Over New 12 months’s, we joined our prolonged household for a Disney Cruise on the Disney Want. Right here is the primary of three weblog posts about our journey! If you happen to’d prefer to see the video model, verify my Instagram spotlight.
Our Disney Cruise Journey Recap!
We had an exquisite time aboard the Disney Want over vacation break! My prolonged household has been speaking about taking a Disney cruise for years, and we lastly felt that every one 4 grandchildren had been prepared. My sister is a journey advisor and did all of the planning for us. We simply needed to pay up! I extremely suggest you attain out to her if you’re planning a Disney cruise (or any journey for that matter!). We had been capable of get staterooms side-by-side, which was nice to have the cousins chat from the balcony and make plans.
Disney Want Itinerary (4 Nights)
Our cruise size was good for first timers. We visited two islands and had sooner or later at sea. I’ve plenty of ideas on the islands, so keep tuned for these posts coming quickly!
- Depart Port Canaveral
- Nassau, Bahamas
- Castaway Cay (Disney’s personal island)
- Day at Sea
- Arrive Port Canaveral
Touring To Cape Canaveral
We flew down the day earlier than, which is at all times advisable for cruise journey. We ended up having fairly the day of delays between our flight getting diverted from Orlando to Fort Lauderdale, after which our scheduled Uber getting cancelled. We needed to watch for an Uber on the airport which took a very long time. Finally we made it to our resort – the TownPlace Suites Cape Canaveral – the place Grammie and Pea had been ready for us! I booked the resort evening free utilizing Marriott Factors, and it was a pleasant, new, clear resort. Would suggest!
Tremendous late dinner after arrival
Oatmeal with cottage cheese and coconut on the free breakfast!
Boarding The Ship
The subsequent morning, we took our time trying out and took a stroll to a park. At midday, our Uber got here to haul all six of us to the cruise port. There was additionally a resort shuttle, however it was $10 an individual, so Uber ended up being cheaper (My sister and her fam met us there). The port was solely about 2 miles away.
As from a protracted line of visitors to unload baggage, getting on the boat was pretty simple. Disney requires you to add your entire paperwork forward of time in order that check-in was simple. We had a 12:30 check-in time, and whereas there have been crowds and features, all of them moved rapidly. We had been aboard in in all probability 20 minutes or so!
Deck Lunch
We bee-lined to lunch earlier than going to our room as a result of everybody was hungry! This was the one time we ate lunch on the deck as a result of it tended to be fairly busy. There have been stations for pizza, tacos, burgers, and extra. I hit up the DIY taco bar (paired with a Corona!) and the tacos had been delish. I’ll discuss a bit extra in regards to the ship’s cleanliness once I get to eating, however we had been VERY impressed. There are hand washing stations all over the place, and a lot of the meals is served to you so there may be minimal touching amongst friends.
Our Stateroom
After lunch, we went to take a look at our stateroom and unpack. We had been on the seventh flooring (room 7034 to be precise!) and had a stunning balcony view. Our room had a queen mattress for the adults and two bunks for the boys which got here from the transformed sofa and down from the ceiling! Whereas it was undoubtedly cozy, it by no means felt crowded. There was additionally a pleasant curtain to divide the sleeping areas so we might have a light-weight on and the boys had been in the dead of night.
We additionally had a welcome present from our journey advisor! There’s a mini fridge drawer within the room to maintain drinks chilly. You’re additionally allowed to convey a six pack aboard, and my sister introduced some gluten free beers for herself.
The Lavatory
I cherished that the toilet had two separate areas for the bathroom and bathe. We undoubtedly used each on the similar time many occasions. If somebody was showering, you might nonetheless wash your arms on the opposite facet. The lavatory was fairly good!
We unpacked our garments into the closets and drawers. I do suppose they might have had extra drawers on the youngsters’ facet.
Exploring The Ship
We explored the ship a bit earlier than the sail away social gathering round 4:00!
Nonetheless dressed up for Christmas
The Children Membership
Aka the Oceaneer Membership aka the preferred spot on the ship! Once we arrived, the youngsters membership had an open home so adults might stroll by it. We had three children beneath 10 (Birch, Avery, and Emerson) who might go to the membership. Mazen’s age group (12) was solely allowed in The Edge membership for tweens. At first we thought this was a giant downside that Mazen couldn’t be along with his cousins, however he ended up going to Edge loads and made buddies there, so all of it labored out.
The Star Wars room on the Oceaneer Membership
Every youngster was given a wristband that they wanted to check in that we returned on the final day. They may select to go in from the foyer or by the slide! In addition they had the best handwashing station ever the place you place your arms into tubes of swirling water and cleaning soap. Really easy for teenagers!
