Booked a Disney Cruise. What am I in for?

Everything I've heard about Disney cruises is that it's first class. Not my cup of tea with all the kid stuff but I doubt you'll be disappointed especially if you have help with the kids.

You won't regret it. It's managed extremely well from top to bottom.

"Mistake?"

No way. If Disney was a must this is by far the best option with kids that young. I went with an 11 and 7 year old and had a blast.

If your wife is ok with leaving them with nursery/kids night even better. My wife will not let kids go anywhere but our parents and her sisters overnight. She was cool leaving for a few hours. They give you pager and it's extremely secure. If I remember correct 3 forms of identification/passwords.

Spent day at Atlantis and castaway was a blast!

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5 nights in Disney Magic. Cruise date is Jan 21-26 out of Miami with stops in Cancun (will stay on the boat) and Castaway Cay

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I don't think DCL sails to Cancun...I think it's Cozumel.

With a 9 month old I can understand why you would want to stay on the boat.

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Am I crazy?

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Disney and DCL specialize in family vacations. No, you're not crazy.

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Will probably have grandparent help as well with my mom and dad joining th fun

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If this was a valid option for me I wouldn't hesitate twice about letting them stay on the boat with my two kids while my wife and I got off the boat in cozumel. I mean, you paid the port fees already and there is alot to do close to the port that isn't very expensive.

Paradise Bwach is like a $10 cab ride from the cruise port and it's $3 to get in. Unlike Mr Sanchos which is an all inclusive things here are a la carte so you don't have as many degenerates looking to pound as many Sol beers and jaeger shots as they can before heading back on board. Food and drink are very reasonably priced and the food is pretty solid. Use of the aquapark, paddleboards, etc brings the total to like $20 per person (plus food and drinks).



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Castaway Cay is pretty straight forward...not alot to it. All the food is included but you need to pay for alcohol just like on the ship but they do offer specials and such through the day. In january the water could be pretty cold. It's not like the Bahamas are so much further south like mexico is so you may just end up sitting on the beach so if there are some excursion you are interested in doing I would focus on things that don't involve getting in the water (parasailing, fishing, etc).

While in castaway cay the child clubs/labs on board the ship are not open but they do have scuttles cove (which is operated by DCL kids staff) available ON the island This should work for the 3 year old. While on board tye do offer a nursery as well (which is not included in the price) for the 9 month old should you be interested. Its called It's a Small World Nursery. If you have a specialty dinner planned that does not allow kids you will want to make a reservation ahead of time for the nursery then can send the 3 year old to the Oceaneers Club or Lab.

Some random thoughts on DCL....they don't offer alcohol drink packages but unline other cruise lines they are more flexible with what you can take on-board. At each port every person in the stateroom can take on two bottles of wine or a 6 pack of beer. Even if you get off the ship at Cozumel to reload on your supplies it may be worth it. Beers have to be 12 0z cans and wine can be the magnums but it's a good value and can save you money.

The main dining room food is good, as good as I have had on any cruise line but the specialty dining at palo is outstanding. Its adult only, requires reservations and carries a fee of like $30/person but well worth it.

With DCL boarding is done a little different...you will be assigned a port arrival time and your boarding group will be based off of that. if you have a port arrival time of say 12:15-12:45 and you arrive at 10:30 am you arent getting on the boat any earlier so chose your port arrival time wisely. if you want to get on early, choose the earliest PAT available when it's time to select.

Do as much online with the check in as possible BEFORE you get on the ship. Specialty dining, spa sessions, childcare registration, golf simulator, princess gatherings, etc. Its going to give you alot more flexibility on embarkation day.

If you and the wife can get some time away, sign up for mixology or wine/beer/tequila tasting class. They're not that expensive ($25 i think) and the mixology class is a shitload of fun if you guys like meeting new people and being social.

You can only buy them online ahead of time in the "gifts" section but the spa sells day passes to the rainforest room. They've got showers (must be clothed) with different water temps and pressures, hot tubs, sauna, steam room, heated benches for reading, napping, relaxing, etc.if you've got a few hours without the kids and don't want to do mixology this is another god option for you and the wife.









If you have any questions let me know and I'll do my best to get back as soon as I can.

Thanks a lot of good info in your post. You were right its Cozumel.

Hardest thing to decide was the damn stateroom location. Went with a deck 5 oceanview and got the parents a secret porthole room front of the boat to try and avoid the endless cruise room hall ways. I don't think we will use the nursery much and doubt the toddler will want to be left alone but excited to attend the open houses and stuff. The extra cost for Palo is just for the reservation or food as well? Also we are doing late dining since our kids usually go to bed around 10 Im hoping thats the right choice.

Well managed top to bottom. The Disney ship that comes here is beautiful.

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The extra cost for Palo is just for the reservation or food as well?

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That includes the food. Alcohol is extra. I've done brunch and dinner and both were excellent.

They say tip is included but I always tip extra ($10-$15 per person in cash) if the service is good and it's always been amazing.

Here is a recent review I did of our 5 night cruise aboard the Dream last month



The next day was embarkation for our cruise.

