04/28/2011-Disney Dream with kids About This Page:

[Starbright]

Hi!
Yes, we get ready to leave tomorrow and I am getting quite nervous about it.
I haven't heard of any meet and greets at all, have you?
Um, I think it is 4000 people on the ship. I can't imagine it.
We are on totally different schedules while we are there. You will have to let me know your prespective on things when we get back.
If you hear someone say: passporter? it will be me LOL. Our paths might cross when we are done our snorling.
Sheila aka starbright

[sandy39]

yes there r a few meet and greets but im not in any of them, you were the only person i have chatted with. good lord 4000 people waiting to ride aqua duck! if we meet it will be a miracle. have a safe trip

[Starbright]

Sandy: We just got home this morning. How did you like the cruise? What did you think of the snorkling? What were your likes and dislikes? What room did you have? We were at the front on the 7th floor. I liked it but waaay to short and rushed.
Will wait to hear back from you. I am wiped with only 4 hrs of sleep.

[sandy39]

hi sheila, we were in room 7036 right down the hall !! i thought u were going to be on deck five and was going to ask u how that was because we booked another cruise and were looking at deck 5. the snorkling trip was great my little one did a good job for her first time. i lost my glasses on the pelican slide and the cm said dont worry it happens a lot just fill out a form and blah blah. i felt they were gone forever, but to my surprise they were waiting for me when we got off the ship!! it was way to rushed you are right we found bars we did not know about till last day. we never even got off the ship in nassau there was so much to try and do

[Starbright]

Sandy: I asked my son and we were at 7506 and had to go to H for lifejackets. Honestly, I got soooo lost on that ship, that it was embarrassing. My hubby and son started to speculate how long it would take for me to find the room when I went out or coming back. What did you think of the rocking the first night? Pretty wierd huh? Who was your waitress? Ours was Joyce..what a sweetie!!
Did you get to Pinks? Dh brought us glasses of Champain to the room after the kids were in bed and it was only around $6 a glass and it tasted really good.

My daughter wouldn't put her face in the water at the snorkling (only 5 yrs old) but paddled around with us watching the fish that way. Good for yours for doing it. My ds who is 9 did fine though. I enjoyed it alot.
Did you get to Serenity Bay? We did but only for one hr only in the afternoon and there was a guy fishing there. His wife and kids were elsewhere and he was fishing...tooo funny. He saw a Baracuda there though and it broke his line. I want to go there for longer next time. That water slide on the island was pretty fast though wasn't it.
We went to Nassau for about an hr after dh and kids went on Aqua Duck. I didn't like it. It was kinda unnerving and I am glad that my kids were in their clubs. I didn't feel safe at all.
What did you think of the Bon Voyage party? Pretty intense with all the people wasn't it?
When are you going again and which cruise? I am trying to talk dh into going again. The kids want to go too but think we will try for a carribean one next time.
Write and lets compare notes. Ugh, I hate this floaty feeling of lack of sleep.

[sandy39]

ok you were on the other side of the ship, how did you switch from 5th floor to 7th? it did take us a day to get over the boat moving feeling. while we were sleeping (great beds) it felt like we ran over a whale or something. we never got to pinks but saw it. we found meridians the last day a neat bar at the back of the boat,never got to serenity bay maybe next time. the water slide was fast thats were my glasses flew over my head, what did you not like the aqua duck or nassau? the most crowded part of the ship was the pool area indeed a biological nightmare. we booked for next spring break april 10th a 5 nighter, if you did it on ship they gave you 10% off but can change it as many times as you want. did you get to all the shows?

[Starbright]

Hi!
We were always on the 7th but I didn't know that right away. You had closer accesss to the elevators then.
Was Meridians the one with the photos on the wall? i saw one like that but I lost it and couldn't find it again That ship had me turned all around.
You didn't get off to go to Nassau did you? You didn't miss much. There were police everywhere, in the black and white Marine type uniforms (best way to discribe it). The streets were narrow. The people did not look friendly. When you went into a store, it felt like they were sizing you up. It was hot and really felt like you were boxed in. Not a safe feeling.
I Tried to book another cruise when we were there but it was just too busy so we missed out. I even told them that and they were to get back to me which they didn't. If we go again, I don't know when we would book. I would love to go at the beginning of Sept if I could get my son out of school for abit of time. I do like April but I don't think next Easter would work for us. We have a teachers strike looming too so that is going to hurt our buisness if it goes through so the next mth will let me know what we can do next yr.
Try to get to Serenity Bay the next time. Honestly, the noise is deafening with how quiet it was.
Who was your server?
I wish my hubby was as enthusiastic about cruises as you are. I love them. I want to go back. He likes the mountains and camping more and that is something that as I age, I don't like as much.
My daughter is still on Florida time. She was up 2 hrs earlier than normal today LOL

