My first Transatlantic cruise on the Disney Magic all the way back in 2015 remains to this day one of my favourite holidays that I have ever been on. Everything about it was perfect and I can honestly say that I have never been as happy and relaxed as what I was on that trip. So ever since then I have been craving that exact feeling once again but nothing has ever quite matched it. We both love longer cruises as they are so much better in every way than shorter ones and until you have experienced both, you have no idea of how good they actually are.

Fast forward to 2023 and the day when Disney Cruise Line released their itineraries for this year and there amongst all of the many cruises listed was another Transatlantic cruise – it was a Westbound sailing (the best direction to cruise as you gain an hour of sleep most days due to time changes), it was leaving from Southampton (which for us is only an hour’s drive away from home), it was visiting Vigo, Lisbon and Ponta Delgada in Europe before heading across the ocean to the brand new Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point in the Bahamas and most importantly, it was departing the day after my birthday so it seemed like it was meant to be.

So of course we had to book the cruise although at that time we had absolutely no idea that we would end up sailing on the Disney Dream twice in 2024. If you would like to read the story of how our unexpected Marvel Day at Sea cruise at the beginning of the year happened, you can read the blogs from that trip here.

Even though we live close to Southampton, I would never want to risk driving there on the actual day of the cruise in case of any traffic delays so we booked to stay at the Premier Inn West Quay once again (we also stayed here the night before our Disney Magic at Sea cruise in 2021) which is located just across the road from the Port of Southampton making it extremely convenient. If you are cruising from Southampton, I would recommend booking any hotels that you need as early as possible (do not leave it until a few days before) as they do sell out quickly especially when there are several ships docked in port.

It was very strange to wake up in my own bed the day before our cruise as it really did not feel real that we would be boarding the Disney Dream the following morning as on nearly all of our other cruises as well as on our previous Transatlantic which departed from Barcelona, we have always arrived close to the port we are leaving from a couple of days beforehand. After a lay-in and a nice breakfast to start the day, we left home just before 2:00pm and my parents drove us down to Southampton and we even encountered standstill traffic on the motorway just a few minutes later but thankfully we did not need to worry as we were in no rush and could just take our time.

Parking for the Premier Inn West Quay is available in the West Quay multi story car park next door which cost £7 for the night. For the rest of the day we walked around Southampton making a quick visit to some of the shops in West Quay, explored some of the Titanic Trail and then enjoyed a few birthday cocktails before having dinner at Ocean Village – it was the perfect and most relaxed way to begin our long-awaited trip.

Something that never changes is my ability to wake up stupidly early on the morning of a cruise despite needing several alarm clocks every other day of the year and I could not even blame jet lag this time! When I looked at my phone just after 5:00am, I could see that the Disney Dream was already docked at Berth 101 at the City Cruise Terminal but annoyingly she was just out of sight from our window at the Premier Inn. After filling in the short health questionnaire – you will get an email as well as a notification on the Disney Cruise Line Navigator app on the morning of your cruise – and not being able to get back to sleep, we quickly decided to get dressed and walk across the road to Mayflower Park to see the Dream up close.

As it was so early, we did not need to wait to cross the main road as there was no traffic at that time of the morning so it took less than five minutes from leaving our hotel room to reaching an empty Mayflower Park. It was truly wonderful to see the beautiful Disney Dream once again especially as she had spent the previous five weeks in Dry Dock just across the English Channel in Brest and I especially loved seeing her all lit up brightly against the night sky. There is nothing more relaxing on the morning of embarkation day than knowing that your ship is right there in front of you and that you do not have a long journey to reach the port – it really is the best way to start any cruise!

Once we got back to our hotel room and changed back into our pyjamas, we sat in bed with a cup of tea and ate some of the croissants that we had bought the previous day for our breakfast – we did not want to eat too much as we were already looking forward to having lunch in Cabanas onboard the ship later that day.

Unlike the beautiful weather on the previous day in Southampton, the forecast for embarkation day was awful as Storm Ashley had arrived in the UK bringing heavy rain and strong winds with it. However in a weird way this just made me smile as every time that we board the Disney Dream, we always have some form of bad weather on the day (whether it be a thunderstorm or even a hurricane on the way) so it really just feels “normal” at this point – you can either laugh or cry at a situation like this and I prefer to look on the bright side of things. However I was also keeping my fingers crossed that we would still get an outdoor sailaway party later that day as the forecast was showing that the rain would stop mid-afternoon.

