I’ve at all times been an enormous Disney fan. Whether or not I’m visiting close by Disneyland or flying to its huge brother Disney World, there’s little about Disney I don’t like. This consists of its cruises, which I’ve been eyeing enviously for years.
Fortunately, I used to be just lately capable of take a Disney cruise, and the expertise lived as much as my expectations. Let’s speak about it on this assessment.
Like most all the things Disney, its cruises are costly. Whilst you would possibly discover a cruise for a few hundred {dollars} on a special line, count on to pay extra for Disney. Room charges begin at $1,400 for 2 company on the four-night cruise from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, that my household and I booked.
Reasonably than settling for an inside class room, we booked a deluxe oceanview stateroom with a verandah. Costs can fluctuate however count on to pay a minimal of $2,500 for this room kind.
Whereas reserving a Disney cruise is expensive, there are methods to assist carry down the value. If you happen to subscribe to Disney+, for instance, you could possibly make the most of a proposal permitting the third and fourth company in your stateroom to sail without spending a dime.
Those that dwell in Southern California, Florida or Canada can also qualify for discounted charges on choose routes and dates, as do these within the navy.
As soon as we booked the cruise, we obtained an e-mail affirmation. Together with particulars about our itinerary, the affirmation additionally included info concerning on-line check-in and documentation.
We would have liked to supply quite a lot of info earlier than departure, together with our passport info, COVID vaccination standing and different private particulars. As soon as accomplished, Disney assigned my household a port arrival time, which tell us when to indicate up for embarkation.
We had been additionally mailed baggage tags to connect to our suitcases. This meant we had been capable of drop off our baggage upon arrival and obtain them in our room a couple of hours later.
On the day of departure, we had been on account of board at 1:45 p.m. As soon as we arrived on the cruise terminal, nonetheless, we had been required to affix a number of very lengthy queues earlier than truly getting on the ship. This included a safety screening in addition to a further check-in course of.
The cruise ship terminal is decidedly unmagical. It’s a big concrete constructing crammed with ropes and one unhappy merchandising machine. All the course of took an hour from arrival till the time we bought into our rooms.
I want I might say this was sudden, however Disney is as identified for traces as it’s for high quality. All in all, I didn’t love the embarkation course of, however I perceive the need.
For what it is price, those that ebook Disney cruise concierge rooms take pleasure in a wholly separate and expedited check-in expertise.
The room
We had been aboard the Disney Surprise, which is certainly one of 5 ships that Disney operates. As I discussed, we had booked a room with a verandah. It felt fairly massive for a cruise room, particularly because it match each a king mattress and a fold-out sofa.
The entire sq. footage of the room got here in at 268 sq. ft, which implies a complete of three to 4 company can match. Nevertheless, my household had booked two separate (and connecting) rooms, which meant simply my brother and I had been sharing a room.
The room included all the usual facilities you’d count on, together with a hair dryer, expansive closet and fridge.
It’s clear that Disney expects many various kinds of company. I used to be grateful for the curtain divider that separated the “lounge” from the “bed room,” since my brother and I every had a non-public house.
My favourite half was our personal verandah, the place we spent a whole lot of time hanging out, studying and having fun with the wine we’d introduced with us.
I additionally particularly appreciated the toilet design. Reasonably than cramming all the things right into a single house, Disney has chosen to create two distinct bathing areas. One options the bathe and a sink.
The opposite has a further sink in addition to a rest room.
Such a design permits two teams of individuals to prepare concurrently, which is tremendous handy. The bathe additionally features a tub, which is uncommon for cruises. I think about the intention is to make it simpler for kids and households.
Word that every night time housekeeping got here in for turndown. This included creating enjoyable towel animals, changing the sofa right into a mattress and offering sweets.
Meals and beverage
I’ve been on cruises earlier than the place the meals was limitless however almost inedible. This wasn’t the case on my Disney cruise. Merely put, there may be meals all over the place, on a regular basis, and almost all of it’s unbelievable. Most meals on the ship is included together with your fare, although there may be one specialty dinner restaurant that prices cash.
Most non-alcoholic drinks are additionally included, equivalent to espresso and soda. Specialty coffees and smoothies price further, as do any alcoholic drinks.
🤓Nerdy Tip
Company are allowed to carry as much as two bottles of wine or six cans of beer with them once they board and at every port of name.
Within the mornings, there are two eating choices: a buffet or a sit-down restaurant. We tried out each, and the consequence was a powerful blended bag. I vastly most popular the sit-down choice, which had fewer choices however a a lot slower tempo.
As for meals, I notably loved the eggs benedict, although you’re capable of order as many meals as you’d like.
My dad, in the meantime, cherished the plethora of selections offered by the buffet, though it was rather more crowded than the sit-down restaurant.
At lunchtime, it was additionally potential to take pleasure in a plated meal, however we typically discovered ourselves too full to go in for an enormous portion. As a substitute, we loved fast bites from the pool deck, which included paninis, ice cream, rooster tenders, fries, sizzling canines, salads and extra.
Dinner was the crown jewel of the night. Every night time, we showered, bought dressed, then went to eat at a rotating number of eating places. Disney breaks up diners into two teams: First seating is at 5:45 and the second seating is at 8:15. We had the second seating, which was somewhat late for my style.
