luvDaMouse
10-27-2011, 05:02 PM
First let me preface this report to say that I had hyped up this trip for myself and my dh that there was no room for any disappointment which seemed to occur more frequently on this trip, more on that on days 3, 4 and 5. I was not going to do a trip report because I did not want the negativity to pour out and be more of rant then a report. But I do enjoy other people’s reports and experiences (good or bad) so with that
Here goes…
CAST:
Me-Dana
DH-Tom
dd-Steph 23
dd-Anna 19
Special appearance by Niece and her dh new DVC members staying in OKW
When:
October 5 BLT
October 6-9 Disney Dream
October 9-15th AKV Club level
This trip was almost 2 years of planning; our
25th anniversary was on Oct 12, 2011. We honeymooned in Disney World in 1986 and thought what better way to celebrate but to be there for our silver anniversary! Since we are DVC members and I had an excess of points (due to “addonitis” that occurred in the year prior) I decided to book a 3 day cruise on points on the Disney’s Dream, followed by a Club level stay in our home resort of AKV. I booked the cruise almost 1 ˝ years ago and was on the phone immediately at the 11 month mark to book CL as I know it is VERY hard to book. I tried for a studio ( to save some points) but alas none were available. So with borrowing from my 2011 use year I was able to get a 1 bedroom. Which later on I was happy about because our 2 dd’s came and joined us for the AKV portion of our trip. I know there are no guaranteed views my only request was NOT a handicap room.
We arrived at our “pre” cruise trip hotel, the BLT resort on Wed Oct 5th I want to try all the DVC resorts at least once so I thought it would be a good time to try it. My dh does not like this resort, too “contemporary” for him. Just my opinion but I have to agree it does seem like a high rise hotel and the feel is that of hotel and not a resort. I do have to say, the studio was just fine for 2 people, we were on the 14th floor right in the middle of the U with a bay lake view. We were in one of the remodeled rooms with the bathroom sink IN the bathroom. And I love the bedding in BLT much better than the other DVC rooms, love the comforter rather than the bedspreads. Love the ease of being able to walk to the MK and made it to the opening ceremonies on Thurs, which we haven’t been to in a while due to the very early hour you must get up to get to a bus! We went to Epcot on our arrival night and got a small taste of F & W which we will get to on Sunday when we return from our cruise. Oh, and we went up to the Top of the World lounge which was empty, we just took in the views before going to bed.
The DCL transportation picked us up in the lobby of the BLT and we were off to the port. Check in at the port was very organized and we were on the boat somewhere between 1 and 2. It was nice not having to worry about bags, we left them in our room at BLT with the Dream tags on them. We packed a larger bag for our AKV stay and I went to bell services at the CR and had them forward it to AKV to long term storage. I had gotten conflicting information on this, when calling MS they said I would NOT be able to store luggage and would have to take it with me on the cruise. But after asking around on this and other boards I thought I would take my chances and ask and YES they are able to do this. Once on the ship and after our introduction (loved how they introduce you when you enter the boat) I stopped by guest services to drop off a picture frame mat to get some autographs on it. Another bit of information I received by my research was that you may have 2 items autographed by either the “Fab Five” or princesses (ie pillow case, frame, etc.) So I dropped off my frame (and a bag of M&Ms as a thank you) and we were off to our room then to lunch in Cabanas. I have cruised before but always in an inside room. I booked an ocean view room this time and I don’t know if I could ever go back… It had a HUGE porthole window, I mean you could sit in it, it was that big. I loved the pillow on the bed too, it was red and had a design with a embroidered Mickey in the middle, when the Mouse keeper turned the bed down at night he would flip it over and it said “A dream is a wish your heart makes when your fast asleep” LOVED this :cloud9:. The rooms are great and really big, bigger than any other cruise ship I have been on anyway. We grabbed some lunch in Cabanas (basic buffet food) then explored the ship a bit, saw people on the Acquaduck, which we did ride later in the cruise, very cool! We went back to the room, one bag was there but our second bag was missing? We hung out there for a bit waiting for the lifeboat drill, when the horn sounded we walked out of the room and turned the wrong way down the hall, oops but by making this error and getting down the hall, I discovered 2 things, first, I found the laundry (which I did use later the next day) and then I found our 2nd bag outside someone else’s door!? Just lucky, I happened to notice the ribbon on it and it is a black and red bag which I haven’t seen anywhere else. So we put the bag in our room and headed the correct direction to the drill. After the drill, we headed back to the room and I unpacked and we changed. We had the later seating for dinner (8:15) so that means our show times were 6 something? I can’t remember right now but I know it was during the early dinner time. This is something that I didn’t like, I felt too structured I did not want to miss the show, and to make it to dinner and the show on time we had to make sure we were back to our room in time to shower, get to the show, then to dinner without time in between to get back to our room.. I felt like I had to check my watch a lot to make sure I was on time! I didn’t want to miss anything. I wish they had a much later show.. Food was outstanding in the dining rooms and our waitress (from Italy) was wonderful, a highlight of our trip. Loved the dining room themes, with Animators Palate being our favorite. We found after dinner, there was not much to do, we explored the ship some more, loved the pictures that come alive when you stand in front of them and all the artwork along the staircases. We are not big drinkers nor do we like lounges or nightclubs (which are plentiful on the Dream). When heading back to our room, I stopped to see if I could cancel our excursion to the Blue Lagoon for Nassau the next day, but they said it was too late and we would still be charged so we will be heading there tomorrow. We walked by the kids club when going to our room and it was hopping. Oh to be a kid again this is the place to be! Those clubs looked amazing and they seem to be well staffed and run.
