Over New Yr’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, examine my Instagram spotlight.
Our Disney Cruise Journey Recap!
We had an exquisite 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 have been prepared. My sister is a journey advisor and did all of the planning for us. We simply needed to pay up! I extremely suggest you attain out to her in case you are planning a Disney cruise (or any journey for that matter!). We have been capable of 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 someday at sea. I’ve numerous ideas on the islands, so keep tuned for these posts coming quickly!
- Depart Cape Canaveral
- Nassau, Bahamas
- Castaway Cay (Disney’s personal island)
- Day at Sea
- Arrive Cape Canaveral
Touring To Cape Canaveral
We flew down the day earlier than, which is all the time really useful 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 anticipate an Uber on the airport which took a very long time. Finally we made it to our lodge – the TownPlace Suites Cape Canaveral – the place Grammie and Pea have been ready for us! I booked the lodge night time free utilizing Marriott Factors, and it was a pleasant, new, clear lodge. Would suggest!
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 trying out 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 an extended line of visitors to unload baggage, getting on the boat was pretty straightforward. Disney requires you to add your whole 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 contours, all of them moved shortly. We have been aboard in in all probability 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 have been delish. I’ll discuss a bit extra in regards to the ship’s cleanliness once I get to eating, however we have been VERY impressed. There are hand washing stations in every single place, and a lot of the meals is served to you so there’s minimal touching amongst visitors.
Our Stateroom
After lunch, we went to take a look at our stateroom and unpack. We have 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 undoubtedly 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 have been at midnight.
We additionally had a welcome present from our journey advisor! There’s a mini fridge drawer within the room to maintain drinks chilly. You might be additionally allowed to carry a six pack aboard, and my sister introduced some gluten free beers for herself.
The Rest room
I liked that the lavatory had two separate areas for the bathroom and bathe. We undoubtedly used each on the similar time many occasions. If somebody was showering, you may nonetheless wash your fingers on the opposite facet. The toilet was fairly good!
We unpacked our garments into the closets and drawers. I do suppose they might 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 Youngsters Membership
Aka the Oceaneer Membership aka the most well-liked spot on the ship! After 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 downside that Mazen couldn’t be along with his cousins, however he ended up going to Edge rather a lot and made pals there, so all of it labored out.
The Star Wars room on the Oceaneer Membership
Every little one was given a wristband that they wanted to sign up that we returned on the final day. They might select to go in from the foyer or by the slide! In addition they had the best handwashing station ever the place you set 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 liked it! They went for just a few hours every day which was SUCH a pleasant break for us to train or lounge.
Along with the continuing actions, they’d 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 may 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 motion pictures enjoying all.the.time. that you may watch from the swimming pools. The road would get lengthy at occasions, however for those who 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 have been on the small facet, however they have been HEATED which was so good! And there have been loads of life jackets you may borrow in case you have a younger swimmer.
(It appears 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 liked enjoying 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 informed us when the load was accomplished so we may promptly change it over. I introduced two laundry pods from house, however you may additionally buy cleaning soap together with your card.
There have been tons and tons of machines out there. And ironing boards too! Whereas the $7 x 2 we paid to do laundry was nominal, I do suppose it could be good simply to have this value included given what we paid for the cruise.
The Health Heart
We went to the health middle a handful of occasions. They’d numerous tools, 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 monitor. There was a monitor, 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 potential.
The view from the health monitor seemed 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 have been getting into a ship with a push-button sliding door, and the screens went into hyper house periodically! In addition 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 seek out the adults-only space; it was that secluded! The chairs have been further plush, there was a personal bar and occasional store, and an infinity pool (which sadly, I by no means acquired in).
Leisure
Stay Reveals
We went to 2 stay reveals whereas at sea: The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. They have been each AMAZING! Plenty of nice singing, dancing, costumes, particular results. I additionally liked that they have been each roughly an hour so consideration spans may tolerate them, and on our day at sea they’d 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 occasions. We stopped to eavesdrop on event.
Silent Disco
One night time, we discovered a kid-friendly Silent Disco! This was so enjoyable. My solely criticism was it solely lasted 45 minutes and the subsequent night time it was after bedtime.
