Trip #2: 4 Night Dream (Includes Concierge, Cabana, BBB, Traveling During School Time)-Complete!

[TestingH2O]

05/04 Part III

The walk was done and the fun was about to begin.

My parents and DD came back to the room and we were starting to dock at CC. Mom and I decided to do down and watch the ship back in to port. How cool! We started on deck 2 watching out one if the big port holes. A server suggested we go up and watch from 4. Excellent decision. We got to see all the guys running around and see them shoot some of the ropes out. Clearly I have no idea what any of the technical names are. Once we were pretty well tied in, we went back up for breakfast.

Hot breakfast from room service is one of the perks of staying in a suite and we really enjoyed it this day. On a longer cruise, we would certainly do it more often. We ordered an express, a morning tugboat, eggs Benedict and an order of typhoon pancakes.

Those were a huge hit! Our server did a lovely job of setting the table. What a treat eating breakfast with a perfect view of Castaway Cay.




As you can see, the day was a bit grey. The waves weren't making it in to the swimming areas though.

After we ate, everyone finished getting all their stuff together. Dad made sure he had his waterproof case for his phone. (If you read my previous TR, you'll know he took it for a swim last time.)

Off we went!

As usual, debarking was easy. Once we boarded the tram, mom & dad went ahead to the cabana while DD and I stopped to see characters.


Here they come!


In our experience, the early morning meets on CC always have the shortest lines.



We also checked out the gift shop. The view from the window was divine.


Then it was back on the tram to go to the Serenity Bay stop for the cabanas. The golf cart took us right to #5.

::Record scratch:: This trip report is experiencing technical difficulties. Please stay tuned and we will return to our regularly scheduled program as soon as possible.

 

[TestingH2O]

05/04 Part IV

Thank you, dear readers, for your patience. We are back on the air!

At the end of a quick ride on a golf cart, we arrived at Cababa #5. We were in #4 last summer and, while it was lovely, it had one glaring problem: the hammock was in the afternoon sun! Oh, the humanity!

This location was wonderful again. Close enough to amenities but far enough from the hub bub.


See that hammock? It's calling my name.


Not a bad view. Not bad at all.



Pelican Plunge looks so fun. One day I'll stop lounging long enough to try it.

We swam for a while and ordered a round of drinks from Ludo. I had my first Konk Kooler. I knew it would not be my last.

Last year we tried to go to the island character dance party. However, we never were able to find it. Luckily this time we had excellent directions from our concierges.



Then we grabbed some lunch and headed back. On the way, DD kept swearing she DID. NOT. NEED. A. REST.



We all took short naps. Let me tell you, that shady hammock was as nice as I imagined.

When we got moving again, we swam some more and ordered more drinks. DD had a smoothie that she still talks about today. I had another Konk Kooler.

Around 3:30, we gathered our stuff and headed out.



As we rebounded, DD was sprinting to the gangway. She tripped on a pebble and skinned her knees. Poor kid. As she got to her feet, Hook and Smee came bumbling over trying to make her laugh. Oh. That did not work. She would not acknowledge them for the rest of the trip! Security was very kind though. In the lounge, we got band aids and neosporin.



One last look.

It was also time for the concierge character greet. There were chocolate smoothies to be had. Between that and a good Goofy hug, and DD was back to 100%!

Tonight was also Pirate Night. After Goofy, we went to change in to our costumes and then down to catch characters. DD has particularly good interactions with Donald and Daisy tonight.



We had room service for dinner tonight. Talk about a splurge. White tablecloth, course by course service including bottled water. Really a treat. Again, to me this is a reason to sail in a suite. Last year, DD was so overstimulated on pirate night. This year, eating in the room made such a difference. Just that little bit of extra quiet time was a big deal.

After dinner, DD headed to the club for an activity. Oops, it involved a character visit.



DD tells me she ran and hid in another room when he showed up.

Once we picked her up, we stopped by the room for a bit and saw Suzana's awesome pirate.



Then it was off to the Mickey deck show. What a good time! And of course, there was more dancing.

DD and my parents went to bed. I checked out the late show, fireworks, and the buffet. The show was hokey, the fireworks were fun, and I absolutely did not need more to eat. But I tried some food anyway.

