Disney cruise trip recap SO LONG

[countthestars]

Hi everyone! We just got back from our Disney cruise with 2 little ones - DD is 2.75 and DS is 6 months. We went on a 4 night cruise (Disney Dream) from Port Canaveral with stops in Nassau and Castaway Cay.

POR
We flew down 1.5 days early because of flight costs/timing and because I was worried that the 4 nights wouldn't be enough of a vacation - I'm really glad we did! We didn't do the parks because our kids are little, DD still needs a 2-3 hour midday nap and does better in a bed, DD is a nervous nellie and I was worried about freaking her out before we got on the boat, and I couldn't justify the cost. We stayed at POR and it was nice. We got a Riverview Princess room, which DD loved. I think it was like $20 extra per night. There were framed photos of the princesses on the walls and the picture on the headboard did a cute little magical twinkling show with pretend fireworks. The best part about the Princess rooms IMO is the location - they are in the last building at POR before the walk to POFQ so we were able to take advantage of both resorts pretty easily. POR is pretty huge and the rooms on the opposite side would have been a long walk to POFQ. Night 1 we walked to POFQ to play on the playground and eat dinner and beignets. The food was fine. Day 2 we swam at POFQ -DD wouldn't go in the splash pad (the water was really cold!!) but swam with DH and they had a good time. We had breakfast and lunch at POR and they were both fine again - nothing to write home about but not bad. The playground at POR was better than FQ IMO. At night we took the boat to Disney Springs. We didn't have dinner reservations but got into Rainforest Cafe in ~20 minutes. As we walked in they were telling parties that the wait was over 90 minutes so we must have gotten lucky with timing. The food was pretty average but they did exchange DD's mac and cheese for nuggets for free after she refused to eat what she ordered. We had ice cream at Ghiradelli's and took the boat home. Disney Springs was pretty packed - maybe because of school vacation week?

Cruise
Our cruise was set to leave on Monday and you can start getting on the ship around 11:30, I believe. Someone from Disney came to pick up our luggage at the room to bring it to the ship - this is awesome! We just had to stick little luggage tags on our stuff and we said goodbye to our bags until we got on the ship. We kept the stroller, Lillebaby, H's backpack and my carry on with us because we needed clothes, diapers, etc for the full day. It can take a while to get your stuff once on the ship. Everything we read said to be there early to take advantage of your time on the ship and get princess tickets. If you are staying on Disney property and using the Disney transportation, they don't tell you until the night before what time you are getting picked up. THIS IS ANNOYING. We got back from Disney Springs to find that we weren't getting picked up until 12:30 and that it could be up to 90 minutes on the bus depending on what stop our resort was / traffic. H freaked out that we weren't going to be early enough and that we were going to be stuck in long lines when we got to the port. Of course they were closed when he tried to call. Around 10 the next morning he called again (not sure why we didn't try sooner?) and the very nice lady told us that we could get on the 11:15 at Contemporary if we could get over there. I was nervous, but we decided to do it. I was mostly concerned that we would trek all the way over there with our kids and carry ons and would be too late and then have to trek BACK to POR for our 12:30 bus. We ended up hauling ass to the bus stop, catching a MK bus and walking to Contemporary. We had plenty of time. Contemporary was the last stop of 3 before heading to Port Canaveral so we had a pretty quick and easy bus ride there. When we got to the port, it was SUPER easy and quick to check in and Goofy was in the lobby taking pictures which was a fun way to kick off the trip.

We went right to guest services for princess tickets and were told that they were already all gone, so I told the very nice cast member that we REALLY REALLY needed them and that I would appreciate anything she could do. We got Anna and Elsa tickets for Tuesday and we ended up getting Princess meet and greet tickets for Tuesday as well - they dropped them off in our stateroom.

Room: we were in the very back of the ship facing literally out the back. I was really nervous about this because I thought we'd all be seasick but it was actually really nice! The rooms are tight and we had a ton of luggage with us because we suck at packing but it ended up being fine. We were able to easily fit our stroller (City Mini single) and the awesome stateroom host (housekeeping) did a lot of tidying for us. We ended up throwing her an extra $20 because she was so great. Our room was especially cool at Castaway Cay because we were facing out to the beach and the room is in the background of the professional photos from when you get off.
Food: I thought the food was very average, even the night time dinners. They were great about getting DD food she would eat even if it wasn’t on the menu and our waiters were very nice and helpful. They always had DD’s water ready and labeled with her name at dinner time and they were very quick to offer us extra servings of food or allow us to order multiple appetizers/meals/desserts whatever we wanted. Our favorite meal was Animator’s Palate – the menu was just better than the other two. We thought the food at Royal Palace was pretty terrible except dessert. The Pirate night menu (same at all restaurants) was pretty good and Enchanted Garden was good. The variety every night was good and there was at least something we wanted to try in every part of the menu.

