disneyfan1313

Awww.. I was kinda hoping they were going to fail in a much more dramatic fashion than by the hands of the planning board. I am a bit surprised as well that the residents of that area showed up to a planning board meeting - it is NOT a very good area at all.

Flights booked through the cruise line are always more expensive than if bought standalone, the cruise lines get kickbacks by the airlines. As a general rule, the flights are not the *best* - but not always more expensive. The cruise lines don't get what most people think of as kickbacks - they simply get bulk/group rates in most cases. Domestic flights are almost never a good option to purchase from the cruiseline and will generally not be that competitive in price and will often have connections when you normally would not. Some luxury lines will have great air specials (2 for 1, first class upgrades) but they are often flying in at off times or with strange connections. The one "benefit" that convinces some people to buy through the line is the protection that you will still get to the ship in some way on the cruise lines dime if your flight has issues. You can avoid this worry by flying in the day before or purchasing generic vacation insurance if you are really worried. In your specific case - I would NEVER buy from the cruise line. Boston - Florida is a VERY competitive route that always has direct, cheap flights. You probably will fly into Fort Lauderdale, but if for some reason you chose a ship that leaves from Miami - your cheapest flight will still probably be into Fort Lauderdale and then you can get transportation down south. Freedom class ships are HIGHLY reviewed and very well liked. There is quite a price premium for Oasis / Allure - in many cases you can get a Veranda on a freedom class for less than you would get an inside on Oasis / Allure. Unless you *really* want to do Oasis based on the itinerary... go for Freedom class.

We are all happy to help! The TPR Cruise Forum? Honestly, Cruise Critic really is the best out there. Cruise Mates is probably the 2nd best one that I have found, but Cruise Critic has the deepest information available. I have sailed during hurricane season many many times and have never had an issue. Is there a chance? Of course.... Is it worth worrying about? No. I have had a few friends who have been diverted with the worst one being on a cruise when the three hurricanes hit florida... They got an extra 3 days on the ship! As with any vacation, be flexible and willing to take things in stride and you will be fine. This really is a preference thing. I personally NEVER use a travel agent - but I know Elissa has one that has worked great for her and her family for years. But our crusing and booking styles are also very different... I almost always do last minute deals and almost never book more than 30 days in advance...sometimes only a week or two! I personally have found the prices and perks offered by agents to be the same or higher than what is offered directly by the cruise lines. I research prices through multiple sites (using some online agents as bases... I personally like vacationstogo.com as a search engine) and then book directly through the cruiseline if the price is the same. If you use an agent - make sure they are good... I have seen and heard many horror stories about agents that manage to screw up entire vacations. In summary... do what works best for you and gets you the best deal based on your booking and cruising style. Just never *assume* the agent has your best interests or the best price....do your own research as well. Let us know if you have any more questions!

Wow! That is worth watching. Very interesting to see the show stop in the middle, crazy speaker action, etc. I wonder how many similar videos will pop up over the next few days.

^^^^ It was insane how quickly they got the ropes down in the video! I will echo that the calmness and organization of Japan will be their saving grace in the middle of this tragedy. It is really hard to understand how perfect they are at handling chaos unless you have been there.

I agree! With some research and flexibility, we have saved a ton of cash by never doing ship shore excursions. The cruise critic boards are INCREDIBLY helpful resources and will either let you know how to do it on your own or provide you with some names of trusted tour operators. Good luck!

^ I would actually disagree with you. I think the differences are much more pronounced on the older ships. Sure - the ships are similar and the itineraries are similar so the differences in the clientele, entertainment and atmosphere are much more obvious. I've been on both the oldest ship in the Carnival fleet (the Fantasy at the time) and the oldest n the RCCL fleet (the Sovereign at the time) in a very short span of time. The differences were SHOCKING and VERY noticeable on the older ships. The newer Carnival ship seemed to try a bit harder and the differences were not quite as pronounced.

Awesome! I have always wanted to visit this place simply for the kitch factor. Any pics of the food? What did you have that was *that* horrible?

