My First Disney Cruise! A PICTURE Review of Disney Dream!!

[jwalk03]

Going to share some thoughts and LOTS and LOTS of pictures from out 3-day cruise on the Disney Dream. Cruising were Me (Justin, 28), my fiance (Misti, 31), and our daughter (Allison, 20 months). This was mine and Misti's 4th cruise, our 1st on Disney. The previous 3 were all Carnival cruises. This was Allison's 1st cruise!

 

Since this was our first Disney cruise, after 3 times on Carnival I will try to offer comparisons between the 2 as I go. Also I will try to offer tips and tricks for traveling with a small child, which we were nervous about going into it, but turned out great!

 

I planned this cruise for 2 reasons, I was able to book a balcony guarantee rate, which was definitely a good deal for a Disney cruise, and I also really wanted to surprise Misti and Allison with a fun little getaway, and this just worked so well.

 

The 3-day Disney Dream Itinerary leaves from Port Canaveral and visits Nassau and Castaway Cay, with no sea days. In retrospect I really wish I had booked the 4-day instead of 3 so that we would have had a sea day to really enjoy the Disney Dream, There was so much to do on board and so little time.

 

We drove to Pt. Canaveral from Ohio. We stopped around halfway in Tennessee somewhere and spent one night, just because we were too exhausted in drive anymore. We then spent the night before the cruise at a hotel in Orlando which is approximately one hour from Pt. Canaveral.

 

I am a big Hard Rock Cafe collector and fan, so I wanted to visit the Orlando Hotel and Cafe since we were in the neighborhood, which is why we stayed in Orlando instead of Pt. Canaveral. If you like Hard Rocks, you should definitely visit these 2 properties! They are very impressive, and the cafe is the largest one in the world. Once Allison is old enough to appreciate Universal Studios in a few more years, I will definitely come back to stay at this Hard Rock Hotel, even though its pretty expensive.

 

Here are a few pictures of the HRC Orlando.

 

 

 

[jwalk03]

And some pictures from the Hard Rock Hotel Orlando.

 

 

 

 

 

[jwalk03]

So after exploring the 2 HR properties in Orlando it was off to bed. We got a deal on kayak for a 1 night stay at an Extended Stay America right by Universal for like $79, which was great for us to get some rest and then be on our way the next morning. Be careful though if you book this hotel there ate 2 of them on the same street, and we went to the wrong one first! They are literally next door to each other, so its a little odd to me that its 2 separate properties, so we headed over to the other one and were all set.

 

The next morning we woke up about 8, and got everything together so we could get on our way to Pt. Canaveral and our first Disney cruise!! We were very very excited to say the least. The hotel included a free continental breakfast, it was average at best. All the usual fare including a self serve waffle maker, but no eggs or breakfast meat and a pretty limited selection of cereals, fruit, etc.

 

After breakfast it was time for the hour drive over to Pt. Canaveral. Its a quick easy drive, all highway, but there are several toll stops that you must go through, which are pretty annoying when you don't have an EZ Pass. I am thinking about getting one just for when we travel, even though there are no toll roads anywhere near where we live.

 

We have friends that actually live in Pt. Canaveral, so rather than paying the outrageous daily parking rates at the port we decided to just meet up with them, and they dropped us at the port and parked our car at there place. It was super easy, and very convenient for us. So after visiting with our friends for an hour or so we were off to the port!! I was almost giddy at this point driving over to the port. Certainly the most excited I have been since my first cruise on the Carnival Imagination in 2010.

 

Check- in was so quick and easy. We went from car to on board this ship in less than 30 minutes! So quick, no lines at all. It was AWESOME! One very convient thing about Disney over Carnival is that you can bring on your own alcohol to drink in cabin, no just a bottle of wine, but liquor as well. I had a liter of Captain Morgan in my carry-on and didn't even have to try and smuggle it through like on Carnival. (Though I must say I have successfully smuggled liquor on board all 3 Carnival ships I have sailed on with very little effort.)

 

Pictures from the Disney Cruise Terminal at Port Canaveral:

 

 

 

 

[jwalk03]

 

 

[jwalk03]

I think Disney really excels at going above and beyond in a way the Carnival never does. Don't get me wrong I have really enjoyed each of my Carnival cruises, and will certainly cruise with Carnival again, but I really was impressed with several of the "extras" that Disney did. One such example of this happens when you first board the ship. As you are boarding they ask for your last name, and when you board the ship they announce your names and welcome you aboard. It really was cool, and a nice little touch.

 

On each of the Carnival ships I have been on, the atrium where you enter is quite impressive, going all the way to the top of the ship with a skylight. While the Disney Dream lobby is only 3 decks, it is quite impressive in its own right. I found it to have a more elegant feel than the Carnival atriums and was FAR less crowded than on Carnival where they seem to really pack things into the area.

 

Chandelier in the lobby on board

 

 

 

[jwalk03]

This cruise was our first ever balcony as well. We have always had inside rooms on Carnival, and while I don't mind an inside room at all, the balcony guarantee rate was only $100 more total than what an inside room would have cost, so I decided it was worth in for such a small up-charge. We had room 7624, and it was GREAT!

 

 

 

 

 

[jwalk03]

I loved the split bathroom setup on Disney. It really is a neat way to do it, with the shower/tub and sink in one bathroom, and the toilet and another sink in the other. The "tub" is small, but works great for bathing children, which would be very inconvenient on Carnival where there is only a shower. It was nice. The showers also had a rainhead which was nice, and worked great for me since I'm tall. I always struggle with the small showers and short shower heads on Carnival, no such issues with Disney' bathrooms!

 

 

 

 

Mickey Mouse in the shower curtains, and the towels! It amazing all the little places you could spot mouse ears on board! Def fun to search for them! lol

 

 

 

Gotta take a break for a while, more to come later.

