Disney Dream Review
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This review is geared toward adults who are considering trying a Disney cruise without having family with them. We sailed on the Disney Dream on September 22, 2013 on a 4 nights Bahamas cruise. This was our first Disney cruise. My husband is 67 and I am 58, and we were sailing without kids or grandkids. We had thought about doing this for years to compare the Disney cruise experience with our previous 26 cruises on six other cruise lines, but Disney prices have always been much higher than other lines. We had also been reluctant to do a Disney cruise because we thought it would not be much fun to be around a gazillion kids without having our own grandkids with us, but had been told many times that there are plenty of adult areas and activities. We appreciate the magic of Disney, so when a fairly decent deal came up, we decided to hop on board, compare, and relax. We booked with an open mind, realizing that this cruise will cater to children and it would not be a sedate experience. That is true. There were great things about the cruise (the cabin), and some not-so-great things (the food). Like any other cruise, ship, or line, there are pluses and minuses.
EMBARKATION: Our assigned time to board was 12:30 p.m. Unfortunately, only one security scanner was being used, so the line was very long. When we finally got through security, there was another very long line for check-in. The process took us well over an hour total. The line for previous cruisers, Castaway Club members, didn’t look any shorter.
DINING: We headed to the Cabana for lunch as soon as we boarded. The seafood bar was a most pleasant surprise; it include mussels, shrimp, and crab legs and the other food choices were good. The salad bar and other choices weren’t as extensive as we have seen on other cruise lines, but we found it to be a very good lunch – killer French fries! Breakfast has some good choices as well, including more seafood such as smoked trout, smoked mackerel, salmon, and lox. The pineapple-guava-passion fruit drink is delicious. Several varieties of soda are also available at no charge, unlike on many other cruise lines. Ice cream is also served in Cabana’s.
Cabin Review
Wonderful cabin! We had a balcony on deck 10 forward, and the location was ideal except for the moving of lawn chairs one deck above us in the mornings. (We had no choice of location because we booked this cruise so late.) This cabin easily compares to a mini-suite on Princess or a Junior Suite on Royal Caribbean in terms of amenities (minus the second TV). There is plenty of storage, a king size bed (no two-bed set-ups) that was very comfortable, soft linens, and a fabulous bathroom. Actually, the bathroom is split into two rooms. One has a sink and a tub/shower with a lot of room and counter space, and another right next to it with a toilet and sink with plenty of counter space. What a great set-up! Toiletries are provided and they are large sizes with quality, whereas other lines have eliminated them in favor of a single dispenser in the shower. The bathroom set-up, large tub/shower, and amenities were the finest we have seen in the balcony category on any ship we’ve been on.There is a digital clock/ipod docking station in the room, blow dryer, nice size refrigerator, nightlight, and safe. Telephones are included that you can use on the ship or on shore. We didn’t try those, but they are a nice touch. There are also TWO closest – what a treat – and a very long desk. They really hit a home run on the cabin design. The only issue was that the room was extremely cold on the first night even though we had the thermostat turned up to high heat. We had engineers in the cabin two time for lengthy periods. They explained that the sensors were put in the wrong place – near the refrigerator, which affected how the thermostat was working. They turned the refrigerator up and the temperature in the cabin was finally controllable by the third day. This was quite an inconvenience and discomfort. Cabin service was friendly and prompt in all respects. One high-tech feature that is cool and irritating at the same time is having to put your cabin card into a slot while you are in your room to activate the lights and television. Not fun if you leave your cabin without remembering to take the key out of the slot, which is easy to do because you have to leave it in the slot to keep the lights and/or television on while you are in the cabin.