🚢 Should I dream a Dream?

Disney Cruise Line
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Regular readers will remember that I booked a cruise on the Disney Magic during COVID times, but switched to MSC because I could get a seven night cruise for the price of three on the DCL, and the ship looked cool.

I always kinda regretted that decision and thought I’d forever lost my chance to sail with Disney. I’m not interested in taking a cruise from the US and I didn’t think DCL cruised in Europe. I thought the COVID thing was a one-off for Disney to make emergency cash.

Well, it turns out that DCL does sail in Europe. I know this because Facebook has figured out that I’m not returning to Orlando any time soon, so it’s trying to tempt me with alternative Disney options.

Anyhoo, I looked at the options and the only one that is even remotely affortable to me in these lean economic times is a three night cruise from Southampton in the UK to Zeebrugge in Brussels. I’m not sure Zeebrugge is somewhere anyone wants to go, but that’s not really the point.

Initially I looked into travelling solo, but DCL charges singletons the exact same fare as a couple, so I asked Paul if he’d be interested in tagging along. To my surprise he was and he even managed to watch a 25 minute ship tour with me on YouTube without losing interest and, indeed, he’s up for it.

We both expressed a strong preference for a Verandah room and those are around ÂŁ2,000. ($2,500). (The Oceanview rooms are only marginally cheaper at ÂŁ1,900.)

With three nights we’d get to do all three main dining rooms, right? And we’d take a shot at brunch at Palo and / or Remy.

Given that the main point of the trip would be to experience the ship, rather than to visit any particular port, does this make sense? Is three nights enough to get the “full” experience of everything the Dream has to offer? Any advice about booking? Room choice?

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I haven’t done DCL - we did look at their Norway cruises before realising it was hugely more expensive than any other cruise line and we really wanted Norway rather than Disney. Funnily enough I started looking at MSC after your cruise but the Liverpool boarding was only a covid thing.

I think it’s a good option for you to get your Disney fix in a more affordable way. I don’t think it matters where you actually go. But others will have opinions about the ship specifically.

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Yes, for me and this trip it’s about wanting Disney rather than any particular port. (Well, I’d love to do a proper Disney Mediterranean cruise, but they are even more expensive than an Orlando trip, so that’s not happening.)

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Maybe you’ll win the lottery.

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I think if you don’t get off the ship yes it’s enough. Our first Disney cruise was the 4 day on the Dream but we did port activities two of those days. On our one sea day and checkin day, we played the muppets game, did the rainforest room, rode the slide, visited the ice cream shop, did a palo brunch and a Remy dinner and saw BatB. If you’re gonna do a fancy dinner then honestly for me the least interesting is Animation restaurant but it does have a wall show. I just don’t think the show is all that exciting personally. You can eat at various of the main restaurants for lunch too if you just want check them out.

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I’m trying (and will almost certainly fail) at not giving in to FOMO and trying to do it all, i.e. uncharge things as well. It seems to me that neither Palo nor Remy is necessary, though Paul did say he fancied trying one of them. I’m put off by the dress code, to be honest. They annoy me.

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Also the Dream is my personal fave of it, Magic and Wish so this is a better option imho.

I always go for a balcony room personally as I really enjoy my own private space to sit and read a book with a glass of wine but others spend no time in their rooms or just go to a public deck for that. But those can be noisy so I like my private one.

Oh we also played mini golf

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They’ve toned it down from what I recall. A nice pair of jeans is fine now and I don’t think Remy requires a jacket anymore. I will say both of them are superior in food quality than the main dining but if you’re not a foodie then of course not required.

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Palo & Remy both:
Formal or semi-formal attire is recommended. Dress casual attire with a polished look is permitted (such as dress pants, jeans in good condition, collared shirts and blouses and lifestyle shoes). Clothing such as T-shirts, swimwear and sports attire is not permitted.

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Oh yeah abs we visited the bar area a couple of times and it’s fantastic. One of the things I didn’t like as much about the Wish and Magic is they have inferior bar sections. If Denvil is still working there, he will treat you right! The champagne bar and the city view bar are fabulous.

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What the heck are lifestyle shoes?!

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:woman_shrugging:

I’ll go see what google says….

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Looks like any kind of trainers to me.

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The short answer is that lifestyle shoes are meant for casual wear—in the sense that they’re not built for strenuous activity.

So basically my hubby and daughter both are into Jordan’s and some of those Jordan’s (even according to Jordan himself) from the early days should fall into this category? They certainly can cost a lot.

But I’d guess like Keds style sneakers. Not actual running shoes.

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Yeah I think this is so vague it could be construed differently to different people. They probably don’t say anything unless you walk in flip flops.

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And both my hubby and daughter will dress to the nines…And I mean suits and tuxes and still wear Jordan’s cuz today that’s high style and also super smart! I’ve seen so many teen girls in prom gowns and converse. Why did we pinch our feet into 3 inch pointy toed heels that gave us blisters and literally nerve damage and then had to take em off anyway to dance!

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Flip flops are my lifestyle shoes when I’m on holiday! I usually wear converse with a nice dress now. I could never walk in heels. Though I do pole dance in them.

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I think “lifestyle shoes” are when your sneakers/trainers cost more than dinner at Palo or Remy. :wink:

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Three nights will give you a taste but you’ll be wanting more. My first Disney cruise was on the Dream for 4 nights and I didn’t think it was long enough. We then did the 7 night on the Fantasy and it was perfect. With just three nights, I’d say just take in the ship. Don’t book the extra $$ meals and excursions so you can properly enjoy and explore the ship. You could get on the ship and not spend another dime. The food on the ship in the main dining rooms is really good. Save the upcharge dining for subsequent cruises.

We’ve had the 4E category the last two cruises and are booked in 4E again this year. It’s the family extended verandah. We have 3 with DH, me, and DS14. We had 5536 in the forward on the Fantasy and 6690 aft on the Dream. Dream and Fantasy have the same ship layout. Both rooms sleep 3 with the pull out couch. I preferred the location of 5536 in the forward vs the aft. I felt and heard more of the ships engines in the aft. Didn’t notice any of that in the forward. Even if you don’t do the extended verandah, I would book a verandah room. We order room service and have coffee delivered around 8:00 and enjoy it on the verandah in the morning. I always bring two bottles of wine with us and drink that and order the fruit and cheese tray from room service in the evening before dinner.

We’ve done the wine tasting, bourbon tasting, and mixology classes on the ship both sailings. Those are hour long classes. If you stay on the ship rather than getting off at the ports, you’ll have much shorter lines for the AquaDuck and a less crowded ship.

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OMG yes. All DD15 wanted for Christmas were sneakers and two of were Jordan’s you had to buy on stock X. One was about $400 ($500 after all the fees) and the other $800 ($900).

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