Living the Dream on the Disney Dream

I don’t enjoy road trips or car travel. Train rides are okay, but a little too slow for my liking. For many years I refused to fly because of a gripping fear. But get me on a boat, and I’m in heaven. The movement of the water is soothing to me, and I feel very relaxed on boats. So why did it take me 44 years to go on my first cruise?

Our ship was departing from Port Canaveral, FL, about an hour outside of Orlando. To ensure we didn’t miss the boat, we chose to arrive the day before we were to board. I wasn’t going to let a canceled or rescheduled flight get in the way of my first cruise! Arriving in Orlando midday, we headed to the Magic Kingdom for the rest of the day. It was just the right amount of time to hit the rides we wanted and get us in the Disney state of mind for our upcoming adventure at sea. The following morning, we met up with a group and boarded a bus to take us to port. Disney makes it so easy to get from point A to point B. Because I had filled out pre-boarding documents online, getting all four of us on the ship was a breeze. As a matter of fact, all of the documents and info they send prior to your trip really smooth preparations.

From the moment we boarded the ship, I knew this was the vacation for me. As we entered, in true Disney fashion the staff reads off your name, you walk a red carpet, and team members cheer your arrival. We unpacked, attended the mandatory drill and danced with Mickey, Minnie and the gang at the push-back dance party. Because there was so much I loved about this trip, and because I have a word limit on this article, here (in no particular order) are the top 10 things I loved about our Disney cruise:

10. Less work for me. I am a planner by nature. Disney takes care of all the planning for you! Meals are scheduled; events are scheduled. All I had to do was show up. What a treat to take all of that off of my plate so I could just relax and enjoy the trip.

9. The amount and variety of activities. Want to relax on your vacation? Then hang by the pool? Want adults-only fun? There are clubs, restaurants and pools just for that. Looking for family fun? Play bingo, see a show, sing karaoke—the list is endless. It’s all there, in one place!

8. Attention to food allergies. My younger has a severe peanut allergy. This was the first time we were away from a quick call to 911 if anything went wrong. I needn’t have worried. The entire staff was so attentive to her allergy and went above and beyond to make sure we were comfortable and that her special dietary needs were met.

7. Visiting Castaway Cay. Leave it to Disney to have their own private island for the exclusive use of their guests. And let me extend hearty thanks for having a tropical paradise that is not overly crowded and where every activity is up to Disney standards. Biking, snorkeling, water slides, burgers on the beach, sunbathing, etc, etc. Truly a day in paradise! Some cruises make two stops at Castaway Cay, and I’d highly recommend two days there.

6. Amount and variety of kids activities. From babies to teens, all ages have options for fun. Babies and toddlers are well supervised. School-aged children have so many fun activities to keep them busy all day. Tweens have their own special club, as do teens. Not only are these clubs full of fun activities, but they are very well secured. The tween club has an elevator that only a tween’s key card will work. How cool is that?

5. Wave phones in each room. I have a 13-year old—old enough to want her independence and be on her own, but not quite old enough to have it (in my humble opinion). With two-way wave phones in each room, I felt safe and secure in letting her go out and about on her own. I was able to keep tabs on her, and she was able to have her independence.

4. Availability of Disney Characters. Do you fall in the camp of people who like to get photos and autographs from characters? We do, and a Disney cruise is the perfect opportunity to have easy access to the characters. Lines are short, which makes getting a lot of photos in a short time easy-peasy. And, we were lucky enough to be there for a princess gathering. Tons of princesses all in the lobby of the ship. So fun!

3. Food, food and more food. My husband and I always joke that when it comes to planning a trip, food is a very important consideration for us both. Fortunately, the folks at Disney feel the same way. Every meal we ate was very good. And, in addition to quality food, there was a great variety.  On top of great food and great variety, the ship offered 24-hour self-serve ice cream cones. Need I say more?!?

2. Special events to attend. As if there weren’t enough to do, one night on our cruise was pirate night. The pirate party had a show, DJ and dancing and fireworks. We donned our eye patches and bandanas and partied hearty late into the night. Fireworks on the water were spectacular. Fun fact: After the fireworks are set off, they turn into fish food. Not only pretty, but good for the environment!

1. Level of customer service. If you have visited Disney World or Disneyland, then you know to what I am referring. If not, you are missing out. Disney employees (cast members) go above and beyond to make your cruise or visit to a theme park a once-in-a-lifetime event. Example from our cruise: We got to the pool only to find all chairs were taken. I asked one of the attendants about empty seats. He quickly found and arranged four lounge chairs for us—and did it gladly, with a smile. So refreshing!

Two reservations I had going into a cruise vacation were the size of staterooms and motion sickness. Neither turned out to be much of a concern. Was the room small? Yes, but we weren’t in there much, so it didn’t really seem to matter. And the bathrooms are set up so that the toilet is one room and the shower another, which makes all the difference for a family with kids. Luckily, no one had any issues with motion sickness on the boat., although I had trouble when we got off the boat. For about a week after the trip, I still felt the constant motion of the ship. A few dishes were casualties of my post-trip motion sickness, but it cleared up after a week.

The cruise turned out to be the perfect vacation for our family. And with the Disney stamp on it, a Disney cruise is a top-notch way to get away from it all and enjoy time together as a family.

Margaret Sarver dreams of her next Disney cruise vacation from her land-locked home in Lenexa.

Sidebar

Disney has four cruise ships: The Dream, Magic, Fantasy and Wonder. The boats cruise to many locations, including Alaska, the Bahamas, Caribbean, California Coast, Europe and more. Cruises range in length from a few days to a couple of weeks. Visit www.DisneyCruise.disney.go.com and start planning today!