By Pixie Hollow Diva
My family decided to finally take part in a Disney cruise. It was something we kept putting off for many years. One of the main reasons was the price tag and my children being so young. This past April we felt like they were old enough to be able to really enjoy it and understand all the activities offered throughout the ship. So, to test the Disney cruise waters we decided on a three-night cruise. You can check out all Disney itineraries here.
I have several friends who have gone on multiple Disney cruise vacations. Some have them for nights some have done fired some have done seven. Some people I have spoken to have said a three-night cruise is definitely not long enough. They said before you know it, you’re back home or off the ship. We decided to do it anyway because we felt the price was right for what we were getting at that time.
We drove from New Jersey to Florida. We stayed overnight before the cruise in Orlando just outside of Disney World property. We cruised from Port Canaveral on a three-night Bahamian cruise. Our itinerary consisted of Nassau Bahamas and Disney’s private island Castaway Cay. The ship we sailed on was the Disney Dream which is an absolute beautiful ship. The Disney Dream is the second newest and largest ship in their fleet right now.
Once we boarded the ship it was around 12:30 pm. Now, to my family, this felt like we gained an entire day. The ship did not leave port until 4:00 PM. I think since we were able to board the ship and start doing a lot of things on board we didn’t feel like we did not have enough time on only a four-day cruise.
Once we were on board, the buffet was open, and that area was not overly crowded. It is such a large buffet which continues into several rooms, so nothing was overcrowded and there was no issue with finding a table. The entire pool area was also open currently at that time. My family did not choose to take part in the pool that early. Many people do pack a bag to bring on board with their swimsuits and change of clothing. Since we had never been on a Disney cruise before my family wanted to walk around the ship and get a feeling of where everything was located.
One fun thing that we did during this time was checking out the kids club. During this time, it is the only time parents are allowed inside the club unless there’s some reason that you need to pick up your child or something along those lines. Parents are not allowed in the club to go in and interact with their children. We had registered our children during the online check-in before the cruise date. I highly recommend making sure you complete the online check-in this way you are not scrambling to do it once you get on the ship. If your child is already pre-registered when you actually check in at your cruise port they give the children, their magic bands which gives them access in and out of the kids club. Some people were not sure and thought that you had to pre-register and then register officially once you are on board. This is not true I asked several cast members just to make sure and they said if you pre-register them online you are good to go when you check in.
While on this three-night cruise we were able to have fun at pirate night which was our second night on the ship. We were able to try all three sit down restaurants which are part of your rotation every night when it comes to your dinner dining. I feel like my family was able to enjoy the pools for a good amount of time and all other activities on the ship. My daughter decided to get her hair braided and they did that right near the pool deck so that was something fun and easy to do. In the afternoons they would have dance parties and competitions near the pool for the children to take part in and have tons of fun!
Now that we have done the three-night cruise many people we know have asked if we felt like we were cut short and that there was not enough time? My answer is NO. I feel like no matter what vacation you go on whether it is Disney or someplace else you never can fully do everything you want to get done. I feel like you hit a certain point on vacation and you just want to relax and not worry about rushing and running all over the place. I feel like even if we were on the ship for several more days I still do not think we would have done everything we would have liked to get done anyway. Because Disney lets you on the ship early that first day I feel like we gained an entire day and we were able to do stuff that day and still had three more days of fun to plan!
If you want to book your first cruise or another Disney vacation, Patricia Payne at All For Dreams Travel can help you with your booking! Any questions, feel free to ask and receive a free quote!
