It really does only feel like yesterday that we were disembarking from our last Disney cruise back in May this year when we sailed onboard the beautiful Disney Wonder from Hawaii to Vancouver. The last four months have simply flown by so quickly and life has completely changed with cruising near enough back to the pre-pandemic “normal” that we used to know with Disney Cruise Line no longer requiring any testing for fully vaccinated guests and the much-missed character hugs finally returning onboard.

After working the busiest, craziest and most demanding summer ever of my entire life, I was truly ready for a much needed short break and a cruise was the perfect choice. We had never intended to sail on the Disney Dream to the Bahamas again (as we had already done that back in 2016) or even take another cruise in 2022 but during the pandemic we had several cruises cancelled where you could take either 100% refund or 125% Future Cruise Credit. Even after paying off the balance for our Hawaii trip as well as one of our Disney Magic at Sea staycation cruises, we still had a lot of leftover bonus cruise credit that we had to use up before the end of September this year when it expired – so in other words, we had a free cruise to take!

We decided to book a five night Halloween on the High Seas cruise with two stops at Castaway Cay (also known as a “Double Dip” cruise) on the Disney Dream from Miami which sounded the perfect itinerary – a slightly longer sailing with plenty of time to be able to relax. The very first time we ever sailed on the Disney Dream we thought she was too big and crowded but then we sailed for a week onboard the Disney Fantasy in 2019 which we both loved so after our last three cruises on the smaller Disney Magic and Disney Wonder, we were both looking forward to sailing on the Disney Dream once again and to really enjoy our time onboard.

And yes before you ask, we could have easily booked to sail onboard the brand new Disney Wish that week instead but we already have a cruise booked to sail on her next year and we cannot wait!

We arrived in Miami two days before we were due to board the Disney Dream which I always recommend in case of any flight delays or cancellations and having a whole day to chill by the pool and enjoy a few cocktails before a cruise really is the best and most relaxing way to start the trip. We booked the Hilton Miami Downtown which is located right by PortMiami and from our room we had a perfect view of the port so we could see all of the ships that were docked there during our stay. Waking up early at 6:30am on the day of our cruise and seeing the Disney Dream from our room was simply the best feeling ever and I really did have to pinch myself as it did not feel real that we were going to be boarding her a few hours later.

Knowing that we did not need to have a covid test at the port anymore (which we did on on our last three cruises) was simply the best feeling ever. Even in the few weeks before we travelled we could actually get excited about our trip knowing that we did not have the worry and the stress of testing to deal with and think about. We still had to log onto the Safe Passage website fifteen days before we sailed but as we had already cruised earlier this year, our vaccination certificates were already on file and as soon as we added this cruise to our account, our status immediately changed to “Clear to Sail” which was simply amazing.

After filling in the health questionnaire online (which is now only four questions) and having a small breakfast, we showered and got dressed before packing the last of our bags – we only bought a small suitcase each with us as we really wanted to pack light on this trip unlike on our Hawaii cruise where our bags were stupidly heavy as we were away from home for a few weeks. We were also not taking any wine onboard with us as we had already decided that we would spend whatever the pre-cruise testing would have cost us on cocktails during the cruise instead which really was a much nicer way to spend that money. Our Port Arrival Time was 11:15am and we left our room at 10:30am and as we had done Express Check Out, we could skip the front desk and simply walk straight outside the hotel and order an Uber to take us to the port.

We only had to wait a few minutes to be picked up and the short drive to Cruise Terminal C at PortMiami took less than ten minutes and cost $15 in an UberXL. It was very quiet as there was only one other ship docked that day and we were dropped off outside the terminal at 10:50am where our bags were quickly taken by one of the porters who we were also able to collect some luggage tags from as ours had not arrived at home in time (for the second cruise in a row) before we had left for Miami two days previously.

Despite arriving twenty five minutes before our Port Arrival Time, we were able to enter the terminal building straight away where there was no line to check our “Clear to Sail” status followed by no line to go through security. We waited less than a minute at the check in desks and as we had already completed the check in process at home online, our passports as well as my US Visa and my boyfriend’s US ESTA were checked – and a top tip is if you are cruising with Disney and have a US ESTA, make sure to have a paper copy of it with you (as we did) as they will need to see it at the port.

