Disney Cruise

Disney Cruise

In October of 2007 our family sailed on a 3 night Disney cruise on the Disney Wonder! We traveled with our children, ages 6, 4, and 16 months. This was our first cruise. It was a short and fast faced vacation, but we of course had a fabulous time. Disney does no wrong and you can always guarantee perfection. If you have the means, choose a longer cruise such as the 7 night or at least the 4 night cruise. On the 3 night cruise we packed so much activities in and stayed up late and awakened early each day that we didn't get much relaxation. However, we still had a great time and just crashed when we got home. There are people that spend a day or more at the Disney theme parks and then go on the cruise. If you stay at a Disney resort, you can check in to the Disney ship from a desk in the resort. You can also fly in the day before and even stay at the Hilton in the Orlando airport. It looked nice. Book your cruise early. It is typical for people to make reservations a year in advance. We made our reservations directly through Disney. The website is very helpful and you can make reservations online. I ended up calling and making our reservation over the phone, because I wanted to make sure that our infant had her own seat on the airplane. It looked like the website was automatically going to place her on our laps, since she was under 2 years old. If you book through Disney, you also can have all your luggage transported to the ship. Yes! Isn't that the best. You receive luggage tags that you place on your suitcases. After checking your bags at the airport, you won't see them again until you go to your stateroom on the ship. My husband was so excited about this. I recommend buying the travel insurance for a trip this big. We were traveling at the end of hurricane season and we liked having that extra piece of mind. It did end up that while we were on our cruise that the news was reporting a tropical storm/smaller hurricane that was headed towards the Bahamas, right where we were. We never heard a peep about it until a day or two after we arrived home and the storm was hitting. The Disney cruises are very good about keeping the ship sailing and keeping people safe. Most of the time the ship will sail around bad weather or change the ports of call. I also recommend flying in at least the day before your cruise. We flew the same day as our cruise departed and it was too stressful. We worried about encountering delayed flights, catching the connecting flight, and getting on the ship before it sailed off. Our travel package included ground transfers from Orlando International Airport to the Disney Wonder. It was very easy to find the Disney welcome center and there was plenty of helpful Disney employees to get us on the right bus. The buses leave every 30 minutes from the airport. It was an hour drive to get to Port Canaveral. The buses have TVs that show a video about all you need to know to embark on the ship and about all the fun you are going to have. When the bus arrived at the port, we took the extra Disney luggage tags that we had and put them on our carry on bags and our daughters car seat. The bags were then swept away to our stateroom for us. Since we did fly the same day as cruising, we were at the tail end of passengers embarking the ship. We got to the ship at 3:30ish and the ship sailed away at about 4:30pm. Going through the security was fast and we were able to walk right up to the desk to check in. On the Disney cruise website, you are able to receive the online check in papers, so that you have all of your documentation ready and signed when you get there. Online you are also able to register your kids for the kids club, assign charging privileges, make reservations, and schedule excursions. Checking in to the cruise was painless. Make sure you have all the forms ready, along with your passports. Before we left home, I also made sure I had copies of birth certificates and marriage licenses, just in case. I also made 3 copies of our passports and drivers licenses. I kept one copy with me, one packed in my suitcase, and I left one copy at home. You never know. It's better to be safe than sorry. Upon embarkation, every person in your group received a key to the world card. This is your identification and you must keep the keys with you at all times, even the kids. The key to the world card is also the key to your stateroom and you can make charges on it. You will be asked to choose if you want children to have charging privileges on their cards. Once you are all checked in, you get to walk through the Mickey Mouse ears and board the ship. In the ramp from the port to the boat you will be stopped to take your family picture. Since we were some of the last passengers to board, there was no line. After smiling for your photo, you then enter the ship. Now what is supposed to happen is there are crew members standing there to clap for you as your family name is announced when you walk in. We missed this. I am sure it was neat. We also missed the lunch buffet that is offered until 3:00pm the day you board the ship. It was a little disappointing that there were other people on the ship that had been there a couple hours and had made the fancy ship entrance, eaten, already explored the ship, and had time for a dip in the pool. After we boarded, we went and found our stateroom. It was already being announced that all passengers had to grab their life jackets and