Make Sure You Get My Shake in the Pic *~* A Lavenous SWDAS Trip Report *~*3/4/17*~*

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

Joining in.

Hooray! Thanks for joining! Another update is on the way!

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

*~* 5148 & 1/2 *~*
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While Andy and I were walking to La Piaza we ran across the Muppets door - Piper had been talking about wanting to find Pepe's door before we got on the ship. We weren't looking for it when we found it we just happened to come across it. I didn't want to spoil it for Piper so Andy and I didn't bring up the fact that we had seen it but it was super cute! It's a small "muppet" sized door in one of the hallways and I thought it was too adorable that it even had it's own little extender fish hook by it. It's part of the midship detective agency game which I will get into more details about later in the report.

You can definitely tell when you are in the right area for the bars as the names are all over the walls.

This entire area of the ship was pretty much deserted.

There was only one other couple in La Piazza when we arrived and there was a sign on the bar with the schedule and prices of the beverage experiences that were available during the cruise. We had already signed up for Mixology through the cruise group we were in so we didn't need to take care of that but I had really been looking forward to trying to secure the chocolate & liquor tasting. It looked SOOO good when I had researched it online ahead of time. I mean chocolate and alcohol? Ok!

We had absolutely no problem getting signed up for the tasting by the bartender - I was definitely excited about this experience!

Mission accomplished we returned to the kids clubs to find Zoe and Piper.

These pictures were in one of the stairways on our way back - LOVE all of the different prints they have throughout the ship. I would love to have this collection!

When we found the girls they were making sailboats to add to the "Where are you from" board:

Piper added hers to the collection:

Zoe made a rainbow Disney for the board as well

Overall the kids area is amazing! There is something different to do in every room! There is even a Media Lounge.

Andy is REALLY looking forward to exploring the kids clubs during open house on the Dream when we sail in August now that they have transformed them into a Star Wars theme. I'll probably have to drag him out of there!

By now it was closing in on the mandatory lifeboat drill at 4pm and then the Sail Away Party so we said goodbye to the kids clubs - ithey were great!

 

[CarolinaDD1997]

Following! Loved your last Dream report, and now happy I found the Fantasy ones!
How old are Piper and Zoe?

 

[bcwife76]

Following!!! We are on the Fantasy in January 2017 for a SWDAS cruise - and our first time on the Fantasy!

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

Following! Loved your last Dream report, and now happy I found the Fantasy ones!
How old are Piper and Zoe?

Thanks for following and reading my reports! I'm glad you made it to the party! Piper was 12 on the cruise but she just turned 13 and Zoe is 15.

Following!!! We are on the Fantasy in January 2017 for a SWDAS cruise - and our first time on the Fantasy!

You will have a great time! The SWDAS cruise was one of the best vacations we've ever had and the Fantasy is a beautiful ship!

 

[MeliMel702]

Following!!

 

[TestingH2O]

We weren't looking for it when we found it we just happened to come across it

I had heard about it too and also just stumbled across it! Such a fun little secret.

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

Following!!

Thank you for joining in!

I had heard about it too and also just stumbled across it! Such a fun little secret.

Love all the creative details in the ships!

 

[Roberz00]

Loving this "play by play report. My family and I are set to sail on Dream May 29th 2017 and these reports are helping us get a better feel for what to expect even tho it is two different ships.

 

[PantryMom]

I love that your girls are older (like mine) and you all still enjoy all the meet and greets, including Disney Jr.!!

 

[Jillpie]

Following! Just finished your last report too, so much fun!

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

Loving this "play by play report. My family and I are set to sail on Dream May 29th 2017 and these reports are helping us get a better feel for what to expect even tho it is two different ships.

Thank you! The Dream and the Fantasy are very similar other than the theming of the kids clubs and now Vanellope's Sweets - I hope the report helps - I love reading trip reports for the same reason! I pick up lots of ideas of things to try, etc. on our next cruise. Stay tuned as well as we are sailing on the Dream August 5 and there will definitely be another trip report coming!

I love that your girls are older (like mine) and you all still enjoy all the meet and greets, including Disney Jr.!!

The meet and greets are so much fun for everyone! Glad to hear that your girls enjoy them as well!

Following! Just finished your last report too, so much fun!

Thanks for reading my trip reports! Very glad you joined in on this one!

