A “Dream” vacation on the new Disney cruise ship!

Editor’s note: Several months ago, we found out that one of our very own Motherlode mamas was setting sail on Disney’s newest cruise ship called “Disney Dream,” which made its debut early this year. So we asked if she’d take some notes and photos during her trip and share them with us when she came back home. We love hearing the pros and cons of different family vacations, and Leah provides some great tips for moms who might be considering a trip like this in the future. Thanks for the awesome article, Leah!

Contributed by Leah Bates, vacation-loving mama of 2

Day One: Our assigned check-in time was 1:30 p.m., but we arrived at the port around noon, hoping to beat the rush and sneak on board a little earlier.  Luckily, it paid off! As we arrived, the porters took our luggage and handed out boarding card numbers, first come first serve. Then we checked in and registered the kids for the onboard kid-care area called “The Oceaneer’s Club.” Things went fairly quickly at check-in, but registering the kids took a little longer. Each child was fitted with a wristband that contained a computer chip. Then, we had to choose a “secret password” to be used when checking the children out of the Oceaneer’s Club, and we provided a list of people who were allowed to check our kids out of the supervised play area.

By the time we’d taken care of all that, we really only had to wait around 20 minutes to board the ship.  We used that time to take pictures with Mickey and Minnie and watch the Disney movies playing on TVs around the waiting area. We boarded around 1:15 — 15 minutes earlier than we were supposed to check in! So far, so good!

As we walked through to the boat entrance, Disney cast members took family pictures for us and then announced our family over the loudspeaker as we walked into the grand foyer. It was breathtaking: the chandeliers, the marble floors, the artwork! After a quick tour of the foyer, we remembered we were starving and the kids started to whine about wanting to swim. So we headed to our rooms (more on these in a second) to change and start exploring the huge ship.

After a buffet lunch at The Cabana’s Food Court, we let the kids splash and play until it was time to change for dinner. The kids’ pool is very shallow, so I really didn’t need to bring the kids’ floaties. And they have a section called “Nemo’s soft play area”, which is really more like a splash park, so I didn’t feel like I needed to be at “full alert” every single second like I am at a regular pool. Right in front of the pool area, there was a humongous TV screen playing Disney movies and shows. There’s nothing like swimming while watching The Little Mermaid!

When we got back to our rooms to change for dinner, our luggage had been delivered to the room. And I have to say our room, which was an inside room on the lowest floor (think cheapest room on the boat), was AMAZING! It felt luxurious and much more spacious than a typical cruise boat room. Right over our bed was a faux porthole that was really a TV screen showing a view of outside the ship. (The Mickey on the front of the boat has cameras in his eyes, so you “see” what he “sees”! Genius.) Periodically different characters would flash across the screen, which the kids loved! The bathroom was great too — it even had a bathtub! Here’s a large shot of our room:

The kids also loved that their bunk beds pulled out of the ceiling. This was great because, in the daytime with the beds stowed, it allowed us to have much more room. Above the top bunk was a picture of different constellations, which my daughter thought was super cool. Our assigned restaurant for the first night was “The Enchanted Garden”.  There are two different times to choose from for dinner, and we chose the earlier “first seating” at 5:45 p.m. The restaurant was gorgeous and the food was delicious. As a vegetarian, I was a little worried about the selection, but I never had a single issue. And the servers went out of their way to take care of the kids.

They already knew their names and did things like pour their ketchup in the shape of Mickey Mouse, serve them in special lidded cups with their names on them, and they drew happy faces on their desserts.

We finished off Day 1 at the show called “The Golden Mickey’s” —  an adorable show themed like the Oscars which was full of the kids’ favorite characters.  Here’s a tip: Sit on the aisle if possible because the characters come out and interact with the audience. And arrive at the show between 15 and 30 minutes early to get a really good seat.

Day Two: My husband Allen and I wanted to start the day with a run around the boat’s track, so we decided to take the kids to check out the Oceaneer’s Club for the first time. I was super apprehensive about it, but all my nerves faded when I saw how secure the check-in process is. And the things in the play area were beyond any child’s wildest dreams. My daughter was fascinated with the automatic hand washers, which were literally like mini washing machines for them to put their hands in before they could go in!

They had a whole room themed like Pixie Hollow with closets full of costumes. Another room was themed like Andy’s bedroom from the movie Toy Story,  and yet another room looked like the set of Monster’s Inc. There were computer stations and a central area with 30 interactive TVs on the floor.

The kids couldn’t have cared less that we were leaving them with strange people on a boat in the middle of the ocean! Also, the ship provides parents with “Wave Phones” which are like walkie talkies that can also receive text messages. Parents are required to carry these with them when their kids are in the Oceaneer’s Club, so if an issue does arise, they can reach you quickly.

With the kids safely checked-in and having a blast, off we went to run. The track was great, and it was gorgeous to run and see the island of Nassau (our first port) as we ran around the ship. We even bumped into Peter Pan! Of course, the kids were NOT ready to be picked up when we went to get them. They had played all sorts of games with Mickey and Donald who dropped in for a visit. They also dressed up as every princess—yes, even my son — and they were camped out in Andy’s Room when we got there. Here’s a shot of our son hanging out with Rex, the dinosaur from Toy Story.

Then we took off for a tour of the Atlantis hotel, which was great. The kids loved all the breathtaking aquariums. They even got to touch several different sea creatures — a starfish, sea cucumber, and a conch. Afterwards we shopped a little and let Brookelyn get a hair wrap. (Tip: I would suggest getting this done on the Disney ship rather than in-port because it was actually much cheaper on the boat.)

Once back on board, we took the kids swimming again and made a beeline for the all-you-can-eat soft serve ice cream. That night we had dinner in “The Royal Palace”, which is Cinderella themed — several princesses even made surprise appearances! It was French food and probably the toughest night as far as food choices for us, but it was still delicious.

After dinner was a show called “The Villains”. My son liked this show best because he thought it was “scary”. Another quick tip: Have your kids watch the movie Hercules before you go on the cruise because this particular show is hosted by Hades from that movie. My kids had no idea who he was. After the show, the kids headed back to the Oceaneer’s Club for “Toy Story Boot Camp”. Allen and I took off to go play mini-golf on the top deck and then we visited the hot tub for a little while. It was amazing!

Come back to the homepage tomorrow for Part 2 of Leah’s Disney Dream Vacation. She’ll describe Days 3, 4, and 5 on the ship and give more tips for moms considering a future cruise. Click the comment button below if you have other questions about this family vacation, and we’ll ask Leah to give us the inside scoop.