Wonder plus these 3 nights on the Dream would give us our 7 nights we originally booked.

Originally we planned to fly out ahead of the cruise and check out Cocoa Beach and the greater Port Canaveral area maybe do NASA see some things we haven't done before. Then I ended up finding out there were still spots available for the WDW Half Marathon in January. It was a bucket list thing for me and all worked out for me to go and my wife to come without the kids for a quick trip. We ended up staying at the Swan Reserve and my wife and I loved the whole Swan/Boardwalk area. After experiencing it we really wanted our kids to have a chance to. We've never taken them to stay on Disney property. The Swan isn't technically Disney but pretty close while letting us leverage my Marriott status and points we have to make a stay reasonable. So we pivoted to have a Disney World Resort stay pre cruise.

The Cast of Characters

Me - I'm the guy who said he'd never cruise ever and then got addicted and now loves DCL. I've been a lifelong Disney fan and now a Disney Dad who works hard to be able to travel and loves taking his kids on epic trips Disney or otherwise. I've also gotten into running thanks to the Castaway Cay 5K on our first cruise which escalated into local 5Ks then 10Ks and now multiple half marathons including finally doing a bucket list item and running the WDW Half in January.

DW - My wife is also a Disney fan who enjoys vacations and supports my love of travel and DCL. I think she is amused that I went from never wanting to cruise to loving it so much. She loves how relaxing cruising is for everyone.

DD (14) - My oldest daughter is a big DCL fan since our first cruise and loves to listen to podcasts and read trip reports with me.

DS (12) - My son loves to watch YouTube videos of Disney ships and Disney rides when he isn't playing video games or hanging with his friends.

DD (10) - My youngest daughter loves the water and spending time on the pool deck.

DS (6) - My youngest reminds me to enjoy the magical moments with younger kids because they grow up before you know it. He discovered he loved the kids clubs and escargot on our last cruise and couldn't wait to try both again.

Itinerary

4/19/2022 -- Travel Day and Airport Hotel
4/20/2022 -- Swan Resort Day 1
4/21/2022 -- Swan Resort Day 2
4/22/2022 -- Embarkation Day
4/23/2022 -- Nassau Day (Sea Day for Us)
4/24/2022 -- Castaway Cay
4/25/2022 -- Travel Home

Up Next Travel Day and a night at a new hotel near MCO

 

[greensombrero]

Travel Day and Airport Hotel

It is always so exciting when your long awaited trip finally arrives. My kids are all early risers as are my wife and I. So we like morning flights so we don't have to wait long after getting up. We had the perfect flight time at 9:30 AM. It meant we didn't have to get up insanely early but also could just get up and leave without waiting around. I travel for work a fair amount so the drive to the airport parking and shuttle ride to the airport is a process I have down. It's a bit more complicated with kids but it all ran smooth and before you knew it here we were. They didn't really want to pose for a picture but I took one anyway.




Now there is something worth calling out and rather historic about our travel day. Technically this picture was taken as everyone was finishing up the Panera Bread breakfast we purchased. You'll notice the lack of masks. We were flying right after the court ruling that masks were not required in the airport or onboard. I'm not looking to start a debate about the whole thing. I personally have somewhat mixed feelings. We came all prepared to wear masks because I really wasn't sure how quickly things would change and we wanted to be respectful of the rules and everyone. However it quickly became apparent very few people were wearing masks and as the day went on we didn't worry so much. We like many people have mask fatigue and it was kind of nice although weird to see everyone's smiling faces as we traveled. I should have taken a picture of us onboard but totally forgot. The flight was direct, left on time and was uneventful just like I prefer my flying.

When we booked the trip I had a couple free night certificates with Marriott that were due to expire. They had extended them once due to Covid and I didn't want to lose them. They were only for basic hotels though. I decided we could find a hotel around the airport with a free shuttle for our first night before we checked into the Swan resort. I should also mention I originally planned to rent a car but mini van rentals were crazy expensive and when we pivoted to stay at the Swan I decided to just go with the private transfer service we used for our quick January trip. They were great in January. As we'd unfortunately learn they partnered with another company for larger van transfers and we didn't have the same experience with them.

In looking for Marriott airport hotels near MCO with a free shuttle there are quite a few options. I found there was a new brand new Towne Place Suites we could use our certificates at and decided to give it a try. I'll give a mini review here because I think it is a solid pre cruise hotel if you were flying into MCO and wanted to stay near the airport and get a transfer to the port in the morning. When we landed I just called to ask about the shuttle and they sent it right out to pick us up. The pick up was super easy.

With our family of 6 we often have to get two hotel rooms unless they have one that accommodates 6 which wasn't the case here. Since I had two free night certificates it worked out fine. We generally try to get adjoining rooms but that isn't always an option and wasn't this time. We had rooms just a few doors down from each other. It honestly sometimes works better that way. We do a boys room and a girls room and the separate spaces often help after a long travel day when the kids may be more inclined to annoy each other.

I thought the rooms were nice I grabbed a couple pictures but not before the beds got messed up.





It is a brand catering more to extended stay guests hence the kitchenette area. Not something we'd need for our stay. It was a nice new clean hotel though and the service was great. I would definitely return and am considering it for the night before our October sailing. It would be super convenient to take their shuttle back to the airport and get a transfer to the port.

We were all hungry after the long flight. My wife had packed us all nice snack packs with assorted snacks from a Costco run but it was dinner time. I looked into DoorDash but the most appealing option was a Tex-Mex restaurant across the street. My wife is from Texas and I've travelled Latin America pretty extensively so our bar for Mexican or Tex-Mex food is pretty high. This was a chain that we don't have back home and it looked intriguing called Chuys. I suspect like many chains your mileage may vary based on location but we ended up thinking it was a decent option. Nothing earth shattering but we enjoyed it.



I think the kids were still getting into picture taking mode. The white dip with the chips we really enjoyed. It was some sort of a jalapeño sour cream ranch sauce. I'm horrible at taking picture of food so I don't have any food pictures to share. I do recall I ordered the Elvis Presley Platter or something like that and I did like it.

After eating we walked back and some of the kids wanted to check out the pool. It wasn't anything special but was a solid basic hotel pool. It was clean and new and while the weather wasn't super warm it was much better than back home. We've had a colder than normal spring so the kids were anxious to swim. I thought this was a fun picture despite the closed eyes.



After swimming I tried to keep the kids up for a bit watching some TV. Sounds weird trying to keep the kids up but with the time difference I wanted them to get on a stay up late and not get up early schedule. We had late dining which we prefer when sailing out of the east coast and so we wanted the kids to be used to being up later. There are lots of evening activities on a cruise and not as much reason to be up as early as they normally are at home.

It's ironic that at home I get regularly begged to let them stay up and on vacation my boys were the ones asking to go to bed. I did get them to watch some Man vs Food on Food Network before bed. I thought they'd enjoy seeing the eating challenges and different foods and they did.

That wraps up our travel day.

Up next is our move to the Swan resort and a day enjoying the Disney bubble ending with an incredible dose of pixie dust!

 

[greensombrero]

4/20/2022 -- Swan Resort Day 1
Whispering Canyon Cafe and Disney Springs

We all slept well and awoke to our first real vacation day ready to head to the Disney bubble. First we grabbed a quick breakfast at the hotel as it was included. This may be the first real included hotel breakfast I've had since the pandemic. I never remember to take pictures of food. It was just like I remember from pre pandemic, basic breads and pastries, make your own waffles, fried egg things you could make into a breakfast sandwich along with sausage patties, oatmeal, juice and yogurt. It was serve yourself and nothing incredible but fueled everyone up a bit. We didn't really need to fill up since we had a lunch reservation at Whispering Canyon Cafe.

