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! In case you’d prefer to see the video model, test my Instagram spotlight.

Our Disney Cruise Journey Recap!

We had a beautiful 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 advocate you attain out to her in case you are 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 sooner or later at sea. I’ve numerous ideas on the islands, so keep tuned for these posts coming quickly! 

• Depart Port Canaveral
• Nassau, Bahamas
• Castaway Cay (Disney’s personal island)
• Day at Sea
• Arrive Port Canaveral

Touring To Cape Canaveral

We flew down the day earlier than, which is all the time 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 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 advocate! 

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 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 resort 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 an extended line of site 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 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 may be minimal touching amongst visitors. 

Our Stateroom 

After lunch, we went to take a look at our stateroom and unpack. We had been on the seventh flooring (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 might have a lightweight on and the boys had been at midnight.

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

The Toilet

I beloved that the toilet had two separate areas for the bathroom and bathe. We undoubtedly used each on the similar time many occasions. If somebody was showering, you possibly can nonetheless wash your fingers on the opposite facet. The toilet was fairly good!

We unpacked our garments into the closets and drawers. I do assume they might have had extra drawers on the youngsters’ facet.

Exploring The Ship

We explored the ship a bit earlier than the sail away get together 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 youngsters membership had an open home so adults might stroll by means of it. We had three children underneath 10 (Birch, Avery, and Emerson) who might go to the membership. Mazen’s age group (12) was solely allowed in The Edge membership for tweens. At first we thought this was an enormous downside that Mazen couldn’t be together with his cousins, however he ended up going to Edge quite a bit and made buddies there, so all of it labored out. 

The Star Wars room on the Oceaneer Membership

Every youngster was given a wristband that they wanted to check in that we returned on the final day. They may select to go in from the foyer or by means of the slide! Additionally they had the good handwashing station ever the place you set your arms into tubes of swirling water and cleaning soap. Really easy for youths! 

I don’t have a ton of pictures from the youngsters membership as a result of adults aren’t allowed in on regular hours. However the children beloved it! They went for a number 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 saved it attention-grabbing for them. The cutest half is that once they’re able to be picked up you get an alert by means 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’ll be able to see all of them right here! The white tube is the Aqua Mouse, which is a tube water trip that the youngsters LOVED! There have been additionally Disney motion pictures taking part in all.the.time. that you possibly can watch from the swimming pools. The road would get lengthy at occasions, however if you happen to went at an off-peak time you’d stroll proper on. The yellow slide was nice for littler children. 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 possibly can borrow if in case you have a younger swimmer. 

(It seems to be actually crowded right here as a result of this was through the sail off get together on the highest deck! It was not normally this crowded)

Toy Story Splash Zone

The 2 youthful children in our group beloved taking part in 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 the most effective half was the app instructed us when the load was executed so we might promptly change it over. I introduced two laundry pods from dwelling, however you possibly can 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 will be good simply to have this value included given what we paid for the cruise. 

The Health Heart

We went to the health middle a handful of occasions. That they had numerous tools, 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 monitor. There was a monitor, 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 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 coming into a ship with a push-button sliding door, and the screens went into hyper area periodically! Additionally they had the most effective 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 personal bar and occasional store, and an infinity pool (which sadly, I by no means bought in). 

Leisure

Reside Reveals

We went to 2 stay exhibits whereas at sea: The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. They had been each AMAZING! Numerous nice singing, dancing, costumes, particular results. I additionally beloved that they had been each roughly an hour so consideration spans might 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 exhibits and music occurring within the grand corridor at numerous occasions. We stopped to eavesdrop on 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 subsequent 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 watch for the midnight fireworks! 

Weblog Posts To Come:

• All of our buffet meals and theme dinners (Wednesday)
• Our two island stops (Friday)

Total Evaluate Of Our Disney Cruise

We had a good time, and we actually beloved the cruise! My general impression is that this cruise is ideal for individuals with children 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 children except you’re a Disney fanatic. The cruise for us was all concerning the children! Having so many kid-centric issues (from the youngsters membership to decrease sinks within the bogs) was good for our household of youngsters ages 5, 6, 8, and 12. You probably have older children, I might let you know 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 beneath!

Right here is my record of issues we beloved/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 incredible job clearing tables and there was little trash anyplace (which is spectacular since there are such a lot of children 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 (an excellent assume from the dad and mom’ POV). Even after we bought 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 beloved our dinner service crew and each “forged 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 individuals requested if we needed to purchase a drink package deal. We had politely declined the primary few, nevertheless it bought a bit extreme when new individuals saved 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 (underneath $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 every one delicate drinks had been included. 

The Reveals

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

Themed Dinners

An extended assessment will include that weblog put up, however the dinners had been implausible and the meals was excellent throughout the entire ship. There have been a number 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 assumed 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 necessary for the reason that ship was so huge and our group was all unfold out, so we had been glad that at the very least iMessage was free! Mazen might textual content us with out having paid wifi on his telephone. This meant he might go to the tween membership or keep out later and we knew he might attain out or we might attain him. 

Heated Swimming pools

Such a recreation changer! Chilly swimming pools would have been depressing. They had been so heat and the youngsters beloved 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 all the time packed. They want an even bigger sizzling tub! 

Bogs In all places

There are tons of bogs that had been all the time clear, so FYI for these of you who care about this type of element.  😉 

Was it crowded? 

There have been a number of occasions when it appeared like everybody was in a single place, however for a ship as big 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 Additional

As my sister put it, you possibly can eat limitless filet mignons however you needed to pay for popcorn! Popcorn exterior of the exhibits/theaters was additional. This was so foolish to me since our youngsters clearly needed some. I assume this simply retains everybody from getting it and making an enormous mess / losing it, nevertheless it was just a bit odd. 

Character Strains

The one time I noticed tremendous lengthy traces was for characters. My children weren’t that excited about assembly characters, however if in case you have somebody who’s, be ready to attend in a Disney World-esque line. 

Atlantis Resort

This assessment 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 awoke and we needed to be off the ship by 9 or 9:30. The entire morning felt rushed and chaotic. I want we might have had a bit of extra time to take pleasure in a ultimate breakfast and get off a bit of extra slowly. I perceive they must turnover the boat, however after such a calming time the early morning made for a cautiously early ultimate night time and a extra tense journey day. 

Total Evaluate

In case you love Disney, you’ll love a Disney Cruise! Actually all the pieces from the towels to the music to the exhibits is Disney branded. There have been two new launch motion pictures taking part in (Mufasa and Moana 2) that sadly we had simply paid to see within the theater! I believe Disney Cruises are perfect for households with children. 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 children 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 gotten about particular issues within the feedback! Or share ideas if you happen to’ve executed a Disney Cruise and have one thing to share that I missed.