We're back from a FABULOUS cruise on the Disney Dream!!!

Day 2 - Port Canaveral & The Disney Dream

After a bit of a late start (the AutoTrain got in 1.5 hours late due to an abandon vehicle left on the tracks just before Jacksonville Florida - we had to wait for it to be cleared/towed off the tracks), we arrived in Sanford, Florida. I was slightly stressed as I thought I had planned things out well when I selected the 12:30 PM boarding time for the Disney Dream, but after the delay with the train and the fact that our car was in the last 3rd of the cars being unloaded, it wasn't looking like we were going to make our assigned boarding time. Once our car finally came off the train, we hopped in and headed straight for Port Canaveral. The GPS was pretty much telling us we were going to miss our boarding time, and well, it was right. We pulled into the terminal around 12:50 and still had few things to do before we could check in. We dropped our bags off with the porter, parked the car in the garage, showed our IDs and paperwork multiple times cleared security, and were now finally in the terminal. We stood in what appeared to be a really long line, but truthfully, it moved really fast! We apologized for missing our boarding window and were told immediately that it was fine and that it probably had worked out better for us as they had started General Boarding just a few minutes ago and we could walk right on! Talk about having a little pixie dust, not only could we walk right on, but our cabin was ready! We didn't have to lug our carry on bags to lunch with us. So we headed straight to our cabin, dropped off our bags and headed up to Cabanna's for the lunch buffet. We were starving as the continental breakfast on the train really didn't cut it. The food at Cabanna's was really good. I'll apologize here for not having any food pictures in this trip report. It never even dawned on me until after the trip that I had forgotten to take pictures of the scrumptious food. After lunch we decide to explore the ship and get the lay of the land. What a gorgeous vessel! I've been on cruises before, and this ship beat them all. It was by far the cleanest ship I've ever been on (both inside and out). Of course I'd expect nothing less from Disney. Here are a few shots.

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Day 2 (cont)

After exploring the ship for a while, we headed back to our stateroom to have a drink and relax. It had been a long night of travel and we needed a stiff drink and a break. We hung out for a while and then it was time to get ready for dinner. We had the second seating (8:15 PM) and our dining rotation was AERR (Animators Palate, Enchanted Garden and Royal Palace twice). Again, I was a huge slacker and didn't take any pictures. We were seated with another couple around the same age who were celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary and had left their kids at home. Now, as cool as Animators Palate is (Crush swims around interacting with the guests on screens all over the dining room), it was VERY loud! It was the first time since we boarded the ship that I was thinking maybe a ship full of kids wasn't the best idea, but don't worry, that feeling didn't last very long. The food was fantastic. We both had the smoked salmon tartar appetizer, and I asked for the black truffle pasta appetizer as well. From there, we both had a fabulous endive and arugula salad with chorizo sausage and figs. For the main course, we both chose the Ginger-Teriyaki Dusted Angus Beef Tenderloin served over Wasabi Mashed Potatoes - SCRUMPTIOUS!!! For dessert, we both went off menu and asked for a...wait for it....Mickey Ice-Cream Bar! I never realized it before, but this was DH's first Mickey Ice-Cream Bar ever. That just blew my mind! He loved it! We finished up dinner around 9:30 took a quick walk up on deck and retired to our stateroom around 10:00 totally full and exhausted. Stay tuned for Day 3!

Day 3 - Nassau

So I'll admit, we slept in a little longer than I usually like, but when we finally did get up, we sat on the verandah and watched the captain back in to Nassau and this was our view!

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Day 3 - Nassau (cont.)

Needless to say, waking up to a view like that really got us excited for our day. Since we had both been to Nassau before we decided to stay on board and take advantage of a less populated ship. We headed to Cabanna's for breakfast and then straight to the Quiet Cove pool (adults only). We claimed a few deck chairs - one in the shade for DH and one in the sun for me. We hung out on the deck chairs, sat in the hot tub, swam in the pool and of course had a few tropical drinks. After about two hours, I was all sunned out (I've got fair skin so too much sun turns me into a walking lobster), but there was one more thing I just had to do...The AquaDuck! We were the oldest people standing in line, but I didn't care. I'm a big kid at heart, and if there is a water slide, I'm going to ride it. It was AWESOME! We had so much fun!!! After the AquaDuck, we took a little time to dry off and then decided to get some lunch. After grabbing a quick bite, we headed back to our stateroom to shower and change clothes as we were scheduled for our martini tasting at 3:30. We headed up to the Meridian Bar on Deck 12 and proceeded to have a blast at the tasting with our host Alexandra. She was from Romania and really knew her martinis. We learned a lot about the history of both the gin martini (yuck) and the vodka martini (yum). It was quite informative and tasty. After the tasting we headed out on deck to hang out for a while and then headed back to our stateroom to relax on our verandah before heading to dinner in the Enchanted Garden dining room. Its Alice in Wonderland themed, which was really cool, but I forgot to take my camera so no pictures. Sorry. Here are a few pictures from the day (including the tasting).

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Oh and I forgot to mention that we did manage to catch the Villians Tonight Show before dinner. We really enjoyed it. Its nice to see the Villians out and about once in a while, and the actors/actresses could have easily performed on Broadway. They were amazing! My favorite show came later in the cruise though. No pictured due to the no flash photography rule. =(

I know I know...I feel terrible about it. I just never remembered to take my camera with me to dinner. I was a huge slacker in the picture taking department on this trip. I guess I was having too much fun to remember to document it.

The Martini tasting was $15 extra, but let me tell you it was well worth it. We tasted 5 different kinds of martinis and given that just one martini ordered at the bar the night before was $12, you can't beat the price!

Allie, the AquaDuck was a total blast! It was so great, we did it twice and the second time it was DH's idea!

Sorry for the delay in getting this trip report going. Work is kicking my butt this week. More to come soon!