Disney Cruise Line is a premier cruise operator, providing high quality household experiences at sea. Whereas it’s a comparatively small participant within the cruise world, it continues to develop.
Since first launching in 1998, it has grown to a have a fleet of 5 ships, with three extra to set sail within the coming years.
On this information, we’ll go over you’ll must learn about reserving a Disney cruise, together with the totally different vessels, room sorts, and onboard experiences, in addition to concerns for eating and reserving.
The Disney Cruise Expertise
Whereas the primary clientele for Disney cruises is households with children, Disney cruises provide experiences for each member of the household, no matter age. Most are Disney themed, and embrace supervised kid-friendly actions and golf equipment and family-friendly Broadway-calibre reveals, in addition to golf equipment, bars, and superb eating only for adults.
It could not have all of the bells and whistles of different bigger cruise traces, reminiscent of Royal Caribbean and Norwegian, however Disney is understood to supply higher meals and repair, which can be mirrored of their larger fares.
If your loved ones loves Disney, superheroes, or princesses, then this definitely is an expertise you’ll wish to strive… at the least as soon as.
Stateroom Varieties
Usually talking, there are 4 sorts of staterooms on Disney cruise ships: Inside, Oceanview, Verandah, and Concierge. As you progress by that record, the fare for the cruise will increase.
Aside from a number of the Inside cabins, Disney ships typically have bigger staterooms than most cruise traces, which after all serves households higher.
The value distinction between an Inside and an Oceanview stateroom is comparatively minor, whereas the prices for Verandah and Concierge staterooms are extra substantial.
All staterooms are organized to have a seating space and one queen mattress. Relying on the utmost passengers allowed within the room, there may additionally be some variable mixture of a single convertible couch, a Murphy mattress, and an upper-berth pull-down mattress.
Except commonplace Inside staterooms, most rooms have a privateness curtain that may separate the sleeping space from the lounge space, or the mother and father from the children when it comes time to sleep.
Every stateroom has a full toilet with a bathtub and bathe. Except commonplace Inside staterooms, loos are break up into two smaller rooms, every with a sink, however one with a bathtub and bathe, and the opposite with a rest room.
This association could be very household pleasant, and helps to attenuate the wait time for utilizing the lavatory.
Inside staterooms are 169–214 sq. ft, can accommodate 3-4 visitors, and haven’t any window to the skin world. The Disney Dream and Fantasy ships have Magical Portholes that provide a digital real-time view of out of doors the ship, and occasional Disney characters that may pop up within the portholes.
Households typically don’t spend an excessive amount of time contained in the room, particularly with the road up of actions on a Disney cruise. So, so long as you don’t have a problem with claustrophobia or thoughts the shortage of pure daylight, that is the most affordable option to sail with Disney.
Oceanview staterooms is usually a little bigger, as much as 241 sq. ft, and may accommodate 4–5 visitors relying on the ship. The rooms on the Magic-series ships solely accommodate as much as 4.
These cabins have home windows with outdoors views, which additionally lets pure daylight into your room.
Verandah staterooms are as much as 304 sq. ft and provide more room due to the addition of a balcony. These rooms can accommodate 4–5 visitors.
Concierge staterooms differ in measurement from 306–1,781 sq. ft and may accommodate 5–7 visitors, relying on the ship. The idea is much like that of executive- or club-level rooms in a resort, which include entry to a concierge lounge and extra attentive service.
With Disney cruises, reserving a Concierge stateroom comes with many further perks past lounge entry. Earlier than the cruise even begins, you’re given precedence in reserving onboard actions, excursions, and cabanas for Castaway Cay, Disney’s non-public island, 120 days earlier than crusing.
On the day of embarkation, you will have precedence boarding and entry to a concierge lounge on the port terminal.
As soon as on the ship, you’ll take pleasure in the next advantages:
- Unique concierge hosts that will help you all through the cruise
- Lounge entry with complimentary meals choices and alcoholic drinks
- Precedence debarkation at ports of name and on debarkation day
- Precedence seating at night performances and free popcorn for the films and reveals
All these advantages include a hefty price ticket, although, so that you’ll must determine if these advantages are really value the additional coin.
Meals & Drink
There are various eating retailers onboard Disney cruise ships, with the whole lot from sit-down meals to buffet lunches, and even grab-and-go choices. All of those are included in your cruise fare.