report for the mandatory safety drill. Therefore, we grabbed our life jackets and flew to our emergency meeting spot. The safety drill is not that bad. It is well organized and goes quickly. Our kids did fine and didn't complain or get scared. Our stateroom was #8042 and it was in the middle of the ship. I would recommend getting a room in the middle of the ship, because the front and the back sway more. Our stateroom had plenty of room. Yeah, there isn't a ton of walking space, but it is fine. Our room had a queen bed (that was very comfortable) and a couch that turned into a single bed. There was also a single bunk that folded out of the wall above the couch and another single bed that folded out of the wall in front of the veranda. There was plenty of sleeping space for a family of 5. Since having our 3rd child, we find that staying in a regular hotel room is now difficult. Although, the stateroom accommodated us better than any hotel room. Each of our kids got to have their own bed. There is also a curtain in the middle of the room to pull for privacy. There is plenty of storage in the stateroom. Check out everything in the room for the all the cubbies and storage areas. The room has a split bath that I guess is something that other cruise ships don't have. It is nice and really helps out when everyone is trying to get ready at the same time. One bathroom has a shower and sink and the other has the toilet and sink. Our stateroom had a veranda or otherwise known as a balcony. Having this was great. It was cool to open the sliding glass door and step out to see the ship sailing or arriving into port. I would recommend getting a room with the veranda or at least the big porthole. It seemed the Disney ship had the most balconies on it compared to the other ships I saw in the ports. I wouldn't want an inside room where you couldn't look out. I would probably feel closed in and seasick. Before the ship sails there is a Bon Voyage party. There is lots of music and dancing and some Disney cast members dance and lead the party. There is a jumbo screen TV above the family pool that will show the party up close as well as videos. Mickey and some of the characters will come out also and confetti will be thrown in the air. The cruise ships whistle will blow it's When You Wish Upon A Star horn. For the Bon Voyage party we stood above and looked down from the 9th deck. I recommend standing on the side where you can see the boat pull away from the port. As the ship sails away, you will see the Disney port staff waving goodbye with their big white Mickey Mouse gloves. Waiting in your stateroom upon arrival is the Daily Navigator. This a newspaper listing all the activities and all the information that you need to know for the day. The next days daily navigator will be delivered the night before. The first evening we ate at Parrot Cay. I liked the atmosphere of this restaurant. My favorite thing that I ate on the entire trip was the crab dip that I ordered for an appetizer. Each night at dinner there is a kids menu with the basic foods that kids like. For example, chicken fingers, burgers, grilled cheese, Mickey pasta, and Mickey Mouse ice cream bars for dessert. When booking your trip, you will have a choice of early or late seating for dinner. Early seating is anywhere from 5:00-7:00pm and late seating is about 7:30-9:00pm. Since we had kids, we chose the early seating. We ended up with a 6:30pm seating assignment. This was perfect for us. Most families had their own table. If you are a single couple, you may have to eat at a table with another couple. People on the Disney ship do not get as dressed up for dinner as you would think. There were some people that were more formal and some people in jeans and shirts. On the last day our daily navigator indicated the dress was more formal for that evening. There were more people dressed up in dresses and suits on the last night, however it wasn't everyone. If you have a little girl, bring the Disney princess dresses with. Many of the little girls dressed in their princess costumes for dinner and to get their picture taken with the princess characters. At the Parrot Cay restaurant don't miss the music and the conga line and limbo with the servers. Through your entire cruise you get the same team of servers. They rotate with you each evening to the different assigned restaurants. The servers work hard and always try hard. If you can't decide what meal or dessert you want, they will bring you both. You can even ask for double the dessert and they will bring it. On the last night you will be given an envelope to fill out with one large tip for each of your servers and stateroom steward. Tip the recommended amount. Take time to fill out the satisfaction survey that they keep reminding you of on the last night. If the employees don't get high marks, then they won't be able to keep their job. The ship is kept extremely clean. Along with the constant crew members cleaning, you will find hand washing stations at the entrance to every restaurant and by every food service counter. The second night we ate at Triton's. The atmosphere was a little more formal. My husband and I liked this restaurant the best. The second evening was also pirate night. Everyone on the ship that night got pirate scarfs at dinner. Most people tied it on their head or bodies in different ways. Our kids bought pirate hats and pirate Mickey ears in the gift shop. There were quite a few kids and