Characters: there were TONS of opportunities to meet characters which was awesome! The princess meet and greet was nice because it was ticketed and the line was short. We were able to spend time with Belle, Snow White, and Rapunzel. All were very sweet. Anna and Elsa were set up in Animator’s Palate in a winter wonderland and that was also really awesome – short line, plenty of time with the characters, great photos. Cinderella was the only other princess available and she was around only at designated times/areas. We were hoping for more princesses but understand that they can’t pay a billion people to just dress up on the ship. All character greeting times and locations are posted and people start lining up about 15 minutes in advance. Some of the lines got really long which was a little annoying. Characters on board included: Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Donald, Daisy, Buzz, Woody, Chip, Dale, Jack Sparrow… maybe more? Every character was out multiple times and they were all dressed for theme nights – dress up, pirate, cruise wear, so that was really cool. In addition to regular lining up, we also went to the princess gathering on the last day which was an opportunity to see Belle and Snow White without needing tickets, there was a dance party with the core characters midday the last day, the characters were part of the pirate show on pirate night, and the core characters were at both the cruise kick off show and the Sea You Real Soon goodbye show. So again, tons of character interaction. Oh! And Peter Pan and Stitch were just randomly wandering the boat and we ran into each multiple times.

Nursery: the nursery is a godsend. WOW! We had such a great experience with them!! We decided on day 1 to book DS at the nursery for dinner every night (after the shitshow that he was at the Rainforest Café). This was the best decision we made! He went and hung out with the nice ladies or napped and we got to spend some alone time with DD and eat with our two hands. We also sent DS for an hour during one of the days and sent both kids for two hours on two nights (8-10pm). DD usually goes to bed by 8 but she was awesome on the trip and had so much fun in the nursery she begged to go back. I know they colored and watched Cars and ate saltines but other than that it’s hard to get a good report from a 2 year old. When you drop off your kid(s) you mark off whether they can/must/can’t have juice/milk/a nap/snacks etc and there’s a place for other comments from you. Each kid is given a bracelet and has a sticker on his back with his name but I felt like they knew us right away. The ladies were all super sweet and caring – just what you want from a childcare person! They said that the nursery was busy that week with lots of littles but we didn’t have any trouble booking time and we were able to extend by a half hour by just calling them when our dinner ran over. They have everyone’s photo in their computer so they can confirm that your child is yours, plus you need to have your room key and your child’s secret word to take them from the nursery so it’s very secure. I will mention that while DD LOVED it there, other kids nearing 3 may not have found it as fun – she is nervous and shy so it was the right speed for her. Oh!! And, Rapunzel and Peter Pan just stopped in one night to play with the kids – DD literally just hung out with some characters while H and I were at dinner. How cool is that? The kids club looked awesome and there were lots of planned activities for the older kids that seemed really cool.

Castaway Cay was nice but really hot and hard with the baby – we were off the ship from 9-1:30 or so and then got back on so DD could nap. I would bet that it would be lots of fun with kids who were a little older and could be out in the sun. The beach was really crowded too, so I would recommend getting off early. We did not leave the ship in Nassau because we only had 1 other sea day and we wanted to get the full Disney Cruise experience. It seems like many/most people also stayed on. The splash pad on the ship was fun and the water was really warm and nice.

Other cool things we didn’t get to do or try because of the kids: the Aquaduck looked awesome but we didn’t get to do it. I just never got around to it. The Jungle Book came out in theaters on the last day so they showed it in both 2D and 3D at midnight on the last night. I thought that was so cool!! We didn’t go though. They were also playing recent movies in the theater including the new Star Wars movie, The Good Dinosaur, and Inside Out (among others). The night time shows looked great but were too loud for DD so we had to skip them . I wish we had gone to at least 1!

Gosh, I’m sure I’m forgetting a lot – feel free to ask if you have questions! Overall it was a fun trip for us – some of it was a lot like traveling with an infant and 2 year old but Disney does so much to make sure there is something for everyone.

If you are wondering what we spent:
Cruise including transfers: $2667
Cruise extras (includes daycare, tips, coffees, $55 in souveniers, $55 in professional photos, no alcohol) $400 (actually $550 but worked with a travel agent and got $150 on board credit)
POR (2 nights, 2 breakfasts, 1 lunch, 1 dinner, snacks): $615
Plus flights, Rainforest Café, airport food

[ribollita]

How fun!! Thanks for sharing. My #2 is always wanting to be in the big kids with her older sibling so I was planning to wait until she was three, but that's coming up. Loved reading about your experiences.