Up next our day in Nassau..
Thanks for reading
Dana:mickey:
Here goes…
CAST:
Me-Dana
DH-Tom
dd-Steph 23
dd-Anna 19
Special appearance by Niece and her dh new DVC members staying in OKW
When:
October 5 BLT
October 6-9 Disney Dream
October 9-15th AKV Club level
This trip was almost 2 years of planning; our
25th anniversary was on Oct 12, 2011. We honeymooned in Disney World in 1986 and thought what better way to celebrate but to be there for our silver anniversary! Since we are DVC members and I had an excess of points (due to “addonitis” that occurred in the year prior) I decided to book a 3 day cruise on points on the Disney’s Dream, followed by a Club level stay in our home resort of AKV. I booked the cruise almost 1 ˝ years ago and was on the phone immediately at the 11 month mark to book CL as I know it is VERY hard to book. I tried for a studio ( to save some points) but alas none were available. So with borrowing from my 2011 use year I was able to get a 1 bedroom. Which later on I was happy about because our 2 dd’s came and joined us for the AKV portion of our trip. I know there are no guaranteed views my only request was NOT a handicap room.
We arrived at our “pre” cruise trip hotel, the BLT resort on Wed Oct 5th I want to try all the DVC resorts at least once so I thought it would be a good time to try it. My dh does not like this resort, too “contemporary” for him. Just my opinion but I have to agree it does seem like a high rise hotel and the feel is that of hotel and not a resort. I do have to say, the studio was just fine for 2 people, we were on the 14th floor right in the middle of the U with a bay lake view. We were in one of the remodeled rooms with the bathroom sink IN the bathroom. And I love the bedding in BLT much better than the other DVC rooms, love the comforter rather than the bedspreads. Love the ease of being able to walk to the MK and made it to the opening ceremonies on Thurs, which we haven’t been to in a while due to the very early hour you must get up to get to a bus! We went to Epcot on our arrival night and got a small taste of F & W which we will get to on Sunday when we return from our cruise. Oh, and we went up to the Top of the World lounge which was empty, we just took in the views before going to bed.
The DCL transportation picked us up in the lobby of the BLT and we were off to the port. Check in at the port was very organized and we were on the boat somewhere between 1 and 2. It was nice not having to worry about bags, we left them in our room at BLT with the Dream tags on them. We packed a larger bag for our AKV stay and I went to bell services at the CR and had them forward it to AKV to long term storage. I had gotten conflicting information on this, when calling MS they said I would NOT be able to store luggage and would have to take it with me on the cruise. But after asking around on this and other boards I thought I would take my chances and ask and YES they are able to do this. Once on the ship and after our introduction (loved how they introduce you when you enter the boat) I stopped by guest services to drop off a picture frame mat to get some autographs on it. Another bit of information I received by my research was that you may have 2 items autographed by either the “Fab Five” or princesses (ie pillow case, frame, etc.) So I dropped off my frame (and a bag of M&Ms as a thank you) and we were off to our room then to lunch in Cabanas. I have cruised before but always in an inside room. I booked an ocean view room this time and I don’t know if I could ever go back… It had a HUGE porthole window, I mean you could sit in it, it was that big. I loved the pillow on the bed too, it was red and had a design with a embroidered Mickey in the middle, when the Mouse keeper turned the bed down at night he would flip it over and it said “A dream is a wish your heart makes when your fast asleep” LOVED this :cloud9:. The rooms are great and really big, bigger than any other cruise ship I have been on anyway. We grabbed some lunch in Cabanas (basic buffet food) then explored the ship a bit, saw people on the Acquaduck, which we did ride later in the cruise, very cool! We went back to the room, one bag was there but our second bag was missing? We hung out there for a bit waiting for the lifeboat drill, when the horn sounded we walked out of the room and turned the wrong way down the hall, oops but by making this error and getting down the hall, I discovered 2 things, first, I found the laundry (which I did use later the next day) and then I found our 2nd bag outside someone else’s door!? Just lucky, I happened to notice the ribbon on it and it is a black and red bag which I haven’t seen anywhere else. So we put the bag in our room and headed the correct direction to the drill. After the drill, we headed back to the room and I unpacked and we changed. We had the later seating for dinner (8:15) so that means our show times were 6 something? I can’t remember right now but I know it was during the early dinner time. This is something that I didn’t like, I felt too structured I did not want to miss the show, and to make it to dinner and the show on time we had to make sure we were back to our room in time to shower, get to the show, then to dinner without time in between to get back to our room.. I felt like I had to check my watch a lot to make sure I was on time! I didn’t want to miss anything. I wish they had a much later show.. Food was outstanding in the dining rooms and our waitress (from Italy) was wonderful, a highlight of our trip. Loved the dining room themes, with Animators Palate being our favorite. We found after dinner, there was not much to do, we explored the ship some more, loved the pictures that come alive when you stand in front of them and all the artwork along the staircases. We are not big drinkers nor do we like lounges or nightclubs (which are plentiful on the Dream). When heading back to our room, I stopped to see if I could cancel our excursion to the Blue Lagoon for Nassau the next day, but they said it was too late and we would still be charged so we will be heading there tomorrow. We walked by the kids club when going to our room and it was hopping. Oh to be a kid again this is the place to be! Those clubs looked amazing and they seem to be well staffed and run.
Up next our day in Nassau..
Thanks for reading
Dana:mickey: