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! In the event you’d prefer to see the video model, test my Instagram spotlight.
Our Disney Cruise Journey Recap!
We had a beautiful 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 advocate you attain out to her in case you are planning a Disney cruise (or any journey for that matter!). We had been in a position to 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 excellent for first timers. We visited two islands and had in the future at sea. I’ve plenty of ideas on the islands, so keep tuned for these posts coming quickly!
- Depart Cape Canaveral
- Nassau, Bahamas
- Castaway Cay (Disney’s non-public island)
- Day at Sea
- Arrive Cape Canaveral
Touring To Cape Canaveral
We flew down the day earlier than, which is all the time 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 look ahead to an Uber on the airport which took a very long time. Ultimately we made it to our lodge – the TownPlace Suites Cape Canaveral – the place Grammie and Pea had been ready for us! I booked the lodge evening free utilizing Marriott Factors, and it was a pleasant, new, clear lodge. Would advocate!
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 testing 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 lodge shuttle, nevertheless 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 straightforward. Disney requires you to add all your paperwork forward of time in order that check-in was straightforward. 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 most likely 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 concerning the ship’s cleanliness after I get to eating, however we had been VERY impressed. There are hand washing stations in every single 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 actual!) and had a beautiful 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 positively cozy, it by no means felt crowded. There was additionally a pleasant curtain to divide the sleeping areas so we may have a lightweight on and the boys had been at the hours of darkness.
We additionally had a welcome reward from our journey advisor! There’s a mini fridge drawer within the room to maintain drinks chilly. You’re additionally allowed to carry a six pack aboard, and my sister introduced some gluten free beers for herself.
The Rest room
I cherished that the lavatory had two separate areas for the bathroom and bathe. We positively used each on the identical time many instances. If somebody was showering, you may nonetheless wash your fingers on the opposite facet. The lavatory was fairly good!
We unpacked our garments into the closets and drawers. I do suppose they may have had extra drawers on the youngsters’ facet.
Exploring The Ship
We explored the ship a bit earlier than the sail away occasion 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 may stroll by it. We had three youngsters below 10 (Birch, Avery, and Emerson) who may 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 disadvantage that Mazen couldn’t be together with his cousins, however he ended up going to Edge so much 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 might select to go in from the foyer or by the slide! Additionally they had the best handwashing station ever the place you place your arms into tubes of swirling water and cleaning soap. Really easy for youths!
I don’t have a ton of images from the youngsters membership as a result of adults aren’t allowed in on regular hours. However the youngsters cherished it! They went for a number of hours every day which was SUCH a pleasant break for us to train or lounge.
Along with the continued actions, that they had character visits and particular occasions that stored it fascinating for them. The cutest half is that after 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 possibly can see all of them right here! The white tube is the Aqua Mouse, which is a tube water experience that the youngsters LOVED! There have been additionally Disney films taking part in all.the.time. that you may watch from the swimming pools. The road would get lengthy at instances, however if you happen to went at an off-peak time you’d stroll proper on. The yellow slide was nice for littler youngsters. 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 may 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 occasion on the highest deck! It was not normally this crowded)
Toy Story Splash Zone
The 2 youthful youngsters in our group cherished taking part in 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 beautiful 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 perfect half was the app advised us when the load was executed so we may promptly swap it over. I introduced two laundry pods from dwelling, however you may additionally buy cleaning soap together with your card.
There have been tons and tons of machines accessible. And ironing boards too! Whereas the $7 x 2 we paid to do laundry was nominal, I do suppose it might be good simply to have this price included given what we paid for the cruise.
The Health Heart
We went to the health middle a handful of instances. That they had plenty of gear, Peloton bikes, weights, and even a cycle room.
One in every of my solely complaints I had about our ship was that there wasn’t a round strolling observe. There was a observe, nevertheless it had stairs in the course of it and it didn’t go all the best way 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 appeared 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 getting into a ship with a push-button sliding door, and the screens went into hyper house periodically! Additionally they had the perfect drinks with an iPad menu. Try the bubbles of smoke!
Adults-Solely Space
It took me til the final day to search out the adults-only space; it was that secluded! The chairs had been additional plush, there was a personal bar and occasional store, and an infinity pool (which sadly, I by no means obtained in).
