Disney Cruises

We are doing a 4 day 3 night Disney cruise this March and cant wait! I have heard that they are just perfect for children of all ages.
And we went to Disney in 2005 with a large group and spent a lot of time with friends and their under 3 year old. SHe was just perfect. There was so much for her to relate to and to see. It was a great experience and not over whelming at all!

I agree that Disney World can be tons of fun and very low key for children your kids' ages, too (My 16 month old has been there twice). However, I can't say enough about the Disney Cruises! We've been on 3, and I have to say that I think they are one great way to vacation! You will have such a great time! Let me know if you have any questions I can try to answer for you.

My sister-in-law took the family on a Disney cruise (unfortunately a month before I met my future husband). It included 10 adults ranging in age from 24 to 53, and 5 kids ranging in age from 3 to 7. Everyone had a blast. My now 11 year old stepson, who was 3 during the cruise, still talks about it. My husband was amazed at how well the cruise is organized for the kids and the adults so that everyone has a good time, but also a safe time. In fact, we plan on taking our kids on the Disney Cruise next year, when they are 3 and 5 years old.

My husband and I took an Alaskan Cruise in 2003. It was awesome. However, we left our son with my parents. There were some families on the cruise with their kids but the activities for the kids didn't seem to be that great. I saw some of the group activitiess and the kids just looked bored. They also had an age limit so kids under 4 weren't included. I went on some of the excursions where parents brought along their 2 year old. I felt bad for them. The trip involved a smaller boat so the little boy couldn't run around, the guide told everyone how important it was to remain quiet when we got close to the animals, and how possible is it to keep a 2 year old quiet. You could tell that the parents and the little boy were having a rotten time. So if you decide to go on one of the non-Disney cruises, be sure to check what kinds of activities and age-limits there might be.

But I loved the cruise experience and am really looking forward to going on the Disney cruise next year. So have fun!!

Hi B.,
I took my boys on a Disney Cruise when they were 5 & 7 through my company's free incentive trp - Discovery Toys! I too was thinking they would be overwhelmed with the Disney World experience and I was right that the Disney Cruise was just perfect for them. We loved it and had a wonderful, relaxing time - even my husband and I and we don't consider ourselves "cruisers". There was lots to do, but really my boys enjoyed just sitting in our cabin (with balcony) and watching the 24 hour Disney Channel, eating hamburgers 24/7 and swimming in the Mickey Pool several times a day. Your waiter follows you to a different restaurant each night and pays close attention to what your children order - you'll love that personalized service and you can have your children pose with all the Disney characters and pick up professional photos in the photo shop- although it's hard to choose. My children had never been to daycare, but we dropped them off one day to try out the kids activities. When we picked them up later that evening - they CRIED about leaving it, it was that much fun! We explained that they could come back the next day and the next and they did. My youngest was even in a show on the Disney stage - believe me, bring your camera to capture all the smiles. You're going to have a very memorable trip!

I know you're asking about the cruises, but I thought I'd mention that Disneyland is a lot more low-key than Disney World. We stayed at the Annabella hotel, within walking distance, but not part of the park. It was a great trip for a 4.5 year old and 2 2 year-olds--and all their parents! :) Let me know if you want more info.

We just got back from our first Disney Cruise last weekend. We have three children, boys 5 and 7, and a 14 month old girl. I cannot say enough about how wonderful the experience was. It was truly one of the best vacations I have ever had, and that says a lot about traveling with kids. The cruise can be what you want it to be. You do as much or as little as you want both for the kids and adults. I cannot recommend it enough. We went to the parks for two days afterward and that worked well for us because the boys had calmed down a little by then. They get to see all the characters on the ship so it helps at the parks. Good luck, and have a ball. The Disney Island is the best.

Hi B.!

My husband and I took our oldest daughter (our others weren't born yet!) on a Disney Cruise when she was just 20 months old. We went the first part of December and had a wonderful time. We did the 4 night cruise to Nassau, Bahamas and then to Disney's Castaway Cay island. You can do as much or as little as you want, it's all up to you. The dress is pretty casual, all the characters are on ship and they do lots of meet and greets.
The only downfall I can think of is my little one was not potty trained yet so she was only able to go in the wading pool on the ship.....even though we had swim diapers on. I would really recommend trying to get the early sitting for dinner though, which is at 6 p.m.....otherwise, the other sitting is at 8 p.m., which was much too late for our schedule.
My oldest is now almost 5 and still talks about the cruise. I would highly recommend it. Disney's island is absolutey amazing!
Oh! They have a movie theater on ship, 3 pools....adults only areas, kids only areas and family areas. They really have something for everyone. The staff is wonderful and you have the same servers for each meal.
I hope if you choose to go that you and your family have a wonderful time!