After breakfast and packing up anything we got out we were ready for our transfer to the Swan hotel. This morning's van ride was great, had a good driver and vehicle with no issues. We were all smiles.



When we got to the Swan hotel our first order of business was having them store our luggage. I knew our rooms wouldn't be ready but just wanted our luggage stored so we could take the included transportation eventually to our lunch reservation and maybe Disney Springs before our rooms were ready.

This is where things got interesting. I went to check in and the front desk worker asked me to step down away from other guests and whispered I don't want others to hear but we upgraded your room to the Presidential Suite. Say what??? I wasn't quite sure what that meant.

Some quick background, I do have Titanium status with Marriott and I did use my last two suite night upgrades I got last year to try and upgrade one of our rooms. I had gotten a confirmation it was accepted a couple days before the trip and expected to have a slightly larger room with a view based on what I had put in for. If you aren't familiar the higher level loyalty statuses with Marriott get an annual "bonus choice" or two depending on your level. One of them is 5 suite night upgrades that let you get 5 nights of guaranteed room upgrades. Guaranteed is kind of a misnomer because it depends on availability. You ask for them and you'll be told before you check in if you got them or not and if not you don't lose them and if so they are used and you know going in your upgrade.

So I wasn't sure if the type of room I had requested was called a "Presidential Suite" or if they were giving me something more. The front desk person assisting me was named Nikki and she was just awesome. She told me not to tell my wife or kids and surprise them that it was her favorite room in the hotel. So I was thinking this was probably more than I was expecting. I had reserved two rooms since there are 6 of us and the Swan rooms only sleep 4. I asked where our other room would be and she told me it was on another floor but once she realized the second room was because we are a family of 6 and not for someone outside our immediate family she said she would fix that. She disappeared for a minute and came back with the good news we could get the double queen room that was connecting so we'd be in connecting rooms. That was great news. As I would find out this whole situation was going to be probably the best news I've ever gotten at a hotel check in desk. Somehow between using my suite nights, my loyalty status and a whole lot of pixie dust we were getting an incredible upgrade. At this point though all I knew was she was excited for me and that it might take a bit longer for my room to be cleaned and ready.

Well that was fine with me and while this was going on my wife and kids did a little exploring of the hotel. Then we decided to walk over to Hollywood Studios and catch a bus to the Wilderness Lodge where our lunch reservation was. The Swan/Dolphin resort area has 3 hotels all different brands within the Marriott loyalty family. One thing I love is they are walking distance from both Epcot and Hollywood Studios. They do have free boat transportation to both as well.

We decided to talk the walk since we had plenty of time. I saw this really interesting bird along the way. Haven't seen many birds like it before. So we stopped to enjoy the wildlife for a minute.



Then I found this along the path. I imagine these are all over the WDW area but I've never notice one before.



It was beautiful weather and a nice little walk down to the Hollywood Studios bus area. As it turned out we had perfect timing. There was a bus there heading to Wilderness Lodge that was just taking a break to clean up the bus. We were able to board and after a short period of time it headed off. We almost had the bus to ourselves.



I first fell in love with the Wilderness Lodge on my first trip to Disney World when my younger sister was in the college program. I was also in college at the time and we had a family trip to Disney World to see her right before Christmas. I've only had one chance to stay there though, just a short time after my first trip we returned for a family wedding in Orlando and spent a couple nights at the lodge. My kids had never seen it so I was excited to show them around the lobby. It is pretty impressive I think.



Had to get a picture of this Disney totem pole



We had a few minutes to check out the gift shop and explore the lobby area before our dining reservation at Whispering Canyon Cafe. For those unfamiliar it is a family style restaurant with a country western theme and servers who like to play with you and give you a bit of a hard time for fun. The food is country/western style and they offer all you care to eat skillets. It is open for Breakfast/Brunch and Dinner.

We opted to start with the Burnt End Nachos because I had heard they were really good. I actually thought to take a picture of them and they were really excellent.



That is the only food picture I took though. My younger two got items off the kids menu and the rest of us picked out skillets. I liked that our server told us we could order a combination of the skillets and share. They were all the same price and all you care to eat but offered different items. One was a meat centric with ribs, pulled pork, brisket, country potatoes, corn, corn bread and maybe a couple other things. The other was more breakfast centric with mickey waffles, biscuits and gravy, bacon etc. I liked that she told us we could order 2 of each and just share amongst the 4 of us. She'd just bring more of any item we'd like. So I got to have both ribs and mickey waffles, what is better than that?

All the food was good. It wasn't the best BBQ I've had but it was solid and the biscuits and gravy were really good. The nachos though honestly were probably the best thing we had.

I wasn't just there for the food though, I wanted my kids to enjoy the fun this restaurant offers. For example if you ask for ketchup one of your fellow tables is in charge of running all of their spare bottles over to you so you are sure to have enough. Then when the next table asks you have to go transfer all of the bottles you got to them. My kids thought it was super fun. When the table with all the ketchup happened to have already finished my kids gladly volunteered to run over and take a load to a table in need. This gives you an idea of how much ketchup we are talking about.




My oldest dropped her fork and our server came and made sure she had one that she wouldn't lose again.



If you are looking for a fun family centric restaurant with plenty of solid BBQ style food Whispering Canyon Cafe is a great option. I also thought it was reasonably priced by Disney standards. Much less than a character buffet with better food, no Disney characters but the servers were all great characters in their own right and it is a fun experience.

After lunch we walked around a bit more and look what I found kind of hidden in a hallway off the lobby.



It was a full model of a Disney ship and not just any ship but the very one we'd be boarding shortly. I took it to be a good omen. We still didn't have an update on our rooms which didn't surprise me. They told me they'd text and I wasn't really worried. We needed to run to Disney Springs anyways so we caught a bus from the Wilderness Lodge over.

At Disney Springs I needed to pick up a new Disney Visa Rewards Redemption Card. We have a Disney Visa as one of our cards and always use the accumulated rewards on our vacation. We alternate using it with our Marriott card. Both have different advantages depending on what we are buying and we've done well with the rewards both offer. Unfortunately our existing rewards card had gotten old and the magnetic strip wasn't reading well on our last trip. It basically is like a Disney git card you can load your credit card rewards on to. I knew we could pick up a new one at guest services and then just call to have it activated and our rewards transferred over.

We took care of that and did a bit of shopping. We didn't really want our kids spending any of the trip money they earned yet as we figured there would be things they'd want on the cruise. We planned to come back to Disney Springs after the cruise and before our flight, so they'd have a final chance. It is always hard when kids see things and they have money but we tell them to wait. So we decided to move on from shopping.

There was one other thing I wanted to investigate. I had heard Salt and Straw the ice cream chain was opening a location in Disney Springs. I also heard the grand opening was 4/20 the very day we were there. We are huge Salt and Straw fans first discovering them in Downtown Disney a few years ago. Since that time I've had them in Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles and San Diego. They are up and down the west coast and anytime we visit a city where they are I try and make it a point to stop by a location. In fact my company has an office in Santa Monica and most every trip I try and either visit their Venice Beach location or they offer delivery to my hotel.

I was worried it would be crazy busy with a big line. I almost always have to wait a bit when I go. I was surprised there were people inside but almost no wait. I don't think many people knew they were opening or how good they are. So we all got to try some exclusive east coast Salt and Straw flavors. I really liked the Salty Donut Guava + Cheese flavor which I got in a split scope with one of their special flavors of the month a play on Key Lime pie, don't recall its exact name. They have so many interesting flavors and I love that for a small fee you can get a single scope split into two flavors so you can try more than one. A single scope is always plenty for me but I like trying more than one kind.

