The BuckeyeFortFamily went on The Dream and all you get is this lousy trip report

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Enchanted Garden has awesome hash at breakfast, IIRC. 

[Helmsey......Todd 134]

A little late but I'm in.
Pics and trip so far look fantastic. I'm ready for our girls to be a little older so we can look into a DCL trip.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Caught up too.  Two great days on the island!  And the ship is beautifully decorated.

[BuckeyeFortFan 35]

Tonight was Pirate Night.  Dinner was to be in the same restaurant as the previous night, The Enchanted Garden for us, and pirate costumes were encouraged.  We found our pirate bandanas in our room when we went to get cleaned up after our day at the beach and riding the Aqua-Duck.

 

 

After getting dressed we headed to the show.  Tonight it was a comedian/ventriloquist who was very funny and was the kid’s favorite show.  Afterwards it was up to the top deck for the Pirate Party.

 

 

 

 

Our own four fierce pirates.

 

 

BFM and I did not dress as pirates, although many adults did.  I am talking full on pirate garb, hats and overcoats and all.  I can’t imagine how much luggage they brought to fit all

that stuff into. 

 

There was a show after the pirate party.  First Mickey and the Gang taught us what it takes to be a real pirate…….

 

 

 

And then Captain Hook tries to take over the ship as we are not worthy of having a pirate ship…..

 

 

But we prove to him that we are true pirates by answering questions about being a pirate, the answers to which just happen to be exactly what Mickey and the gang had just taught us about being real pirates.  Whew!  That was lucky!

 

After we saved the ship from Hook, it was time for dinner.  Tell me if you can judge the mood.

 

 

 

 

They did perk up a little after getting some food and drink in them.

 

 

This is our assistant server, Win, teaching our oldest a magic trick.

 

 

I am not sure what happened here but the boys seemed to like it!

 

 

After dinner it was back to the room to rest for a few minutes, and the kids found treasure, which we learned was the thing pirates like best.

 

 

The towel animals this evening were very interesting.  We think the kid’s was a duck, or possibly a monkey.

 

 

I think ours was a chicken in the middle of being processed.

 

 

There are fireworks on the top deck on pirate night, and apparently they are quite good.  I couldn’t tell you because myself, and our two early risers, BFD9 and BFS7, fell asleep before it was time for them.  BFM took the other two to see them but apparently forgot the camera as this is the end of the pictures for Day 3 of the cruise.  So fails all around for the BuckeyeFortFamily this evening.  Anyone who would like to sponsor us to return to the Dream so that we might see those fireworks and get some pictures for you, please private message me.

 

We will start the next update with the morning of our day at sea.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

What a great night!

[BuckeyeFortFan 35]

It is our last full day on the boat.  It felt just like that last day at the Fort, when you know the time to leave is coming quickly, and you have a lot of work to do to get ready to depart.  We didn’t get up quite as early today since there was nowhere pressing to be.  We went to Cabanas for breakfast to enjoy the views of the ocean.  After breakfast we had our appointment to meet some characters.  First the Disney Jr. set…….

 

 

 

 

And then the princess set.

 

 

 

 

 

And then a quick stop to see Tinkerbell.

 

 

After the meet and greet BFM went back to the room to start packing.  We needed to have any luggage we did not want to carry off the ship ourselves in the morning outside our stateroom tonight by 10:30.  The kids and I used the time to walk around the ship and play a game they have on board similar to SoMK called “Midship Detective”, the gist of which is to use a key card to activate screens that look like paintings on the ship and perform a task within the painting to reveal clues to which villain committed the crime.  Once you know who did it they are captured and you get congratulated.  Sorry, no pics.  Today must have been quite hectic as we do not have any more pictures until the evening.  We went to lunch, at Cabanas again, and after that the older 3 kids and BFM went to see Big Hero 6 in the big theater.  BFS4 fell asleep at lunch so he and I went to the stateroom for a nap.  We caught up with the others after the movie and changed into swim wear for some time on deck 11.  After an hour or 2 of swimming we went back to the room to get ready for dinner and more packing. 

 

At this point the ship was headed north along the east coast of Florida.  A shot off our veranda.

 

 

The show tonight was called “Believe” and was probably the best of the three shows.  I was not supper impressed with the shows and although I am glad I saw them, if we ever do a cruise again and the shows have not changed I would likely skip them and nap or relax around the pools and let the kids swim.

 

Dinner on our last night was in The Royal Palace, which you enter through the main lobby on deck 3 and is themed a lot like CRT at MK. 

