Goin' with the Flow- TCD's Disney Dream Trip Report

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

going to have to download them now

[Heidi-meetsTCD@TSM 5]

TCD,

Yikes page 21 for me!!!!!!

I have been so busy this summer and not on-line very much. Went on last night and found your report. I couldnt stop reading and was up very, very late reading!!!

As usual awesome report!!! You had me laughing and feeling like I was right there with your family!

I honestly have never been all that interested in a cruise. Being up here in NH, we usually make 1-2 or so trips to Disney a year and I have never wanted to give up our WDW time for a cruise. However, after reading your report, I have changed my mind!!!!!!

I am now tossing over the idea of doing a two week trip next summer. Start with a Disney cruise and then spend the rest of the vacation at WDW. Sounds like a good plan to me!!!!!

Hopefully you post more soon. We are leaving ealy Saturday for three weeks and I'll be off-line. I will however, catch up when I get home!

Heidi

[Heidi-meetsTCD@TSM 5]

Why oh why do I always have the "0 warning points" beneath my post count??? I never see anybody else with this.

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

I think you only see your own

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Why oh why do I always have the "0 warning points" beneath my post count??? I never see anybody else with this.

We all have that. You can only see yours. :)

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

TCD,

Yikes page 21 for me!!!!!!

I have been so busy this summer and not on-line very much. Went on last night and found your report. I couldnt stop reading and was up very, very late reading!!!

As usual awesome report!!! You had me laughing and feeling like I was right there with your family!

I honestly have never been all that interested in a cruise. Being up here in NH, we usually make 1-2 or so trips to Disney a year and I have never wanted to give up our WDW time for a cruise. However, after reading your report, I have changed my mind!!!!!!

I am now tossing over the idea of doing a two week trip next summer. Start with a Disney cruise and then spend the rest of the vacation at WDW. Sounds like a good plan to me!!!!!

Hopefully you post more soon. We are leaving ealy Saturday for three weeks and I'll be off-line. I will however, catch up when I get home!

Heidi

Heidi-

Thanks for posting!

I'm glad to hear you and your family are doing well.

And, good for you for planning a cruise!

Are you heading to WDW for three weeks? You need to do a trip report!

TCD

[Heidi-meetsTCD@TSM 5]

I think you only see your own

Thanks for clearing that up for me!!!!

[Heidi-meetsTCD@TSM 5]

We all have that. You can only see yours. :)

Thanks Cherie!!

[Heidi-meetsTCD@TSM 5]

Heidi-

Thanks for posting!

I'm glad to hear you and your family are doing well.

And, good for you for planning a cruise!

Are you heading to WDW for three weeks? You need to do a trip report!

TCD

TCD,

No WDW trip, which is hard for all of us. We havent been since I met you at TSM last summer. We usually get 2-3 trips in a year, so this is a longggggg dry spell for us. However, part of our three week trip involves five nights at Disneyland!!!!!! The other part is a tour of some National Parks; Glacier NP, Crater Lake NP (I think I remember reading sometime in the last year that you spent a night at the Crater Lake Lodge once many years ago.......did I remember that right??) Redwood NP, Yosemite NP and Sequoia NP. This is our third western adventure/National Park trip in the last five years. Its no WDW vacation (our favorite!) but we LOVE these vacations too! Plus with DL at the end we get a bit of our Disney fix!

Waiitng for more TCD cruise report!!!!

Heidi

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

That sounds like an awesome trip Heidi! I really hope you do a TR so we can live vicariously through you!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

OK, it looks like we are finally go for an update.

I was going to post one earlier today, but someone broke this site.

What is up with that?

It is still early in the morning of Day 5. I am up on the top deck enjoying being one of the only guests out and about on this big, beautiful ship.

The sky is glowing, and the sun is about to rise. There is a nice breeze, and the air is almost cool. Things are wet, and some of the castmembers who are out and about are wearing rain gear. That is not a good sign. We had a cloudy/rainy day at sea. Nobody wants that kind of weather at Castaway Cay. But, we will worry about that later. For now, it is not raining, and I am enjoying the solitude.