I just realized I'm at my photo limit so I'll post my ice cream picture on the next post.

 

[greensombrero]

Yes I love my Salt and Straw and thought it was really cool to be at the Disney Springs grand opening.

After eating our ice cream we really didn't have anything else we wanted to do at Disney Springs. I figured we should just head back to the hotel and hope one of our rooms would be ready.

The Swan resort has free bus transportation like the Disney resorts however they use their own bus system. It is run by Mears and on our trip from Disney Springs back to the Swan we actually got one of the buses used by Disney Cruise Line for their transfers. The kids thought that was pretty cool to be in a Disney Cruise Line bus.



Up next is the big reveal of the presidential suite at the Swan hotel. It was a most magical upgrade and would be one of the highlights of the trip.

 

[greensombrero]

4/20/2022 -- Swan Resort Day 1
The Presidential Suite

When we got back from Disney Springs I checked on our rooms and they still weren't quite ready. Everyone was a bit tired so we found a comfortable set of coaches to hang out on. The younger kids were a bit restless so I took them exploring for a bit. Then the magical text arrived and I went to get our key. The front desk cast member informed me only our Parlor was ready, wait we get a Parlor? That sounded cool. The bedrooms would be ready in a bit but we could go up to the 12th (top floor) now.

Everyone I think got a little suspicious when I told them we were headed to floor 12 that we were getting something special. Even more so when they saw the door. I don't think any of us were prepared though to open the door and see this. I opened the door and said welcome to the Presidential Suite. Everyone, including me was surprised and very excited to see where we'd be staying for the next two nights.





Yes our parlor came with a full on grand piano. Never been in a hotel room with a piano before. My 3 older kids all play the piano and all of them actually practiced a song or two on vacation. My oldest is learning one of my favorite Journey songs which was fun to hear. I wasn't sure how sound proof things were so we had rules for when they could play.



We even had a private balcony with some pretty incredible views of the resort, boardwalk area, and you could even see Cinderella's castle in the distance though I'm not sure it is clear in this photo.



There was a little kitchen area with a fridge stocked with sodas and water for us to enjoy. The parlor also had a full bathroom with shower/tub.



So we decided to get our luggage sent up and change to head to the pool. When I went down to get our luggage I also found out the first bedroom was ready. It wasn't anything too fancy but was a nice double queen hotel room. Perfect for our kids. I didn't snag a picture before the kids wrinkled the beds a bit.



Incredibly excited by the pixie dust that had us staying in the most incredible hotel room we'd ever been in, we headed out to catch a bit of the afternoon sun at the pool. I hate bringing my phone to a pool when I want to swim so I left it in the room and therefore have no pictures of the pool.

The cool thing about the Swan and Dolphin resort is you can use any of the pools from all three hotels. The Swan and Swan Reserve have nice pools but they aren't really themed. The Dolphin's pool is a grotto style pool with a water slide, sand beach area and was where we decided to hang out. You can find pictures of it online which are better than what I'd take anyways.

I'm going to have to split this post due to photo limits so I'll pause here and just say we had fun at the pool. It was a bit windy and not super hot so we didn't stay too long. They did have nice warm hot tubs too. After a little pool time we wanted to get back and clean up so we could walk down and check out the Boardwalk area with time to be back to our room for what we anticipated would be cool fireworks views.

 

[greensombrero]

When we got back the master suite portion where my wife and I would stay was ready for us so we did a bit more exploring and photography.





We even had two more private balconies though one had a sign not to use it due to some maintenance issues.



We could look over and see Spaceship Earth.



There were actually 2 complete bathrooms in this room. One with a jacuzzi tub the other with a shower. I'm not normally a bath person but I wanted to try it out but never got a chance.



We realized 3 of us could be showering at once given the number of showers in this suite. After exploring we got cleaned up and walked over to the Boardwalk area. My wife wanted to pick up some pastries for breakfast the next morning and actually ended up getting a sandwich for dinner too. We looked at a take out place that offered loaded fries and chicken strips but it had a long line. I ended up deciding we'd splurge and enjoy our room so I told the kids we could order room service which I rarely do. I think the hotel recouped some of this free upgrade because it wouldn't be the last time I'd want to enjoy eating in our room.

We kept it simple with chicken strips and burgers from room service but it was really fun eating at a full dinning table that accommodated all of us in the room. The burgers were quite good, I really enjoyed mine. The kids seemed fine with their food as well. I should have taken a picture but I showed a pretty version of the table earlier.

After dinner it was time to enjoy the balconies. They offered some really cool night time views.



As it turned out we were able to watch the Magic Kingdom's night time fireworks in the distance. It was actually a pretty good view and we really enjoyed them. I hoped we'd catch Epcot but the fireworks went off just around the corner of the building. So we caught lighting on Spaceship Earth and heard the fireworks but couldn't see them. It kind of worked though, firework noises from Epcot and a great view of Magic Kingdom's fireworks in the distance. It made for a super magical ending to what turned out to be a very magical day.

I have gotten a few room upgrades over the years but never anything like what we got for this trip. It definitely isn't something I'd expect to have again but we really enjoyed this unique experience. I thanked the front desk cast members who helped me multiple times during our stay to let them know how much we were enjoying it. I think they enjoyed sharing it with us as much as we enjoyed experiencing it.

Up next is Swan Resort Day 2 -- Mainly hanging out at the pool.

 

[ThePies]

Wow! What an awesome upgrade! Looking forward to the rest of your report

 

[greensombrero]

4/21/2022 -- Swan Resort Day 2

I woke up and took in our amazing views. Then it was off for a run. They have a nice little running map I found in the Swan and Dolphin app with a couple different loops you can do or you can do them all for 3 miles.



I did the full loop, it was a beautiful morning for a run, not too hot. I thought the route was fun and while 3 miles doesn't feel long to me anymore it is long enough to be a good run. I noticed I stopped to take a picture from the outside of where we are staying.



We are actually the set of balconies one down from the top row. Given we were on the top floor I'm not sure what is actually above us. I'm guessing those balconies are just for show and there must be a mechanical space above us or something. It is a mystery I didn't really look into.

After my run I was hungry. I had a berry scone from the Boardwalk Bakery I got the night before but wanted something a bit more substantive. Once again the beautiful views got to me and so we ordered room service for those who didn't have enough from the bakery. I got a really good omelette that I really enjoyed. I knew I wouldn't get a very good one on the ship and it was significantly better than what they have onboard. After breakfast and hanging out for a bit we were all ready to hit the pool.

Again I hate taking my phone to the pool so no pictures but we spent most of the morning and early afternoon at the pool. Just a couple notes. The Swan and Dolphin are much stricter about towels than DCL is. They would only give you a towel with a room key, ok but they also wouldn't let me get them for the family they wanted to see all the bodies I requested towels for. They seemed to get less strict later in the day when I went back for dry towels. Oh well.

They do have a food/drink service delivered to the pool loungers around the pool area. They had little signs with a QR code hanging from the back. So we did that for lunch, typical pool side fare. Kids got chicken strips I think and I got wings and some onion rings. I don't remember what my wife got, maybe a burger. Anyhow it was all fine and we enjoyed just hanging at the pool through lunch and into the afternoon.

