The 75% All New Trip! - All done! Bonus Material finished, Link to new TR!

[mvf-m11c]

Very nice start to your cruise and the room looks very nice and the verandah is nice.

 

[Pinkocto]

Very nice start You are making me very excited for our Fantasy cruise!!!

Super convenient to stay at the airport. I had no idea there was a Macaroni Grill somewhere there. Not fun about the grocery delivery fee.

75% new sounds like a big accomplishment, I hope you enjoyed the new stuff

 

[franandaj]

Okay. Finally moseyed over here...

Nope. Fleas.

I blame the wife.

I hear you. I'm having some right now, myself.

I hope you figure out your Maui dilemma!

Sure! Sleep in a new room every night!

Except that one if those rooms has a bunk bed AND they cost twice the points of a one bedroom if not more. Plus the disabled rooms don't have a hot tub. Not doing that again!

hmmmm...... okay. I'll buy it.

hmmmm...... okay. I'll buy it.

Okay. Still with you.

So... maybe it should be 76 - 77% new, then?

I'm going with 75% for the even math!

emphasis on fun loving or Disney Freaks?

(Notice how polite I was to not just say Freaks???
Well, it applies to me, anyway.)

Well we'll go with DISNEY freaks!

Oh, sure. Now you tell me!!

You could have checked weather.Com

Uh, oh. Dun, dun, dun, dunnnnnnnn....

Not that bad, or maybe.

That's what I'm doing!!

Good

I don't really care for pre-nups.
I mean I get the necessity of them, especially if one partner brings in considerably more financially to the relationship. But it almost feels like your setting yourself up for...

What?


Oh.


Pre-update.


Nevermind.

Nope, no prenups here!

I can help!
You can find shoes at the back in the aisle with all the shoes.

You're welcome.

Yeah. Thanks.

It was pizza. And you seemed to enj... uh... I mean.
I don't know. How could I? It's not like I have a camera...
Uh...

I do not know what you ate.

OK I think I got all the cameras.......how did you get them installed without the cats telling on you?

Whoa! It must've been really full if it took both of you an hour to close it!

No it just took us that long to find everything to put in it!

I understand. The stress of ensuring a cat doesn't eat salmon twice in a row is enough to knock anyone out.

They get five different flavors each meal, I sort the cat food into seafood, land food, and then bits/shreds. They get four cans each meal, so sometimes they could have Salmon Seafood and Salmon "bits" in the same meal. Or the one can of Fancy Feast that makes the fifth can could also be salmon. Oh the horror! My poor kitties.

In flight movies = good.
In flight movies that don't end until after you've landed = not so good.

Well there was that.

You're not the first person I've heard say that.

I think I probably figured it out.

That's a very interesting shot of the fake-o-rail.
I like it.

Thanks!

Oh? Usually rooms have bathtubs unless...

They're for disabled. Yup.
Been there, had that.

Yeah, I'm finally in a state where I can use as much water as I want, and there is no tub.

Can you imagine if you'd bought $300 worth???

Still would have had the same $28 delivery fee.

Simple, silly.
Tilt head back, open mouth. Poor in cheerios. Poor in milk. Chew.

Gag!

Yogurt in a tube.
There ya go.

But I didn't get yogurt in a tube. It was in a cup.

OMG! Not again?!?!?

score.

And that's the way it should be. Not like at Miriwa in Winnipeg on St. Mary's Rd. where they won't even sell you one... even if you're willing to pay for the meal that goes in it. And are rude about it to boot.


Not still bitter about that at all.

I bet you'll never ever go back there.

Oh for Pete's sake. Just pick one!

Hey! I couldn't help it!

Such as?

Well you can't carry on liquids to the airplane, but any beverages you want to bring on the ship must be in your carry on baggage. That was the biggest transfer. I took some other things like charging cords, Fran's "back of the scooter" bag. We put that in the suitcase for the airplane flight since they take her scooter and put it under the plane. However when boarding the ship, it's convenient to have the bag on the scooter as we can fill it with more stuff.

Nice!

Oy. Always a joy. But... It happens.

Thank goodness that it didn't continue for the whole trip.

Wow. That's really impressive, actually.

I couldn't believe what a great job she did calming the kid down, the parents couldn't even calm the kid down.

Meh. Not impressed.
It looks like a brown Ford pick-up truck to me.

Oh! You mean behind the truck!

Sounds nice and relaxing. Glad you got it. (Hopefully you did?)

I did!

Ditto.

Did you decide by that time that it was more of a disenchanted garden?

We were too hungry to worry about it.

Where's the Caprese salad????

