OUR DISNEY DREAM CRUISE ROCKED, LITERALLY

My husband is easily classified as an introvert. There are certain things that make him a bit nervous – large crowds of people, lots of kids running around, loud crazy dance music, the thought of bustin’ a move in our living room. So, the thought of bustin’ a move on a public dance floor is pretty much the stuff of nightmares for him.

Jump to the second night of our Disney Cruise Line vacation on the Disney Dream, my husband literally busted out some wicked moves. On the dance floor. In a huge crowd of people. Kids running amuck. With crazy loud music blazing in the background. We are talking epic dance moves – the robot, the running man, the sprinkler, the shopping cart, the wave, the bounce, the sway, the spin-your-kid-around. He even moved left and right during a few line dances. Oh, yeah.

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DISNEY – I salute you!

Somehow, you created an environment so fun that even my introverted husband felt comfortable laying down some dope moves on the dance floor, yo.

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My 9-year-old son was in shock. He didn’t know what to do. He just stared at us. I should point out that I have no problem bustin’ out my exceptional adequate dance moves in public. I think the sight of both of his parents laying down such awesomeness all at the same time put him in a temporary state of disbelief. Once he was assured that it was still real life, he joined in on the fun – the kung fu fighter, the break dance handstand, the funky chicken. We had a blast.

THAT is what makes Disney so awesome. They create an environment so friendly, fun, and welcoming that “kids of all ages” can have the time of their lives. On all accounts, the Disney Dream certainly delivered.

Here are 7 other reasons why our Disney Cruise vacation on board the Disney Dream was such a memorable time (in no particular order):

1.  CRUISE BOAT

The boat itself was pretty magnificent. It was so fun to see it dwarf all of the other ships in port. The ship is certainly a Disney creation. Everything seemed fabulously constructed. The details were impeccable. We certainly enjoyed just walking around and taking it all in.

We have been on multiple cruise boats with Carnival. There is really no comparison. Everything on the Disney Dream was fresh and vibrant. Our room was spacious (for a room on a cruise boat). We always get rooms with balconies at the rear of the boat. Disney’s extended balcony was perfect for relaxing.

My favorite feature of the room was the split bath. Having been crammed into one small room on a cruise boat as a teenager with my large family of five, I can honestly say that the concept of a split bath is pure genius. There are two bathrooms. One contains a sink and the toilet. The other contains a sink and the shower. This provides so much versatility for getting everybody ready on time. Even for my small family of three, it took a lot of stress and frustration out of having to wait to get in the bathroom.

One of the unique features of the boat is the AquaDuck, a full-on water ride accessed from the deck of the boat. You go up. You go down. You definitely get soaked! To make sure your trip is extra trippy, there is even a section of the clear tube ride that extends over the edge of the boat.

The only downside to the AquaDuck is that EVERYBODY wants to ride it. There were a few times that we tried to get on the ride, but the wait was 60 minutes! What?! Let me be the first to say that although the ride is super awesome, it is definitely NOT worth a 60 minute wait in line. It is 765 feet long and lasts for maybe a minute. I don’t know about you, but I do not want to wait an hour for a minute long ride. Just no!

The trick is to ride it at non-peak times. Our stellar plan was to get on the ship early and go straight to the AquaDuck. Unfortunately, our first day on the ship was rainy…like super rainy and cold. However, given the amount of people of the ship at first, I’m pretty sure that would have been an awesome time to ride the ride.

We ended up riding the Aquaduck on the Castaway Cay day after breakfast. By that time, most everyone was on the island and it only had a 10-minute wait. Not bad!

2.  CASTAWAY CAY

Ahhhh, Castaway Cay, my dear friend of paradise.

Seriously, Disney’s private island of Castaway Cay deserves its own post. There is just so much awesomeness on one island. This was by far the highlight of our trip. I’m pretty sure I could just spend days there.

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Disney – listen up (because I know corporate Disney is certainly reading this post right now), I want…no, wait…I NEED a two- or three-day in port at Castaway Cay cruise. That’s not too much to ask, is it?

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Ok, so let me explain the awesomeness that is Castaway Cay. (Side note: Cay is pronounced “Key.” Say it that way if you want to be cool and sound like you know what you are talking about. Add some dreadlocks and a Caribbean accent and I would dare say you are cooler than me.)

