I will start out by confessing that I am a Disney freak and love ALL things Disney. I expected the best on a Disney cruise, and I was not disappointed. Here are a 7 reasons I think you should take a Disney Cruise. We have been on over a dozen cruises with different cruise lines, and our two Disney Cruises were the best of them all.
Boarding A Disney Cruise
I don’t know about you, but I always dread the boarding process. On several cruises, it has taken me an hour to board the ship. Just like most things, Disney has figured out how to make this process better than all the rest. It took us less than 15 minutes both times. Be sure to complete the Online Check-In where you will be assigned a time to arrive.
Disney Cruise Dining
I love that Disney combines the experience of many restaurants with the ability to have the same wait staff for the cruise. They have several different restaurants, and you will rotate restaurants each night. Your servers will rotate with you.
If you get the late seating, the cast members will come pick up the kids from you and bring them to the Disney’s Oceaneer Club and Oceaneer Lab. My kids loved the Mickey bars for dessert each night.
Disney Cruise Characters
The same characters that you have come to know and love at the parks are on the ship!
Appearance times will be listed daily. A tip for those that only want to see a character once: if you are on a week-long cruise, there will be repeat appearances and the second appearance will have shorter lines.
My daughter wanted to see them each and every time. Since the princesses were always the same cast member, we saw them so much that by the end, they knew my daughter by name. This was extra special for her.
Disney Cruise Character Autographs
Each cabin can bring two items to guest services to be for the characters to autograph. Many people bring pillow cases. However, we went to a craft store and bought two blank canvases. You must include the sharpies for them to use to sign and it is also recommend that you putting some type of candy in the package for the cast members as a thank you. Both my kids have their canvases hanging in their room. It is such a great memory of our trip.
Disney Cruise Royal Court Royal Tea
This experience costs extra and you will need reservations for so book early. It is expensive but worth the experience especially if you have a die-hard princess fan. My daughter and I loved the tea. She got lots of time with all the princesses and several treats to take home. She got a picture with many princesses at once, which I am not sure where else you can do this. They truly treated her like a princess. This was her favorite part of the cruise.
Disney Cruise Pirate Night
Even if you don’t plan to have coordinated outfits all cruise, you will want to pack something for Pirate Night. Most of the ship will be dressed up, and your kids will love it. They have a show that includes fireworks. This is something you can’t really find anywhere else.
Movies and Nightly Shows On A Disney Cruise
They have a movie theater where they run new releases. We saw Maleficent on the ship at midnight the night that it came out in theaters.
The shows are the best that I have seen on any cruise. There are Disney themed short performances a few nights. We saw an Aladdin and Peter Pan show that the family all enjoyed.
These are just a few things that I loved about our experiences. The kids’ area is amazing. The waterslides are spectacular and Castaway Cay, Disney’s own private island is fun. I think that your family will have lots of fun and make lifelong memories.