adults that dressed up in pirate costumes that they bought from home. That evening about 10:00pm there was a pirate party on the top deck of the ship. We stood in the same spot for the pirate party as we did for the Bon Voyage. There was dancing, music, and pirates. Mickey and Minnie and various characters performed as pirates. The best part was seeing Mickey fly down on a wire from the funnel of the ship onto the stage. Then there were fireworks. The Disney ships are the only cruise line allowed to shoot off fireworks at sea. The fireworks are short and not nearly as elaborate as some firework displays, but it is still very cool. The pirate party is late at night and all 3 of our kids slept through it. We still enjoyed it though. Bring your video camera and take lots of pictures. Don't stuff yourself at dinner, because after the pirate party there is a late night pirate buffet. I thought it was awesome. They were actually handing out whole turkey legs, as well as ham, loaded nachos, crepes, and cookies. On the third night we ate at Animator's Palette. It was nice, but I was expecting more from all I had read about it beforehand. I was under the impression that the entire restaurant changed colors and that the servers changed the colors of their vest more often during dinner. I wasn't as spectacular as I thought it was going to be. On this night it was my son's 4th birthday. Our servers brought out a special birthday cake with a white chocolate Disney ship on top. They sang Happy Birthday to him and he received a birthday button to wear all day so wherever he went people knew it was his birthday. Each night after the early dinner seating and before the late dinner seating there is a different show in the Walt Disney Theatre. The shows are awesome. We liked Disney Dreams and the Golden Mickeys the best. Hercules The Musical was also good, but it was a little bit geared for the adults. The two girls that played the little followers to Hades were really good. The jokes that were written for them were so clever and hilarious. The kids liked the shows, but they didn't always make it through the whole show without falling asleep. Kids play so hard during the day that they crash from exhaustion. All day there are also lots of photo opportunities with Disney characters in the atrium. There are also more formal setups where you can have a more detailed photo session with your family with several different poses. The Disney cast members keep the characters on a tight schedule so get there in enough time to get in line. There are also lots of other activities in the evening. My oldest, youngest daughter and even me had a blast at the High School Musical dance party. There was a cast member leading it dressed in a red wildcat sweatsuit. They played the popular music from the movie and lead a lot of different dances. It was really fun. In the evening there are also other things like game shows, dance parties, and stand up comedians. There is so much going on throughout the ship that you will never be able to do it all. There are adult only areas and activities and Palo, the adult restaurant that takes a special reservation. There is also a spa that I am sure was wonderful. We did not experience any of these, since we were always with our kids. I never heard any complaints about any of the adult only aspects of the cruise. You will be assigned a steward who is in charge of your stateroom. He or she will deliver your luggage and clean and set up your room everyday. In the evening they prepare all the beds, leave your daily navigator and other necessary information for you, and leave different animals made out of towels for you on your bed. The cruise ship pools are also nice. There are three pool areas. There is a Mickey Mouse pool that is for kids and family. It is shallower around the outer edge and a little deeper in the middle. There are two black shallow pools that are Mickey's ears. Now the rule for the ship is that children not potty trained are not allowed in the pool. There is another separate area that has squirt fountains with drains in the floor. That area is supposed to be for kids not potty trained yet. I double checked and asked the lifeguard and I was told that children with swim diapers could go in the two Mickey Mouse ears. I don't really get the whole concept, but that's the rules. It was ok for our 16 month old daughter, who isn't into the whole pool scene yet anyway. Now if you have a 2 or 2 1/2 year old child that isn't potty trained yet and who really loves to swim, I would advise waiting to cruise until they are potty trained. Better yet, use that as an incentive to speed along the potty training process. There is also a Mickey Mouse waterslide that goes into the Mickey Mouse pool. Our two older kids really enjoyed that. The waterslide is, however, only for children. You have to be 5' 4" or under. It's kind of a bummer. I wanted to try it. The pool in the center of the ship is for families. It is a deeper pool, so you will need to go in with your child or provide supervision. Above the pool is a huge jumbo flat screen TV. They show cartoons on it throughout the day and movies at night. Late at night there is also movies in the Walt Disney Theatre. The movies are usually recent new ones or premieres. Towards the front of the ship is the adult pool. It looked fabulous! Remember that on the Disney Cruises it is all inclusive. Just about everything is included and all the food you