It's in the sandwich!

Okay, I'm back.
Had to change the keyboard.
Apparently these things can short out if you drool on them too much.

Sorry.

Nice room! So big!

It was! Very spacious.

Trying to unwind after a long day, and loved seeing all of your amazing pictures of VACAY!!! Beautiful ship; beautiful food.

Thanks, I hope you enjoyed your time off from school!

Memories! We just love the Dream, so thank you for all those lovely pics of Enchanted Garden (which we prefer for our first lunch as well) and the room. Looks like the one on deck 8 that our friends stayed in with their daughter.

The lunch in Enchanted Garden was perfect for us. I'm sure we made the right choice, as you will see in a later update.

Love the food pics and we have never tried the mushroom soup - guess we will next time we sail. And either I missed the ice-cream "bar" or they did not have one when we sailed on the Dream a few years back.

I have a feeling they might have added that if you haven't seen it before. There's something else coming in the next update that I don't think you've seen before either.

Like you we really enjoyed staying at the Hyatt at the airport. It is so convenient after a long flight. Bummer it was so foggy.

We're definitely doing the same thing for our cruise on the Fantasy in February. It worked out so well, I'm willing to repeat it again.

 

[pkondz]

Well we'll go with DISNEY freaks!

Okay. If you insist.

You could have checked weather.Com

That takes the mystery out of life.

Yeah. Thanks.

No problem! Glad to help!

OK I think I got all the cameras.......how did you get them installed without the cats telling on you?

Cats understand me.
I, of course, will never understand cats. But I respect them.
They're not dogs after all.

They get five different flavors each meal,

Your cats eat better than I do.

Yeah, I'm finally in a state where I can use as much water as I want, and there is no tub.

And that's the best thing about hotel tubs.
A never ending supply of hot water.

Still would have had the same $28 delivery fee.

I like my math better.
Worse for you... but more entertaining.

Gag!

Brussels sprout?

But I didn't get yogurt in a tube. It was in a cup.

Your cats would know how to handle that.
Take pointers.

I bet you'll never ever go back there.

Nope!

Well you can't carry on liquids to the airplane, but any beverages you want to bring on the ship must be in your carry on baggage.

Ah, yes. Of course.

We put that in the suitcase for the airplane flight since they take her scooter and put it under the plane.

They ran over her scooter?!?!?!?!?!?

However when boarding the ship, it's convenient to have the bag on the scooter as we can fill it with more stuff.

Makes sense.

It's in the sandwich!

Okay!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I'm in! Back to read later. How do you keep up with all of these trip reports??

 

[franandaj]

Yuck... you really struggle to sleep on vacation, don't you?

Actually not usually. It was just these last two trips where I seemed to have troubles. I think with the exception of one other night this was the last time.

I'm sure that never causes any problems for anyone....

Well really Disney is very nice about it, if they find it in your bags, they just confiscate it, hold it at the port and if you remember to pick it up when you get back, you can have it back. See no problem at all!

Wow, perfect timing!

Just like Disney World!

Is there a soup that Fran doesn't like?

Pretty much, no.

Looks fantastic!

It was a nice verandah. I made good use of it!

New trip report! Awesome! Great way to start a trip, spending the night at the airport hotel and then starting fresh the next morning. We often do the same, either the airport hotel or one near by, same for returning home, if we have an early flight.

Kate

I wish that we would do that at home, but Fran is always so concerned about "spending time away from the cats". She always says, "I hope they recognize us when we get home."

I definitely want to hear.

Yay!

I actually referred to your feelings about the size of the ship. Hopefully I will get around to updating my pre-trip report before the year is out and then all will become clear.

Got it now! I have a feeling that pretty soon into this TR, my thoughts on this subject will become clear.

Ken and Sue seem to have made it their mission to introduce us to new kinds of cuisines whenever we visit them.

That's not hard to do around here!

I could settle for this.

I ended up going with that, and it was good!

What a shame that a spanner was thrown in the works.

I am glad that you found an alternative.

I would have really enjoyed doing the treatment with her, but she really was not up for it. The alternative worked out just fine.

This had not even occurred to me. I just had a look at the deck plans and this is a lot more different from what I had thought.

Yeah, very different. The bars are in the back of the ship, the spa is still in the front. It took some adjusting. And there were bars everywhere!

It seems a little strange to have a dining room on the same deck as the staterooms.

I thought so too.

Finally made it here! Late, but here!

Food porn to start. Always a great way to start.

Glad you made it over here. That's pretty much the core of my reports, so of course it would be at the front!

