Thirteen days after we left Southampton and after five straight days at sea, I woke up just after 6:30am on our final day onboard the beautiful Disney Dream just as we were starting to dock at Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point – Disney Cruise Line’s new beach destination on the southern tip of the Bahamian island of Eleuthera where the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea meet. (more…)

One thing that was incredibly disorientating on this sailing was just how dark it was outside every morning when we woke up compared to other cruises that we have sailed on. Even though it was 7:00am, it really felt like it was the middle of the night as the sky was pitch black – the only clue to it actually being morning was the sight of the crew setting up all of the sun loungers outside on Deck 11 ready for the day ahead. (more…)

Our eleventh day onboard the Disney Dream once again started in the best way possible with an absolutely beautiful sunrise as we sailed across the Atlantic close to the island of Bermuda. After waking up early as per usual we walked up to the small outside deck between Palo and the Meridien Bar on Deck 12 aft just after 7:00am to sit back on the comfortable chairs and watch as the sun slowly started to appear over the horizon. (more…)

On the third of our five sea days in a row onboard our Transatlantic cruise on the Disney Dream, I woke up at 4:30am (a side effect of the constant time changes is waking up earlier and earlier each day) but thankfully managed to fall back asleep not long afterwards and woke up once again at a much more reasonable time of 7:30am. (more…)

This day at sea onboard our Transatlantic cruise on the beautiful Disney Dream started like so many others do with me waking up far too early just after 5:00am. I laid in bed for about an hour trying to fall back asleep before finally getting up and walking out onto the verandah where it was very rainy, grey and overcast outside but thankfully despite this, there was no movement on the ship at all. I walked upstairs to get us both a cup of tea and it must have rained heavily overnight as all of Deck 11 was flooded and the crew were working as quickly as they could to clear all of the water. (more…)

There is something very wonderful and special about a day at sea on a Disney cruise ship especially onboard a Transatlantic sailing when you get to experience this numerous times as you slowly cross the Atlantic. I find it so relaxing to look out from wherever you are on the ship and see nothing else around you apart from the vast blue ocean as any stress or worries that you may have had just instantly disappear. (more…)

I had always wanted to visit the Azores for as long as I can remember so it was very exciting to wake up on this morning knowing that the day had finally arrived. I got woken up early at 6:45am when the thrusters on the ship came to life and when I walked out onto the verandah, I could see the lights of Ponta Delgada on the island of San Miguel in the darkness ahead of us. (more…)

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. (more…)

After another good night’s sleep onboard the Disney Dream, I woke up just after 7:00am feeling great knowing that we had very little plans for our day at sea ahead. I absolutely love longer cruises with lots of sea days just like this (we have now done three long cruises of ten nights or more over the years) and it felt wonderful to know that we had a day of nothing but relaxation as my legs were still hurting after two days of walking around exploring both Vigo and Lisbon. Thankfully since we had left Lisbon the evening before, the seas had been calm as we sailed out into the Atlantic towards Ponta Delgada in the Azores. (more…)

After falling asleep very quickly the evening before and as we had gained an hour overnight, I woke up just after 5:00am and the first thing I did was go out onto our verandah to get some fresh air and I could already see the lights of Lisbon off in the distance. As our stateroom was on the opposite side of the Disney Dream to what the city would be and once we got a little bit closer, we quickly got dressed and headed up to a chilly Deck 13 along with a handful of our fellow passengers with a hot drink in hand to watch as we sailed past the Belem Tower, the Padrão dos Descobrimentos (Monument to the Discoveries) and then finally under the Ponte 25 de Abril bridge at 6:20am. (more…)