Let’s talk cruising! I LOVE going on cruises, who doesn’t? Well besides the ones with anxiety, sea sickness, debilitating depression, a toddler and WAIT….that’s us! Yep, we had all of the above and we still had an amazing time cruising. Our first family cruise was onboard the Disney Dream. We left out of Port Canaveral, Fl and we visited the Bahamas and Castaway Cay(pronounced Key), Disney’s private island. Our best friends, Bettyann and Josh joined us so we had 4 adults and our 2 daughters ages 4 and 10 at the time. So let’s dive in…except not literally cause diving off the cruise ship is not advised 😉
So, we stayed in Cocoa Beach, Fl the night before since we live in NC and didn’t want to risk any hiccups on boarding day. I highly recommend traveling in the day before because I have heard so many horror stories of things happening and causing people to miss the ship and there are no refunds for such incidents. Everything is made so simple through Disney which alleviated my stress level by millions! They have an app that you download prior to cruising and you can fill out all your documents and load them and then schedule your arrival time to board the ship. This isn’t set in stone they just need to space everyone out so if you get there a little early like we did, chances are you will be zoomed right on through. No guarantees of course but in the event you aren’t, they have miniature replicas of the ships on display that are so finely detailed it is mesmerizing to look at and you can walk around the port and check them out. Just remember to breath! It’s absolutely stunning and I was blown away but my mind was also racing with the repetitive question of “what’s next?” I can easily say Disney has thought of everything and you just need to breath and listen! 🙂 they point and guide you seamlessly! Once your time is up you’ll get in line and make your way to a desk where they process all your physical paperwork like your passports or we just had photo copies of our birth certificates and license etc. Here you get your “key to the world” cards. These cards are like the magic bands in the resort and parks or if you e never been just think of it like the cards at hotels that unlock your door except on steroids. Lol It will have your room number and diner time printed on it, it’s your room key, your pass to get on and off the ship (and you will not be allowed on or off without it), make purchases to your room etc. it’s literally your key to the world on your cruise and each member of your party gets one. Of course the kids won’t have purchasing power unless you set it up. These lanyards are perfect to keep them on you and hands free at all times. It’s also a zipper pocket for cash when you get off the ship. Again, it’s the small things that kept my anxiety at “bay”! 😉 Once we boarded, we headed straight to the buffet. All food except room service orders and specialty dining is included on Disney! I will say, when you go to the optional sit down meals at night you will be billed for tips at the end of your cruise. The staff is exceptional and worth every penny but we just weren’t aware. It was lunchtime and the rooms aren’t typically ready until later but you will be notified thru the app as soon as it is. You can choose to have your luggage delivered to your room which is what we did and I just kept a small back pack with my medicines and necessities on me. We seen people later on that still hadn’t received their luggage and I could see that being an inconvenience. The crew members work very hard to have it to you when your room is ready however, it could take longer. Some people will keep a bag with swimming gear and sunscreen with them and take advantage of the pools and hot tubs during this time but with it being our first cruise, there was so much to look at, we didn’t have time for that! Maybe after a few times onboard. I went straight for a table to take the kids and sit and gather my thoughts while the guys went to make their plates. The kids ended up catching them and made theirs as well. All drinks are included on Disney like juice, tea, coke brand sodas, water, etc. we took yetis and reusable straws and would simply fill up when we passed a station which are very conveniently located and self serve which makes it STRESS FREE!(the cups provided are small and only paper straws)
While we ate, we were notified our rooms were ready! We were BLOWN AWAY when we seen our rooms! A king size bed with stow away bunks which your room service crew members will set up either way you choose to have it. the bathroom is split into two rooms. One has the tub/shower combo and a sink and the other has the toilet and another sink. How convenient is that?!?! VERY! We spent the most time on our balcony at departure and as we docked. We enjoyed watching as the ship took off and as the crew members prepared at port. Trav liked getting up early and watching the sunrise from our balcony. This can all be done from the upper decks as well so don’t feel like you will miss out without a balcony. It’s complete preference! I really enjoyed peering out first thing but I am not an early riser so getting up and dressed and going out to the upper decks in public just isn’t on my vacation itinerary lol Speaking of itinerary there will be a schedule in your room of everything taking place each day. This includes shows and activities. There are things you can add on like breakfast with the princesses and little activities for the kids and you will need to sign up for some of them before they sell out so get this done asap if it’s something you are planning. If you are interested in booking an excursion and haven’t already this is a good time to do that. We booked in advance but some say go as soon as you board. They do sell out of some so depending on what you’d like to do and your priority level the sooner the better! We booked the Blue Lagoon and HIGHLY recommend(details in another blog so make sure to stay tuned)! With that being said, we could’ve stayed onboard the entire time and never got bored! There is so much to do and see on the ship that it would not disappoint and we would actually do this at the ports besides Castaway Cay next trip. They will have a mandatory emergency drill before leaving port and it’s not fun to say the least. It’s time consuming and the kids get very frustrated and my anxiety was through the roof so just a heads up…get mentally prepared! You will have your key to the world card scanned to prove you attended and they will find you and make you come if you don’t so just show up and don’t hold it up. There is a sailing away party to follow in the main lobby and it was a lot of fun! All the characters are there and it’s just a really good dance party to reset the mood and get the cruise started! So, by the time we had all of this accomplished and had our luggage settled into our room we freshened up and got dressed for dinner and went to explore the ship. The guys found their favorite spot for the remainder of the trip which was the self serve ice cream machine! We checked out the kids club and signed the girls up which we ended up not using after the first day because we just had so much to do and we chose kid friendly activities so there wasn’t a need for it. Our oldest stayed for a little while that day just to explore it. The pool area also has a gigantic movie screen and of course plays different movies the whole time. We watched a few minutes while waiting for our diner time. The movies are on the schedule so you will know if there’s a must see! Also on that topic, we got to watch Aladdin in one of the theaters onboard before it was released to theaters which was really neat so check the schedule for that! I’ll talk about dinner in another blog as well but it was really neat and we enjoyed it. We returned to our room afterward to get some rest recoup from the day. The tvs in the room have all kinds of Disney movies to choose from so the kids were happy and we didn’t add the optional internet package. As soon as you bird the ship you can log into its Wi-Fi but it only allows the cruise app to work which will have all of your booked events on it. If you need data for other things you can choose from the packages and add it on at any time through the app. There are phones in the room that allow you to communicate with crew members, place room service orders, and other rooms which we used for our friends. Our embarkation day had come to an end and we were ever so grateful for the most dreamy bed! Make sure to follow along for more details and tips for the rest of our Disney cruise!
Rae’s Daze 