Live (depends on internet!) Disney Dream Transatlantic, May 7-20, 2023. Miami to Barcelona! 🛳️

[Cruise Kay]

Headed out on my second Transatlantic soon. Very excited! 
 

I will be sharing here lots of details, info, and photos of the Dream, the cruise experience, and the port stops.

 

We have seven days at sea, followed by port stops. Port stops are

Ponta Delgada, Azores

Lisbon

Cadiz, Spain

Malaga, Spain

Cartagena, Spain

 

Disembark in Barcelona.

 

I'm looking forward to the Disney experience, the many days at sea, the shows and ship. 
 

Traveling solo. I did the Transatlantic last year on the Magic, and it was amazing. I did the Westbound, traveling from Dover to New York. Met many other solos on that trip, and based on our FB group, there will be lots of solos on this one, too! 
 

I was a Disney artist many years ago, love the whole Disney experience, ( love the movies by the pool!) and as it turns out, there are other former cast members aboard. We are planning a get-together.
 

It's a bit early, but I am starting the blog anyway. I will be glad to try and answer questions about the Dream if I can, once aboard. 
 

Internet may get spotty in the middle of the Atlantic, but I will update often. 😀

 

 

Edited April 17, 2023 by Cruise Kay

[G2G]

On 4/17/2023 at 11:15 PM, Cruise Kay said:

Headed out on my second Transatlantic soon. Very excited! 
 

I will be sharing here lots of details, info, and photos of the Dream, the cruise experience, and the port stops.

 

We have seven days at sea, followed by port stops. Port stops are

Ponta Delgada, Azores

Lisbon

Cadiz, Spain

Malaga, Spain

Cartagena, Spain

 

Disembark in Barcelona.

 

I'm looking forward to the Disney experience, the many days at sea, the shows and ship. 
 

Traveling solo. I did the Transatlantic last year on the Magic, and it was amazing. I did the Westbound, traveling from Dover to New York. Met many other solos on that trip, and based on our FB group, there will be lots of solos on this one, too! 
 

I was a Disney artist many years ago, love the whole Disney experience, ( love the movies by the pool!) and as it turns out, there are other former cast members aboard. We are planning a get-together.
 

It's a bit early, but I am starting the blog anyway. I will be glad to try and answer questions about the Dream if I can, once aboard. 
 

Internet may get spotty in the middle of the Atlantic, but I will update often. 😀

 

 

I look forward to reading your blog, I board in Barcelona. Will you let me know if mask wearing is obligatory please.

[carohs]

Following! We were supposed to be on the Magic in 2020 (our first ever cruise anywhere) but we all know what happened. We keep talking about re-scheduling but the stars haven't lined up yet.

[Cruise Kay]

1 hour ago, G2G said:

I look forward to reading your blog, I board in Barcelona. Will you let me know if mask wearing is obligatory please.

Yes I will 

[Cruise Kay]

It's getting closer

[G2G]

I hope you have a fabulous time on your transatlantic cruise  

[Cruise Kay]

Thank you! The big day has arrived. I flew in from Atlanta yesterday. The plane was delayed almost 2 hours getting to Atlanta so we arrived in Miami later than planned but this is why I always fly in the day before. I stayed at the comfort suites airport hotel north. They had a free shuttle from the airport. They also have a free shuttle to the port but when I arrived and checked in all the early morning shuttles were booked and the earliest they could get me on was 230. That's far too late (I stayed up till midnight on check-in day so I could get an early arrival time and got a noon port arrival time ) so I chose an Uber.
 

There's a Formula One race in town this weekend and traffic could be quite bad, we don't really know. It's a 20 minute drive without traffic and it could take over an hour today. There's been a lot of chatter on our Facebook group about the situation. 
 

Can't wait to get on board. Lots of pictures to come.

Edited May 7, 2023 by Cruise Kay

[Cruise Kay]

 

[Cruise Kay]

What a day. It was raining this morning and the chatter in my cruise Facebook group was the traffic was super heavy at the port. I ordered an Uber very early and had to wait till the last minute to see if she was coming and she did. It was generally chaotic at the hotel checking out with everybody waiting on shuttles, Ubers arriving, people coming and going. At one point the hotel staff announced that the hotel shuttle to the port was running 30 minutes late and there's nothing they could do about it.
 

My Uber got me to the port about 45 minutes ahead of my port arrival time. Traffic was a mess. We crawled the last 15 minutes inching closer and closer to the ship. I mean it was really chaos in the port in general with wall-to-wall people.