Nice start to the cruise, great room and balcony. We enjoyed our Couple's Choice on the Wonder so that's too bad Fran decided she didn't want to go. I'm glad you found a replacement spa treatment.

I'm hoping when she gets in better shape, that she will be up for doing more things like that.

Hooray! Another trip report! I am soooo in! Well, at least 75% in

Glad you made it to the party!

Okay, how cool that the hotel is inside MCO! That makes so much sense.

It's really cool. We were so tired after not much sleep and a long flight. It was great not to have to get on a bus, walk a long distance or any of that. It was a small pain to get all the luggage over to the hotel, but we managed.

I am sure I missed it but what ship were you on?

We were on the Dream.

The Enchanted Garden buffet looks delicious. Next cruise I will definitely take more advantage of the buffets. I ate so much pizza on deck that I think I made it into one or two.

I don't know how you could have eaten that much pizza. Well like I don't like my food touching, I also don't like to eat the same things two or more meals in a row. Heck, I don't even necessarily like eating food of the same ethnicity two meals in a row!

You room looks lovely. Love the verandah! Its a must.

I just love watching the ship pull into ports and such from my room. I don't have to get all dressed up, just throw on the closest thing to cover up, and go outside and enjoy!

Glad you found another spa treatment.

Well truthfully, it's not hard, they have some really enticing treatments onboard!

Thank you for posting the Navigators. I enjoy reading them so much.

Good! I'm glad I'm not scanning them in vain.

Yay, a new trip report!

WDW at Christmas is my favorite time of year to go. Sadly, the kids' school schedule is precluding December trips for the near future. I will gladly live vicariously through your TR.

Well at least you are being responsible with their education (which is more than I can say for many of the folks we encountered on this trip), but more on that later.

Great start to the cruise! Love your stateroom! And another veranda!

Thanks for throwing in the pictures of the tree houses! I don't know how I got confused But I've never seen the inside of them. They look nice!

I won't get a room without a verandah, although our Mississippi River Cruise it's not a private verandah, so that should be interesting.

The tree houses were a nice place to stay, but we need to give them another go. Fran got a bug on our first full day, and she was down for the count so she ended up being stuck in the room. She ended up getting cabin fever and didn't like them at all. She has decided to give them one more chance. The idea that there was no "lobby" and such made her feel very isolated and alone. I hope she doesn't get the same feeling with the Poly Bungalows.

 

[franandaj]

Very nice start to your cruise and the room looks very nice and the verandah is nice.

Thanks, we enjoyed the room, it was very spacious.

Very nice start You are making me very excited for our Fantasy cruise!!!

I think the Fantasy sounds like a wonderful cruise. While we had a good time on the Dream, I'll get to my issues in about 10 updates!

Super convenient to stay at the airport. I had no idea there was a Macaroni Grill somewhere there. Not fun about the grocery delivery fee.

It's right in the terminal on the second level just above the escalators that go to DME. Super convenient for dinner and tasty too!

75% new sounds like a big accomplishment, I hope you enjoyed the new stuff

For the most part, yes. It was a little scary though. Fran likes to be in her comfort zone as do I.

Cats understand me.
I, of course, will never understand cats. But I respect them.
They're not dogs after all.

Well of course they're not dogs. They are much smarter!

Your cats eat better than I do.

They eat better than most. All our friends want to be adopted.

And that's the best thing about hotel tubs.
A never ending supply of hot water.

That's the best thing of being somewhere that there isn't a drought and you have to ration your water, or take short short showers.

They ran over her scooter?!?!?!?!?!?

No silly, they put it in their belly!

I'm in! Back to read later. How do you keep up with all of these trip reports??

You yourself said it. Plow through one, with furious updates so you don't have so many going at one time!

 

[franandaj]

We had just arrived in our stateroom on the ship. Fran needed a nap, but I was curious about the ship being new to it and all. Plus after a look around the room, I realized that I needed to get an extension cord from Guest Services. So I took a walk around the ship snapping a few photos here and there of various different areas.

First stop, I went down to the Atrium to take a look around. They were still boarding families and announcing their names over the loudspeaker and when I say loudspeaker, I mean LOUD.



Donald looks over the Atrium in the Dream.



The Dream’s Chandelier is almost as nice as the Wonder, but not quite.



After dropping off the extension cord in the room, I went up to Deck 11 (which is the main pool deck). It was definitely hopping!



I couldn’t even imagine getting in this hot tub.



The Mickey slide with a huge line of kids.



I was amazed at how many of these bars were set up on the pool deck.



This was the splash pool for the little ones.



