Eric & Kevin Experience The Disney Dream

[live2tell75]

Part 1:

This past February some relatives, Kevin and I took a 4 night Bahamas cruise aboard the new Disney Dream. I had never been on a Disney cruise before. I had always wanted to but always went with a cruise line that was a little more reasonable. Last summer I earned employee of the quarter at work and I was able to book this cruise as my reward. I figured I'd use the reward on something I normally wouldn't do. What can I say, the ship was gorgeous we had a great time! Disney service was fantastic and since I love Disney, all the special extra details around the ship made for a magical cruise. I'll give my cruise line comparisons and final thoughts of the Disney Dream and Disney Cruise Lines at the end of my trip report. But first up: Part 1 of my photos! This update includes our first day, boarding the ship and exploring some of the areas of the ship. Enjoy!

Arriving at Port Canaveral ready to board the Dream.

While waiting to board the ship, my aunt and I with our cruise director, Minnie.

A cool model of one of the other Disney Cruise Line ships in the terminal.

First sight once onboard the Dream, the beautiful main lobby.

Off the main lobby lies the Bon Voyage bar.

Gorgeous artwork throughout the ship.

Once on board, we had lunch in the Enchanted Garden Dining room.

Modeled after a French garden, the Enchated Garden magically transforms from day to night during the course of your meal. Pretty clever.

Checked out my relatives balcony room. Looked similar to the balcony cabins on Royal Caribbean, but the major plus on Disney is the 2 bathroom setup - a toilet and sink in one part and the tub and sink in the other part. Wish more cruise lines had this design.

I've never been so excited to book an inside cabin as I was booking on the Disney Dream. If you don't know, on the Dream and soon to be sister ship the Fantasy, inside cabins have virtual port hole windows that broadcast live video footage of outside the ship. It does really seem like you have a porthole. Every 15 minutes or so, a Disney character may pass by your porthole for a little bit of Disney magic!

Exploring more of the ship: It's A Small World Nursery.

It's A Small World Nursery.

It's A Small World Nursery was too cute.

Disney's Oceaneer Club and Lab are highly interactive areas just for kids ages 3-10.

Part of Disney's Oceaneer Club and Lab - Andy's Room from Toy Story.

Part of Disney's Oceaneer Club and Lab - Monster's Inc. play area.

Vibe - a private club for teens.

More of the cozy Vibe private club for teens.

Vibe is home to individual gaming and iPod stations.

Vibe even has a private sundeck complete with a wadding pool, hot tubs, game tables and a smoothie bar.

Part of the main shopping area. The ship has about 6 different shops and boutiques.

We closed our first night on the ship with a broadway type production show "The Golden Mickey's" in the Walt Disney Theater. The 2 story theater was gorgeous. Even thou the Golden Mickey's is not unique show to the Dream, we found it very entertaining. That's it for now. Up next more exploring of the ship and a full day at Atlantis and Aquaventure. Stay tuned!

Edited May 6, 2011 by live2tell75

[moinab]

 

Can't wait to see more!

[Brandy524]

Gorgeous ship. What an awesome work reward! Looking forward to the rest of your report!

[nursemelis374]

Loving this report! Looking forward to more!

[SharkTums]

Still patiently waiting for Disney to announce the 2012 Fall Fantasy Itineraries for booking!!!

[cgodsey]

Elissa, I see the 2012 fall sailings posted on vacationstogo. We were also on the Dream in early February and we had a fantastic time. We are looking at a 7 night cruise on the Magic this October!

[SharkTums]

^OH SNAP!!! They put them up overnight!!! Woo!!!

[jray21]

Great report! The ship looks amazing. I'm really hoping to do a 2012 on one of the new ships!

[LoopLover]

I really need one of those models for my room! I wonder how much??

[live2tell75]

Thanks everyone for the kind words!

 

Part 2 features our day in Nassau. My relatives wanted to shop and Kevin and I wanted to go to Atlantis. Due to a work related trip, Kevin wasn't able to board our ship in Port Canaveral. So he flew into Nassau the night before we arrived and stayed at the Comfort Suites on Paradise Island. Once I arrived into Nassau I met him over at his hotel and we walked over to Atlantis. A major perk with Kevin staying at the Comfort Suites was that it is owned by Atlantis and all of their guests get full access to all the pools, Aquaventure water park, aquariums and marine exhibits. This helped us save a little bit of money instead of doing the ship's shore excursion to Atlantis.

 

Since Kevin works for an aquarium, he was really excited about checking out all the exhibits. They were pretty elaborate. I really enjoyed the water park. "The Current", a combo of a lazy river meets a wave pool was awesome. Through a series of conveyor belts it was great to not have to get out of your tube and be brought up to the 2 Masterblaster slides and 2 rapid slides. Even though it is really pricey and can be confusing to navigate, I'm glad that we spent the day at Atlantis, we had a blast. Onto the photos!

