Just got off the Dream today from 2nd sailing.

[travlingrlclt]

We had great weather. It was really too cold to go in the ocean in the Bahamas and Castaway. We mainly just stayed on the beach. It was quite toasty on the beach. The pools on the boat were nice.

[vicki2011]

In Castaway Cay did the ship back in or pull straight in?

[travlingrlclt]

In Castaway Cay did the ship back in or pull straight in?

 

Back up

[100viper]

Any pics?

[Friscorays]

Would love to hear your thoughts on pretty much every aspect of the ship that you might care to share!

[travlingrlclt]

Yes, I am getting pics downloaded. It is AMAZING boat. Especially everything is so new. I've been on every cruise line just about and this boat far exceeds them all. I can't go on any other. I plan on doing the new Disney sister ship (fantasy) next year.

The kids club blew me away. My 4 year old has never wanted to stay at a kids club and I had to drag him out every day/night. It was HUGE. They have this big thing they wear on their wrist and when you go to check them out, they can tell you what section your child is in (otherwise it would take you a long time to find your child b/c there are so many rooms/sections).

Food and wait staff was amazing. They head waiter told us they took 30% crew from magic and from wonder and the rest are new. You could tell b/c they had no idea where out tables were when we sat down. Plus the first night we had a 2 hr dinner. My 4 year old was crying screaming b/c he was so hungry. One lady complained at our table and the service was great the rest of the trip.

I will say checking in was a nightmare. We got to the port at like 11am and it took an hour and 1/2 to get through the line. My 4 year old was hot, cranky, hungry , crying etc. I've never had to go through a line so long at a port. On the flip side getting off this morning was a breeze. I had posted on this board weeks ago would I make it to an 11:55 flight and everyone said don't do it. I got to the airport at 9:15! I didn't even try to get off early. I took my time. Thankfully I got an earlier flight home.

The pools were great, the aquaduck was much more thrilling than I knew. I love how you can swipe your "card of the world" on a kiosk and all your pics are shown and you can pick on the screen what you want. No more looking through pics all hung up.

I will say the adult pool was poorly planned. I visited a couple times and there is an elevator right by the pool. So everyone uses it as a cut through to get to the big pools. They should have made it more secluded as it says no one under 18 but tons of families w/ kids use it as a cut through.

This is the first boat i've been on where I could not hear a noise. I had no idea if we were moving or not...it was that quiet!

The one thing I was disappointed in was lack of tv channels. There were like 5 and no movie channels. It was like 2 CNN's, disney chanel, abc (but always seemed to say due to fcc regulations cannot show) and 2 espn. Every cruise line I've been on always showed movies or had other stations. So when my son went to bed I was a bit bored. I did watch a couple of movies in their theater on board.

I also didn't like that we were assigned show times. We had the 5:00 time assigned and we never got to go b/c we ate at 6pm and getting ready at 4pm for dinner for the night wasn't feasable.

[jenseib]

Thanks for your info. can't wait to see your pictures.

I have heard they have free on demand movies from someone else.

[Friend100]

We have also come back. IMO I think 4 days Bahamas is just right for us. It gives the children something to look forward to for the next one.

 

The third evening was a bit chaotic, with the change of the show time to 6:30pm and 8:30pm, and having the Mickey's Pirates party on deck at 8pm and then have to wait for the firework at 10:30pm.

 

edit: with respect to the assigned show time, we were assigned 9pm but we went to the 5pm show and there were plenty of seats, they still scan our card but they let us in.

[Friend100]

My DD (8yo) loved the Aquaduck. The best time to go (at least in our case) was Nassau port day late morning.

 

Castaway Cay day was great. Water wasn't too cold IMO and the kids had lots of fun at the Pelican Plunge slide.

[maddmaxx]

I too took the ride on the January 30 Dream and would have to agree with the original poster... the bat is unlike any that I have ever been on... it is a nice, biggggggg, boat. And while we had incredibly calm seas it was indeed a quiet, smooth sailing. Here's my take on the overall experience, which was our eighth trip on one of the mouse's ships...

