I don't have to ever experience any other cruise line. I am sold on Disney cruises. I couldn't imagine the service or cleanliness on another cruise line ship coming close to what we experienced on the Disney cruise. When you include the abundance of activities available, disney's cruise is a must do. It is more expensive but you come away understanding exactly why. We are already planning and budgeting to go on a longer one, hopefully in the next 3 years
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Embarkation was okay. This was my first cruise so I didn't have anything to compare it to. We arrived earlier than our boarding time and found out there were a lot of people waiting. No one was allowed to enter the check in area until 10:30 am which was our boarding time. After getting inside, check in process went smooth and we boarded with group 5 which was one of the first groups to board
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
Cabanas was pretty good (buffet style for breakfast and lunch) lots of selections for both. I really enjoyed the rotational style dinner restaurants. My favorite was probably Animators Palate. My son loved talking to crush. They do an excellent job of catering to the kids. My son is allergic to nuts and shellfish so they would take his order the night before for the next night's dinner. My son and daughter always received their dinner within 5 minutes of us placing our orders which was great because it kept them from getting antsy. The server and assistant also did tricks and games during dinner to keep the kids entertained. My kids, wife, sister, and mom also liked the quick serve food options as well. I didn't eat at them much because I usually had a big lunch at Cabanas and wanted to wait until dinner, but they did come in handy for light meals for the others in my party to hold them over until dinner (we had the late 8:15 pm dinner time)
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
We used the pools as much as possible, which the kids loved. We also used all the other water activities (aquaduck, mickey's slide, etc). The kids also went to oceaneer club and lab. My wife, sister, and mom shopped in the onboard stores
Entertainment
5 out of 5
The sail away party, pirate party, and fireworks were amazing. We also enjoyed the live music performances, character appearances, dance parties. We weren't able to see any broadway style shows or any movies in the theatres (didn't have enough time), but we did catch a few Disney movies on the funnel screen while swimming or lounging around the pools (my kids loved playing in the pool while watching movies
Children's Programs
5 out of 5
Kids loved oceaneer club and lab but since we spent must if our time while at port on an excursion in Nassau and out at Castaway Cay they were limited to enjoying those activities only during our one day at sea
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
I don't think it's possible for anyone to top the service disney provides you while on their cruise. Again this was my first cruise so don't have anything to compare it to but it far exceeded my expectations and they were pretty high based on the reviews I had seen. I think the service and amount of activities offered is what sets the disney cruise apart. My wife and I are already trying to figure out when and how we can go on another Disney cruise longer one probably a 7 night) in the next 3 years.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Disney excels here too. They are constantly cleaning. The ship always seemed to be spotless. One day my son wasted ice cream on our verandah, which I cleaned up as best as I could. Right after, we went to the top deck to get in the pools and ride the aqua duck. A few hours when we came back to get ready for dinner not only was our stateroom straightened up but they had cleaned up any remaining signs of the ice cream spill to the point it wasn't obvious anymore
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
The stateroom was good, again with this being my first cruise I don't have anything to compare it to. My wife had went on a canaval cruise and she thought the disney cabin was bigger and cleaner. She did mention that on her canaval cruise she had an inside cabin so maybe that isn't a fair comparison. As far as her comparison she thought Disney was hands down better in every category although she did mention she liked that canaval offers a buffet option for dinner ( she did think disney's dinner quality exceeded canaval' dinner quality but that canaval had a larger dinner selection because of the buffet option). If you are like us you want spend much time in the cabin anyway
Ship tip
Take advantage of the daily newsletter they provide each evening for the next day as well as their app. We used the app the entire but initially only to chat so we could meet up. Probably halfway through the cruise we started using the newsletter along with the app to find out what events and activities were going on and at what time. That really helped us do as much as possible on the day at sea. If we had started earlier we may have been able to experience more of the plethora of activities available on the disney cruise
Thought it was okay, I thought a lot of time was wasted to get where we needed to be to get to our excursion. Not sure if this is because we booked thru Disney. We had to meet on the ship at 0900 and was of the ship by 0930, however we probably spent 45 minutes to an hour waiting just outside the ship before we could board the ferry to take us to blue lagoon. Once there we enjoyed our beach day excursion (after experiencing castaway Cay I had to rate blue lagoon as only four stars). The ferry ride was great the crew was amazing especially on they ride back.
Disney has really knocked this out the park. We fed and snorkeled with the sting rays, we did some more snorkeling (extremely fun - the water was clear and there was plenty to see, I even saw some turtles out near the artifacts disney placed on the sea floor) We saw many fish types - my kids enjoyed seeing a several "dory" fish. We rode bikes around the island, swam and played in the water. My wife and kids loved the lazy floats and doughnut floats, they spent the end of they relaxing and floating in the water, The barbecue lunch was pretty good too
I thought disembarkation was much smoother than embarkation. It helped a lot that since we had the late dinner we also had the late breakfast (for disembarkation morning) which meant we were among the last the exit the ship
We sailed on the Dream four times. The last time (2014) I was able to get a one bedroom suite and a family cabin on concierge for $7200 total for six people. It was a four day to the Bahamas. We traveled the first week of September. I priced the same cruise yesterday and it was 11K! Disney is awesome, but yes, you have to save your pennies; nickels; dimes; and quarters.
Keep saving for another 'Dream' cruise. Did you have children with you? I certainly know adults can cruise without children. Just curious. Glad you enjoyed your Disney cruise.
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