The DLounge, a family lounge that host game shows and character dance party. Later in the evening the wall with circles moved to reveal a pretty cool video wall that wrapped around most of the lounge.

A scene from one of my more recent favorite Pixar movies, Ratatouille.

The adults only Meridian lounge and cigar deck.

Meridian was quite cozy in the evening.

Palo, one of the 2 up-charge adults only restaurants.

Loved Palo's glass chandelier.

As you can see most of the tables in Palo have a fantastic view.

Palo features fine Italian cuisine. Remy, the other up-charge restaurant features fine French cuisine.

This view tells us that we made it to Nassau.

We made it to The Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island.

Inside one of the Atlantis lobbies, a beautiful Chihuly glass sculpture.

Yeah finally met up with Kevin!

One of the resort's many aquarium windows.

Kevin was very excited to see Manta Rays.

The Dig, is a highly themed labyrinth full of more gorgeous aquariums.

Inside The Dig.

Hello large Manta.

Inside "The Dig".

To get ready for our upcoming Gaga concert, Kevin found his "Little Monster" costume.

After "The Dig" it was time to enjoy the resort's water park, Aquaventure.

Aquaventure.

Aquaventure consisted of a dozens of tropical themed pools.

The Mayan Temple features a variety of slides.

One of the more popular slides is Leap of Faith, a free fall slide that travels through a shark infested lagoon.

"Serpent Slide" was our favorite slide of the day. This enclosed slide ends in a slow moving river that travels through the shark habitat.

Splashers is the resorts water fortress/playground.

The "Current" lazy river.

More of the "Current" lazy river.

Challenger Slides are a pair of racing waterslides that are connected to the Mayan Temple.

"The Abyss" body slide empties through a waterfall and into The Cenote' - an underground lair of prehistoric alligator gars and fish.

We made a stop to enjoy a few refreshing beverages.

Who doesn't loves shark tunnels!

Shark tunnels rock!

That's it for Atlantis. Up next our day on Disney's private island, Castaway Cay. Stay tuned!

[jray21]

"Serpent Slide" was our favorite slide of the day.

Of course it was!

 

Awesome report and pictures! I had a lot of fun at Atlantis, but the day was too short so we missed a bunch of stuff. Can't wait to see the Castaway Cay day!

[robbalvey]

Couple of random questions and notes...

 

Is this show the same one that plays at Hong Kong Disneyland?

 

Aquaventure looks very similar to the Dubai version, but without the Master Blaster slide complex...or did you just not have photos of that?

 

--Robb

[live2tell75]

"Serpent Slide" was our favorite slide of the day.

Of course it was!

 

You know it!

[live2tell75]

Couple of random questions and notes...

 

Is this show the same one that plays at Hong Kong Disneyland?

 

Aquaventure looks very similar to the Dubai version, but without the Master Blaster slide complex...or did you just not have photos of that?

 

--Robb

 

Not sure if it is the same show as in Hong Kong. The Dream's version includes a new number from the recent Disney film Tangled. Since I haven't seen the older version of the show on the other Disney ships, not sure of the other changes. Maybe Reed can explain the differences or someone who has been on both?

 

Aquaventure Paradise Island does include 2 Master Blaster slides (The Falls and The Surge) as part of the Power Tower slide complex. I didn't have my camera when we were over at the Power Tower complex. =( "The Current" lazy/rapids river I believe is similar to Dubai that brings guests via belts to the top of the Power Tower, the master blaster slides and 2 different rapids slides. There is also a typical relaxing lazy river that is in the older part of the resort.

[1pizza14]

Question about Atlantis. Last time I visited I was told you had to be a hotel guest in order to ride any of the waterslides/swim. Is this different now? Can you buy day tickets for just the water park?

[live2tell75]

Question about Atlantis. Last time I visited I was told you had to be a hotel guest in order to ride any of the waterslides/swim. Is this different now? Can you buy day tickets for just the water park?

 

As far as I know, you can visit the waterpark, Aquaventure and most the resorts marine exhibits only if you:

- Are a guest staying at Atlantis.

- Are a guest staying at an Atlantis affiliated or owned resort. (This is what we did).

- On a cruise line shore excursion. Most cruise lines that visit Nassau have shore excursions that visit Atlantis. I believe on our cruise if you wanted to just visit "The Dig" Aquarium it would cost you around $35.00. Our cruise 's "Aquaventure Shore Excursion" cwas around $165 per person. This included a day pass to the water park, "The Dig" and all of the marine attractions.

 

Note: When you have admission to the waterpark, it includes all slides, pools, rivers, beaches and marine exhibits. It doesn't not include animal interaction up-sell tours/experiences.

