A first time cruiser and the amazing ship The Disney Dream #DisneySMMC

 ****I was invited to attend the Disney Social Media Moms Land and Sea Celebration conference. I paid a conference fee to attend. I received a discounted rate for my stay. All opinions are my own. I have not been compensated or asked to post about Disney.****

February was a big month for me I recently had a milestone birthday my family and I visited London and Paris and I got to go on my very first cruise. Yes the very first, I have never been on a ship before (well if you count the Queen Mary.. but that was docked and did not go anywhere) and my very first cruise was going to be a Disney Cruise! As part of the Disney Social Media Moms Conference, there would be fun on land and a great adventure on sea. One of the things I have always wanted to do is go on a cruise, and this was a big thing for me to have this dream come true. 

Since this was my first cruise I was a bit concerned, what to pack? Will I get sick? How will the experience with the ship be? I was nervously exited, but I should not have worried, I was traveling with my mom a seasoned cruiser and Disney had everything planned. Before I knew it our land portion of the conference was finished we were set to leave our wonderful stay at Disney’s Coronado Springs and head on to the bus to set off the cruise terminal. 

Photo credit: "Disney, Photographer: Alex Mirabal".

As we filed into the bus, it really hit me I was headed to a Disney Cruise, the ultimate of all cruises! I have heard such great stories of families traveling on Disney Cruises, and the magic they experience. I knew this was going to be a cruise like no other (well I had no other, but I knew if I had others in the future this would be the high water mark that other would have to try to live up to) an adventure with mother and daughter filled with fun and magic. The ride from the resort to Cape Canaveral took about an hour, not bad at all. Then before I knew it we well pulling into the cruise terminal and you could see her, The Disney Dream!

Arriving and being processed at the terminal was pretty easy, we were there early and the lines weren’t long. When we checked in we were each given our  “Key to the World” card, this card would have all we needed for the cruise, use it to charge, use it to get on and off the boat, to open your stateroom. This card was one of the most important thing you needed on the cruise. The longest we waited was to board the ship, we were in boarding zone 4. When you check in you get a zone and board accordingly, from zone 1 on.  

The announcement said “Zone 4 boarding” and my heart was fluttering with excitement, just one more line and we were on the ship. As soon as we crossed the dock and were boarding we were asked how we would like to be announced, and then they greeted us via the microphone by name while a crew of cast members applauded us as we boarded, it was a magical beginning to the cruise. The main staircase and area of the boat was breathtaking. The chandelier oh it was so beautiful, my pictures do not do it justice the color was so vibrant and the whole area looked so regal.

 

What was the first thing we did as soon as we boarded the cruise? Well we ate of course! I have heard stories about the abundance of food on a cruise, and boy those stories were true! We headed right off to the buffet at Cabanas for lunch. 

Cabanas had so many amazing choices, from Asian, Italian, American and plenty of sea food choices. My mother was so happy to see the abundance of shrimp and crab legs we were all ready to dig in. After we ate we were ready to check out the ship, there were so many great shops and places to visit.

Our room was ready at 1:30 and we were off to discover and check out our home for the next 3 nights. We were at the very front of the boat (the forward) but it was not that hard to get to. Even though the boat was massive, it was not difficult to navigate, and there were maps all around if you did need help finding things.  But I digress.. Back to our room!

We entered the cabin and were in awe this was such a lovely room. There were separate rooms for the sink/toilet and the sink tub/shower. My mom remarked at how she was very surprised to see a tub/shower a tub is unheard of on a cruise. 

This is such a plus for those traveling with little ones, a tub is a must. There were plenty of large sized toiletries in the bathroom for you to enjoy. They even had a sun cooling relief gel, in case you were sun burnt, they really thought of everything.

The bed was a large queen bed with plenty of room to store your luggage underneath of it. We had a standard size couch that converted to a bed, and a large vanity/desk that quickly was filled with all of our traveling needs. There is a TV that can be positioned to whatever angle you would like, but honestly we never turned the TV on during the cruise there was just too much to do to watch the TV. 

Sure the room was wonderfully amazing, but what really was stupendous was the veranda! Oh my what a treat to have your own little outside space to sit and enjoy. The veranda had two chairs and a small table. A great size for sitting out and enjoying your coffee and watching the sun rise, ahh can you imagine it? 

When you cruise you have a steward that is assigned to a certain amount of rooms and is there to help you with whatever you need. Our steward was amazing! I could not get over the fact that on the first day, the very first afternoon he knew me by name. He would greet me in the hall with a “How are you today Mrs. Susan” or if I was with my mom “How are you today Mrs. Susan’s “ (my mom’s name is Susan as well…)  it really amazed me how he knew who we were so fast, it was pretty neat to be greeted and treated like a friend so quickly.

One of the items that the cruise more simple for this first time cruiser was The daily Navigator. This is a daily newspaper of sorts that tells you everything that is going on with the ship each day. To where the character meet and greets are, to the movie times, to the show times and entertainment, and even Bingo!. 

Speaking of entertainment the Disney Dream does it like no other. Each evening we had the opportunity to see first run movies, or a Broadway style show. While we cruised the evening shows were, The Golden Mickeys, Beauty & the Beast, and Disney’s Believe. If you have the early sitting for dinner (5:45pm) you can see the 8:30 show. If you have the late dinner (8:00pm) you would plan to see the shows at 6:00. My mother and I made sure that we were in the audience for the Beauty & the Beast show. This is a cartoon, that I grew up watching and I knew we could not miss this show. 

Photo Credit: Disney 

And wow, just wow this show did not disappoint. The actors, the songs just everything was better than I could have imagined. I have heard such great things about this new stage show for the Dream, but you have to see it to experience the majestic splendor of the sets and the costumes and the talent for the show was first rate. The only disappointment that I had for the show was I wished we would have seen the 6pm show so we could have seen it again at 8:30pm yes it was that good.

For this cruise we experienced rotational dining, this would give us a chance to try each of the sit-down restaurants (except Palo and Remy which were each adult only and had an additional charge per person) including, Enchanted Garden, Royal Palace and Animator’s Palate. It was nice to have the same wait staff each night they would remember what you liked and gave some great descriptions of the roof available and great suggestions on what to eat. I will have plenty more information about the food choices soon.

The ports of call were such fun to visit, I enjoyed my first visit to Nassau, in the Bahamas. It was a bit touristy but that was a part of the charm. I heard Kokomo playing in more than one shop, it was fun checking out the shopping district on the island. The second port of call was Disney’s Castaway Cay, Disney’s own private island.. I will have more on that soon as well. Stay tuned!

Overall my first cruise was great! It was filled with Disney magic, and memories I will cherish forever. Would I go on a Disney cruise again? Absolutely, you are treated like royalty and the service is first class. Have you ever been on a Disney Cruise, I would love to hear about it.

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Visit the Disney Cruise Line to lean more and to book your Disney Cruise!

Photo Credit: Disney

Have you taken a Disney Cruise? Did you love it?

Disclosure: The reviews and or opinions on this blog are my own opinions . No monitory compensation was received. I was not required to write a positive review. Your experience may differ. The opinions I have expressed are my own I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsement and Testimonials in Advertising .