Disney Cruise? - Leesburg,VA

We have been on 2 cruises. (Not Disney yet..... But are hoping to do a Disney one in the future!)

The price included almost everything! All meals, room service, pizza snack 24 hours a day. And all the entertainment shows on board!

The things it didn't include: TIPS/gratuity, soda, alcohol, gambling, bingo, off-shore excursions, gift shop items.

You can pretty much make that cost be the amount you spend. You really don't "need" to do any of the off shore things that cost money! There is so much to do and see that is free!

One thing in case you didn't know. They charge the SAME price for an infant as any other person. We had a 9 month old with the one time and a 6 month old the 2nd time. But on our 2nd cruise, there was a couple trying to board with an infant and they didn't purchase a "ticket" for her! They thought she would be free! But a ships capacity is by NUMBER of people. A baby counts!

We have only traveled on Carnival with our kids and the 1st time we sailed, they were 2 and 4. Both our kids LOVED it. I thought kids had to be at least 6 months to sail, but I could be wrong on that. I know Carnival has a policy that kids must be at least 2 to attend the Free Kids Camp (which our kids LOVED too). They do have before and afterhours where someone will come to your cabin to babysit, we never tried that.

I would recommend taking snacks for your oldest. Yes, there is food around the clock and room service is even free on most ships, but if your kid is looking for gold fish or cheese it's, there are none to be found. I like having munchies like that in our cabin for snacking while we are getting ready or after dinner. We bring things like pretzels and peanuts for ourselves too.

A Balcony is a MUST on the boat. Yes, they are totally safe for the little ones. So, nice to have to door open or to sit outside while they are napping or sleeping for the night.

If you drink wine, you are allowed a bottle each on the boat without any hassle. Bring a wine opener because they can charge you a fee to un-cork it.

Your kids can sail with a birth certificate rather than a passport or passport card.

A lot of ships have laundry on them too. We bring a portable hamper for the closet and I like to wash a load or 2 of clothes before we leave so I don't have a ton when I get home. I bring my own soap & bounce too.

May want to bring your iPod and docking station for the room/balcony too and a portable DVD player for the kids. Not many options on the TV for them and if they are sleepy or just need a break from the sun, it's nice to put them on the bed and turn on a movie.

HAVE FUN!

We took the Disney cruise several years ago....To this day we still say it was the best vacation we've ever taken, and we didn't have kids at the time. The food was fantastic, the shows were exactly what you'd expect from Disney :) Top notch Disney service all the way from your stateroom to the dining rooms. All on board meals, snacks, and activities were included. We purchased a soda cup for around $10 the day we arrived and then free refills the rest of the cruise. I think the only thing not included was alcohol and shore excursions. Keep in mind this is a family environment so no casino's or gambling on board. While we didn't have our own children at the time, we went with my Godsons and their parents. So we were on both the adult only and family decks and didn't have any issues with children running wild or being unattended. We have taken other cruises on carnival and frankly THAT was a huge waste of money and big disappointment. Nothing worse then a bunch of drunk adults vomiting in the elevators and hallways...yuck....the food was nasty, even the workers were rude. My husband and I think that had we not gone on Disney prior to the carnival cruises we might not have been so displeased with Carnival's service and food. But once you've been on the best, nothing else compares. We will NEVER cruise on carnival again. I know Disney is more expensive but the quality of service is unparalleled. We will only cruise with Disney in the future. You can call Disney, they have their own travel agents that will help you book the cruise as well as any shore excursions. Try to book a room in the center of the ship, it really does cut down on the "swaying" of the boat making it much easier to sleep. I'm prone to motion sickness and didn't have any issues on the Disney ship. I usually have to wear one of those motion sickness patches, but not on disney. I recommend you book your excursions early as they sell out rather fast. You will LOVE Castaway Cay, Disney's private island....ahhhhh paradise. Good Luck and God Bless.....and yeah I'm just a smidge jealous of you right now ;D

My friend is a travel agent and she speaks very highly of the Disney Cruises!! We are tempted to try one as well, although my husband and I have cruised twice by ourselves, so we know a little bit about crusing, but never on Disney. I also know someone who just went on one, her kids are older than yours, but she raved about it!!