I think this might have been added during the refurb. I have never seen anyone mention it on previous TRs on the Dream. Everything in here was for purchase, no freebies here. It sure looked good, but we never made it in here other than to browse.









And to top off all your sweet concoctions.



Or if Ice cream or Gelato were not your bag.





[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

I decided to check out Cabanas to see if the food up here was much different from that of the Enchanted Garden.



The Pizza wasn’t at Enchanted Garden, but I was OK with skipping that.





This place had pretty much the same offerings.





French Fries, Mac & Cheese and Chicken Nuggets were not at Enchanted Garden, however, I did overhear one of the servers talking to a couple at another table while we were there. I think the guy was saying there wasn’t anything on the buffet that he liked. The server offered him these exact things, although I didn’t pay attention to see if he took the server up on the offer.



This was at the Enchanted Garden.



I did enjoy the “tongue in cheek” signage that they had up.



I don’t’ believe that they had carrots and snow peas at the EG, but that’s OK, I didn’t need those.





This section had all the same stuff.





I also noticed that they had a lot of the “pods” with repeated items, so you could get certain things in more than one place. Like these French Fries.



They had the same sandwiches downstairs, but not the individual meats and cheeses, again, I could do without those.



Same Seafood



And salad



Every other “room” in the seating area, was one of these drink stations.



All in all Cabanas had a few more offerings than the Enchanted Garden, but most of those were more kid oriented, I thought. What my pictures did not show, is what a total zoo it was up there. It was around 2:30 or 3PM and people were still in a feeding frenzy. I was very pleased that Fran was not with me carrying luggage and trying to fight all the people grabbing for food up there. Now here was something different than Beach Blanket Buffet on the Wonder!



Don’t mind if I do! This was a Melon Vine. I remembered enjoying this one on the Wonder.



I decided to take my drink and explore some more of the ship. I saw this mural on the way out and thought it was rather pretty. There were actually more of these throughout the restaurant.



I headed here.



Now that hot tub looks much more like it!



I could possibly see myself hanging out here.



Then I went around to the other side of the fence again. I would be back to visit these sometime later in the cruise.







I thought this was really cute!





I noticed that they were really packing up the ship. Oh yeah, there was going to be a sail away party in less than two hours.





So I headed back to the room to get Fran up and ready for the muster drill. Our suitcases arrived while I was gone. I started putting stuff away, and gathering up her clothes to be pressed. We had to leave for the Muster Drill before I was able to finish. Our Muster Station was in the Buena Vista Theater, and this was the only time we made it to any of the theaters.

 

[Pinkocto]

I hope I'm not jumping in mid-update, but I'm really enjoying seeing the Dream again she was our first cruise ever and will always hold a special place in our hearts. Of course I LOVE Donald being in the atrium!!! You are correct, Vanellope's sweet shop is a new addition since the refurb. That gelato looks mighty tasty!

 

[DVCjj]

I will never understand why Disney allows children (and even babies!) into a hot tub that 'should' be well over 104 degrees.

It never fails to annoy my family and guests at the WDW resorts.

Hot tubs are and should be adults only.

 

[jedijill]

I'm very late but I'm here! Love the Fantasy and can't wait to hear about all your experiences!

Jill in CO

 

[PrincessInOz]

New Ship....but it seems from your update that the food was "same ole, same ole"??

(Ship looks great!)

 

[dolphingirl47]

That's not hard to do around here!

We live in a pretty cosmopolitan city, but I am just blown away how many different cuisines there are on offer in your neck of the woods.

Yeah, very different. The bars are in the back of the ship, the spa is still in the front. It took some adjusting.

We got totally confused on the Splendour as there the spa is aft and the buffet is forward. I cannot tell you how often we got lost. It is funny how quickly you get used to a certain layout.

I loved all the photos. It is nice to get a good overview of the ship.

I think this might have been added during the refurb.

Yes, this was added in the recent dry dock. I think this is in the space that was previously occupied by the arcade.

Everything in here was for purchase, no freebies here.

I am not sure what I make of this. Considering the theming, the location and what is on offer, this will give the kids serious pester-power.

Corinna

 

[pkondz]

but I was curious about the ship being new to it and all.

I guess!!

Plus after a look around the room, I realized that I needed to get an extension cord from Guest Services.

I didn't know you could get that... anywhere!
(I mean other than buying one at a hardware store or something.)

First stop, I went down to the Atrium

Pretty.

They were still boarding families and announcing their names over the loudspeaker and when I say loudspeaker, I mean LOUD.

Well, gotta let people know who's boarding.

The Dream’s Chandelier is almost as nice as the Wonder, but not quite.

Beautiful!
I'd like one to go, please.