Eventually we were done and decided to head out. My wife really wanted to take the kids to Beaches and Cream because we enjoyed it on marathon weekend. We shared the plastic Mickey kitchen sink ice cream sundae when we went. She hoped to return to get a Minnie variety with the kids. I got up really early the morning our 60 days hit to try and get us a dining reservation but no luck. I kept watching but never managed to snag one. I did ask them about wait lists and was told they only sit at the counter with the walk up wait. So we had decided we wouldn't do a meal there but would try the walk up ice cream counter.

We walked over and ordered two of the Minnie Kitchen Sinks to share amongst the group. Here is a photo of the one I tried.



The ice cream isn't Salt and Straw but it is a lot of fun, there are multiple flavors, toppings, brownies/cookies etc. Perfect for sharing with 2-3 people so 2 was perfect for our family of 6. After enjoying our ice cream we had to go wash out our new Minnie sinks so we could take them home. It is a really fun souvenir.

With our main goals for staying at the Swan accomplished: pool time, Minnie/Mickey sink it was time for some reality. We tried to reduce our luggage footprint a little by planning to do a bit of laundry before boarding the ship. It would have be awesome if the presidential suite came with a washer and dryer but alas I think they expect people staying there to pay for the full service laundry option. We weren't going to do that so we had to walk over to the Dolphin hotel where they have a self service laundry facility. It's not a horrible walk but meant we had to pack all the laundry in a duffle bag we brought and then hang out over there while it was done. We explored during the wash load but didn't find anything too crazy, they have a couple shops. We collect Christmas ornaments and really hoped to find something Swan/Dolphin themed but they really had very little Swan/Dolphin themed merchandise. There was one spot in the Dolphin that appeared to sell some resort attire type stuff that maybe had something but it was closed. Just window shopping though we didn't see anything worth trying to go back for. I was kind of disappointed I really wanted a souvenir to remind us of the cool upgrade but oh well. I took the kids back to chill in the room while my wife did the dryer cycle.

At some point in the afternoon I grabbed a screen shot of this happy sight!



We were pretty tired from the day at the pool and just hung out. Eventually we decided to walk back over to the boardwalk. We got some take out from the Boardwalk Takeout. They have loaded fries the special was Carne Asada fries but they also had a pulled pork variety. I stood in line while the family watched one of the street performers. That is one cool thing at the Boardwalk they have outdoor performers that do magic, jump rope tricks and different little acts. I didn't actually get to watch from where the line was but the family enjoyed it. We took our food back to the room. Everyone was tired and we had some attitudes that night unfortunately but eventually everyone was in bed. I snapped some pictures before turning in for the night before we'd board our cruise.



I really loved the view at night.

Up next is embarkation day, hurray!!!!

 

[greensombrero]

4/22/2022 -- Embarkation Day Part I

It is always exciting to wake up and see this.


Originally I had a breakfast reservation at Cape May Cafe over in the Yacht Club. I had heard it was good food and wanted to make sure we had a good breakfast in case we didn't get to board for a bit. However with our room upgrade I wanted to spend the last couple hours enjoying it so I cancelled it the day before and we did room service again.

One disadvantage to the bigger room was it took longer to make sure we found and packed everything. The kids did spread out a bit . However before long we had to say good bye to our magical room and head out for more magic. I did see the original cast member who checked us in as I was checking out. I told her how magical the stay was but that I wasn't sure we could come again as nothing would top this stay. She did tell me to make sure to call and ask for her if we had plans to return. She and the rest of the staff were just awesome!

We had a private transfer arranged to the port this morning. Unfortunately we didn't like this driver as much. He drove a bit aggressively and made my kids in the back a bit car sick. However we all arrived in one piece and before long I caught the first sight of the Dream.



Not the best picture maybe but you have capture that moment you see your home for the next couple days. I tried to decide if she immediately struck me as bigger than the Magic and the Wonder. I'm not really sure as I thought the Magic and the Wonder were big ships the first time I saw them. We were definitely excited though to try our first Dream class ship.

We were dropped off and I asked the porter if we were supposed to check our luggage now or after testing. He told me we could do either but that they had things worked out so they could find luggage easier in the worse case scenario. He also said no one was testing positive these days with the switch to antigen tests, not sure if it is true but it was helpful to calm our nerves. The whole testing thing still is very nerve wracking even though we had no signs of illness and had all our shots, boosters and had it already. You just always wonder. Testing though went super smooth.

With the 6 of us we are split between two adjoining cabins. We have to separate and test each cabin group. I thought I submitted our samples first but my wife and the boys got cleared to sail first. That made the few minute wait for my cabin super nerve wracking as I expected to get it first. However it was only a couple minutes and we too were cleared to sail. The whole waiting process was only like 15 minutes, it was quick.

This was our first time in Port Canaveral in a dedicated Disney terminal. So we had to stop for a quick selfie.



We weren't entirely sure what the mask situation was at the port and terminal so we came prepared. As we walked in we saw none of the cast members we first met were wearing masks. It was pretty much back to normal in the terminal. Of course you could chose to wear them and some did but it definitely wasn't required anymore.

Our PAT was 10:45 and we ended up there maybe just a couple minutes before. Testing was super fast and so we were in the terminal with a bit of a wait for boarding to start. I will say of all the ports we've been to, Port Canaveral has the best waiting area but the least interesting sail away. I guess you just can't have it all. I loved this model of the Magic.



We discovered there is a bit of an augmented reality game you can play around it with the Disney Cruise Line app. My son got to make a "virtual passport".


That was pretty cool. We played around the model for a bit, sat for a couple minutes then watched the family of the day board. It wasn't too long until they called boarding group 6 and we were up! As is our tradition we stopped for the boarding photo.



It is always exciting to board a Disney vessel. They of course announced our name and we got to walk in the much bigger atrium. I was a little sad no Mickey and Minnie show anymore. Captain Mickey was waving to us as we entered. However I was admittedly a bit more distracted by the Admiral Donald statue. He has been my favorite character since childhood so I had to snap a picture of him.



Upon entering they do want to make sure you have the app all set up and connected to the WiFi. We found you could connect to the WiFi in the terminal so we were already set and had already reviewed the activities for the day. At least I thought we were all set. I would later find out my son hadn't updated the app on his phone and had an out of date version that wouldn't work. Of course we'd find it out when it was too late to resolve. It wasn't a huge deal but he didn't have the app for the voyage. Also my attempts to fix it before we lost cell service ended up locking his apple account because I typo'd his password and forgot I had a parental control enabled which ended up basically making his phone useless (no iMessage) until we got full internet and I could fix it all. Didn't end up being a big deal for this short voyage but I will make sure my kids have up to date apps and all is good before we board next time. It was a pain a few times we couldn't message but once upon a time we all made due without instant communication and so we did again for a few days.

Anyhow since we had our app all running our next stop was our muster station. Like everyone else I love the new muster process. We just took a picture of our muster sign which worked great and we were done! Now we all had worn our swimsuits onboard so we could go up and ride the Aquaduck first thing. So we headed up to the pool deck, found a couple loungers and discovered the Aquaduck wasn't open yet. It was having some issues. My DW and I weren't really hungry but my older kids quickly went in search of the pool deck food and came back carrying hamburgers and fries. How I love they can just feed themselves on a Disney cruise without me having to get out a credit card or worry.

The younger kids decided to check out the pool. No capacity limits anymore and it wasn't super busy. I decided it was time to just sit on a lounger in the sun and go into vacation mode. I don't drink but I wanted something more than a soda to kick things off. So I flagged down a server and ordered a virgin pina calava, basically a pina colada with raspberry syrup. I love the raspberry add to the tropical pina colada flavor, discovered it on our first Disney Cruise and tradition says I get one on sail away day. Unfortunately the server misheard me and brought a plain pina colada. I said something because I was confused as I had pointed to the picture on his menu and he quickly resolved it. Vacation had officially started.

