Sailing the Seas With Mickey - Four Days On the Disney Dream

When my extended family decided on a Disney vacation, somehow I got stuck organizing it.  Thankfully, there are some great websites such as mousesavers.com and the disboards.com which give very helpful tips on sailing with Disney.  Since there are generally no special sales on this cruise line, we listened to the helpful advice and booked a 4-day Caribbean cruise through Costco's travel services instead of directly with Disney.  By using the warehouse club as our "travel agent", we ended up getting what amounted to as ~ 9% back through Costco Cash cards.

There's many ways to travel from the hotels in Orlando to Port Canaveral, the disembarkation point for several cruise lines.  There are large shuttle buses run by big companies like Mears.  Disney runs a $70/person shuttle between their properties and the Disney cruise ships.  Expensive limousines and town cars can be arranged as well.  One of the most cost-effective methods is by just renting a car and driving yourself back and forth.  However, with our group of 14 adults and kids, a rental car would be an inefficient option.  Instead I opted to contact a private van service with a driver to take us to the port.  Although the mousesavers website recommends Happy Limo, I decided to go with a cheaper option, a company called LuxTransO.  Our driver was a friendly Hispanic man named Kris.  I suspect he is the owner as well.  In fact, I suspect that he is a one man company.  It's kind of nice supporting the little guys.  He told us that he used to drive for Disney so he is very experienced with how most of the touristy places in Orlando work.  Unlike some of the other big companies, LuxTransO provided complimentary booster seats and child seats.


*****

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Kris picked us up from the Royal Pacific Resort, and the 14 of us stuffed ourselves in the van (our luggage was stowed away in a towed trailer).  Port Canaveral was less than 1.5 hours away.  Kris made a stop at the grocery store so we could stock up on drinks and snacks that the kids could not live without.  I went next door to the liquor store and bought a bottle of Maker's Mark.  Unlike most other cruise lines, Disney allows its guest to carry on beverages including alcohol.  They will be confiscated, though, if they are put in the stowed luggage.  Likewise, coolers with hard walls would be tossed.  I guess that Disney's business model is not dependent on alcohol purchase (and definitely not on gambling).

We arrived at the port, and the kids were enthralled by the size of the Disney Dream.  Despite the lines, the check-in process was relatively painless.  There were plenty of distractions for the kids while we waited in line.

There was a cutaway model of the Disney Dream.

The Mother and all of her grandchildren

We boarded the ship and made our way to deck 11 for the buffet lunch at the Cabanas dining area.  The spread was extensive with a variety of items ranging from higher end stone crab claws, grilled swordfish steaks, and lamb chops to lower end items like macaroni and cheese and sandwiches.  The place was a madhouse with everybody on board trying to eat at the same time.  The first-come, first-serve seating was very limited.  Our large group ended up divided up and seated in three different rooms.

After lunch we headed to room 7112, our home for the next few days.  We had an adjoining room (and door) with The Big Brother and his family.  The Mother and The Big Sister's family were on the other side of the ship.  Our room had a full-sized bed, a bunk-bed for the kids, a refrigerator, and two wireless Wave phones that can be used throughout the ship.

The Wife and I thought The Kids would get a blast out of the decorative
magnets that we put on our cabin door. They thought it was "eh."

We toured the Oceaneer Club and the Oceaneer Lab, both located adjacent to each other on deck 5.  The Boy and The Girl were both given tracking devices that they can wear like watches.  This would allow them to check in and check out of these supervised and monitored areas.  Having turned 8 already, The Boy was the only one old enough to be able to check himself in.  The other kids would need to be accompanied by an adult.

A T-Rex on a ship! It's Jurassic Park 2 all over again!

The scare floor is not very frightening.

We made it back to the room for the obligatory muster drills where we donned our life-vest and lined up on the deck. 

The Boy preferred arm floats rather than the uncomfortable life vest.

Afterwards, we headed up to deck 11 for the castoff party.  We wore our swimsuits just in case we spotted an opportunity to go on the AquaDuck ride.  Sure enough most people were too busy getting settled in or waiting for the festivities.  We jumped in the short line and rode the glorified water coaster.  It was pretty fun, but I wouldn't wait more than 30 minutes in line for it.  

The castoff party was really lame. We should have skipped it altogether and jumped back in the AquaDuck line.

After exploring the ship for awhile, we met up with the family for dinner at the Royal Palace on deck 3.  Our servers, who would be with us for every meal, were extremely friendly and polite.

