We were up early, because we were on the way to our short 4 day cruise. 

 

So after taking showers we got into our sail away clothes and headed over to the Grand Floridian Café for breakfast. I had made an ADR and we were within the first people for breakfast there. We were seated at a small table at the window and the server left us with a menu to study. When she returned with some coffee and hot tea we placed our order and were told it would just be a few minutes. 

But before our food was delivered we were served some 

 

 

 

 

 

warm biscuits, butter and marmalade. We both had one and they were absolutely delicious, warm and soft. Didn’t take long for our breakfast to be served and soon Tom was tucking into 

 

 

 

The Floridian Breakfast two fried eggs, whole wheat toast, bacon and cheesy hash brown casserole, while I was looking forward to the 

 

 

 

French Toast, brioche French toast with Madagascar vanilla bean-butter, and bacon. Both were so good, I really loved the French Toast and it was just what I needed to start our cruise day. 

Bill paid we strolled back to our room, checked everywhere for forgotten items, enjoyed the balcony and view for a few more minutes and finally at around 10am we called bell services for help with our luggage. 

Within 10 minutes the same cast member who had brought us to our room was there to help us move our stuff back to our car. We loaded everything on his cart, then he drove us over to self-parking and he even helped with loading the car. We now had one more piece of luggage as we still had our Owner’s Locker Box to bring along. So some of our luggage had to go in the back seat, but we did not mind too much, as we were only driving to Port Canaveral. 

 

When we first hit the highway there was pretty heavy traffic, but once we had left the airport behind us it was pretty smooth sailing 

 

 

 

and within an hour we caught sight of the Dream for the first time. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And soon we had made it to the ship and drove to the drop off for the luggage. Now, while everyone was told to just turn left, we were directed straight on. It took a while until someone came to take our luggage, but finally we had handed it over and were on our way to parking. I had not pre-paid for parking, so we went in the cash lane, just to find out that they did not service that lane and we had to drive around to the credit card lane. There was an employee who took our cash and off we went. 

We found a parking spot close to the bridge that connects the parking structure with the terminal and we loaded all the extra items, which we did not want to bring along into the boot, then headed down to the bridge, signed in and had our passports checked and walked over to security. There was quite the line but it moved constantly and we soon were able to have our luggage scanned and go through the metal detector. And then we were in the terminal, where we were greeted by the DVC rep and handed some lanyards. 

Then it was time to fill in the health form and with that in hand we headed towards the Concierge desk, where Platinum Castaway Club members are supposed to check in. But no, there was an employee who would not let us go past her and we had to join the regular line which was pretty long. I was not a happy bunny, but she told us that we would be told where to go a bit further up. A bit further up we were told to stay in that line, it was the only one we could check in and I was dead wrong to think that we were to check in at the concierge desk. 

So we stayed in line and waited for quite some time until we finally got to an agent to check us in. There I asked when they had changed the platinum check in and her answer was, 

“Well, my desk should be good enough for you to check in.” 

I had to bite my tongue not to give her a good answer, but I then started being a bit slow. 

Yes, a little bit of revenge. 

 

Once we were all done I asked for lanyards and she told us that she didn’t have any platinum there, she could give us gold ones or we could pick them up at the Concierge desk. Well, if your desk is good enough for me to check in here, I am picking up the correct lanyard here too. 

So she had to go backstage to pick up a handful of platinum lanyards. Since Platinum Castaway Club members can board whenever they want, we headed to the entrance which was completely blocked by all the waiting guests, but we somehow managed to get through and have our cards checked. 

We then skipped the photo op and headed towards the ship. And finally we heard our names announced and were back home on the Dream. 

By that time we were ready to have lunch and headed right to the Enchanted Garden, where they now serve a table service lunch, no more buffet. We went to sign in and were told that it would be a few minutes, but within 2 minutes we were seated in one of the round booths. 

 

 

 

Funnily enough as we later found out the booth just next to us was occupied by another family from Austria. There was an assistant server right there to take our drinks order and ask about our other cruises and handed us the menu, explaining that they no longer offered a buffet, but had a fixed menu. We thanked him, ordered our Diet Cokes and off he went. I had looked at the menus at home and was pretty sure what I wanted to try. But it never hurts to give it a second look and once the server came by we placed our orders. And while we waited for our starters to be brought out we indulged in the nice 

 

 

 

 

 

fresh rolls and butter that had been placed on our table. 

We didn’t get to eat much bread as our starters were delivered quickly. Tom had ordered the 

 

 

 

Seafood and Chicken Gumbo with Cornbread, which looked a lot like Tomato Soup to me, but Tom enjoyed it a lot. I had thought to start off with something lighter, well, that was until I saw the size of the plate. I had ordered the 

 

 

 

Mixed Salad, with Iceberg, Spinach, Cherry Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Red Onions and Carrots with Italian Vinaigrette. It was a huge serving and I was only able to eat about half of it. For his main course Tom had ordered the 

 

 

 

Muffuletta Sandwich, Olive Salad, Genoa Salami, Mortadella and Provolone Cheese on Muffuletta Bread, served with a side of Chips. It was a decent size and looked really nice and he was very happy with it. I had thought about ordering the pasta dish, but then decided against it and ordered the 

 

 

 

Sliced Roasted Beef Sirloin, served with Double Baked Potato, Green Beans and a Thyme Red Wine Jus. Again, I was shocked by the portion size as it was huge again. It was very good, but it was hard even making a dent into it. There was way too much food for me on that plate. I ate as much as I could, but we had ordered dessert as well and I needed to leave room for that. Tom had ordered the 

 

 

 

Welcome Aboard Sunday, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with Pecan Caramel Cupcake Bites, Butterscotch Sauce and Whipped Cream. It looked really yummy when they brought it out and he loved it. When I had first read the menu I was sure what I wanted for dessert, the 

 

  

 

Carrot Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese. And it was the perfect size and absolutely delicious. Once we had finished our meal, we tipped our servers and then made our way over to the Royal Palace to check if our request for a table for two had been granted and it had. Score! It’s not that we don’t like company for dinner, but with English not being our first language, it can be tricky. And when we left the Royal Palace staterooms had already been opened and we were able to check it out. We had been in that stateroom several times before, so we knew what to expect and felt right at home. 

 

 

And after inspecting it all we made ourselves right at home. A little time later the first two of our suitcases had arrived and we took them inside, but there was no time to unpack as we wanted to go to the DVC presentation. 

 

 

So we headed down to the D-Lounge, picked up a drink and found a table.