Sometimes people say to me, "A Disney Cruise, AGAIN?!?!?!" I realize that a Disney Cruise is not for everyone, but I will attempt to convey why my family likes Disney Cruises so much and why we keep choosing this vacation time after time.
Top 5 Reasons Why I Love a Disney Cruise Line Vacation
5. It's like getting a Disney fix without the heat, crowds, lines and exhaustion. I've been to Disney World in August and it was tough! On a cruise, it's easy to escape the heat since there are many indoor spaces on the ship. If we get tired, our room is just a few steps away. Everyone is assigned a table in the dining rooms for dinner, so there is no waiting in line for food (maybe a small line at the lunch buffet, but we've never experienced long lines). Disney Cruise Line has streamlined the process for meeting the most popular characters. Everyone has the opportunity to get a (free) ticket with a designated day and time to meet the princesses and Anna and Elsa. It's a great way to meet the characters with no waiting! |
| My daughter with Cinderella on the Disney Magic. |
4. The service is outstanding. We have met the nicest, most friendliest Disney cast members on our cruises. Since we keep our same dinner servers for the duration of each cruise and rotate through the dining rooms with them, they get to know us pretty well. They know us by name and talk to us when we see them around the ship during the day. We've had assistant dining servers cut our kids' meat and show them magic tricks during dinner. We've always had great room attendants as well--I'm amazed at how they clean each cabin twice during the day and provide entertaining towel animals. When we walk down the hall, cast members stop to say hello and say "Hi, Princess!" to my daughter.
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| My sons with our dining room server. |
3. I feel pampered and get a chance to relax. A Disney Cruise is one of the only vacations I take with my kids where I get a chance to relax. The kids get to enjoy fun entertainment in a secure kids club, which gives me time to take a breather on my own. This is something I must force myself to do on each cruise, but it's well worth my time. On our last cruise on the Disney Fantasy, I purchased a day pass to the Rainforest Room in the spa area for just $16. I had access to some whirlpool tubs on a deck, several hydrotherapy showers and steam rooms as well as heated tile loungers. Ahhhh, relaxing. I also find that just going to the adults-only cafe and sipping tea while reading a book is a great way to relax.
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| Heated tile loungers in the Rainforest Room on the Disney Fantasy. |
2. We get guilt-free "Mom and Dad time". This is a big one for me and my husband. Huge! We don't have family that will watch our kids for us, and a babysitter is expensive for 3 kids. My husband works from home and I'm a stay-at-home mom, so we are around our kids ALL THE TIME. So we completely enjoy our date nights on a Disney Cruise. Our kids ask to go to the kids' clubs multiple times a day, and they don't view it as daycare on the ship. We prefer to spend time with our kids during the day and have meals by ourselves. We eat at the adults-only restaurant, Palo, at least once during each cruise. But even a meal alone at any of the restaurants is a treat for us. Woohoo!
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| A romantic dinner at Palo on the Disney Dream. |
1. There is something for everyone in my family. Unlike a vacation where we rent a car and we all have to go to the same place, a Disney Cruise provides us with different choices on the same ship so that everyone can do what they want. My daughter loves to see all of the characters, so I spend time with her doing that. My oldest loves to see the magic shows, while my middle child loves to spend time at the pool. By utilizing the kids' clubs, we can spend one-on-one time with each of our kids and meet up as a family for the next activity. There are adult-only activities (mixology classes, cooking demonstrations), family activities (game shows, dance parties) and kids-only activities in the clubs. My oldest son is very excited that he is old enough to try the Tween club (The Edge) on our next cruise for ages 11-13. My daughter is now old enough to ride the Aqua Duck water coaster! And with the new Star Wars movie playing multiple times on our next cruise, I'm sure a few of us will catch that once or twice. Something for everyone.
I can't wait!
P.S.--I don't work for Disney or a travel agent. These are my own opinions.
I saw your post on DoC. What do you think is the best strategy to book a Disney cruise using credit card points? Thanks in advance
ReplyDeleteHi! Getting enough points to offset an entire Disney Cruise can be difficult because of the large expense (depending on your date of cruise and number of passengers). You can now book a cruise with United miles with the United Cruises option, and I believe AA has a similar program, but it will run you a lot of miles. Instead, I recommend using a combination of several cards that will give you either cashback or a statement credit for travel, such as Barclaycard Arrival + cards, Discover card, Disney Rewards Visa and the Capital One Venture card. We also use Southwest points to fly to Orlando and Hyatt points (via Chase Ultimate Rewards) to book a pre-cruise hotel at the Hyatt Place Orlando Airport (only 5000 points) or the Hyatt Regency inside the airport. Check out this post: http://savingforadream.blogspot.com/2014/08/how-we-saved-65-on-our-upcoming-disney.html
DeleteThank you !
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