After a little bit of lounging and the kids swimming we decided to go check out Cabanas as the Aquaduck was still closed. Cabanas was back to normal with self service stations. Now I actually quite liked the we serve you model. It keeps things more sanitary I think and it is better with kids. I liked feeling more comfortable they would get helped and wouldn't do anything stupid with the serving utensils so I didn't have to watch them as closely. My kids are getting old enough to navigate a buffet okay on their own but I still feel like I have to follow them and I like it when they are served.

The good thing though with things back to normal is the variety. On our Oct Wonder cruise they repeated the same stations over and over in theory to keep people spread out and moving with the cast members serving you. The number of options was quite limited. On this cruise though they were back to a bunch of different stations including the carving station with the big roast and turkey. I should have taken pictures but suffice it to say Cabanas was back. While the variety definitely helped there wasn't anything that looked or ended up tasting super good. I just grazed a bit figuring if I got hungry later there were plenty of options around.

After Cabanas the Aquaduck still wasn't up so we decided to go explore the ship starting with the kids club. I found this picture in the aft stairwell I don't recall if it was just above or below what would be our deck. It is from one of my favorite Donald Duck cartoons and I was thrilled to see it.



I love all the Disney artwork around the ship but this especially gave me a smile every time we passed it which was quite frequent given how close it was to our cabin. Reviewing my notes and photos I realized as we descended we saw the barrier was removed and we could go checkout our staterooms. We were deck 8 aft just off the stairwell. We had adjoining verandah rooms, pretty standard for DCL, nothing special.



We did meet our stateroom host Malvin from the Dominican Republic. He is our most memorable and fun stateroom host to date. We bonded because I speak Spanish and have known people from the Dominican Republic so we had a fun little chat. My wife has been studying Spanish in Duolingo after a trip we had to Costa Rica last summer. So she got to follow our conversation a bit. As all our stateroom hosts on DCL have been he was great at taking care of things and provided excellent service. The little connection though I think made our encounters and conversations even more fun.

Most of our luggage wasn't there yet so we didn't linger in our rooms. We resumed our exploration heading for the Oceaneers Club. We found something unique to the Dream class ships that we haven't seen before.



As a huge Muppets fan I of course had to take a photo of Pepe's door. I'm sure he'd appreciate as the King Prawn that his photo is going to wrap up this segment because I'm at my photo limit.

Up next a tour of the kids club and the return of the Sail Away Party!

 

[greensombrero]

4/22/2022 -- Embarkation Day Part II

The kids clubs on every Disney ship are well themed but they are all a bit different. I loved checking out the Dream's Star Wars themed area which is not on the Magic or the Wonder.





Yep I would love to be a kid again and play in these spaces!

One common area on all the ships is there is always Andy's Room though the exact design of it does vary from ship to ship.



We got to meet a special visitor while we were checking it out.



While it really felt great to be more back to "normal" on this cruise one thing I really missed from our October cruise was all the great character encounters. This was one of a very few character photos we took. They definitely had characters out but it was back to waiting in long lines to see them. On our Oct cruise we had lots of random encounters with zero wait. I imagine it is a combination of increased capacity and a willingness to allow lines that led to the different experience. It was fine because we've seen them so many times over the years both onboard and in the parks that we don't really care. However I did think it was really fun to just walk over and get a picture (albeit a distanced one) all the time in October. There definitely were some advantages to the "Covid era" cruises.

With our older kids we also wanted to check out Vibe and Edge. The teen and tween clubs are much bigger on the Dream class ships where they feel like they are almost an afterthought on the Magic class. I thought Vibe had quite a cool entrance set up.





They even have their own outdoor area which I thought would be super cool. I expected my oldest to spend more time in Vibe but she spent more time in Edge. One interesting thing is it sounded like she was supposed to replace her Key to the World card with a Vibe specific one that would grant her access. The system was down though which she liked. She wanted to keep her KTTW card because she was collecting one with each ship name she has been on.

Per my notes I thought we also toured Edge but I don't see any great pictures of it in my phone. It must not have impressed me too much. I do see I went with my oldest to get some chicken strips on deck after touring the clubs. I didn't eat much at Cabanas and we had late dining so I wanted a snack. The chicken strips on board aren't stellar but I wanted to give them a go and enjoyed them. I imagine we also probably got some ice cream. I don't recall if it was this day or the next they had some mango strawberry. I didn't love the mango but the strawberry was good. However it wasn't as good as the blueberry we had on the Wonder, that stuff was incredible.

We ended up swinging back by the room and brining all our luggage in before heading up for the return of the Sail Away Party! Yes deck parties were back. Now while the muster drill has changed they do still stop everything at 4pm for a safety briefing/video that the pipe through the whole ship. They also sound the general alarm. We got to experience it all up on deck on funnel vision while we were waiting for the Sail Away Party. I will say I kind of missed those blue dots they had on deck to space everyone out during fireworks. Our ship was only about 60% full, I heard 2400 people. So the decks weren't super crowded but I think we've all enjoyed our personal space the last two years.



I thought it was really fun though to go right from safety briefing on funnel vision into the Sail Away party. It isn't anything spectacular but it was fun and brought a great energy to kick off our vacation. Especially since the sail away from Port Canaveral isn't super scenic like Miami or San Diego.

After the party we headed back to the room. I wanted to get cleaned up and I think we actually didn't start moving until we were back in the room so we watched from our verandah as we sailed away from Port Canaveral. We also chilled for a bit but not too long as we wanted to head down to the theater.

Tonight was the Golden Mickeys. We love theater and broadway style shows. We were super excited that they returned to 3 shows on a 3 night cruise. Ours was one of the first sailings with all the shows back. They were all ones we hadn't seen on other cruises partially due to the ships and partially due to Covid. I think the Golden Mickeys is normally on the Wonder but just wasn't for us.

I will say the Golden Mickeys is probably my least favorite of all the shows we've seen. To be fair I think the cast had to learn and practice it when they were already onboard and we were seeing an early performance. However it was less the cast and more just the story and all the video segments I think we didn't really like. Don't get me wrong it was still an enjoyable experience but it didn't blow us away like some of the other shows we've seen onboard.

I should report the theater was back to normal operation, no masks or distancing. They were selling popcorn and drinks. To celebrate we let the kids each get the combo deal, popcorn and a drink for $5.00. I don't normally see the point in paying for popcorn on a cruise but I figured we could do it once and I think the kids were a bit hungry and we had late dining.

I'm at my photo limit again so I'll finish the evening in the next post.

 

[greensombrero]

4/22/2022 -- Embarkation Evening

After the evening show everyone wanted to check out the shops as they had finally opened. I understand why but it kind of annoys me the shops are only open when the ship is out to sea. It just means you have limited time especially on a 3 night cruise. So we had to prioritize the shopping time. We launched a new chore program to let the kids earn money for this cruise. My younger DD is usually very hard to motivate to work around the house. However she saw some things she really wanted on our last cruise and did a real turn around the last few months being our most reliable chore doer so she could earn and save for the cruise.

As for me I've been eyeing the Disney themed Tommy Bahamas shirts for the last few cruises. They are more than I'm usually willing to spend even for Disney themed clothes. I hate spending money on clothes if I'm honest. However my DW encouraged me I should get one if I kept thinking about it so I did. I wore it later in the cruise but I'll put the picture here so you can see what I got.