The island offers so many options for pretty much everything that you might even think about wanting to do. There are outdoorsy options, relaxing in the sun options, playing in the water options, going down some slide options, snorkeling options, water sports options, drop your kids off options, avoid kids altogether options, shop a little options, and eat food options.

There is even a post office so you can mail things postmarked “Castaway Cay” so all of your friends and family can be completely jealous about your day in paradise. You definitely want to take a bunch of selfies in the sun for the same jealousy inducing purposes. Then post those suckers as soon as you get a chance.

Our trip to Castaway Cay involved running my first 5k. This is a great option to get off of the boat first thing. They let you drop your kid off at the play area on the way. You get to see the island before anyone else. Then you get a little exercise in before you start your day of lounging in the sun and sipping on libations.

After the run, we picked up our kiddo and went back to the boat for the BEST breakfast I have ever had. I’m sure I ate double the calories I burned off in the run. It was definitely worth it!

Then we got our things together and hit the beach. We found a comfy spot under some trees (I burn like nobody’s business…Suntan? What is this suntan you speak of? I surely know of no such thing!).

We ventured into the water. In February, the water was still pretty cold. I am a pansy when it comes to cold water though. I have to be REALLY motivated to get in. If not, have fun swimming in the arctic while I sit in the sun. My husband is a triathlete who swims during the winter. So, he had no problem spending hours on the snorkel trail. I can’t wait to go back when the water is warmer to get my snorkel on!

While my fish-like husband was swimming, I took my son to the water slide area where he had a blast. After that, we went and grabbed some food. They have a buffet on the island. That was probably the only time I had a hard time finding something to eat. Since I avoid gluten, the options of sandwiches, burgers, and hot dogs were a little less than appealing. It was very much a picnic affair. It looked good for a buffet on an island. It just wasn’t my type of food.

I ate a hot dog (which were very high quality for a hot dog). No bun. No side. Just a dog. The guy at the condiment stand looked at me like I was a little nuts. But hey, I knew I needed some protein. There were other options to buy some food, but I didn’t check those out. I also didn’t ask for any gluten-free options. They might have had some secrets up their sleeve. After my big breakfast, I was fine with just a hot dog.

After lunch, we took a stroll and then went back to relaxing in the sun.

3.  PIRATES

Since I was a little kiddo, one of my favorite rides at Disney World has been the Pirates of the Caribbean. So, needless to say, when Disney started making Pirates movies, I was hooked. They even cast Johnny Depp just to make sure that I wouldn’t want to miss one! (Side note: Johnny Depp and I were both born in the same somewhat obscure place in Kentucky. I’m pretty sure that makes him my brother from another mother, right?)

The Disney Dream played up their pirate connection with a “Pirates IN the Caribbean” day of festivities. Dinner was pirate themed (and don’t we all need an excuse to dress up like a pirate in for real life?). Jack Sparrow made the character meet-and-greet rounds (and also told me I needed to get rid of my husband…which I thought was pretty funny since we were on the cruise to celebrate our 10-year anniversary).

The night culminated with a pirate takeover on the deck, including fireworks that were shot off the side of the boat. Then came the funky dance party (the one that made my husband dance…see above). Apparently there was even a late night pirate-themed buffet. Welcome to pirate paradise.

4.  KID STUFF

Disney is for kiddos and for families with kiddos. So, this is the area that they certainly shine. Walking through the Oceaneers Club and the Oceaneers Lab, my only disappointment was that I was too old to join in on the fun!

It was super important that I felt safe leaving my only child in the hands of strangers. Luckily, those strangers were super nice and personable. With Disney’s reputation, I felt comfortable. Also, it certainly helped that my son was so enthralled with everything they had to play with that he didn’t even want me to pick him up at night!

My son spent his time in the Oceaneers Lab. His favorite thing was an interactive Pirates of the Caribbean video game. There were individual computer consoles that were all connected so you could fight your battle on the high seas. They had lots of scheduled activities. The kiddos can chose to take part in the activities or play in one of the areas off of the main room. There was a media room, an animator’s studio, a sound studio, and a craft studio. They also have a room where they conduct super sloppy science experiments and he was able to make flubber!

