We're back from our first
Disney cruise on the Dream and it was... fantastic. I'm so thankful for all the great advice I got from this board. As soon as we got on, it was clear that this was going to be a very different experience than our previous (pre-kid) cruises. During dinner, we started talking about whether we should start planning for the next one. So many things went differently from how I originally planned, because I'm a planner.
- We wanted to do a nice late PAT. Well I happened to be up late finishing a book the night check-in happened and got 11:15 BG 4. I figured it would be easier to change it to later so I kept it. Turned out perfectly. The kids were up early the morning of embarkation and they were bouncing off the walls excited, so sitting around in the hotel an extra couple of hours would've been a nightmare. We had breakfast, got in an Uber, and went to the port. It was super easy. We ate in a near-empty Cabanas, then the kids got right on line for the Aquaduck. They rode it a couple of times and that was good enough for them, which is fantastic because they never got to ride it again. Lines were insane the rest of the cruise.
- With our late PAT arrival, we were also going to just carry all our bags on. We were packing up the last of the bags at the hotel and decided it was way too much stuff and we were going to check everything but what we needed. We ended up checking 4 bags. Rooms opened up at 1:30 and we went down a few minutes later. We could already see 3 of our bags at the end of the hall. They were delivered to our room a few minutes later. The CM asked if we had gotten all our bags and I described the 4th bag to her. She delivered it about 10-15 minutes later.
- We were a little concerned that the 11 year old would be too old for Oceaneers. Nope. He loved it. At the end of the first day, both kids said they wanted to do another Disney cruise before he was too old for Oceaneers. They later met another 11 year old who told them that Edge is boring and sucks. My 11 year old likes a lot of activities, and sounds like this kid did too.
- We booked the placeholders, and as soon as we got to our rental car, started looking for cruises for next year. The kids wanted to do a different ship, so we looked at Wonder, Magic, and Wish. Then we did yet another thing we said we wouldn't - sail Disney to Alaska. So now we're booked for summer 2024. With the placeholder, it was comparable to our Dream cruise.
- Captain Marvin's really does live up to the hype.
- The coffee really is... not good. The first day it seemed fine, but then it got progressively worse throughout the trip. On day 4, I finally went to Cove Cafe. Met a woman who thinks they intentionally make the coffee worse as the cruise goes on. I can believe that. Cove Cafe was great. I'm ready for my punch card the next time.
- We were really looking forward to Vanellope's and the race car sundae. CM told me they hadn't had those in about 5 cruises. We had regular ice cream instead. Portion size was great for the price, but quality was meh.
- I read a thread on here about whether or not the drinking water is safe on board and someone said their daughter was told it's not. One night we were in the WD Theater and my husband went somewhere and came back with two cups of water. The next night, he went back to the same place and a different bartender told him the water isn't safe for drinking. I'm fairly certain he won't remember where it was, but there's definitely someone telling people that.
- I was a little concerned about my options for connecting while in port, but it was shockingly easy to stay disconnected. On the port days, I had no motivation to even try. When we docked back in Miami, I finally opened my work email and found over 300. Decided, nope, still on vacation. Scanned through them for anything urgent, then turned off notifications. I'll deal with them on Monday.
Moving on to my Alaska questions (and there will be many more over the next year):
1. Can anyone recommend a provider for dog sledding in Ketchikan? Didn't look like DCL has one. We decided the 5 day is the best option for us so no other ports.
2. We like Hyatts and the Regency is less than a 10 minute walk to the port. Are you allowed to just walk in?
3. Any recommendations for lightweight waterproof jackets? The smaller they can squish, the better.
Thanks again for all the help!