 

[CarolinaDD1997]

Thank you! The Dream and the Fantasy are very similar other than the theming of the kids clubs and now Vanellope's Sweets - I hope the report helps - I love reading trip reports for the same reason! I pick up lots of ideas of things to try, etc. on our next cruise. Stay tuned as well as we are sailing on the Dream August 5 and there will definitely be another trip report coming!

Aww bummer! Just Ill be in the dream on August 1 so Ill be coming out and you'll be coming in! Love your trip reports tho!

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

Aww bummer! Just Ill be in the dream on August 1 so Ill be coming out and you'll be coming in! Love your trip reports tho!

Have an amazing trip! It's getting so close now!

 

[heaven2dc]

Joining in on your TR! Great rates on your car rental! I'm trying to secure a couple of days locally for a minivan for just 2 days middle of the week and it's $200+ (including the 25% discount I get).

So glad you found what you needed to fix your hair - I wouldn't have been brave enough to go down the car by myself lol Looking forward to reading more about your trip

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

*~* Ice Cream Social #1 *~*
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In between the lifeboat drill @ 4pm and the Sail Away party at 4:30 we managed to squeeze in not only a snack from Flo's but also the 1st Ice Cream Social of the cruise. In case you haven't read any of my previous trip reports, we have lovingly nicknamed the soft serve "Eye Scream" station the ice cream social. I'm personally not a big ice cream fan but let's just say Andy and the rest of the crew make up for me!

We actually hit up the social BEFORE we went to Flo's. I mean, ice cream could be considered an appetizer - right? They have a variety of flavors - chocolate, vanilla, and I believe the twist was strawberry banana.

Seeing as we were still in Port, we sent pics of Andy and Piper at the social to "the Peach on the Beach" (friends we cruise with if you haven't read that trip report) since they love the social as well.

Zoe ordered a cheeseburger, Piper chicken fingers, and I had french fries from the quick serve area on deck 11.

This was the only pic I had from that - it's definitely a "keeper"

We originally had plans to meet up with some of the people from our cruise group to hold the banner for the sail away party. Because it was raining that didn't happen and the sail away party was inside and PACKED so we left. We ended up going to White Caps to pick up wrist bands which you needed if you wanted to be able to purchase the limited edition Star Wars Days at Sea pins. Because Andy collects Star Wars pins we went to the wrist band distribution. There was actually a line but it was moving super fast. They had the pins displayed that were included and if I recall correctly each person with a wrist band could get 2 of each design if they wished.

We made our way back to the room and got changed for dinner. Once we were ready we had a little bit of time to check out the Midship Detective Agency game. You start out at the kiosk where you scan a card and select one of the missions. Once you have set up the game you take the card with you from one place to another on the ship following the clues you are given at each stop. It's quite fun and you definitely get your exercise while checking out the ship.

We stopped at the mosaic for a few pics on our way to dinner - I just love it!

Before the cruise I had asked our travel agent to put in a request for the server we had on our last trip on the Fantasy however we found out he was no longer with Disney Cruise line. When we were seated we found out that we DID have the same assistant server Mariya as last time however! And that's when we met seriously the BEST server we could have ever hoped for. Alvin!

We started dinner off with Zoe getting a new hair bow -

Our dinner this night was in Enchanted Garden. I think it is very pretty in there. Andy and Piper looked over the menus.

For me, this was an easy choice because any time there is scallops on the menu that's what I am going to choose!

At this point we still had not left Port. They were continuing to work on resolving the issue that brought the ship back to port after skipping Castaway Cay the prior week.

Zoe started out with tomato soup. Unfortunately her allergies were bothering her and her mouth was hurting her. She picked at the soup and then left dinner to go back to the room. We offered to go with her but she really just wanted to lay down. I felt bad for her that she was starting off the cruise this way but don't worry - Alvin came to the rescue!

I ordered a salad with ranch:

with the scallops - they were quite tasty!

Andy ordered pork and Piper selected chicken with white rice along with the first of many Shirley Temples on the trip.

In this next picture you will see our server Alvin for the first time - you will see lots of him in this trip report as he played a huge role in making our trip fantastic!

He insisted on cutting up Piper's chicken. While cutting it up he told Piper that he wanted to be Luke Skywalker - May the Chicken Be With You! Piper got a big kick out of his Star Wars joke and from then on they were constantly joking back and forth. Piper especially loved his laugh. It was definitely a very infectious laugh and you couldn't help but have fun when he was around!

