Let’s get the negativity out of the way upfront: if you are cruising from Port Everglades, DO NOT choose the Miami International Airport Hotel for your pre-cruise stay. We’ve concluded it’s the second-worst hotel we’ve ever stayed in. Unfortunately, we didn’t even take any pictures, but take our word for it.

On the upside, cruising from Fort Lauderdale provides you with two options for major airports to fly into – Miami (MIA) and Fort Lauderdale (FLL) – and Disney Cruise Line offers transfers from both. We opted for the DCL transfers because it is most convenient for our travel party. From MIA, the transfers were $35 per person one-way or $70 per person round trip.

Apparently, not many people were signed up to use the DCL buses from MIA, so they told us they only had one bus that would be leaving around 11:00AM from outside Baggage Claim 26.

If you’re taking DCL transfers to Port Everglades from the MIA airport, check-in happens at Baggage Claim 26

— The DCL Dude Podcast (@theDCLdude) December 28, 2023

The ride to the port was about 45 minutes with a few spots of heavier traffic here and there. Our Port Arrival Time was 12:00-12:15 and we ended up arriving closer to the end of that window.

The terminal at Fort Lauderdale is much like the one at Port Canaveral. The arrival was as smooth as can be and it was very easy to navigate. Inside, you can tell that it’s a DCL terminal – particularly because of the Finding Nemo theme – and not a generic terminal used by multiple cruise lines.

Shortly after entering the terminal, a cast member called us over and we provided the QR code from our completed online checkin-in. She asked if we would be using DisneyBands and she helped us to connect our bands to the ship right there.

If you plan to use the DisneyBand+ or the MagicBand+ (I still don’t get why we have to call them different things), first make sure that they are linked to your Disney Cruise account. Then, once at the terminal, you will need to connect the bands to the ship you are cruising on. This will need to be done for each cruise that you take. If you don’t link your band at the first check-in, there is a not-so-easily-identifiable stand in the back left corner of the terminal with a cast member who can help you.

Unfortunately, by the time we entered the terminal, our boarding group had already been called, so we didn’t spend much time inside. We were anxious to get on the ship. Some have asked me if there is an outdoor viewing platform like the one at Port Canaveral, but I do not know the answer to that.

As were were on the gangway, I could see that they were unloading the Christmas decorations. Part of me was hoping they would have stayed up for this cruise, but no such luck.

We once again requested that one of the cast members welcoming people onboard take a video of our entrance. To my surprise, there seemed to be some confusion this time and the videographer missed part of the announcement.

Even as an experienced cruiser, I feel like it takes a few moments once you step onboard to get your bearings and figure out what you want to do next. If you’re like me, a million thoughts immediately start running through your head.

Thankfully, Captain Mickey was greeting guests up on deck 4, so that seemed like a logical plan. There was virtually no line and we were able to check off one of our must-dos within 10 minutes of being onboard!

Next up was Cabanas, which is always in the top-3 things that we do first once onboard. Normally, we like to sit on the back deck, but it was raining pretty heavily, so we found a seat inside. It was here my kids declared that vacation rules were now in effect, which basically means all-you-can eat soda and ice cream.

After lunch, it was off to the open house in the kids clubs. The clubs on the Dream have never really impressed me that much, and my kids initially felt the same way. William initially declared that he would not be back, but he later discovered that he enjoyed (read: was obsessed with) the Disney Infinity room. Ironically, Doug McKnight (from the Rope Drop Radio and Rope Drop: On Deck podcasts) and I had exchanged texts on the first day about how outdated we thought this space was.

The kids rounded out the visit with a game of hide-and-seek with Jessie.

For this cruise, we booked a Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah (Category 5B) located midship on the starboard side of deck 7. We enjoyed the room and location and my parents had the connecting stateroom next door, which meant we were able to open the partition between our two verandahs. The only downside to these two rooms was a small strip of the ship’s whitewall that obstructed a bit of the view between our two verandahs. Not all rooms have this – it was just unlucky.

We met up with my parents in the D Lounge for an animation class where we learned how to draw Mickey. The drawing class was immediately followed by Knowsmore Disney Movie Trivia. We didn’t score very well.

Next up was everybody’s favorite pre-departure activity – the muster drill. Our muster station was inside the Buena Vista theater, which was a slightly easier selling point for the kids.

After an uneventful muster drill, it was up on deck for the sail away party. It seemed like we were set to miss our third straight sail away party due to rain, but the weather cleared and it turned out to be a pretty nice evening. Normally, we like to watch the characters perform, hear the ship’s horn, and then head to the bow for the sail away, but we departed too late, so we opted to head to the room, unpack our luggage, and get ready for dinner at Enchanted Garden. I started out strong taking pictures of all the menus and the food we ordered, but by the second night I had already forgotten. Maybe someday I’ll be a real blogger.

When dinner was over, it was time for my favorite onboard activity – shopping! There wasn’t really anything this time that I had to have, but it’s still really fun to browse. Here’s a look at some of the 2024 merchandise that was offered.

The Golden Mickey’s were originally scheduled for this night, but were moved to Saturday night, instead. This worked out well, actually, because the kids were pretty tired and headed to bed.

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