Throughout the voyage, Rudy, our head waiter, amused the kids with sleight of hand tricks and origami. 

The Boy couldn't find a bank to rob on this ship.

The bread bowl would be filled with brioche.

The Comtesse Du Barry's soup (cauliflower, cream, and salmon caviar)

Escargots gratines

Lobster and jumbo shrimp (with asparagus and lemon-dill dressing)

Double-cut rack of lamb with a Dijon crust

Beef tenderloin, lobster medallions, potatoes, and a cognac reduction.

Grand Marnier souffle

The remains of  a peanut butter mousse, mango
cheesecake, Tahitian vanilla creme brulee

After the excellent meal, we walked over to the main area for some of the character meet and greets.  The Girl was still excited about meeting cartoon characters and princesses, but The Boy has started to grow out of this childhood interest.

It's not safe for dogs to be left alone around Asians.

We caught the Golden Mickeys show nearby at the Walt Disney Theater.  The kids seemed to like the performance.  I fell asleep.  We turned in relatively early, because we knew that we would have a long day in Nassau.

Each night, our steward made sure we had the next day's
Navigator and some interesting towel art waiting for us.

*****

Monday, August 5, 2013

The Nassau port of call is a dump.  It's pretty much the consensus by many cruise line guests that it's not an enjoyable destination.  There is crime near the docks, way too many cruise ships and tourists, and subsequently many aggressive hawkers pandering to the masses.  In fact, many people on the DISboards forum advocate staying on board the ship while its docked.  The Bahamas in general is not all like this.  My family had come here more than 20 years ago, and we loved it.  However, we didn't go by ship so we had the freedom and flexibility to see some of the less touristy areas of the island.

The Big Sister's family, The Mother, and the four of us Couch Potatoes were interested in the dolphin swim activities.  There is one offered at the Atlantis resort.  We opted instead on the less expensive option at the more secluded Blue Lagoon Island.  The Big Brother, for some reason, took his family to Atlantis because he thought they were too young to do the dolphin swim.  But, they were also too young to do most of the water slides at Atlantis too.

After breakfast, The Wife insisted that The Girl get a chance to do the Princess character meet and greet.

You can get your fill of princesses all at one time.

The princesses meet was a popular event and took awhile, so we almost missed the disembarkation with our group.  We were herded off the ship to an open, two-decked boat for the long journey to the Blue Lagoon Island.

We passed the large Atlantis Resort.

Is it a boat, or a submarine?

Prior to its current name, the island used to be known as Salt Cay or Treasure Island.

During World War II, the island was used as a training facility for Allied frogmen.

The fierce, man-eating dolphins are kept in safety pens.

We checked into the dolphin adventure area.  The Mother and The Third Wheel would sit out this adventure.  The staff gave us a life vest and explicit instructions on what to do.  Then we jumped into the water to interact with the dolphins.  Each person took turns exploiting a dolphin.  We hugged them, "danced" with them, "kissed" them, and even fed them small fish.  Seagulls hovered nearby and would even swoop down and grab the fish out of our hands as we were trying to feed the dolphins.

The kids look forward to their dolphin adventure.

Captivity may be boring, but it beats being ending up in a tuna can.

The family showed the dolphins much affection.

The dolphins payed our gentle gesture back by splashing us.

To make sure there were no hard feelings, The Boy and the dolphin hug it out.

The Girl loves to dance.  She finally
found someone that enjoys her hobby.

I think this dolphin gave me Mono.

The Girl was too afraid to do this on her own. 

The last activity involved the dolphins pushing our feet while we were in the "superman" position.  It made it looks as if we could fly through the water.  The Boy almost lost his swim trunks in the process.

Our group faced the ferocious dolphins and survived.

After our dolphin swim, we broke for lunch.  The night before, we had order complimentary sandwiches from room service and kept them in the refrigerator overnight.  We brought all of those sandwiches with us for lunch so that we didn't have to pay for the overpriced junk food.

We then headed over to the nearby beach for the kids to play in the water.

Inflatable slides, floats, and boats were all available for extra cash.

The Girl clung to the safety of The Wife.

Meanwhile, it was a sausagefest over by The Brother-In-Law.

The Girl and The Third Wheel hunt for shells.

The only thing that anybody found...

...is rocks.

