3-Night Bahamian Disney Cruise Line Report – Part 4
Picking up after our experience at Castaway Cay in Part 3 of our Disney Cruise Line report, we headed to the Walt Disney Theatre on the Disney Dream for a showing of “Disney’s Believe.” This was my favorite piece of entertainment on our cruise.
For those who haven’t seen it, Disney’s Believe a father-daughter story in which workaholic Dr. Greenaway struggles with a work-life balance, and dismisses his daughter’s belief in magic as folly while he pursues scientific endeavors. The show is primarily about his journey in learning to believe, which is facilitated via characters from Mary Poppins, Peter Pan, Pocahontas, and other characters.
The outcome is predictable, but it’s the journey that’s compelling. In a story that will likely tug at the heartstrings of parents for whom the story hits close to home, those who are grappling with their kids growing up, and adult Disney fans for whom the story resonates in different ways, it’s emotionally wrought and in some ways introspective.
Disney’s Believe is not perfect, but it wades into waters that are deeper than you’d normally find in a Disney production of this nature. It’s not philosophical, controversial, or anything remotely like that…but it tugs at your heart in a different way, if that makes any sense.
The songs help keep things light, while still supporting the story arc. Beyond that, it’s incredibly well-done, with high production value, excellent choreography, a strong music selection, and some truly impressive special effects. (Disney calls it award-winning, and my guess is that those are technical awards as there are some really cool moments in the show.) All in all, I really enjoyed it, and would definitely watch it again.
Now, I could see how some people might not react quite as positively to Disney’s Believe. If you watched Golden Mickey’s, Villains Tonight, and then this on 3 consecutive nights, you might have “montage song fatigue.” All of these shows are similarly structured with loose narratives that are glorified MacGuffins to progress the show to the next musical number. It becomes a bit redundant.
However, Disney’s Believe is by far the best of these three and montage song fatigue soon won’t be nearly as much of an issue since a Beauty and the Beast musical (which, presumably, will not utilize the same structure) will be wedged in between the two. I think that will make a huge difference in perception, and lead to guests enjoying Disney’s Believe much more…even though the show itself won’t change.
Following the show, we headed to the room a bit to unwind before I opted to head back up to the atrium to watch the ‘See Ya Real Soon’ show. I was a few minutes late to this and only caught the final minute, which then transitioned to an ‘impromptu’ meet and greet.
At this point, I headed back to our stateroom. It seemed like a waste at the time, but it turned out to be a valuable use of 5 minutes.
Our final dinner was at Royal Palace, which is themed to Disney princesses. The atmosphere definitely felt regal, but after seeing the new Tiana’s Place on the Disney Wonder (and even Be Our Guest at Walt Disney World), I wish they’d just focus on a single princess and do a themed environment to that film really well.
That’s personal preference, of course, and I know having an array of princesses represented is likely to placate more kids, but recreating a specific environment from a film is more immersive, and will wow some children, rather than placating all of them.
In any case, wow was this meal incredible. By far my favorite dinner and all of these dinners were really good. The duck confit, lamb, and escargot were all particular standouts for me, but it was all good. I’ll do a full review in a separate post, but here are some photos of what we had:
I’d say this was the closest we had to a Signature (by Walt Disney World standards) dining experience on the Disney Dream. The food was better than many Signature meals we’ve had, but not quite as inventive.
Still, I’d take this meal over many/most we’ve had at Walt Disney World Signatures. It was that good (and ordering multiple appetizers and entrees certainly helped!).
To me, this is really saying something given that a Signature meal at Walt Disney World would’ve cost roughly the same amount per person as what we paid for that day of the cruise. (Granted, we got a steep discount on the cruise.)
Going into it, I was a little worried we’d regret not doing Remy (which we’ve never done), but the goal was to keep costs down. After 3 exceptional dining experiences, I had no regrets. I’m sure Remy would’ve been amazing, but the meals we had were great. Perhaps next time for Remy…
After dinner, we headed to the atrium to watch the live musicians; after a bit of this, there was an announcement that ‘See Ya Real Soon’ would be starting soon. It then dawned on me that this show was probably an excuse for the ‘impromptu’ meet and greet.
I wondered/guessed that it would play out the same way, right down to where the various characters would go afterwards. So, we moved to where I recollected Mickey meeting with by the Admiral Donald figure, and after the show, we were the first guests in line for a photo with Captain Mickey Mouse.
