The WHAT?! juicy cheesecake?!,pinkpajamaswithpenguinsonthebottom,dr eam sea adventure - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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The WHAT?! juicy cheesecake?!,pinkpajamaswithpenguinsonthebottom,dr eam sea adventure
Hi everyone! This is my first official trip report I did a mini trip report that was about my choir trip but I never finished it I got way too busy with everything! But I promise to finish this one! My family and I took a cruise (the first time for most of us!) on the Disney Dream this past summer and enjoyed every minute of it!
Introducing the cast of this sea adventure: (my three cousins and I will be pictured below, I would post everyone’s individual pictures but we have a big family! Also, we are the main characters of the story, as it is told my me, and we were stuck together like glue! We did not spend as much time with the adults as we did with each other.)
I'm Chelsea- I'm a college student and love Disney! I love planning trips and going to new places which is why I'm majoring in tourism and events management. I even plan trips when we're not taking any :lmao: This was my first cruise!
Caleb- my baby cousin! he’s taller than me but I still consider him a baby. He loves Disney too. He’s been my travel buddy for the last five or six years of our annual summer trip to Disney World. first cruise also.
Ciara- in college. She wants to be an engineer! lived close to or with her for my whole life. she’s crazy haha and i love her. first cruise
Caitlyn- also in college. extremely artistic, I’m talking crazy good artist. I wish I had half her talent! I think she's majoring in pre med right now. First cruise!
Here's a picture of all four of us on the cruse, from left to right:
Caitlyn, Ciara, me, Caleb
We can get extremely silly when together, here's another one to show you that we can make normal faces.
the rest of the crew:
Amanda- loves Disney, enthusiastic and fun to be around! I call her Kat so you might see me call her Kat in this trip report! second cruise
Anri- she’s 5. And extremely stubborn. But she loves dressing up like princesses and loves Disney
Nio- 3 years old! He’s so cuddly! and they cutest baby you’ll ever meet. Can really throw those tantrums though
Mom- She absolutely loved the cruise! Which is good, because it almost guarantees future cruises she wants to go to Alaska, which would be amazing! first cruise
Dad- first cruise! Disney brings out the kid in him. Has recently discovered facebook and got an iphone so he’s on there all day every day, posting pictures to facebook.
My aunt Tess, Ciara’s mom- She needed a break from work! first cruise
My uncle Tony- He’s crazy. Definitely have to thank him though for suggesting cruising Disney for the family. He’s been on 2 cruises before this one, both DIsney and goes to Disney multiple times a year with his family.
My aunt liza- we never run out of baked goods! she loves Disney
So with the introductions out of the way, let's get this adventure going!
__________________
Follow along as I begin my journey in the Disney College Program!! My DCP journey
My Disney Dream Cruise summer 2011 Disney Dream
Last edited by disneycj26; 10-11-2011 at 03:06 PM..
Looking forward to this TR.... I think Caleb is going to have his hands full
haha thanks! and you have no idea
Quote:
Originally Posted by cubfancolleen
Love your title! We've been singing the pink pajamas song at our house, too!
thank you!! As soon as we heard the guy singing that in one of the shows, we cracked up. And we couldn't get it out of our heads! Plus it's hard to listen to the song without hearing that in it
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July 29, 2011
We (my parents, cousins, and I) were literally packed in the van. We could barely move with all the things everyone had brought. It was the first cruise ever for half of us. We made the 16 hour car ride from Virginia to Florida, picking up my two cousins along the way in North Carolina.
We arrived at Port Canaveral well before the time we were allowed to board the Disney Dream. As we approached the port, we spotted OUR ship. Everyone jumped up (in the cramped car), any sleepiness or crankiness as a result of the long car drive erased from our minds. We knew the ship would be big, obviously, but we did not understand just how big it was. It was huge! Bigger than huge! We could not stop exclaiming our wonder and awe over the ship. Everyone was talking at once. No one could take their eyes away from the Disney Dream. We drove closer to the ship, talking about everything we could see on it. This included: the Aquaduck slide, Sorcerer Mickey and the brooms on the aft (look! I learned something from my time on the cruise!) of the ship, how beautiful it was, how we could not wait to get on the boat, etc. We were all extremely hyper and happy to be there. When we got to the gate, security told us that we could not start boarding until 11:00 am. It was about 9:00 am. We were clearly disappointed, having seen the ship. We wanted to get on immediately! But, we waited it out in a nearby little strip of beach, which was nice. We spent that time talking about what we were going to do on the ship and also about the shore excursions we had booked. We left that place at 10:30 and they let us unload our luggage! Finally. I think we were one of the earliest families there. We went through security and went into the cruise terminal where we got our boarding number. I don’t know the correct terms for cruises, it sounds like we were boarding an airplane the way I describe it. I didn’t take any pictures because I was too excited. We only had to wait a short while, we were boarding number three. They called us up and we went through to the area where they take a family picture: We look travel worn. Which we were. From traveling 16 hours in a car. Straight.
