Very Merrytime Cruise December 11-15 TR - 20something Couples Trip - EMBARKATION DAY WITH PICS

Off to Neverland 7

DIS Veteran
Joined
Oct 15, 2014
Sailing: Disney Dream 4nt Very Merrytime Cruise
Date: December 11-15, 2017
Itinerary: Port Canaveral - Nassau - Castaway Cay - Sea Day - Port Canaveral


INTRO:
Hi, my name is Dea and this is my husband Kevin.

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We're a 20 something year old couple who LOOOOOVES traveling Disney style every chance we can get! This is our 3rd Disney Cruise and we want to share our experience with you! We sailed on the Dream for our first Very Merrytime Cruise. It was just as magical as it sounds and then some!


A little bit about us:

Dea (pronounced: day-uh):
Favorite Disney Character: Stitch and Baymax
Favorite Disney vacation: Disney Cruise Line!
Favorite WDW ride: Flight of Passage
Favorite WDW Park: Epcot


Kevin:
Favorite Disney Character: Genie
Favorite Disney vacation: Disney Cruise
Favorite WDW ride: Flight of Passage
Favorite WDW Park: Epcot (FOOD & WINE!!!!)


We hope you follow along our travel log. You can find more of our travel log and learn more about us here >> https://www.kevinanddea.com/blog/2018/5/26/disney-cruise-line-travel-log-day-1-embarkation-day

We also made a video dedicated to our 6 Reasons Why You Should Cruise With Disney + EPIC HORN BATTLE! Disney Wonder VS Disney Dream!

 
Nice report! Love the horn battle video. I was actually on this cruise so it's fun to see it from another perspective.
 




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- EMBARKATION DAY -

Sailing: Disney Dream 4nt Very Merrytime Cruise
Date: December 2017
Itinerary: Port Canaveral - Nassau - Castaway Cay - Sea Day - Port Canaveral

9am: Uber from Disney World Resort, Port Orleans French Quarterto Port Canaveral. It's about a one hour drive from Disney World to the Port. Ahh, so lovely seeing the ship as we're approaching :)

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10am: we arrived at the Port. First things first, we checked our bags with the porters and breezed right through security. When approaching security, you're asked to have your printed documents with you: booking/confirmation and passports for the entire party. The security line is like a smaller version of the airport with bag scanners and metal detectors.

1030am: Check in time! SIDE NOTE: I always choose the earliest check in time because I like to maximize the time we are on the ship. Earlier on the ship = the more food we can eat and the more time we have to enjoy the ship and start our vacation!

Check in was a breeze and only took about 10 minutes.

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10:45-11am: We waited in the terminal. There was a long line to take a picture with Minnie, then took a picture by the Christmas tree. And by the time we knew it, they called our group #2 and we were walking through the golden mickey to the Disney Dream.

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11:15am: First stop: LUNCH. For lunch, you have two options for food (they don't tell you this): Cabanas(the buffet) or the Enchanted Garden(restaurant that's a buffet on embarkation day.) All of the Disney employees will send you over to go to Cabanas so prepare for a MAD HOUSE trying to get anything (table, food, etc). Your best bet for a nice, relaxing first meal is going to the Enchanted Garden. The seasoned cruisers know this and it's way less crowded, no long lines and everything is available. They also serve your drinks in Enchanted Garden. At Cabanas is every man for themselves.. so we chose to eat at Enchanted Garden. I wished I had pictures but at this point, I was starving so no pics. I can guarantee you it was DELICIOUS.

12:15pm: After lunch, we explored ship - all of the kids clubs and areas are open house so we checked out those areas. We have some awesome footage of those clubs in our video. :) We also took a visit to the spa to sign up for the rainforest pass.

The Rainforest Room can be best described as a little taste of heaven. I guess in Spa terms, it would be considered the "spa facilities". Here you have 2 types of saunas, a hamam room, 4 different types of showers with scents (and they give you body scrubs each visit to make your skin feeling nice and soft.) There are heated lounger chairs where we took our daily naps and 2 jacuzzis.