want is free. All you have to do is ask. For breakfast you can eat at the Beach Blanket Buffet in the back of the ship or at the Parrot Cay restaurant. It was a little crowded, but the food was good. On the first morning we ate outside of Beach Blanket Buffet as we enjoyed the view of the Atlantis Resort as we pulled into Nassau Bahamas. For lunch you can also eat at the Beach Blanket Buffet or get pizza, hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken fingers, salads, wraps, fruit, and soft serve ice cream by the pool. There is a drink station by the pool with pop, water, and coffee that is included in the cruise. Room service aboard the ship is always free and available too. There is the kids club on the ship where children can go play and be supervised while parents enjoy alone time. The Oceaneer club is for younger children and the Oceaneer Lab is for older kids. There is also a Flounder's Reef Nursery for little bitty kids and babies. There is an extra fee for the babysitting service. After boarding the ship you will have to go get wrist bands for your kids and receive a pager. When kids want to leave the kids club or if your child needs you, they page. We went and explored the kids club for a little bit, but our kids did not want to be left there. It seemed well supervised and it was ran by what seemed to be like a bunch of English nanny types. There was constant scheduled activities and the staff was constantly herding kids into groups and supervising constant hand washing. I felt it was kind of dark and gloomy in there and that it felt a little like a day care or preschool setting. I also felt that my kids go to enough school and that it was ok if they didn't want to be there. We go on vacation to spend time together. The highlight of the cruise was the day we spent of Disney's private island, Castaway Cay. It was awesome. Lay out your clothes and pack your beach bag the night before. Get up early and eat breakfast so you can get off the ship soon after it docks. You won't want to waist any time that you can be on the island. On that morning we ate at Beach Blanket Buffet again as we gazed over Castaway Cay and the Flying Dutchman Ship from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie that is anchored there. Seeing the real pirate ship from the movie is just awesome. When we got up that morning we opened the sliding glass door to the veranda to feel the warm Bahama air hit us as the ship was pulling into the Nassau port. When leaving the ship, you must have your key to the world cards with you for your whole family. They will give you beach towels as you leave the ship. It is a 7-10 minute paved walk from the ship to the beach. There is a tram, but skip it if you can. There are many characters and photo opportunities along the way that you won't want to miss. As we walked to the beach, we had pictures taken with Chip n Dale, in front of the cruise ship, at a silly fishing scene, with Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. The beaches are formed into bays and divided up into sections. There is a snorkeling beach, a family beach, an adult beach and a teen beach. We of course only hung out at the family beach. There are tons of beach chairs and lots of shade on the beach from palm trees and the many beach umbrellas. Castaway Cay is protected, so there are not waves and sealife to worry about. My 6 year old daughter really got into the snorkling this trip. She really liked it. We have experienced much better snorkling in Hawaii, but it was still fine. It is the perfect place for a child to learn and gain confidence snorkling. Getting in and out of the water is easy, since there are not waves. The water is calm. There is hardly any fish to look at. Disney has put hidden shipwreck items underwater to look at. There is a hidden Mickey Mouse statue that is fun to find. Most everyone rented the snorkel gear. We brought our own mask and snorkels and rented the fins. The fins are the shorter ones and were not as good as our longer fins that we left at home. The snorkel gear also comes with an inflatable vest that is mandatory to wear. It wasn't bothersome to wear and added a little extra protection for our daughter. You don't have to reserve the snorkel gear before you go on your trip. We didn't. We rented it on the beach. Now the snorkel gear and tubes that you can rent do not have to be returned to the rental area when you go back to the ship. People just leave them on the beach. As the day was nearing the end, we noticed that people were starting to take the equipment they found on the beach and use it for themselves if they hadn't rented it. My daughters mask and snorkel was taken right from our spot by all of our stuff. At first we thought the masks and snorkels we brought from home were taken, but they weren't. On the other end of the beach is a playground in the water that looked fun. While my daughter and husband were snorkling I really wanted to back track up the path the way we came from the ship to go to the photo opportunity with Jack Sparrow in front of the Fly Dutchman. I ran as fast as I could while carrying my baby and trying to pull and encourage my son to walk faster in his flip flops. When I got there, the Disney cast member was hooking the rope across the area and said that Jack Sparrow was finishing his last greetings with guests. I quickly gave a little pleasing plee while out of breath, stating that I just ran from the beach dragging