Good luck!
J.

I don't know about Disney Cruises. It was too expensive for my taste and I was a little scared about being on a ship with a hoard of children, but we did go on a Carnival cruise with our then two year old. I chose it because they had activities for two year olds and the other cruise lines I looked at had activities for three years old and up. We had a terrific time. I never imagined cruising being a good family vacation, but we all loved it. My daughter loved the kid's club, and we loved doing activites with her during the day and then being able to dine alone while she ate at the kid's club and did fun things there with kids her age. I have heard bad things about Bahamas cruises with rough waters. We went to Mexico from Miami so we were in the Gulf of Mexico most of the way and had no trouble with sea sickness.

There are websites like cruisecritic.com that have reviews of all the cruises.

Hi B.,

I also think the disney cruise experience would be great.

I can't speak to it, but can speak to my cruising experience (close to 10 cruises now) with my now 7 year old daughter.

We're older parents and at this time of our life we want to do more travelling. We always bring our daughter with, and cruises have worked great. We get to have special time with her, and we get all the adult time we want as well when she participates in the kids programing.

I have been on Princess, Norwegian and Celebrity and Costa. They all had lots to offer for kids. I think I'd have to say Norwegian has the best kids programs I've seen so far....but just about all cruise lines have well developed kids programs that run a good part of the day and night (not all offer programming to 2 year olds, so if you don't do Disney, you'd want to check on this).

I've heard Carnival and Royal Carribean have programs that rival Disneys.

The best parts of the cruise experience for my very active daughter are swimming in the pools, getting room service, playing in the kids programs, going to beaches, listening to the live music that they have all over the ship, helping me with Bingo, watching outdoor movies (both Princess and Carnival offer this on some of their ships)and just the excitement of being on the ocean.

She's been cruising since she was 14 months, and has enjoyed all the trips we've been on.

Hope this helps.

I just returned from a Disney Cruise. It was the most amazing experience. Truly the trip of a lifetime! My five year old twins had a fantastic time. We sailed on the Disney Wonder. Disney's island, Castaway Cay, is TOPS!

Little tidbits of advice:
*Go for a shorter cruise. We did a four-day Bahamian Cruise. Mommy and daddy could have cruised forever, but the kids were ready to go home.

*If you have little ones, you might miss out on the "night life" on the ship. Even though Disney has wonderful children's programming at night, my kids were too tired to do it.

*Try not to pack everything into one cruise. Being too overscheduled takes some of the fun out of it.

I can't wait to do it again!!!!!

I haven't done it personally, but I have heard nothing but good things about Disney cruises. One of my husband's work colleagues took his family a couple of years ago and they loved it (younger children). A friend of mine from church just got back from one with her family (kids ages 13, 9, 5) and raved about it. She told my we should do it and that it was "worth every penny." The food was great, the kids made lots of friends, there were activities for everyone and the ship is very safe.

Hi B., as the owner of SeaMaster Cruises (a cruise speciality travel agency) and a mom-owned business listed here on mamasource, I'd love to help you create some wonderful family memories with a Disney Cruise. Call or email me any time for advice, planning or perhaps a brochure. Cruising is my passion as well as my business!

I had heard from my sister in law, who is going on their second or third Disney Cruise in March, that it is great! but she always says book early, i think they booked this one 2 years ago. Have fun!

I would skip the cruise and just do Disney World. There are great sections of each theme park that are perfect for preschool aged children. Your boys would love many of the shows too. You can purchase passes that allow you to leave and return on the same day if you are worried about rest time.

We took our daughters for the first time last October. They are 6 and 9. They enjoyed it, but after the trip, I regretted that we waited so long to take them. "The magical scene was gone for them". If I had to do it all over again, I would have gone when my girls were 3 and 6. Good luck planning your trip.