After that, we immediately headed around the corner for Goofy. Mickey was clearly the most popular choice, with his line extending out of the atrium, and not every guest getting to meet him before his set ended. I don’t know if this always happens, but it seems like a fairly safe bet that wherever the characters meet during the first ‘See Ya Real Soon’ on your cruise is where they’ll meet during the second one. So, if you want a chance to meet characters without incredibly long lines (as the on-ship meet & greets did during our cruise), I’d recommend this strategy. On Page 2, we’ll share thoughts on cruising with Disney as adults as well as thoughts on Disney Cruise Line v. Walt Disney World (and more).
We love disney cruises!!!! Honestly they are the best vacations we’ve ever been on. We also go to WDW a lot too but the cruise is the ultimate vacation there is soon much to do which I love because I am not a sit down vacation person I am non stop. The kids get to do what they love and we get adult time and then we get family time everybody wins. The service is unbelievable. I reccommend disney cruises to anyone who will listen. I would not spend money to go anywhere else on vacation instead of a disney cruise well maybe WDW to switch it up. As for adult only its great we went on a disney cruise for our honeymoon then went to mexico to a resort after as a part 2 and the whole time we were sad because it didn’t even compare to the disney cruise. LOVE LOVE LOVE the cruises! and I love that you are now doing reviews they are awesome to read.
We tend to cruise more often than visiting the parks the parks these days.
The reasons for this have been:
1. Better service – I find that going from WDW to DCL notes a marked transition in quality of guest service. DCL wins hands down. On longer cruises the service becomes very personal and familiar. You get to know and form relationships with the CMs. I feel that WDW used to be at the same standard as DCL but over the years that has deteriorated.
2. When sailing to Europe, DCL is your Disney Hotel whilst Europe is your theme park. That way it’s almost like taking the Disney ‘magic’ with you into every port and everything you do.
3. Reduced crowds. The ship can only hold so many passengers.
4. Seeing places I’d never visit on my own – such as Iceland.
Thank you, Tom, for your insightful input on this. My husband and I are getting ready to be empty nesters and going on a Disney Cruise is on our bucket list. You just reassured us that it will be a blast as an adults only cruise. Thank you for all of your posts and photos. Truly amazing! (Thank Sarah as well! I currently have her Mickey Easter as my phone wallpaper & love it! Miss those special holiday parades that Disney use to do!)
I have never been interested in cruising, but I do think I would like to try a Disney Cruise one day. It would need to be a good last minute deal though! As always, thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences.
We are considering an adults only cruise next summer so this was a helpful read. We do have three kids and love the parks and Disney, but need a trip on our own.
Great trip report as usual Tom! Been awhile since I did my first and only cruise (3day on Disney Wonder). I was trying to decide if I wanted to plan for another cruise and this makes me want to take another Disney cruise (sooner than later). Thanks and I would love to see the WDW vs DCL comparison.
As always, Tom, you bring up some excellent points. At one point you mention how DCL reminds you of WDW of 20 or so years ago. DCL reminds me of other cruise lines 20 or so years ago: the attention to detail, the maintenance, the staff-to-guest ratio. In the past 5 years, I’ve been on cruises on Pricess, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Celebrity, and Disney. DCL was, hands down, the best cruise of the bunch mainly due to the little things. It was also, hands down, the most expensive of the cruises. And it was most expensive by a wide margin. We considered DCL for our Alaska trip, but it was hard to justify $1200+ per person more for a newer ship on another line with an identical itinerary. So, I cringed on the Alaska voyage when we returned to the cabin after 3 hours and our attendant had yet to make up our stateroom. I disliked when the waiter never remembered my name or drink order. I would have preferred excellent entertainment and first-run movies. But did I want to spend an extra $3600 for that? No. We are going on the Dream again in a few weeks for a Castaway Cay double dip, and we are resigning ourselves to the thought that this might be the best cruise we ever go on, but it might also be the last DCL cruise we can justify. At least for a decade or so.
I’m so happy for this report, because not only I’m actually planing to take a cruise in september with my 5 year old (shh still a secret), I was part of the opeaning time of the Dream and oh boy, I miss “my” ship.
Your pictures are amazing! I know you didn’t get the perfect light but the details are just glorious!
I agree with you when you say that parks and cruises are complementary, I was once a cast member as well and have felling that they are like ice cream and hot fudge, just perfect together! 🙂
Thanks for the article! I’m a “I want to be exhausted after vacation so going back to work will feel like a relief” person. If you don’t go 6AM to midnight, did you even have fun? My husband is a “it’s vacation, let’s sleep in and relax” person.
We’ve been talking a lot about a Disney cruise since Disney is my thing and a cruise pretty much forces you to relax. It might be a good compromise for us. I think you might have sold me on it.
My husband jokes that for WDW the app is called “My Disney Experience” and not “My Disney Vacation” for a reason. WDW ISN’T a vacation; it’s hard work!
