Disembarkation
I apologize for the long delay in getting this final section up. I actually had it almost written but my draft got lost and life has been crazy.
Our final morning we were woken by the sound/vibration of the thrusters as we pulled into Port Canaveral. Not a big deal but something to be aware of when you are in the aft of the ship. Generally we want to be up when pulling into port. If Port Canaveral was a more interesting sail in/out we probably would have woken early to watch us come in.
We got up and got ready to head to our final breakfast. We always like to do the final morning with our serving staff. While we didn't really get to know them super well given the short length of the cruise we still enjoyed our serving team. It was fun to have one last meal in Royal Court!
After breakfast I stopped by expecting to get our photo thumb drive like we've gotten on prior cruises. As we normally do we bought the unlimited photo package before the cruise to get the discounted price. I was informed that now you just get them online when you get home. You can also download them on the ship as well (which I would highly recommend). We had a bit of a fiasco getting our photos (more on that later).
Disembarkation went smoothly and before we knew it we were off the ship and getting in the van for the transfer I had arranged. Now this was one of the biggest things I'd change about this trip. First off the driver we had was not great and there were some issues with the van. I did email the company after because we had such a good experience with them previously and I thought they'd want to know which they did. I wouldn't be opposed to using them again as they assured me if this driver didn't work well for us they have others. It may have been just not a good fit or bad day or who knows.
The bigger issue though was that I hadn't really focused on anything when booking our flights but price and direct option. Our flight didn't leave until 5pm. That totally works but leaves you with a really big gap and what are you going to do? I didn't want to just hang out in the airport.
I looked into a day rate at the airport Hyatt and it was expensive and I wasn't sure that would be that much better. Ultimately we ended up paying for transfers to Disney Springs and a wait fee and then transfers back to the airport. I looked at getting a rental car for the day but it wasn't much better pricing. So we ended up spending more than I would have liked but it worked. Next time I would look at the return times more closely and planned better.
I didn't take many pictures but we did have a good afternoon at Disney Springs. We had a lunch reservation at Frontera Cocina which I'd describe as upscale Mexican style food. I thought it was super good but a bit pricey. The kids weren't huge fans, normally Mexican is a good option for them but the menu didn't super appeal.
We had a chance to walk around and look at things. We've done Disney Springs enough that it isn't super exciting anymore but I was excited to stop back by Salt and Straw for some more of their ice cream. I just love their fun flavors and you can't have too much ice cream on vacation can you?
It was hot though and my oldest was not feeling great, combination of car sick, land sick and not really liking lunch. We decided it was time to head to the airport and get into some air conditioning. This is where we weren't happy that the van's AC wasn't really working. It wasn't that long of a drive though.
The airport was definitely busier than when we did WDW in Dec of 2020. That trip it felt like a zombie movie or something when we went to the airport to fly home. The lights were all off and the terminal felt abandoned. This time there were too many people and I was just anxious to get home. Fortunately we had no flight delays or issues and arrived home safe and sound.
Final Thoughts
We had a wonderful trip and a lot of fun!
The upgrade to start us off was incredible and so fun. The cruise was short but got us on the Dream before it left its Port Canaveral home. Ultimately we hadn't planned on a cruise for spring break and this was a nice unexpected bonus from our fall cruise being shortened.
All that being said I thought I'd share some of my thoughts both good and bad in case it helps others:
1) 3 night cruises are short I don't want to say they aren't worth doing because if that is your only option they are still magical and we had a good time. I'm just glad it wasn't our first cruise. There were a lot of things we didn't feel a need to do and wouldn't have had time for.
We've now done a 5, 4 and 3 night cruise. We are planning on finally getting our 7 night in October. My kids commented that they felt the extra night on our 4 night really made a difference. So my recommendation for first time cruisers is go for a 4-5 night if you can. Having a sea day really makes a difference in giving you a chance to experience some of the onboard activities like trivia etc.
2) Dream class vs Magic class Ships
I've heard you always like the first ship you sail on first. That seems to be the case as my favorite ship so far is definitely the Magic where we sailed first.