After getting dressed, packing up our bags and attaching our luggage labels (you can also collect blank ones at the port if yours do not arrive in time), we left the Premier Inn just after 10:30am and drove back to Mayflower Park as I really wanted my parents to see a Disney ship up close as they had never seen one in person before and the fact that it was docked at Berth 101 meant a clear and unobstructed view. I also loved that my Dad’s exact words when he saw the size of the Disney Dream were “Holy Christ!” – I dread to think what he would say about the bigger Royal Caribbean ships or even the upcoming Disney Adventure.

After taking plenty of photos in Mayflower Park, we got back in the car and drove through the neighbouring Dock Gate 8 to get to the City Cruise Terminal where my parents dropped us off fifteen minutes before our Port Arrival Time of 11:30am. Everything at this point had been quite easy and this is the point where that all came to a grinding halt. If you have read any other blogs or watched any YouTube videos from our cruise, you might have heard that the boarding in Southampton was disorganised and chaotic and it’s all true – this was our thirteenth cruise and it was our worst port experience ever. What was truly bad however is that I know we were quite lucky to get onboard as “fast” as we did as it took many others a lot longer. There were even people who had paid for Disney Cruise Line transfers who were stuck on the buses outside as the staff would not allow them to get off and enter the terminal for over an hour and a half after they arrived despite having an early Boarding Group.

We have sailed from other non-Disney Cruise Line terminals such as Vancouver, Miami, Honolulu and Galveston before and yet I have nothing but good words to say about all of those experiences which were so friendly and efficient yet City Cruise Terminal in Southampton was nothing short of an utter shitshow.

The first thing that was causing chaos was the complete lack of signs outside of the terminal so no one knew where to go. Despite there being a long line of people waiting outside to enter the terminal, we knew that we needed to drop our luggage off first. Thankfully we saw some people walking around the corner to another area so we followed them to drop off our bags – we later saw one small sign but it was completely hidden from view! Most people were joining the line with their luggage only to have the leave the line a few minutes later when they were told to take their bags to the drop off point.

We then joined the back of the long non-moving line as a member of staff was walking along asking everyone what their Port Arrival Time was and as it was just before 11:25am at this point, they asked us to go straight into the terminal. Once inside there were separate lines for each of the different Port Arrival Times and after our time was verified, we joined the 11:30am line which did not start moving for another five minutes or so – at least “So Close” from Enchanted was playing from a speaker somewhere which summed up how everyone felt and at least we were also inside where it was dry instead of stuck outside in the rain like so many others were. Once the line started moving, it was simply to check our Port Arrival Time once again (even though these had already been checked to enter the terminal) and give us each a pointless wristband which served absolutely no purpose whatsoever as we could not have got as far as we did without showing our Port Arrival Form to another member of staff beforehand and we still at this point had not even done the actual check in so we could not board the ship even if we tried.

One positive from our experience at City Cruise Terminal is that security was extremely fast but that is the only good thing I can say. One important thing to note is that there is no separate Pearl or Platinum Castaway Club line in Southampton – everyone apart from Concierge guests uses the same line to check in and that line is long! As the waiting area to board was already full at this point, they stopped checking in any more people so this line did not move at all for another fifteen minutes – it was so bad for anyone who was not completely steady on their feet and sadly someone in the line actually collapsed whilst we were waiting.

The Family of the Day were announced at 11:40am and boarding started not long afterwards at 11:46am. The check in line started moving again just after 11:50am and it thankfully moved quickly and once we reached the front of the queue, we were directed by one member of staff to one of the far desks only to then be shouted at by another staff member who rudely demanded to know what we were doing – erm just going to the desk we were just told to go to! Once we reached the desk, the complete incompetence continued as I was asked why I did not have a copy of my US ESTA with me despite them looking at my actual US Visa in my passport whilst looking at a photo of the exact same visa on their iPad.

Once we were finished at the desks, we sat down just before 12:00pm in a now very empty and quiet waiting area ready for our boarding group to be called however yet again, the entire boarding process was just slow and painful – even our boarding delay on the Disney Wish last year at Port Canaveral due to a Coastguard inspection was nowhere near as bad.

It took twenty five minutes to call three groups during which time only a very small handful of people boarded (everyone else with those boarding groups were stuck on the buses outside) so it did not make sense at all that were not calling the next group forward as soon as the previous one had cleared – earlier this year at Port Everglades, they got through four boarding groups in less than five minutes as they were so efficient. During this time we were also told by someone with a crackly loudhailer to “Enjoy the Terminal Whilst You Wait” but if you have ever had the misfortune to experience the City Cruise Terminal, there is nothing there to enjoy apart from uncomfortable chairs, toilets and a vending machine.