So did everyone staying at WDW pre cruise miss out on the princess tickets?! I'd be so irritated. Glad you got some.

[countthestars]

Apr 18, 2016 15:17:07 GMT -5 ribollita said:

How fun!! Thanks for sharing. My #2 is always wanting to be in the big kids with her older sibling so I was planning to wait until she was three, but that's coming up. Loved reading about your experiences.

So did everyone staying at WDW pre cruise miss out on the princess tickets?! I'd be so irritated. Glad you got some.

I can definitely see the benefit of waiting until your DC2 is old enough for the big kids club - that's "free" (I'm sure you pay more for a 3 year old than an infant but no cost on the back end). Nursery was $9/hour.

I'm not sure about the WDW people but I would have been SO PISSED if we didn't get them. I basically told the cast member that the princesses were the only reason we were on the ship and that I wouldn't take no for an answer (ha!). There were other opportunities to meet them but not as many and the lines got long quickly!

[ssmjlm]

Yall are rockstars for doing that with 2 little ones. I don't know why I thought you were going with family.

I've heard so/so reviews on the food.

[egishere]

Sounds awesome! we are doing the Dream in Sept. I think we are going to take private transportation because for a family of five its either not much more than the Disney bus or a little less? I can't remember what my TA said about that. Good tip about the princess tickets too!

[mellymel]

Thanks for the detailed review! We are going on that exact cruise in November so I'm really happy to see your honest thoughts on it. I am bummed that I keep hearing that the food is meh, but it sounds like there are lots of great parts. My kids will be 3 and 5 when we sail.

[bronxgirl]

That sounds/looks so fun. DD was the same age as your daughter when we did a Disney Cruise and it was so awesome. They didn't have tickets for the princesses when we did it, so we just waited in a really long line.

[countthestars]

Apr 18, 2016 15:34:25 GMT -5 ssmjlm said:

Yall are rockstars for doing that with 2 little ones. I don't know why I thought you were going with family.

I've heard so/so reviews on the food.

I think maybe we are just totally nuts . We usually do Disney with my family but this one was just us. It was fun but a lot of work. I will admit I am bummed that we missed some fun stuff.

[countthestars]

Apr 18, 2016 15:50:27 GMT -5 egishere said:

Sounds awesome! we are doing the Dream in Sept. I think we are going to take private transportation because for a family of five its either not much more than the Disney bus or a little less? I can't remember what my TA said about that. Good tip about the princess tickets too!

awesome! You will have so much fun. Private transfers is smart - will you do it without car seats? That's why we didn't (not judging if you do). I have heard Florida doesn't allow taxis without seats. Unless you are taking a different bus type service? Anyway, get there early! And yes, princess tickets right away

[countthestars]

Apr 18, 2016 18:21:27 GMT -5 mellymel said:

Thanks for the detailed review! We are going on that exact cruise in November so I'm really happy to see your honest thoughts on it. I am bummed that I keep hearing that the food is meh, but it sounds like there are lots of great parts. My kids will be 3 and 5 when we sail.

It was a great cruise!! I'm sure you guys will love it - your kids' ages sound perfect and I'm sure they will love the pool. We missed out on that because of DD's swim diapers!

[countthestars]

Apr 18, 2016 18:32:02 GMT -5 bronxgirl said:

That sounds/looks so fun. DD was the same age as your daughter when we did a Disney Cruise and it was so awesome. They didn't have tickets for the princesses when we did it, so we just waited in a really long line.

I remember seeing pics of you guys on FB . I think you may have been the first person I knew to go on one! I can't believe how big L is getting - she's beautiful!

[bronxgirl]

Apr 18, 2016 18:45:41 GMT -5 countthestars said:

Apr 18, 2016 18:32:02 GMT -5 bronxgirl said:

That sounds/looks so fun. DD was the same age as your daughter when we did a Disney Cruise and it was so awesome. They didn't have tickets for the princesses when we did it, so we just waited in a really long line.

I remember seeing pics of you guys on FB . I think you may have been the first person I knew to go on one! I can't believe how big L is getting - she's beautiful!

Thank you! I can't believe how big she is, either. We did the Disney Cruise when they left out of NYC. They're finally coming back to NY, but it's in October, so we can't go. :-(

[moonpie]

I think we may have been on the ship at the same time! did your cruise end on Friday? I'm going to do a recap this week, but our overall experience was similar to yours.

Our Dd was also at the nursery with Peter Pan. I wonder if they come in often, or if our kids were there at the same time? We loved the staff there!

We also did not enjoy the royal palace. 5 of the 6 adults at our table did not like their meal.