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1:30pm: Rooms are available and we headed over to our room to drop off our day bags, unwind, put up magnets and fish extenders.

We stayed in Room 8662 in the Starboard Aft. It's a category 7A stateroom with an obstructed verandah.
- Reasons I chose this room: First time staying aft, 3 floors down from Cabanas (easy access to buffet and drink stations), right in the elevator wing (I was originally worried about our door opening right out to the elevators but turned out to be the best thing ever.) Quick and easy access to the room. Not as much noise as I initially thought there would be, and the highlight of choosing this room on the starboard side is the phenomenal view of Disney's Private Island, Castaway Cay.

- Thoughts on the room: while I loved the room and its location, there was a constant vibration and purr in the room that would NOT leave unless docked. And when docking in the mornings, there was a little shove in the room that would wake me up every morning at 7am.

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2:30pm: After getting settled in, we wasted no time and went straight back to the spa. This being our 3rd Disney Cruise, we already knew the ins and outs of the ship so we were R E A D Y to get the relaxing started. Ahh, look at that smile. I'm missing every bit of this.

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3:30pm: Spa raffle - no luck. Straight back to the Rainforest Room for more relaxing. We established a "routine"... hot tub + sauna + hamam + steam room + showers + 30 min nap on the heated loungers. We repeated this e v e r y d a y . No regrets.

4pm: we went to muster drill in our spa robes.. now mind you, we were staying Aft and we were in the spa that's located in the Forward of the ship.. so it was a L O N G walk to get to our muster station. We got some laughs and giggles from parents.. but honestly, they were just wishing they were enjoying the EMPTY spa too. ;)

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4:30pm: Being that this is our 3rd Disney Cruise, we skipped the sail away party and went straight back to the spa. We waved goodbye to reality, phone service and land from the comfort of our heated loungers.

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5:47pm We headed back to the room to get ready for the evening. While getting ready, we also ordered room service snacks because why not?

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7pm We last minute decided to skip the golden mickeys show (have seen it 3 times). Enjoyed atrium singers and the energy from the ship. Embarkation day is the best because everyone is SO. HAPPY!

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730pm Since this was a Very Merrytime Cruise, there were extra activities that are not normally available on regular cruises. Usually there's a Sail Away Party in the atrium, but this time it was Mickey's Treelighting Ceremony with Mickey and the gang and Santa. It was so cute! They made it snow in the atrium and the show was very classic Disney with all the feels. :)

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815pm We had late dinner. (There are two dinner times: 5pm and 8:15pm). Our dining rotation was AERE:
A = Animators Palate
E = Enchanted Garden
R = Royal Palace

So we had our first dinner in Animators Palate.

Thoughts: I always LOVE starting our cruise with a dinner at Animators Palate. It's fun, exciting and super Disney Themed. There are screens all over the restaurant and Crush and the gang visit you and your table for a unique dining experience. Crush learns your names and interacts with you.

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9:30pm After dinner, we explored some more. We looked through the shops, enjoyed the ship that was emptying out since all the families were going to sleep. :)

- There was a hot chocolate station set up so we helped ourselves.

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10pm: We moseyed on over to the Buena Vista Theatre to watch Coco. We held off on watching it in theaters knowing it was going to be on the ship. It was such a beautiful film and didn't expect to tear up through it. O B S E S S E D !

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After the movie, we took another stroll through the ship. It was like crickets in the lounges and clubs so we headed back to the room for some good shut eye. Successful embarkation day if you ask me. :)

Day 2 UP NEXT! Destination: Nassau, Bahamas.


We also made a video dedicated to our Very Merrytime Cruise with a full room tour and Wonder vs. Dream Horn Battle :)


 
Loved your day 1 post! My sister and I are going on our 1st cruise and it's a Merrytime cruise so I'm happy to see what is offered on the ship during that time.
 

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