Our 2017 Spring Break Disney Cruise

Over Spring Break in March, we enjoyed our first Disney Cruise. It is safe to say we are hooked. We had a magical time!

On Sunday, we spent the night in St. Louis, so we could catch our crack-of-dawn flight the next morning.

We ate dinner at one of Curt's favorite BBQ spots. Salt + Smoke did not disappoint. Delicious! 

DAY 1
On Monday, we took the earliest possible flight to Orlando, so we could be sure to get to Port Canaveral on time. We made it to port in plenty of time, but we've decided to fly into Orlando the night before our next cruise. That way, we don't have such an exhausting first day on the cruise. We had been up since 3:00 am and our dinner time wasn't until 8:15. LONG day! 

Sunrise from the plane

We boarded Disney Dream around noon. Super impressive cruise ship! We couldn't appreciate the size until we saw it in person.

Waiting to board at Port Canaveral 

Our stateroom wasn't ready yet, so we explored the ship. First, we checked out the kids' clubs. Cole and Kieran spent time in the Oceaneer Lab and Club (for ages 3-12). They had a lot of space and so many fun activities, both organized events and free play. Safety and cleanliness are priorities, which I very much appreciated. Cole and Kieran went to the club together for a little bit each day, but neither wanted to spend a lot of time there. They tend to want to stick close to their parents in new situations. Caden is a different story!

The Toy Story area was so cool!

Star Wars area

Checking out the Millennium Falcon simulator 

Caden's age group (11-14 years old) attended Edge Club. Everyday, Caden checked the club's activity schedule on the Navigator (both a printout and phone app listing every activity on the ship). Caden spent a lot of time in his club, but he always joined us for meals and shows. He liked the organized activities best, such as gaga ball, shuffleboard, video game challenges, and trivia games.

View of our stateroom from our verandah

Caden checking DCL Navigator app for daily activities...Due to iffy wi-fi and high roaming charges when at sea, we were pretty much unplugged. Much needed! The DCL Navigator app allowed us to check the day's schedule (insane amount of activities on the ship) and restaurant menus, as well as text each other. The texting feature was great with Caden on his own so much. 

The pool deck...There are two small pools, large raft water slide, small body water slide, hot tub, and lots of lounging chairs. After swimming for a little bit, we attended the mandatory guest assembly drill to hear all about the emergency procedures.

Frozen on the big screen 

Line for the AquaDuck water slide

Mickey's Slide

Curt and Caden are somewhere in that line for the AquaDuck

Cole and Kieran in one of the pools

Sailing Away party

Fruity drinks for everyone

Heading away from Florida

We were assigned the early show time and late dinner time for the duration of the cruise, which meant we attended the nightly show at 6:15 and went to dinner at 8:15. With unlimited soft serve ice cream available on the ship, we had no problem waiting for our late dinner. Our dinner restaurants were set for us each night. Our first dinner was at Animator's Palate. Crush from Finding Nemo interacted with the diners via large screens around the restaurant. All of us were extremely exhausted, having been awake since 3:00 am, but we made it through our late dinner. At the late dinner, the restaurants had the option for kids' meals to come out quickly, and then the kids were escorted to the kids' club by staff members. The boys participated in this option the first night, but Curt and I were so tired that we did not linger long at the restaurant. It was a great thought though! Another perk of cruise dining is having the same wait staff every night. We were blessed with two awesome guys who were so friendly and entertaining (Andre from Jamaica and Frederick from India). It was so nice to get to know them, and they got to know us too. The boys enjoyed their magic tricks and brain teasers.

Three of the nightly shows were huge Disney productions with lots of characters and music. Very entertaining!    

The first night's show was The Golden Mickeys: A Timeless Tribute.

DAY 2
When we woke up, Disney Dream was approaching Nassau, Bahamas. We decided to stay on board the ship. We remembered how busy Nassau is when multiple cruise ships are docked there, so we opted to enjoy a less busy ship for the day.

View from our verandah as we approach Atlantis

After breakfast, we went to Goofy's Sports Deck at the top of the ship. First, we played a round of mini golf.

Best view ever from a mini golf course

Next up, basketball...

Different view of part of the AquaDuck water slide

Then some foosball...

Caden went off to Edge, and the other two boys started a scavenger hunt using magic pictures throughout the ship. They solved The Case of the Stolen Show involving the Muppets and missing props for their show. The magic pictures offered clues to narrow down suspects.  

Finding a clue at Pepe's door

In the afternoon, Curt and I squeezed in a couples massage while the boys went to their clubs. Kieran did not like being left in the club for too long even though he was with Cole, but he survived.