 

I have heard that there is possibility in off season, you may be able to walk up to the resort and buy a day pass to Aquaventure. But there are no guarantees that this will be available. The resort will want to make sure that their guests and even booked tours have priority. I think I did read somewhere when a day pass was available, it was over $100.00 per person.

 

I believe walking in off the street, you can purchase an admission to "The Dig" aquarium from between $25-$40 anytime.

 

And all of the resort's public areas, lobbies, casinos, mall, many of the restaurants and some aquarium exhibits are free for anyone to roam around at no charge.

[nursemelis374]

"Serpent Slide" was our favorite slide of the day.

Of course it was!

 

You know it!

 

I love you guys! Real World Europe lives on forever!

[gisco]

One of these days I am going to have to book a Disney cruise!

[live2tell75]

Part 3:

After our day at Atlantis, we had an amazing dinner in The Animator's Palate. Themed as an animator's drawing studio, during dinner, the entire room transforms to the underworld of FInding Nemo. Crush, the totally awesome turtle from the movie interacts with the dinning guests. If you have ever done Turtle Talk at one of the many different Disney parks, this is very similar. After dinner we explored the ship's 21 and up nighttime area called "The District". This area is home to 5 clubs and lounges where parents can enjoy a night without the kids. Onto the photos!

Kevin near the main lobby.

Tonight's rotational dinning features dinner at the Animator's Palate.

Theming was awesome!

Cool little touches on our table.

Crush interacting with dining guests.

Can't decide on dessert? Than try a little of each!

Our entire group agreed that our favorite dining experience was the Animator's Palate.

Time to check out "The District" a 21 and up only section of the ship that features about 5 bars and clubs.

First stop, The District Lounge, Features live entertainment.

Pink, is a cozy and elegant champagne lounge.

Skyline, a very cool lounge, through "video windows" features a different view of a city skyline from around the world, that changes every 15 minutes.

Evolution, is the ship's dance club. Features a pretty cool butterfly themed lighting ceiling.

687, a sports bar showing all types of games on a dozen t.v.s.

That concludes tonight's update. Next up our day at Cast Away Cay, stay tuned!

[jray21]

Great report, the desert looked amazing! Glad Animator's Palette was looking really good. Can't wait to see more.

[nay]

Wow, the ship looks amazing! Sounds like you guys had a blast. Can't wait to see the rest!

 

I saw a Disney cruise ship in person for the first time ever today, and it just happened to be the Dream. I was so jealous of the people on the water slide!!

[live2tell75]

Thanks Joey and Renee!

 

Part 4: Castaway Cay

 

Our next day was a full day on Disney's private island, Castaway Cay. It was gorgeous. What I liked was that our cabin key card worked on the island just like on the ship. We paid for snorkeling equipment and any shopping with our card. It was great. The BBQ beach style picnic was plentiful, yummy and like the food on the ship was included. The island had lots of activities for every type of person. Snorkeling, parasailing, glass bottom boat rides, plenty of different beaches (including an adults only beach), wet/dry playgrounds for the kids. One of the best things was the tram system that picked you up at the dock and made 4 stops around the island, very convenient.

 

Kevin enjoyed the island but felt that it was too much like a theme/water park. He thought it seemed too perfect and would have liked it to be a little more wild/natural. He felt it was like Disney went in and probably killed every bug on the island so it wouldn't be a nuisance to the guest. I still liked it a lot and was perfect for me. Onto the photos!

Kevin and I in Castaway Cay, Disney's private island.

With my aunt.

Castaway Cay was gorgeous.

With Paula and the Dream in the distance.

Castaway Cay features adults only and family friendly beaches.

Did a little bit of snorkeling.

Saw a few fish.

Disney had placed man made coral reef balls to help attract coral to grow.

Every so often you would find pieces of a shipwreck, which was pretty cool.

Some of the island's shops.

With some friends.

Good-bye Castaway Cay, you were perfect.

Hello again, Dream.

Once back on the ship, it was "Pirate" themed night.

When asked what my aunt would like for dessert, she said she was full. So our awesome waiter brought this plate in which she got a kick out of.

Our entire dinning staff took great care of us throughout the cruise.

Pirate night ended with a outdoor pirate stage show and a bunch of firworks. This isn't a good example, I didn't have the best view, but it was fun. Next up our Final day at sea, exploring the rest of the ship including The AquaDuck! Stay tuned!

[SharkTums]

Funny to hear Kevin's thoughts on Castaway Cay as they exactly mirror my families!!!

 

Here we were on this beautiful warm tropical island and we didn't see one ant, bug, bird, lizard, anything. Disney totally came in and like nuked the place!

 

I much prefer Royal Caribbean's Labadee Private 'island' to Disney's.

[Erik Johnson]

Just a few more days!

 

[Moose]

I wonder what they actually did to get it that "perfect."

 

I love the dessert plate!