The Photographer's Wife Parenting, Disney, Travel, Reviews & Other Randomness
Welcome to our trip report! Click here to start reading from Day 1!
Today was our last full day on the Disney Dream and also our day at sea. We didn’t really have any plans, but we started with a delicious breakfast at Cabanas. I sure could get used to pancakes with strawberries & whipped cream and bacon every day.
After breakfast, we took Trent to Nemo’s Reef for some more splash pad fun. After a little while, we brought him to go down the little slide in there. Oh my goodness, that thing is fast! The kids were flying down it. Trent got a little freaked out and from then on he was kinda cranky and not really playing with much, so we decided to head back to the room for an early nap…for all of us!
Well, at first we were just going to let Trent nap on his own, but he was being a little stubborn, so I laid down with him on Brett’s small bed since that’s where Trent already was and Brett laid on the big bed. Maybe it’s because the bed was sideways and not the normal direction of the beds, but I couldn’t fall asleep and after a little bit, I started to feel sick…and had to run to the bathroom as fast as I could. And THAT was the beginning of a very long day…a day I will never forget because it was absolutely awful.
It must have just been a perfect storm of morning sickness, getting out of whack from laying sideways and the upcoming rough seas (it started storming that night, so I must have felt it sooner than everyone else)…because I was sick all day and could eat absolutely nothing. Everything I ate came back up and even when I didn’t eat anything I threw up. So I just laid in bed all day absolutely miserable. I felt even worse for Brett and Trent, they left the room a few times, but there just wasn’t much for Trent to do on the ship. So they basically stayed cooped up in the room going stir crazy. Brett brought me a few items of food, but after throwing it all up, he ended the day with a can of ginger ale he found in one of the stores. That helped a little but I basically just had to ride it out until we got back to Port Canaveral early the next morning. I hate to sound dramatic, but this was probably one of the worst days of my life.
At one point, Brett took Trent to get our newly purchased Disney Dream replica ornament to the Captain to get signed.
While Trent was laying in bed with me a little later in the evening, Brett took one last opportunity to take photos around the ship. He said most of the ship was empty, as it was around dinner time and it was raining out with rough seas. Here are some of the photos he took.
The Walt Disney Theatre.
Walking towards the bar/lounge/club areas.
An empty, wet deck. Brett said he had the hardest time staying upright with the boat rocking back and forth.
I was really sad that being sick meant we didn’t get to enjoy Cabanas for lunch one more time (since we slept through it on the first full day) or enjoy the restaurant we were looking forward to the most, Animator’s Palate. We thought Trent would really enjoy Animator’s Palate way more than the other two restaurants that were mostly unthemed.
So that was our day. Interesting, huh?
I think if I wasn’t pregnant, I could have taken stronger medicine, or maybe I wouldn’t have even felt sick, since I had never been sick on a cruise ship before. While I may be nervous to go on a cruise again, it won’t stop me. It will have to be on a bigger ship, maybe in a mid-ship room, and on a ship with more for Trent to do…and I will get medicine beforehand to take…and I won’t be pregnant!!!
Day 7:
Day 7 was Disembarkation day. We had left our luggage outside the room the night before, so we just had to gather the last few things and then headed to breakfast. Breakfast on the last day is at the restaurant you had dinner the night before. We were glad we would at least be able to experience Animator’s Palate, even though the screens that supposedly play Crush, just displayed the logo. Our table was right next to a screen, so we were even more disappointed that we missed dinner because Trent would have had a front row view of the action.
Even the table and dinnerware were more fun.
I was able to eat a little bit, but kept it light because I still wasn’t feeling so great. Breakfast service was rather slow and we heard our waiter yelling at his assistant for not giving us menus and being slow. :-/
After breakfast, we got in line to disembark, which was backed up into the lobby. I felt like we were getting off with the entire rest of the ship all at the same time. It was so crowded and cramped and we even stopped moving for like 15 minutes. I felt so hot and dizzy and felt like I was going to both pass out and throw up and even had to kneel down a few times. There must have been some issue that caused us to stop, because once we started moving, we flew through the line.
When we reached the luggage room, there was a line of porters waiting to assist you. On our last cruises, we had opted just to get our luggage ourselves and not get help. But after reading someone in a forum prior to the cruise say to make sure you utilize a porter and to tip them very well because they will take good care of you, that’s exactly what we did…especially because we had a toddler with his this time. The first guy to ask us if we needed help got our business…and he looked like the tallest, most built man there…so double score for us! He found our luggage (which wasn’t difficult) but then loaded EVERYTHING onto his dolly, even the bags off of our backs, except for Brett’s camera bag because he never gives that to anyone. The porter got us right in line and conversed with Brett the entire time, and got us into the fast line to go through customs and we were out so quickly. He loaded everything in our car, got his tip and headed back to do it all over again for someone else. That was money well spent on our part and I highly recommend it if you have more than one bag with you.
Port Canaveral was rainy and cold…definitely not welcoming weather. We had even heard that parts of the highway we needed to travel on was closed due to ice…IN FLORIDA! What on Earth were we coming back to?! Luckily, by the time we got to that portion of the highway, they had reopened and we didn’t have any issues getting back.
As for how I was feeling, it definitely took a few days for me to get back to normal. I kept my eating light, but nutritious. I just don’t know how other pregnant women do it that have morning sickness much worse than I do…I would never want to be pregnant every again!
Ok, so here’s our little round-up of opinions on the entire trip. Remember, this is just our opinion based on one trip. Not everyone will agree, and that’s ok, but we want to share a little bit about how we feel about the cruise itself.
Overall, we were glad to have experienced a Disney cruise, especially the Dream, and we were glad to have taken a cruise, since we didn’t think we’d do that for a few years. We had some fun moments and absolutely loved our day at Castaway Cay and getting away from the cold weather for a few days. I love that I got to celebrate my birthday with a fun trip.
But with all that being said, we probably won’t do a Disney cruise again in the near future. The ship was clean and beautiful, but I think there was much left to be desired. We didn’t enjoy the food as much as we were expecting or the limited options and hours…I should be able to eat at any hour of the day on a cruise without having to rely on room service. The lines for characters were still long and Disney wasn’t as present throughout the ship as we would have liked, so Trent didn’t really benefit from that aspect of it. There just wasn’t enough for Trent to do…it would have been nice if there was an open playground that didn’t require you to check him in and leave him. The service was mediocre…in both our stateroom and in the dining rooms. There were also things we couldn’t take advantage of, like the new movies in the theater or the pools, because Trent was too young. For the price, we could have had a 7 day cruise on a Royal Caribbean ship with much more to do. Many people reading this may have only experienced Disney cruise line, and that is why they may be shocked, as people tend to be loyal to theither first cruise line…but we have tried 3 so far, so we are able to compare. Of course, every trip, no matter where to, can be extremely different than the next when it comes to having a toddler along…and being pregnant. Yikes, what a combination, eh?!
However, we do recommend you try Disney Cruise Line if you’ve ever thought about wanting to. Why not, right?
Keep in mind, this is just our opinion, as shocking as it may be considering how much we love anything Disney. Maybe I will work on posting a more detailed review of our thoughts on the cruise, and maybe even a comparison breakdown for a future post.
I’m glad you stopped by to read our trip report and we hope you enjoyed it!
Click here to watch our videos from the trip…there’s 3!!
You can read our other Disney trip reports, our other cruise trip report, or our other travel adventures!