 

 

 

 

After dinner it was back to the room to finish packing and get our luggage out into the hallway.  This was a little tricky as we had to keep everything we wanted for the morning with us, and pack everything we did not, since we would not have a lot of room in the one small suitcase we kept.  After finally finishing packing and labeling our luggage and putting it in the hall, BFM and I decided to go see an adult show in the Evolution Lounge in the District area, which is adults only by this time.  Since the kids were tired and did not want to go back to the kids club, BFD11 got to baby sit.  The show was the same comedian we had seen on the previous night with more of an adult appropriate show, but there wasn’t cursing or anything, just jokes that kids wouldn’t think were funny. 

 

After the show we went back to the room to find the kids all in bed and asleep.  It was about this time we remembered we had to turn their magic bands in to keep from being charged $12 apiece, so the wife cut them off their sleeping arms and ran them down to deck 5 to turn them in.  We called it a night after that.

 

We awoke early in the morning to this view outside our window…..

 

 

We were slowly pulling into port, and it was raining.  Blech. 

 

The morning of departure from the ship is not a lot of fun.  They want everyone off the boat by 9:30 and everything feels a little hurried.  Those folks with early dinner seating are supposed to go to the same restaurant they had dinner last night for breakfast at 7:00 and then depart the ship, and those of us with 2^nd seating have breakfast at 8:30, and then depart. 

 

BFS7 enjoying the last few minutes on our veranda.

 

 

We watched the Royal Caribbean ship come into port and back into its dock.

 

 

We went up to deck 11 for a last look around and a cup of coffee while we waited for our breakfast time.  Here is a picture of the DCL terminal we will soon be headed through and you can see the back of the Royal Caribbean ship now in its place.

 

 

Some pictures from breakfast.

 

 

 

No one is happy to be leaving the ship.

 

 

 

Walking off of The Dream and down the gangplank to customs.

 

 

 

The next time we were able to pull our camera out was after we had met up with our driver and were back on the road, headed for MCO.

 

 

 

Our flight did not leave until 7:30 in the evening, and it was only 10:30 in the morning by the time we made it to the airport.  We had arranged to have two day rooms at the Hyatt there at the Orlando airport.  This was a nice way to spend the day.  I slept in one room and the kids watched TV in the other.

 

 

We could have gone swimming but it was rainy and a little cool today.  When the time came we made our way downstairs to the terminal, checked our bags and headed to the terminal.  We end with a shot down the jet way.

 

 

The flight home was uneventful and we were glad to be home, although temps in Ohio were in the 20’s when we landed.

 

So that brings us to the end of our Dream trip report.  Thank you all for following along, and for your kind comments and input.  We really had a great time on our trip, and I hope you enjoyed it.  Our next scheduled trip is 10 days at our Fort in late April/early May and of course next Halloween for the GG.  We look forward to seeing you all there.

 

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

Really enjoyed your report! The last day is always the hardest. There didn't seem to be lots of people on the cruse?

[Beckers 1,136]

Did you have to pay to see the movie?

Thanks for the report, it was great!

Was it hard going to Fl and not Disney?

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

Very nice report!

[BuckeyeFortFan 35]

Really enjoyed your report! The last day is always the hardest. There didn't seem to be lots of people on the cruse?

 

Thank you. 

 

I do not know if there were a lot of people or not.  At certain times, when everyone wanted to be in the same place at the same time, it was crowded.  Waiting on elevators is probably the worst.  Car after car would stop and be full at busy times.

 

Did you have to pay to see the movie?

Thanks for the report, it was great!

Was it hard going to Fl and not Disney?

 

The movie was free, which is nice, as I would have had to pay $60 at home to take the family to see it.  Popcorn, drinks and snacks are not free though, which for what the cruise cost, I think they should be.  And it really was not hard to be in FL and not going to WDW, but it was a DCL.  If we would have done something non-Disney I would have been jonesing for some Disney.

 

Very nice report!

 

Thank you Carol.

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

Great report! Looks like you all had a wonderful time, definitely some really great memories made :) Looking forward to meeting you all at the Fort next October!

[dvccamper 32]

I really enjoyed your trip report. We're going on Royal Caribbean in six short weeks, wasn't prepared to sell the kidney for Disney quite yet

It was kind of fitting it was rainy your day of departure, the end of vacation is always depressing anyway.

Thanks for sharing!

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Really enjoyed the report!

So do you think you'll do another cruise? Was it worth it to you?