Leisure
Dwell Reveals
We went to 2 dwell reveals whereas at sea: The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. They had been each AMAZING! Plenty of nice singing, dancing, costumes, particular results. I additionally cherished that they had been each roughly an hour so consideration spans may tolerate them, and on our day at sea that they had a manatee at 2pm for individuals who wanted to be in mattress by 8. 10/10!
Smaller Reveals
There have been additionally reveals and music occurring within the grand corridor at varied instances. We stopped to pay attention to event.
Silent Disco
One evening, we discovered a kid-friendly Silent Disco! This was so enjoyable. My solely criticism 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, that they had a kid-friendly countdown at 7:30 and one other at midnight. Mazen was the one one to look forward to 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 youngsters within the age group of toddlers to tweens. In comparison with different cruise strains, Disney is VERY costly. I’d not advocate going if you happen to don’t have youngsters except you’re a Disney fanatic. The cruise for us was all concerning the youngsters! Having so many kid-centric issues (from the youngsters membership to decrease sinks within the loos) was excellent for our household of youngsters ages 5, 6, 8, and 12. In case you have older youngsters, I’d 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 effectively. See beneath!
Right here is my checklist 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 fingers 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 a fantastic job clearing tables and there was little trash wherever (which is spectacular since there are such a lot of youngsters working round!).
Lifeguards at Swimming pools and Castaway Cay
I used to be additionally so appreciative of all of the lifeguards! They had been in every single place and so they had been strict ( suppose from the mother and father’ POV). Even after we obtained off the boat at Castaway Cay, there have been lifeguards in every single place watching the play zones and snorkelers.
Service
The service on board was fabulous. We cherished our dinner service group and each “forged member” we met was so variety and useful. We solely have one main criticism on this entrance and that was on our first day about 25 totally different individuals requested if we wished to purchase a drink package deal. We had politely declined the primary few, nevertheless it obtained a bit extreme when new individuals stored coming as much as ask us again 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 (below $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 delicate drinks had been included.
The Reveals
They had been excellent! Child pleasant and really Disney. We cherished them.
Themed Dinners
An extended assessment will include that weblog submit, however the dinners had been incredible and the meals was excellent throughout the entire ship. There have been a number of “misses” with dishes we ordered, however total I’d give the meals an A-. The one food-related criticism I’ve is that the espresso was horrible. Even the paid degree of espresso I assumed was fairly dangerous.
WiFi
It will 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 aggravated to pay that, however as soon as I related it was nice. Speaking with texting was truly fairly vital for the reason that ship was so huge and our group was all unfold out, so we had been glad that at the very least iMessage was free! Mazen may textual content us with out having paid wifi on his telephone. This meant he may go to the tween membership or keep out later and we knew he may attain out or we may 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 all the time packed. They want a much bigger scorching tub!
Bogs In all places
There are tons of loos that had been all the time clear, so FYI for these of you who care about this type of element. 😉
Was it crowded?
There have been a number of instances when it appeared like everybody was in a single place, however for a ship as big 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 Price Further
As my sister put it, you may eat limitless filet mignons however you needed to pay for popcorn! Popcorn outdoors of the reveals/theaters was additional. This was so foolish to me since our youngsters clearly wished some. I suppose this simply retains everybody from getting it and making an enormous mess / losing it, nevertheless it was just a bit odd.
Character Traces
The one time I noticed tremendous lengthy strains was for characters. My youngsters weren’t that focused on assembly characters, however if in case you have somebody who’s, be ready to attend in a Disney World-esque line.
Atlantis Resort
This assessment 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 awakened and we needed to be off the ship by 9 or 9:30. The entire morning felt rushed and chaotic. I want we may have had somewhat extra time to take pleasure in a closing breakfast and get off somewhat extra slowly. I perceive they should turnover the boat, however after such a calming time the early morning made for a cautiously early closing evening and a extra annoying journey day.
General Assessment
In the event you love Disney, you’ll love a Disney Cruise! Actually every thing from the towels to the music to the reveals is Disney branded. There have been two new launch films taking part in (Mufasa and Moana 2) that sadly we had simply paid to see within the theater! I believe Disney Cruises are perfect for households with youngsters. It positively felt like extra of a trip for the grown-ups with every thing being so kid-friendly. The meals choices, the expectations, the actions, and the service was all geared in the direction of youngsters which simply makes every thing 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 at liberty to ask any extra questions you may have about particular issues within the feedback! Or share suggestions if you happen to’ve executed a Disney Cruise and have one thing to share that I missed.
