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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went. - Will Rogers

Emery's Third Coast Triathlon | Tri Wisconsin Triathlon Team | Push Endurance | GLWR

LOL

I've been on five cruises and 2 Disney cruises. We stopped going on other cruises after the Disney ones. They just do it right, the food, shows, entertainment during dinner, their private island.
Cuba will always be there but your kids will only be a certain age once.
Enjoy never having to cook, just enjoy family meals, walking the deck afterwards, it'll be a good time.
My kids are older, so we go to different countries now but there was a time when a cruise was a great experience for them.
Enroll them in a midnight kids club, my daughter was making pizzas with a girl and we still talk to her and her parents.

Done 2. Kids loved it but for teens may be a little boring. Agree though the quality is too notch did Royal caribbean this summer. It’s nice, but the shows were not as good. Kids are teens now so probably had more fun.

Went last May. Actually left the day after I did IMTX. Chose the cruise over Disney parks because my son was 3 and it seemed a little easier. Plus was a tad bit more relaxing after having done the ironman. This was the only free time of the year for us to do this, so we took it.

We had went on one other cruise (Carnival) and I swore I would never do it again. It was awful. The reviews that Disney was so much better had me second guessing, so we went with it. It was without a doubt better than Carnival. Granted it costs 4 times as much. My son enjoyed it and the overall experience is just better. Now.....I still would much rather have done something else with that money as far as a trip. But with a young one, I can't argue that it makes the whole vacation easier. Free child care to have some time to ourselves. And you don't even feel bad leaving him there because he was begging to go and it was very top notch in terms of security/safety. And because of that, we discovered the Adult deck which was actually laid back and relaxing since most people were with their kids and couldn't use it. All the other decks were packed and I'm just not a fan of that.

For reference, we went out of Miami.

I'll repeat what everyone says, Disney Cruise is top notch and the best there is. The only downside with the Disney cruise is everything is Disney and its a boat loaded with Disney fanatics. If you can get a break from the kids and eat in the adult only restaurant, its amazing.

With that being said, people either love cruises or hate cruises. I personally hate them, I'd rather be in a cabin in the mountains cooking my own meals any day. But everyone has their opinion on what a vacation is.

All of that being said, talking to the staff its an interesting lifestyle. Everyone is from around the world. They work a ton of hours each day for 3-4 months than take 3-4 months off or so. I remember talking to one guy from Croatia and he said he hadn't seen his family in 4 months and he had little kids. Not sure if I could do that but I guess the pay is much better than what they would get at home.

Did a disney cruise a few years ago with my parents and our 1 yr old at the time. Only cruise I've ever done and enjoyed it. Food, entertainment, and overall accommodations were very well done.

My parents (in their 50's) do a disney cruise every year just themselves. They are those crazy disney fanatics.

As long as you and the kids enjoy Disney you will enjoy the cruise. You can do black tie dinners without mickey. They have kids zones for teens that aren't just goofy.

My brother worked on cruise ships out of Australia for a year or so after graduating from college - pay wasn't great compared to what he could have been making in his field in the UK, but he was part of the kids' entertainment crew and had a blast running games, activities etc for the kids. He actually met his wife on board - she was a dancer/showgirl/whatever they're called now.

Went on a Disney Cruise the first year they had them.
We did the parks/cruise package.
My son was 5 at the time.
Day 2 of the cruise he has a meltdown because we "never let him play any more".
He still hasn't lived that one down.

We've done 17 cruises.

• 6 Royal Carribean
• 5 Norwegian
• 3 Princess
• 2 Carnival
• 1 Disney

Disney is far and away the best. The only reason we don't do them more is they don't depart local to us. If we can help it, we prefer to not fly to get to the ship.

As important, Alaska is an amazing place. Been there 3 times.

Thanks for your response. This is pretty much summons it, So Disney cruise it will be.

Croatia (and I am from there) has a long history of men going to work at sea. I was one of them. It is a lifestyle you either love or hate. Some people, like me, go to sea because they genuinely love the sea, the adventure, the travel. Others end up on a ship because they are don't know what else to do with themselves. This is a very miserable lot to be around.

Yes, this is important. We live only 15 min drive from the cruise ship terminal in Vancouver.

We did one recently and the only issue we had was that we couldn’t get into the earlier dinning time slot. Dinner seating was at 8 and took 2 hours. The kids were whining by 9. My kids have no endurance to begin with and the cruise was taking everything out of them.

