Disney Dream - what a beautiful ship!

[Ellanora]

Just got off the Disney Dream last week - was on the 3 night from Sunday to Wednesday Thanksgiving week. Dream is definitely the most beautiful ship I've been on so far, and we had a fabulous time. Some thoughts I gathered:

 

1. Main Dining - our meal in the Royal Palace outshone every meal I've ever had on a cruiseship. The Beef Tenderloin with Lobster Medallion was perfectly cooked, the cream cauliflower soup was excellent, and the escargot was outstanding. Our meal in the Enchanted Garden was very good, and fits in well with what I expect from dinner on a cruiseship. Our meal in Animator's Palate was disappointing, the entrees were good but the appetizer choices left a lot to be desired. All of the appetizers (including soups) were tried across the table, none of them impressed.

 

2. Cabanas/Buffet - what an improvement over the Wonder's Beach Blanket Buffet!! The layout of Cabana's, with drink stations in every section, and split food sections rather than long buffet lines was extremely well done. The buffet food selection and taste was excellent. The peel and eat shrimp and carving stations were standouts, and breakfast was always very good.

 

3. Aquaduck - I've yet to see a bad review of this great innovation, and I can't imagine why I would. This was a lot of fun, all of the kids rode multiple times, and seeing beautiful Castaway Cay from inside the tube was very cool. Except for during the fireworks display, the Aquaduck was open until midnight each night, and there was never a line after dark.

 

4. Kid/Family pool areas - I've read a lot of criticism of the small pools, and it is justified...to a point. Certainly the Donald family pool should be enlarged. However, we really didn't have a problem with crowding, always found empty chairs within a few rows of the pool. I can see how Disney may have thought adding the outdoor splash/whirpool section of the teen club Vibe would cut down on kids in the main pool, and I think on the 7 night Fantasy it probably will. On a 3 night where you're fighting hard to fit in as much family time as possible, I think maybe the club isn't used as much. Overall, we really had no problem with this area. Also, Nemo's for the little ones is outstanding. Our two smallest (age 5 & 6) also loved the Mickey Slide, just right for them. Whirlpools were nice sized with beautiful views and glass bottoms.

 

5. Adult pool/Cove - I think this is the pool that suffers the most from needing to be enlarged, and again, on a 7 night cruise I think this area would get utilized even more and would be more crowded. It wasn't too bad for us, and the seating in the area was extremely comfortable and with great views. Also, the coffee bar in the Cove is probably one of my favorite spaces on the ship, really enjoyed speaking with the ladies bartending while I relaxed with a fancy coffee and my Nook.

 

6. Shows - The updated Golden Mickeys was very good. The updated Believe was also very good, and I liked the father/Genie portions better than the girl/Peter Pan portions of the original. However, I was disappointed they took out the two best parts of that show - the Fairy Godmother changing Cinderella's dress, and Tinkerbell sprinkling the entire ship with pixie dust. I did not care for Villains Tonight - the actors all did a great job, but I think the play itself is not as well written as it could be. It may just not be to my taste - I like to be able to lose myself in the show, and the wisecracks to the audience about Kim Kardashian or political cracks take me out of the moment.

 

7. The interactive art was very cool. We did not have time to participate in the Detective Agency mystery, but it is something we are definitely looking forward to next time!

 

8. The way photos are gathered in an album now is very handy! However, the area is still so small and very hard to navigate on busy evenings.

 

9. Kids Clubs - Outstanding. The new play areas in the Oceaneer's Club are awesome, and were a big hit with our smaller ones. We didn't have kids in the Lab ages. The Edge area for tweens was larger and cooler than I expected from photos. Unfortunately, our only tween would rather watch a movie in the cabin rather than be social in the club, so I can't speak to the activities. The Vibe for teens was amazing, very large, and the outdoor area was fantastic. My son attended a magic show there the first night which he really enjoyed.

 

10. Other diversions - the mini golf was great, the sports area had very cool music to go with the basketball court, we enjoyed the animated movies on the big screen, and the pirate party was great. I wasn't sure I would, but I liked how they divided the character part of the party from the dancing part later after fireworks. Always nice to see Captain Jack Sparrow. :D Bingo was fun, although no freebies like we received on the Wonder. Karaoke was a bust, lots of technical glitches that screwed up the order of songs. They really need to work on that. Castaway Cay was beautiful, as usual, and the Konk Kooler was refreshing, as usual. :p

 

11. Staterooms - we had adjoining Deluxe Family Oceanviews, rooms 6170 & 6172. They were "extra long" to accomodate a murphy bed by the window, and the porthole window was larger than the regular oceanview portholes we had before, with recessed seating. 6172 also had a pulldown from the ceiling. Both rooms had round tubs with rainshower showerheads in the ceiling which were amazing!

 

12. Innovations - I've already mentioned a few of these, but I wanted to make the point; Disney has done an amazing job of coming up with new features that outshine the past. Aquaduck, Nemo's area for the diapered set, interactive art, teen Vibe pool area, and the Wavephones which were incredibly handy and helpful - all of these did much to add to how special the Dream is. I expect the inside room "portholes" fall in this category as well, and probably other things that I did not get a chance to experience.

 

Overall, we had an outstanding time. Service was fantastic. I wish we could do a 7 night on Disney Fantasy, but the cost is so prohibitive right now. 3 night cruises get shorter every time I take them. ;) But having read about some of the upgrades for Fantasy, it may well end up being the perfect cruiseship. Disney Dream was amazingly close to perfect. :D

[Dave_MaryJo]

Glad you had a great time. Thanks for the review! :)

[mom x4,grandma x4]

Thanks for your report. I enjoyed reading it.

 

I agree about The Villians show. I saw it on the Magic earlier this month and none of us cared for it.

 

Glad you had a great time,

 

Kathy

[Fireplug]

Great report thanks for sharing!

 

Squid