While you e-book your cruise, you may choose your most well-liked night eating time. If you happen to’re travelling as a gaggle, bookings may be linked, and your tables can be organized shut collectively.
Seating preparations keep the identical all through the cruise. If you happen to don’t replenish a whole desk, Disney will seat households with households, and adults with out youngsters alongside different adults with out youngsters, as is feasible.
Eating on Disney cruises is an expertise in itself. In contrast to different cruise traces, which assign you to 1 major eating room restaurant to your dinner for everything of your cruise, each Disney ship has three totally different major eating choices that you rotate by. To maintain issues constant, your servers rotate together with you every evening, too.
The eating experiences differ relying on the ship, and are principally impressed by totally different Disney films and themes. Some are interactive, like Animator’s Plate, during which visitors could make drawings which are delivered to life on the TV screens earlier than them, others function reside music, like in Tiana’s Place, and others have theatrical performances like in Arendelle: A Frozen Eating Journey.
Cabanas is the cruise line’s buffet restaurant. Previous to the pandemic, it was open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, however post-pandemic, the dinner choice now not exists.
The Disney Want has changed Cabanas with Marceline Market, which presents a quick-service expertise in the course of the day and desk service at dinner.
Not less than one major eating room restaurant can be open for desk service throughout breakfast and lunch. Room service, with a extra restricted menu, can be accessible 24/7.
There are additionally a number of grab-and-go choices on every ship, sometimes that includes sandwiches, burgers, sizzling canine, pizza, salads, fruit, and soft-serve ice cream till late into the night. The Disney Want steps it up a notch, providing the fleet’s first barbecue and Mexican quick-service choices.
Each ship additionally has a confectionery retailer that gives sweet, desserts, and ice cream creations.
Premium eating experiences are additionally accessible for an extra payment. Each ship has at the least one premium restaurant, which presents a prix-fixe menu starting from $45–125 (USD) per individual.
It could appear a hefty payment to pay, particularly when the meals on the common eating places is already included; nonetheless, in case you take pleasure in superb eating and attentive service, the splurge is value it. Remy (on Disney Dream and Disney Fantasty) and Enchanté (on Disney Want) even have menus created by Michelin-starred chef Arnaud Lallement.
As for drinks, there are beverage stations in Cabanas, in addition to one situated outdoors on the pool deck which presents water, delicate drinks, milk, tea, and low.
Disney doesn’t provide any all-you-can-drink packages that embrace alcohol, however they do provide packages with bottled water. In contrast to on different cruise traces, although, you’re allowed to carry your personal wine and beer onboard, however there’s a restrict and different restrictions on consumption.
Friends aged 21 and older might carry as much as two bottles on unopened bottles of wine or Champagne, or six 12-ounce beers at first of the voyage and at every port of name. You’ll be charged a corkage payment of $26 (USD) to take pleasure in your alcohol in one of many eating venues.
Onboard Facilities
That is on no account an exhaustive record of all of the actions and packages supplied on a Disney cruise, however serves as a basic information of the sorts of facilities you may anticipate finding on any of the ships.
Each ship has a number of swimming pools and sizzling tubs, at the least one waterslide or water journey, and a splash zone for visitors to take pleasure in in the course of the cruise. There are additionally adult-only pool areas on every ship.
The precise set-up of the water areas varies relying on the ship, though there are numerous similarities.
For instance, the Magic has the AquaDunk, an exhilarating waterslide with a steep drop, whereas the Dream and Fantasy have the AquaDuck, a water coaster that encircles your entire deck. On the Want is the AquaMouse, an improved model of the AquaDuck.
All ships are geared up with Sports activities Decks. The 4 older ships function an open-air exercise centre that contains a basketball or volleyball court docket, a miniature golf course, sport simulators, ping-pong tables, foosball tables, and extra.
The Disney Want has Hero Zone, an indoor, climate-controlled sports activities space the place visitors can play sports activities in an air-conditioned setting.
On the decrease decks, you can too discover shuffleboards.
Children golf equipment are a giant spotlight of the Disney cruising expertise. Each ship has virtually a whole deck devoted to children golf equipment, which supply supervised actions for teenagers aged six months to 17 years.
There are totally different areas for teenagers of various ages. Aside from the nursery, all different children golf equipment are freed from cost, and are open from round 9am till round midnight day-after-day.