Curious for your opinion (or anyone elses)… my fiancé and I are thinking of going to Disneyland for the first time for ~2 1/2 days then to Aulani for about a week for our honeymoon. Having been to both recently, do you think that combination or a Disney Cruise would be better suited for a honeymoon? Thanks in advance!
Greetings from NY! Loved this trip report! It helped me relive my wonderful experience on the Dream in November. We didn’t have any problems with obnoxious kids… there were just as many kids on my non-Disney cruises. I would love to do a longer Disney cruise, but just can’t justify for the price right now. That being said, how far in advance did you book to get such an amazing deal? And I think you mentioned you booked directly on the DCL site? thank you!! looking forward to the new WDW trip report!
I never get all this anti-child phobia. it’s grown-ups who are intolerable! Really folks, if you don’t appreciate kids, you’re part of the problem. Certainly a screaming child can shatter your concentration as you move forkfuls of fine cuisine toward your sophisticated mouth but for me getting stuck in the constant crossfire of insipid conversations that manifest the squandered potential of the human brain, that greatest accomplishment of the living universe, is what grinds me down on a Disney trip,… Let kids be goofy and spontaneous and just lighten up!
Great read, thanks Tom! I’ve been on the Disney Wonder from San Diego to Vancouver, which was fantastic. I can’t wait for the Disney Dream Christmas Cruise in December!
Try Remy brunch… just $30, includes a glass of champagne, and 1 of the best meals I ever had.
I’ve done Remy dinner, it’s a fantastic experience. But it’s a bit too much… too much food, too long (3 hours easily), and a bit too expensive (though it would easily be a $125-150 per person meal in NY).
Tom, loved the report. It helped me rememberand relive the Disney cruises my family and I have enjoyed in the past. BTW, love the photos you posted. I wish I was as talented taking photos as you are. Keep up the GREAT work !!
When we cruised back in September on the Fantasy they did have Mickey Bars on the kids menus for dinner. Also, I have ordered off the kids menu and my kids have ordered off the adult menu on both the cruises we’ve done Dream & Fantasy. We love the parks but find the cruises to be such an enjoyable, relaxing family time that I can see us doing more of them and less of the parks. We don’t end up having as many meltdowns or family disagreements on the ships, because everyone is more relaxed and can do as much or as little as they want.
Usually when I read this blog it is to help decide if I want to experience something, having cruised twice on the Dream in the last 18 I read this TR to compare my experiences with your own.
On Nassau – our first cruise we didn’t leave the ship. My wife had been there before and during my time in the USN I visited enough places that I didn’t feel the need to see Nassau. The second time we visited Atlantis and enjoyed it but acknowledge the value for the price on it is not great.
On the ships crew – put simply they are incredible. Aside from watching the crew at work during my very early morning solo walking tour of the ship while taking tons of photos I watched random cast members interacting with passengers and engaged a few in conversation myself. Everyone I’ve encountered is totally committed to doing their jobs.
On price and comparison to a WDW trip. I find DCL to have a lot more value for your money, both times we’ve cruised we selected the cheapest cruise available well in advance and combined it with a couple of days at WDW. 1st cruise was a Halloween, the second a Christmas. Both times I felt I got a better value on what the cruise cost them what the WDW portion of the trip cost.
On kids on board – unless one has a phobia of kids and can’t bare to see them it shouldn’t be a issue. While I have seen some kids acting out during dinner the waitstaff always seemed ready to entertain them and any disturbance was minimal.
On photography – as a novice photographer I find the Dream fairly easy to photograph, it is just so picturesque that it is almost hard to take a bad photo on board. With that said I look forward to seeing your work and will start stalking your instagram.
You mentioned additional posts about DCL and I look forward to them.
Your mention of the child phobia immediately brought to mind one of the plot lines from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I suppose if you are the type to faint at the sight of children, a la Baroness Bomburst, you should probably cross any Disney experience off your list. 😉
I think there’s a lot more to this topic, and perhaps it would be better suited to a ‘Walt Disney World v. Disney Cruise Line’ quasi-versus article … Yes please.
I second the Remy recommendation. It’s incredible. Food, dining experience & unparalleled service!
I HIGHLY recommend Remy. Yes, it is expensive, but we were blown away by the quality of the food and the great service. Funny story: about halfway through dinner, I needed to use the restroom, so I asked our waiter where it was. He said that he would escort me, and he led me there arm in arm. I am not used to that level of attentiveness. When we were getting close to the restroom, I asked (jokingly), “Uh…you aren’t going in there with me, are you?” He replied (shocked-I don’t think he realized I was joking), “Of COURSE not, Madam”!