Photo TR: Maiden Voyage of the Disney Dream!

[disneyfan1313]

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!

Edited February 4, 2011 by robbalvey

[disneyfan1313]

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.

Edited February 4, 2011 by disneyfan1313

[disneyfan1313]

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.

[disneyfan1313]

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.

[mightbeawannabe]

That ship looks amazing! I cannot believe the level of detail that they put into this... They really went all out with it. I'm dying to go on a Disney cruise now.

 

EDIT: Oops. I guess I wasn't supposed to post then...I didn't realize it was locked. Sorry!

Edited February 3, 2011 by mightbeawannabe

[disneyfan1313]

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.

[disneyfan1313]

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.

[disneyfan1313]

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..

[disneyfan1313]

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..

[SharkTums]

Thank you SOOO much for this review!!! The pictures and descriptions are fabulous. The ship looks and sounds amazing, as if there were any doubt it would be. We're patiently waiting for the Fantasy bookings to open up for October 2012. I'm going to need a full seven days on this ship for sure!

[COASTER FREAK 11]

I loved this! Amazing photos! I cant wait till I can afford a to cruise on this ship.

[Nisshoku]

That was super. Thank you for sharing the pictures. What an awesome experience.

[Yamez]

I'm about to go have a talk with the family to see if we can get a cruise together. That ship looks beautiful!

[Midgetman82]

It's too much for me to take in... Disney detailed every single inch of this ship, and it shows! I would love to go even near it! Great report and magnificent pictures!

[Meteornotes]

I won't bore you with too many food pics...

 

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS TOO MANY PICTURES OF FOOD!!!

 

Seriously, thank you so much for posting this. The ship looks amazing. And I want to go on it just to eat! We still need to go to Victoria & Alberts...

 

dt

[Gigalyte]

I've never had the desire to take a cruise until now, that ship looks amazing. What really sold me though even if it's a one time thing, is seeing Donald Duck on that water coaster

 

Thanks for a great TR

[Erik Johnson]

Two and a half more months......Yay!

[DJeXeL]

My mouth fell open after seeing these pictures. That ship is gorgeous!! Thanks for the pictures!!

[cazazoo]

This was a great TR. I was thinking about a cruise, now it will simply have to be on this ship!

 

Hey Robb, should get a TPR cruise with ERT on the water slide

 

Thanks for the great time, almost feel like I was there

 

Larry

[beatle11]

Wow! It really is a Dream! Thanks for sharing this.

[the ghost]

Another thing was just added to my bucket list. Wow, as a huge Disney fan I must get on this ship ASAP! Amazing TR!

[nursemelis374]

Thank you so much for this wonderful trip report! That ship is amazing. I was already impressed by the Disney ships but this looks even better!

 

The Pink champagne bar is so freakin' cute! It reminds me of An Affair To Remember and her ordering pink champagne on the ship!

[JimmyBo]

Holy Crap! That ship looks awesome! I can't wait to have kids old enough to take to Disney World and take them on a cruise! This ship looks amazing and I really like the virtual porthole. It's a nice touch and even for a cheaper room.

 

Jimmy "Disney is so freaking awesome!" Bo

[xmichellex]

Awesome!! Thanks so much for posting this!

[Airtime&Gravity]

Wow, this ship looks a lot better than I was expecting. I thought it would be very family friendly and kid oriented, but there looks like a lot for adults to do to. The ship looks great, and it shows how you can have a cruise ship that has a lot for kids to do, let alone up to Disney standards in this category, yet still have luxurious amenities for adults. It looks like a fun ship with something for everyone.