What's more exciting than a Disney cruise? Being one of the very first guests aboard a brand new Disney ship! And that's just what I have the privilege of doing when I sail aboard the Christening Cruise (January 19-21, 2001) and the Inaugural Maiden Voyage (January 26-30, 2011). I will be documenting my adventures through video, photos, and notes, all of which can be found in this article. So please sail along with me as I discover the Disney Dream!
Christening Cruise Dates: January 19-21, 2011 Stateroom: 7022 (deluxe oceanview with verandah) Focus: Traveling with a child Highlights: Christening ceremony, kids clubs and activities
Maiden Voyage Cruise Dates: January 26-30, 2011 Stateroom: 7512 (family oceanview) Focus: Research for PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line guidebook, answering questions from readers, gathering photos and videos, seeing friends Highlights: Remy dinner, Palo brunch/tea/dinner
My Disney Dream Cruise Photos:
January 7, 2011 - I'm now less than two weeks away from seeing the Disney Dream in person, and I'm getting excited. I feel very lucky to be able to sail on both the christening cruise (first media cruise) AND the maiden voyage (first public cruise). I'm not aware of anyone else doing this! Also, I will be experiencing the ship in several different ways through these cruises -- as a mom, as a PassPorter author, and as a friend. I will have my 6-year-old son Alexander along for the christening cruise, so I'll be able to share his impressions (and my own thoughts about having him along). On the maiden voyage, I'll be sailing primarily for research, but I'll also be with friends, so I'll be able to speak from those points of view as well.I want to be sure to share this once-in-a-lifetime experience with anyone interested.
Staterooms have already been assigned for my cruises. I'll be in stateroom 7022 (a deluxe oceanview with verandah) for the christening, and in stateroom 7512 (a family oceanview) for the maiden voyage. And I expect to be able to tour other stateroom categories as well!
January 10, 2011 - Excitement is mounting! Alexander shows off the beautiful invitation we received to the Christening Cruise in this video:
January 11, 2011 - We've begun packing for our cruise. Here's a video of Alexander packing "very important things" that other kids might find useful on their own cruises:
January 15, 2011 - Today Mickey Mouse called us to say how much he was looking forward to seeing us on the Disney Dream! Alexander loved it, and so did I! What he doesn't know is that I used Disney's free Character Call service to pre-arrange a call today. And I managed to record it, so you can see Alexander's reaction to the call. I've included directions on how to get your own free character call in the video, too!
January 17, 2011 - Preparations continue -- we have just two days before we depart! I posted a very long list of questions that I plan to find answers for while onboard my cruises. And this morning we measured Alexander to see if he meets the height requirement for the AquaDuck (48"), and he does -- he's just shy of 50"!
Disney Dream Reference Card - Download it to use on your own Dream cruise at http://www.passporter.com/dcl/passporter-dream-reference.pdf. Just print it on a sheet of paper (front and back), cut it in half length-wise, then fold it over -- it will fit inside a PassHolder Pouch (though you may need to trim a bit on the sides).
Disney Dream At Sea The beautiful Disney Dream at sea, taken on its voyage across the Atlantic to its home in Port Canaveral. - photo by disney
January 19, 2011 at 9:00 am - We've arrived in Orlando and as I type this we're on our way to the port and the Disney Dream! It's a beautiful day and I plan to upload plenty of photos and videos (batteries willing, of course). Watch my photo and video streams for our progress!
January 19, 2011 at 8:45 pm - Wow, what a day! The Christening Ceremony was just spectacular and the ship is gorgeous. The day went by in a blur, to be honest, and both Alexander and I are exhausted (he's in bed, drifting off to sleep to the gentle rocking the Dream). We ate lunch at Enchanted Garden, then registered for the Kids Club, did the Safety Drill (we didn't have to wear lifejackets!), then checked out the very cool Midship Detective Agency (Alexander LOVES it). We had dinner at Animator's Palate, but by that point Alexander was wilting, and it was back to the stateroom. Castaway Cay is tomorrow.
About the Author: Jennifer Marx is the author of more than 50 books focusing on Disney, including PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line and its Ports of Call. She's been on more than 15 Disney cruises from 1999-2011.
SO EXCITED FOR YOU! I can't wait to hear all about the ship and your cruises. It may just push my husband and I over the edge to take the plunge ourselves and book a cruise on The Dream
Thank you so much for doing this! I'm so excited to hear all about it. We chose the Dream to be our very first cruise experience (June 2012) and we are so excited!
My daughter and I will be sailing on The Dream on February 24. We both know The Magic inside and out ( 8 cruises) so we can't wait to learn everything about The Dream from you before we sail.
I'm so eager to hear about the Dream! We're doing a 4-day cruise on it in April....I can't get enough info although DH says it's like seeing spoilers and he wants to be surprised
Lilianna;3540382 >I'd like to know why 2 staterooms? Two different cruises. We just got back from the Christening Cruise (January 19-21), then Jennifer will be on the Inaugural (January 26-30). Meantime, the more stateroom types we can experience, the better. I'll be on a 4-nighter in an inside stateroom a couple of weeks from now, to wrap up our research (for now). So much ship, and all these itineraries are so short! We've been learning about the Magic and Wonder for the past ten years, and we have to try to learn everything about the Dream (and Fantasy) in just a few short cruises. And now that we've seen the Dream, it's clear the job is even bigger than we thought (but, oh what fun being able to learn it!).
Dave Marx;3544208 >Two different cruises. We just got back from the Christening Cruise (January 19-21), then Jennifer will be on the Inaugural (January 26-30). Meantime, the more stateroom types we can experience, the better. I'll be on a 4-nighter in an inside stateroom a couple of weeks from now, to wrap up our research (for now). So much ship, and all these itineraries are so short! We've been learning about the Magic and Wonder for the past ten years, and we have to try to learn everything about the Dream (and Fantasy) in just a few short cruises. And now that we've seen the Dream, it's clear the job is even bigger than we thought ( but, oh what fun being able to learn it !).
It's a tough job....... but somebody has to do it! Thanks Dave and Jennifer and Alex!
We will be boarding this Sunday having just booked a few weeks ago. Hardly much time for anticipation, but not much time to wait either. Thank you for the preview, keep the reports coming, please.
Do you know what the Dream was "doing" between the Christening and Inaugural cruises?
ps19966;3548177 >Do you know what the Dream was "doing" between the Christening and Inaugural cruises?
Yes. There were two cruises - a two-day fundraiser for Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Florida (over $750,000 raised), and the Disney travel agent Earmarked Conference.
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