It’s A Small World Nursery presents childcare for kids aged six months to 3 years for a payment. The payment is $9 (USD) per hour for one baby, and $8 (USD) per hour for any further youngsters from the identical household.
Reservations are inspired, as house is proscribed.
Oceaneer Membership and Oceaneer Lab are geared for kids aged 3–12. The primary distinction between the 2 is the themed areas and the actions they provide.
The areas are related, so youngsters are free to discover both membership and be a part of the actions they take pleasure in. Actions embrace science labs, arts and crafts, dance events, video games, character meet-and-greets, video video games, and extra.
Every ship presents its personal distinctive areas. For instance, the Disney Surprise contains Oaken’s Buying and selling Submit from Frozen and Marvel’s Superhero Academy, whereas Disney Fantasy has a Star Wars Command Submit and Physician Unusual house.
All children registered within the Oceaneer golf equipment obtain a Magic Band that needs to be worn always. A payment is charged for the band, however will refunded upon returning the band on the finish of the cruise.
The band permits youngsters to faucet out and in of the membership. Children eight and up may be permitted to have self check-in and out privileges.
Edge is an area for tweens aged 11–14. There are organized actions like scavenger hunts and dance events, but additionally free time to play video video games, take heed to music, and simply chill.
Vibe is designed for teenagers aged 14–17. There’s sometimes a dance ground, giant display TV, gaming stations, music stations, seating areas, and extra.
A giant function of Disney cruises is meet-and-greets with varied Disney characters, together with princesses, Marvel characters, and Star Battle characters, relying on the crusing. Some may be pre-booked, whereas others chances are you’ll merely run into whereas wandering the ship.
Each evening, there are stage reveals carried out within the Walt Disney Theatre. Every ship has its personal Broadway-quality manufacturing, reminiscent of Magnificence and the Beast, Frozen: A Musical Spectacular, Tangled: The Musical, or Disney’s Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular.
On Disney Want, there are two brand-new reveals: The Little Mermaid and Disney Seas the Journey.
Friends can even take pleasure in Disney films on the pool deck or in a film theatre onboard, together with new releases. On theme days, like Pirate Evening, there’s typically a present or dance occasion adopted by fireworks.
In contrast to different cruise traces, Disney cruises should not have an onboard on line casino. Relatively, they’ve a number of bars, lounges, and dance golf equipment solely for adults.
There are adult-only pool and deck areas, in addition to a health centre and the Senses Spa & Salon.
In case your baby additionally wants some pampering in the course of the cruise, contemplate visiting the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, a paid salon expertise for teenagers to rework them into princes and princesses.
This record of actions doesn’t finish right here. There are additionally scrapbooking actions, silent dance events, bingo video games, whiskey tastings, and far, far more.
For sure, you doubtless received’t run out of leisure choices onboard a Disney cruise.
Disney Cruise Ships
Disney Magic and Disney Surprise had been Disney’s first two ships to affix the fleet in 1998 and 1999, respectively, as a part of the Magic class. They every have a capability of simply over 2,700 passengers and a complete of 875 staterooms.
These smaller ships permit for a extra intimate really feel, and have a tendency to have itineraries which are extra port-intensive and have fewer days at sea.
Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy joined the fleet in 2011 and 2012, respectively, as a part of the Dream class. Constructed bigger than their predecessors, they’ve a capability of 4,000 passengers and a complete of 1,250 staterooms.
These two ships primarily sail within the Bahamas and the Caribbean.
Disney Want is the most recent vessel, which joined the fleet in 2022 as the primary Triton-class ship. It has a capability of 4,000 passengers and a complete of 1,254 staterooms.
At present it’s solely crusing quick three- or four- day itineraries to the Bahamas and Disney’s non-public island, Castaway Cay.
All of the ships share many similarities of their facilities and points of interest, however every has distinctive options, as detailed above.
Locations and Itineraries
Disney Cruise Line sails to a wide range of locations in North America, Europe, and Oceania. Itineraries vary from 2–15 nights, which encompasses a mix of port days and at-sea days.
Whereas your entire record of Disney cruise itineraries is huge, you’ll have to start out or finish a cruise from one of many following dwelling ports:
- Auckland, New Zealand
- Barcelona, Spain
- Brisbane, Australia
- Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- Dover, England
- Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Galveston, Texas
- Honolulu, Hawaii
- Melbourne, Australia
- Miami, Florida
- New Orleans, Louisiana
- New York, New York
- Port Canaveral, Florida
- San Diego, California
- San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Southampton, England
- Sydney, Australia
- Vancouver, Canada
The precise itinerary of your cruise varies tremendously, relying on the size of your cruise and your port of departure. Some cruises depart from and return to the identical port, whereas others cross a big physique of water in a single path.
