This was my third cruise, the previous two being with larger Royal Caribbean ships (Freedom and Oasis). We picked this Disney cruise as we wanted a short getaway to celebrate my sister's 50th birthday and the timing fit the bill. We took my youngest son (12) and her son (9) along. We wondered if Disney would be worth the extra money, and in some areas, it definitely is. The entire experience is themed with great detail and created with the customer at the center. Even the cruise terminal in Port Canaveral is beautiful with pleasant staff.

The ship itself is gorgeous. It's like a luxury ocean liner, super clean, well maintained with a stunning promenade deck. We loved the exterior promenade deck on Freedom and missed it on Oasis, so I was very pleased to have one on the Dream. It is even outfitted with timeless wooden deck chairs, with comfy padding and some "hidden" recesses to relax and enjoy the sounds of the ocean (which you come to appreciate). The main atrium is stunning and we often saw characters there. The only part i found a little hard to navigate were the aft elevators that took you into the buffet (Cabanas) so you had to navigate through there just to get to the pool deck and back to the elevators, whether you were going to the buffet or not. This entailed a lot of frequent hand sanitizing when you cut through. We couldn't really figure out a more efficient way to get around there as the upper levels directed you down through the buffet to get outside. Our stateroom was toward the aft, so we did this route a lot.

The buffet itself was delicious. Lots of quality healthy and treat choices. There was always variety, lots of seafood, carved meats and steamed veggies in addition to the more traditional buffet offerings. The desserts were actually really good - not like those gelatinous, squishy ones that are so common in other buffets. They had real flavour and creamy texture, if cream based. I'll get to the dining rooms in a minute. Read more