We made our way up the escalator to the waiting area and sat down just after 11:00am – fifteen minutes before our scheduled Port Arrival Time. It was very calm and sane and there was plenty of seating available in the terminal. Looking around it was such a strange but wonderful and familiar feeling to be finally sat waiting to board a cruise ship just like old times pre-pandemic with no stress of testing at the port or having to wear a mask. Everything about this cruise just seemed so simple and easy and it felt great.

Whilst we were waiting to board we were able to connect to the ship wifi and set up the Disney Cruise Line Navigator app ready for the next five days. On this cruise we had not requested a specific dining rotation but we were both very happy to see that we would be dining at Enchanted Garden on our first night.

Just before Midday boarding started with Groups 1 and 2 and as we were waiting, “Almost There” from the Princess and the Frog started playing which made me smile as I remembered listening to it in the terminal in Honolulu a few months earlier when we finally got to board our Hawaiian cruise after so many years of waiting. At 12:04pm Group 4 was called and with a giant fist bump from one of the amazing staff at PortMiami, we scanned the QR codes from our Port Arrival Form to board and to make life even easier, you can also easily add these to your Apple Wallet on an iPhone.

I really was not expecting to feel emotional when we boarded the Disney Dream that day in Miami but all of a sudden as we were walking along the gangway towards the ship, I did get a little tearful and I wanted to cry tears of absolute joy. The normality of everything that day after everything that has happened in the last few years really did feel wonderful and I felt so happy and could not stop smiling.

Goofy was waving to us as we boarded the Disney Dream and our first stop once onboard was our Muster Station which was located outside on Deck 4. Once we were there we simply had to take a photo of the “H” muster sign using the Disney Cruise Line Navigator app to prove we had visited and once verified, the app will show the message “Check In Complete”.

As we are both complete creatures of habit, naturally our next stop was Cabanas for a much needed lunch as we were both starving. It was surprisingly empty when we arrived at 12:25pm as I thought it would be much busier as a lot of people had boarded before us. I had my traditional embarkation day lunch of a plate of Shrimp with a side of the best Mac and Cheese ever followed by a beautiful Raspberry Creme Pot.

Once we had finished our lunch, Cabanas was much busier so we headed down to Enchanted Garden on Deck 2 where there was no one waiting to check if our request for a private table at dinner had been honoured which it was. Another change onboard since our last sailing is that you can now once again be seated with other parties at the same table for dinner each night which is our personal idea of hell (we want to spend time together on our trips and not with strangers) so the only request we ever make on each cruise is to sit by ourselves.

Our dining and menu rotation for this cruise was:

Monday – Miami – Enchanted Garden – Standard Rotational Menu
Tuesday – Castaway Cay – Royal Palace – Standard Rotational Menu (Halloween Night)
Wednesday – Nassau – Animator’s Palate – Standard Rotational Menu
Thursday – Castaway Cay – Enchanted Garden – Pirates IN The Caribbean
Friday – At Sea – Royal Palace – ‘Til We Meet Again

We had also booked to have brunch in Palo on our sea day but the only time we could get when our booking window opened 105 days before our cruise was at 12:30pm. We asked if there were any other times available and there was space available on the same day at 10:00am when Palo opened which suited us much better so this was a perfect change.

Goofy was still out in the Lobby Atrium when we walked back through so we watched him for a few minutes before walking past the shops to check the opening times. The one thing I definitely noticed on this day compared to our first time on the Disney Dream back in 2016 was that we had no trouble finding our way around the ship which made such a difference as I remember feeling very overwhelmed the first time we sailed on her.

As we walked around the outside decks I had forgotten how big the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy are especially as our last three cruises have been on the smaller Magic and Wonder. Even though there was some rain in the air, it was thankfully not too heavy and I noticed that the background for the Sailing Away party had been set up on the Deck 11 stage but I was not hopeful on it going ahead given the weather that day especially as thunderstorms were forecast for later that afternoon.