Okay, starting from the top left: Aunt Tess, Caleb, Aunt Liza, Nio, Anri, Uncle Zald, Dad
Now starting from the bottom left: Me, Ciara, Amanda, Caitlyn, Mom
We are a big family
And yes we did get the pictures from Shutters! We couldn’t resist, especially since there were photographers everywhere, including in the water at Castaway Cay. But I’m getting ahead of myself here. We’ll get to that later
After the family picture, it was finally time to actually get on the ship. As we stepped on, we were asked for our last names and they announced us to the ship through a microphone and the welcome crew members burst into applause. I really loved that, it made you feel like a star. Every single person in my family had the biggest grins on their face. I didn’t know where to look first! The lobby atrium was so big. The chandelier was really beautiful and I took many pictures of it during our trip. We were immediately directed to the Enchanted Garden for lunch. We weren’t expecting this and a lot of us had brought our pillows and backpacks on the ship. I think we looked a little funny, our big family walking into the Enchanted Garden with pillows.
The first taste of the cruise ship food was amazing! yummy! I forgot what we had because it was a buffet style and I did not take any pictures but I remember everyone repeating these phrases: “WOW this is really good”, “try this”, “OMG this is sooooo good!!” and variations of those phrases. My cousins and I were done way before the adults and we were ready to go explore the ship. We left and went to the outdoor deck which was deck 11, where I snapped a few quick pictures.
People were already in bathing suits and enjoying the Aquaduck! Darn. If me and my cousins had known that we would have brought our bathing suits with us! oh well, there’s always next time.
The rooms weren’t ready yet so we headed back down to the lobby to wait with our family.
This was so beautiful. I could literally stare at it all day.
Everyone was waiting:
Some more awake than others...
When it was close to the time our room was suppose to be ready, my cousins and I made our way to the seventh deck to wait for the room to open up
Our rooms were finally ready!!! :woohoo:
We kind of just dumped our stuff everywhere haha. But we loved the room! It was small but it had a balcony (verandah?) and was just right for the four of us. Oh, the people in my room were: me, Caleb, Ciara, and Caitlyn.
More pictures of the room:
We had a split bathroom. I didn’t get pictures of the other bathroom which had the toilet. It was extremely convenient though, especially with the girls in this room. There were not enough mirrors
There’s the couch which turned into our bunk beds! It was so comfy
We then had to wait for the safety drill, so, we took some pictures out on the verandah!
It was finally time for the safety drill. Each room has a speaker in which the Captain or crew could speak through. The first few times he did, it startled us. We didn’t know where it was coming from. They only used that speaker that first day so that during the remainder of the trip, little ones taking a nap wouldn’t be waken up by it. No one wants grumpy little ones! Announcements were made on a particular channel on the television or in the lobby atrium.
So the alarm sounds, signaling the start of the drill. We each had a number that corresponded with the part of the ship we were suppose to be. I believe ours was deck 4, but I don’t remember. It was quick and efficient, we were out of there in no time!
Nio fell asleep during the drill
Coming up next is the sail away party and our first night on the Dream!
Chelsea, what fun! Thanks for sharing. You are clearly in the right major - not only are you entusiastic, but you are able to get that across when writing your trip report. I'll be taking my first cruise at Christmas with DH and kids, so we are looking forward to it.
BTW, exactly what kind of car fits 12 people (for 16 hours) including car seats?? WOW! you must all really like each other.....
Hi everyone! sorry for the late update, I took a trip up to Canada this weekend and had no internet but I'm back and eager to share more with you all!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great start and pictures! Glad you've made it onto the boat!
Thank you! we were really glad to make it on the boat
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Yay - you're on board! That is one big family, although I think you guys look great, given the journey down that you had.
aw thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grammy Grumpy
The fun has just begun! Tell us more!
Coming right up!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by TrySomethingNew
Chelsea, what fun! Thanks for sharing. You are clearly in the right major - not only are you entusiastic, but you are able to get that across when writing your trip report. I'll be taking my first cruise at Christmas with DH and kids, so we are looking forward to it.