As someone who has cruised on Carnival two times in addition to sailing on every major line (with the exception of HAL) I feel like I can throw my two cents in here. Carnival is a VASTLY different product than what is offered from the other major lines. They pattern everything about the cruise from the music to the activities to the food / drink selection to appeal to a first time, lower middle-class cruiser. There is nothing wrong with this at all - they are simply filling a market that there is a demand for. Just as some folks prefer wal-mart (who chases after a similar demographic) to Target or gas station coffee to Starbucks. Many of the folks on this board (and generally folks who have cruised more than a few times) prefer other lines and the experiences that they offer to the one that Carnival offers. Frankly, if you look for deals, the prices on RCCL or NCL are not much more expensive and you get a much better experience. Lets face it - cruising is a TON of fun, no matter what line you go on. Every one offers a unique experience and I encourage everyone to try as many different lines as possible to find out what you like the best. If I could - I would create a hybrid - I would take.. The food of Princess The service and entertainment of Disney The itineraries of Celebrity The nightlife of Norwegian The luxury of Cunard and throw it on an RCCL ship with RCCL activities...

^ For Birthdays they will do a cake and sing in the dining room. Your stateroom host/hostess *might* do something small for you as well. They do offer packages for birthdays (for a fee) which can get you decorations, larger cakes or deserts, wine, etc. You can meet the ship later if you miss the original port. I actually did this once... on purpose! I couldn't make the first few days of a cruise due to work obligations so I flew directly into Grand Cayman and checked into the ship when I arrived! It was a bit of a weird experience but it is possible and ships are very prepared for it.

Awesome TR! Stacey and I loved watching "The Great Food Truck Race" - I really hope they do another one! Bummer the nom-nom folks weren't the one from the show. We have a severe death of food trucks in Orlando... Last great food truck we hit was in NYC - www.biggayicecreamtruck.com/. I had "The Salty Pimp" and it was awesome.. Big Gay Ice Cream Truck for the win.

Yay for other people who take pictures of their food!!! We randomly have the only Crave outside of Minnesota in Orlando... good stuff. Looking forward to more!!

^ Thats awesome! Could it be John Stamos? I thought I remembered that he purchased the Disneyland marquee....

Good chance that Stacey and I will be able to make it.. Woot!

Actually you would be surprised! DCL does enforce dress code very strictly in the upcharge restaurants (Palo and Remy) and will enforce the general dress code (no tank tops, shorts, etc) in the main dining room. They do have a "dress-up" night which is really only enforced by peer pressure. I personally really enjoy dressing up on a cruise... I'm the weirdo who will put on my tux and then wear it all night until 2am when the clubs close!

Awesome videos! Why is it only the coasters that you would pay money to get OFF of, end up going around twice!

Thanks everyone for the great comments! I really appreciate it. Some of the photos were taken by me on my little sony, but most of the good ones were taken by our friend Dana on her SLR. She is an AMAZING photographer. Nope - never felt crowded, and our sailing was sold out. One of my favorite things about DCL is that you hardly ever see children bored and roaming the halls like you do on other lines. They are almost always occupied in their special areas. Not sure about the beer - I know they serve Guinness and Heineken as imports but I don't think they have any craft or unique ales.

Last days suck... It's formal night for us...cause we are going to the highest-end restaurant on any cruise ship in the world.. Remy! It was insane.. better than Victoria and Alberts.. and everyone working in there was from France. Cute touch! Dinner started off with a complimentary cocktail that had the Dreams exclusive champagne, pear vodka, and fruits in the glass. And a limited edition Evian bottle that they said wouldn't be available anywhere else until March. You can see the fruits in the bottom of the cocktail glass. This was seriously the best drink I have had ANYWHERE. The menu! You can choose either the tasting menu from the french Michelin starred chef or the American chef, Scott Hummel who has Victoria and Alberts. Everyone starts off with Ratatouille with olive oil ice cream. Dinner has just started and Stacey is already in a food heaven! This was the "Tomato" three ways. It was awesome and indescribable. It was served with a champagne flute of a tomato juice cocktail. This was the fish course. It was officially a 5 course dinner if you didn't count the amuse bouche, etc. I had the pigeon pie... Which had pigeon and foie gras layered inside the pastry. So decadent. Our friend had the Waygu Beef... almost as good as Kobe. Cheese plate time! Everything was hand carved - 8 selections of cheeses. I had the chocolate in gold leaf along with the spicy chocolate drink for desert. Oh.. but then there is the after desert sweet tray... SERIOUSLY. Oh... and the house made chocolates that came with the check!!!!!! Thanks Remy! You alone would be worth going on another cruise for! SECOND DINNER TIME!!! This time its Animators Palate. This one is different than the other two ships..it's more like Turtle Talk with Crush for an entire restaurant. Enjoying our Remy lollypops while waiting for more food.. Awww. its the goodbye show.. I always get sad.. Back to the room.. finally a normal towel animal! And a commemorative coin for the voyage! One of the other cool touches in the stateroom is built in nightlights. No more tripping in the dark! We always kept our virtual porthole on! More exploring the ship! The photo system uses facial recognition to find you and then shows you all your photos on a screen.. .. or if you would rather see prints it will tell you where your staterooms photos are stored.. ... and you have a book filled with only your staterooms photos! One last trip to pink to share a glass of pink champagne! It comes with really good Panna Cotta. How on earth do we still have room! We just noticed the bar is a corset! Sad times... our final breakfast.. Thanks Disney Dream for an amazing cruise! hmmm.. this ship looks like it might be fun..