We made it back to the Dream by late afternoon.  We had a few hours to wash up and relax before it was time for our early dinner seating at the Animator's Palate.  The place was decorated as if it were a cartoon studio.  Scenes from Disney movies were displayed on big monitors throughout the dining venue.

Decorative paintbrushes and pencils adorned the Animator's Palate.

The kids must have been tired from swimming with the fishes.  They were pleasantly quiet.  The food was Pacific rim inspired and pretty good.

Black truffle pasta purseittes

Creamy butternut squash soup

The Animator's trio of veal

The Mickey Bar...with sprinkles!

These giant portholes provided a good view of the adjacent ocean.

Disney stars are always happy to
give you their autograph.

After dinner we waited down in the lobby until there was seating for the "Villains" show.

Mosaic tiles depict images from Disney movies.

The Girl sits in front a scene from Cinderella.

The Sister-In-Law and Dora skipped the show because they thought it would be too scary for her.  I should have skipped it because it was boring.  Once again I fell asleep.  The kids all enjoyed it.  We turned into bed later that night, exhausted by all of the day's activities

It you are wet, then Towelman
will swing down to your rescue.

*****


Tuesday, August 6, 2013

The cruise ship pulled into the harbor of Castaway Cay early in the morning.  This island is owned by Disney, and only its cruise ships will dock here.  After the hustle and bustle of Nassau, it was nice not to have to deal with such relatively large crowds.  That being said, there were still 4,000 other passengers who would be unloaded from the Dream.

The harbor has been deepened so that the cruise ships can dock directly to the pier.

A few months ago, when we heard about the Castaway Cay 5K, we used it as a goal to help get the kids into better shape.  In the preceding weeks before our trip, we got their butts away from the television and outside running 2-3 miles.  We told them that if they ran the race, then they would get a medal.  They were sold.

Unfortunately, we found out on the cruise that the 5K is open to only adults 18 and up.  The kids were disappointed as was The Wife.  We had decided to do the race as a family, but our plans would have to be changed.  I decided to run, while The Wife would sleep in and take care of the kids.

The other runners and I were some of the first off the boat.  We walked to the starting line near Pelican Point and were given instructions on the route.  We would run a loop along the wooded bike trail and onto the now-defunct airstrip that was used back in the 1980's for cocaine smugglers.  The staff in charge stressed to us that it can be easy to get lost in the wooded area.  If we ended up at the Observation Tower, then we had made a wrong turn.

When the race started, most people ran at a fairly leisurely pace.  I'm sure most participants were like me, just the occasional recreational runner.  Indeed there were some competitive sorts who were just tearing it up and leaving everybody else in the dust.  The air was so hot and muggy that it was fairly uncomfortable after the first 10-15 minutes.  On the way to the airstrip, I ran with a group of folks.  Eventually, that thinned out as people settled into their own pace.  I was hoping that  the run would take us past some of the attractions, but all we saw were monotonous groves of trees.  As we ran along the airstrip and made the turn back, they did have a station set up for water.  On the way back to the start, I did manage to get lost.  I must have made a wrong turn, because the next thing I knew, I was staring at the Observation Tower.  After spending a few minutes back-tracking and finding the right way, I finally finished the race in a little under half-an-hour.

For finishing the Castaway Cay 5+K, I got a cheap plastic medal!

I made it back to the ship, showered and met the rest of the Couch Potatoes as they were in line to take more character pictures.  I think The Wife was intent on having The Boy and The Girl get an autograph and photograph with every single Disney character.

We hung out with The Big Brother and his family for a while.  The  Big Sister couldn't be reached on their Wave phone.  The beaches were already full, so it took us awhile to find a place to drop off our stuff.  The Big Brother, The Boy, and Curious George, and I had fun going down the water slide erected in the harbor.  The impact against the water was actually pretty hard.  I almost lost my overpriced sunglasses in the ocean because I forgot to take them off.

The Boy no longer showed...

...any fear of heights or speed.

We had taught the kids how to snorkel prior to the trip.  We brought their gear sans the flippers and headed out into the snorkeling area.  I wish we had brought their fins because the going was slow and much energy was expended.  I was disappointed that there was not really much to see down there except for a few rock, parrotfish, and an occasional tang.  After about thirty minutes, The Wife and kids got tired and bored and headed back to the beach.  I went a bit farther and saw a small stingray and something that looked like a rusty miniature submarine.  I later learned it was supposed to be the Nautilus from the Jules Verne story.