All of the Disney ships are beautiful. Even something like a smoke stack is a work of art:

And everywhere you look, there are surprising and cute details.

Here's one:

That's Donald's butt.

Why?

Because they can.

The day before, while Mrs. TCD and I were trying to get some sun on our day at sea, a group of kids from one of the clubs was wandering around the deck with a sheet of paper and a camera. They were on a scavenger hunt. They were looking for Donald's butt. They couldn't find it. I thought there might be a drawing showing Donald's butt somewhere over by the Aqua Duck entrance. It turns out what they were looking for was here:

As I mentioned, I was heading toward the front of the ship to watch the sun rise and to see if I could see Castaway Cay yet.

I walked past the adult pool. It was empty, too:

You see those two bar stools over there on the right?

That's where Mrs. TCD and I enjoyed one of Maria's mojitoes just the day before. You can also see a castmember using a big machine to vacuum up water. That's what they do all day on the ship. If the deck gets wet, they dry it. You can also see in the photo that there are two decks above the pool deck. We will be heading up to that top deck next.

Here we are from that same spot looking back at the forward smoke stack. You see those windows with the lights on? That's the Overlook Lounge, which we looked at on another morning. There are windows below that. I don't know what is in there. I think it's one of the teen clubs, but I'm not sure. That is something I will need to check on in the future:

I made it up to the front of the ship, and this is what I saw there:

There are ancient civilizations whose entire lives and belief systems were built on worshiping the sun. A lot of people think that they were crazy. Not me. I understand where they were coming from. I have seen a lot of sunrises. And I hope to see a lot more. This was one of the nicest I have seen. How can anyone not have a sense of awe seeing such a sight?

As the sun rose, the front of the ship began to glow:

This top deck is kind of odd. There seems to be a lot of wasted space here. But, there are some cool seating areas located under some of the equipment. There was a group of folks sitting here watching the sun rise. They may have been out here all night waiting for this:

This is a look over the side of the ship from the front port side- that little area you see out there is used by the captain to steer the ship when entering and leaving ports. The captain can stand out there and see the side of the ship and use a joystick to drive this big ship right up to the dock:

It was just me and these folks here who go to see this glorious sunrise:

Looking away from the sun rise, the sky kind of looked gloomy:

But soon, the sun would be up, and hopefully the sky would clear:

There are some really interesting pieces of equipment up here on this deck:

I am not sure what this thing is, but I do know that I was closer than 1 meter to it:

In case you haven't picked up on the fact that I like sunrises, here are two more sunrise photos. No, they aren't very different from the ones I already posted, but I like them, and maybe someone reading along will too:

Here's a look down from the front of this deck down on the decks below. All that stuff you see down there in the front is part of the teen club, Vibe. Those kids get their own sun deck. The TCD twins were assigned to that club, but aside from going out for a look, they never used that deck, and I don't think many teens do:

This is my last sunrise photo:

Let there be light!

Wow!

Here was something else I found interesting. We are here on Deck 14. And look what is hanging here:

Really?

If somebody fell overboard from up here, I think he would need something more than a life ring.

The sun continued to make things glow:

Part of this top deck is walled off, and they have a private area for concierge guests there. This is what it looks like:

I don't get why anyone would pay the extra money for the concierge level cabins. But enough people do that DCL has this private stuff for them.

Suckers.

I headed back on the ship for some coffee.

Here's an empty Mickey pool for you empty pool fans:

This Aqua Duck sign is great:

Check out the area up at the top right of that photo. Is that Duct Duck Tape? :

I think it is.

I guess I was wrong about there being no real men of genius on the ship. Somebody did a good job there!

So, I got another cup of coffee, and headed back up top.

The sun was higher in the sky, and not as impressive.

But, I did see something worth seeing.

Land Ho! :

That little sliver of land you see there on the horizon is Castaway Cay.

And we will take a look at some photos of our approach to the island in the next update.

TCD

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

Very cool sunrise!

[SCTigerCock 171]

Awesome photos. If we ever do the cruise, I'll make sure to catch at least one sun rise.

