3-night Cruise on the Disney Dream & WDW - Day 2 - Embarkation
Embarkation
We woke up at 6:30 AM (not that anyone wanted to) and got ready to go. We packed up and headed out the door with our luggage to make our way back to the Hospitality House. As we were walking to the bus stop a guy on a luggage type golf cart rolled up and said our name (well, he said it wrong, but he said it the way everyone always says it wrong and we knew what he meant). He said he was there to pick up our luggage. “Did you not get the letter?” Well, yes, but I ignored it because the automated phone thing that told us what to do. However, I guess I should have read it because the phone message didn’t tell us that. So he said he would take us up to the Hospitality House along with our bags, which was nice. We ate some breakfast and waited (because we had allocated a bunch of time to deal with buses and baggage). The DCL rep found us while we were finishing breakfast. Apparently our photos that we had uploaded at check-in are in her little app. She was super nice and just told us we didn’t need to check in again at 8:05 to just come and find her in the lobby at 8:30 and she would get us on the bus.
Emmaline and I did a little shopping in the gift shop, used the restrooms, and then at 8:30 we were just on our way to find the DCL rep when the fire alarm started going off. Everyone had to go out to the parking lot. There were people everywhere! Then the fire truck came and seemed to be tending to something at the back of Olivia’s (the restaurant). The DCL bus showed up a few minutes later and we were off and out of whatever crazy was happening there. We made one more stop at Saratoga Springs before getting underway to the port, arriving around 10:15.
Once we arrived at the port, we had to wait on the bus for a bit. Each bus got off one at a time and passengers taken to the testing tent as a group. We were the second to last cruise to go through testing at the port. Moving forward, testing will need to be done prior to arrival. I think this is a little mixed. It means that you’ll need to arrange (and possibly pay) for your own testing, which can be a hassle, especially if you’ve got a stay at WDW prior to the cruise and I imagine that additional cases will slip through the cracks as you can test as far out as 2 days prior. However, there won’t be any surprises at the port, which makes for a terrible experience and I think part of what really fueled my anxiety going into the cruise. For our next one we’ll be able to do a test prior to leaving and then that’s it.
Our tests were complete in about 15 minutes and we made our way to the terminal. By 11:00, we had gone through security and checked in and then took a seat in the terminal to wait for boarding to begin. It felt like we waited forever but it was only about 40 minutes. We were able to get on the ship’s WiFi so we checked through the menu for dinner, looked at some of the activities, and I booked a placeholder for our next cruise. They finally started boarding at 11:45 and we were in group 3 so we got to get on pretty quickly once boarding began. We were hungry so we made our way right to Cabana’s to eat. And by noon we were enjoying the aft Cabana’s sun deck while we ate. Looking at the weather for the coming days, I knew that wasn’t going to likely be the case for long. In fact, I was dubious about our chances to even make it to our (only) port of call, Castaway Cay, on the following day.
After lunch we made our way over to the pool deck and peeled off our clothes because we already had our swimsuits on underneath. We put on our sunscreen and got right on the Aquaduck for a ride. We each rode once with Emmaline then she swam a bit in the pools. After a bit, we considered another Aquaduck ride, but the line was really long by this point and it was nearly 2 PM so our room was ready.
We found our way to our room and got cleaned up and back in our regular clothes. Our luggage also arrived (early!) and we were able to unpack all our stuff and move into our room. Around 3 PM we went to our muster station to check in there. This new way is so much better than the old way! We made a quick stop off at the little throne next to the Cinderella mosaic so we could recreate a photo from our first cruise. Then we went and got Emmaline checked in at Edge and also went to check out the open house at Vibe since she’ll be able to be in Vibe when we’re on the Fantasy next month. I suspect she’ll probably still spend most of her time at Edge, since she’ll have just turned 14, but it will be nice that she can choose to go to either one depending on what activities are happening.
We went back to the room to regroup and Roger decided that he was going to stay and relax there for a bit. Emmaline and I went up to the pool deck for the Sail Away party. We hadn’t seen the new one yet and I have to say, I do prefer the old one. This one just didn’t do it for me. Roger met us after the Sail Away party and we all wandered around the top portion of the ship getting our bearings. We really didn’t remember much from 8 years ago and we’ve only been on the two smaller ships since then. The bigger ship is really the same and yet different in many ways. We had it figured out by the end of the cruise. After that, we had some snacks on the pool deck to tide us over until dinner. After our snacks we decided we needed something sweet (yes, needed!) so we went into Vanellope’s for some ice cream treats (for an extra charge). Roger was excited to try some of their plant-based offerings, which he really liked.
After this I suggested we go and start a round of Midship Detective Agency. Emmaline picked the Muppets one and we set off going to various parts of the ship to see if we could figure out whodunnit. However, just as we were honing in on our suspect, it was time to go to the show. We hadn’t seen “The Golden Mickey’s” in a few years so we decided to attend the show. The show was fun (of course Cruella was the best part). After the show we returned to the room and Emmaline wanted to go to the ping pong tournament in Edge. Roger and I decided to go shopping. I had forgotten my swimsuit coverup so I wanted to find one. I found one I liked, but alas, it was available in every size but mine. This is not the first time (or the second, or even the third, I’m afraid) that they’ve been out of size Medium in the shops onboard a ship. They clearly need more Mediums. Instead I bought a t-shirt I liked (in Medium).
After that, we went to District Lounge to listen to a violin player. Around 8:00, Emmaline found us there, returning triumphant from her ping pong tournament. She had won and scored a backpack as the prize. Apparently some of the teenage boys were a bit salty about it. (“That girl only won because the table was slightly crooked!” said a kid who lost.) I found this somewhat delightful.
Our first evening meal was in Enchanted Garden and we had a nice meal, but we were pretty tired after getting up early so after dinner we pretty much went back to the room and crashed. Earlier in the evening the Captain had made the announcement that we had weather coming - the remnants of the hurricane that had hit Mexico a couple days before (as I mentioned previously when I had checked, things looked pretty bad). He said we should be careful moving around the ship because they were expecting 6 foot swells. I was even more dubious about our chances of being able to dock at Castaway Cay the next morning. Because I had already been uncertain before we left, I had checked the ship schedule for the island. If we didn’t make it Saturday, there wasn’t another ship scheduled there Sunday, so I was hoping we could try again. The people on the cruise meet group on Facebook were positively losing their ever-loving minds and it felt like every other post was about the weather. As for me, a rainy day on a Disney ship is better than a sunny day back at home!
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