The Disney 'Dream'

My husband and I had been contemplating our family vacation plans several months ago. We knew that after we launch the Mozzeria restaurant, we may not be able to take a family vacation for a while.  We had always wanted to give our kids the experience of going on a cruise. With many cruises available, which one would make it an enchanting experience for us?

The Disney cruise, naturally came to our mind. I was somewhat worried if we waited too long, our daughter Taysia who turns 12 later this summer may find the Disney cruise somewhat "babyish".

Boy, was I wrong. Taysia and Rylan, our 9 year old son, were super excited about going on the newest Disney ship, the ‘Dream’.  It was AquaDuck that made them super-excited! And we were going along with two other families!

We traveled almost 3,000 miles to Orlando and drove a rental car to the port at Cape Canaveral. We had a first glimpse at Disney Dream as soon as we got out of the car.

Ahh's and Ohh's
Wow! Huge ship! We all got rifled up and couldn't wait to explore the ship.  Our kids kept saying, where is Aqua Duck and I was like wait, wait… we needed to drop off our luggage in the cabin first. As we entered our rooms, "Far out!" was the first thought that came to mind. What cool features we found in our room! There are two hidden single beds besides the queen bed. The sofa can be flipped to become a single bed with sheets and pillow all ready to use. At evening time, the room host keys in the ceiling, and the bunk bed is lowered out of the ceiling, again with its sheets and pillow all tucked in. When looking at the ceiling from the bunk bed, you can see stars glow in the dark.

There were two separate rooms, one with a shower/tub and sink, and a toilet with its own sink. Our rooms also had a private balcony overlooking the ocean. The only disappointment about the room was TV programs on all channels, except the Disney Movie Channel, were not subtitled or captioned.

Disney Restaurants
We wondered what the food would be like on Disney Dream. Dream can hold up to 4,000 passengers. Can you imagine serving food to 4,000 passengers? Would the quality of food hold up as much as Disney's reputation?

Enchanted Garden, Royal Plate and Animator's Plate restaurants were included in the price, Food, in general, was alright. You would expect that with many people helping themselves to unlimited food. Serving unlimited food doesn't come cheap so they continue the tradition of serving unlimited food by offering inexpensive food.

We opted, however, to pay little extra to eat at Palo's Restaurant which was $20 per person. The cuisine was Northern Italian. We got to indulge on selected cured ham with cheese, homemade ravoli, pizza and lamb chops in reduced wine sauce. Molten chocolate cake was to die for!! After finishing mine, I stole my husband's molten chocolate cake.  Palo's was definitely the best restaurant.

Remy's (French Cuisine)

Price: $75 per guest

Note: We did not get to experience dining at Remy's but I had heard people raving about food at Remy's. Only if we had chosen a 4 night cruise, we could have tried their food. If you have already tried their food, I would love to hear your comments.

Excursions
We chose a 3-night cruise which stopped by Nassau, Bahamas and Disney's own Castaway Island near the Bermuda Triangle. You can either shop at Nassau, or enjoy water and land activities in Bahamas. Castaway Island is a private island where sunbathers can swim in the ocean, play at the water park on the ocean, or soak up the warm Caribbean sun rays.

Disney characters made surprise appearances at Castaway Island, much to delight of kids. At Castaway Island, passengers are invited to Cookie's Island Style BBQ luncheon. BBQ ribs, hamburger, pasta and spit lemon rosemary chicken were featured. Of course, you had to complete lunch with desserts such as cookies and soft serve ice cream.

On the last morning of the cruise, we were like, "we wish we had one more day, just to enjoy the amenities on Disney Dream. It was too short for us!" It was a truly magical time on the cruise. Our kids had an unforgettable vacation. Yes! We, as parents, made it! Disney, thank you for making our trip worthwhile!

For information on Disney Dream, visit www.disneydream.com