 

I've never seen Disney do a sloppy embarkation but when I got there, it was after 11 and the 11 o'clock people should've been filing into the building. Instead there was a line that was miles long and it wasn't moving at all. I went ahead and got in line even though my port arrival time was noon. We stood for over 20 minutes before we very slowly began moving. Rumor was that there were over 30 people from the previous cruise on the ship who were dragging their feet getting off the ship in a timely manner. Disney could not start loading the new people until the old people got off the ship. Crazy.

 

The line took forever and by the time I made it to security it was noon so I wasn't premature in getting in line or anything like that. Once inside the port I stood in line about five more minutes and then I was checked in. After I was checked in I had to go sit down and wait for my boarding group to be called. I was group 10 and supposed to be called at 12. They called us at 12:15. Given the true chaos in that terminal today, 15 minutes over my port arrival time is not a big deal at all. 

 

I got on the ship and was completely wowed by the atrium of course. I spent a little time exploring and then went to lunch at Animators Palette. It was wonderful. Then I began exploring some more, went to my room, started the unpacking process, and then at 4 o'clock we had a mandatory muster drill in the theater. We all jammed in there and had to be checked in individually, then we watched a video, then we were done. At this point it was 440. I went up to the top deck for the sailaway party that supposedly started at 4:30 and forget it. Wall-to-wall people and no space anywhere along the railing, the stairs, the main floor, nothing, to get a peek at the characters dancing on stage. 

 

I have not taken into consideration that the ship might be full. There are over 2700 passengers on board. I had an assumption it would be like my last transatlantic, which was half empty. In any case, it is crammed.

 

This is a special sailing because Disney is celebrating their 25th anniversary of Disney Cruise Line, and they're calling it the silver sea anniversary. This is the first cruise to debut silver seas merchandise and goodies in the stores.

 

Of course the shops were closed while we were in Miami, and they were due to open around six. At that point I was at my assigned dinner time and didn't think much about it, I just assumed I would go shopping after dinner and pick up some of the silver sea merchandise.

 

I don't know exactly what I was thinking because of course that was a terrible plan. I got to the shop at about 745 and every single bit of the silver sea anniversary merchandise was gone. Everybody in the first seating at dinner was milling around the shops complaining and upset.

 

A lot of that merchandise bought this evening has already been posted on eBay marked up about 200%. 

and yes, it's a free country and if people want to stand in line early and get merchandise and then sell it on eBay, of course they can do that. Just the same, it's really disappointing that people snatched it all up to sell and there was no merchandise left for people who really wanted it to commemorate this special cruise. It's also disappointing that Disney didn't think through opening the shops while half the people were at dinner, knowing they only had a limited supply of the silver sea merchandise.
 

Not the biggest problem on earth of course. Just sharing.

 

 

 

Edited May 8, 2023 by Cruise Kay

[Cruise Kay]

There were plenty of activities going on today but no main shows this evening. The whole ship was busy shopping, milling around, exploring, swimming, eating at all the different venues, things like that.

 

I guess Miami port was just a mess in general all day today. Everyone was late with their departure. We were supposed to sailaway about 445, but when that time rolled around all the ships were still just sitting there. There was a Carnival ship right in front of us and we clearly weren't going anywhere until that moved. There were helicopters buzzing all around and my husband said that apparently there were people in front of the cruise ships in private vessels that were not willing to get out of the way. It took a long time and I saw several police boats involved, and I guess eventually everything got sorted out. The carnival ship started sailing out around 530, and we started sailing at about 625. I was at dinner by then but I had a view out the window of sail away. 
 

we had a great wait staff but for some reason dinner took two hours. We were one of the very last tables to finally clear out even though we all ate quickly and didn't have any complicated orders or anything like that. It was almost 745 when we were done so we were there about two hours. The food was terrific. We ate in the enchanted palace this evening. I am seated at a table with four other solo travelers and they are all very nice and we had a great time getting to know each other.

 

I spent the rest of the day unpacking, buying a few things in the shops, and walking around the ship quite a bit more. I still feel like I don't know where most of the things are and I never did make it to the spa, the gym, or some of the night clubs to look around. But the nice thing about a 13 day transatlantic is, you don't have to cram all those things into the first day or two. There is plenty of time to do all the things and also relax. I'm in my room now watching Disney movies and getting ready to go to sleep, much later than I normally do, but it's vacation! 

 

PS, someone asked about mask wearing. No one on the ship is wearing a mask, either crew or passengers.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

The Dream was at a different pier yesterday and the tie-up lines blocked the doors where all their supplied are usually loaded, so it was delayed to see if changing tides would shift things. It did not, so they had to use forward and aft doors which meant things had to be moved from there to the usual spots once inside. So that took longer and that is why sailing was delayed - not the Carnival ship.