The only downside of the kiddo offerings was their Dine and Play option. In theory, kids can get their dinners quickly and then are taken by the Oceaneer staff to the Club. This is to allow the parents to enjoy a leisurely meal. In reality, we could never figure out where the staff were located or where we were supposed to bring him. Our waiter kept saying they would walk around and you would see them, but we never did. So, our leisurely dinners turned into my son’s constant inquiries about when he can go to the Club like he had planned. Finally, on the last night, we saw the staff near the door as we were leaving. They still had to wait for another ten minutes. By that time, my son had been finished eating for quite awhile and was not in the mood to wait longer. So, we just took him to the Club ourselves.

5.  ENTERTAINMENT

The entertainment options were pretty much phenomenal. They had shows, singers, movies, dances, and, in true Disney style, character meet-and-greets.

I love plays and have done a bit of acting in my days. I could definitely picture myself up there stealing the show…or at least not embarrassing myself too bad. The shows they did at night were certainly top notch. They utilized special effects and props. The stage set was amazing. They even had Tarzan go all Cirque du Soleil for a minute! The actors and singers were fabulous. It was all based on familiar Disney characters and movies. Even my husband didn’t mind them so much. My son especially enjoyed the Villains night.

They also had a movie theatre that played recent Disney movies. Word is – if a new movie is released, you get to watch it on the boat!! They had a huge screen on the deck by the pool that also played movies and Disney shows.

6.  FOOD

We are pretty picky when it comes to food and food prep. Disney certainly tops the list for fresh food prepared with awesomeness. Instead of huge vats of old food sitting around on a buffet line, they used skillets. They would prep the food and then sit on the buffet line. They were constantly preparing fresh food and rotating it out.

One thing I super appreciated was the portion sizes of the food. They were perfect and completely non-American. I have been on other cruises where they serve you enough food to feed a family. I do NOT enjoy feeling like I belong in a motorized hover chair on the Wall-E spaceship. Also, crazy huge portions lead to crazy huge waste. Not good either. The portions were always just enough food. If you have a bigger appetite, simply order more.

The only time we felt a little jipped on the portions was at breakfast the last morning before getting off the boat. We didn’t know how small the portions were until they brought it out (smaller than they had been). At that point, we didn’t have enough time to order more. SO, if you are super hungry that last day, just go ahead and order a few things!

Another note about the food is that Disney is super sensitive when it comes to people with allergies. They take it very seriously. I do not eat gluten and had no problem on the ship. We put it in as a note on our reservation. At dinner, they said if I needed my food prepped specially for gluten-free, then I would have to pre-order my dinners. For me, that is not necessary. There were plenty of options on the menu that did not include items containing gluten. So, it was easy to avoid. But, if you have Celiac Disease or other issues, they will certainly do more than their best to accommodate you. Make sure you check out the gluten free pizza on deck. You just have to ask and they make it fresh. It only takes about 15 minutes.

7.  CLEANLINESS

Do you find the thought of thousands of people that you don’t know all crammed into one boat a bit unsettling? I’ll be honest, the sensational news headlines of mass viruses plaguing cruise ships definitely passed through my mind a time or two while I was packing for our dream vacation.

To make matters worse, my hubby is a bonafide germaphobe. He has made me way more freakishly aware of the germs that are lurking in every corner just waiting for the opportune time to cling to my super clean self.

They should rename the Disney Dream to Germaphobe’s Dream! From the moment we got on the boat, we could tell that life would be good. EVERYTHING was super clean. As you walked around the boat, you could always see someone cleaning something. I find that very refreshing, literally.

Also, Disney apparently has a love affair with hand sanitizer. Whenever you go to eat, there are people standing in the doorway handing out hand sanitizer wipes. When you go to get on the boat, yep hand sanitizer. It seemed to be standing in every corner guarding the boat as the white knight of cleanliness. I now knight you “Sir Hand Sanitizer.”

Even cooler, when your kid goes to the Oceaneers Club or Lab, they have a super special hand washing machine that looks like something straight out of the movies. You stick your hands in, they get squirted with water and soap, then rinsed. You just have to do a quick dry. Brilliant!

Have you ever been on a Disney Cruise? What was your favorite part? What did we miss?

Thinking of planning a Disney Cruise? You should! Let me know in the comments below if there are any other questions you have that I didn’t answer above!

Peace, Love & Happiness,