I also ran into Coryse, our amazing assistant server. She gave me the run down on breakfast options for our sea day.

Then, I headed back to the room to turn in.

The sun has set and the ship steams on. We are heading for... nowhere. The next day is a day at sea. Who knows what adventures we will find.

 

[Flossbolna]

I am really enjoying your trip report. And while I still don't see myself ever paying for concierge, your trip report really makes me understand why some people would want to pay for it. I totally get the room service dinner to calm things down a bit on a hectic day.

 

[TestingH2O]

05/05 Part I

The gently rocking ship continued to float to nowhere. Our travelers were sleeping soundly after a day of sand, sun, and pirates.

I woke up early again today. This time I made sure I had my memory card in my camera and off I went to see the beauty of the ship.

I started high up and forward.


Satellite Falls. Love this addition.


Funnel Puddle. DD played here for a bit until she heard another dad telling his kids it was too cold to swim. She believed him.


Mickey slide


AquaDuck

Vanelopie's entrance. It wasn't actually open this early hence the photos through the glass.

Treat counter. There is way too much other food available to actually try all this, especially on a short cruise.


Grey seas


Adult dining check in desk

Meridian outdoor seating. Isn't the map etching cool?


Meridian

And the world was peaceful. And on she walked. It was time to reignite two previous love affairs.

 

[TestingH2O]

05/05 Part II

The peace and quiet in Meridian was lovely but the siren song was audible. It was calling and calling.





There they are! How could a DCL trip ever be complete without taking a moment to truly appreciate the Mickey hand elevator indicators and the stunning atrium? The answer is that the trip could NOT be complete! Just look at them. Not pretentious. Not stuffy. Beautiful with a generous dose of fun.







Ok, on we go.


Vista Cafe with the morning sun. Notice the screens at the back? Those are Shutter's kiosks now instead of future cruise booking. The kiosks are awesome and allow you to look at your pictures even when Shutters isn't open. Also you can look for pictures that aren't associated with your file.


BBB in the old conference room space. More on this later.

Now, back up to deck 12 to enjoy the sea and the quiet.



Yup. This cruise was full of early risers! I got up to 12 and there were about 10 people smoking, and at least 5 walking around. It was very surprising after last summer.

Just as I started to get a bit frustrated with the crowd, I ran into a super nice guy. He was a pilot from Indiana. What a great morning chat! It was so much fun talking to him about vacations, families (he was cruising with his wife and grown daughters), and the ship itself. I loved hearing him talk about their trips to the parks and giving me some things to think a off when we decide to try it. Man. That early morning chat is one of my favorite memories of the trip. Easy conversation with nowhere to go. It got to be 7:00, and I needed coffee. My new friend said his job was to bring coffee to his family, so we parted ways to enjoy our time at sea.

So we head for coffee. There was a feeling of anticipation though as though a royal surprise might soon be upon us.

 

[Flossbolna]

Love all the early morning pictures. I think this is the first time I saw pictures of the Vista Cafe on the Dream and this is definitely an area where you can tell the difference in decor between the two ships.

I love random cruise ship chats. I normally would not have a conversation with strangers, but on the ship it seems to happen so often that I get to talk to other people and it is always interesting.

 

[franandaj]

Fun reading! I was on the Dream for my first time last December. It's interesting to read about your concierge experience. We did Concierge on the Wonder and I don't think it was worth it, but since the Dream and Fantasy have their own lounge, I might think about that for the future!

 

[TestingH2O]

05/05 Part III

When last we met, the final day had dawned. Breakfast had been eaten and everyone was on their way back to the room. What a happy day. When we arrived though, someone had been there!


OK, I snuck in and set up a dress and BBB invite for DD. We told her it was from aurora. I just don't want anyone thinking/expecting some "pixie dust" experience where a princess leaves a perfect dress.


Man, this dress was beautiful! We got so many compliments. And it was only $20 at a local store. I'm sure it will still fit in our next cruise too.

So, off DD and I went to meet our Fairy Godmother In Training.



What a fun experience! DD loved it and she looked so cute afterwards. And now, we were all ready to head for the princesses.