One of the few fish we saw

The Girl clung to The Wife making it difficult for either to swim

After our snorkeling (mis)adventure, we broke for lunch at the Cookie's Too BBQ.  The food was self-service and all-you-can eat.  They had burgers, hot dogs, barbecue chicken, soft-serve ice cream, cookies, etc.  I had heard that the food back on the ship is usually better on Castaway Cay day, but it would have been a pain to go back to the Dream.  After playing for another hour or two, we took the tram back to the ship.

We looked forward to a nice cool shower in our stateroom.

Back aboard the ship, we had to get ready for Pirate Night.  Just for fun, The Wife got some eye patches on the cheap for the family.  The Boy brought along his old Jack Sparrow pirate costume that he had worn a few Halloweens ago.  I thought about bringing a Pittsburgh Pirates shirt on the trip, but that would probably negatively affect the karma for my Atlanta Braves.  That would probably prevent them from winning a World Series for another 20 years.

Former gymnasts make good Tinkerbells.

The Do-rag was provided by Disney.  I prefer to wear it in the original Aunt Jemima-style.

The Big Brother showed us that he is the KING of the dorks.  He wore the
same pirates costume as Thing 1 and Thing 2...flamboyant headband and all.

A year ago The Boy took a six hour gun
safety course.  He's a slow learner.

At least he ate his vegetables.

The Mother and The Boy enjoy Pirate Night.

We had the Pirate Night dinner at the Enchanted Garden.  Instead of the usual fare, the food was standardized throughout all three dining rooms.

Black Beard's jumbo crab cake

"Pearls of the Carribean" (crabmeat, shrimp, salmon, couscous)

Jerk chicken salad with a plantain

Caribbean-style conch chowder

Jack Sparrow's barbecue marinated beef short ribs

"Floating Island" (meringue, fruits), fruit cobbler, chocolate cake

After dinner, nobody was interested in the comedy act in the Walt Disney Theater.  So, we headed back up to Deck 11.  The kids spent the next hour and a half watching Muppet Treasure Island on the big screen.

The kids amused themselves with
bouts of wrestling and horseplay.

The kids needed rest from all of that fun.

Eventually, when the deck was packed with all of the other guests, the pirate show began.  The finale was finished with fireworks along the starboard side of the boat.  Afterwards, the Cabanas area was open for a late night buffet.  No wonder people gain weight on cruises!

A rendition of The Pirates of Penzance would have been more interesting.

Is this supposed to be an amoeba with eyes?

*****


Wednesday, August 7, 2013

For the entire day, the Dream would be at sea.  It's not a long journey from Castaway Cay to Port Canaveral, so I'm sure the ship must have sailed around in circles.

It was relaxing just to sit on our balcony and see the sun rise over the vast ocean.

Despite the late night, I still got up early to get the kids fed for breakfast.  The Wife and I saved our stomachs as we had a reservation for brunch at Palo, an adults-only restaurant.  Since the food on the Dream is already included in the price of our voyage, it wouldn't make much sense to most people to pay extra on top of that.  However, many people on the DISforums strongly recommended paying $20 per person for the Palo experience--mainly brunch.  Apparently, the food is that good.

We made a 10 AM reservation weeks in advance.  The Wife and I decided on the sea day because we didn't want to be distracted by any shore excursions.  We invited the other adults in my family, but none were interested in joining us as they don't appreciate food as much as The Wife and I do.

We dumped The Boy and The Girl off at the Oceaneer's Club, changed out of our shorts and T-shirts to more respectable clothing, and headed up to the Palo restaurant on deck 12.

A chandelier in the Palo restaurant

Unlike the rest of the boat, the restaurant was not too crowded.

Despite it being all-you-can-eat, the emphasis was still on quality over quantity.  The cold items such as antipasto and chilled seafood were self-service.  Our server took our orders for the hot items.  You can order as much as you want.  The only thing that constrains you is that you don't want to be that gluttonous man from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life whose stomach explodes from eating too much.

I enjoyed the caviar and Italian meats, but I wasn't crazy about the smoked trout and salmon mouse.

Unlike The Wife, I avoided filling
up on boring pastries and fruit.

I cold have eaten the snow crab legs and shrimp cocktail all day long.

The gorgonzola, grape, and Port wine pizza was surprisingly good.

The eggs Julia and Florentine were both great,
but the chilled strawberry soup was awesome.

The oysters Rockefeller were good, but I regretted
wasting room in my stomach with the veal saltimbocca.

