Halloween on the High Seas: Disney Dream

Disney Cruise Line is one of the best services that Disney provides, or really, the best! The service is phenomenal. On a long ‘layover’ between England and Turks and Caicos, we went on a 5 night Carribean cruise, with a special guest… my mom! After not seeing her since April, I was ecstatic that she was joining us!

Trip: October 2022

Ship: Disney Dream

Itinerary

Day 1: Depart Miami

Day 2: Day at Sea

Day 3: Grand Cayman

Day 4: Day at Sea

Day 5: Castaway Cay

Day 6: Disembark in Miami

This cruise wasn’t just any ‘ordinary’ Disney cruise… it was a Halloween On The High Seas cruise! We have been on 2 Halloween cruises and one Christmas Disney cruise, and they are fabulous!

Book your fall vacation now! Click HERE.

Immediately boarding the ship, we were sent to our muster stations, which is a requirement for all guests. We didn’t necessarily like this process, but it was convenient to go ahead and get it out of the way. Next on the agenda- food!

Lunch at Cabanas

It is a tradition for Greg and I to always eat lunch at the buffet (Cabanas) as soon as we board the ship. This time, we were tempted by one of the servers and each ordered a beverage package. It’s actually a pretty good deal, considering cruise prices. $80 for 12 beers, which also comes with a cooler, and $60 for my 12 seltzers. Mine was cheaper since we already had the cooler. The drinks were delivered to our room that evening.

Disney doesn’t offer an unlimited beverage package like some other cruise lines, but they do allow you to bring on 2 bottles of wine or 6 beers per person, which is pretty great. Between that, restocking at Grand Cayman, and the cooler, we were set!

Tip: Make sure to pack the beer/wine in your carry-on!

I absolutely love this mosaic wall in Cabanas!

Adult-Only Areas

Many people don’t believe that Disney cruises aren’t overrun with kiddos. Well, I’m here to tell you otherwise. We love the adult areas on the Disney ships! Not only is there the main adult-only pool, there is also Satellite Falls on the upper deck of the adult area. These areas are serene and so relaxing.

Tip: Make sure to pack your swimsuit and sunscreen in your carry on bag!

Sailing Away Party

After listening to the cheerful Disney horns, mom and I went to the pool deck and watched the sailing away party. This is a must-do for a first timer! It is a great opportunity to see all of the characters in their sailing outfits.

Halloween on the High Seas

One of my favorite things about Disney’s Halloween cruises is all of the awesome decorations! The pumpkin tree in the atrium is amazing and I absolutely love the unique jack-o-lantern faces on the port holes. Did you know that each ship has its’ own tree and its’ own face? The Dream’s tree is named Grim.

Mousequerade Party

Prior to the party, mom and I went trick or treating in Cabanas and got SO much candy. This was a fun and unexpected event! All ages are welcome to attend :)

The Mousequerade party was a Halloween event on the pool deck. This is something you should check out, even just to see all of the characters in their Halloween costumes. Chip and Dale were my favorites. Mom counted our candy. We each had over 80 pieces!!

The Golden Mickeys

Disney of course knows how to provide top notch entertainment. Their evening shows are fantastic, even though some can be a little cheesy. Gotta see them all at least once though! One of our favorites is the Golden Mickeys.

Disney Cruise Line offers their main production shows twice a cruise, both on the same night- an early show and a late show. We like seeing the early show (at 630pm I think) and having the late dinner, which is at 815.

Disney Dining

Disney Cruise Line provides a unique rotational dining experience. There are 3 main dining rooms which you rotate between. On the Dream, this includes Enchanted Garden, Animators Palate, and Royal Palace. Each night you will be assigned a restaurant and will have the same table number and server at each spot. It is nice having the server follow you to each restaurant! They get to know your names and preferences, which allows for a more personable dining experience.

Upon booking the cruise, you will choose if you want early or late dinner. We always choose late dining, which is at 815. Early dining is just too early for us, but it would likely be the better option if you have young children.

Our nightly routine always includes pre-dinner (or pre-show) pictures on the balcony. Perk of getting a balcony room!

There are 2 specialty dining restaurants, which are not included in the cost and do require reservations- Remy and Palo. If you get the chance to eat Palo brunch, do it! It is incredible.

Our favorite included restaurant is Animators Palate. We were lucky to be assigned here twice this cruise! Turtle Talk is a unique show that happens only at this restaurant. On longer cruises, there is an interactive experience where you draw a character and your drawings appear on the screen and dance. It is super cool! But on this 5-night cruise, Turtle Talk was the only show.

My favorite food this cruise was at Enchanted Garden. From the vegetable samosa and lamb knuckle to the amazing caramel signature dessert, it was all so delicious! I kept raving about it.

