The Disney Dream was their newest ship, and so when DVC announced their Member Cruises, it was only fitting it was on her. We had a verandah suite on the 9th floor, which was perfect for getting up to the pools and such. The ship holds approximately 4,000 guests, but there were only 2,400 onboard, with only 300 kids. It was definitely a different kind of cruise.

On the Disney Dream

9/15/12—9/23/12

9/15/12—9/23/12

Waiting to board

Part of the fun of a Member Cruise is going back to your cabin and seeing what kind of goodies they have waiting for you

The signature entertainment feature of the Dream is the AquaDuck… a water coaster that takes you out over the ocean before going around the ship

There is always lots of fun things going on around the pools and on deck, especially on the beautifully sunny days that we encountered

The restaurants not only had good food, but each one had its own unique theme and magic: the beauty of the Royal Palace; the talking Crush at the Animator’s Palate; and the Enchanted Garden that changed from day to night during the meal

We didn’t eat at them, but their specialty restaurants, Palo and Remy also looked quite nice

There were specialty bars as well, like Skyline where the scene changes to one of five cities (including Chicago) every 15 minutes; and Pink, where you never quite know when you’ll see a pink elephant appear

Disney is an entertainment company that happens to cruise, and so their focus on entertainment is exceptional. We had a great Pirates in the Caribbean night party, with costumes, a show, fireworks, and we all got Mickey ears that synchronized with the show

An organized and thematic way to display all the guest pictures

Indoor fun, too!

A special Member Cruise event was a Vinylmation class, taught by Casey Jones, a Vinylmation expert designer

Of course, any Disney Cruise includes a lot of character appearances, but on this special one, we got to meet a real life character. Bill Farmer has been the voice of Goofy for over 25 years.

Although we practically closed up the ship a couple of nights, we still woke early, which gave us good shots of the sunrise and an empty ship

To round out the entertainment, we were treated to music from Disney on Broadway, such as the current Mufasa, the original Tarzan, and the original U.S. Mary Poppins. I spoke to Josh about Holly Madison and Madeline confirmed Ashley was at our Chicago Mary Poppins

Finally, as is becoming typical, we made some new lasting friends, like Milton and Jackie!