The favorite dessert for both of us was the mango panna cotta.

We finally staggered out of Palo two hours later.  When we picked the kids up from the Oceaneer's Club, we were amused to hear that they hadn't eaten anything for lunch.  They thought that the chicken fingers being served down there looked disgusting.  It was good to see them show some appreciation for better quality food.  We brought them up to the top deck to eat the regular lunch.  Unfortunately, I was so stuffed that being around more food made me more nauseous.  For the remainder of the afternoon, we poked around all of the other areas of the ship that we hadn't seen yet.  We are not the types who like to lounge in the sun (I really don't need a tan) and the pool was a mess of overcrowded humanity.  Therefore, we rested in the peace of our room for a few hours.  All the while, The Boy and The Girl played with Thing 2 who we adopted for the day.

Our final dinner aboard the ship was once again at the Enchanted Garden.  This time, they would serve their normal menu instead of the Pirate Night fare.

North Atlantic lobster ravioli in a light tomato broth

Golden and red beet carpaccio

Curried carrot and apple soup

Baby spinach salad

Caramelized sea scallops

Pan-seared seabass with a saffron and fennel risotto

Steamed lemon buttermilk pudding with a citrus reduction

Esterhazy cake, strawberry cheesecake, chocolate silk mousse

Once again the food did not disappoint.  The Brother-In-Law and I both had the scallops entree.  We tried the seabass that The Wife had ordered and remarked how good the dish was.  Our server overheard us, and a few minutes later he arrived with seabass for both of us too.  Words cannot describe how amazing the service on the Dream was.

Now the rabbit is anatomically correct!

Apparently there is a whole culture of collecting and trading Disney pins at the parks and on the cruises.  I think it is just a way for Disney to make money by selling more souvenirs.  Before the trip, The Wife had gone on Ebay and purchased a lot of 50 pins for $25.  

After dinner, the kids went over to the main lobby to trade pins.  Several crew members were lined up, all wearing lanyards with an array of intricate Disney pins.  There was no such thing as a fair trade.  Whenever any kid asked, the crew member would freely exchange pins with him.  Our kids were able to exchange their crappy, cheap pins for expensive, better looking ones.  The kids even gave some of their cheap pins to their cousins so that they could participate in the swap.

The Kids got one last photograph with the captain of the Dream.

We caught the last show "Disney's Believe" at the Walt Disney Theater.  Once again, the children enjoyed the performance.  Once again, I fell asleep about ten minutes into it.

We then spent the next hour in the nearby stores finishing our souvenir shopping.  The Brother-In-Law decided to buy a Tag Heuer watch for a small fortune.  He was enticed by the lack of sales tax, but I suspect he could have gotten an even cheaper price if he had just bought it from a reputable internet store when he got home.  The Wife and I settled on the much less expensive Dream Christmas ornament.

We packed up our bags that night, knowing that the next morning's disembarkation would be hectic.

The puppy was sad that we would be leaving.

*****

Wednesday, August 8, 2013

We woke up very early the next morning and got our bags ready outside of our cabin door for pickup.  We headed back up to the Enchanted Garden for our last meal on the Dream.  We left our gratuities for our severs in the envelopes provided by Disney the night before.  We tipped in excess of the recommended amount since they did such a good job.

When I checked our cabin one last time to make sure we had not forgotten anything, I discovered our unopened bottle of Maker's Mark.  Oops, I had totally forgotten about the whiskey.  I guess it had slipped my mind when I bought it that my family pretty much doesn't drink.  I left the bottle in the room, hoping that it would eventually find a happy home.

Exiting the ship was pretty painless.  We grabbed our bags, and Kris from LuxTransO showed up a few minutes later to pick us up.  He drove most of us to the Orlando Airport to catch our flights home.  He took The Big Brother and his family to Disney's Grand Floridian Hotel.  They would stay a few more days and do the VIP tour of Disney World.

The flight home was uneventful.  The only issue was that the over-sized wizard's broom didn't fit in the overhead compartment.

Overall, The Wife and I were very happy with our experiences at Universal Studios and on the Disney Dream.  The theme park was probably better for the older kids who could enjoy the more thrilling rides.  Despite the naysayers who like to rip on Disney, I don't think anyone can deny how good a job they do in making things easy and convenient for families.  A Disney cruise is much more expensive then a Carnival cruise.  However, the food, the service, the amenities, and the overall experience is worth the difference in money.