 

In terms of embarkation, they do not usually use the doors on Deck 4, but again, because of the location of ropes and things on the pier, they had to disembark and embark on Deck 4. Delayed disembarkation a bit as they had to move everything to the new location.

 

I can't answer the merch question, but that is why there was delay in boarding and in leaving.

[carohs]

11 hours ago, Cruise Kay said:

don't know exactly what I was thinking because of course that was a terrible plan. I got to the shop at about 745 and every single bit of the silver sea anniversary merchandise was gone. Everybody in the first seating at dinner was milling around the shops complaining and upset.

What? Already sheesh, just to end up on Ebay. I keep eyeing September cruises hoping to get a chance at the Silver merch but now I'm thinking that is way too late.

 

Can't believe the TA is that full. Usually it's on the Magic and that's a smaller ship. But it sounds great first day nonetheless. Enjoy!

[mz-s]

Disney merch resellers really are something else.

[Cruise Kay]

A picture perfect day for day two. The weather was just gorgeous and the sea was just as flat and blue as could be. We spent the entire day sailing along without another ship in sight and without any clouds, either.

 

I stayed up super late last night and was up very early this morning so I walked around filming and photographing parts of the ship and then I went up to the bow of the ship with several other people and watched the sunrise. Very lovely.

 

Breakfast at cabanas and I was the first one in the hot tub and stay there quite a while overlooking the ocean. They were playing Cinderella on the big screen so that was fun, too.

 

Spent the day doing usual cruise activities, walking, enjoying the sun, enjoying the ship, eating, watching outdoor movies, all those things. I visited the shops and there were several people still grumbling about the lack of silver seas merchandise and some people were taking it out on the people behind the counter, as though they had anything to do with the inventory.

 

We had a former cast member get together today and that was fun. It was formal night but I got into line way too late to get in with goofy, and they cut the line off at the person in front of me for Minnie, so I missed out on photos. Went to dinner at Animators Palette and Crush visited and talked with us! So fun. I listened to live piano music at the pink champagne bar afterwards, visited Vanelope's for gelato, and went to bed. 
 

Sunset tonight was incredible. Pictures don't even come close.

 

[Cruise Kay]

A few more

[Hoo27]

So excited to read your reports!  I'd love to hear specifics about the evening shows, each night's menus in the dining rooms, daily activities, etc.  We'll be on the WBTA in September, and for now I'm living vicariously through your reports.  Hope you have a great time!

[Cruise Kay]

Oh, good idea! I'll try to remember to include menus from each nights dinner and so forth. As of this afternoon Internet has become quite choppy so if I disappear, that's why. Here's some sample screenshots from tonight's dinner at Animators pallet.

 

you can screen the menus way ahead of time. All of the menus for the whole cruise are laid out for all of the dining rooms.
 

We have not yet had a big show, our first big show is this evening. It will be the golden Mickeys and I'm really looking forward to it. We also have a ventriloquist starting tonight with an adults only show which is far too late for me to go to, 😅 and we have a Broadway singer here doing five shows over the course of the cruise.

 

last night I went to live piano music at Pink champagne bar. It was supposed to be all Disney tunes but it was not. Of course the piano player was outstanding.

 

We have a violinist, a young lady who plays in the atrium every evening for a long time. She plays the most beautiful music and of course she is largely ignored while crowds of  people talk amongst themselves and mill around all over the place, but she's wonderful. 

 

today I went to the hair salon and had my hair done by a wonderful hairdresser from India named Vinlay. He was awesome.

 

I had a late breakfast at cabanas. I have to say, I'm not a foodie and I'm not normally excited about anything to eat, but the fruit here is incredible. I've been eating almost all oranges and grapefruits in the morning and I guess they sourced them locally from Florida because they're just so outstanding. There's an enormous selection of food for each meal at cabanas. Of course cabanas is not open for dinner but it's available for lunch and breakfast. You can also have lunch and breakfast in one or two of the main dining rooms each day, I'll try to show a menu from there.  There's a grill by the pool that serves hamburgers and such, and a pizza place that is open during the day and again in the evening until 9 o'clock at night. Of course there are dozens of bars and lounges open until nearly midnight. Room service is 24 seven and it's included in your cruise fare, although I always tip extra.

 

Dinner last night in Animators Pallette was a lot of fun because crush the turtle came and spoke to us. But the food was just so so.  Granted I special ordered a low sodium chicken breast with some steamed vegetables and a baked potato. We have great wait staff but for whatever reason--I think they're overworked maybe---It's impossible to get a second glass of water. I finished my first glass of water within 10 minutes of sitting down and I had to ask three times before I got a second glass much later. The same thing happened the last two nights.

