Florida flowers and Caribbean cruising THIS SECTION COMPLETED 5/7 - Page 13 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
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There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
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So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Tuesday 24 February – part five: learning about the making of a Dream…
When we were done, we made our way up to deck four, as we were going to go to the presentation on the making of the Dream in a little while.
We wandered through the entertainment district.
Mark had said he needed to use the restrooms, and I said I did as well, but I’d go in the entertainment district, as I remembered how amazing they were. Well, all I can say is four years on, sadly they’re not so amazing. Ok, so they still look wonderful, but the sliding doors aren’t that great. I went into the ladies’ and there were two cubicles, and the doors didn’t work on either, so I had to go into another set of ladies’ restrooms, where the doors did work. Thank goodness they have so many options here.
We wandered through Evolution…
… and tried to get into the Skyline Lounge, but couldn’t from there, although we were able to get into through the other door. They had a mixology session on at 2:00pm, which they were getting ready for, but they were fine with us coming in and getting some photos. I do love this place, it’s just so cool.
From there, we went into Pink, and we both made the same comment, that we didn’t think it was quite as over the top any longer. We both remembered it being overpowering the second you walked in, and it’s not like that at all. Whether it was our memories playing games with us, or whether they have toned it down, I don’t know.
We ended up sitting in there for a while, while we waited for the sports trivia to finish in the 687 bar, and the District Lounge was packed with people heading out on a shore excursion. They were there when we got to the entertainment district at 1:45pm, and were still there 20 minutes later. Talk about hanging around!
We headed into the 687 bar for the presentation, and got the last couple of reclining chairs. While these are a nice idea, you do have to put your back into it to make them recline, and when I got back up, I found them quite jarring. Give me our electric ones at home any day!
The presentation was really interesting. It starts off with a video about the Dream, then you get some background on how Disney first got into cruising, and how the industry said that family orientated cruises would never work. Well, they’re definitely not saying that now, are they? From the adverts I’ve seen recently for various cruise ships, I think families are now the main target audience. What a difference Disney have made over the lasts 15 years or so.
We learnt all sorts of little anecdotes about the Dream, and some things about the other ships too. They showed a photo of the original lobby of the Magic, and now looking at it, I can’t believe it ever looked like that. It looks so hideously over the top and out of date to me now, and there was me sad to see it go, when they originally announced the changes to the Magic.
Krista, who was doing the talk, also explained about the name of the bar, which if you didn’t know, was the number assigned to the Dream when she was being built, and the way she was identified before they officially named her. I didn’t realise, but there are tributes to 688 on the Fantasy, as that was the number given to that ship. Krista told us one, which we’d missed, but apparently there are others, although she told us we’d have to go back on board to see the others.
She explained how the Dream was built, with it done in I think 80 separate pieces, and everything was done upside down, so that it could then be rotated and put into the right place. My goodness, they didn’t make things easy.
Krista explained that the idea for the AquaDuck first started out as a lazy river, until the team realised how much weight it would be, and maritime law dictates that you have to have the heaviest items, like the engines, at the bottom of the ship, so the lazy river would have had to have been at the bottom, which really defeated the object of that. Ironically, that little fact was on the front page of our Navigator the next day…
She told us about the various ceremonies that they have, in keeping with maritime tradition, including hiding the gold coin under the first keel laid, partially so you had something to give if pirates ever came on board (that’ll come in handy for Pirate Night! ) and it was also good luck, although I don’t remember the details of that.
The photo shown of the gold coin was Commodore Tom Forberg, who was the first employee of the Disney Cruise Line, and has been the first captain of each of the four ships, along with Donald Duck. Krista explained that, although Donald’s wearing a sailor’s outfit, he’s actually an admiral, and that’s why you see admiral Donald in the lobby, so it goes Admiral Donald, Commodore Tom, then Captain Mickey. Oh boy, that’s got to hurt the mouse!
We also learnt how the Disney characters around the lobby in the Magic and the Wonder depict Crew Member jobs, but on the Dream and Fantasy, they depict the activities that guests can do, something else I’d never noticed before.
Something else that was finally explained is why all the other ships have flat rear ends that look as if they’ve just been cut off all of a sudden. I’ve never understood why, as they look so darned ugly, but I knew there must be a reason, and of course there is. They can fit more rooms in with that design. Thank goodness Disney went for beauty over money in that case.
We learnt a bit more about Castaway Cay, and how Disney leases it from the Bahamian government, so technically it is still the Bahamas. We also learnt that Disney were adamant that they wanted the ships to be able to dock, as a lot of cruise lines who have private islands allow people to tender ashore, but they didn’t want families to have to do that.
Krista also talked about the breakwater they had created, which I already knew about, which protects the family beaches, and ensures safe water conditions, and that the beaches don’t get washed away. Yes, I can see that’s quite important.
It was a fascinating talk, and one I’d thoroughly recommend doing.
It's a shame the ship is showing wear and tear in places. I always love those presentations about the ships. This one sounds like it's structured the same as the ones on the Magic and Wonder, probably with some of the same background video and historical clips. It's always fun to wander the ship after one of these talks to see all the features they talk about.
Hmmm, interesting! I think I will have to attend one of those presentations in future!! I agree, even in your photos, Pink doesn't seem so "in your face" as I remember it to be. maybe it gets more like that later in the day?
Sad to hear the doors are not functioning properly. Why can't people treat things well?
I think Pink looked less well, Pink, due to the lighting. I think they use different lighting during the day - probably to make it easier for staff to clean?
Sounds like a great presentation!!
It's a shame the ship is showing wear and tear in places.
It is, but I can't begin to imagine how tough it is to keep it looking fresh, particularly the exterior that spends so much time being battered by the sea...
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I always love those presentations about the ships. This one sounds like it's structured the same as the ones on the Magic and Wonder, probably with some of the same background video and historical clips. It's always fun to wander the ship after one of these talks to see all the features they talk about.
Oh definitely - and it was nice that they touched on some stuff on some of the other ships as well in the presentation.
Hmmm, interesting! I think I will have to attend one of those presentations in future!! I agree, even in your photos, Pink doesn't seem so "in your face" as I remember it to be. maybe it gets more like that later in the day?
We passed through one evening and it still seemed to be the same as in these photos, if I'm being honest.
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Sad to hear the doors are not functioning properly. Why can't people treat things well?
I know. It's such a shame, isn't it? But I can't help but wonder whether some of it is down to the design maybe being a bit too clever, if you know what I mean?
I think Pink looked less well, Pink, due to the lighting. I think they use different lighting during the day - probably to make it easier for staff to clean?
I agree with you and the other comments about Pink. It definitely looks toned down. Muffin calls it the fru-fru bar! . We also loved the Skyline bar! Do they still have the lighted menus?
The ship talk sounds very interesting! I like the story about 687!
You learned some really neat things on that tour, thanks for sharing! I love Pink as it has my favorite drink! Your pics of it on the Dream look different than than the one on the Fantasy, softer and a bit more toned down.
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Ok, so they still look wonderful, but the sliding doors aren’t that great. I went into the ladies’ and there were two cubicles, and the doors didn’t work on either, so I had to go into another set of ladies’ restrooms, where the doors did work. Thank goodness they have so many options here. 
It looks so hideously over the top and out of date to me now, and there was me sad to see it go, when they originally announced the changes to the Magic. 
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