We sailed the Disney Dream on January 9th on a 4 day Bahamas cruise. We had a group of 9 people including our 5 year old daughter, and two sets of grand-parents. Most were experienced cruisers and most had also sailed on the Disney Wonder 2 years ago. We had a great time on the Wonder, so we had very high expectations for our trip on the Dream. In most cases, the Dream exceeded our expectations.
Embarkation: We checked in on-line and we were able to get an early port arrival time(10:30-11:00). We arrived at the port at 10:35. The security and check-in process took about 15 minutes. We only waited an additional 20-30 minutes to board the ship(boarding group 4). Tip: If you don't want a photo boarding the ship, just walk past the line and go right on the boat.
Ship: The ship is beautiful. I was worried that the size and passenger load would negatively impact the experience, but I was pleasantly surprised. It honestly didn't feel more crowded than the Magic or Wonder sized ships. I think Disney did a good job of designing the ship and planning activities to move the crowds around well. I was really impressed with the cleanliness of the ship. The bathrooms were always immaculate and you never saw any garbage laying around anywhere. It is abundantly clear from the moment you get on the ship, that your personal health is a major concern of the crew. They work hard to make sure no illnesses are transmitted during sailing. The public rooms were all beautiful and we had no problems locating them.