AdventureIsOutThere129
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2015
Welcome to my most recent super magical Disney adventure! I have been a long time reader (aka lurker) on these boards but thought that it was finally time to come out of the shadows and write my very own trip report!
Some introductions! A little about me:
Me and Donald full by Emily, on Flickr
I'm Emily. I am a long-time Disney fanatic in my late 20’s. I work full time as a dietitian. Recently divorced, no kids, two very needy dogs. When people ask me why I (still) love Disney so much I always nostalgically talk about how in high school my two best friends and I were allowed to go on day trips to Disney by ourselves in the summer. We felt so grown up and always had such a great time; that was when I fully embraced the Disney magic. Of course having grown up in Florida I went multiple times as a kid but didn’t fully embrace the Disney lifestyle until I got a little older.
I did a college program at WDW back in 2013 after graduating from graduate school. Because of that I have been to Disney World literally more times than I can count (tragically I have never been past the Downtown Disney area at Disneyland). Once done with my college program I stayed relatively close to the Orlando area, invested in an annual pass and went about once a month. Since moving to West Virginia a few years later I have been back about once a year.
This was my fourth cruise, a three night on the Dream from September 21-24. Previous cruises include a seven night on the Fantasy in September 2014, a three night on the Dream in April 2015 and a four night on the Dream in September 2016. As a result of my recent divorce I needed a big ol’ dose of Disney magic as a pick me up so I proposed a Disney cruise to the same friends with whom I spent those magical high school years at Disney with (this will be our second cruise on the Dream together, the April 2015 Dream cruise was with them).
The other cast of characters includes A and K. A is also in her late 20’s, works full time as a mechanical engineer, recently married and at the time of the cruise about 16 weeks pregnant.
A Donald Statue by Emily, on Flickr
She was not pregnant at the time of booking so this added a small dose of uncertainty to our plans. Would she feel up to the excursions we had planned? Would the heat be too much? Would she even feel comfortable getting off the ship because of the Zika risk? Would she remember to wear bug spray?
This was her second cruise with Disney, fifth overall having previously sailed with Royal Caribbean in high school and again several years ago, our previous Disney cruise in 2015 and then an Alaskan cruise on Princess in 2016.
A is also gluten free due to Celiac disease. We did A LOT of research on how this would work on our first cruise. Ultimately it turned out great although we often ended up waiting awhile for breakfast and lunch to be brought to her. This may have been because we did not definitively tell our servers where we planned to eat the night before. She pre-ordered dinner for the next day at the evening meal each night. This cruise was a little different. The menu was marked with gluten free appetizers, entrees and desserts which it was not the last time. This limited her ordering options a little. We also did Palo on our second night which threw off the pre-ordering process some. Read on to hear about how it went!
Rounding our the trip is K.
K and Donald by Emily, on Flickr
Again in her late 20’s and works full time as an accountant. Like me, unmarried and no children, two dogs. This will be her fifth Disney cruise and sixth cruise total having been on a Carnival cruise in 2015 to the Bahamas, our Dream cruise in 2015, Alaska on the Wonder in June 2017, Bahamas on the Wonder in March 2018, and a Western Caribbean on the Fantasy in June 2018.
Both A and K still live in Florida so their travel plans were to drive up the evening before we were to set sail. I had arranged for us to stay with my ex in-laws (strange I know but I am still super close with them) the night before the cruise. I was flying Spirit (yikes!) from Baltimore to Orlando two days before we set sail. My ex mother-in-law was going to pick me up from the airport for a relaxing two day break before the cruise. Read on to hear about boring travel, Halloween misadventures, awesome snorkeling, gluten free dining, a mixology class meant for three and much more!
Some introductions! A little about me:
Me and Donald full by Emily, on Flickr
I'm Emily. I am a long-time Disney fanatic in my late 20’s. I work full time as a dietitian. Recently divorced, no kids, two very needy dogs. When people ask me why I (still) love Disney so much I always nostalgically talk about how in high school my two best friends and I were allowed to go on day trips to Disney by ourselves in the summer. We felt so grown up and always had such a great time; that was when I fully embraced the Disney magic. Of course having grown up in Florida I went multiple times as a kid but didn’t fully embrace the Disney lifestyle until I got a little older.
I did a college program at WDW back in 2013 after graduating from graduate school. Because of that I have been to Disney World literally more times than I can count (tragically I have never been past the Downtown Disney area at Disneyland). Once done with my college program I stayed relatively close to the Orlando area, invested in an annual pass and went about once a month. Since moving to West Virginia a few years later I have been back about once a year.
This was my fourth cruise, a three night on the Dream from September 21-24. Previous cruises include a seven night on the Fantasy in September 2014, a three night on the Dream in April 2015 and a four night on the Dream in September 2016. As a result of my recent divorce I needed a big ol’ dose of Disney magic as a pick me up so I proposed a Disney cruise to the same friends with whom I spent those magical high school years at Disney with (this will be our second cruise on the Dream together, the April 2015 Dream cruise was with them).
The other cast of characters includes A and K. A is also in her late 20’s, works full time as a mechanical engineer, recently married and at the time of the cruise about 16 weeks pregnant.
A Donald Statue by Emily, on Flickr
She was not pregnant at the time of booking so this added a small dose of uncertainty to our plans. Would she feel up to the excursions we had planned? Would the heat be too much? Would she even feel comfortable getting off the ship because of the Zika risk? Would she remember to wear bug spray?
This was her second cruise with Disney, fifth overall having previously sailed with Royal Caribbean in high school and again several years ago, our previous Disney cruise in 2015 and then an Alaskan cruise on Princess in 2016.
A is also gluten free due to Celiac disease. We did A LOT of research on how this would work on our first cruise. Ultimately it turned out great although we often ended up waiting awhile for breakfast and lunch to be brought to her. This may have been because we did not definitively tell our servers where we planned to eat the night before. She pre-ordered dinner for the next day at the evening meal each night. This cruise was a little different. The menu was marked with gluten free appetizers, entrees and desserts which it was not the last time. This limited her ordering options a little. We also did Palo on our second night which threw off the pre-ordering process some. Read on to hear about how it went!
Rounding our the trip is K.
K and Donald by Emily, on Flickr
Again in her late 20’s and works full time as an accountant. Like me, unmarried and no children, two dogs. This will be her fifth Disney cruise and sixth cruise total having been on a Carnival cruise in 2015 to the Bahamas, our Dream cruise in 2015, Alaska on the Wonder in June 2017, Bahamas on the Wonder in March 2018, and a Western Caribbean on the Fantasy in June 2018.
Both A and K still live in Florida so their travel plans were to drive up the evening before we were to set sail. I had arranged for us to stay with my ex in-laws (strange I know but I am still super close with them) the night before the cruise. I was flying Spirit (yikes!) from Baltimore to Orlando two days before we set sail. My ex mother-in-law was going to pick me up from the airport for a relaxing two day break before the cruise. Read on to hear about boring travel, Halloween misadventures, awesome snorkeling, gluten free dining, a mixology class meant for three and much more!
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