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You don’t, for example, need to pay extra for soft drinks on a Disney cruise like you would on Norwegian Cruise Line. You’re also entitled to complimentary room service 24/7, unlike on Virgin Voyages, where you'll be charged a $5 fee for each delivery. Cruises are easy to enjoy but can be complicated to plan if you are new to this type of travel. You want someone who can help you pick the right cabin type and location for your group and keep track of when you can snag those onboard activities you really want. On these shortest cruises, concierge-level cabins and access start at a little over $5,000 for a family of four. Disney Cruise Line has a simple loyalty program, the Castaway Club, with four "elite status" levels that you earn based on how many cruises you've taken with Disney.
Who sails Disney Cruise Line?
You will need to make reservations, and the fee is $4.50 per half-hour for the first child and $4 per half-hour for each additional child. As with the waterslides, we recommend enjoying these first thing when you board if you want to try them without crowds. Otherwise, you won't find so many people in the pools on port days, early in the morning and right before dinner. There are thousands of people on the ship and only a few small pools, so plan accordingly. On a Disney cruise, the snacks and pastries you'll see in the coffee shop or kiosk are all included, but the specialty coffee will cost extra.
Entertainment and activities on a Disney cruise
If you are going all-out on a particular trip, or are simply working with a larger budget, Disney concierge suites are special. This split bathroom situation places a sink and the shower/tub combo in one bathroom and the toilet and another sink in the other. Each has its own separate door, so someone could use the toilet/sink room while another takes a shower, all in private and at the same time. Coming in summer 2024, Disney will have a second exclusive beach destination in the Bahamas — Lighthouse Point. Disney went so far into charting its own path as to get special approval from the U.S. Coast Guard for its ships' lifeboats to be yellow instead of regulation orange, to tie into the colors of Mickey himself — black, red, white and yellow.
Included restaurants on Disney Wonder
If you are on the fence about concierge service, it's arguably most valuable when you are on a shorter cruise, have some specific popular must-have items on your reservation wish list or want someone else to take care of everything. You can also inquire about discounted upgrades at the port, assuming rooms are left unsold on your voyage. The Deluxe Family Oceanview Staterooms and Deluxe Family Oceanview Staterooms with Verandah add about 40 more square feet to the equation. If you want the largest within those room categories, search for rooms that can hold five people on the Disney Cruise Line website. Some Disney cruises do what's called a "double dip" and make two stops at the private island, where you can step ashore without leaving the Disney bubble. With the addition of Disney Wish to the fleet, Disney Dream now spends its summer across the Atlantic, offering European cruises from May to September, then spending much of the rest of the year based out of Fort Lauderdale.
All the ships have active adults-only sun decks, pool and lounges. Disney Wish especially invested in its adult offerings with an infinity pool, along with more bars spread around the ship instead of being clustered into one main area. Whether you use a travel agent or not, make sure to maximize your credit card points when paying for the cruise by using a credit card that offers extra points for travel purchases and maybe even offers some built-in travel protections. These can be made for you starting 120 days before your sailing, which is before all other guests except those with the highest elite status tier in the Castaway Club.
Food on Castaway Cay
On Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy and Disney Wish, you'll find an ice cream shop stuffed with candies, gelato and ice cream — all for an extra charge. Room service, the buffet and the on-deck food counter dining options don't cost extra and are available to you in addition to or instead of your rotational dining. Disney cruise ships offer many other dining options beyond the three included themed restaurants — most included, some not. You'll see many families with kids in those preschool, elementary and middle school years. This won't be an entire private island like Castaway Cay, but it will be an exclusive beachfront space designed for Disney Cruise Line with many similar offerings to Castaway. Disney Magic, Disney Wonder and Disney Fantasy will call on this new destination for the first time in 2024.
For round-trip cruises from Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland and Brisbane, guests 18 years of age and older may purchase and consume alcoholic beverages without parental consent. When you are on the ship, you will not need cash or a credit card — all incidentals, purchases and services will be charged to your cabin folio. Your Key to the World card (or your DisneyBand+ on Disney Wish) serves as your onboard payment method. Inside all versions of the teen club, Vibe, you'll find a tech-friendly world with loungers, dance parties, smoothies and other teen-approved fun. Some of the coolest inside space on Disney cruise ships is dedicated to teens ages 14-17, but you can request for your child to attend this club starting at 13 years old. Little cruisers can be transformed into a princess or pirate at sea at the onboard Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, which does themed kid makeovers and sells costumes as part of the package.
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The high season will cost more, especially during holidays and the summer break. Experience the maritime charm of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick as you sail from New York City along the Canadian coast. The currency on Disney Cruise Line ships, regardless of location, is the U.S. dollar. All cabins are equipped with multiple 110-volt outlets, which are standard in the U.S. and Canada.
Disney Cruise Line loyalty program: Castaway Club
Enchante on Disney Wish is similar — you're dressing up for these meals. A pro-level hack is to get Mickey churro waffles from the buffet in the morning (only available some mornings) and add vanilla ice cream for a vacation-worthy breakfast. And you haven't lived until your kids learn how to call and order free Mickey ice cream bars to the cabin ... Each night, your tablemates and servers will move from one restaurant to the next as a team. You can connect many of the cabins on the ship, which is often a much more economical solution for a family looking for more sleeping space (and bathrooms) than upgrading to a multibedroom suite. Roughly speaking, a family of four will pay about 50% more for two cabins than they will for everyone to stay in one cabin of the same size.
The Disney Wish is the newest Disney Cruise Line ship and certainly its best. Among its many amenities, guests can find the first-ever Disney attraction at sea. It’s a 760-foot water slide filled with show scenes, lighting, music and more that touches down into a lazy river. One-way positioning cruises — that is, those that end in a different location from where they started — are often much cheaper per night than standard round-trip cruises.
Here you'll find video games, an indoor slide, fun programs and games with the staff, arts and crafts, surprise character visits and more. Your kids need to be potty trained to stay in this club, so use that as motivation for a kid approaching 3 years old before your next cruise. If you want to be more active, head to your ship's sports deck to play basketball, foosball, miniature golf and more. You may even have some sports simulator options beyond your traditional in-person fun. This is a fun thing to do before meeting a princess, before a more formal night or anytime you want to see a huge smile on your kid's face. If you have a princess dress or outfit from home you want to use or reuse, you can purchase a cheaper package at Bibbidi Bobbidi.
As a parent, my favorite part of a Disney cruise might be the included kids programs that children actually want to attend. If the kids are happy for a few hours, the parents can actually relax, too. The option for those still in swim diapers is some splash areas, such as Nemo's Reef and Dory's Reef.
