What Makes a Disney Cruise Special?

Obviously the characters on board are wonderful as was the pirate night and character breakfast.  But, there are also wonderful shows and current Disney movies. The Warrens went to this show with the kids and we saw the movie Lincoln 3 days before the general release in theaters.

 But, there are other things that show the Disney Cruise is well-thought out for families.  First, the security bracelets which the children must wear to attend the Oceaneer's Clubs.  Second, the Oceaneer's and Teen Clubs operated all day and most of the evening at no extra cost.  The kids could have lunch or dinner there, stay as long or as short as they like.  If the kids want to leave, parents are a short walkie-talkie call away.  Meanwhile the kids had a great time (Eli didn't want to leave) and the parents (and grandparents) could relax around the adult pool area.


Two walkie talkies are in each room---we could text or call one another.  Dave could sit and read on the balcony while I could find the Warrens and join them at the pool, shuffle board or in a craft activity (Todd is checking his walkie in shuffleboard photo).

We rotated dining rooms each night with the same wait staff.  With new surroundings, entertainment and crayon activities, the children were seldom bored.  There was a children's menu, but the wait staff knew dietary needs and brought Eli non-dairy ice cream. Personally, I loved a dinner dessert menu item----they made 3 miniature desserts called "Sweet Temptations".

The rooms were about 30% larger than other cruise ship rooms with a small bath tub instead of a shower and two sinks---one with a toilet and one with the tub.

There are no casinos, but there are adult only areas including a pool,  a specialty restaurant, a duty free store and lounge areas. The elevators were small, but there were so many of them that we seldom had long to wait.

The embarkation and debarkation were wonderful.  First, we signed up for a time to board.  We were a little early, but there were chairs for us to wait in and several photo opportunities to keep the kids busy. Debarkation was equally smooth.  We went to our assigned dining room at an assigned time, had breakfast and left.  It was all staggered so we hardly had to wait in line at all.

As a holiday bonus we were also able to witness the building of a Gingerbread House in preparation for their holiday cruises. And although inedible, it smelled yummy!  All in all, it was a wonderful experience and we look forward to doing it again.