Just come back from a Disney cruise AMA

[Disneydance]

Just got back from my first Disney cruise. I had loads of questions and couldn’t find any answers on here before we went so thought I’d do an AMA in case anyone else wants to ask :)

I love a cruise, but do they do adults only?

@LillianOrGillian - my friend and her daughter have gone on the exact same cruise this week and they're 50 and 24.

To add to what @Disneydance said, one of the biggest things for me is the kids clubs which are awesome and kids love them which means we adults have time to do adult things on our own including going to the spa or the adult only restaurants, bars, games etc onboard.

@Disneydance what ship were you on?

I am booked on the Fantasy next summer 7 nights Eastern Caribbean itinerary, can’t wait.

It would have to be pretty choppy for you to feel sick on a cruise ship-they engineered to try and avoid it for a start! I get sick on ferries, and I wouldn't even consider a channel ferry crossing. Never had a problem on a cruise ship though!

They’re four and eight so similar age to yours. They loved it! Youngest loved all the characters and eldest loved all the activities and kids club

@margotsdevil It definitely had the magic! It was amazing walking around the corner and bumping into Mickey or Belle! There’s a lot of activities to do onboard as well, there’s random gifting to rooms and the shows are incredible!

@hmb255 I get very sea sick and had very few issues on this! The combination of the size of the ship, the stabilisers and copious tablets meant I was fine. It’s the first time I’ve ever eaten on a boat/ship before! They had magic medicine in the sick bay, two tablets a day and I was fine. I could feel the boat movement still, but it didn’t make me feel ill like travelling usually does

@Crazyrichcat 😆 no, but my Tescos delivery daughter was also on board apparently!

@MMorales there was sooo much food! The restaurants were quite upscale food, then the buffet was just massive. There was always fast food style food too. I met several vegetarian and vegans who said they had lots of options. I know they were also really good with dietary requirements too.

@LillianOrGillian I don’t think they do cruises specifically adult only, but they have adult only sections on the ship? Separate pools, cafes, and bars. They also have adult only restaurants

@IReallyStillCantBeBothered it was the Dream. I’m desperate to try the other ships now! I might hold out for the Treasure for my next booking! I’d love to see Castaway Quay though!

Was there lots of queuing? And was it possible to get into the shows you wanted to see and things?

I’m really tempted as we are a big Disney family, but not sure I’d be keen if it’s the sort of set up where some people have an amazing trip but others can’t get into shows, meet characters, get meals at sensible times etc

Is it worth the money? I’d love to do one.
Is the food good?
On the day you get off at destination can you just get off for a couple of hours and then get back on the ship?

We’re there any disabled adults/children on board?
Is it very crowded?
was your cabin somewhere you’d want to spend time?

The Fantasy is the same size and layout as The Dream, different restaurants and shops though, different shows too. Wonder and Magic are smaller, however they don’t feel smaller once you’re on them. I was on The Dream first and then a year later went on The Magic, I couldn’t tell the difference tbh. Only when I went back on The Dream I could see it. Wonder and Magic are same layouts too. The Wish is controversial to many Disney Cruise fans. Entirely different layout, which some say doesn’t flow and they kept coming up against dead ends, also some say not as much Disney theming as they’d like, also the adult areas are not all together and kids can just walk through them to get to other places. I’d like to see for myself.

That seems insanely expensive to me for a four-night trip to spend a few hours in a city you’d been to already and weren’t that interested in!

My question is — who were your fellow-cruisers?

@Glitterbaby17 the queues for the characters was awful! All around the deck of the ship. At one point we joined the queue to meet Goofy and were in it so long that his slot finished and he was switched for Daisy! However, they do random walk arounds which aren’t scheduled. The only character we queued for was Goofy/Daisy. While one of us queued, the other three wandered around and met Mickey, Minnie, Rapunzel, Belle and Donald Duck. After that, we didn’t bother to queue to meet anyone. The only two characters we didn’t meet were Stitch (met someone who did, it took two hours queuing, one before the meet and greet opened and one of a slowly moving queue) and Pluto. We did dance with Pluto at the dance party, just didn’t get his signature.
Had no issues getting into the shows turned up 15 minutes before and walked straight in, three of us sat on the 5th row on the aisle so great seats for Beauty and the Beast!

@MyFuckRationsAreDepleated i think so? It was magical and so exciting. There was stuff to do all the time. The food was great and shows were amazing! It was insanely expensive for four days, but I paid for it for over a year so didn’t feel like it was so much?
they really pushed the excursions for the destination, but the day before they announced a free shuttle would run all day from the port to the centre of the town, which is what we did. Got off early for a few hours and then back on. Didn’t queue for either getting on or off or the bus

Ooh no questions but I'm packing for the Northern European & Norweigen Fords cruise out of Southampton on Sunday.

Can't wait.

I've been on the Dream before in the Bahamas but the last 2 years was on the magic.

I am mostly looking forward to the food and having a glass of wine on the balcony of our cabin and the adult only pool and spa area!

@Ohthatsabitshit yeah loads! My son has additional needs and I was really worried but there were loads of kids and adults wearing sunflower lanyards, people in wheelchairs and other additional needs. It felt like a higher proportion than I normally notice if I’m honest!

yes we sat in the room a little. My son likes to be out and doing stuff. But he went to the kids club a couple of times and we sat in the room with a drink from room service which was nice!

Actually one question what did you think of the 4 night France or Spain itinerary (assume that was your trip) as I've not done one, but I did do a staycation at the end of the pandemic?

For many the ships are the attraction not necessarily the ports of call. And yea Disney cruises are more expensive than the likes of Celebrity, Caribbean etc but there’s a lot included that you can do on the ship.

It also includes stops to their private island Castaway Cay which is amazing and they now have a new private island so some itineraries will stop at both.

We can spend the whole 7 nights on the ship without getting off at any port (aside Castaway) and not get bored. Includes good food, the service is top notch, shoes, games, entertainment, spa, bars etc you name it.

Nice, as one other poster said the Dream is the sister ship to the Fantasy so they are similar. Looking forward to the launch of the Treasure, hopefully they work out the kinks they had with the Wish.

Another dream of mine is to take a disney cruise to Alaska, that’s on my list maybe within the next 3-5 years.

Castaway Cay is amazing, and if you can choose an itinerary that stops at both Castaway and the new private island Lighthouse.

Also you will probably need to join the cruise from one of the US ports to stop at Castaway.

there’s random gifting to rooms

What sort of gifts were they?

@IReallyStillCantBeBothered i have done Alaska with Disney Cruise. It’s everything you could hope for and more. Best experience of my life by far, apart from things like birth of children etc obvs 😁