 

FOOD - ok, I'm a meat and potatoes kind of guy but will eat most anything... the food in the main dining rooms was ok... never bad, never fantastic, but always good and plenty of it. I would have preferred chow down in the buffet as the chow there was always fantastic, plentiful, and the variety could not be beat. Main dining service was provided by two apparent newbies... there were a couple of gliches but they busted their hump for their hungry minions and really went overboard to ensure we were all happy. They hit stride by mid cruise and meals went off without a hitch. PALOS - we've always managed to grab a bite at Palos on all of our Disney trips and were a bit bummed when we couldn't score a reservation on the DCL webste... disappointed by not a deal breaker. On a lark we happened by the eatery while in Nassau, ran into the manager, who was happy to book us a table. When I told him I did not pack a jacket he advised, no worries... it was better than any previous Palos experience... our waiter, Nino, set the bar for superb service. We tried to book another meal, no dice, they were booked up. They say Remy's is better than Palos.... man, I can't imagine how that could be.

 

SHOWS - we never went to our assigned show time and were never denied access. Not sure how seriously they will enforce that rule. We seemed to always find our way to the nine o'clock show and it was never full... typical Disney fluff... all in all, good shows.

 

ELEVATORS/ADULT AREAS - Since we are kid free we enjoyed both ends of the ship. Got our kid fix early in the day... fun watching the little house apes at the pools and such. And when we found our way to the front of the boat, the adult areas, it just as advertised... quiet, actually kind of sparse... makes me wonder how full the ship was... we never, ever had an issue finding a quiet spot, a lounge in the sun or shade, even during the sea day... (anyone know how full the ship was?) Reference the elevator being the only point of access to the pools... if I recall, there was one midship where they dished up the burgers, pizza, sandwiches, and salads... since our cabin was deck five, forward, we used the one that took you to the pool deck (12) and never had an issue with the kids. Note about elevators... man, they were quick and never crowded... (with exception of the lifts midship or the one were you got on and off the ship while in port... those got a bit busy during peak hours... still, best, most efficient lifts I have dealt with in 14 plus cruises)

 

ADULT NIGHT SPOTS - all I can say is, WOW... recovering from some surgery so I found myself folding around 10 or 11 every night... good news is that leaves plenty of rum left for the rest of you!) We walked through the entertainment district three or four times before caving in for the night... each and every one of them is very impressive. Pinks really impressed me as being a very intimate, quiet place for couples to hang out...

 

TELEVISION - Who needs TV on a boat as nice as the DREAM?!?!? I do... it helps me sleep... the original poster is correct... the channels leave much to be desired but if you jump on the menue you will find a gaggle of movies and stuff to stare at until you drift off to sleep... not first run stuff but sufficiently entertaining.

 

ETC - Love the verhandas (-5, sp)... we were surprised to find that one of the lower priced rooms with a porch, I can spell porch, had a larger than standard one... staterooms 55xx... probably twice as big as the standard verhanda... that's the plus... downside is people above you can look down on you if you are sitting close to the railing... there is privacy back towards the room... still, it was kind of cool having a big balcony...

 

All in all it was a great ride on a great boat... Nassau still sucks and seems to be getting worse every visit... kind of cool, since it was cool we slept with the door to the ver-ahn-da, ah, balcony open every night... coming into port around 4am I was rattled out of the sack by what sounded like a boat horn... thought I was dreaming until I heard it over and over agian... it was really kind of cool to hear it... got up for a look and never saw anything... reckon it was the first bouy marking the entrance to Port Canaveral... anyone else hear it.... we've sailed in and out of there a bunch of times and I had never heard it before... kind of cool.

 

That is all

[dpy11]

Hi- I was wondering if you noticed in the kids club, if any of the counselors spoke spanish? We are thinking of taking our godson on this cruise, but his english is somewhat limited, so we are not sure he would be comfortable staying there on his own? If he's isn't would we be able to stay with him there?

 

Thank you!

[travlingrlclt]

Hi- I was wondering if you noticed in the kids club, if any of the counselors spoke spanish? We are thinking of taking our godson on this cruise, but his english is somewhat limited, so we are not sure he would be comfortable staying there on his own? If he's isn't would we be able to stay with him there?

 

Thank you!

 

There are a ton (like 20 it seemed) in the kids club. I'm sure someone might happen to speak spanish as they all come from different parts of the country but all the activities are done in english and games are all in english so not sure how much fun he would have if he can't communicate or understand what is going on.