If mom had known: Disney cruising

 Summary: DISNEY MAGIC late May 2024

If mom had known... she would've booked the fantasy or dream instead.

We liked Disney cruise (enough to go again), but there was a huge learning curve, the food is very hit/miss, and the older boats are less friendly for younger kids (under 3). Adults can enjoy the cruise, but only if they like Disney themes/shows, if they find kids endearing instead of annoying, and if they are willing to pay extra for almost every adult-centric activity (drinks, dining,  lessons, spa, excursions, etc.). Otherwise, I'd probably recommend virgin cruise or viking. 

For what we got, it was significantly more expensive than just going to an all inclusive resort, but it was worth it to feel safe, and to avoid stomach upset from different food prep/bacteria. 

Boat-specific details

Nausea: I only experienced nausea in the front of the boat (in the theater). The middle/back of the boat occasionally felt light vibration (similar to riding in a car), but no swaying or nausea. I easily adjusted to being on the boat. People who were more sensitive had little dramamine patches behind their ears and seemed to adjust okay. 

Rooms: We did a basic inside stateroom and we loved it. Bed was comfy, bathroom was small but functional, had a tub for baths. Our room was on the 5th floor about 8 or 9 spaces from the back of the ship. We loved it. It could completely blackout since it was inside. Again, the boat vibrated, but didnt sway. I was NEVER dizzy in bed - so I can recommend a middle/back room of the boat (stay away from the front). I cannot speak to sleeping on higher or lower levers, but I really enjoyed the middle level. We had zero issues with noise, but I also played a loud white background noise on my phone all night while we slept.  (download the music/noise before you go - you won't have internet unless you pay)

Internet:  I think it was about 18 a day for social media, 24 a day for general internet, 42 a day for streaming capacity. I paid for one day of general internet, the day before our flight so I could check-in and catch up on a few emails, etc.

Food: Just okay... If Sodexo at colleges is a 5/10, this would be 7/10 average. but I'm very pleased that we were healthy the whole time - ZERO food poisoning, even if the quality of the food was very hit and miss. Some things, like the small sirloin medallions or sliced meats on the lunch buffet were phenomenal - overall I found the lunch buffet at Cabanas to be the best meal because you could see everything and choose as much or little as you want. The cheese pizza at the pizza stand was also phenomenal. The burger/chikn tender stand was just okay. I honestly was more frustrated with the sit down dining. It took forever to get food. They are not allowed to serve the next course until the prior course is taken. Half the courses were GROSS, some were okay, and a few were outstanding. I felt wasteful ordering 4 dinners for 2 people but it was the only way to ensure we got something edible, because we could only order once at the beginning. Most of the dinner desserts were gross - whereas the lunch buffet you could choose from the glass counter and every one I tried was delicious - usually a type of cheesecake or tart variant). Disney seemed more worried about presentation than food flavor/quality. And they try to upsell everything. Want nicer drinks (even non alcoholic) more money. Want nicer dinner, more money. Lots was extra cost.

Entertainment: Lots of small live music shows all day in different places, they were great. Every dance party was amazing for our toddler, especially when characters were present --- but even just at the cafe, she loved dancing in the open spaces to live music. The theatrical shows moved a little too slowly for her. She could not sit through a single show except the first night (which was a puppet show). I sat through one show - overall, enjoyable. They boast broadway quality shows--- I would say they are broadway level stage and props, but maybe an 8/10 on the cast/vocals because they have to understandably agree to live on a boat, whereas top notch 10/10 performers would be ...on broadway. Still VERY impressive and enjoyable --- if you are an adult who likes Disney stories and music. 

Photos/Characters: If this is a special family trip, just buy the $180 package - or you'll end up paying 250 on board. It really is worth it. photos are everywhere everyday with top notch sets and staff. They'll take shots on your phone. but it doesn't compare to the pro flash shots. The characters are everywhere - usually 2pm onward. They were amazing, one of my kids favorite's parts. The lines moved pretty fast, but the characters only stay 30 minutes so if you waited too long, you would miss the character you wanted to see and sometimes the site would shut down, or sometimes a different character would replace them.

Age 2 child: The older boat of the magic and the wonder are missing the Nemo splash pad that can be found on the newer model boats (fantasy, dream, wish, treasure). The duck splash is just three spouts rotating water... but nemo's reef pad is huge and it has a slide. 

NURSERY: The nursery was set up for babes up to age 15 months in my opinion. There was a normal table, a tv, cribs, a few soft climb items - but HUGELY lacking. I didn't see any slides, activity tables, or wood puzzles - or simple games - or any Disney characters--- these are the things my 2 year old wanted to do. The check-in was terrible, only one person at the desk - and we were caught off guard the first time that you have to fill out paper work EVERY time you try to drop off. Slower drop offs means terrible transitions, and with one person working sometimes you had to wait 3-5 minutes just to get what you needed to start signing in. They should have at least two people at the desk -or have someone on-hand ready to take the child while rest of paperwork is filled out.

Other kid stuff: (kids 3-18)- There were multiple areas for age groups 3-18, and programming rotations all day/evening. Parents could do drop off, or just let kids roam the boat and check in when comfortable. That's one of the huge plusses of the cruise ship, is the safety of being contained on the boat lets them roam. For my toddler - the kid club and lab were super important because they had open houses - where she could do the things she actually wanted to do like play on the toy story slide, play hula hoop, play shoots and ladders with us and take turn spinning the wheel --- she couldn't go during event hours, but there were enough open house times - always supervised by parents) that we spent at least an hour there every day). The teenagers had separate spaces with huge tvs, video games, board games etc. Also ages 18-20 had programming/hangouts just for them each day.

Mexico - did not get off boat... but that was one of our favorite days! The boat was nearly empty...we had free reign of the pool areas,  the big kid open house areas, the lunch buffet, the snack stands...

Disney Castawat cay - AMAZING beach - super happy toddler in super clean, shallow ocean water with live fish swimming next to you, umbrellas and chairs aplenty --- all the merchandise was too expensive, I just can justify 40-50 for a t-shirt. The food was hit/miss (great meat, but gross sides - I'm not a fan of  potato salad or coleslaw --- I didn't pay big money to eat hotdogs and chips, so we left a little early and ate "2nd lunch" at cabanas, which had steak, shrimp, nice sides, nice desserts)... but I'd return in a heartbeat because the water was so perfect for our young family, and the whole area was convenient and safe. We really liked the trolley so we didn't have to walk to/from the boat.

(image from duckduckgo, cruisemummy.co.uk)

(image from duckduckgo, sixsistersstuff.com)