I couldn’t even imagine getting in this hot tub.

Ugh.
Did I mention I went to my folks place the other day and had pea soup?
No idea why that popped into my head.

The Mickey slide with a huge line of kids.

Nope!
I won't wait for an awesome ride, I'm sure not waiting for a slide.

I was amazed at how many of these bars were set up on the pool deck.

no bartender though. It wasn't open?

Gelato!!!! I'd be there every day.
Probably more than once a day.

Or if Ice cream or Gelato were not your bag.

I think the guy was saying there wasn’t anything on the buffet that he liked.

What? Oh, go back to McDonalds.

I did enjoy the “tongue in cheek” signage that they had up.

Grill, gull. Grill!

What my pictures did not show, is what a total zoo it was up there.

They certainly didn't!

I headed here.

Right behind you.

Now that hot tub looks much more like it!

Way better. That right there just might make me think of going.

 

[franandaj]

I hope I'm not jumping in mid-update, but I'm really enjoying seeing the Dream again she was our first cruise ever and will always hold a special place in our hearts. Of course I LOVE Donald being in the atrium!!! You are correct, Vanellope's sweet shop is a new addition since the refurb. That gelato looks mighty tasty!

Nope you got in after I was done with this one! The Wonder has that honor for me. It all looked really good, and I wish that I had been hungry enough to grab something from there, but with all the free ice cream and other treats, I just never made it in there hungry.

I will never understand why Disney allows children (and even babies!) into a hot tub that 'should' be well over 104 degrees.

It never fails to annoy my family and guests at the WDW resorts.

Hot tubs are and should be adults only.

I could definitely agree with you, but evidently there are many more folks who don't feel this way so Disney goes on their side.

I'm very late but I'm here! Love the Fantasy and can't wait to hear about all your experiences!

Jill in CO

I'm guessing that I will love the Fantasy next year, at least I hope so. Looking forward though to revisiting the Wonder this summer. For now, you'll have to hear about the Dream.

New Ship....but it seems from your update that the food was "same ole, same ole"??

(Ship looks great!)

Well, this last update I was comparing whether or not we made the right decision going to the downstairs buffet instead of the upstairs buffet. There was definitely a difference between the buffet on the Dream vs. the Wonder. I don't know if that had to do with the Port or what. There was more fruit on the Wonder's buffet, and there was other differences, no she crab claws on the Wonder. What I was saying in the update was that Carioca's had more stuff, but it was mainly Pizza, Chicken Wings, French Fries, Mac and Cheese, and cold cuts. Maybe a few veggies, but all in all I was justified in our choice to do the buffet in Enchanted Garden. Even though it didn't have quite as many offerings, I think it was a much more civilized choice for lunch than going up to the pool deck at Carioca's.

 

[eeyore45]

sneaking in to say how much I enjoy your trip reports! I cannot imagine going on a cruise (from sea sickness - to vertigo)

but WOW is your room huge! and that buffet! Yes please! How expensive are adult drinks on the cruise?

Looking forward to your further adventures! Thank you for sharing

 

[dizneeat]

Ah, this makes me miss the DREAM even more. Thanks for sharing all the photos, Alison!

The Dream’s Chandelier is almost as nice as the Wonder, but not quite.

I am with you. This one IS beautiful, but the Wonder with its lovely chandelier wins. I really hope they will keep it after the refurb and not exchange for one as ugly as the one on the Magic.

I couldn’t even imagine getting in this hot tub.

Neither could I. But then I just don't understand why all theses kids are in the hot tub in the first place. Not the right place for a kid in my eyes.

I think this might have been added during the refurb. I have never seen anyone mention it on previous TRs on the Dream. Everything in here was for purchase, no freebies here. It sure looked good, but we never made it in here other than to browse.

YES! That area used to be the arcade (I think). Now, this is far more up my street. Looks yummy and I can see myself having a cup of ice-cream or two here. Even if you have to pay extra.

I don’t’ believe that they had carrots and snow peas at the EG, but that’s OK, I didn’t need those.

They usually have snow peas and carrots at EG as well. I usually have some and some asparagus.

Don’t mind if I do! This was a Melon Vine. I remembered enjoying this one on the Wonder.

I like your thinking, girl! Love to see a drink or two.

Now that hot tub looks much more like it!

Still two people too much in there. Well, I guess I could live with sharing the hot tub a little bit.

 

[jedijill]

Oops, wrong ship.

Jill in CO

 

[mvf-m11c]

The Dream looks very nice and it will be nice to read and see your pictures of the ship and compare the difference between the other DCL ships.