Fun fact: You can always order a Mickey bar at dinner. It’s not on the menu, but it is always available!

Besides the main restaurants, there are a few other free options. Cabanas (the buffet), Mater’s Grill (hot dogs/burgers/chicken tenders), Luigi’s Pizza, Eye-Scream, and Fillmore’s Favorites (salads/sandwiches/fruit). You can also sometimes find food in the pub. One night, there was a buffet of chicken wings!

From 6-7pm, most bars and lounges had happy hour drink deals, varying at location. We frequented the pub which included $4 house wine and draft beers.

Pirate Night

Disney is the only cruise line to have fireworks at sea. It’s something you have to experience! This happens on pirate night. If you forget to bring pirate attire, don’t worry, there will be pirate bandanas provided in your room. In the past, I’ve liked to bring a parrot to wear! One time, the server at dinner even gave my parrot a little bowl of “bird food.” No room in my backpack for a parrot this time though.

In the evening, there is a Pirate show on the pool deck followed by fireworks.

Other Entertainment

There is always something to do! Each night, the stateroom attendant leaves a daily activity planner in your room, which lists all activities for the following day. Greg and I always try to find some trivia, music, and maybe a mixology class. This time we also enjoyed the silent disco party and the Art of the Theme tour.

This Art of the Theme tour is free and I highly recommend! The guide pointed out things you normally wouldn’t notice. We found hidden Remys in the fabric, the wallpaper, and a glass Remy near the entrance of the restaurant. My favorite fun fact I learned was that each picture on the staircase gives you a hint on what appears on the next deck. Example: The picture of Donald Duck grilling leads you up to Cabanas. I never would have realized this without the tour.

Some more activities include free putt-putt golf, shuffleboard, the Aquaduct water slide, and a virtual detective experience.

Decor

Disney ships are full of beautiful decor and the atriums are just gorgeous! One of my favorite cruising activities is exploring the entire ship and finding all of the unique artwork. The Dream has quite a few beautiful mosaic pieces!

And just look how beautiful the ship is at night time!

Grand Cayman

This was our first port. Not all ports require tendering, but this one did. We gathered in the theater and were called in sections to board the tender boats. If you aren’t familiar with tendering, it means that the ship anchors at sea and you must take small tender boats to shore.

Beach/pool towels were available at the gangway, which was very nice!

Tendering can kind of be a pain in the butt since you can’t just walk off the boat, but what IS nice about tendering is getting a ‘free’ boat ride and seeing the ship out at sea!

We didn’t book any excursions ahead of time. Our plan was to get a taxi to a beach and that’s what we did. A taxi shuttle took us to the famous 7-Mile Beach. Our driver took us to the public access point, which was free to enter and even had a playground and bathrooms (and showers if I remember correctly). Some good perks! There was another beach option, but it cost 7 dollars each and was further away, so we went with the free, closer option.

This part of the beach had a few tents selling grilled jerk chicken and pulled pork (YUM!). We ordered one of each and had rum punch. It was just $20 for an umbrella and chairs.

Tip: For any cruise ports, make sure to bring cash for food, taxis, rentals, water sports, tipping, and souvenirs.

This was a pretty crowded spot, with the chairs being very close together. Mom and I took a walk down the beach and swam in an area that wasn’t as crowded. The water was so clear! Mom said it was “clear like bathtub water.” We spent most of our time in the water, but lounged under the umbrella when we needed shade.

I’d love to spend every day in beautiful water like this.

Money saving tip: Disney Cruise Line allows each guest to bring either 2 bottles of wine or 6 beers (12 oz cans) onboard. This applies to the initial embarking AND at each port. So before getting back onboard from Grand Cayman, we stopped at the liquor store and each brought our allowance of alcohol back onboard.

Castaway Cay

Ahh we always love it here! Castaway Cay is Disney’s private island. We get off the ship as soon as possible (normally 8am) and head straight to Serenity Bay.

There is usually a Castaway Cay 5K, but it did not happen this time.

Serenity Bay is their adult-only beach and has everything you need for a day of relaxation. Umbrellas and chairs are free, but for an additional fee, cabanas are available for rent. At the entrance to the beach is a large tiki bar, bathrooms, and an activity rental hut for bikes and floats. It even has its’ own lunch buffet!

The family beach side has many more activities and plenty of nooks to relax in. Hammocks are abundant all over the island! Lounging in a hammock on a beach is absolutely one of my favorite things to do, and at Castway, it’s paradise!

Serenity Bay is ultra relaxing! We like to spend as much time there as possible, which is why we always get off the ship asap and take the last shuttle back around 4pm.

They sadly closed Serenity Bay early, due to inclement weather (but somehow the family side was still open). After taking the shuttle back to the main beach, we had drinks on the pier and didn’t let the rain bother us. No weather can ruin our day at Castaway!