The evening show was Villians Tonight! This was our favorite of the three Disney shows--lots of music and laughter. Hades, Pain, and Panic from the movie Hercules were the stars, but several Disney villains made appearances.  

No photos allowed during the show

Catching the sunset after the show before dining at Enchanted Garden

A view of our room with all of the beds pulled out/down...Caden slept in the far Murphy bed. Cole and Kieran shared the bunk beds.

Always a towel animal, chocolates, and the next day's itinerary waiting for us

DAY 3
Overnight, we sailed to Disney's private island, Castaway Cay. Curt and Caden were up bright and early to eat a light breakfast and run the Castaway Cay 5K. First, cast members got off the ship to staff the island, then they allowed runners to get off the ship. Cole, Kieran, and I had to wait a little longer, so we ate breakfast and found a spot on the beach without our runners.  

A view of Castaway Cay from breakfast

Lots of photo opps on the way to the beach

Waiting for our runners to finish

It turns out that the runners ran right behind our beach spot, but I did not realize that until it was too late. We missed Curt and Caden by a couple minutes.

Curt wasn't ready for the photo, but it is the only one we have of the runners.

Our day on Castaway Cay was perfect! The weather was amazing. Even the cruise director said it was the best Castaway Cay weather they'd experienced in quite some time. Often, it is windy on the island, but not on our day. We thoroughly enjoyed our beach day. Curt and I lounged on the beach, while the boys spent the day playing in the water and sand--where they get along best. Curt, Caden, and Cole also snorkeled.

Pelican Plunge water slides--The water was pretty chilly, so the boys only went down once. 

Their sand creation--Proof that they can actually cooperate!

Ice cream after lunch, of course

We said "yes" to a few cast member photos.

Saying goodbye to Castaway Cay...So strange that this is a deserted island unless a Disney cruise ship is docked.

After cleaning up from our day at the beach, Caden went off to his club, while the rest of us explored the ship and finished the Muppets scavenger hunt.

Posing in the candy and ice cream shop modeled after Wreck-It Ralph

Photo courtesy of Cole

Lounging on the deck

A game of shuffleboard

The evening show was an entertaining performance by Junnk, a musical/comedic group from United Kingdom. The group of four guys entertained us with specialty percussion, a cappella singing, and comedy. It was a great time! So talented!

It was also Pirate Night on the ship. After Junnk's performance, we put on our pirate bandanas kindly left for us in our room, and then went to the pool deck to watch Mickey's Pirates in the Caribbean performance.

Our handsome pirates

We were assigned to eat dinner at Enchanted Garden again. Somehow, Curt and I were the only ones still wearing bandanas.

Pirate monkey

After dinner, we took in a fantastic fireworks display at sea. Disney fireworks are always impressive!

DAY 4
We were at sea all day, heading back to Florida. After breakfast, we met Stitch and Mickey for some photos.

The boys completed another Midship Detective Agency mystery, The Case of the Missing Puppies involving 101 Dalmations. This time, Caden joined Cole and Kieran.  

We played another round of miniature golf.

A hole in one for Cole! 

We watched Jack-Jack's Incredible Diaper Dash, a crawling baby race. So funny!

In the afternoon, we watched the new Beauty and the Beast in the big theater. Loved it! We timed our movie viewing perfectly. It stormed while we happily watched the movie inside. The smaller ship theater showed all of the year's Disney movies. We could have spend the entire cruise in the theater if the weather wasn't so cooperative. After the movie, the boys went to their clubs, while Curt and I tried our luck at sports trivia. The evening show was Disney's Believe with Aladdin's Genie as the main character. Several other Disney characters made appearances too.

A quick photo before dining at The Royal Palace

Dessert, which means it is time for magic tricks courtesy of Andre and Frederick's brain teasers.

Pretty pleased with his sundae

Frederick

Andre

The ship picked up speed in the evening, so it was a very rocky walk back to the room after dinner. At times, we were holding on to the rails and walking at a full tilt. Thankfully, none of us dealt with seasickness. I packed plenty of Dramamine just in case. I was the one most affected by the waves, but I never felt nauseous. Phew! I just felt like I was still at sea for a couple weeks after our return. Totally worth it!

Final turndown service of the ship

I loved the Disney artwork around the ship.

Beautiful atrium chandelier

Our home at sea

Hard to say goodbye to Disney Dream

I am certain I left out some cruise details that I wanted to report. That's what happens when one blogs four months late. We had so much fun and definitely would cruise with Disney again. We heard countless good reports from Disney cruisers, but we had no idea what to expect from the cruise. Our expectations were exceeded! We are a Disney family--love visiting Walt Disney World and can now say we love Disney cruising too. Cannot wait to cruise with Disney again! So thankful for our tropical spring break together!