More, More, More! I have NEVER seen a ship with this before! They have these high powered below water lights that make it look like the sea is glowing around the ship. Surprise when we got back to our room.. we got into Remy on the last night of our cruise!!!! Tonights gift was a book on the making of the ship signed by the captain... ....and another creepy pajama animal.. The next morning Peach from Finding Nemo visited us on our Virtual Porthole! Woot! We are at Castaway Cay! And there is a huge banner welcoming the Maiden Voyage... thats us! Another unique "why don't more cruise lines have this" thing.. its an automatic gangway that extends out of the ship and levels itself to the dock! No more creaky and scary gangway. And a large hand santizer dispensing kiosk. She is a beautiful ship.... Its nice not to have to tender at a private island! Castaway Cay has an "Adults Only" beach called appropriately enough... Serenity Bay. TONS of hammocks that are great to take a nap on. There is a new kids water play area on the island... Characters are available without much of a line.. And a yummy lunch is available at three places on the island.. We decided to try the newest location. Most private islands have a very limited buffet.. DCL wins hands down with theirs.. Oh, and unlimited free soda on the ship AND island doesn't hurt either! This is the new waterslide complex. It was a little to cool for our tastes to try it. Shooting random people with cold water is always fun! We had to visit the pier where we got married.. it just has a different ship in the background! Headed back to the ship you can really see how the AquaDuck extends over the side.. Its a little scary! We did the early matinee of the new show "Believe" since we had another two dinner night..

It's time for a day at sea!!! We were sleeping in when we were awaken by the captain telling us that in 15 minutes there would be a horn battle between the Magic (docked at Castaway Cay) and the dream.. We got ready VERY quickly! It was very cool.. The magic and wonder can play "When you wish upon a star" with their horns. The dream can do 6 different things including small world, yo ho yo ho, etc. It was fun to hear. Ice cream before breakfast? If you want.. why not! They then announced they would do the "Christening of the AquaDuck"! They had water from Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach to christen it with. AND Donald Duck was going to ride it! We think him riding is a one time only occurrence. It was really fun to watch. It is a more mild water coaster but offers some amazing views when you go over the side of the ship! Lunch was at the Royal Palace which is themed to the Disney Princesses. Meat on a stick? Yes Please! Then you can meet the princesses in the lobby outside! The day at sea flew by.. it was now time to take some sunset photos... Maxing and Relaxing... Then we saw the "remix" of the Golden Mickey's. .. Did the Midship Detective Agency, which is the interactive game using the enchanted art throughout the ship. Then it was time for our dinner at the Royal Palace! More awesome food... Not only do you rotate restaurants every night, but the servers follow you and change their costumes as well! Our servers were AWESOME and brought us one of each desert that night! This mural should look familiar to anyone who has walked through Cinderella Castle in the Magic Kingdom. DCL still does the complete wrap-around promenade deck which is one of my favorite places to walk at night.

