7:02am was the first time I woke up, I can’t remember the last time that happened. It’s either the bed, the movement of the ship or a combination but it was a very good night of sleep. I decided to get out of bed and on the verandah trying not to wake my princesses, mission accomplished! We were still at sea, however I could already see the coastline from the Bahamas!

On the verandah I called room service with the wave phone to order strawberries, Croissants, whole milk and tea. Since the phone only worked with the verandah door open Danielle woke up from my voice…not the worst thing to wake up to I hope? 

Soon after Danielle took a shower, great overhead rain shower with a lot of water! Who could imagine that on a boat at sea! Emily woke up too and I took a shower, it’s a really nice shower! After we ate something we went downstairs for a picture with first Minnie Mouse dressed up as princess and then Princess Sofia the First! Can you imagine how excited Emily was, as soon ass she saw her a high five, a kiss, a couple hugs and she was allowed to sit on Sofia’s dress! A Dream came through (if toddlers Dream that is)! 

We went back to our room before we left the ship at Nassau, the capital of Bahamas. We walked around the first couple streets and found some souvenirs, a bag for mama which included a free photo frame and Starbucks mug for our collection. Furthermore there was not much to do with a little one and we decided to go back to the Disney Dream. 

On board the first stop was our room to prepare ourselves for some water fun at Nemo’s Reef! Both Danielle and I were a bit anxious and thought Emily would never like it… Oh were we wrong, after a couple minutes she discovered the water slide and if i needed to guess over 15 times in a row. After a while we decided to leave for a light lunch from Flo’s Cafe and some soft serve ice-cream from “Eye scream”, Emily loved it and after eating it she was sticky all over. 

As preparation for the afternoon we went back to our room and got emily dressed for her first ever alone time at the on-board nursery It’s a Small World. We enjoyed it as well with visits to the adults only (18+) areas of the ship and a cocktail. 

There were some text message from the nursery that Emily was a bit upset but apparently she was just very tired. 

After a while I decided to jump into a tube and went on the AquaDuck which is a combination between a coaster and a waterslide, awesome experience. 

A little while later I joined at the adults only area for some time in a pool and a game of mini golf, after I lost the game we went back to our room to get ready for dinner. 

We were supposed to pickup Emily at the nursery at 5:30pm but we hoped to get her a bit earlier, unfortunately she was still a sleep. And so we went for character pictures with just the 2 of us! 

At 5:30 we went back to check if Emily was still a sleep. But a couple minutes later she woke up, right in time for dinner. Emily got fish nuggets with steak frites and a white chocolate cheesecake as dessert. Danielle got fried Brie as starter, oven roasted salmon as main. I picked the Brie and lobster with shrimps as starter and the filet steak as mai. For dessert Danielle went with both the signature chocolate sponge cake and the grand marnier soufflé and I went with the Apple tartin. 
After dinner we met with Donald Duck and did some shopping before it was time to get our little star to bed. We entered the room and found another towel animal, this time it was an elephant. First a room service order with warm whole milk, a cheese platter and cookies for us. 

Now Emily is sleeping and we are sitting on the verandah with a very bright moon shining on us. Another amazing day has come to an end! 

Rise and shine ladies! I was awake since 5:30, I think it was from excitement but I’m not sure. Today is the day we waited for, a lot of new things going to happen as this is embarkation day! First stop was the Starbucks in the terminal for some drink, croissant and to change some 20$ bills into 1$ bills for the tips on board. 

At 8:30am we all ready to go and we left our three suitcases with the cruise line bag tag in the hotel room while we left with just 2 bags and a stroller. 9:00am sharp we were inline for the bus to the terminal in Port Canaveral.

In the bus we chattted with a family going on the Disney Dream with Make-a-Wish, one of the most special organizations for sick kids. The family was never on a plane, never so far south in their own country. And on top of that they did not know what to expect at all…I had goosebumps all over me the entire ride. 

At the terminal we expected craziness but we were really early and there were no lines. Robert checked us in and everything went smooth. We got boarding group 3 which is so much as almost right after they start boarding. 

When we walked away from the check in desk we walked in a photographer which told us to wait a couple minutes. And there Mickey came towards us. Emily went from sitting on my arm and looking all over to jumping up and down and screaming “Kickey” all through the terminal. And was she lucky she was the first one to get a picture with him, give him a high five, cuddle him and give him a kiss on his nose! 

After another 40 minutes of exploring the terminal and Emily pointing out every single Mickey shaped figure on walls, clothing, floors, windows, etc. It was time to board the Dream! “We welcome the Rotmensen Family and Princess Sofia” as Emily walked in with her doll in her hands smiling because all these people were clapping just for her…(and a couple 100 others).

On board the first stop was Cabanas for lunch. It’s a buffet and the food was DELICIOUS! I don’t know what I ate but Emily stole all of my fried rice, ate French fries, chicken tenders and more. 

After lunch we started to walk around the ship and it’s huge. We already checked out the It’s a small world nursery, most kids cry when they are brought there Emily cried when we left… but the hula hoops in the kids club made up for it, 

After playing for a while our room was ready. It was more spacious as we had imagined for a room on a ship. For the interested people this is room 9610 on the Disney Dream. 

Since our suitcases and the ordered crib were not in the room yet Emily slept on the “our bed”. She slept for 2 hours and we left right after for the mandatory safety drill. Don’t worry it’s quite simple if something goes wrong get your life vests go to your lifeboat, L from Lilo. Get in and your safe. 

Time for the sail away party. Deck 11 and 12 were crowded but we found a nice spot near the railing on the starboard side where we could wave at the people and the port webcam. Maybe people have spotted us on the deck? (Thanks Carla!)

An hour in the sun was abit warm and thus we decided to start explore more of the ship. First thing was floor number 4 where we met Goofy! 

Emily was happy and the next stop was the Emchanted Garden a restaurant. There are 5 restaurants on board from which 3 are assigned in a rotation schedulefor dinner. Our schedule is Enchanted Garden, Royal Palace, Royal Palace and Animator’s Palate. 

Delicious! Danielle had a cucumber roll as starter, the sea bass as main and a chocolate tart. Emily had oven baked salmon with rice and Mickey ice cream bar. And I went with ahi tuna with advocado as starter, sea scallops with couscous (actually Emily ate all of the couscous) and as dessert a orange yoghurt cheesecake. We also ordered the classic wine package which means one bottle of wine to share every night! 

After dinner we explored the shops and the rest of the ship, Emily got a Captain Mickey Mouse plush which she showed to everyone we met telling it was “Kickey”. 

Around 8:00pm we got back in our room, and that’s where we received the first surprise in our room, a crab as towel art. 

We also ordered warm whole milk through room service and at 8:45 Emily went to bed. It was not so easy to put her to bed better as the night we arrived. We enjoyed the verandah together before we went to bed for our first night of sleep on board of a ship.