A note about planning: we booked BBB at 9:00, princesses at 10:00, and Frozen at 10:30. BBB is listed as taking 45 minutes but I've read many reports of it taking longer. For us, we were done in 30 minutes so we did have some time to kill. That's ok though because DD was beside herself with all the people complimenting her dress and hair. She also just kept spinning and enjoying the swish of her dress.

It was now time to meet the ladies.


Cinderella was up first.

Then we got Belle, Snow White, and Rapunzel.

Last was our favorite.

Tianna is amazing. Her warmth is unparalleled. She's truly remarkable. Plus, her story is one I can totally get behind.

Now, I knew the princesses and Frozen were going to be tight. However, these slots were the only ones that would work sequentially. I also hadn't counted on the extra princesses. (Tianna wasn't on our last cruise and Rapunzel didn't do the gathering.) By this point, we were late for Anna and Elsa. Uh oh!

We hustled down the hall. And asked very nicely if we could still go in. There were still two families in line so they said sure. Phew! Crisis averted!

These ladies were great too. They felt much better than last summer. I can only think they had more experience since the Frozen meet & greets were pretty new at that time.



Then, they all sang together.

Another truly magical moment.

On the way to change clothes, DD felt like checking out the ocean.


Then she turned it in to a full on photo shoot.



She also wanted to swing by the lounge to show off. She thought it would also be a good time to sign the guest book.



What royal duties would we accomplish next?

 

[PantryMom]

That dress is AMAZING!! And for just $20? That was a steal!!!!

 

[TestingH2O]

05/05 Part IV

The morning had been spent engaging in all sorts of royal responsibilities: hair and make up, hand shaking with the public, vocal performances, and signing autographs. What on earth can a princess do to receive stress after carrying out the duties of her office?

We headed to the room to divest her highness of her formal attire. Then, it was off to the clubs for some solid kid play time.

At the same time my parents were enjoying Palo brunch. They live in New Mexico but my family lives in Missouri. My husband's parents are deceased and his sister lives out of town. This means we are on our own most of the time. However, my mom and dad come in often to help when we know we both have busy work schedules and they almost always find a way to give us a date night when they are in town. As a small thank you, we bought them Disney gift cards to cover the brunch. It was such a small thing to do, but they were very grateful.

So what about me? I was alone! That has NEVER happened during the day. I decided to grab some magazines and check out Satellite Falls.


Aaaaahhhh! It was awesome. I read a whole magazine and just basked in the peace and quiet.

I should add though that I chose Satellite Falls because it was terribly windy. The concierge sundeck was pretty unpleasant. The glass barriers made this area quite pleasant.

All too soon, it was time to get DD from the clubs so we could hit the character dance party.







Sorry for the poor quality. With the party lights, none of the photos came out very well. These are screen grabs from the videos I took.

After dancing our hearts out, DD and I grabbed lunch at Cabanas. Then it was off for a nap for her.

My parents came back from brunch and raved about the experience. Their server was actually our server from our last trip! So fun. I felt glad that we were able to do a small thing for them and that they enjoyed it.

At this point, my dad felt like it was time for his nap too.

As for me, it was time for my cruise meet's Mixology!



What a fun event! While the drinks themselves were just so-so, the company was lovely. I'll have you all know though, I was not hammered! Based on previous trip reports, I thought I'd be trashed. Nope. What does that say about my tolerance?

And so, we head back up to the room where her highness was stirring.

 

[TestingH2O]

05/05 Part V

Slowly, slowly. I think she's waking up.

Yep, she's up! Check out that hair!

That's after we took out all the pins and hair ties. Woah.

At this point, we had to acknowledge that our trip was coming to a close. DD wanted to check out the pools and slides again, so I obliged. My parents went to the lounge to get us checked in for our flights. The Mickey pool was closed for a #2. So annoying. Why can people not believe that the swim diaper thing is real? Oh well, the Mickey slide was open and there was really no line. I think DD rode it at least 20 times this afternoon. The life guards manning it were awesome. There were some older kids who just could not follow the rules (wait in line and ride on your bottom) and they did a good job monitoring it. They even went and pulled the kids down when they shoved past all the little kids to jump the line. Those life guards were great. And they were super sweet with DD. Also,,when she would ask if she could go again, they always checked with me first. Great experience with all the pool safety staff.