Boarding Group 8 was finally called at 12:20pm and we joined the back of another slow moving line as we shuffled along the gangway towards the ship. Each of the QR codes on our Port Arrival Form were scanned at the actual entrance to the ship and you can also add these to your Apple Wallet on an iPhone so that they are easily accessible which we always do.

Just after 12:30pm our names were finally announced as we boarded the Disney Dream for our fourth cruise on her making her our most cruised ship. The brand new carpets onboard in the Lobby Atrium instantly gave us an extra spring in our step (they were so bouncy!) and we quickly ran up to the Deck 4 balcony when we saw that Captain Mickey was out. He only had one other person waiting to meet him and after a much-needed hug and a quick selfie, the world was a happy place once again and our cruise could finally begin.

Our next stop as is tradition on embarkation day was to head up to Cabanas on Deck 11 to get some lunch as we were both very hungry at this point. However due to the heavy rain outside, it was very busy and crowded inside but we managed to find a table a few minutes later once another family had finished eating. As always I got a plate of Shrimp with a little side of Mac and Cheese and yes the food is different on the European cruises due to different suppliers which I know caused a lot of complaints but to us, it tasted normal and how food should taste without being overly processed. However one of the only exceptions I’ve been reliably informed is the Chicken Tenders which are nowhere near as good as the famous ones you normally associate with Disney Cruise Line. Once we had finished eating, we decided to get dessert and take it to the Quiet Cove to eat where it was much quieter which in turn freed up our table for someone else to sit down and eat lunch.

Once we had finished our desserts we walked all the way down to Enchanted Garden on Deck 2 to check if our request for a private table at dinner had been honoured which once again, thankfully, it was as we have no desire to sit with others during dinner but even more so on a thirteen night cruise. Another dry dock change that I noticed on Deck 2 was the addition of a Disney Vacation Club (DVC) office and the removal of all of the artwork for sale that used to be displayed on the walls.

As we walked back up the stairs towards the Lobby Atrium we saw Goofy out on Deck 4 all by himself so of course we had to go and say hello! We also walked past Mickey’s Mainsail and Sea Treasures to look through the windows at what merchandise was available and spotted a few things that we wanted to come back and buy when they opened later that evening.

As the staterooms were ready at 1:30pm we took the elevator up to 8526 which really felt like our new “home away from home” as this was our third cruise in a row onboard the Disney Dream staying in the exact same cabin – although I will admit there were a few times towards the end of our two weeks onboard when it started to feel a little like Groundhog Day! 8526 is a Category 5B “Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah” located on Deck 8 Forward which is the perfect location for us and it really was great to be back once again! We also met the amazing Walker who was our incredible Stateroom Host and who looked after us so well during our time onboard.

The only differences that we noticed that had been made to the staterooms during dry dock were new carpets, new televisions as well as a new air conditioning control panel on the wall by the door.

Our luggage had not arrived at this time so we took a few minutes to unpack our hand baggage that we carried onto the ship with us and we also called to request a bottle of Prosecco as our Platinum Castaway Club welcome back gift (you can also choose a Seasonal Fruit Bowl or some Chocolate Truffles) which was delivered about forty minutes later.

We had also been constantly trying to load and setup the Disney Cruise Line Navigator app since we had arrived at the port that morning but it was sadly still not working at this time. We knew that they were handing out paper versions of the Daily Navigator at Guest Services if we needed to check any times but all we wanted to know is where we would be dining that night.

As we still had an hour before the muster drill at 4:00pm and as it had been a very early start, we were both in desperate need of caffeine so coffee was absolutely needed. Cove Cafe was very crowded so we walked down to the Vista Cafe on Deck 4 where I ordered an Oat Latte and discovered that the plant-based milks available onboard for this cruise were from a Spanish brand that I had never heard of and had a very different taste to normal so I probably drunk a lot less coffee during our cruise than usual. As I drink a lot of tea (I seriously could not survive without it) and had already thought in advance that this could be a possibility, I had brought a carton of my favourite Alpro soya milk onboard with me to keep in our stateroom fridge so I simply bought another one when we reached Vigo two days later and they both lasted me the entire cruise.