I love how easy the classic ships (Magic/Wonder) are to navigate. Aside from the smaller size they are just easier to get around. There were a lot more times I found I couldn't get there from here on the Dream than on the others. Cutting through Cabanas to get to the aft stairwell always felt really weird.
I liked the theming of the restaurants on the classic ships more. Rapunzel's is my favorite restaurant by far. While we thought the Crush show was fun on the Dream and I'm glad we got to experience it, I like the classic Animator's Palate more. The pool deck food seemed better as well. Part of it may have been the shawarma station they have but I also thought the pizza was just better. That being said I noticed the Dream had a toppings bar for burgers etc that I don't recall the Magic having.
Midship Detective Agency on the Dream was really cool. It is definitely a plus to the Dream class ships. Also the mini golf was another fun activity lacking from the classic ships. We never found ourselves lacking activities on the classic ships but there are definitely more unplanned activity options on the newer ships.
The AquaDunk vs AquaDuck, they are both really fun. I'm glad we prioritized and finally got to ride the AquaDuck. It is something you can experience with younger kids and as more of a family with two riders per raft. That part was cool. However I think I like the AquaDunk more. It actually feels slightly more themed and is a real rush to ride. This is why the Wonder is currently in last place on my ship ranking. It doesn't have a really cool water ride. The yellow slide just isn't very exciting.
It is interesting to me how much more modern the older classic ships feel because they have more outlets and USB charging ports than the newer ships. I'm sure that sounds weird but I think it is because they have had more recent major renovations that added more plugs for all the devices we now have. The Dream definitely was lacking ports. That being said I really didn't have a preference for one ship over the other in terms of rooms otherwise. They felt pretty similar to me.
The kids clubs seemed to be a pretty even match up. There are differences but they aren't better or worse, just different theming and options. The Edge is much bigger on the Dream but my oldest had her best Edge experience on the Magic so bigger isn't always better. One challenge with the clubs for tweens/teens is the group of fellow cruisers seems to have a big impact at that age.
I will say I really liked the running track on the Magic/Wonder better than the Dream. I like the real wood deck feel they have versus the Dream. However the Magic and Wonder track goes through the equipment area where the docking/mooring equipment is which can be closed more making the full track on the Dream/Fantasy potentially more available. Honestly though I haven't yet run into the issue of having part of the track closed and having to loop back. I know it happens though.
In the end I don't think there is a bad Disney ship. I'm sure the Wish is really cool but I'm reminding myself I don't need to feel too bad we don't have a cruise on her booked yet. There is plenty of magic and fun on all of the ships. I'm super excited to complete our Grand Slam and be on the Fantasy in October.
3) Cast Members are Awesome
Regardless of the ship I've been impressed with how awesome the cast and crew are. The entertainers are talented, servers attentive and state room attendants cleaning ninjas. I won't say we've never had a negative cast member interaction but by and large they are positive and often downright magical.
I really hope Disney is able to maintain they high level of service they are known for. It really is awesome to experience and one of the best things about sailing with them! I'm sure some of it is your attitude. We go in expecting to have a great experience and have. I imagine if I wanted to nit pick things I could.
4) Cruising lets everyone have a vacation
I think one of the things I like best about cruising is I get a vacation too. I'm generally the planner when we travel as a family and have to coordinate everything. I love that on a cruise so much of that is taken care of. My kids often don't want to eat at the same time or don't like what they got etc. On a cruise keeping them fed is easy and I don't have to think about how much I'm spending when they decide they are hungry and hour later.
We get to have great family time together but also find ourselves with free time. My wife and I even on this short cruise had free time just the two of us. At some points she had something she wanted to do and I got solo time on vacation. That just doesn't happen on most of our vacations. I loved that each of my children could decide for themselves what they wanted to do during the day and there were multiple fun options for them. While I'm not naive enough to think there are zero dangers on a cruise it is a much more controlled environment to give them freedom in, which I really love.
Conclusion
At this point cruising with Disney is our preferred family vacation. We've had some other incredible trips, like Costa Rica last summer but
DCL is currently our go to. We love sailing with them. The ocean is already a magical place to be and they make it more so. I'm sure at some point maybe we will change but for now I plan to keep cruising!