One of the many benefits of sailing on a westbound Transatlantic cruise is gaining an extra hour of sleep most days during your trip which allows you to feel rested and relaxed throughout your entire sailing. This day at sea onboard the beautiful Disney Dream was no exception as I woke up just after 6:30am (a side effect of the many time changes is waking up early without the need for an alarm clock) after a good night’s sleep so I immediately got out of bed and walked up to Deck 11 to get us both a cup of tea to start the day.

It was already looking like it was going to be a beautiful day at sea as there was only a few patchy clouds in the sky and thankfully there was also barely any movement on the ship as the sea was so calm. As we had brunch at Remy booked at 11:45am, neither of us wanted to have a big breakfast so I also grabbed us a few pastries from Cabanas which was already open at this time.

After sitting in bed for a while and having a shower we decided to go for a walk around the ship to see what characters were out as we still had a lot of time before our brunch reservation later that morning.

Minnie was the first character of the day listed who was due out at 9:00am at Preludes and it was a great surprise to see that she was already wearing her pirate costume as the characters usually start wearing their pirate outfits in the afternoon when it is Pirate Night. As the Pirate Night meet and greets can usually get busy in the afternoon, we immediately decided to try and meet as many of the characters as we could that morning so we did not need to later in the day.

After meeting Minnie at Preludes at 9:00am, we then met Daisy (who we overheard someone call Daffy Duck much to her absolute disgust) on the Deck 4 balcony followed by Chip and Dale immediately afterwards by the staircase who were both out at 9:15am. We then met Donald on the balcony at 9:45am, Goofy at Preludes at 10:00am as well as Captain Hook and Smee who were meeting at the staircase at the same time.

We never intended to see so many characters on this morning (we did six meet and greets with very short lines in just over an hour) but it’s just how it happily and unexpectedly worked out for us that day. The only character that we did not meet was Mickey (as his line was really long once we had finished meeting Hook and Smee) so my plan was to meet him later that afternoon when he had more times scheduled.

It had turned into an absolutely beautiful day outside with bright blue skies and sunshine so we made our way up to decks 11 and 12 to enjoy the fresh air before getting ready for our brunch.

We had previously had dinner at Remy onboard the Disney Fantasy and I still fondly remember it as simply the best meal I have ever eaten – closely followed by our dinner at Enchanté on the Disney Wish so the one thing we really wanted to do on this long cruise was to have brunch as it would be a new dining experience for both of us.

We had no issue booking Remy when our booking window as Platinum Castaway Club members opened online 120 days before the cruise and we decided to book this day as we knew how full we would be after brunch and as it was Pirate Night, our plan was to skip the main dining room that evening as we are not the biggest fans of the Pirates in the Caribbean menu and just have deck food for dinner whenever we finally felt like eating again.

There is a dress code to dine at Remy and even though it is not as strict as it once used to be, we had both brought clothes with us just for this one meal. After walking up to Deck 12 Aft we waited for a few minutes in the Meridian Bar before being shown to our table in the Gusteau dining room at Remy where we started our incredible brunch with a beautiful glass of Taittinger La Francaise which I absolutely loved.

I will write about my brunch at Remy in a separate blog post as I feel it definitely deserves it. Once again I was blown away and had an absolutely incredible vegetarian tasting menu which was perfect in every single way. Brunch at Remy currently costs $80 per person before any extra charges such as wine pairings and I thought it was worth every penny and more.

Once we left Remy at 2:00pm the first thing that we did was go straight back to our stateroom to change into some more comfortable clothes to relax for the rest of the afternoon. After twelve previous Disney cruises I had finally treated myself to a pirate-themed t-shirt especially for this day onboard and some pirate bandanas had also been left on the bed for us if we wanted to use them – they work great for keeping your hair out of your face up on deck when it’s windy!

Because of the timing of our amazing brunch at Remy, we had missed the first Mickey and Friends group photo so we walked up to Deck 11 instead to sit in the Quiet Cove for a little while with a peppermint tea to help digest all of the wonderful food that we had just eaten.

The second Mickey and Friends group photo was at 3:15pm so we walked down to the Lobby Atrium fifteen minutes early where the line was already back to Guest Services – these group character photo opportunities are incredibly rare and only tend to happen on the longer sailings so they are very popular and you need to get there on time.