Examples of locations served by Disney cruises are as follows:
- North American locations embrace Alaska, the Pacific Coast, Japanese Canada, the Bahamas, the Caribbean, Bermuda, Panama, and Mexico.
- European locations embrace the British Isles, the Baltics, the Mediterranean, and the Norwegian Fjords.
- Oceania cruises go to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, American Samoa, New Caledonia, and/or Hawaii.
As of 2023, Disney doesn’t sail to South America or Asia.
For sure locations or at choose occasions of the yr, Disney can have themed sailings. Examples embrace Marvel Day at Sea, Pixar Day at Sea, Star Wars Day at Sea, Halloween on the Excessive Seas, and Very Merrytime Christmas sailings.
Caribbean and Bahamian sailings typically embrace a cease at Disney’s personal non-public island, Castaway Cay, which is a 1,000-acre island with white sand seashores, water play areas, a supervised children membership, and adults-only space. On the island, you may lease bikes, snorkelling gear, and water sport tools, and even go on an tour.
Reserving a Disney Cruise
Disney cruises are costlier than the common cruise, so be ready to pay a little bit of a premium for the expertise. You may select to e-book your cruise on-line straight with Disney, or by any variety of journey brokers.
Understand that Disney will generally provide particular promotions for Canadian residents, with as much as 30% off choose sailings.
There are sometimes particular promotions for Disney+ subscribers, so be sure you take a look at the touchdown web page when you’ve got a subscription.
If you happen to’re a Disney Trip Membership member, you may swap your trip week for a cruise as an alternative. There are blackout dates to pay attention to, so be sure you take a look at if your required cruise is out there to be booked throughout your preferrred dates.
A couple of approved Disney gross sales reps provide further onboard credit, which requires some looking round to search out. If you happen to e-book by Costco Journey, they’ll typically throw in a present card value a number of hundred {dollars}.
To assist ease the ache of the price, you may maximize your earn by paying to your cruise with Disney reward playing cards purchased at grocery shops utilizing a bank card with a 5x or 6x multiplier, such because the American Categorical Cobalt Card or the Scotiabank Gold American Categorical Card. Simply keep in mind you’ll lose out on any journey insurance coverage you’d usually have by charging the cruise to a bank card.
Alternatively, you may all the time offset the price of a cruise with a bank card with fixed-value journey rewards program, by which you redeem your factors for a press release credit score or e-book by a journey portal. Examples of those embrace HSBC Rewards, Scene+, TD Rewards, Nationwide Financial institution À la carte Rewards, BMO Rewards, and CIBC Aventura.
Loyalty Program: The Castaway Membership
Disney has its personal cruise loyalty program often known as The Castaway Membership. It’s a fairly easy program, and also you earn credit for each cruise you are taking, whatever the length of the cruise.
At present, there are three tiers to this system, with a fourth being added on Might 1, 2023:
- Silver, earned after only one crusing
- Gold, earned after 5 sailings
- Platinum, earned after 10 sailings
- Pearl, earned after 25 sailings (new tier to be added on Might 1, 2023)
Perks embrace a members-only direct cellphone line, reductions on future voyages, precedence check-in, Welcome Again Aboard items, advance entry to cruise bookings, and advance restaurant and exercise reservations.
This isn’t essentially the strongest loyalty program on the market, however in case you’re going to go on a number of Disney cruises, chances are you’ll as effectively take pleasure in some incremental perks.
Conclusion
Disney has an important repute in relation to enjoyable household holidays, and its cruise line expertise isn’t any totally different. A Disney cruise offers visitors an opportunity to sail world wide on a magical ship with loads of Disney-themed actions and leisure to select from, all whereas experiencing the hospitality and high quality that Disney is understood for.
The one draw back to reserving a Disney cruise is the price, however there are some offers to be discovered in case you’re diligent. In fact, you can too make the most of bank cards to maximise your earn and offset the entire price with factors.
Regardless of being expensive, you’ll definitely get what you pay for with Disney cruises, and also you’ll be left with loads of reminiscences to look again on for years to return.