[BuckeyeFortMama 43]

Enchanted Garden has awesome hash at breakfast, IIRC. 

 

Oh my goodness that hash is one of my Disney favorite things (this and bread pudding).  Both of which my husband dislikes.

 

I am the only one in my large family that eats the hash so I had some every single morning. 

 

It was the normal amazing Disney hash but I got to eat it every single morning of this vacation which doesn't happen when we are at the Fort.

 

Come to think of it I cook when we are at the Fort and that also didn't happen on this vacation. 

 

I still wouldn't chose a DCL over the Fort despite the Hash and the lack of work for BuckeyeFortMama

 

 

2 points of clarification to my BFF's trip report

 

 

The show tonight was called “Believe” and was probably the best of the three shows.  I was not supper impressed with the shows and although I am glad I saw them, if we ever do a cruise again and the shows have not changed I would likely skip them and nap or relax around the pools and let the kids swim.

 

1) I was disappointed in the lack of goose bumps or chills when watching the shows.  I still can't watch Dream Along With Mickey or Festival of the Lion King without those amazing Disney moments and didn't have those with the shows on the ship.  They were great shows and I am glad we went, but....... 

 

I should point out that we had a heckler in our audience that felt he was 'Mr. Disney' and must have been a frequent flyer as he gave away most of the surprises and heckled some of the actors a bit which may have ruined our show experiences.

 

 

 

After the show we went back to the room to find the kids all in bed and asleep.  It was about this time we remembered we had to turn their magic bands in to keep from being charged $12 apiece, so the wife cut them off their sleeping arms and ran them down to deck 5 to turn them in.  We called it a night after that.

 

 

2) They use a special type of wire tie to make the magic bands not removable.  So I quite literally had to get out my cuticle scissors and cut them off the kids in their sleep.  I was also over a half hour late in returning them and the cast members were quite nice about accepting them late and not charging me.

 

 

 

 

I would also skip the tickets for character meet and greets and would have spent that time enjoying the ship both the day I stood in line to get the tickets and the morning we met the characters.

 

Especially considering the photographers were so nasty. 

 

I love meeting characters at the parks because we normally get great photos from the photopass photographers and multiple of them for each meeting, but not on the DCL.  One token shot and who cares if only 1 kid is looking at the camera.

 

We also go to Disney frequently and have met a lot of characters, if this doesn't apply to your family maybe get the tickets. 

[BuckeyeFortFan 35]

Oh yeah.....I forgot about that jerk. We first saw him waiting outside the theater the first night. We didn't know why at first but after the show started they were interviewing people coming in and putting it on the side screens in the theater....kind of like a red carpet thing. Well guess who was first to be interviewed. You guessed it.....this douchebag. TCD would be nice and refer to him as a "solo traveler". He gave his name as "The King of Disney" and was just kind of awkward and inappropriate. Like my wife said, he yelled at the actors and laughed hysterically throughout all 4 shows. Although he was harmless I actually expected a CM to escort him out a couple times.....but they never did.

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

Happy to see how the trip turned out. It looks like you guys had a good time. Thanks for sharing all the pictures.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

Great trip. Thanks for bringing us along.

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

I might have missed it, but tell me more about these character tickets, please.

 

Sounds like so much fun! I wish they were doing a 4 night on my fall break. 

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Really enjoyed your TR!  Makes me want to cruise again.

[BuckeyeFortFan 35]

Really enjoyed the report!

So do you think you'll do another cruise? Was it worth it to you?

 

The cruise cost about twice as much as a regular WDW/FW vacation for us.  This includes flight, gas, food, hotels......everything.  The cruise vacation was only 5 days long vs. 10 days at the Fort book-ended by 2 days of driving each way, so 14 days total.  Preparing for the cruise took 1-2 days of packing in our down time and 1 day to catch up on laundry and such when we got home.  A WDW vacation takes 7-10 days of preparation (cleaning and packing the trailer, food preparation, dealing with mechanical issues) and 3-4 days of work when we get home (cleaning out the trailer, doing laundry, etc.)  Then there is the time away from work and lost income to consider.......5 days for the cruise (which could have been less if we had cruised over a weekend) vs. 10 or 11 when we drive to the Fort.  Then there are the psychological issues to consider.  I felt great when we got home from the cruise.  I was refreshed and actually in a good mood for a few days at work.  I really do not feel that great when we get home from the Fort.  I do when we leave, but the 1000 miles of driving followed by the mountain of laundry and work when we get home dissipates that feeling real quick.  So all in all......the cruise was worth it and if money was no object I would do 2 or 3 cruises a year.  But for now money is an object so we will hopefully continue to do 2 trips to the Fort a year for the price of 1 cruise. 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Thanks for sharing your trip!  You did a great job with the report.