How was your experience with the splash park? It seemed to always have a bunch of unsupervised older children while we were there. They kept rough housing and I felt like I really had to stay with DD to make sure she didn't get knocked over. I was annoyed the older kids were behaving that way since the little ones can't go in the pool. I felt like the age range was a little wide. It was my only negative comment on the trip.

Glad you guys enjoyed it! We had so much fun!

[mmmomof2]

Did you book super early? I was looking for Aug 2017 for my family of 4 and the 4 day cruise was $4k. My kids are older (5 and 8 then), but that difference seems striking!

[countthestars]

Apr 18, 2016 20:40:04 GMT -5 mmmomof2 said:

Did you book super early? I was looking for Aug 2017 for my family of 4 and the 4 day cruise was $4k. My kids are older (5 and 8 then), but that difference seems striking!

we only booked about 5 months ago - we paid $1032 per adult and $376 per kid for a Deluxe Oceanview with Verandah. I'm guessing it is the kid cost but I'm not sure!

[countthestars]

moonpie - so funny! Yes we came back on Friday. We probably met checking in our out of the nursery and didn't even know it. I think DD played with Peter Pan on Thursday night between 8-10 some time . It's too bad your food at RP wasn't great either. We only did the splash PD twice - the first time it was only little kids but LOTS of them so we didn't stay long. The second time it was less crowded but you are right, there were some older kids who probably shouldn't have been in there. It didn't ruin our time but it would have been nice without them!

[dcrunnergirl52]

Love this post and so glad you had a fantastic time. We LOVED the nursery too. This is making me excited for our next cruise in November.

[egishere]

Apr 18, 2016 18:43:29 GMT -5 countthestars said:

Apr 18, 2016 15:50:27 GMT -5 egishere said:

Sounds awesome! we are doing the Dream in Sept. I think we are going to take private transportation because for a family of five its either not much more than the Disney bus or a little less? I can't remember what my TA said about that. Good tip about the princess tickets too!

awesome! You will have so much fun. Private transfers is smart - will you do it without car seats? That's why we didn't (not judging if you do). I have heard Florida doesn't allow taxis without seats. Unless you are taking a different bus type service? Anyway, get there early! And yes, princess tickets right away

yes we will definitely have car seats!  The guy the TA uses has a suburban and will provide car seats she said which is so nice.  

[Deleted]

Wow, thanks for sharing your trip. I am dying to go on a Disney cruise. Four nights seems just enough time for our brood but I think we are waiting until they're both 3. I'm sorry you missed the nighttime shows. That's cool about the midnight release of The Jungle Book.

[geek96]

Apr 18, 2016 14:15:33 GMT -5 countthestars said:

Nursery: the nursery is a godsend. WOW! We had such a great experience with them!! We decided on day 1 to book DS at the nursery for dinner every night (after the shitshow that he was at the Rainforest Café). This was the best decision we made! He went and hung out with the nice ladies or napped and we got to spend some alone time with DD and eat with our two hands. We also sent DS for an hour during one of the days and sent both kids for two hours on two nights (8-10pm). DD usually goes to bed by 8 but she was awesome on the trip and had so much fun in the nursery she begged to go back. I know they colored and watched Cars and ate saltines but other than that it’s hard to get a good report from a 2 year old. When you drop off your kid(s) you mark off whether they can/must/can’t have juice/milk/a nap/snacks etc and there’s a place for other comments from you. Each kid is given a bracelet and has a sticker on his back with his name but I felt like they knew us right away. The ladies were all super sweet and caring – just what you want from a childcare person! They said that the nursery was busy that week with lots of littles but we didn’t have any trouble booking time and we were able to extend by a half hour by just calling them when our dinner ran over. They have everyone’s photo in their computer so they can confirm that your child is yours, plus you need to have your room key and your child’s secret word to take them from the nursery so it’s very secure. I will mention that while DD LOVED it there, other kids nearing 3 may not have found it as fun – she is nervous and shy so it was the right speed for her. Oh!! And, Rapunzel and Peter Pan just stopped in one night to play with the kids – DD literally just hung out with some characters while H and I were at dinner. How cool is that? The kids club looked awesome and there were lots of planned activities for the older kids that seemed really cool.


Did you book the nursery in advance upon booking your cruise of when you got on the ship?  I am looking into this now and the website says the slots for nursery fill up fast. 

[countthestars]

geek96 - I booked a couple of slots before we left. The nursery ladies said that we were on a busy cruise and we were never turned away but we're close once. They said that evenings from dinner on are always the busiest and also the port days are usually busier than at sea days. Castaway day is not busy because most people take their kids off the boat. If you know you want dinners or specific nights I would book ahead of time because you can always change or cancel as long as you give 4 hours notice.