After a bit of shopping the kids all wanted to scatter. The youngest to the kids club. I forgot to mention but when we went to Edge they told my 10 DD she could "move up" to Edge with her two older siblings if we were okay with it. We signed a waiver so she could. Our 14 DD planned to spend most of her time in Edge even though she could do Vibe since she'd be aging out of that privilege before too long. So the older 3 headed up to Edge.

This left my wife and I alone without kids on vacation. This is one of the things I love about DCL, we get alone time on vacation. My wife wanted to go back to the shops sans kids. I did need to swing by guest services to put our Disney Visa Redemption card on our account along with some gift cards. My boss had given me one (well his exec admin arranged it) for Christmas knowing my love of Disney. I intended to use it to cover any of my speciality smoothies/drinks.

I discovered a really cool trick to maximizing your time cruising and minimizing your time in line at Guest Services. When they restarted they launched the ability to chat with guest services. That is great but for things like this you have to go in person. Well they also provide the ability to set an appointment. As I discovered sometimes you can find an appointment available in 5-10 minutes. If you have an appointment you wait in a much much shorter, often nonexistent, line. So I booked an appointment and wandered around the atrium for a couple minutes. Then I had a very brief wait while the prior guest finished up and I was next despite a rather lengthly line for those without appointments. I highly recommend the book an appointment feature and used it again later in the cruise. You can book them well in advance too for example if you know you'll want to adjust the gratuities for your servers and stateroom host. Unfortunately if you want to charge your account you still can't increase the amount in the app and have to fill out paperwork. But if you schedule an appointment in the app you can make it take far less time.

Once that was done I met up with my wife and we decided why not take some pictures. We haven't had pictures of just the two of us in a bit. Normally we make our kids do the pre dinner pictures each night. We decided we didn't want to push them tonight but we could still get them. I'll add my wife loves having pictures of our vacations. Our kids will often spend hours looking at books we've made from prior trips. So we always buy the unlimited digital package and get as many pictures from the onboard photographers as we can. They have different fun backgrounds every night and we did several of them. They also will pose you in different poses so it is a bit like booking a professional photo session. Having the pictures taken is always free you only have to pay if you like them. Or if you are like us and prepay for the photo package (which is discounted if purchased before the cruise) then you'll get them all regardless. It isn't inexpensive but we've always found it worth it given the quality of the photos and the value we place on having them.





After a bit it was time to get our youngest from the kids club and meet the older kids at Animator's Palate for our first dinner. We love this restaurant though it is quite a bit different on the Dream class than on the Magic class. Like most I think I prefer it on the Magic class ships. That being said my family has never seen Turtle Talk with Crush at the parks for some reason. So this opportunity to interact with Crush you have on the Dream would be new for them.

I'm getting a bit ahead of myself though. First we had to meet our servers. We had Ravindra from India and Monett from the Philippines as our assistant server. They were both great. Ravi gave great recommendations and they both were attentive, kind and provided great service. It did feel a bit like they were trying hard to impress. With only 3 nights we didn't have as much time to get to know them and I did feel a bit like they were trying to compress the relationship and interactions into that short period the same as we'd have on a longer cruise. It wasn't negative but they did a lot more entertaining then we've had from our prior serving teams. This was everything from magic tricks and brain teasers to my favorite which occurred this evening.

Monett gave my kids little origami birds they could put on the end of their straws then make fly by blowing into the straws. It was super cool!




As for the meal itself I've heard some don't like the Animators menu but we've had really good food there on our last two cruises. Some have said the food in the main dining rooms is a step up since the restart. We only had one cruise pre pandemic so I'm not sure I'm qualified to comment but I did really enjoy our main dining room food overall.

I never take pictures of our food but I had the steak and my wife had the pork chop. We both enjoyed our meals and I tried a bite of hers. I remembered getting it in October and really liking it. It was quite good but so was the steak. Of course we had the famous pasta thingies for our appetizers. I don't recall what the kids got but they were happy. We did have a bit of motion that night and it did start to affect my DS and DD so I ran to grab some meds and sea bands for them. I already had mine on. I just wear sea bands and that covers me. Overall I felt this cruise was much smoother than our prior ones or I'm just getting really used to cruising.

My DW doesn't really like to be the center of attention so of course Crush came by and talked to her first. She was a good sport and we had a great interaction with Crush and everyone enjoyed it. They also had photographers come through and take pictures both of small groups and the overall table. I really love that they do it.



My youngest was getting tired. We do late dining when we sail on the east coast because with the time change it works okay. We like having more time before dinner and seeing the shows first. However it had been a long day with lots of excitement so everyone was ready for bed. Once everyone was settled I did do a quick lap around the ship as I love being on the ocean at night. The ship looks really cool with all the lights.





I did feel a bit like Donald was laughing at me since my main goal for day one onboard had been to ride the Aquaduck. It was down all day so it would have to be priority #1 for the next day. I was hopeful whatever the problem was it would be resolved by morning.

 

[Skywatcher1206]

I am loving your trip report!

 

[greensombrero]

I am loving your trip report!

Thanks!

 

[MainStreetFireman]

As for me I've been eyeing the Disney themed Tommy Bahamas shirts for the last few cruises. They are more than I'm usually willing to spend even for Disney themed clothes. I hate spending money on clothes if I'm honest. However my DW encouraged me I should get one if I kept thinking about it so I did. I wore it later in the cruise but I'll put the picture here so you can see what I got.

Same! They didn't have the one that I would have pulled the trigger on in my size due to "supply chain issues", so I've promised myself that if and when it's available on our next cruise on DCL on April 2023, it will be purchased on Day One.

BTW, I am loving this report. Providing the necessities of a child's life is a parent's job. Providing the joys and superfluities of them are the gifts we never expected to enjoy as much as we do. Looking forward to enjoying more of your family's smiles in the coming report.

 

[weich1001]

Great Report!

 

[Laura1123]

Enjoying your report. Beautiful family! We sail for the first time on the Dream in just a few days. Your report makes me even more excited!

 

[greensombrero]

Enjoying your report. Beautiful family! We sail for the first time on the Dream in just a few days. Your report makes me even more excited!

Have a wonderful cruise and thanks for joining in!

 

[greensombrero]

4/23/2022 -- Nassau Day (Sea Day for Us)

I love sleeping on a cruise ship! I often struggle to sleep in hotels just the unfamiliar surroundings but for reason maybe the rocking of the ship, maybe the mattresses Disney uses, I tend to sleep quite well on a Disney cruise. Kind of surprised me because originally I had anxiety that the thought of sleeping out on the ocean would keep me awake but the opposite has been true.

That being said I did awake before everyone else. I rarely sleep in and we didn't go to bed that late for me so I was up at like 6:30. We tried to keep the kids on our west coast time since we wanted them to stay up a bit later and sleep in, they are early risers back home. Reality is there are more reasons to stay up late than get up early on a ship unless you are me. I was glad though everyone was still asleep.

I quietly snuck out the door and up to get a drink of water. I stopped by Cabanas and grabbed this picture. That is one thing I really liked on the Dream compared to the Magic/Wonder. Cabanas is definitely more themed I think.



I loved that bird and also the tile mosaics inside. I failed to get a picture of them but look for them if you are onboard.