I would suggest going through a travel agent for the cruise (any cruise)...it's a lot easier I think b/c they know all the stuff you have to do, about any hidden costs, about some of the excursions, how to transfer easily and they set up all your accomdations, transfers and flights for you too. Most cruises are pretty much "all inclusive" on the ship, except for alcohol and soda, those usually cost extra, but with Disney I'm betting soda, juice, etc. might be included.
Have fun!

We were just at Disney and was visiting with a family who did the Disney Cruise. They LOVED it but were an older couple without children. The woman said though that there were no hidden charges (that was one of the points she emphasized). I've never been on a cruise, so she could tell I was a newbie :) The pictures she showed me were beautiful. She then said she wished they would have skipped the parks all together and opted for a couple of extra days on the cruise.

Have a great time!

Blessings!
L.

We did a little 3 day Disney Cruise many years ago (about 8 years ago..dd was 8 years old..and we traveled with my in laws who care for my nephew who was 9 then. We had adjoining cabins).

MIL and I get motion sickness so we got a midship room and also sprung for the balconies as FIL and hubby and very early risers so it gave them a place to go and watch the dockings and such, which I will admit I got up for too..pretty neat!

We never had any intention of putting the kids in the kids areas. We were on vacation with the kids. We bought these sort of cofefe looking mugs with lanyards (kids liked that)....and we could get them filled with soda and the like free as long as we had them with us. Fresh hot choc chip cookies by one of the pools...all day long. That was hubbys fave! LOL Pizza and I think hot dogs there too. Food all over. Little buffets set up different times of day on decks and things (like fruit bars and such).

The Disney attention to details, without stuffing Mickey Mouse ears down your throat was excellent. In the statemroom ears were on light sconces...towel bards, all sorts of fixtures...pretty neat actually..but not "gag me with Mickey" sort of thing.

Dinner times were 2 seatings...we had the later one, so we could do the SHOW before. Full Broadway production type show, before dinner each night. For the 3 days cruise, it was different each night. General seating for that. Then to dinner...a different assigned restaurant each night, but your waitstaff moved with you. We didn't even use the movie theater or other entertainments aboard as we had so little time on board (3 days).

Little towel animals on the bed each night (dd loved that!)...she also thought the little bathub/shower was made jsut for her..small camper sort of sized..LOL. She loved her little "magic" bed (the daytime couch that they magically converted to a bed for her while we were at dinner and the show!)...she loved seeing dolphins off the side of the ship....

There were alot of costumed characters...actually NOT her fave..she was always lerry/scared of them, so she lept her distance. It was also cold when we went..unseasonable cold they called it. We like winter, so we survived fine, but I actually ended up flying home with real actual Influenza (sucky way to come home after 6 weekdays of closing my daycare..we did our own "land" package then the 3 day cruise...then I had to close for the rest of that week too with a raging 104 temp, coughing up my lungs..actually cracked a rib with the coughing too..).

We swam with the dolphins as a shore excursion (only thing dd REALLY wanted to do...even tho it was freezing with the odd weather they were having...we wore wetsuits).

Biggest downside...unsupervised , screaming children running all over. Sopping swimsuits, water flinging (don't hink you will get to actually swim or even sit in the "designated for adults" hot tubs part of the pool without them diving in, etc)..running around with beverages spilling...sticky gross fingers...dropping food everywhere, and the SCREAMING. OMG. My child was never more than 3 feet form me..and not allowed to behave ill like that at home so why would I allow that anywhere else? I did not but apparently that is NOT the standard most hold their families to. Probly part of the reason my husband said NEVER AGAIN.

But we didn't drink alcohol..so no costs there....had our mug things we got for soda costs...paid ahead for our excursions (when we booked our cruise, we booked the excursion), so just had the tips to settle (considerable..so be prepared..the offer a guideline). It can get easy to "sign it to your room"..so be careful!

I really liked the idea of cruising and would love to do more...but yearly vacations are not in our budget. Plus my husband said he felt "trapped" on the ship, so not his thing, I guess. Bummer. Someday I will cruise again.