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! When you’d prefer to see the video model, test 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 each 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 if you’re 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 good for first timers. We visited two islands and had at some point 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 non-public island)
- Day at Sea
- Arrive Cape Canaveral
Touring To Cape Canaveral
We flew down the day earlier than, which is at all times really helpful 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. 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 night time 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 following 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 simple. Disney requires you to add your whole paperwork forward of time in order that check-in was simple. We had a 12:30 check-in time, and whereas there have been crowds and features, all of them moved shortly. 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 all over the place, and a lot of the meals is served to you so there may be minimal touching amongst company.
Our Stateroom
After lunch, we went to take a look at our stateroom and unpack. We had been on the seventh ground (room 7034 to be actual!) and had a stunning 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 had been in the dead of night.
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 deliver a six pack aboard, and my sister introduced some gluten free beers for herself.
The Toilet
I liked that the toilet had two separate areas for the bathroom and bathe. We undoubtedly used each on the identical time many instances. If somebody was showering, you could possibly nonetheless wash your fingers on the opposite facet. The lavatory was fairly good!
We unpacked our garments into the closets and drawers. I do assume they may have had extra drawers on the children’ 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 preferred spot on the ship! After we arrived, the children membership had an open home so adults may stroll by way of it. We had three youngsters beneath 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 along with his cousins, however he ended up going to Edge rather a lot and made buddies 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 register that we returned on the final day. They may select to go in from the foyer or by way of 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 teenagers!
I don’t have a ton of photographs from the children membership as a result of adults aren’t allowed in on regular hours. However the youngsters liked it! They went for a couple of hours every day which was SUCH a pleasant break for us to train or lounge.
Along with the continued actions, they’d character visits and particular occasions that stored it attention-grabbing for them. The cutest half is that once they’re able to be picked up you get an alert by way of your app that claims “Birch want 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 trip that the children LOVED! There have been additionally Disney motion pictures enjoying all.the.time. that you could possibly 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 could possibly borrow you probably have a younger swimmer.
(It appears actually crowded right here as a result of this was through the sail off occasion on the highest deck! It was not often 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 one of the best half was the app instructed us when the load was finished so we may promptly swap it over. I introduced two laundry pods from dwelling, however you could possibly additionally buy cleaning soap along 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 assume it might be good simply to have this value included given what we paid for the cruise.
The Health Middle
We went to the health heart a handful of instances. That they had numerous gear, Peloton bikes, weights, and even a cycle room.
Certainly one 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 way in which 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 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 had been coming into a ship with a push-button sliding door, and the screens went into hyper area periodically! In addition they had one of the best 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 low store, and an infinity pool (which sadly, I by no means received in).
Leisure
Stay Reveals
We went to 2 reside reveals whereas at sea: The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. They had been each AMAZING! Numerous nice singing, dancing, costumes, particular results. I additionally liked that they had 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 happening within the grand corridor at numerous instances. We stopped to pay attention to 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 following 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 look ahead to the midnight fireworks!
Weblog Posts To Come:
- All of our buffet meals and theme dinners (Wednesday)
- Our two island stops (Friday)
Total Assessment 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 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 children membership to decrease sinks within the loos) was good for our household of youngsters ages 5, 6, 8, and 12. When you have older youngsters, I might let you know to choose one other cruise line and save your self some cash. That stated, there have been some issues that Disney did so nicely. See beneath!
Right here is my listing 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 had been all given hand wipes. The ship was additionally VERY clear. The workers did an important 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 had been all over the place and so they had been strict (an excellent assume from the dad and mom’ POV). Even once we received off the boat at Castaway Cay, there have been lifeguards all over the 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 sort and useful. We solely have one main criticism on this entrance and that was on our first day about 25 completely different folks requested if we wished to purchase a drink package deal. We had politely declined the primary few, nevertheless it received 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 had been $9-15 (beneath $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 each one comfortable drinks had been included.
The Reveals
They had been excellent! Child pleasant and really Disney. We liked them.
Themed Dinners
An extended evaluate will include that weblog publish, however the dinners had been implausible and the meals was superb throughout the entire ship. There have been a couple of “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 related it was nice. Speaking with texting was really fairly essential for the reason that ship was so massive and our group was all unfold out, so we had been glad that not less than 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 recreation changer! Chilly swimming pools would have been depressing. They had been so heat and the children liked them. There was just one sizzling tub that I bear in mind seeing within the adults-only space, and it was small so it was at all times packed. They want a much bigger sizzling tub!
Loos In every single place
There are tons of loos that had been at all times clear, so FYI for these of you who care about this sort of element. 😉
Was it crowded?
There have been a couple of instances when it appeared like everybody was in a single place, however for a ship as large 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 could possibly eat limitless filet mignons however you needed to pay for popcorn! Popcorn exterior 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 traces was for characters. My youngsters weren’t that keen on assembly characters, however you probably have somebody who’s, be ready to attend in a Disney World-esque line.
Atlantis Resort
This evaluate is coming in a separate publish, 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 awoke 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 remaining 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 remaining night time and a extra traumatic journey day.
Total Assessment
When you love Disney, you’ll love a Disney Cruise! Actually all the pieces 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 feel Disney Cruises are perfect for households with youngsters. It undoubtedly felt like extra of a trip for the grown-ups with all the pieces being so kid-friendly. The meals choices, the expectations, the actions, and the service was all geared in direction of youngsters which simply makes all the pieces 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’ve got about particular issues within the feedback! Or share ideas if you happen to’ve finished a Disney Cruise and have one thing to share that I neglected.
