Trip Report Day 3: Boarding the Disney Dream!

If you want to start this trip report from day 1, you can do so by clicking here.

Day 3 started off with us waking up early so that we could all shower, pack, eat breakfast, and be on the road to Port Canaveral by 9:00.  I didn’t take any pictures at breakfast, but we ate at the food court again at our hotel, Universal’s Cabana Bay Resort.  We were all so excited to board the ship today that we were moving quickly and were easily on the road by 9:00.  According to my phone, it would take us 1 hour to drive to Port Canaveral.

The drive was easy but we encountered some rain showers and a whole lot of toll booths.  I knew it was a toll road and brought cash just for that, but there were a lot more than I expected!  This was our first time driving ourselves to the port.  After a while a DCL bus passed us and we decided to just get behind it and follow it the rest of the way.

Before long we saw the ship in the distance, and a few minutes later we were pulling into the port area.  I think it was about 10:15 at this point, and our port arrival time was 10:30, which is also when the terminal opens.

First we pulled up to the luggage drop area to drop off our suitcases (except for our carry-ons).  The luggage drop area is the space under and right behind the canopy, and the guys in orange are the porters who will take your bags from you.  Be sure to tip them!

After we dropped off the luggage, a man directing traffic told us how to get to the parking garage.  You just drive straight ahead a little ways and then turn left.  This is what you see after turning left:

You swipe your credit card and pay in full as you enter the parking area.  (If you want more details about parking your car at Port Canaveral, you can read my post about it here).  I think we parked on level 2.  We made sure we had all of our carry-ons and posed for a quick picture.

A view of the ship from the parking garage:

To get from the parking garage to the terminal, you can either go down to the ground level, or use a covered walkway on level 3.  We chose to walk across on level 3.  It was not 10:30 yet, so the terminal had not opened and there was a line of cruisers from the terminal door, across the covered walkway, and all the way to the elevator lobby of the garage.  I knew that the line on the ground floor would be either the same or worse, so we stayed put.  The line started moving after a few minutes and moved steadily after that.  I wish I had paid closer attention to the time, but I didn’t.  My best guess is that it took us about 20-30 minutes from the time we got in line by the elevators in the garage to the time we got through security.  They don’t allow any photos in the security area, but I took one as we approached the door.

Security was quick and painless and when we got to the check-in line for returning cruisers, there was only 1 family in front of us.  After about a minute it was our turn to check in.  We showed them our passports (you can read my post about passports here), cruise documents, and filled out the health questionnaire.  They took our photos with us grouped by stateroom.  We were booked in 2 rooms, so they took a photo of me and the 2 girls in my room, then my husband and the 2 girls in his room.  I think this is because anytime you leave the ship in a port of call, a minor can only leave the ship with an adult booked in the same room (unless you fill out a special form, which we didn’t want to bother with).  I did notice that the signs were out on the counters that let everyone know that Mickey was sailing with a full ship and there were no upgrades available (you can read my post about port upgrades here).  We were assigned boarding group #2:

After a few minutes we were all checked in and found a place to sit.  My husband and I looked at the Daily Navigator (you can see all of the Navigators by clicking here) while my kids soaked up every last minute with their devices possible.  Once on the ship, they go in the safe and stay there for the entire cruise.

I think we ended up waiting for about 30 minutes before they announced the family of the day and starting boarding the ship.  I meant to look at the time that we boarded, but I forgot.  Based on the time stamps on my photos (which are incorrect because my camera time is not set correctly – grrrrr!), my best estimate is that we boarded the ship around 11:20 or 11:25.  I guessed this because I know roughly what time we arrived at the parking garage, and the time on those photos was about 1 hour prior.

We skipped the boarding photo op and got straight on the ship.  We had our swimming stuff in a carry-on and our plan was to get to the pools and Aquaduck ASAP, before it started to get really crowded.  This would be our first time to swim right away upon boarding.  For every previous cruise we have eaten lunch first and then sort of just wandered around the ship until our room was ready at 1:30.  However, those were all 7 night cruises (except for some 3 nighters without the kids) with plenty of time for swimming later on in the cruise.  This time, we only had 2 1/2 days on the ship with excursions planned for 2 of those days, so we felt like it was now or never.  I’m glad we did this, because we never did have time to swim or ride the Aquaduck again.