We took the elevator up to Decks 12 and 13 to see what other changes had been made in dry dock and thankfully it had stopped raining as the forecast had said and the decks were starting to dry out and they were even stacking the deck chairs away ready for the sailaway party. We were very pleased to see Satellite Falls which I know is a favourite area to many onboard (us included) was still intact and it looks the same however you can now only access it from the port side of Deck 13 as the Concierge sundeck has been expanded out onto the starboard side of the deck.

Our Muster Station was “H” which was located outside on Deck 4 and we made our way there about fifteen minutes before it was due to start as it is not something that you ever want to be late for. We also stopped back at our stateroom on the way there to collect anything that we needed for the sailaway party so we could go straight there once the emergency drill was over.

Once again I seriously yearned for the simplicity of the much-missed virtual muster drill which really was so quick, easy and painless and saved a lot of stress on embarkation day and I still really hope it comes back one day – if other cruise lines can do, why can’t Disney Cruise Line? Whilst waiting I also noticed patches of blue sky had started appearing which hopefully meant that the worst of the weather was over for the day.

As we were stood right by the entrance to the midship stairs and elevators, we made a quick getaway as soon as we could to get up to Deck 12 as quickly as possible in order to get a good spot ready to watch the sailaway party. However one good thing was that I did not need to run up the stairs as fast as I usually do due to the lower capacity than normal onboard and the fact that there was a lot of people waiting for the elevators and barely anyone was using the stairs so I could slow down to a much more comfortable pace than normal.

I had no issues getting one of my favourite spots on Deck 12 and more blue skies were slowly appearing which felt so good given the heavy rain all morning as I really thought that the party would be moved indoors to the Lobby Atrium which happened to us on our first cruise on the Dream in 2016. Another change to the Disney Dream during dry dock was the addition of the giant screens behind the stage similar to what is onboard the Disney Wish and the Disney Treasure which looked so much better than the backdrops that they used to put up for each event.

One thing for sure though was that it was nowhere near as busy and crowded as it had been on our other cruise on the Disney Dream this year which was nearly at capacity – it looked empty in comparison! One thing that we did find during all of the deck parties onboard was that all of the spaces along the railings on Deck 12 were always taken first whilst Deck 11 never seemed to get crowded at all until the last minute.

During the Sailing Away deck party Captain Minnie, Captain Mickey, Chip and Dale, Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Pluto dance to Clap Your Hands, Minnie Oh! Minnie, Staying Alive, Shake Your Tail Feather and Sailing Away and when the “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” horn sounds, it really is one the best feelings in the world.

However it was still very windy due to Storm Ashley which was causing the water from the open section of the Aquaduck to splash down all over the stage making it soaking wet once again.

Once the sailaway party was over, the cruise staff continued the celebrations with more music and dancing however we left the crowds behind and walked up to the back of Deck 13 to take some more photos now that it looked so much brighter out. I was also so happy to see that my beloved purple crab which can be found at Goofy Golf had finally been repaired as the last time I saw him, he was looking slightly worse for wear as it looked like someone had taken one of the golf clubs to him in anger.

As we did not have dinner for over another three hours, we also decided it was finally time to go to one of the best dry dock changes ever made which was the addition of Ramone’s Cantina to the Flo’s V8 Cafe line-up which serves tacos and bowls and is very similar to Donald’s Cantina onboard the Disney Wish. However do not be alarmed as it has not replaced anything as it is simply in addition to Luigi’s Pizza, Tow Mater’s Grill and Fillmore’s Favourites. The tacos were simply delicious yet so messy (you really need a second tortilla to catch everything that falls out of the first one and then you can have a bonus taco!) and I loved that my favourite chilli garlic hot sauce was also available onboard.

At this time the Disney Cruise Line app had finally started working after being down for the entire day so we were able to set it up and we could now see our dining and menu rotation for the next thirteen nights onboard which was:

Sunday – Southampton – Royal Palace – Let the Magic Begin Menu
Monday – At Sea – Animator’s Palate – Standard Rotational Menu
Tuesday – Vigo – Enchanted Garden – Standard Rotational Menu
Wednesday – Lisbon – Royal Palace – Standard Rotational Menu
Thursday – At Sea – Animator’s Palate – Freezing the Night Away Menu
Friday – At Sea – Enchanted Garden – Pirates IN The Caribbean Menu
Saturday – Ponta Delgada – Royal Palace – Crossing Menu
Sunday – At Sea – Animator’s Palate – World of Flavour Menu
Monday – At Sea – Enchanted Garden – European Menu
Tuesday – At Sea – Royal Palace – Land and Sea Menu
Wednesday – At Sea – Animator’s Palate – Animation Magic Menu
Thursday – At Sea – Enchanted Garden – Prince and Princess Menu
Friday – Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point – Royal Palace – Captain’s Gala Menu

We left the dock at 5:30pm and we made sure to walk around all of the top decks to take in the different views around us as well as waving to the crowds who had come down to Mayflower Park to watch the Disney Dream leave Southampton for the final time in the foreseeable future as the Disney Fantasy is coming over to the UK next year instead.