On a personal note, DD was 3 on our trip. She's good at getting in line and not jumping ahead, but she doesn't always pay attention when the line moves ahead of her. Early on, she went up the stairs and didn't zone down for a long time. I saw another boy go up and come down before her. I told my dad, I hope she's paying attention and remembers to move with the line. Well, the boy's mom heard me and said her son was special needs and doing the best he could. I felt so awful. I wasn't talking about her kid but my own little space cadet. I had no idea how to rectify the situation. Her son was doing nothing wrong. I still feel bad and like I made her feel bad about her own kid.

After some solid sliding, we room DD back to the room for a bath and we all started packing. So sad. It was then time for dinner. We decided to stop by BBB to get our pixie dust freshened up. I also had a margarita from the lounge. Ludo made it "from scratch" as I learned in my tequila tasting. Had to acknowledge 05/05!



On our way to dinner though, we ran into an old friend.



Those two had a great conversation about all the goings on down below. Have I mentioned lately how much we loved Tianna?

Then it was off to Enchanted Garden for our final dinner. While the theming here isn't our favorite, the menu is one we really enjoy. The sea bass in particular is amazing.

We said goodbye to our serving team. Saying goodbye to Coryse was especially sad. DD just loved her and so did we.

Then, we had promised DD an ice cream at Vanellopie's.



The ice cream was good. The gelato was excellent. DD picked butter mints as her topping. The server there was so nice. He was very concerned that she wouldn't like the mint taste, so he gave her a few to taste before putting them on her scoop. Excellent service!

We headed back to the room to put DD to bed. Dad and I rode the AquaDuck one more time. FYI, it was COLD!

Then, we utilized another awesome concierge perk: we ordered our pictures via an iPad in the lounge rather than waiting in line! So easy. Danny had them ready for us the next morning.

After that, it was off to finish packing and to bed.

And the sun sets on our final day. The next morning would dawn early and we'd have to say goodbye again.

 

[TestingH2O]

Rewind.

Before bed on the last night, we were thrilled to see an amazing sunset.


That was starboard side. When we got almost to the entrance to our cabin hallway, DD ran to the other railing calling "I want to see which sunset is on this side!" I laughed, the CM stocking towels laughed, it was hilarious.

05/06

There was a change in the air and clearly I could sense that something was different. I woke up ridiculously early to watch us pulling in to Port Canaveral.




The beauty almost makes up for the sadness of ending our trip.


Such cool lettering.

I got back in bed for a bit then we all started to get ready. Of course, this is the first day we had to wake DD.

We grabbed breakfast in the lounge and Danny gave us our photos. Tracey then took us down to disembark. Getting off the ship was very fast as we got to jump the line. The porter helped us grab our bags and we got in the very long line. It went quickly though and we headed straight for the DCL bus to the airport.


A sad goodbye.

We arrived at MCO and started to grab our bags. Then we headed to the Hyatt as it was too early to check in for our SW flight. Once we got to the room, we realized that we had a bag that wasn't ours!!! It looked a lot like ours but it wasn't ours. The only good thing is that it belonged to someone in our cruise group so I was able to FB message her. I don't know if it was my dad or the porter, but regardless, it caused some worry.

She was staying at Beach Club, so I took her bag down to DCL to transfer. While I was there, they called the driver, who had our bag in the truck with him, and he changed routes from the warehouse to the airport. Wishing 90 minutes everything was fixed. Thanks Disney!

When we could, we dropped the bags at SW and grabbed some airport lunch.


Boo.

We ate, took a little nap, and then headed to board. The flight home was smooth and we all had a good sleep in our own beds. The next day, we started a nutty weekend with a dance recital, gymnastics, swimming, catching up on laundry... overall a rather rough reentry.

And that, is the long and short of it dear readers. Hopefully this report has been enjoyable or at least useful. Navigators and reflections coming soon.

 

[TestingH2O]

Personal Navigators

I shared these with Scott at the DCL blog. My files are too large to upload here, so please excuse the external links.