Disney offers shuttles from the resort of the HYatt at MCO for a charge of $35 per person. Not only is that a pricey option but most of their busses don't get t the port until 11:30 or so putting you not on the boat until close till 1.

What I suggest is renting a car (one way) and dropping it off at the port then having the car rental shuttle drop you off at the port.

I rented with Alamo at a cost of $80 for a full size car (Altima). The Disney Car Care center picked me up at 6:45 am (you have to schedule a pickup the day before) from my resort, brought me to my car and I was back to my resort by 7:08 am.

Disney operates a little different from other lines as you choose (or are assigned) a port arrival time. This is your window to arrive at the port. Once you arrive you are assigned a boarding group. Those with a port arrival time of 12:00-12:15 will not get on the boat with boarding group 1 or 2 so it is to reduce the clutter in the terminal. Does it work, no. Is it a good idea, yes.

Some people think the earlier they show the earlier they will get on but with Disney, that just isn't the case. We had the earliest port arrival time possible of 10:30-10:45 and had boarding group 2.

The ride from Disney to the port is a little over an hour and has a few tolls. You can either pay $3.95 and have the tolls added to your rental or bring a roll of quarters and pay the tolls as you go through.

The ship was going through a coast guard inspection when we arrived so we were able to check in as soon as we arrived but boarding was delayed about an hour. Once boarding began with group 1 we were on the boat within 5 minutes.

Disney is expensive but one benefit to their line is they allow a 6 pack of beer or two bottles of wine at embarkation and at each port but it must be carried on (nothing in your checked bags). Now, I cannot guarantee it will work but they have no way of knowing whos bag belongs to who while it's going through the scanner. Im pretty certain so long as you didn't have a 6 pack of beer and wine in the same bag you would be okay.

Anyway, our room was the deluxe interior stateroom. Our daughter had a nightmare about a year ago that she fell off a cruise ship and at the time of booking was deathly afraid of a veranda and honestly, I think they're kinda overrated too. I prefer the public areas. If I wanted to stay in my room or solitude I would not go on a cruise. Our room is primarily used for bang-bang, sleeping and getting ready for whatever is next on our schedule.

We've sailed DCL previously and had a good idea of what to expect from the ship. I won't go into too much detail but feel free to ask anything specific you'd like. This itinerary is meant for people new to DCL to introduce them to the cruise line and to reel them in. The itinerary is noting special but you do get a day at Castaway Cay (Disney's private island in the Bahamas) which is awesome.

Day 1 - port canaveral
Day 2 - Nassau
Day 3 - Castaway Cay
Day 4- Sea Day
Day 5 - port canaveral

In Nassau we just got off the boat, did some shopping then got back on the boat about lunch time to hit the pool and aquaduck. If I could do it again I would stay on the boat in the morning and get off the boat after lunch and it would have been alot less crowded in the port.

We ate at the main dining room the first three nights then on the last night the wife and I went to Palo (premium upgrade for $30 per person) and I can confidently pt it up there with some of the best italian food I've had anywhere.

Disney does rational dining which means you move from restaurant to restaurant each night and your servers move with you. The first night we dined in Royal Palace (which is kind of their "main" room), then we ate at Animators Palate the next two nights. While your dining rotation is assigned to you it is possible to call them ahead of time and request a specific rotation. We did this to avoid Enchanted Garden (our least favorite) and hit Animators Palate twice (our favorite).

Decent draft beer selection around the ship and at Castway Cay. We saw two shows (Villians Tonight and Golden MIckeys). My wife and I won the Match Your Mate game and another scavenger hunt type game which involved her taking off her bra, me putting it on then dancing with it - yeah, we were drunk). Our daughter LOVES the Oceaneers Club and Labs (every kid we've ever met does) and bags us to go back every day. She also did Jedi Training while on board. I did a mixology class. Wife and daughter did the royale court tea. On the last night we got to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean at 10:45 PM. I did the golf simulator.

Any other questions just ask. Cost, $2800 for three people for a deluxe interior stateroom. The difference between the standard and deluxe interior rooms is the split bathroom. That means the room has two bathrooms. One with a toilet and a sink and one with a shower/tub and a sink which is very helpful in the morning and at night while getting dressed.



The beer mug is a solid value at $15 if you drink alot of draft beer. Each refill you pay for a pint and most cost about $6-$7.













Deluxe inside stateroom



















Our stateroom door. You will see ALOT of these




View from our dinner table at Royal Palace




Main Dining Room food

Lamb



Tuna










Jedi Training

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We are going out of Miami so it will be a little different then out of Canaveral. Gonna sleep in a hotel in Ft Lauderdale Saturday night and need to find a way to get to the cruise terminal (that can handle 2 car seats) Sunday morning. Disney transfer doesn't pick up from FLL.

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Yeah..that was copied and pasted from my other post. Sorry bout that


Most car rentals can do a 1 way dropping off somewhere near the cruise port and can add a car or booster seat for like $15/$20

No, it was just a regular sailing, They offer the Jedi training in the parks and this was basically the same thing.