Edited April 17, 2014 by jwalk03

[tokyotea]

This is impressive!! I can't wait to read and see more of how your trip went! I am waiting for DCL to open the fall 2015 schedule so I can book a December Dream cruise!! :D

[jacksmom09]

Can't wait for more!

[Dreacrusingaway]

Can't wait to read more! Paying my deposit on my 3 Day Dream tomorrow!

 

 

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[Irene7]

Great Pix! I really miss this ship. I hope Disney never changes their atriums because they are so much like the classic ocean liners that I think are so beautiful and classy.

Edited April 18, 2014 by Irene7

[jwalk03]

Sorry for the delay in posting. It was a VERY busy weekend with a family wedding on Saturday and Easter on Sunday. BUT I'm back today to continue with the review!

[jwalk03]

A few very very cool features of the stateroom I wanted to mention before moving on to other areas of the ship! The balcony door being a sliding glass door rather than opening in or out was great. On the Carnival boards there are always people trying to devise ways to prop their balcony doors open with magnets, and hooks, and rope, etc. No such need on the Disney Dream it will stay wide open anytime you want it to.

Also just for some parental peace of mind there is a child safety lock on the balcony door very high up, so if you have little ones that are into opening doors they shouldn't it’s very easy to prevent with the balcony door.

The balcony itself had 2 lounge chairs and a small table. It was nice, but I must say I'm not sure if I would spend the usual amount that is required to upgrade to a balcony. I liked it and all, but we really did not use it that much. Maybe we would have used it more on a longer cruise, but with no sea days there was not enough time to waste sitting on the balcony in the cabin!! lol It was nice to be able to go out on the balcony when we were entering and exiting ports of call to see the islands come into view.

The TV system in the room is also another awesome feature of the Disney Dream. Like other ships the number of channels available is very limited. Though at least on Disney you get ESPN in your cabin (on Carnival ESPN is only available in the sports bars, or casino bars depending on the ship.) Also on Disney its real American ESPN, not ESPN Caribbean. Disney only has "Disney" channels on its TVs for the most part, so no NBC, CBS, or FOX. Just ABC, ESPN, Disney Channel, etc. They do have CNN as well. On Carnival you do get each of the broadcast networks, plus a few cable channels, but never ESPN.

In addition to the channels on the Disney TVs, you also have On-Demand options that include like EVERY DISNEY MOVIE ever made! Plus some Disney Channel, and even Disney Jr. Shows as well. Way more Movies and shows than you could ever watch in one Disney cruise (or 10 really!) It was great. Don't spend all day in your cabin watching all the choices or anything, but it was great to turn on a show during the little ones nap time, or something to fall asleep to. Lots of great options.

I also really liked that the cabin had a big curtain to divide the parents bed, from the other half of the cabin. Made it easier for us to put the little one to bed, without having to go to sleep ourselves. It would have been nice if the TV moved out a little further from the curtain though, but overall a very great feature that made cruising with a 1.5 year old easier.

Also Disney provided a pack and play for Allison to sleep in, as well as a diaper genie in the room that the cabin steward emptied every time he cleaned the room (so twice a day). He also setup the pack and play for us, very handy, and to me just another area where Disney goes a little above and beyond what we would have excepted.

[Cruising is Paradise]

Cant wait for more

[Time2CruiseAgain]

Can't wait for more! We'll be on the Dream in 8 days!

 

 

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[surran12]

Thinking about doing our first Disney cruise as well and really enjoying your reviews. Thanks for posting.

[purplethorn]

Thanks for the review.

I would love to read how Allison did on the cruise and what you thought of the nursery and show etc ... we sailed with DD when she was 24 mos on the Magic and i really want to try the Dreams or the Fantasy

[jwalk03]

The balcony

 

 

not much view while your in part, but it will improve shortly

 

 

the diaper genie and pack n' play were already waiting for us when we arrived.

 

enjoying the balcony for a few minutes while Allison took a quick nap from all the excitement.

 

[jwalk03]

When we first boarded the ship it was too early to go to our room, so our first stop on board was up to deck 11 to Cabanas for lunch. We were very pleased with the quality and the wide selection of food available on the lunch buffet. It is most definitely a step above any of the lunch buffets I have ever had on Carnival. Carnival's food is not bad, but there are always some really weird things that make you scratch your head, I never experienced any of those moments on this cruise. There was always a wide variety of foods available including more seafood options (peel and eat shrimp!), and more foods that just seemed more everyday as well.

 

I loved the decor in Cabanas as well. Here are several pics.

 

 

 

 

 

[jwalk03]

 

 

 

 

[jwalk03]

In Cabanas there is a wall of clocks that tells you what time it is at each of the Disney Parks around the world, kinda cool.

 

 

 

There is also a wall of sand castles of each of the Disney parks worldwide

 

 

[jwalk03]

One of the really nice added perks that Disney offers that Carnival does not is fountain soda that is free! So great! There are fountains in Cabanas (only when its open for a meal though, during the other hours of the day the soda fountains are turned off.) There are also 2 more soda fountains on the pool deck that are available all the time.

 

After lunch it was time to wonder around the ship for a few to check out all the wonderful work of the Disney Imagineeners!

 

ship directory

 

 

 

Stair railing

 

[jwalk03]

Since this was just a 3-day cruise, and there are 3 different main dining restaurants to experience we decided not to try Palo or Remy this time. But while I was wondering the ship I did at least what to see the restaurants, so here are my photos from there during the day when they were not actually open.

 

 

 

 

 

[jwalk03]

 

 

 

 

[jwalk03]

 

 

There area where Palo & Remy are also includes Meridian, which is a lounge in between the 2 restaurants and also an outdoor deck.