 

That is really strange about the heckler at the shows.  I've never seen anything like that on any of our cruises, and I'm surprised that Disney allowed it to happen.

 

The next time you go on a DCL cruise, remember that you have the option of going to the buffet on the last morning, rather than showing up at your assigned time in the dining room.  That last breakfast in the dining room is a real downer, so we skip it and go to the buffet instead.  They don't publicize the fact that the buffet is open for that last breakfast, but it always is.

 

TCD

[DaveInTN 3,247]

That last breakfast in the dining room is a real downer, so we skip it and go to the buffet instead. 

 

You're right....that last breakfast IS a real downer.  Like a wake. 

[BuckeyeFortFan 35]

I might have missed it, but tell me more about these character tickets, please.

 

Sounds like so much fun! I wish they were doing a 4 night on my fall break. 

 

While we were waiting to board I was looking at the first days navigator and there was a blurb on it that said character meet and greet tickets were available on deck 5 midship.  I had found during my research that many meet and greets were ticket only events and even though I did not know who they were for...I assumed the frozen sisters..... we decided to go right there and get the tickets.  It ended up being for the 4 princesses (Cindy, Belle, Ariel, Rapunzel) and then a different ticket for Jake, Sophia and McStuffins.  To my knowledge, if you did not have a ticket you did not get to meet these characters.  There were other character meet and greets, but usually just one character at a time, first come-first serve.

 

Thanks for sharing your trip!  You did a great job with the report.

 

That is really strange about the heckler at the shows.  I've never seen anything like that on any of our cruises, and I'm surprised that Disney allowed it to happen.

 

The next time you go on a DCL cruise, remember that you have the option of going to the buffet on the last morning, rather than showing up at your assigned time in the dining room.  That last breakfast in the dining room is a real downer, so we skip it and go to the buffet instead.  They don't publicize the fact that the buffet is open for that last breakfast, but it always is.

 

TCD

 

That is a good tip, and we would definitely do the buffet if we cruise again, but we wanted to see our servers again and give them their tips and get pictures, which we had neglected that the night before.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

That is a good tip, and we would definitely do the buffet if we cruise again, but we wanted to see our servers again and give them their tips and get pictures, which we had neglected that the night before.

 

I've found that the servers are distracted on the last morning- it's a stressful day for them. They have to get you fed and gone, and then they will be meeting a new set of guests that night to do it all over again.  We pass out the tip envelopes and say our goodbyes on the last night of the cruise.  Everyone is still in a good mood at that point.  And, it's nice to go to breakfast that last morning when you want to, rather than at the assigned time.  You still have to get up early, but it doesn't feel as rushed.

 

TCD

[BuckeyeFortMama 43]

I might have missed it, but tell me more about these character tickets, please.

 

Sounds like so much fun! I wish they were doing a 4 night on my fall break. 

 

Honestly Kelly between you and I, I wouldn't waste the time in line for the tickets or the time waiting to greet characters again if we ever do another cruise. 

 

The character greets weren't nearly as fun and enjoyable as at WDW and with less than friendly photographers who only want to take your one token picture there is no incentive for the characters to spend much time with you.   And since both your family as well as mine get plenty of WDW character greets in it's just not worth it to waste the time not enjoying something else that is cruise specific.

 

I felt the other character meet and greets were comparable to the WDW ones in time spent with the character though so it must have just been the ticketed ones that were more cattle herding than Disney magic.

 

I've found that the servers are distracted on the last morning- it's a stressful day for them. They have to get you fed and gone, and then they will be meeting a new set of guests that night to do it all over again.  We pass out the tip envelopes and say our goodbyes on the last night of the cruise.  Everyone is still in a good mood at that point.  And, it's nice to go to breakfast that last morning when you want to, rather than at the assigned time.  You still have to get up early, but it doesn't feel as rushed.

 

TCD

 

I thought our servers were busy but not distracted at all.  We had some of our best conversations with them that last morning. 

 

I wouldn't have given up allowing our little guy to say goodbye to Clayton and Win.  He really had such a great time with them that saying goodbye the last morning was an absolute must. 

 

Maybe as the kids age and some of that magic is matured out of them I could see us skipping the goodbyes and doing the buffet.  BFK4 is still convinced that Clayton misses him as much as he misses Clayton.