Once more, you may order as a lot as you want throughout your meals, which rapidly turns into a slippery slope. The primary night time I ordered only a single entree, however by the tip, a veritable pile of plates surrounded me throughout dinner.
I nonetheless haven’t any regrets.
A ultimate be aware: Though water is free onboard, it may be tough to return by, particularly in the event you didn’t carry your personal refillable bottle. Whereas room service will cost you for a bottle of water, it’ll carry you as many glasses as you want without spending a dime.
Leisure
There are virtually too many issues to do aboard this cruise ship, and we struggled somewhat making an attempt to suit all the things in.
Exhibits
Every night time, Disney placed on a special present in its major theater. That is maybe one of many issues I used to be most wanting ahead to — though almost all cruises present dwell leisure of some type, Disney’s is alleged to be the perfect. They didn’t disappoint. Whereas these weren’t, perhaps, Broadway-quality, they had been high-end, well-designed and actually enjoyable to observe.
Paid actions
Most all the things you do throughout your cruise takes place courtesy of the Disney Cruise app. This consists of viewing the day by day schedule and reserving any paid actions. Whereas these are fully elective, they’re a whole lot of enjoyable.
Throughout our journey, we tried each the whiskey tasting and the beer tasting, each of which had been well worth the extra price. If that is one thing you’re planning on doing, be ready to pay from $40 to $70 per particular person to your actions.
Video games and different actions
Like I mentioned above, there may be an absolute abundance of issues to do onboard. If you happen to’re not within the pool, gymnasium, spa, deck, sports activities or reveals, it’s nonetheless potential to search out tons of issues to do.
One favourite exercise was bingo, which featured a rolling jackpot and came about three out of the 4 days of our cruise.
There are additionally issues like Disney films enjoying in varied theaters, towel folding lessons, karaoke, trivia contests, drawing lessons and extra.
Actions for teenagers
If you happen to’re touring as a household, you’ll be glad to notice that there are many issues for teenagers to do as nicely. Whereas I didn’t spend any time in these venues, I did peek into Vibe, the teen-exclusive hangout space on the high of the ship. Youngsters even have entry to the Chill Spa, which is designed particularly for his or her age group.
Tweens aren’t not noted, both. The Edge membership fills the area of interest between teenagers and kids and options video video games in addition to a dance flooring.
Kids’s actions
Once more, we had been a gaggle of 4 adults touring collectively, so we didn’t have to make the most of any kids’s actions, however suffice it to say that children have rather a lot to select from. The Oceaneer Lab was particularly standard and is for these ages 3 to 12.
Facilities
Swimming pools
Deck 9 and above featured a few totally different swimming pools, a splash pad, a waterslide and a sports activities space.
Though Disney cruises are positively oriented towards kids, additionally they keep separate adult-only areas. As a household of 4 adults, we definitely loved the quiet that got here with our personal personal pool.
Spa
The Senses Spa and Salon presents all kinds of therapies, from {couples} massages to haircuts and manicures. I didn’t indulge, however my mother and father did, and so they had a good time. There’s additionally the choice to buy entry to the Rainforest Room, which incorporates heated stone chairs, a sauna and a steam room.
Fitness center
If you happen to’re the kind of one who needs to train whereas on trip, the ship’s health middle has you lined. Though I visited solely as soon as, I fairly loved the well-stocked services and the power to look out over the water whereas understanding.
There have been fairly a couple of treadmills, bikes (each spinning and recumbent), free weights, ellipticals and actually fascinating curved treadmills that I used to be too afraid to strive.
Wi-Fi
Disney offers all its clients 50 MB of free information on day one. After that, you’ll have to pay, although the pricing is exorbitant and begins at $19.99 for a further 50 MB. It’s not that quick, both, in accordance with my mother, who spent the cash and instantly regretted it.
I resisted the urge to buy any and as a substitute relied on my worldwide information once we made port. It was powerful however I survived.
This four-day cruise included only one cease in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. I’ve by no means been an enormous fan of stopovers on cruises, largely as a result of I really feel like they’re too brief and inauthentic. That was the case right here, although this wasn’t any fault of Disney.
The disembarkation and re-embarkation course of was easy, although we did have to board a smaller boat to get to land. Though we might have stayed out from 9 a.m. to three p.m., we ended up returning early to take pleasure in lunch on the ship.
Word that it’s potential to ebook excursions by the Disney Cruise Line app in addition to onshore, although we selected to not.
After breakfast on our final morning, it was time to disembark. We selected to carry our baggage with us, although it was potential to have it delivered right down to the terminal.
The disembarkation course of was as magical because the embarkation course of. That’s to say that it was horrible, disorganized and took approach too lengthy. We stood in line for greater than an hour each on the ship and onshore as we waited for the immigration clerks to course of the numerous hundreds of passengers.
Disney cruise assessment recapped
I’ve waited a whole lot of years to expertise a Disney cruise, and on the finish of all of it, I’m glad I had the chance. Was it costly? Sure. Was it price the fee? Additionally, sure. Though I haven’t booked one other Disney cruise but, I’m wanting ahead to the day I can board one once more.
(Prime photograph courtesy of Carissa Rawson)
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