It's been exactly 10 years to the day since I set sail on my first cruise adventure. ⚓️
Since then, I've boarded a Disney Cruise ship five more times, taken six sailings, done back-to-back cruises, been to Castaway Cay six times and made so many wonderful memories. I've also experienced 3 Halloween on the High Seas and 3 Very Merrytime Cruises. And I just stepped off of my first cruise as a Gold Castaway Club Member... so I think it's safe to say that I'm hooked on the Disney Cruise Line experience.
September 30, 2016 was a day that I had dreamed about for years. As a kid, I vaguely remember going to some sort of presentation while at Walt Disney World about how Disney was launching their two original cruise ships- the Magic and the Wonder. I also remember a video and seeing a model of the ship. It looked amazing. After that, each year I would watch the Disney Christmas Parade hoping to see more videos of what an adventure at sea would be like. I've always wanted to go on a Disney Cruise. Both of my parents said that we'd go on one, but the opportunity never arose.
It was only fitting that my dream would come true when I boarded the Disney Dream with Eliot and my family. For our 2016 KeyCon Conference, Key to the World Travel was heading out to sea. There were a good portion of agents who had never sailed, so many of us brought our families with us. It was on that beautiful September day that Eliot, Mom, Dad, Jeremy, Nana and I all boarded the Disney Dream and embarked on our first Disney Cruise- and our first cruise in general. (Eliot's the only one who had sailed before, but he was really young and didn't remember much.) I've written a little about it here and there, but today I thought I'd dive into it a bit more through photos.
Friday September 30, 2016
Before our adventure began, we had to get out to Port Canaveral. Eliot, my family and I all hopped onto our Disney Cruise Line bus for direct transportation to the terminal.
We were so excited to finally be using one of these buses to get to our Disney Cruise! (We had been on DCL buses at WDW before.) Eeyore, Duffy and Brother were really excited (and already in their Hawaiian shirts & swim trunks) too!
This was my first view of the Disney Dream from getting off the highway.
There she is... the Disney Dream!!
We had to get a group photo (minus Eliot who took this photo). I was obsessed with the ship model in the terminal. The back of it shows the inside of the ship!
Here's Eliot and I with the ship model... I couldn't wait to walk through that Mickey head.
After we were finally able to board, I took a ton of photos of all the signs. We were finally boarding a Disney ship and I was over the moon excited!
The cast members welcomed aboard the Cady and Brown families, and then we were greeted by the Disney Dream atrium and Grim the Pumpkin Tree.
The Donald Duck statue also greeted us.
Eliot and I were excited to see our stateroom- so here she is... Stateroom 6501.
I loved all of the nautical details in it... I also took an insane number of bathroom photos, but I'll spare you from those.
I decorated our stateroom door with the magnets I had bought online and the fish extender that I made last minute.
After the muster drill, we all went to our first Sail Away Party!
Eliot and I wasted no time trying out the included beverages and ice cream.
Here we are at the Sail Away Party! It was so amazing and I definitely shed a few tears when the ship's horn played "When You Wish Upon a Star".
We enjoyed dinner (I'll spare you all the food photos) and our show in the theater.
We also went to the Halloween events.
Grim got his pumpkins at some point... although I admit that I don't remember when.
And we ended the evening in our stateroom enjoying Disney characters passing by in our porthole and with our first ever Disney Cruise towel animal.
Saturday October 1, 2016
I don't have a lot of photos from Saturday because that was Nassau Day and I was in Key to the World meetings for SeaCon 2016 for most of it. We had a great conference and I learned a lot! Captain Mickey even came to take photos with us!
Later in the day, I met back up with Eliot and my family. Somewhere between dinner and our theater show, we got a photo with Pirate Donald because it was Pirate Night!
Dinner tonight was at Animator's Palate and I had to take pictures of the details...
I was so obsessed with this interior design- the over the top paint brushes and pencils, the sketches everywhere and the nods to animation. (And 10 years later, I still am...)
Then we went back upstairs to go to our first Pirate Night deck party!