Once I was hydrated it was down to deck 4 for possibly my favorite cruise activity. I love running on deck 4 in the morning. I asked the night before if they'd be shutting down part of the track when we docked in Nassau. On the Magic/Wonder they have to do that because the track passes through the area they have some of the mooring equipment. I was told that isn't an issue on the Dream though they do sometimes shutdown the track for crew drills. I was up early enough anyways but it does appear that is an advantage to the Dream's track. On the downside though I'm pretty sure the Magic/Wonder have real teak wood decking. The Dream definitely does not and I didn't like the track surface as well. Totally a nit picky thing but since I was actively comparing everything for our first experience on a Dream class I'll call it out.

Anyhow I love the glorious views like this you get.



I'll spare you the sweaty selfie I also took. I only ran like 2 miles this morning because I planned to run the Castaway Cay 5K the next day and I wasn't feeling like pushing. It was a good run though, something magical about being on the ocean and catching the spray in your face at times. It's also fun to see the early morning ship's crew out doing mainteance.

After my run I stopped by an empty atrium for a quick photo. Admiral Duck was on duty keeping an eye on everything while it was empty.



I did grab a little pastry at the cove cafe to try while I rehydrated post run and just sat for a minute. I tend to always be on the go so just sitting for a minute and enjoying your surroundings is something I highly recommend on a cruise. When I got back to the room everyone was up and getting ready to head to Cabanas for breakfast.

Cabanas for breakfast was busy but not too bad. We were able to snag a table outside which I always prefer. I really loved that the variety was back, our breakfasts on the Wonder in October were a little boring. I really like a good breakfast and have always loved a good breakfast buffet. I've had some really incredible ones though over the years and Cabanas even with the variety back is just okay in my book. The Westin Playa Conchal in Costa Rica is the current champion in my book. That being said when you dine outside you almost always get some million dollar views.

We decided to make Nassau a sea day for us. I know that is a pretty common thing to do. We got off last time we were in Nassau and I'd love to visit and do something again. There definitely are things to do that interest me but on a 3 day cruise we just wanted to enjoy our first time on the Dream. We started slow just wandering the ship and taking in the views as we docked at Nassau.



Our kids all headed to the kids club or Edge. I loved telling my 12 year old, this is your vacation too, you can do what you want today until we get together later. I wanted to attend the "Making of the Dream" activity in Evolution at 10:30. I have never seen an activity like it before. It was basically a presentation on how the Dream was made and interesting facts about the ship. I'm enough of a DCL nerd a lot of it wasn't new but it was still interesting. I think the host who gives it probably plays a large role in how fun it is. I did learn one really interesting thing I hadn't heard before. The bottom of DCL ships are painted a dark color but they didn't want plain black. The imagineers struggled with the color until they had an intern come in wearing a dark navy pair of pants. It was the color they were looking for and they named it "Monica blue" in her honor. Overall it was an interesting use of 30 minutes or so.

My wife headed off to do a craft activity. She got really into the onboard craft activities and did a whole bunch of them with and without the kids. I headed back to the room to grab a few things and spread some pixie dust. The rules around fish extenders changed right before our sailing. Disney removed the language forbidding them from the "Know Before you Go" section. So our FB group organized people interested in pixie dusting. Since it was last minute we didn't make anything but we did find some fun little Disney themed items to buy and bring to share a little magic.

After that I wanted to play Midship Detective Agency. For those not familiar with it they have it on the Dream and Fantasy. I'd describe it as a ship wide scavenger hunt crossed with Clue featuring some what was once pretty cool technology. The Dream has a number of moving paintings which are basically LCD screens. One pair features a pirate ship attacking a town right out of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. I really should have taken a picture of those pictures . The ship and town take more and more damage over time. They have other moving pictures and some of them are also interactive for the game.

The way it works is you pick a case and each case has multiple possibilities giving them all replay potential. You are trying to figure out who did it by eliminating suspects based on clues you get similar to the game Clue. You have run all over the ship to find the different interactive pictures which will end up giving you clues. Most of them require you to complete an interactive activity to get the clue.

Anyhow I convinced my oldest to join me. She wasn't really enjoying Edge or Vibe at the moment, I don't think there were many kids her age there. So we set off and chose to do the Mickey and Friends story line about missing paintings. It was a lot of fun though more physically intense than I planned. The ship is big and if you are like me and almost always take the stairs Midship Detective Agency is a bit of a workout!

Afterwards I went back to the room and grabbed a couple items to pixie dust on my way up to the pool deck because I had worked up a bit of an appetite. Ice cream and some pool deck pizza was in order. I think they had a strawberry and banana flavor today. I love banana but I'm not a fan of the artificial flavor variety. So I stuck with strawberry.

I had an exchange on another trip report thread about the pizza on the pool deck. I never expect it to be great pizza but there is something about it that makes it good. I think because it is a comfort food, it is included and it is always hot and ready. Unfortunately I really didn't like the crust on the Dream. The pizza was just not as good as on the Wonder. I'm not sure if it is really a difference of the ship or a change in supply change or what. The crust just felt very soft and almost not done but it held true across multiple slices and times I tried it. On the other hand they had lots of interesting varieties beyond the basic pepperoni and cheese. I appreciated that!

You may be wondering, but what about the Aquaduck? It was one of the highest priority things for me to do. Unfortunately it still wasn't up and running when it was supposed to be that morning. I decided it was time to camp out and see if it would open. So I spent a fair amount of time just watching on the pool deck. Occasionally the water would start to flow like maybe it was back but I'd check with cast members and find out no that wasn't a good sign yet. I ended up wandering through the adult section, checking out Satellite Falls and just hanging on the pool deck which is not like me. I like to be doing something.

I did catch the army men march through



Then Donald came up on deck and I grabbed a picture.



I also discovered these loungers that look out at the ocean. The one side just showed a Carnival ship which wasn't too interesting to look at, but the other side was a pretty cool view. So I hung out on one for a bit.



The amazing thing about this whole time was I was having my own mini vacation with zero guilt. My kids were having fun in the clubs or at one point my wife got them and they did crafts together. My wife was happy with what she was doing. This is the magic of DCL we can all have our own vacation within a great family vacation and family time.

Eventually my wife and kids decided on having a late lunch at Cabanas. I checked in on my 12 year old in Edge to see if he was hungry and he was having too much fun. I figured he could find food on the pool deck later. The rest of us checked out Cabanas. I don't remember what I got but it was fun to gather together for a quick lunch. We were getting into the afternoon and there was one thing I really wanted to do.

I saw in the schedule they were doing the Art of the Theme Show Tour at 2:30. I had heard really good things about this pre-pandemic and was excited to see it was back and really wanted to do it. My youngest DS wanted to go back to the club and my youngest DD who is a mermaid wanted to swim. My wife was happy to enjoy the pool deck and watch her so I was off to do it alone.

The difference between Building the Dream and The Art of the Theme Show Tour is the former is a presentation in one location more about the general facts about the ship and its constructions while the other takes you on a tour to see the cool theming and attention to detail the imagineers put in. We started in Meridian which is the lounge between Palo and Remy. We discussed that space and got an intro from the cast member. He explained every time you take the tour may be different depending on your guide and what spaces that get permission to visit. He was excited because we were going to visit Remy which apparently doesn't happen very often.

I've never been to Remy being it was our first time on the Dream and it is a pretty incredible space. He pointed out all the little nods to Remy.





Apparently this is the private room where you might be invited to dine with the captain if you were lucky.



One interesting fact I learned is that in the end of the movie Ratatouille when the food critic is visiting the restaurant he orders a very expensive glass of wine. The writers of the movie probably gave no thought to referencing such an expensive variety. Little did they know their movie would become the theme for a fancy restaurant on a DCL ship. Well the imagineers want to be authentic so they had to have that vintage of wine available in the restaurant. It only cost 25K per bottle and apparently someone has asked for it. Talk about attention to detail.

