Our family LOVES Disney Cruises.  We’ve been fortunate enough to take three different ones so far and each one was filled with fun things to do from the time we got up to the time we went to bed.  And even THOSE moments were filled with magical memories.  If you thought you were pampered at a Disney resort, just wait until you receive the exceptional service on board one of the ships in the Disney Cruise Line.  The Disney Magic and the Disney Wonder are the two older ships with the Disney Fantasy and Disney Dream being the newest.  We’ve been on both the Wonder (twice) and the Fantasy and they are equally exceptional.

From the moment you board, you are treated as the star of the voyage.  As your family makes it’s way into the heart of the ship, your name is announced and the cast and crew clap and cheer for you as you come on board.  Your stateroom is all ready for you to begin unpacking and if you’ve been on board before, a little gift is waiting for you as you enter.  After a brief training drill (there is no escaping this by the way), there’s a party to celebrate leaving the dock up on the top deck and everyone cheers as the trip begins!

Rotational dining assures you will get to visit all the different main restaurants on board for dinner (unless your cruise is very short – 3 days or less) and believe me you want to go to them all.  They will not only happily accommodate food allergies but offer you many options as well.  And if you want to pick more than one entree from their fabulous selection?  Don’t hesitate!  Go ahead!  You will never go hungry on a Disney Cruise – that you can be sure of.  If you feel like eating in your stateroom, there are plenty of options for you all over the ship – included of course in your trip.  Burgers, pizza, chicken fingers, lots of little goodies.  One of the things my wife and I liked to do was get up early for breakfast and make our way to one of the top side restaurants and eat a nice quiet meal while the girls were sleeping overlooking the ocean.  We’d bring back for them some of their favorites or sit with them if they wanted to go and choose for themselves.

The kids absolutely loved the areas made especially for them.  Our oldest was already a tween on our first cruise so she’s been able to enjoy both the tween and the teen lounges (which are “no parents allowed” zones – but don’t worry, they are heavily supervised).  Our youngest got to move through the different kids areas and loved them, but now that she’s a tween is dying for us to go back.  Because the supervision is so top notch and the security for the younger ones is so tight, we felt completely comfortable giving them their own space while we got to enjoy some private time together.  And when we wanted to hang out as a family?  A simple call from the onboard “wave phone” brought our oldest back to us and we would just go and get our youngest.  There are so many activities and games and fun things to do for each age group, you’ll have a tough time deciding what you want to do the most.

And that’s just the onboard fun!  There are tons of excursions to choose from in all different price ranges.  Depending on what you’re willing to spend and what you really want to do, you could spend very little extra to thousands extra on any one trip.  Picking and choosing will be really important.  Even if you don’t go on any excursions, there are still things to do on board so you never feel like you were ever just sitting around.  But there is definitely a wide selection to choose from.   Often we would pick a port and just wander around the city which is a lot of fun, too.  And then other times we would pick something fun to go and explore with a group.  Just find what works for your family and your budget.

There is so much more I could share with you about the Disney Cruises and over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing the highlights of the meals, excursions, and onboard fun!  So come back and keep reading the Disney Nerds blog.  In the meantime, if you want to read more about some of our experiences on the Disney Cruise check out these posts and see you soon!

• Read about the adults-only dining experience at Palo on board all four ships!
• Find out why eating at Remy, the adults-only experience on the Fantasy and Dream, is so special.
• Curious about pin trading on the Disney Cruise?