I don’t have a ton of pictures from the youngsters membership as a result of adults aren’t allowed in on regular hours. However the children cherished it! They went for a couple of hours every day which was SUCH a pleasant break for us to train or lounge.
Along with the continuing actions, they’d character visits and particular occasions that stored it attention-grabbing for them. The cutest half is that once they’re able to be picked up you get an alert by your app that claims “Birch wish to be picked up now.” It was formal sufficient that it was cute!
The Swimming pools + Waterslides
You’ll be able to see all of them right here! The white tube is the Aqua Mouse, which is a tube water trip that the youngsters LOVED! There have been additionally Disney motion pictures enjoying all.the.time. that you might watch from the swimming pools. The road would get lengthy at occasions, however in the event you went at an off-peak time you’d stroll proper on. The yellow slide was nice for littler children. The a number of swimming pools had been on the small facet, however they had been HEATED which was so good! And there have been loads of life jackets you might borrow if in case you have a younger swimmer.
(It seems actually crowded right here as a result of this was throughout the sail off social gathering on the highest deck! It was not normally this crowded)
Toy Story Splash Zone
The 2 youthful children in our group cherished enjoying right here for a day. Once more, the water was WARM and that was so key on a cold day! We actually appreciated that as a result of chilly water would have made this space depressing.
The Laundry
For these questioning, the laundry room was nice!! We did laundry twice in 4 days (I do know, I do know) and it was so pretty to have our airport journey day garments clear for the return journey in addition to exercise garments not stinking up the room. Every load prices $3.50 that we simply swiped onto our stateroom card. And the most effective half was the app instructed us when the load was carried out so we might promptly swap it over. I introduced two laundry pods from house, however you might additionally buy cleaning soap together with your card.
There have been tons and tons of machines obtainable. And ironing boards too! Whereas the $7 x 2 we paid to do laundry was nominal, I do suppose it could be good simply to have this value included given what we paid for the cruise.
The Health Middle
We went to the health middle a handful of occasions. They’d plenty of tools, Peloton bikes, weights, and even a cycle room.
Certainly one of my solely complaints I had about our ship was that there wasn’t a round strolling observe. There was a observe, however it had stairs in the midst of it and it didn’t go all the way in which across the ship so that you stored having to show again. I like to stroll on the higher decks if doable.
The view from the health observe regarded into the spa backyard.
HyperSpace Lounge
There have been a number of lounges on board, however my favourite was the Star Wars themed HyperSpace Lounge! Going inside felt such as you had been coming into a ship with a push-button sliding door, and the screens went into hyper area periodically! In addition they had the most effective drinks with an iPad menu. Take a look at the bubbles of smoke!
Adults-Solely Space
It took me til the final day to seek out the adults-only space; it was that secluded! The chairs had been additional plush, there was a non-public bar and low store, and an infinity pool (which sadly, I by no means obtained in).
Leisure
Stay Exhibits
We went to 2 dwell exhibits whereas at sea: The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. They had been each AMAZING! Numerous nice singing, dancing, costumes, particular results. I additionally cherished that they had been each roughly an hour so consideration spans might tolerate them, and on our day at sea they’d a manatee at 2pm for individuals who wanted to be in mattress by 8. 10/10!
Smaller Exhibits
There have been additionally exhibits and music happening within the grand corridor at numerous occasions. We stopped to pay attention to event.
Silent Disco
One evening, we discovered a kid-friendly Silent Disco! This was so enjoyable. My solely grievance was it solely lasted 45 minutes and the subsequent evening it was after bedtime.
Deck Events
There have been deck events every evening, however I hardly ever stayed up late sufficient. One was pirate themed! And on New 12 months’s, they’d a kid-friendly countdown at 7:30 and one other at midnight. Mazen was the one one to watch for the midnight fireworks!
Weblog Posts To Come:
- All of our buffet meals and theme dinners (Wednesday)
- Our two island stops (Friday)
General Assessment Of Our Disney Cruise
We had a good time, and we actually cherished the cruise! My total impression is that this cruise is ideal for individuals with children within the age group of toddlers to tweens. In comparison with different cruise traces, Disney is VERY costly. I might not suggest going in the event you don’t have children until you’re a Disney fanatic. The cruise for us was all in regards to the children! Having so many kid-centric issues (from the youngsters membership to decrease sinks within the loos) was good for our household of children ages 5, 6, 8, and 12. You probably have older children, I might inform you to choose one other cruise line and save your self some cash. That stated, there have been some issues that Disney did so properly. See under!