After visiting Remy we went to the stairwell and down a deck or two. The cast member shared another super interesting tidbit I hadn't noticed. If you recall I posted a picture of the art from one of my favorite Donald Duck cartoons that I saw right after boarding. Well it turns out there is a pattern I didn't notice until it was called out. The lower decks of the ship feature much rougher art, B&W sketches, etc. As you go up the art becomes much more finished and refined. Very similar to the transition of the art on the walls in Animator's Palate on the classic ships. I thought that was another cool thing to learn.

We walked by the atrium and out on deck 4 to end the tour. I don't recall anything else really catching my attention. They did talk about how the chandelier in the atrium can be lowered so it can be cleaned. I guess if you are really lucky and wander the ship at the right of time you can see it. The cast member shared despite all their efforts they have yet to catch it being cleaned. They wouldn't share the schedule with him.

I really enjoyed the tour! I wish I could remember the name of the cast member who gave it but he was great.

One other thing I just saw I put in my notes. I had never heard the origin of the term POSH until the tour. Apparently it stood for Port Out Starboard Home and referred to what side of the ship your cabin was on when traveling from England to India back in the day. The more expensive cabins would be the one on the side of the ship that got less sun and was therefore less hot since they didn't have air conditioning. The context for the comment was talking about the key design pillars for Disney in building the ships. One of them was incorporating the latest technology and the comment was made how all the spaces onboard of course are air conditioned to be comfortable. Maybe not the latest technology anymore but it was an interesting aside.

After the tour I returned to my lounger on the pool deck to stare out at the beautiful blue some more. I also decided I need to try another virgin Pina Calava to round out my relaxing. I hoped the Aquaduck would be restored but no luck yet.

I need to end here for the moment. Stay tuned to hear will I finally get to ride the Aquaduck? What do I think about Beauty and the Beast? Also the return of Pirate Night including the "midnight buffet".

 

[missjackiemcg]

Thanks so much for mentioning the Art of the Show Tour! That definitely sounds like something I'd be interested in, and hadn't heard of before. I did attend the Making of the Dream back in 2019, which was really interesting, as well.

I certainly hope the AquaDuck opens soon for you!! Looking forward to hearing about the return of Pirate Night!!

 

[greensombrero]

4/23/2022 -- Pirate Night!

I left off on a lounger enjoying the ocean views. At some point in this I discovered my older son had never gotten any food because he was having so much fun in Edge. So I took him to the pool deck and he tried one of the roast beef sandwiches they had along with some fries. He can be a bit of a picky eater and but really liked it. We all gathered together after that to try some of the mini golf. This is another bonus to being on a Dream class ship. I tried to get everyone to poise for a family selfie after. I didn't quite get the picture I wanted but will post it because traveling with 4 kids means sometimes you just don't get the picture you wanted.



After mini golf we saw and heard a rumor, the Aquaduck was back and would be open in just a bit. We were heading for Beauty and the Beast but I ran back to the room with my girls and we all put on swim suits under our clothes so we could potentially catch a ride after the show and before dinner.

They don't allow any photography during the shows but wow Beauty and the Beast was the most incredible of the Disney shows I've seen on the cruise line. Incredible effects, really cool use of projections to enhance the sets, the way they handled the object characters in the castle ie Lumiere and Cogsworth etc were all really cool. The cast was very talented. Just an incredible epic performance. Definitely our favorite DCL production to date which is saying something.

After the show we ran up on deck. At first I saw no line and was worried the Aquaduck hadn't really returned, I'd been disappointed so many times but I went up to ask. It was open just no line. The only issue is double riders only due to the wind. We had left Nassau and it was cold and windy on deck but I didn't care. Only my 2 DD and I were prepped to ride so we'd just have to rotate through. My youngest and I took the first turn then the two sisters and then I took my oldest. Wow we loved the Aquaduck! It was so fun despite being a bit cold. We just used the towels on deck to dry off and stay warm when we were sitting out waiting for the next to ride. At one point a couple came up and asked us if it was worth changing to do it and I said yes. I later saw them in the very short line looking like they had already taken a spin. They agreed it was so worth changing to get a ride in. I also saw another Dad looking longingly that he wanted to ride but his two kids were riding and he didn't have anyone to ride with. So I offered to ride with him and we did a Dads ride. This would end up being one of those fun family vacation memories with my daughters. Remember the time we rode the Aquaduck 5 times in a row with no line. Actually I think they rode it more than me but I got 5 rides in. So fun!

While this was all going on my wife and boys got a spot and watched the Mickey and friends pirate show on deck. A photographer caught them and my youngest while she must have been waiting for my older daughter and I to finish a ride.



I missed that pirate show but riding the Aquaduck at night was worth it and we saw a small amount of the show as we went by. Well after 5 rides we were getting close to dinner so I told the girls we'd have to run down and change.

Tonight was Enchanted Garden a restaurant we'd never been to. On a 3 night it would be the normal menu despite being pirate night. I should say we normally really like to dress up for Pirate night but given it was a shorter cruise and we weren't sure there would really be a pirate night we opted not to bring our costumes this time. I just wore a pirate t shirt I had picked up. The roaming photographers had us pose for a fun picture at dinner.



My wife and I also got one



As for Enchanted Garden I thought it was a pretty cool restaurant. Nothing over the top with theming but the garden vibe is cool. I was a little disappointed because they had started having characters parade through the restaurant but apparently since things were going back to normal they weren't doing that anymore. I thought that was a nice touch and didn't see why they'd remove it but oh well.

The menu offered a fun opportunity for my DS to try some sushi. We both got the ahi and avocado towers which were really good, especially if you asked for extra wasabi. I'm not a regular sushi eater mainly because we don't live by the ocean and while you can get good seafood at home if you pick the right places, I always enjoy it more when I'm traveling by the coast. I also tried the cucumber roll which was fresh and good.

As for the main courses I couldn't decide between trying scallops which I have minimal experience with and the sea bass which I've generally not liked other places. Our server brought me both. I actually really enjoyed the sea bass which was awesome. When I've had it at other places in the past it has often been too fishy for me. This was well cooked and quite good. I wasn't a big fan of the scallops though. I really haven't had them often and wanted to give them a try but decided I won't again. This is one of those fun things about cruising, a chance to try foods you normally don't in a low risk environment.

After dinner we headed up on deck for the return of the Pirate party and fireworks.



It has been a while, over two years so my memory may be off but I think this pirate party was a bit different from the one on the Magic. It was much more of a sing along with pirate lyrics and the bouncing bubble on Funnel Vision. I quite enjoyed it. Of course it ended with fireworks and while I enjoyed the ones we had on the Wonder in October this was a much longer/better show not that my photo really captures that.



It had been a really good fun day. The fact we did get to ride the Aquaduct and end with fireworks was really the topping on it all. I have previously heard that they would do a pirate night buffet in Cabanas but had never experienced it. They didn't do it on our first cruise maybe because it was a Marvel Day at Sea cruise. As we entered Cabanas though it was clear there was quite a spread available. All sorts of food. Unfortunately with late dining I really wasn't hungry but my 12 year old son had no trouble filling a plate to bring back to the room. I did walk through and couldn't resist the make your own crepe station. You can always find room for a crepe.

What I really enjoyed though were the fruit carvings. I'm going to end this wonderful Pirate Night with them. I just can't imagine the patience and skill required to make these.




We all headed straight to bed because next day was Castaway Cay and we wanted to be off the ship first thing. Three night cruises are fast but I knew we'd have one more fun filled day.