I hope to catch one at Bay Lake in September.

Stop laughing. NOW.

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

I do love your sunrise pictures! It's also nice to be able to see all the ship details without all the humanity. I hope your second Castaway Cay day is awesome, I can hardly wait to read all about it.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Though I tend to prefer the sunset, those Sunrises are WOW. That golden light at sunrise and sunset makes for the most breathtaking photos. Even a radar looking thingy (doppler?) looks cool.

Concierge - well if I ever win the lottery. But I'd rather pay to have my family/friends come along with me....

I love that Disney provides separate areas for all ages on the cruises but we so much else going on.....

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

I do love your sunrise pictures! It's also nice to be able to see all the ship details without all the humanity. I hope your second Castaway Cay day is awesome, I can hardly wait to read all about it.

It really is nice to see what it looks like without the human element....

[wak648...Bill 94]

Reading your trip report on the Dream has me second guessing our choice to do a 4 night cruise the end of Nov. instead of the 3 night on the Dream.

Maybe next time.

[stefa70 205]

I love sunrises and sunsets, Heck, I love sun, period.

After seeing your explanation of the Captains area in which he uses to steer into port, I am sending in my application. I can work a joystick like nobody's business.

(for all of you who are gonna run with that last statement, what I mean is I played a lot of Atari back in my day )

Who knew you could repair something on a ship with duct tape? Too bad for the Titanic, it wasn't invented until 30 years later.

I still can't see the land ho. How did you know, was she wearing a short dress? spiked heels?

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

I too love the sunrise pictures. But i also loved just seeing all that ocean. Think of all the wonderful species, swimming around under those waves. I think about how for thousands of years, we barely knew what was down there. Yet the fish were there. God created so much beauty and mystery, all for His Own Glory. :D

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

TCD,

No WDW trip, which is hard for all of us. We havent been since I met you at TSM last summer. We usually get 2-3 trips in a year, so this is a longggggg dry spell for us. However, part of our three week trip involves five nights at Disneyland!!!!!! The other part is a tour of some National Parks; Glacier NP, Crater Lake NP (I think I remember reading sometime in the last year that you spent a night at the Crater Lake Lodge once many years ago.......did I remember that right??) Redwood NP, Yosemite NP and Sequoia NP. This is our third western adventure/National Park trip in the last five years. Its no WDW vacation (our favorite!) but we LOVE these vacations too! Plus with DL at the end we get a bit of our Disney fix!

Waiitng for more TCD cruise report!!!!

Heidi

That sounds like a great trip you have planned. Have fun!

Yes, I did get to spend a night at Crater Lake Lodge. That place is breathtaking. I have never seen water bluer than the water in that lake. I'd love to see photos of it.

Very cool sunrise!

Yes, it was. And I was one only a few guests who witnessed it.

Awesome photos. If we ever do the cruise, I'll make sure to catch at least one sun rise.

I hope to catch one at Bay Lake in September.

Stop laughing. NOW.

I am sure there are many Fiends who have seen the sun rise over Bay Lake who were still up from the night before.

So, I'm not laughing- you can do it!

I do love your sunrise pictures! It's also nice to be able to see all the ship details without all the humanity. I hope your second Castaway Cay day is awesome, I can hardly wait to read all about it.

See?

Maybe you will get up really early one morning on your cruise.

Though I tend to prefer the sunset, those Sunrises are WOW. That golden light at sunrise and sunset makes for the most breathtaking photos. Even a radar looking thingy (doppler?) looks cool.

Concierge - well if I ever win the lottery. But I'd rather pay to have my family/friends come along with me....

I love that Disney provides separate areas for all ages on the cruises but we so much else going on.....

I think even if I had more money than I knew what to do with, I still wouldn't spend in on concierge. I really don't get it. The service on the ship is already excellent. I would spend the money on a longer cruise or even save it for another cruise.

It really is nice to see what it looks like without the human element....

True. There are a lot of people on the ship, and the only time to get away from them is late at night or early in the morning.

Reading your trip report on the Dream has me second guessing our choice to do a 4 night cruise the end of Nov. instead of the 3 night on the Dream.