We swore we would only do another if we were guaranteed early seating.

This is good to know

personally i've never an alaskan cruise of any kind, disney or not, but from what i heard, the deck could get a bit cold even in the middle of summer. just something to think about if you are looking to relax and tan on the deck while the kids playing the pool or whatnot. It may not be warm enough for that.

Thanks :-) . Having worked on ships I know quite a few people are not aware that the deck, even on a passenger ships is often an open and in places unprotected area from the wind. Sailing North can be a bit deceiving weather wise even in summer, it is not like in the tropics.

I've done 7 all Disney. In fact, just got back yesterday from Mexico.

It's Disney, but not over the top in-your-face selling. The adults only area's are very nice and relaxing. To be honest they are never crowded. I actually like that it's more family, no gambling and limited party atmosphere. I hate drunk people acting stupid.

Top notch. We did Alaska 2 summers ago. The most awesome cruise*. I'll explain the star later.
For Disney if you like food. I highly recommend you make Palo (adults only restaurant) reservations. They do dinner, and brunch. Brunch is only on At Sea days. They do charge additional money for them, I believe it's about $40 each. But IMO it's worth it. If you can only do one, I would recommend Brunch.

So back to my *. This cruise is all about your Port Adventures. I would have been very bored just walking around the towns. But the Port Adventures made the trip. Now the downside is the ones we chose were very expensive, but totally awesome. We did helicopter tour with a hike on the glacier and a float plain tour of Misty Fjords National Monument. We booked the float plain outside of Disney and saved some $$.

Enjoy.

P.S. Disney will give you a 10% discount if you book your next cruise on board. You can always cancel for a full $250 refund. You can also do a 24 month hold if you don't know what cruise you want. We're book for Greece next summer and have a hold for another one.

You will be spending a lot more for Disney. It may be worth it, it may not be. Seasoned cruise critics break down the Disney vs RC cruise here in this very informative and entertaining podcast.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/...ribbean-blog-podcast

PS my family loves Disney but....
daddy loves his $$$$$

Another good thing to know that we weren't expecting regarding the seating is that they will possibly seat you with another family if your group is small. That was a shock on the first day. It was just me, my wife, and my son. Luckily (although I'm sure Disney did it that way on purpose) we ended up with a couple around our age with a child that was the same age as my son. We got along well, but I'm not super social. I hated the idea of being forced to dine with a random stranger. There's not a lot of other options for dinner outside of the assigned restaurant for that night. At least the one I went on.

Thanks,

FWIW, I wouldn't go to Cuba. I went two years ago, and honestly, it was just very depressing at the resorts, and we were at a 5 star. You're basically being catered to (poorly) by prisoners, and the quality of everything is terrible.

Outside of the resorts is "better" depending on what you're after.

If you're looking for an all inclusive type thing that's not a cruise, just go to Mexico. We are actually in Cabo right now with the kiddo and it's great. Very easy/family friendly, and direct 4 hr flight from Western canada.

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Long Chile was a silly place.

There's not a lot of other options for dinner outside of the assigned restaurant for that night. At least the one I went on.


Disney is a floating restaurant, that you can eat 24 hours a day if you want. Outside of your assigned restaurant, there is a restaurant Cabans's that serves dinner every night that is walk in. Room service is available 24 hours a day. Also at night is the adult only restaurant (Palo) on Magic and Wonder, (Palo and Remi) on Fantasy and Dream. The adult only restaurant do require reservations.


FWIW, done 7, with a party of 4, never been seated with another family. I guess we have for 2 of them, but we were traveling with them.

Only food for dinner was mediocre burgers and pizza, your assigned restaurant, or the adult only additional charge spot. The one other cruise I went on kept the buffet open for dinner and just had other options. Still rathered Disney by a mile. But was my one complaint. We did overlook room service, but also werent looking to stay in our room all the time.

Only food for dinner was mediocre burgers and pizza, your assigned restaurant, or the adult only additional charge spot.
I think you missed out on Cabana's for dinner. Most people forget it's open, but it's more than burgers.


We did overlook room service, but also werent looking to stay in our room all the time.
We always take the food up and eat it on deck. Our "Date-Night Disney Hack" is to get the cheese plate and a desert, then bring it up on deck or to a bar for our late-night drink.