Just before 2:00pm we walked down to Deck 8 to see if our stateroom was ready so we could drop our hand luggage off. The last time we had sailed on the Disney Dream we had stayed in an oceanview cabin albeit a giant one (it was the only cruise that we have ever done where we did not have a verandah) and we did not really enjoy it as we both missed having a balcony to sit on and the ability to have fresh air in the room. We did not want to make that same mistake again so this time we booked a Category 5B “Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah” and after experiencing the vibration problems at the aft of the Disney Fantasy when we sailed on her, we booked a forward stateroom which turned out to be an absolutely perfect location.

Our Key to the World cards were waiting for us in a sealed envelope outside the door and our welcome back gifts as Gold Castaway Club members (a backpack, luggage tags and lanyards) were waiting inside the cabin. We also had a note to say that an onboard credit of $8 (we have no idea what for) had been added to our account.

As our bags had not been delivered yet, we headed up to Cove Cafe on Deck 11 for some much needed caffeine. I always love taking a few minutes out to enjoy the peace and quiet on a very long, busy and often noisy embarkation day in the big comfortable chairs at the Quiet Cove with a latte in hand (and maybe a slice of pizza from Luigi’s Pizzeria as well) whilst watching the world go by – it really is one of my happy places onboard all of the ships.

As well as watching families with children being asked to leave Cove Cafe (it is an adult only venue) and announcements to remind people that they had to complete the Muster Drill, another thing we first noticed here and then throughout the rest of the entire cruise was constantly having to “Run the Gauntlet” to avoid the spa ladies every time we walked from the forward stairs and elevators through the Quiet Cove pool area to the Cove Cafe as they were always hanging around everywhere you looked desperately trying to sell their overpriced treatments and massages.

Our suitcases had arrived when we got back to our stateroom at 3:30pm so we quickly unpacked before we met Richard from Indonesia who was our amazing Stateroom Host who looked after us so well during our five nights onboard the Disney Dream.

On our last cruise onboard the Disney Dream, our sailaway party was moved inside due to the weather which at the time was a huge disappointment so despite the large grey ominous clouds in the distance over Downtown Miami when we headed up to Deck 12, I was feeling very relaxed about the whole thing – if the Sailing Away party went ahead or if it was cancelled, it simply did not matter as I was just happy to be onboard as the last two years have really made you realise what is important and what is not. We were also well aware like last time that we were sailing from Florida in September where there is a thunderstorm without fail every afternoon and (spoiler alert) that we had also booked a cruise from Florida to the Bahamas during hurricane season.

The emergency drill started just after 4:00pm and it was great to be able to watch and listen to it from where we were standing on the ship at the time. Captain Jason made his welcome onboard announcement not long afterwards and let us know that they were keeping an eye on Hurricane Ian which was currently over Grand Cayman and that it was expected to get windy in the Bahamas during the week.

Despite some loud thunder in the distance, the Sailing Away sailaway party started a few minutes later to a lot of cheering when Captain Mickey, First Mate Minnie (it seems she gets demoted from being Captain during this deck party), Chip and Dale, Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Pluto all appeared on the stage.

However with thunder comes lightning and I knew that as soon as we had heard several more loud rumbles of thunder that lightning was probably nearby and that there was no way the sailaway party could continue – and less than five minutes after it started, the characters quickly ran off the stage and back inside as the rain started to fall. We ended up seeing a lot more of the party than I was expecting given the forecast so I cannot complain and I also could not stop laughing at the whole situation – welcome to Florida in September!

We headed down to Deck 4 to take shelter from the rain and there was so much rain coming down that you could not even see Downtown Miami anymore. We watched as the Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas left port before making our way back up to Deck 12 once the rain had nearly stopped. It was very busy inside the ship and the lines to meet the characters were long – we now prefer to wait a few days before meeting any characters onboard as the queues usually get much shorter throughout the cruise.