We walked onto the ship and through the atrium, avoiding the midship elevators as they tend to be very congested during the boarding process.  We walked down the hallway towards Animator’s Palate and the aft elevators.  The Halloween decorations were out:

There was no one at the aft elevators, so it was a quick ride up to deck 11.  The aft elevators open up inside Cabanas (the buffet restaurant) on deck 11, so we had to walk through Cabanas to get to the pool area.  Cabanas was practically empty, and they were still setting up parts of it for lunch.  It looked like some of the food wasn’t even out yet.  As we walked to the pools we passed a completely empty Vanellope’s Sweets and Treats.  We had never seen it before, so we walked through and looked around.  We would go back later in the cruise to buy some treats.  Everything in there is an additional charge, and you can add the menu & prices to the growing list of items I forgot to photograph.

After Vanellope’s we went out to the pool deck and threw all of our stuff on a table.  I passed out swim suits and everyone went to the nearest bathroom to change.  Then we sunscreened everyone up and headed straight to the Aquaduck.  There were still a few minutes left before it opened, but a line was already forming so we jumped in it.  A few minutes later it opened and then we only had to wait about 10 minutes until it was our turn.  My husband and I had done it on a previous cruise, but the girls hadn’t.  They loved it!  The water was cold though!  FYI, the person in the back gets the brunt of the cold water because waves of it come up behind you and over your shoulders.

This is a good time to tell you about my KYSS (keep your stuff safe) bag.  I purchased it for this cruise because I knew that we would have valuables with us at the pool (passports, cash, wallets, phones, etc) because the rooms aren’t ready until 1:30, and I wasn’t comfortable leaving all of that stuff unattended while we swam.  Chances are that nobody would have bothered it, but I didn’t want to be worrying about it in the back of my mind.  I ended up loving this bag and used it the next day at Castaway Cay as well.  It is super quick & simple to use and had more than enough space for all of our stuff (I bought the large size).  It has a chain that you can loop around the arm of a chair and a locking clasp that goes through each tag of the zipper, making it very difficult for someone to either open it or walk away with it.  It will now be a staple on our cruise vacations.  Of course I forgot to photograph it that day, but this is what it looks like:

You can see more details, size & color options, and prices on the KYSS website.

After riding the Aquaduck we all decided we were hungry and went in search of food.  Most of us were eager to eat our favorite chicken tenders of all time!  I don’t know why, but there is something about the chicken tenders on a Disney cruise and we just love them!  On the whole trip, this was one of the few times I remembered to take a photo of food before we started eating:

After chicken tenders and our first ice cream cones of the cruise (the flavors today were chocolate and vanilla), it was time for more swimming.  The pool area was starting to get more crowded at this point, but still not too bad.

My 10 year old decided she wanted to ride the Aquaduck again but no one else did, so I let her go by herself.  I managed to get a picture of her during the ride.  That’s her up there in the tube:

And after the ride:

At 1:30 our rooms were ready, so we packed up our things and went to check them out.  We had 2 connecting interior rooms.  We had never stayed in an interior stateroom before and had never seen the virtual porthole, so I was excited.  I have already done full stateroom reports of the rooms (click here for room 2513 and here for room 2515), so I’ll just show a few pictures here.  This is room 2515:

And this is room 2513, which is a mirror image:

The Castaway Club gift for gold level was this bag, along with 2 travel mugs which I somehow didn’t photograph:

We changed out of our swim suits and decided to walk around the ship.  The atrium was decorated for Halloween.

The Halloween Tree was bare.  The next day it would look a lot different.

Our girls had never seen the kids spaces on the Dream, only the Magic and Wonder.  So, we decided to go check them out during the open house.  I knew that they would probably not have time to hang out there during this cruise as it was so short and our schedule was packed, so it was now or never.  On the way, I looked out a window and saw a life boat lowered and open.  The life boats look so tiny when you are looking at the ship from far away,  and I am always surprised to see how large they are when I get a chance to see one up close.

I didn’t take a whole lot of pictures in the Oceaneer Club & Lab.  I am always worried that other parents might think I am trying to take pictures of their kids!  I tried to be discreet and got these:

My husband in his Smee outfit:

Next it was time to check out the Edge Tween Club, which is for ages 11-14.  Our oldest was only 10 on our last cruise so this would be the first cruise where she could visit the Edge, although she never had time after today.  It looked like a fun space to hang out, and the counselors were very friendly.

It was at this time that I made myself comfortable on a squishy chair and signed up for our free 50 MB of internet (if you have 2 rooms, remember to do it for each one!).  You must sign up by midnight on the first day to get the free 50 MB.  This was enough for me to send & receive emails several times a day, as well as upload a few photos to Facebook.  I didn’t have to purchase more on top of this.  The instructions for the free 50 MB will be in the Daily Navigator the first day.  If you want ALL of the details about the internet options on the ship, you can read my post about it here.

Before long it was time for the safety drill.  Both of our rooms were assigned to station D, which met on the first level of the Walt Disney Theater.  This was the first time as a family that we were not outside on deck 4 standing in the blistering sun.  Sitting down in an air conditioned room was SO much better!