Alvin showed Piper a magic trick with crayons. There were 4 crayons laying side by side and you had to figure out how to make 1 into 2 with just one move. I won't spoil it in case you see the trick on a cruise but it definitely kept Piper entertained.

We finished off our first dinner on the Fantasy with a variety of deserts. Piper had the Mickey bar

I had the Jasmine's sticky bread pudding. OH MY this is good! The sauce really makes it!

Alvin brought out a chocolate desert for Zoe since she had left early - so sweet! It was in one of the room service type metal domes over a plate.

Special delivery while watching Beauty and The Beast!

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

Joining in on your TR! Great rates on your car rental! I'm trying to secure a couple of days locally for a minivan for just 2 days middle of the week and it's $200+ (including the 25% discount I get).

So glad you found what you needed to fix your hair - I wouldn't have been brave enough to go down the car by myself lol Looking forward to reading more about your trip

Thanks for joining! I was definitely happy with the rental car rate - it's amazing how much the price goes up as it gets closer to the dates! I was dying when I stepped off the elevator and the lobby was full of people and I was in my jammies LOL

 

[chunkymonkey]

I miss Eye Scream Treats so much!! Unlimited soft serve....YUM. Your dinner looked like a lot of fun. That Jasmine bread pudding was good!
I can't wait to hear about your chocolate and alcohol tasting. That is something we missed out on but should be a must do for next time!

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

I miss Eye Scream Treats so much!! Unlimited soft serve....YUM. Your dinner looked like a lot of fun. That Jasmine bread pudding was good!
I can't wait to hear about your chocolate and alcohol tasting. That is something we missed out on but should be a must do for next time!

We had a lot of fun at dinner Eye Scream is probably Andy's favorite spot on the whole ship! Spoiler alert - unfortunately we had to cancel the chocolate tasting but it is SO in our near future - I'll be looking to see if it's offered on the Dream when we sail in just 2 weeks!

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

*~* Pre-Order Pick Up *~*
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Before the sailing you are given the opportunity to pre-order Star Wars merchandise which you will receive on the cruise. Some of it is limited edition and you have to put a prioritized preference list by a certain date. You receive a link in an email which takes you to the pre-order site where you can view the items and make your selections. A couple of weeks past the order deadline you receive an email which lets you know what items you were successful in ordering. You pre-pay for the merchandise and then you pick it up once you are on the ship.

Some of the merchandise we were looking at - a print, a coin set, and a Dooney - were pretty limited in number per sailing. Each person is able to put in 3 requests so I put in a coin set for each of the girls, the print for Andy, and the Dooney for myself. I was surprised that when the order confirmation came through we had received all of the items we had ordered. This included a couple of Star Wars Cruise Tervis, a baseball hat, and SWDAS tshirts. I had pretty much covered the souvenirs I had to bring home for the rest of the family through the pre-order.

We checked the paperwork for the pick up location and time and just before 8pm headed down to the Theater to pick up our merchandise. You do have the ability to return merchandise to the store if you do not like what you have purchased. All of the bins in the photo below were filled with everyone's orders. They quickly gathered our bags and that is when I realized that it was a dang good thing we were going to Andy's parents house in Florida after the cruise. The print he ordered was in a HUGE box! I honestly don't know what we were thinking! You can arrange shipping for a fee - I believe it was around $40 to ship the print - however we ended up taking it off the ship to the rental car and then leaving it at Andy's parent's house. When they came up north for the summer, they brought it with them.

We browsed the shops after picking up our pre orders to see what else they might have on the ship. One thing I will point out is that most of the pre order merchandise was available in the shops and the art gallery. Pins, Tervis, hats, tshirts, and loads of Dooney purses. At least ours was prepaid and stored safely in our room on night one.

Here are a few of the pics I took as we walked around:

These little Swarovski figurines are so cute!

We found the stuffed animals from The Good Dinosaur. We had watching the movie on our must do list while on the ship. When we were at Hollywood Studios before the movie came out they were playing a short preview of it and we thought it was really cute.

It was still raining outside so we stayed indoors for the evening. It had been a long fabulous day so we ended up heading back to relax while watching the Jungle Book on demand. Per Andy's request, we turned off the Jungle Book and fell asleep to Bolt.

Conrad had left us a crab towel animal, the navigator, and the Sleepy chocolates

He had turned down the bunks for the girls

And left our tickets for Goofy's Sports for the morning. The girls had the soccer simulator booked at 9am. and were excited about trying it out!