The Disney Cruise Line and our trip on the Disney Dream.  This is NOT a paid post this was our vacation (one of many vacations) this vacation was a cruise my amazing mother in law took my son and I on.  We are not selling anything, just sharing our experience.

 It is exactly as it sounds, it truly is a dream aboard the Disney Dream Cruise ship.  SoCal Savvy Mom set sail in March of 2014 for a 4-night Bahamian cruise.  As soon as you enter the terminal you know this is not an ordinary cruise.  Everything is Disney, and I do mean everything, I have never seen Mickey ears in so many different ways than on the Disney Dream.

Upon entering the ship, you are greeted by your family name and all the crew members clap and welcome you aboard.  As if that wasn’t surprise enough, the whole gang there to greet us.  Mickey, yep he was there, Minnie, yes her too, Goofy, him as well, Donald was there too and you encouraged to have your pictures taken with them.  My child is a little weary of characters he always has been, and rather than force him to take a picture my mother-in-law and I decided we wanted our picture with Goofy!

Disney sends you all the information you need to plan your trip months before hand.  One of the things they mentioned was your state-room may not be ready when you board the ship, however you are welcome to start enjoying the pools.  We wore our bathing suits onboard so we could go straight to the pool while our state-room was being prepared for us.  The Aquaduck is an amazing enclosed slide and also our reason for choosing the Disney Dream.  Disney has different ships with different highlights, the Dream cost a little more but was very worth it.

The AquaDuck water coaster boasts a thrilling 4-deck drop and safely carries guests over the side of the ship and back.

AquaDuck is the first water coaster on a Disney Cruise Line ship—or, for that matter, any cruise ship—setting the standard for height, length and excitement.  It was our favorite thing to do together while on the Disney Dream because it was so exciting!  For a full length video of the AquaDuck in action click here.  Make sure your child is tall enough before you board, children must be at least 42 inches tall to ride with an adult or 53 inches to ride by themselves.

When choosing a state-room there are many options on the Disney Dream.  The options range from a standard inside room to Royal family suite with concierge.  Because my child was 7 at the time we set sail my husband did not feel comfortable with us having a room with a verandah.  We decided upon the Deluxe Family Oceanview Stateroom, and we were very overjoyed when we saw our stateroom.  The room was larger than we thought it would be, we had more than enough room for everything and everyone.  Disney thought of things you will need that you have never thought of before!

The split bath allows for multiple people to use the facilities at the same time. The full bathroom includes a vanity, sink and full tub/shower, while the half bath has a vanity, sink and toilet. Both luxurious and practical, most of the staterooms have round tubs with a built-in seat, a rain-style shower and a hand-held showerhead—perfect for bathing children.

This is part one of our series on the Disney Cruise Line, the items touched upon in this article are reasons for choosing the Disney Dream and your state-room.  Next we will discuss the food options not just for children but the delicious meals for adults.  We will also go into detail the adults only areas on the ship including the spa which we were lucky enough to have a few treatments in.  The last and most important in our series will be about the on-board entertainment and the kids club that my child never wanted to leave.