It's Pirate Night! They now have two pirate parties.. one earlier geared to kids then the later one with dancing and fireworks. We saw both.. the kids one was actually a really cute and fun show. Totally different than the show on the magic and wonder Dinner time! It's Pirates themed dinner night! Whats better for Pirates to eat than a big steak! Now its time for CLUB PIRATE!!! (said with bass beats in the background...) Fireworks were totally different and WAY more impressive than the Magic and Wonder. DCL is the only line that has the special permission needed to do fireworks at sea. In the middle of the show, guess who repels down the giant screen? Then a crazy pirate dance party with a *great* DJ who was actually mixing live ensues.. The search lights on top of both stacks made it even more of a crazy party atmosphere. It was really a ton of fun dancing with all the pirates. Lets head back to the skyline for the after party. Looking at the window we are now in NYC. Why does the menu have that strange glow.... The menu glows of course! It's the simple things that amuse us the most... All the drinks are themed to the different cities that you "visit" as the rooms change. Evolution is hopping. That is the *real* dance club. Theming is cool...but very "vegas" and less "Disney" than the Magic and Wonder. Back to pink... we always come back here! It is literally in a bubble and is so cool! Back to the stateroom and we have a creepy snake thingy made out of Pajamas.. Umm.. can we stick with the towel animals!!??!? There was also a gift in our room each night. Tonights was a maiden lithograph done by one of the artists that was sailing on the cruise.

On to the second day! The second day in the morning was when we have to pick up our reserved limited edition merch that we selected before the cruise even started! Pretty mural behind the guest services desk. A special band from Nassau that greeted us on the dock. This is as much of Nassau as we saw on this trip.. it was time to explore the ship for us! Late breakfast at Cabannas! This is the casual buffet type place. Really nice theming inside.. very beachy and lots of room. They actually seated you before you went to the buffet which helped tremendously with crowd control. There were a few beautiful tile murals throughout the ship... this was a nice Finding Nemo one. Hey! I know that place! ... And that one as well! LOOOONG line for the Aquaduck. We did it the next day when it was cold out! They have these cool portholes you can stand on and look down over the water. Time to explore more around the ship! More ornate bathrooms! This is the one for Palo. The kids areas are even more amazing and themed than the Magic and Wonder. We couldn't get her out of the boat.. no idea why! It's split up into age groups.. the Lab and the Club in addition to the preteen and teen clubs the Vibe and Edge. Everyone has to swipe their card to pass through these gates. That way you control the kids and the adults! They had these hand washing machines of the future.. These were so much fun - we used them 3 times! They wash and massage your hands as the same time! Kids areas have lots of different rooms with continual activities throughout the day. I wanted to stay here and play! The Monsters Inc room. Interactive art with a steering wheel! its starting to get dark out.. lets get ready for dinner and explore outside! It's pirate night! Stacey is in her best wench outfit. Adult pool looks awesome at night with barstools in the pool. Really cool lounge area near the front of the ship. The Aquaduck looks awesome at night! It is more of a scenic ride than a thrilling watercoaster but it is still fun and really cool! Time to see "Villans Tonight" which is one of the new stage shows. It stars Hades, Pain and Panic.

There can't be more photos... can there be?!?!! What are we looking in amazement at? The fact that we are doing second dinner on our first night of the cruise! We didn't want to miss dinner in enchanted garden so we decided to do it after Palo! Yummy! They also had special Maiden Voyage menus that we got to keep from all of the restaurants. Those of you from our table on Robb's 40th birthday cruise remember me doing this a lot.. Once again..the food was just awesome everywhere. Very impressive. The restaurant looks awesome as it starts to turn to "night". After dinner we wanted to hit the shops! The shops got INSANE after the first night and all the cool maiden voyage merch was quickly bought up. I could have a whole TR just of restroom pics. Very cool furnishings in all of them. Lets go visit the club area... called "The District". Very different feel than the Magic and Wonder... more "Vegas". Our first visit to the Skyline Lounge. Those "windows" behind the bar are actually large HD screens. The "location" of the bar changes every 15 minutes. Gotta stop in pink.. it's the champagne bar. They serve an exclusive pink Tattenger champagne that is only available in that lounge! Late night is a great time to take lobby pics.. I can't get over the detail everywhere! The enchanted art is awesome! It's all over the ship and is both fun to watch come alive (think Harry Potter paintings) and to play an interactive game with. Time for bed! Our friend Dana gets the upper bunk. which has a cool Peter Pan star motif for you to see as you fall asleep.