[sandy39]

meridians was a bar at the back of the ship with a patio on deck 12 next to palo it was nice and quiet sitting outside while we were sailing. no we did not get off in nassau, we planned to but got on the aqua duck twice then the two other ships pulled in and we said forget it lets just stay on the boat. i had been to nassau before and remember it as a big flea market. our server was kruno from serbia and the head guy was Simone from italy they were very good i miss being waited on! were you able to take the tram to serenity bay or did you have to walk from the pelican beach part? there is a lot to be said for mountain trips but leaving cold raining weather to warm sunshine is the best

[Starbright]

I wish we had known about Meridians. That would have been a great place to go while the kids were in their clubs.
Did your daughter enjoy the kids club? Mine had mixed reviews. My son really should have been in the preteen group with turning 10 next mth. They said that the next cruise he would be boosted up. Just too few kids his age. Then my dd who is 5, is not into the Princesses, and tended to hang around with her brother too much so missed out on the appropriate area for her.
We took the tram to Serenity Bay. It was nice and there is a big airstrip that you drive on. The plants were abit different too.
Hubby wants to drive in the Southern States. I was hoping to find a cruise from Galvinston Texas and fly into Tampa and go to Busch Gardens and then drive there. Unfortunally, their cruises aren't there til Sept 2012 and that would mean ds missing 10 days of school, which is too much. I will still search around and see. I want the Disney cruise since there is no gambling on board and it is all family.
Are you having problems getting back to reality? Been difficult-cold and no sun. We own our own buisness and right now, it isn't doing that good. Teachers are threatening to strike which could hurt us badly. I am a stay at home mom but I guess come Sept I will be out working. I hope things change around for us.

[sandy39]

that is the only reason we were able to go to meridians and the adult pool while reagan was in the club. she did like the club they always had some kind of activity going on for her. did your son find the arcade room? we saw it on the last day also, ton of games inside. did you find it too much to do disney world and the cruise? and oh yes it is hard getting back to work, i keep thinking it is time to go to the show or eat dinner! i hope things work out for you with the teachers and all. our next spring break is 4-8-12 that cruise is 3900 if i could justify reagan being out of school for 4 days then we could save over 1800 by waiting till the end of april.

[Starbright]

Sandy: what I did last yr,is I asked talked to ds principal and told him what was happening. I asked him if it would be o.k if we took him out of school for 7 school days. He told me to go ahead. Well, we had a "new" teacher come aboard and she has been abit smug and a pain (doesn't get why we can't go on holidays during the summer like other people). I again spoke to the principal and he told me to cont with the plans and he would help ds get caught up. Why not try that approach. Reagan will be in grade 2 or 3? Caelum is in grade 4.
No, it wasn't too much with WDW and Disney Cruise. We had a wk inbetween and went to the ocean and Kennedy Space center, and TRIED to relax (can't do that..no way). If they had been back to back, I think it would be different. I don't have any desire to go back to WDW for another 4-5 yrs now. I have had enough.
Caelum did find the arcade area and unfortunally that is the area he stayed in and so his sister stayed there too and didn't do the other activities.
Dh doesn't want to go on the bigger ship such as Dream or the Fantasy. So now I am trying to figure out when and if we can get onto the Magic and Wonder. Any suggestions? I want the Western Carribean cruise.
Really, I should be a travel agent. I love planning the trip almost more than going on them. I am still kinda disgusted that I never saw the Meridian lounge. Do try the cheaper champaine at Pinks (only $6 a glass)...it was sooo yummy.
Is your family sick since returning back? We have colds here as everyone appears to be. It has still been freezing at night which is not normal. Another yr before we go anywhere again-UGH.