The shows were both amazing, and we got to see fireworks at sea for the first time!!!
Later in the evening, Eliot and I went down to the atrium and took some photos.
It was quiet and we knew most people would be in bed at that point.
We got pictures with Donald, Grim and of the overall space pretty much empty.
Then, we went back to our stateroom and said goodnight to our magic porthole!
Sunday October 2, 2016
We woke up bright and early on Sunday because it was Castaway Cay Day and back then, they still made you disembark the ship super early for the 5K.
So Eliot and I got up way to early to "run" (walk) a 5K around a super humid Castaway Cay... but I earned this cool medal- so I guess it was worth it!
Then, we got back on the Dream to change into our beach clothes and meet my family for our first time at Serenity Bay... my favorite beach ever. I was never a beach person until this day. But the warm crystal blue ocean water totally won me over.
Eeyore, Brother and Duffy also enjoyed some relaxation.
Then we saw Mt. Rustmore for the first time ever.
And we saw Olaf at the drink stand. I say hi to him during every cruise we take!
After a wonderful day lounging, swimming, exploring and shopping on Castaway Cay, we went back to the ship for our last night aboard the Disney Dream.
After dinner and our theater show, we went to the goodbye show, and naturally Eliot and I had to take pictures with as many characters as possible, starting with Captain Mickey.
We also made sure to get a photo with Cruise Director Minnie.
We took a girls only photo too!
Finally, we had just enough time to squeeze in a final photo with Chip and Dale.
And took a quick group photo with them too!
Eliot and I went to the store one last time to make sure we got all of the souvenirs we wanted before the shop closed. Then it was time for our last sleep aboard the Dream.
Monday October 3, 2016
Monday morning we had to get off of the ship bright and early... but first Eliot ran around to take a few last minute photos when we realized we never got pictures of Eeyore with the little captain hat I had bought him for our trip.
Eliot also took a photo with Brother and Duffy along with Eeyore.
Then they got photos with the Donald statue.
And we got a festive photo with pumpkin Mickey.
Before I was ready, it was time for the saddest moment of the trip- disembarking from the Disney Dream. For some reason, I went back into the terminal (probably to use the bathroom) so I got photos of it totally empty.
Then, we boarded our bus for the ride back to Walt Disney World. It was raining outside so the weather pretty much matched my emotions.
Goodbye Disney Dream... thank you for a wonderful voyage!!!
Then, we pulled out of the terminal. I got one last view of the ship's stern and Sorcerer Mickey before we turned onto the highway and it faded from view...
As you can see, our first Disney cruise adventure was incredible. As soon as we disembarked from the Dream, I longed to be back onboard. My family also had a wonderful time and wanted to go on another one, and I knew we would someday. The experience was more magical than I ever could have imagined and ever since that day, I'll tell anyone that will listen that they should go on a Disney cruise at least once.
This might have been my first Disney Cruise, but it was definitely not my last! In the past decade, I've sailed on five more cruises on two different ships...
September 2016- Disney Dream- Halloween on the High Seas 🎃
September 2019- Disney Dream- Halloween on the High Seas 🎃
December 2019- Disney Dream- Very Merrytime Cruise (Back-to-Back Cruises) 🎄
December 2019- Disney Dream- Very Merrytime Cruise (Back-to-Back Cruises) 🎄
November 2024- Disney Wish- Very Merrytime Cruise 🎄
September 2026- Disney Wish- Halloween on the High Seas 🎃
As you can see, it's been a wonderful decade of cruising with Disney, and I'm looking forward to many more magical adventures on the high seas. After our 14th Wedding Anniversary Cruise, Eliot is a Gold Castaway Club Member too. We can’t wait to sail on the rest of the Disney fleet- and to reach Platinum (10 cruises) and maybe even Pearl (25 cruises) status someday!!! And Eliot and I just booked another placeholder cruise while aboard the Wish and we're looking into itineraries for Alaska and Europe!
Cheers to our first 10 years of sailing with Mickey... and to many more!!! ✨🛳🏝🐭✨
