As kind of a last minute decision, my wife who usually works Thanksgiving and I took our two children on the Disney Dream. It had been on the vacation bucket list for a while and we finally felt the time and cost were acceptable.

We had sailed as a family on carnivals older ships and I had done the same as a spa/gym retreat. So we have both basic and inflated expectations. The take away was that like the Disney dining plan, in comparison to other cruise lines, Disney tries to give you 110%, charges you for 80% but you only have time and capacity for 60%.

The ship is a modern wonder, bigger than anything we had sailed so til then. Given that is was new, everything was much nicer than we had experienced on 90's Carnival ships. However, there were some torn fabrics on some of the port hole viewing areas. So not perfect. Additionally, why put viewing areas that are covered by emergency vessels. Indicates things were not as well thought out as possible. Also the jogging tracks metal corridors made me feel like a battle ship not a cruise ship. Decor, theater and moving art was nice. Read more