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! Should you’d wish 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 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 suggest you attain out to her if you’re planning a Disney cruise (or any journey for that matter!). We had 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 good for first timers. We visited two islands and had someday 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 personal island)
• Day at Sea
• Arrive Cape Canaveral

Touring To Cape Canaveral

We flew down the day earlier than, which is at all times 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. Finally we made it to our resort – the TownPlace Suites Cape Canaveral – the place Grammie and Pea had been ready for us! I booked the resort night time free utilizing Marriott Factors, and it was a pleasant, new, clear resort. 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 resort shuttle, however 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 site visitors to unload baggage, getting on the boat was pretty simple. Disney requires you to add all your 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 speak a bit extra in regards to the ship’s cleanliness once 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’s 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 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 light-weight on and the boys had been at nighttime.

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 deliver a six pack aboard, and my sister introduced some gluten free beers for herself. 

The Lavatory

I cherished that the toilet had two separate areas for the bathroom and bathe. We undoubtedly used each on the similar 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 social gathering round 4:00! 

Nonetheless dressed up for Christmas

The Children 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 means 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 together 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 baby 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 means of the slide! Additionally they had the good 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 photographs from the children membership as a result of adults aren’t allowed in on regular hours. However the youngsters cherished 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 saved it attention-grabbing for them. The cutest half is that after they’re able to be picked up you get an alert by means of 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 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 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 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 to be like actually crowded right here as a result of this was through the sail off social gathering on the highest deck! It was not normally this crowded)

Toy Story Splash Zone

The 2 youthful youngsters in our group cherished 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 advised us when the load was completed so we may promptly swap it over. I introduced two laundry pods from house, however you could possibly additionally buy cleaning soap along with your card. 

There have been tons and tons of machines obtainable. And ironing boards too! Whereas the $7 x 2 we paid to do laundry was nominal, I do assume it could be good simply to have this price included given what we paid for the cruise. 

The Health Middle

We went to the health middle a handful of instances. They’d plenty of gear, Peloton bikes, weights, and even a cycle room. 

Considered one of my solely complaints I had about our ship was that there wasn’t a round strolling monitor. There was a monitor, however it had stairs in the midst of it and it didn’t go all the way in which across the ship so that you saved having to show again. I like to stroll on the higher decks if attainable. 

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 had been getting into a ship with a push-button sliding door, and the screens went into hyper area periodically! Additionally 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 seek out the adults-only space; it was that secluded! The chairs had been additional plush, there was a non-public 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 had been each AMAZING! A lot 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 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 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 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 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 children membership to decrease sinks within the loos) was good for our household of children ages 5, 6, 8, and 12. You probably have older youngsters, I might inform you to choose one other cruise line and save your self some cash. That mentioned, there have been some issues that Disney did so effectively. See under!

Right here is my listing 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 workers did an ideal job clearing tables and there was little trash anyplace (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 all over the place and so they had been strict (a great assume from the dad and mom’ POV). Even after we acquired 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 cherished our dinner service staff and each “solid member” we met was so form and useful. We solely have one main criticism on this entrance and that was on our first day about 25 completely different individuals requested if we wished to purchase a drink bundle. We had politely declined the primary few, however it acquired a bit extreme when new individuals saved coming as much as ask us again 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 possibly $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 had been included. 

The Reveals

They had been excellent! Child pleasant and really Disney. We cherished them. 

Themed Dinners

An extended evaluate will include that weblog put up, however the dinners had been implausible and the meals was superb throughout the entire ship. There have been just a few “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 stage of espresso I believed was fairly unhealthy. 

WiFi

It might 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 at the least 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 had been so heat and the children cherished them. There was just one sizzling tub that I keep in mind seeing within the adults-only space, and it was small so it was at all times packed. They want an even bigger sizzling tub! 

Bogs In all places

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 just a few instances when it appeared like everybody was in a single place, however for a ship as enormous 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 children clearly wished some. I assume this simply retains everybody from getting it and making an enormous mess / losing it, however it was just a bit odd. 

Character Traces

The one time I noticed tremendous lengthy strains was for characters. My youngsters weren’t that taken with 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 put up, 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 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 just a little extra time to take pleasure in a remaining breakfast and get off just a little extra slowly. I perceive they should turnover the boat, however after such a soothing time the early morning made for a cautiously early remaining night time and a extra nerve-racking journey day. 

Total Assessment

Should 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 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 thing 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 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 will have about particular issues within the feedback! Or share suggestions for those who’ve completed a Disney Cruise and have one thing to share that I missed.