Get a load of the eye-popping features on the new Disney Dream cruise ship that you can read about in our colleague Janet Keeler's review. Sure, Disney has always had a go big or go home way of doing things, but this  cruise ship seems to take that to a new level. She writes:

This is the genius that Disney has wrought. A 4,000-passenger cruise ship that has the corporate touches you would expect — Mickey Mouse woven into carpets and upholstery — combined with sophisticated subtlety that is welcome and a little surprising.

The Disney Dream brings to three the ships in the cruise line's fleet, including Disney Magic (1998) and Disney Wonder (1999). The Dream's sister ship, Disney Fantasy, will debut in 2012 and will also call Port Canaveral its home. The Wonder is based in Los Angeles, and the Magic heads to Europe this summer. The Dream holds considerably more passengers than the older ships, which each carry 2,400.

 Janet took a two-day cruise for media and travel industry folk, so she admits it might not reflect reality when a lot more people, especiallt tons of children, will be crowding the decks. Still, she rules it "is boffo for anyone traveling with children, especially those younger than 13. Depending on how willing your teens are to jump into activities, they'll have a good time, too. It's an excellent ship for multigenerational groups."

For adults who aren't traveling with children, the Dream loses a little appeal unless they are dedicated Disneyphiles. After all, there's no gambling. But there are adult's-only areas.

But the features are many:

A teen club with their own lounge, a tween club with lots of gaming and three pools, a club for ages 3 to 10 with games, science experiments, crafts and a rack of princess gowns awaits someone's imagination. Get a kick out innovative "magic portholes" in the inside cabins give the appearance of a view from the least desirable but most affordable staterooms on the ship. Cameras on the exterior of the ship provide a live feed to each porthole. Much of the time the view would be the vast flat seas (you hope), so occasionally an animated feature such as the starfish from Finding Nemo or the flying balloon house from Up passes by. This clever feature connects the inside cabins with the outside world and alleviates the claustrophobic, tin-can feeling some passengers complain about.

Take a look at some of what Janet saw in this photo gallery.

--Sharon Kennedy Wynne

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