After the drill we went straight up to deck 12 for the Sail Away Party.  Almost everyone on the ship is heading there, so the elevators are a circus.  So, we trekked up the stairs 9 decks.  Call us crazy, but I’m pretty sure we got there way before the people trying to use the elevators.  We wanted to watch the party from the railing on deck 12 instead of being in the action on deck 11, and we got a good spot at the railing to enjoy the show.  I will warn you that you must guard your spot carefully or someone will try and steal it.  Someone actually tried to move into my spot when I leaned over to talk to my daughter!  My feet hadn’t even moved!  I can’t believe how rude some people can be when it comes to deck parties and getting a spot with a good view.  There are lots of people who have no problem trying to steal your spot (either sneakily or out right), so consider yourself forewarned.

The Sail Away Party was fun as usual.  We had a few sprinkles, but thankfully it never rained.

I love watching the land disappear and knowing that we are leaving the real world behind for a few days……

We had the early seating which is 5:45, so we didn’t have much time before dinner.  I think we went back to the room and unpacked a little and watched some TV.  Our dining rotation was ERA, which stands for Enchanted Garden-Royal Palace-Animator’s Palate.  About this time we realized that the ship was really rocking.  Out of 7 cruises, I only remember feeling this amount of rocking one other time, on the Wonder in 2013 when we had to divert our course to sail around a tropical storm.

We arrived at Enchanted Garden right at 5:45 and were shown to our table, which was table 100.  We had requested a private table beforehand and it was granted.  Our serving team quickly showed up to introduce themselves.  Our main server was Ranzil and our assistant server was Rogelio (Leo for short).  I wish I could remember which countries they were from, but I can’t.  They were an awesome team and we enjoyed interacting with them every night.

Of course I forgot to photograph all of our food.  I wish I was the type of blogger who photographed every menu and plate, but I have accepted the fact that is not who I am.  For some reason I just always forget – probably because I am so excited about eating!

Dinner was good, and we were done by about 7:00.  We are the type of people who are quick to order and quick to eat, and our servers usually figure that out pretty quickly and pace us ahead of their other tables.  They obviously can’t bring out the same courses to all of their tables at once, and I have noticed on previous cruises that we tend to be our servers’ first table to get each course.  Sometimes we are finishing dessert and getting ready to leave while other tables are getting their main courses.

I had planned to avoid the gift shops the first night because they are usually super crowded, but we walked by and they were empty, I think because most people were still at dinner and the early show had not finished yet.  We shopped for a while and bought a few things.  As soon as the show let out, swarms of people began to come in so that is when we left to go drop off our purchases in our room.

At our room we met our stateroom host, Joscelyn from Jamaica.  He was super friendly and a did a great job on our rooms throughout the cruise.  We went over the sleeping arrangements with him and told him which beds we wanted made up in which rooms.  The 3 older girls would sleep in 1 room, with the top bunk made up.  The youngest would sleep in our room, with the sofa bed made up.  Every time we saw Joscelyn he always seemed very relaxed and happy, which I admired because I’m sure his workload was huge.

Tonight was one of our favorite shows, the Golden Mickeys.  We got to the theater about 30 minutes early and got great seats.  The ship was still rocking & rolling pretty hard.  Before the show, cruise director Jimmy acknowledged that the seas were rough and said that the captain expected them to calm down around 11:00 pm.  The show was great, but we noticed that Tarzan didn’t do his rope acrobatics like normal, which was a bummer.  We assumed it was because of the rough seas.

After the show we were all exhausted and most of the girls all wanted to go back to the room and watch movies until bedtime.  We found these when we returned to the room:

One of the good things about having 2 rooms is you get twice the towel animals!  Tonight they were the same but other nights they were different.  (If you want to see towel animals from our previous cruises, click here)  I also noticed that they no longer used the Sleepy chocolates (as in Snow White) and have switched to Ghirardelli chocolates.  Our Navigator for the next day was there as well, and it was just a 1 page handout instead of the 6 page booklet.  I prefer the 6 page booklet and hope this is just a temporary change.

With that, everyone called it a night except for me and our 10 year old, who wanted to go to Family Superstar Karaoke at 10:45.  She is a karaoke addict, and I hate that the karaoke is always scheduled so late.  We went and thankfully she was the first one to perform, so we made it to bed around 11:00.

Up Next:  Day 4 – Nassau and the Blue Lagoon Beach Day excursion

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you make a purchase through my links, the seller will pay me a small commission for it at no additional cost to you. I am grateful for your support of this site in this way, so thank you!