Navigators Day 1

Navigators Day 2

Navigators Day 3

Navigators Day 4

 

[TestingH2O]

Final Thoughts

Favorite Things: Tiana, Using the clubs, Satellite Falls, Slides

Least Favorite Things: The lines seemed longer, Early morning time was more crowded, Wind

First, was this trip as good as the last? I think that needs some enhancement in my answers. I felt like I enjoyed the ship and the experience more. It was nice to already be oriented as to where everything was located and how the days would flow. I also felt that, somehow, our service was even better this time. Our room host was OUTSTANDING and our serving team was superb. The concierges were great last time but even better this time. I think the group clicked with each other better or something. It could have also been that we were a smaller party and didn't feel like we were trying to coordinate as many moving pieces. Regardless, even though the weather was worse, I did feel like the cruise itself was actually better than last time. But, and there's always a but, I did not enjoy myself as much. I never really relaxed. While I stopped mentioning it, I worked for at least an hour every night before I went to bed. That morning I woke up as we pulled in to PC? I was on my phone right away answering emails and dealing with work stuff. Last year, I disconnected and only got online to make sure the dog sitter hadn't messaged us to say she needed something. So, while the cruise itself WAS better, I left not feeling as good about it.

This brings us to the summary of the topics in the title.

Concierge - Still lovely and something I would do again if the price was right. Having the suite was especially nice since we got the upgraded room service. Actually, having a quiet dinner one night would be reason enough to book it again I think. That being said, it is pretty hard to justify the prices these days even on short sailings. When you add in that some perks, like not having to line up for princess meet tickets, are now moving to regular online booking, and I think you take away some of the value. I'll be interested to see if they add new perks to make concierge more desirable again.

Cabana - We won't get one again for a while unless we travel in a large group. We knew we wanted to do it again this time because DD is still napping and I at least had to cut my visit short last time. We're good for a while though. Honestly, I think next time we will be happy to just enjoy a morning on the beach and head back after lunch. There's never a shortage of things to do on the ship, so why not do them? Or just swim and play. The price has gotten so high that it's not worth it for our smaller group right now.

BBB - What fun! DD had the best time and I loved seeing her all dolled up. She's enjoyed her tiara and Mickey barrette since we've been home too. I do want to reiterate the warning about the glitter though. We are still finding a bit in her scalp these days and we've been scrubbing and scrubbing with each bath and shower.

Traveling During School - Again, I'm a teacher and administrator. Perhaps other people would have a different experience. Perhaps I would have a different experience if not for my administrative role. Regardless of what other people experience though, I won't do this again. I worked almost the entire time I was gone. It was miserable. I never really relaxed and I definitely took my stress on vacation with me. I'd feel comfortable taking DD out for another year or two if my situation changed, but I can't take myself out.

Other Things

Hyatt Day Room - TOTALLY WORTH IT! We loved having the space to relax on the day of and to be able to watch the security lines. We didn't swim or anything, but that's ok. It was some of the best money we spent and we all agreed we'd do it again.

DCL Transfers - We played the numbers game. With 4 people, it was a wash between private transportation and DCL, so we decided to try DCL. We really liked the buses and getting to the terminal early. While waiting in the terminal building may not be THE most fun thing ever, it's a million times better than waiting in line. Same thing with arriving at the airport before they load the first bus. We'd rather be in a situation where DD is free to be a preschooler than one in which we have to contain her so much. (I swear she's not a heathen, but she is still an active 4 year old.) The one thing we couldn't do was stop for supplies, but we were able to pack enough wine for the trip. With the new alcohol policy, we will never be packing more than 2 bottles of wine per person any way, so that's not a worry. Plus, we now know we like the food just fine on board so no real need for additional snacks.

Homewood Suites at MCO - We would also stay here again. The 2 bedroom suite layout was perfect for us and the shuttle service to and from the airport was excellent. For a better layout, included breakfast, and lower price, we are more than willing to take a 5 minute ride as opposed to staying at the Hyatt.

What Next?