my two little kids. He said "Ok, I can see you have your hands full," and he let me be the last person to get a picture with Jack Sparrow. I so appreciated that. Now on Castaway the huge lunch buffet is included in your cruise. The Disney crew comes ashore and prepares it. It was huge. You could almost skip breakfast and then pig out at lunch that day. There were burgers, hot dogs, chicken ribs, fries, rice, fruit, banana bread, desserts and ice cream. All drinks beside alcholic drinks are also included. There is a DJ on the island with music and we even had him say a happy birthday to our son, which he loved. There were also some organized games and contests. My son liked watching the crab races. If you want to get your hair braided on the trip, wait until you get to Castaway Cay. On the ship you have to make an appointment and it is more inconvenient. On the island, though, you can walk right up and have it done. There are a lot more local women there to do it. They do the braiding very quick and the price is very reasonable. We have paid much higher prices to get our daughters hair braided on other vacations and Castaway Cay was one of the Cheapest. We paid $40 for across the whole front of her head, halfway back. The Disney ship kids club comes ashore on the day you visit Castaway Cay. We did not go there or use the service. I do know that if you leave your child there, they will not take your child swimming. Enjoy your day on Castaway Cay and stay as long as you can. On that day you will be informed of a meeting in the Walt Disney Theatre that they say one member of your group should attend to learn about the debarkation process to leave the ship. You do not have to go to this. We didn't. There was plenty of info delivered to our room that provided us with all we needed to know about leaving the ship. You must leave your luggage outside your room by 11:00pm the night before you leave the ship. Your luggage is wisked away and you won't see it again until you leave the ship or arrive back home at the airport if you have the trasfer option like we had. If you don't, your luggage will be in easy color coded piles to pick up as you step off the ship. On the last night you have to leave out of your luggage your pajamas, your clothes for the next day, and any toliettres or medications you may need. Some of our tolietres that we needed for the next day that were liquids we left behind so that we didn't get stopped at security in the airport. I filled some dixie cups with some toothpaste, mouthwash and such to use in the morning so I could pack the full bottles in my suitcase. Before leaving the ship, stop by Shutters to view all of the photos taken of your family thoughout the trip. It is easy to find your pictures and they are very helpful in helping you create a package of pictures for certain price ranges. On the last morning you will be assigned a time to eat breakfast in the restaurant that you ate at the night before. They do this to try to get everyone off the ship in a timely manner. We were assigned to a 6am breakfast. Next time I might just skip that. It was too early for us and the kids. We left the ship about 8:15am. They want you off by about 8:30am. By the exit there is a banner that says See You Real Soon. It is kind of sad to leave. Getting off the ship was fairly quick. You go through custums right there, so you are cleared for the airport. They x-ray your bags you are carrying and customs will check your passports. Remember to pick up the small sheet to fill out declaring certain types of items that you have on you. We then got on the bus that transferred us back to the airport. They showed another movie with more helpful Disney Cruise Line information. We had a carseat with us that our 16 month old to sit in on the airplane. The transfer buses will not allow carseats on them. So be prepared to control small children on the bus. My daughter had a hard time sitting still. We had a very long day of traveling back home, but not seeing our luggage until the baggage claim when we arrived home left us with a little smile on our face. As a side note, if you get home and you wish that you had bought something that you had seen while vacationing at any Disney location or if you want to get more of something that you had purchased, there is a way to do it. Go to the Walt Disney World Mail Order Website and call the phone number. Do not e-mail. It will take a lot longer. I had purchased a Disney Cruise Line photo album, and after getting home, I realized that I had taken so many pictures that I needed a second album. I called the phone number and gave the SKU number off the price tag. The representative placed my order and I received it in less than two weeks. If you have your receipt or the price tags it is simple. If you don't, they will get a detailed discription of the item from you and the exact Disney location where you saw it or purchased it from. Overall, we loved cruising with Disney and would do it again some time. It is all you would expect from Disney. If you don't want to beat the crowds and stand in long lines, but you want the total Disney experience, go on a Disney Cruise. You can't beat the all inclusive either. If you are adults without kids, there are lots of people on the cruise just like you. The cruise experience isn't dripping with Mickey Mouse everywhere. It is very classy and appeals to just about everyone.

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