Updated for you on
Welcome to this month’s Blogorail Blue Loop. Today we are sharing what you need to know to start planning your Disney Cruise.
I have to admit that I never thought I would enjoy cruising. There were a lot of things that made me feel this way… First of all, I thought it was too expensive. When you consider what you get for the money, it really isn’t that expensive. Then, I was afraid of getting seasick. Well, that didn’t happen. What happened is that we all enjoyed ourselves. The kids did things in their own clubs, and Don and I went our own way. Yes, we did do several things together, but we also had space to do things we each enjoyed. Our cruise on the Disney Dream last year was a great vacation. So great that we booked another one for this year. So, what am I looking forward to this year?
Disney Cruising 101: My Top 10 Favorite Things about the Disney Dream
Character Interactions
The kids (and yes, kids-at-heart) love to see characters. But even better than just seeing characters, we LOVE to see characters dressed in unique outfits. The characters on the Disney Dream wore nautical-themed clothing and were a lot of fun to see and interact with. I thought the character interaction on the Disney Dream was better than character interaction in the parks, but that’s just my personal opinion.
Holiday Decorations and Activities
The winter holidays are our favorite time of year! Last year, we sailed on one of Disney Cruise Line’s Very MerryTime Cruises. The decorations were breathtaking, and we enjoyed the variety of activities. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to decorate a gingerbread house last year, but we hope to this year when we go.
Rotational Dining
Rotational dining was a new term for us, but we thoroughly enjoyed it! The great thing about rotational dining is that you have the same servers every night. When you have special dietary needs, this is a blessing. We also needed something to put the kids’ medicine in, and the servers made sure we had what we needed each night.
Variety of Food
When we try a new form of vacation, I always wonder if the kids will be happy with the food available. They are fairly picky eaters, so I usually pack quite a few nutritious snacks to take along. Unfortunately, there isn’t a whole lot of room to take a lot of extra snacks when traveling on a cruise, so I was concerned about whether or not they would be happy with the options. I shouldn’t have worried because there was a lot of variety. As you can see in the picture above, both kids and adults were happy with the food options.
This is purely a gratuitous picture. 🙂 I loved all the dessert options! While I am on a diet right now, that diet will be put on hold when we get on the ship. I’m NOT passing up on my dessert!
Disney Cruise Line Shows and Movies
Every night there were shows to see in the Walt Disney Theatre. We saw The Golden Mickeys and Disney’s Believe but skipped out on Villains Tonight! and a magician. We loved Disney’s Believe which is a story about a dad who was too busy to spend time with his daughter, but he eventually learns, through visits with Disney characters, about what is most important in life.
The Walt Disney Theatre also hosts 3D movies and Disney movie premieres. I love that if there is a Disney movie being released while I’m on the ship, I would be able to see it just like I would if I were at home.
Midship Detective Agency
One of the activities we really enjoyed as a family was the Midship Detective Agency. We went all over the ship looking for animated pictures to find clues to solve the case of the missing paintings. This was a fun way to see a lot of different areas of the ship! The Disney Cruise Line website says that the Muppet-themed Midship Detective Agency game known as “The Case of the Stolen Show” will also be added to the Disney Dream. Marvel Boy is definitely looking forward to this!
Separate Spaces for the Kids
While we do a lot of things together as a family, both kids do enjoy getting out on their own. This is what makes Disney Cruise Line such a great vacation for us! Songbird spread her wings last year and went to the teen club, Vibe. She had a great time! I was able to take a peak in on embarkation day, and it looked like a fun space for them. Doesn’t that deck space look great?
The Oceaneer Club and Lab is where Marvel Boy spent his time. He had a lot of fun, and they kept a close eye on him. I went with him one day when Professor Make-O-Mess demonstrated how to make Flubber. That was one of the highlights of the trip!
Marvel Boy is looking forward to the changes that are supposed to be happening in this area. Evidently, they are adding the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon and Disney Infinity, and he is excited about both additions!
Castaway Cay
We were looking forward to heading ashore at Castaway Cay, Disney Cruise Line’s private island, when we sailed last year. Alas, the winds and waves did not allow us to dock. While we missed Castaway Cay, we did have a great extra day at sea, and it was amazing how quickly they were able to come up with “Plan B”.
This trip, we hope Castaway Cay is a possibility. I’ve heard so much about this beautiful place that I can’t wait to get there and look around. When we tried to dock, we were able to get a glimpse of what awaits there, and it looked like so much fun. I can’t imagine anything better than spending time on a private island walking in the sand and swimming in the surf!
Pirate Night
Pirate Night was the best night of all on the Disney Dream! We saw a fun show with pirates and Disney characters. Yes, and Jack Sparrow made a swinging entrance, too! Later, there were fireworks off the ship. You do know that Disney Cruise Line shoots off fireworks at sea, right? Well, evidently, people on the other cruise lines do, too, because I’m sure I saw another ship or two hanging around during the fireworks.
The View
The ocean views were beautiful! It didn’t matter whether we were heading into Nassau, watching the sun set over the waves, or seeing the rainbow over the water. Just sitting on a deck chair watching over the side at the water was really all I needed. It was so relaxing!
The best thing about our next cruise is that Don and I will be celebrating our 20th Anniversary! I can’t think of a better way to celebrate such a milestone!
We were pleasantly surprised by how much the entire family enjoyed our cruise, and we can’t wait to go back later this year! Are you ready to sail away on your first (or next) cruise?
check out the other great posts from the Blogorail!
Here is the map of our Magical Blogorail Blue | Disney Cruising 101 Loop:
- 1st Stop – Home is Where the Mouse Is | Disney Cruising 101 | Which Cruise Should You Choose?
- 2nd Stop – Mommy to All Girls | The Kolb’s Guide to Disney Cruising 101
- 3rd Stop – This Roller Coaster Called Life| Top 10 Favorite Things about the Disney Dream
- 4th Stop – Family Travel Escapades | Three Nights on the Disney Dream
- 5th Stop – Adventure in the Great Wide Somewhere | The Joy of Cruising Concierge
Casey says
July 15, 2015 at 8:56 pmI have to admit too that I never thought we would like cruising but after the first day I was hooked! We’ve only done the classic shops so I look forward to moving up to the dream class and enjoying the things they have that the other ships don’t have
Lori Ketcherside says
July 15, 2015 at 9:28 pmWe’re ready! I’m about to hit my booking window next week. The kids are excited because they’ll “finally” be gold after this cruise. I’m excited because we’ll be taking the cousins and in laws with us for their first cruise. My husbands excited because he can unplug for a week!
Heidi says
July 16, 2015 at 8:19 amWe’re coming up on our 24th anniversary! Not sure how that happened so fast, but we’re hoping to go on a cruise to celebrate. Still need to get that booked! Thanks so much for your list of favorites. Some of these are things I’m really looking forward to as well. I may be picking your brain closer to time, since you’ll have a 2nd cruise under your belt by then!
James says
July 16, 2015 at 9:47 amI also love seeing the characters in their different outfits. We had some great interaction on our last cruise, including several random meetings in the hallways. I hope you get to Castaway Cay next cruise! Happy Anniversary!
Elaine Massey says
July 16, 2015 at 11:03 amWe have only done the one 3-day cruise on the Disney Dream. I really wanted it to be at Christmas. We are doing a cruise in Jan. so will miss the Christmas cruise again. It sounds like you guys had a lot of fun. Hope you have fun on your next cruise!
mary says
July 18, 2015 at 6:48 pmWe went on our first cruise last year and I feel like we missed sooooo much. We head back out on a Disney Cruise in January and cannot wait to try more of it.