DISNEY CRUISE - From Port Canaveral

By Corri Hunt

I like to describe Disney cruises as Disney without the crowds. It is a perfect combination of Disney magic, high quality service, and no crowds. Our family of four has been on four Disney cruises out of Port Canaveral, Florida. We highly recommend you experience a disney cruise at least once in your life.

Food- the food, while not the greatest thing you’ve ever had, it is very good and the best cruise food we have experienced. My favorite thing that Disney does is rotational dining every night. Every night YOU go to a different themed restaurant and this keeps things fresh and fun. Your amazing servers rotate with you every night and memorize every preference you have ever uttered in their presence. There are three different restaurants on each cruise, one is a whimsical type restaurant (fun décor all around), one is a classic dining room (not much happening here but is the most formal), and one is an interactive, very entertaining restaurant. On the Disney cruises we have done, the fun restaurant is Nemo themed (Fantasy & Dream) and the other is Marvel themed (the new Wish ship). Both of these have characters that talk with the each table, and everyone participates in solving puzzles or saving the ship from evil villains. If you are on a cruise over three nights, try to select the fun restaurant more often. On our first cruise we had no idea and they put us in the boring restaurant the majority of nights.

You can also order as many menu items as you want! If you like all three appetizer options, you can order all three! If you like all the desserts? You can have them all! The service is the very best you will experience anywhere.

Quick story for an example of service you get on the Disney cruises: We went on a cruise when our youngest was only seven months old (yes we are crazy people) and he needed his bottle right as our food arrived at dinner. Our server went out of his way to cut-up my husband’s food so that he could eat while feeding the baby his bottle. This is the kind of thoughtful, extra service you will see on your trip.

Adult Fun- Most people think Disney is nothing but kid stuff, but that is not true at all! Disney has adult only options and areas at every turn. They have an entire section of the ship that is adult only with adult only pools, spas, bars, and adult only restaurants too! It is easy to partake in these events because they offer childcare for all ages of children. We recommend booking one tasting and one adult only restaurant night while onboard. The shows are also a MUST, we are talking Broadway level shows that put all other cruises to shame.

Kids Club- Disney is the only cruise line that offers infant care for babies 6 months-3 years old. This nursery is an extra charge but 100% worth it. After covid they lowered the kids club age to 3 and up for the included kids club (you dont pay any extra for this). Our boys love the kids club and are always excited to go. We have heard of parents putting their kids in the club for 4-7 hours while they do an adult only excursion at a port. We have not done this but I am not judging those that have pulled it off! Only on our fourth cruise did we learn there is a kids club ON Castaway Cay so that the parents can go enjoy the adult only beach for a little bit, it is called Scuttle's Cove.

Rooms- We always get a balcony room as I am seasick/motion sick prone and I find the balcony is very useful. We use our balcony a lot on our trips. One of our favorite tips is to bring a bottle of champagne and then order the room service with orange juice, coffee, and pastries for breakfast and we make our own mimosas! They do not deliver alcohol through room service but you are permitted to bring two bottles of wine/champagne or six beers (and you are permitted to bring this amount onboard with you at every port stop).

CONS:

1) Disney is one of the most expensive cruises. We do get a balcony every time and it averages about $1,000 per night of your cruise (even more if a holiday).

2) The kids club closes during mealtimes and so does not have a ton of key availability.

3) The first seating for dinner fills up right away and then they always try to stick you in the second seating at 8:30pm. We have always done these cruises with kids under four and the 8:30 was never even remotely a possibility for us, but we have been able to switch to the early/first seating at 5:30pm every time so far.

4) Communication with Disney is horrendous. On our last cruise we used a travel agent because we had to call to use our cruise credit from our prior cruise and out poor travel agent was on hold for EIGHT hours. If you have to call for any reason it is miserable. Their website and cruise app are also terrible and filled with glitches and crash often.

5) Every excursion, special offering, cabana, etc. fills up with the high-level cruise members (platinum and gold) and by the time silver and the public are able to book, everything is gone. Be prepared for this. People literally get on at midnight on their opening date to book their arrival time. One night I foolishly woke myself at midnight to complete all the travel requirements to get an early boarding/arrival time, and it ended up being only 30 minutes earlier than people that just did it the next day. The next time, I slept instead.

Tips and Tricks- Bring champagne onboard to make your own mimosas and enjoy them on your balcony, book the starboard (right) side of the ship so you have a view of castaway cay at that stop (the ship backs in and parks for the day at this port), bring magnet hooks to hang your things in your room, bring tealight battery candles for a night light (the light switches are outside the bathroom on all ships except the Wish), bring magnets to decorate your door (people go all out with this fun activity and most order custom magnets on Etsy), and join a facebook group in advance with your ship sail date (and get involved in planned ship activities or meetups).