Deck Events
There have been deck events every night time, however I not often stayed up late sufficient. One was pirate themed! And on New Yr’s, they’d a kid-friendly countdown at 7:30 and one other at midnight. Mazen was the one one to wait for the midnight fireworks!
Weblog Posts To Come:
- All of our buffet meals and theme dinners (Wednesday)
- Our two island stops (Friday)
General Overview Of Our Disney Cruise
We had a good time, and we actually liked the cruise! My general impression is that this cruise is ideal for folks with youngsters within the age group of toddlers to tweens. In comparison with different cruise traces, Disney is VERY costly. I might not suggest going for those who don’t have youngsters until you’re a Disney fanatic. The cruise for us was all in regards to the youngsters! Having so many kid-centric issues (from the youngsters membership to decrease sinks within the bogs) was excellent for our household of youngsters ages 5, 6, 8, and 12. When you’ve got older youngsters, I might inform you to select one other cruise line and save your self some cash. That mentioned, there have been some issues that Disney did so nicely. See under!
Right here is my record of issues we liked/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 typically. There have been even a row of sinks going into the informal eating space. Earlier than dinner we have been all given hand wipes. The ship was additionally VERY clear. The workers did a fantastic job clearing tables and there was little trash anyplace (which is spectacular since there are such a lot of youngsters operating round!).
Lifeguards at Swimming pools and Castaway Cay
I used to be additionally so appreciative of all of the lifeguards! They have been in every single place they usually have been strict (a very good suppose from the mother and father’ POV). Even after we acquired 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 liked our dinner service staff and each “solid 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 folks requested if we needed to purchase a drink bundle. We had politely declined the primary few, nevertheless it acquired a bit extreme when new folks stored coming as much as ask us time and again. Everybody was nonetheless good although!
Drink Costs
You’d count on drinks and wine to be obscenely priced on a cruise ship, however they weren’t!! Wines have been $9-15 (below $10!) and cocktails have 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 tender drinks have been included.
The Reveals
They have been excellent! Child pleasant and really Disney. We liked them.
Themed Dinners
An extended evaluation will include that weblog submit, however the dinners have been incredible and the meals was excellent throughout the entire ship. There have been just a few “misses” with dishes we ordered, however general I’d give the meals an A-. The one food-related criticism I’ve is that the espresso was horrible. Even the paid stage of espresso I believed was fairly dangerous.
WiFi
It could 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 linked it was nice. Speaking with texting was truly fairly essential for the reason that ship was so massive and our group was all unfold out, so we have been glad that a minimum of iMessage was free! Mazen may textual content us with out having paid wifi on his cellphone. 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 have been so heat and the youngsters liked them. There was just one scorching tub that I keep in mind seeing within the adults-only space, and it was small so it was all the time packed. They want an even bigger scorching tub!
Loos All over the place
There are tons of bogs that have been all the time clear, so FYI for these of you who care about this type of element. 😉
Was it crowded?
There have been just a few occasions 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 Value 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 further. This was so foolish to me since our youngsters clearly needed 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 Strains
The one time I noticed tremendous lengthy traces was for characters. My youngsters weren’t that taken with assembly characters, however in case you have somebody who’s, be ready to attend in a Disney World-esque line.
Atlantis Resort
This evaluation 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 have been at port on our final morning earlier than we wakened 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 a bit extra time to get pleasure from a ultimate breakfast and get off a bit extra slowly. I perceive they must turnover the boat, however after such a soothing time the early morning made for a cautiously early ultimate night time and a extra anxious journey day.
General Overview
In the event you love Disney, you’ll love a Disney Cruise! Actually every part from the towels to the music to the reveals is Disney branded. There have been two new launch motion pictures enjoying (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 undoubtedly felt like extra of a trip for the grown-ups with every part being so kid-friendly. The meals choices, the expectations, the actions, and the service was all geared in direction of youngsters which simply makes every part 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 happy to ask any extra questions you’ve gotten about particular issues within the feedback! Or share ideas for those who’ve accomplished a Disney Cruise and have one thing to share that I ignored.