Right here is my listing of issues we cherished/appreciated:
Cleanliness and Sanitization
I LOVED having sinks and cleaning soap in so many locations. Hand sanitizer alone doesn’t kill norovirus, and I washed my arms usually. There have been even a row of sinks going into the informal eating space. Earlier than dinner we had been all given hand wipes. The ship was additionally VERY clear. The employees did an awesome job clearing tables and there was little trash wherever (which is spectacular since there are such a lot of children working round!).
Lifeguards at Swimming pools and Castaway Cay
I used to be additionally so appreciative of all of the lifeguards! They had been all over the place and so they had been strict (a great suppose from the mother and father’ POV). Even after we obtained off the boat at Castaway Cay, there have been lifeguards all over the place watching the play zones and snorkelers.
Service
The service on board was fabulous. We cherished our dinner service workforce and each “forged member” we met was so variety and useful. We solely have one main grievance on this entrance and that was on our first day about 25 completely different individuals requested if we needed to purchase a drink bundle. We had politely declined the primary few, however it obtained a bit extreme when new individuals stored coming as much as ask us time and again. Everybody was nonetheless good although!
Drink Costs
You’d anticipate drinks and wine to be obscenely priced on a cruise ship, however they weren’t!! Wines had been $9-15 (beneath $10!) and cocktails had been perhaps $13-15. On Castaway Cay, my margarita was solely $8.75!! And it was nice. I actually appreciated this. And that every one gentle drinks had been included.
The Exhibits
They had been excellent! Child pleasant and really Disney. We cherished them.
Themed Dinners
An extended overview will include that weblog submit, however the dinners had been improbable and the meals was superb throughout the entire ship. There have been a couple of “misses” with dishes we ordered, however total I’d give the meals an A-. The one food-related grievance I’ve is that the espresso was horrible. Even the paid degree of espresso I assumed was fairly dangerous.
WiFi
It might have been good to have free WiFi. Thomas and I each paid $88 to have full web (minus streaming, which was extra) on our cruise. I used to be irritated to pay that, however as soon as I related it was nice. Speaking with texting was really fairly vital for the reason that ship was so massive and our group was all unfold out, so we had been glad that not less than iMessage was free! Mazen might textual content us with out having paid wifi on his telephone. This meant he might go to the tween membership or keep out later and we knew he might attain out or we might attain him.
Heated Swimming pools
Such a sport changer! Chilly swimming pools would have been depressing. They had been so heat and the youngsters cherished them. There was just one scorching tub that I bear in mind seeing within the adults-only space, and it was small so it was at all times packed. They want an even bigger scorching tub!
Bogs In all places
There are tons of loos that had been at all times clear, so FYI for these of you who care about this type of element. 😉
Was it crowded?
There have been a couple of occasions when it appeared like everybody was in a single place, however for a ship as enormous as The Want, it didn’t really feel too crowded to me. It didn’t really feel empty, however I didn’t really feel claustrophobic.
A Few Critiques…
Popcorn Value Additional
As my sister put it, you might eat limitless filet mignons however you needed to pay for popcorn! Popcorn outdoors of the exhibits/theaters was additional. This was so foolish to me since our youngsters clearly needed some. I assume this simply retains everybody from getting it and making an enormous mess / losing it, however it was just a bit odd.
Character Traces
The one time I noticed tremendous lengthy traces was for characters. My children weren’t that all in favour of assembly characters, however if in case you have somebody who’s, be ready to attend in a Disney World-esque line.
Atlantis Resort
This overview is coming in a separate submit, however we SO remorse getting off the boat to go to Atlantis. Extra on this quickly!
Disembark Timing
We had been at port on our final morning earlier than we awoke and we needed to be off the ship by 9 or 9:30. The entire morning felt rushed and chaotic. I want we might have had a bit of extra time to take pleasure in a ultimate breakfast and get off a bit of extra slowly. I perceive they need to turnover the boat, however after such a soothing time the early morning made for a cautiously early ultimate evening and a extra nerve-racking journey day.
General Assessment
If you happen to love Disney, you’ll love a Disney Cruise! Actually all the pieces from the towels to the music to the exhibits is Disney branded. There have been two new launch motion pictures enjoying (Mufasa and Moana 2) that sadly we had simply paid to see within the theater! I believe Disney Cruises are perfect for households with children. It undoubtedly felt like extra of a trip for the grown-ups with all the pieces being so kid-friendly. The meals choices, the expectations, the actions, and the service was all geared in direction of children which simply makes all the pieces a lot simpler.
Disney clearly is aware of what they’re doing as a result of the entire course of was organized and enjoyable. Be happy to ask any extra questions you’ve about particular issues within the feedback! Or share suggestions in the event you’ve carried out a Disney Cruise and have one thing to share that I missed.