They brought my dinner and disappeared quickly before I could ask for sour cream for my potato and they never came back around so I didn't get a chance to ask for any of that. 

 

I'm not planning to eat in the dining room this evening, I'm anxious to see what the enchanted garden looks like but I'm going to skip it and see it next round. Tonight is going to be room service and a movie by the pool. And then the golden Mickey's.

 

We've had an outstanding day so far with picture perfect weather again. The sea is not as quiet as yesterday but it's fairly quiet and it's just so blue and picturesque. We set our clocks ahead last night an hour and we will do so again for the next five nights.

 

The characters are making tons of photo up appearances and they're all scheduled but boy, you better get in line way early if you want to get in. They do cut the line off at a certain point and then that's just it. I have not been able to get in with anybody other than Jasmine this whole 2 1/2 days. Not that it's terribly important to me, I'm just sharing.

 

[Cruise Kay]

[carohs]

9 minutes ago, Cruise Kay said:

The characters are making tons of photo up appearances and they're all scheduled but boy, you better get in line way early if you want to get in. They do cut the line off at a certain point and then that's just it. I have not been able to get in with anybody other than Jasmine this whole 2 1/2 days. Not that it's terribly important to me, I'm just sharing.

 Thanks for sharing! I've been considering rebooking but this is a big negative. I had hoped with a longer sailing there would be less kids and large family groups, and more photo ops, so the lines wouldn't be as long. Hopefully it gets better the second week!

[Hoo27]

Thanks for reports - keep 'em coming!  Glad to hear you're having a good time, and I hope your evening with room service and a pool movie is nice and relaxing.

[Cruise Kay]

Some examples of merchandise in Sea Treasures and Mickey's Main Sail. This is just a small selection. They also have a high-end jewelry shop, a super high-end jewelry shop, some designer handbags and sunglasses, and various small selections of snacks. If you forgot anything important like an over the counter item, there is a very small stand with a few things to choose from. They also have Vanelope's, a shop up by cabanas, which sells a selection of different flavored popcorn's that are prepackaged, candies, and then they have a dessert bar, (some beautiful cupcakes), an ice cream bar, and a gelato bar, with toppings. All of that is extra charge. 

[Cruise Kay]

As for daily activities so far… There's been quite a few. I'm not super focused on what's happening in the kids areas obviously, but there is plenty of stuff advertised in all of the child's camp areas, such as crafts and special games, the teens had a smoothie hour and a hot tub gathering and things like that, there was a photo scavenger hunt for families today, a family game show that was live that you were supposed to participate in in the D lounge, things like that. We've had many opportunities to make crafts, they've had three or four craft sessions a day with small things like 3-D paper crafting where arefold a cut out image of the cruise ship or Chip and Dale, making things with stickers and construction paper, making Styrofoam door hangers, things that are good for kids of all ages,  even little ones. Lots and lots of trivia, most of it Disney related but not all of it.  We've had several dance sessions for all ages as well, they all sounds super fun but I have not made it to any of them so far. There is live music throughout the day with a special emphasis on live music in the evenings. They have all kinds of live music too-- classic piano, the violinist, Latin music, country music, pretty much anything you could want. There are a couple of happy hours each day. I'll post a few screenshots. 
 

They show movies a few times a day in the movie theater here. Today they showed Raiders of the lost Ark which was kind of a fun surprise. They are showing the new Peter Pan and Wendy movie, the new guardians of the galaxy movie, the latest avatar movie, free Guy, Pollyanna, strange world, call of the wild, and a few others.

 

funnel vision by the pool has all the standards you would expect. Classic Disney movies one after the other. Today was Hercules, the Incredibles, we've had Cinderella, cars, and lion king as well.

 

and Disney on-demand in the cabin as well on your TV. Lots of classics there,  all the Pixar movies, you name it.

Edited May 9, 2023 by Cruise Kay

[Cruise Kay]

[Hoo27]

Love the screenshots of the schedules from the app!  

[Cruise Kay]

In case you've ever wondered… A trip to medical will cost you $168 just to get in the door. 😉

Which is a great reason to buy travel insurance.

I've had a earache since I got off the plane on Saturday. It's been getting worse and this afternoon it got bad. I went on down to medical just before they closed and sure enough, I have an ear infection. I have a Z-Pak now and I'm already feeling better.

 

 

Edited May 10, 2023 by Cruise Kay