Throughout this whole trip report, you might have noticed that I had a ticker counting down until a President's Day weekend cruise in 2017. We booked 2 Cat 8A cabins for a 3 day on the Dream. They are the mini-suite layout. We were ready to try a non-concierge trip and were very curious about the layout. Luckily I had that Monday off, so a quick getaway was feasible. After this trip though, we realized two things. First, if 4 days is too short, how could we possibly tolerate 3? Second, it was just too hard for me to go away while school is "in session." I even work on weekends, so this was going to be no different.

Therefore, we needed to reevaluate. What to do? What to do?

Clearly we need to book a longer cruise while school is on break!

The options we considered were all March 2017
B2B on the Dream
5 Night on the Magic
7 Night Western SWDAS on the Fantasy

The Magic was the most expensive per night, so that was out.

To be honest, we were ready for an itinerary change, so the B2B was out.

So, we were left with the 7 night Fantasy. Woohoo! I was happy that we were on the Dream class again for the amenities, we are all kind of excited about the Star Wars stuff, and the different ports and longer itinerary is going to be great!

We decided to book a Navigator's Verandah and the Inside stateroom across the hall on deck 7. That way we still get a verandah option and 2 bathrooms, but we end up paying the same as a deluxe verandah for the 4 of us.

So, that's all for now, but I hope you'll join us next time for another installment of our story. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to ask away.

 

[chunkymonkey]

I just caught up on your whole TR! The Concierge room looks amazing!
I'm glad your parents got to go to Palo and enjoyed it!
Your DD is adorable, especially after BBB! I love her dress! That's cool they touch up your pixie dust the next day!
I'm so excited about your cruise next year with SWDAS! I wonder what changes they make from this year. What ever they are I can only assume the cruise will be EVEN BETTER!! You have to do another trip report so we can see!

 

[Flossbolna]

I really enjoyed your trip report and your conclusions! I always find it so useful when people explain why they liked or disliked something as that helps me to decide if I would have the same reaction. Everyone has different priorities. And your trip report was excellent in making me understand your preferences, heck I even got why concierge made sense for you (it does not for me at all, but again this is all about different needs and priorities)!

I am looking forward to reading about your adventures on the Fanatasy! I am sure you will love her, she is such a beautiful ship!

 

[TestingH2O]

I just caught up on your whole TR! The Concierge room looks amazing!
I'm glad your parents got to go to Palo and enjoyed it!
Your DD is adorable, especially after BBB! I love her dress! That's cool they touch up your pixie dust the next day!
I'm so excited about your cruise next year with SWDAS! I wonder what changes they make from this year. What ever they are I can only assume the cruise will be EVEN BETTER!! You have to do another trip report so we can see!

I really enjoyed your trip report and your conclusions! I always find it so useful when people explain why they liked or disliked something as that helps me to decide if I would have the same reaction. Everyone has different priorities. And your trip report was excellent in making me understand your preferences, heck I even got why concierge made sense for you (it does not for me at all, but again this is all about different needs and priorities)!

I am looking forward to reading about your adventures on the Fanatasy! I am sure you will love her, she is such a beautiful ship!

Thanks guys! I have fun reliving the experience.

I'm so excited about next year!

It's interesting. I think concierge is valuable to us on a short cruise so we never have to spend time waiting in long lines. But, we also don't have time to enjoy lots of the amenities like the sundeck. On a longer cruise, I suspect we will be able to just "cruise" more and not worry so much about lines. Of course, that's when we could really enjoy some things LIKE the sundeck or to get room service again. That's what I'm anticipating anyway. We shall see.

 

[jenseib]

I just read this over the last few days!
Great trip!
Thanks for sharing

 

[TestingH2O]

I just read this over the last few days!
Great trip!
Thanks for sharing

I am not as much of a shutterbug, so I'm always jealous of all your pictures. However, I have so much fun writing these up. It's a great reminder to me about all the fun we had.

It's going to be hard waiting 9 months until the next one! I've just gotten so addicted to vacationing with my family. Getting away from all the regular life "stuff" is such a treat!

 

[Laughfreely]

We were definitely the first ones in the terminal. The line of people waiting in the parking garage was HUGE and visible from the bus.


First time reading a trip report and love this! Dumb question...why did the people have to wait at the parking garage?