More photos! Sure! Now it is time for us to head to our dreamy stateroom. We are SO excited!!!!!! We chose an inside stateroom both the save $$$ (maiden voyages are NOT cheap!) and also to experience the "Magical Porthole". Very nice finishings and a bit of a higher end feel than the magic and wonder. INSANELY comfortable bed. Lots of space and LOTS of outlets to plug stuff in! Woo-Hoo! Lots of room to hide things and luggage... very well designed. That couch turns into a bed and also has one that comes from the ceiling as well! We also got cool "Maiden Voyage" Mickey hands on a stick to wave during the sail-a-way celebration. Speaking of which.... free champaign! It was given to us in a special maiden voyage glass that we got to keep! Free refills of the limited edition champaign commemorating the inaugural year? Sure! So much fun and the party hasn't even started yet! The show was very cute although I missed the random HS Musical music from the old one.. this was more of a finished "show". There was a plane flying a special banner around the ship! A sky writer writing BON VOYAGE DREAM around teh ship! And tons of confetti! It was awesome and over the top! A tradition with DCL is to have the terminal folks wave with Mickey gloves as you pull away. But this time all the bars and restaurants we passed had them as well! And the huge park before you entered the ocean was filled with folks wishing us well! We ran quickly through the mini golf area but didn't end up having time to play on our cruise! Back to the stateroom to grab our WAVE phone.. free phone calls to anyone on the ship. So much easier to keep track of parties.. I wish all ships had these! Noticed the cute pillow as well... Good news is we managed to get a reservation at PALO! This is the upscale and upcharge Italian restaurant. Very different look than the Magic and Wonder's Palo. More classic and dark... but same amazing food. I won't bore you with too many food pics... but this is the awesome Antipasti. And the best shrimp I have ever had in my life! The interactive TVs in the stateroom have FREE on-demand movies and TV shows... not just Disney ones either. I have never seen this for free on any other line.

When we heard that the Disney Dream was going to be sailing in 2011 we knew we HAD to be on its Maiden Voyage. We *love* cruising (shameless plug for the TPR Cruise Thread) and the Disney Cruise Line ships are very special to us. Our favorite is the Disney Wonder since we got married on it in 2007 but we love the Magic almost as much! The Maiden Voyage is the first *official* voyage of a new cruise ship - there are generally a few "test" trips before the maiden voyage to work out bugs and get the press a chance to experience it. This was a 4 day cruise with stops in Nassau, a day at sea and a stop at Disney's private island of Castaway Cay. Overall we were INCREDIBLY impressed and happy with our experience - there were a few small bugs (wake up calls not working) and a few things we prefer the look of on the older ships...but the new ones are amazing. The technology that is integrated into this ship is mindblowing - everything works off of the RFID chip that is in your room card and everything just works together from the photos to the stateroom door to the seating for the shows to ....well - everything! Anyways... enough talking - onto the photos! We were pretty worried because the drive to the port was foggy, rainy, and COLD. Normally you can see the ships perfectly from this point. We got their super-early.. as did everyone else! We had to wait outside in the cold for about 90 minutes until we could enter the terminal. Still cold...but at least the rain has lightened up. We can also see our awesome ship in the background! DCL goes for a very classic ocean liner look with dual stacks... one is just for show however. Finally we get to head into the terminal! The sun has started to come out to welcome us. We started to notice all the maiden voyage signage and touches EVERYWHERE. Our first daily navigator! This is where you find out all the activities for the day. See that small listing of numbers where it says "001" - first cruise! Photo ops were all over the place in the terminal. DCL has a custom built terminal which is very nice and not shared with other lines like most. OMG the maiden voyage stuff was everywhere! And it can only be used for this one! Even Mickey got in the act! now the real one comes out to visit in his Captain outfit. A special band was brought into the terminal for the celebration as well. Almost time to board - for those of you who have not sailed DCL before.. people NEVER hug the gate like this. It was crazy! Finally on board! We run to the D Lounge to check for Palo or Remy reservations (their upcharge restaurants). Only to find they are still all booked.. Lounge has a cool retro meets modern feel though! This is the equivalent of Studio Sea on the Magic and Wonder. But it has these weird foam chairs... yeah - these chairs are literally made of foam! We ran through the lobby but now take a closer look.. Beautiful! OMG. It really just *feels* luxurious. Lunch is through these gates at the Enchanted Garden! They have a homemade gellato bar... a first for DCL. Really pretty inside - when you eat here at dinner the entire restaurant converts from day to night. The plates were all custom designs in the restaurants. It's these details that make DCL for us. See! DCL exclusive! Yeah, I am a geek. Lunch was *awesome*. We were very surprised and happy with the food quality the entire cruise.. it was a step up from the already great Magic and Wonder. Pretty fountain with Mickey in a toga!