Once the characters appeared on the staircase in their pirate costumes, the line moved quickly as no hugs or autographs are allowed (they let you know this beforehand whilst you are waiting) and you can only take one photo per group so you cannot switch people in and out. Once we had our photo we noticed that Pirate Stitch was up to no good and causing mischief on Deck 5 so we quickly ran up to see him.

Just like on the previous day, we decided to spend the rest of the afternoon sitting outside on Deck 4 and watching the world go by which really is one of my favourite ways to pass the time when on a cruise – listening to the sound of the sea below is just so relaxing and instantly makes me feel happy and calm.

Just before 5:00pm I walked back inside to meet Pirate Mickey who was out on the Deck 4 balcony and I only waited a few minutes to meet him as it seemed that nearly everyone else onboard was waiting in line to meet Captain Jack Sparrow at Preludes – he was only out twice on this cruise (the later time was during the Mickey’s Pirates IN the Caribbean deck party that night) and when we walked past on the way back to our stateroom, I overheard someone being told that it was currently a ninety minute wait to meet him.

Once we got back to our stateroom, we decided to order a little snack from room service to help tide us over until later that evening so we got the Plant Based Chicken Sandwich with Sweet Potato Fries as well as the All Hands on Deck cheese plate to share.

From our verandah we noticed that it was going to be a beautiful sunset so we grabbed our cameras and walked up to the front of Deck 13 to sit and enjoy the view from there for a while. It really was the start of a beautiful evening at sea and whilst it was a little windy (you are out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean after all), all you needed was a hoody to stay warm when outside as it was far from freezing.

As we walked back along the deck we noticed a few people starting to wait for Mickey’s Pirates IN the Caribbean deck party which was due to start twenty minutes later at 7:30pm so we quickly grabbed our spot as well to ensure that we had a good view.

Whilst we were waiting, the big familiar instrumental score from the Pirates in the Caribbean movies was playing which made me so happy as it made me feel like I was back walking through Treasure Cove at Shanghai Disneyland (home to one of the best Disney attractions in the world) where I had spent the best day only a few weeks before boarding this cruise.

Mickey’s Pirates IN the Caribbean was just as much fun as it always is (and you cannot help but dance along) but the addition of the screens behind the stage instead of the backdrops made it even better. And one thing that I had never noticed before but made me laugh so much was hearing Donald shout “Get out of my way!” when everyone is running across the stage to avoid the cannonball heading towards the ship.

On our last few cruises I had wanted to order an Espresso Martini on one of our evenings onboard but for one reason or another (mainly that each time I forgot) it never happened so on this cruise it was my mission to finally get one. This was the perfect night so once the deck party was over we sat in Cove Cafe with a little antipasti plate and I can honestly say that my cocktail was definitely worth the wait – there was even a hidden Mickey in the coffee beans!

Once we had finished our drinks, we grabbed a few slices of pizza from Luigi’s Pizza and sat on the comfortable chairs outside at the Quiet Cove to eat. It was so peaceful and quiet and it really was a great way to have a chilled night onboard whilst still doing something and making the most of the fresh air at the same time.

A little while later we made ourselves a peppermint tea and grabbed a spot up on Deck 12 ready for Buccaneer Blast. We had never seen this version of the show before as we usually watch the fireworks from the adult only area of Deck 13 near Currents but as we do not know when our next cruise on the Disney Dream or Disney Fantasy will be, we knew that we needed to make the most of this opportunity.

Buccaneer Blast features a group of pirates singing and improvising songs with the help of some of the children onboard before Captain Jack Sparrow quite literally drops in. However after watching it I honestly felt like I had not missed out by never watching it on our previous cruises as I found it a little tedious as it drags on for far too long before the fireworks start which are really what everyone wants to see.

After watching the fireworks light up the night sky, we watched the Club Pirate dance party for a few minutes whilst we waited for the crowds to clear before we walked back down to our stateroom where a towel gorilla was waiting for us on the bed with some gold chocolate coins and he looked brilliant with my sunglasses on.

Before going to bed, we took a few minutes to get our bags ready for the next day exploring Ponta Delgada and San Miguel Island in the Azores. It took me a little while to fall asleep on this night thanks to that amazing Espresso Martini I had enjoyed earlier that evening as I had not realised at the time how strong it was and caffeine rarely has such a strong effect on me – next time I’ll make sure to get one much earlier in the day instead!

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