Maybe next time.

That's a tough choice, but I would go for the 4 night cruise too. The Dream is new, it will be around for a while. So next time works.

I love sunrises and sunsets, Heck, I love sun, period.

After seeing your explanation of the Captains area in which he uses to steer into port, I am sending in my application. I can work a joystick like nobody's business.

(for all of you who are gonna run with that last statement, what I mean is I played a lot of Atari back in my day )

Who knew you could repair something on a ship with duct tape? Too bad for the Titanic, it wasn't invented until 30 years later.

I still can't see the land ho. How did you know, was she wearing a short dress? spiked heels?

No comment on the joystick or the ho, but that is funny stuff!

I too love the sunrise pictures. But i also loved just seeing all that ocean. Think of all the wonderful species, swimming around under those waves. I think about how for thousands of years, we barely knew what was down there. Yet the fish were there. God created so much beauty and mystery, all for His Own Glory. :D

Amen. I can't imagine how anyone can witness a sunrise and believe that this all happens randomly.

TCD

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

I love sunrises and sunsets, Heck, I love sun, period.

After seeing your explanation of the Captains area in which he uses to steer into port, I am sending in my application. I can work a joystick like nobody's business.

(for all of you who are gonna run with that last statement, what I mean is I played a lot of Atari back in my day )

I still can't see the land ho. How did you know, was she wearing a short dress? spiked heels?

There are just too many things to say... it leaves me too many options.

[Live4FW 30]

Land Ho! :

That little sliver of land you see there on the horizon is Castaway Cay.

My new desktop background

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Here we are on a new page, so that means we need a new update.

If you are keeping track, there have been two posts full of photos from the morning of day 5. And, you are about to see another one.

This is going to be a long day!

That Land Ho! photo in the last post was taken at 6:48 am. At that time, all I could see was a very small looking island off in the distance. I thought it was Castaway Cay, but I wasn't sure.

We sailed steadily toward that little island, and ten minutes later, it was easy to see that it was Castaway Cay:

You want to know how I knew?

That stupid fake tree was sticking out like a sore thumb:

It sure was looking cloudy, but the sun was trying to break free:

Now that the sun was out, those folks who we saw lounging out here had cleared out:

I love watching the ship approach land. Apparently, there aren't a lot of people who do. It was just me and this guy up here watching:

You can see a little island to the left of Castaway Cay here, and then a larger island to the left of it. I would sure like to buy one of those:

We continued sailing right toward the rising sun:

After another ten minutes had passed, we are almost there. You can see the swimming lagoon and that big stupid tree clearly:

This is a look straight down from where I was standing. That veranda down there goes with one of the big suites on the ship. Their veranda wraps around half of the front of the ship:

After a few more minutes of sailing, a few more folks showed up to watch. It was about 7:15 am now:

This is where we are going:

The captain started to turn the ship here so he could back in to the slip. I decided to head toward the back to watch the rest of the docking:

On the way back, I walked on the pool deck. Check out how they lock up the Aqua Duck at night. They don't want anyone sneaking on there:

This is an odd little bar on the pool deck, behind the rear smoke stack. They have a bar called Waves here. I never saw anyone using it:

This is the sports deck. You may remember seeing it mentioned on the LOF. On the Magic and Dream, they have a camera on it, and for some reason they show what is going on up here on one of the channels on the cabin TV. Not so on the Dream. So we couldn't check that item off of our list:

This clock tells us that it is 7:24 am. It looks like we will be docked by 7:30:

I mentioned earlier that the Goofy golf course is back here on the top deck. Here are a few more shots of it:

There are ping pong tables up here too:

Here we are backing slowly in to our space:

The sea gulls saw us coming:

And here is our island:

There was a crew of men who came out to tie us up:

And another greeting committee was there waiting for us:

We had arrived.

It was time for me to head on down and get everyone going.

TCD

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

There is a sense of peace in the last few posts. The lack of people, the abundance of rising sun pictures, the watching land approach.... almost like a gift.

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

Very cool!!!