Both Deck 12 and 13 were very quiet as it was still raining on and off the whole time we were up there but thankfully there are a lot of spots where you can take shelter from the rain if needed. It was definitely looking brighter in the distance than it had been earlier and the Disney Dream left the dock at 5:35pm and sailed along the channel of PortMiami and past South Beach. We ended up getting completely soaked whilst we were up on deck watching sailaway and had to go back to our stateroom afterwards to dry off and change clothes but it was completely worth it.

This might sound completely silly but on all of our previous eight cruises we had never been to any of the bars in the evening to have a cocktail (as there was always something else to do on the ship) but we were determined to change that on this cruise and we had even made a list of all of the things that we had to do on this trip. We made our way down to Pink Wine and Champagne Bar which is located in the District adult only area which despite being Happy Hour was nearly empty.

Pink is designed to look like the inside of a champagne bottle and if you look very carefully, you can even see the pink elephants from the film Dumbo appear in the bubbles on the walls. We ordered an Elderbubble cocktail (made with Moet Imperial, Absolut Raspberri and St Germain Elderflower Liqueur) as well as a Pomegranate Passion (made with Moet Imperial, Pama Pomegranate Liqueur and Passion Fruit Puree) which came to $8 each and were served with some macarons – both cocktails were absolutely delicious.

After finishing our drinks, we walked to the Lobby Atrium ready for the Pumpkin Tree show at 7:30pm which was the first Halloween on the High Seas event of the cruise. We got there about twenty minutes before it was due to start and as both Decks 3 and 4 were already very busy, we stood on Deck 5 in the same balcony alcove as we had done on our last cruise on the Disney Dream and had an unobstructed view.

Unlike on our last cruise where the pumpkins appeared on the tree throughout the cruise, this time they were already there when we boarded. Once the Caretaker had arrived and told everyone a Halloween story, the tree came to life as all of the pumpkins started to light up whilst This is Halloween from the Nightmare Before Christmas played.

Our next stop was the shops which are always a little crowded on the first night of a cruise but I always recommend visiting then as items can sell out. The Halloween merchandise onboard was exactly the same as what I had seen at Disneyland the previous week but I was over the moon happy to finally get both the Captain Minnie pin as well as a Christmas decoration that I had wanted for the last year that had never been in stock when we sailed on our other cruises.

After dropping my shopping back off in our stateroom, we made sure to walk a lap of Deck 4 (and watch some lightning out at sea in the distance) before we headed down to Enchanted Garden on Deck 2 for dinner and as we had second seating, our dining time was at 8:15pm every night. We also met the absolutely incredible Mr B from South Africa who was our Server, the amazing Melbourne from India who was our Assistant Server and the wonderful Rexson from India who was our Head Server. We have been lucky enough over the years to have some brilliant dining teams on our cruises looking after us but I think we really hit the jackpot with Mr B, Melbourne and Rexson as they were simply the best.

The reason why I was so happy to be in Enchanted Garden on the first night of our cruise was the Ahi Tuna and Avocado Tower which I had been looking forward to since our Hawaii trip earlier this year where I had tried both tuna and avocado for the first time and loved them both. If you would have told me a year ago that I would order a double portion of it on a cruise and absolutely love it and want more, I would have said that you were crazy but that is exactly what happened and it is now one of my favourite Disney Cruise Line dishes that I have ever had.

I also ordered the Cream of Green Asparagus soup followed by the North Atlantic Lobster Ravioli which is usually an appetiser but I had it for my main course instead. For my dessert I ordered the Orange Almond Cake as I love the Palo version of it so much.

Once we had finished our amazing dinner, the Lobby Atrium was still very busy so we took the elevator up to Deck 12 for a little walk with a peppermint tea in hand to help digest all the wonderful food that we had just eaten. However we were both incredibly tired after such a long day so decided to go back to our stateroom and have an early night ready for Castaway Cay the following day.

It did not take long for either of us to fall asleep that night as not only was it incredibly dark in our stateroom but there was also absolutely no movement on the ship at all as well as the bed being like a beautiful cloud to sleep on. It really had been a great first day back onboard the Disney Dream and I could not wait to enjoy the rest of our Halloween on the High Seas cruise!

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