BTW, exactly what kind of car fits 12 people (for 16 hours) including car seats?? WOW! you must all really like each other.....
Thanks so much! That means a lot to me You are going to have so much fun on your cruise! Whoops, I forgot to mention in the beginning that we had taken two vans down there to fit everyone! haha we just made sure that the right people were sharing the car It wasn't so bad, everyone slept most of the time. Although there were definitely a few grumpy moments!
We all went back to our rooms, where we waited for our luggage. This took an hour or two, during which we explored our parents room. Their rooms were bigger, the area by the couch/bunk beds had more space. My three cousins and I were happy though, it had been a while since the four of us were all together. We went back to our room where we discovered the free Disney movies on the tv!! We were SO excited. Now every moment we spent in the room, a Disney movie was playing on the tv, regardless of whether anyone was paying attention to it or not
Our luggage finally came! And it was just in time for the start of the sailing away party.
My dad snapped this picture, we were on the upper deck. and it shows the time!
and now the sailing away party:
Mickey and the gang!
Disney really knows how to kick off a cruise. The deck was crowded. Everyone was dancing and thoroughly enjoying themselves.
As soon as that was over, we headed back to our room. We all desperately needed a shower after our 16 hour car ride. It took a while, with the four of us and one shower. Poor Caleb was last. Which would be a trend during the cruise haha. But it wasn’t so bad, we also used our parent’s showers in their rooms because they usually had a completely different schedule than us
Our family had the second seating of dinner, which meant our dinner was at 8 every night. Which also meant that we went to the 6:00 shows! These shows were one of my favorite things about the cruise. I love musicals, especially Disney ones! And these were definitely some of the best ones I’ve seen. Before we knew it, it was time for the first show of the cruise: The Golden Mickeys!
We got the first row! We got there early because we thought it would be crowded and we wanted the first row. It wasn’t that crowded at all. I think people were still getting settled on the first night or exploring the ship; the next two shows were more filled up than this one.
The Walt Disney Theater was beautiful. And it was huge! There was a balcony for additional seating.
I don’t have any pictures from the show because I wanted to thoroughly experience it without having to worry about taking pictures and watching the show through the camera screen. Plus, flash photography isn’t allowed as it could potentially distract the performers.
Warning: SPOILERS! if you haven’t seen these shows yet and you want them to remain a surprise. I personally love being surprised when experiencing new things.
If I had one word to describe the show: WOW. we LOVED it. it incorporated all the Disney classics and the newest Disney movie, Tangled.
The Tarzan scene was amazing, he was swinging up on those ropes and was so close to us.
I also loved the Little Mermaid scene where they performed Under the Sea. Ariel was swimming around and Ursula even made an appearance, with her huge tentacles literally reaching out into the first row, where we could touch them!! I could go on and on about this show. We were laughing and singing along. We literally smiled throughout the whole show.
They also managed to put Quasimodo from The Hunchback of Notre Dam in there, which was nice because that's one character you don't see that often
I would describe every little detail and moment of the show but it wouldn't do it justice. It's definitely something you have to see and experience!
It was just all so amazing. Here I was with my cousins, two of which I hadn’t seen for a year, all of us experiencing our first cruise together. And having it be Disney which we all love so dearly. I was loving that moment.
After that amazing show, we had some time to prepare for dinner, so back to the room we went. We saw our first towel animal!
And I loved this pillow, it’s perfect, don’t you think?
I wish I could have brought it home with me
Caleb and I took the bunk beds. I took the top It was really cool how they transformed that couch into bunk beds every night. I loved my bed! It was comfy. Combine that with the gentle rocking of the boat every night and I slept so well! We all did.
Speaking of rocking, no one in my family experienced motion sickness. I really noticed the rocking of the ship the first night but it didn’t bother anyone that much. It was just a really strange sensation to have the whole room moving when you’re watching the Golden Mickeys or sitting down to eat dinner.
About This Page: 
I did a mini trip report that was about my choir trip but I never finished it 
I got way too busy with everything! But I promise to finish this one! My family and I took a cruise (the first time for most of us!) on the Disney Dream this past summer and enjoyed every minute of it! 
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Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
yay thank you!!
You are going to have so much fun on your cruise
! Whoops, I forgot to mention in the beginning that we had taken two vans down there to fit everyone! haha we just made sure that the right people were sharing the car
It wasn't so bad, everyone slept most of the time.
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