Disney Dream Cruise: Day 1

We woke up early in the morning and after packing our things in the car, we headed to Cape Canaveral to start our Disney Dream vacation. Even though the weather wasn't the greatest, it was overcast and drizzling, our spirits were still quite high. Just seeing the beautiful Disney ship at the dock was very impressive. It was hard to believe that this was going to be our "home" for the next 3 nights. The first thing we did upon arrival was check in. Then we had a few hours to spare before boarding the ship, so we signed up Tyler for the kid's club which he was very excited about. After doing so, we just waiting until it was boarding time. However, being the great company that they are, Disney made our wait extra special with visits from Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Daisy. And just before we were about to board, Goofy came along. Tyler and I were lucky enough to get close enough to him to get a quick photo with him.
Upon boarding the ship and taking a family photo by the Disney crew, they told us we could have lunch at the Enchanted Garden. Just so that you know, all meals on the ship were free and food was available all the time. We entered in the beautiful restaurant all decorated with a whimsical garden theme. We felt as if we were transported back to a quaint restaurant somewhere in France. The meal was buffet style which was the only buffet we received on the ship during the 3 night cruise. The remainder of the meals were sit down with our servers. The food was fantastic; some of the best I've ever tasted. Disney spared no expense by hiring some great chefs to cook for us. The lunch I picked out for myself consisted of lamb chops, crab legs, potato salad with apricots (still remember how delicious this tasted), cheese mashed potatoes, and for dessert I had ice cream.

After eating, our room still wasn't quite ready so we decided to have a look around the ship. The lobby was incredible with blue glass chandler, grand piano, grand staircase, and beautiful carpeting. It was like you were staying in a mansion. Tyler was excited to go to the kid's club, so we put that next on our list. Wow, it was like a kid's dream come true. They had 4 different areas they could play in, not including a big dance floor with lights that lid up on the floor. First there was the Toy Story room. It was by far the coolest play room we have ever seen with life size toys from the movie. There was a huge Mr. Potato head complete with the pieces, a T-Rex that you could climb on, a giant Piggy Bank that came with giant coins you can put inside, a massive Barrel of Monkey set, a huge Slinky Dog that the kids could climb through, and RC the Race Car you can sit in. Even Steve and I wanted to stay in this room! While we were checking things, our Pluto came by. It was practically just him and us which was super awesome for photos. He played with Tyler for awhile. He liked to crawl on the floor like a real dog and jump around. We had a great time! Then it was off to see the other rooms in the kid's club which was a forest like setting that you could colour and play dress up, also a computer room, and a jungle gym, as well as a room for eating or making crafts.

Then we noticed the time. Our room was ready! Steve booked us with a stateroom instead of a cabin because he really wanted a balcony since all of his "free cruises" only come with a little port hole to look out of. Our room was really nice and so was the balcony. The ship is only a couple months old, so everything was brand new and beautiful shape.
After checking out our room, we decided to check out the top deck outside. This was the pool area. The ship had three pools, two of which were for the kid's. One was Mickey shaped and the other was right in front of the outside stage so you could watch shows while you swim. The other pool was in the adult area where you could enjoy a live band. There was also a Mickey slide and the brand new Aquaduck. While in the pool area, we happened to catch the welcome aboard show with dancers, singers, and Mickey and his friends. It was very cool! Before we knew it, the ship was moving and we were officially on our way. Woo hoo!!!
After the show, we noticed the time. The kid's club was now opened and Tyler couldn't wait to get down there and have fun in all the play rooms. So after saying goodbye, Steve and I went to a show called "The Golden Mickeys" which was like a broad way type show. It was very impressive and shown in a beautiful theatre. When the show was over, it was time to pick up Tyler and get changed for dinner. Tonight's dinner was in the Royal Palace, another fantastic restaurant on the ship. We met our servers, Louis and Louis. They were our servers for the remainder of our cruise. Louis #1 was from India and Louis #2 was from Portugal. Both were very friendly and made us feel very welcome. The meals on the ship were three course and we could pick anything and everything on the menu. So if we wanted one of everything, we could which was very cool. Louis #2 liked to do Ketchup Mickeys especially for Tyler every night. And every night Tyler would ask for an ice cream Mickey...mmmm. What a terrific first day! It was a little overwhelming, but we were super excited to see what else was in store for us.