Joe and I had our first DCL experience last week! We were celebrating Joe's birthday and selected a 3 night Bahamian cruise on the Disney Dream.
Our departure day was Friday, March 1, out of Port Canaveral with stops in Nassau on March 2 and Castaway Cay on March 3, and back to Port Canaveral on March 4.
Here's a link to some of our pics; you don't need a Snapfish account or log in info to view.
https://www.snapfish.com/share?via=link&token=hJADnVgK3IcL-6QS33S6qg/SFO/27949895764060/SNAPFISH
Embarkation Day
Our check in time was 12:15 to 12:30; we got to Port Canaveral at Noon and parked in the garage. (Parking for the entire trip was $68. Preferred parking is another $20; not sure of the value since we were pretty close to the terminal and there were plenty of spots in the garage)
Easy run through Security and we were immediately directed to a counter, where we signed the "Are you sick?!????" questionnaire, had our passports checked and we were given our Key to the World card. After that we were told "Open boarding; feel free to get right on!" So we did. Captain Mickey was taking pics in front of the ship model so we waved but went on our way.
Quick stop for a boarding picture and then to the welcome committee, where they announced our arrival party, everyone clapped and welcomed us on board! And by this time it was maybe 12:45. Woo!
Rooms weren't ready until 1:30 (and they have blue ribbons up across the room areas preventing you from going beyond the staircase/elevator area!) so we explored the upper decks. The ship is fascinating!! And huge!
We decided to check out Cabanas for lunch and since it wasn't too busy, we opted for that, and took an outside seat. Food was good and plentiful and the view was great.
They let us to our rooms right at 1:30, our luggage was already at our door. Nice! We had a backpack with a few essentials that we carried on, but getting our stuff so quickly and getting unpacked right away was nice.
VERANDAHS ARE AWESOME!! So glad we went with a verandah room. It was well worth it. And the sage advice for port side came in handy at Castaway Cay, where we backed into Port.
Muster drill was interesting (and loud!) but once that was done, we were off! What an experience for the first time! It was hard to notice we were moving, but when I looked directly down from the 14th deck to the ocean I felt a little woozy. So I found the horizon and was fine. And after an hour I was totally used to it and could look down no problem. And no seasickness for the entire cruise for either of us! YAY!
We spent a good hour or so just watching from the top deck, enjoying the adult area and lounge chairs, got a tropical drink and relaxed as the shoreline became distant and faded away.
After looking through the Navigator we decided we wanted to see the Golden Mickeys show and Ralph Breaks the Internet. And we decided that our 8:15 seating for dinner was too late for us to eat so we opted for room service instead. We ordered the buffalo wings, grilled cheese and steak sandwich and split it all. Was all pretty good. The cake of the day was something pumpkin which wasn't all that appealing so we got cookies, which were quite good!
The Golden Mickeys show was really really good; we opted for the balcony seating which allowed us a broader view. After that we headed over to the Buena Vista movie theater for Ralph Breaks the Internet. At 10:30 pm. It was just about 2 hours long. I may have fallen asleep during certain parts....we called it a night by 1 am. Which is waaaaaaay past my bedtime! But a great day, our room was turned down with towel animals and chocolates!! Now I want that every day.
Glad you guys had a good time. I want to try paddle boarding sometime. My balance isn't very good though 