Doing a Transatlantic cruise from Southampton has always been a bucket list item of mine and it was truly a wonderful feeling as we slowly sailed along the Solent and past the Isle of Wight at sunset before making our way out to sea towards Vigo, Lisbon, Ponta Delgada, Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point and finally Fort Lauderdale. It was going to be an epic journey and I could not wait.

Our luggage was waiting for us when we got back to our stateroom so we made sure to take our time to carefully unpack everything before putting our suitcases away under the bed and out of sight for the next two weeks. We had already decided that as it was such a long cruise (it was our longest one to date) that we wanted to keep our room as tidy and organised as possible to help make our trip easy, calm, relaxing and completely stress free.

On our last cruise on the Dream at the start of the year, we discussed this and had decided what we needed to bring with us and what we definitely did not need which could be left at home. Everything that we brought with us had a place to live in the stateroom as we wanted to keep as many of the surfaces as clear as we could and we also made sure that everything was put away and out of sight when not being used.

Coming back to a clean and tidy cabin each day felt amazing and I really could not imagine doing a two week cruise and having stuff absolutely everywhere including all over the walls as that would not be relaxing in the slightest. I was so proud of what we accomplished and we will definitely do the same on any other future cruises that we do.

After sorting everything out, we walked down to Deck 3 where the shops were already open and were already being picked clean. There is something about the sailings from the UK that makes people lose their minds when it comes to shopping onboard. It was made even worse as people were going nuts over all the Dream of Europe merchandise having 40% off and I also spotted one group buying nearly all of the Disney Dream Loungefly bags – they were the only item I did not see them restock during the entire cruise however there was plenty of everything else. I bought the Transatlantic Christmas decoration, the Transatlantic 2024 pin (both of which were still available on the last day onboard) as well as the Minnie and Mickey at Palo pin which I had seen online and I was able to use the 10% discount which is available to Gold, Platinum and Pearl Castaway Club members.

After getting our shopping we walked around Deck 4 which is one of our favourite things to do in the evenings when on a cruise. However it was extremely windy out and there was a lot of spray in the air so we did not walk as many laps as we had planned but we did watch as the harbour pilot jumped from the Disney Dream into the pilot boat which then turned around to head back to Southampton.

There was no show playing in the Walt Disney Theatre on the first night of our cruise but we did watch the Disney Victrophonics in the Lobby Atrium before dinner (they also had a later show that night as well) who who sing jazz versions of different Disney songs. There were also characters out absolutely everywhere that you looked (both as official meet and greets as well as roaming around) but we did not wait to meet any of them on this night as we figured that we had the next two weeks to do that instead!

Our dinner on the first night of our cruise was in Royal Palace and as we had second seating, our dining time was at 8:15pm every night which worked perfectly for us. We also met our amazing dining team who would look after us for the next thirteen nights – Jaqueline was our incredible Server, Philip was our Assistant Server and Jayson was our Head Server.

For dinner I ordered the Fried Spiced Calamari to start which was absolutely delicious followed by the Spinach, Sweet Potato and Lentil Dhal which was nice but really needed to be a lot spicier as it was very mild and I prefer my curries to have a lot more of a kick to them.

We were both starting to feel incredibly tired after such a long day so we decided to skip dessert. We headed up to Deck 11 to get a cup of tea to take back to our room with us and it was very quiet everywhere so I think everyone else was doing the exact same thing and having an early night.

Our first blanket creation of the cruise was waiting on the bed for us and it felt heavenly to change into my pyjamas and sit in bed. It was 9:30pm and the chilled end to a long day that I really needed and I was so looking forward to a lazy day the next day where we had no plans at all. As we would be sailing across the Bay of Biscay which is notorious for rough seas at the best of times, we also took a Dramamine each before going to bed especially as the seas were due to be even worse than normal due to Storm Ashley.

We also had a message on the Disney Cruise Line Navigator app to remind us to put our clocks forward an hour overnight (the only time they went forward as they went back every other time!) which we remembered to do just before falling asleep.

So what does sailing across the Bay of Biscay with the bonus of an added storm feel like? Only time would tell!

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