We recently had the opportunity to go on our first cruise EVER! It was a Disney cruise.
I think the best thing for me to do is to create a series of posts so I can get everything down and recorded – for me and for you. There was so much happening and so much trapped up in my brain that I want to make sure to write it all down. There are experiences to share. There are tips to share. Some lessons learned to share. Things we would do again and things we would maybe do a little different! Not only is this series of posts a great way for me to record and document our trip but also a great way to share some of our experiences and tips with you!
Since this was our first cruise ever and our first Disney cruise we didn’t really know what to expect. We spent a bit of time researching, reading blog posts and watching YouTube videos so we would have a little bit of information before we boarded the ship.
DISNEY MAGIC
We were traveling on a 5 day Carribean cruise, stopping at Grand Cayman and Disney’s private island Castaway Cay. Disney Cruise Line has four ships in its fleet, including the Magic, Dream, Wonder, and Fantasy. We were traveling on the Disney Magic. It is the smallest ship in the Disney fleet. A good thing for our first Disney Cruise experience. It has 11 decks, 875 staterooms and can hold a maximum of 2400 passengers. It has a crew of nearly 1000. The Disney Dream and Fantasy are much larger ships, holding up to 4000 passengers.
Our cruise was a special one. It was Marvel Day at Sea. So that meant that there were some special guests on board during our trip. The Marvel Heros were on board! So it wasn’t just meet and greets with Mickey and Minnie but with Spiderman, Black Panther, and Ironman too!
We worried a little bit that we waited too long to take our kids on a Disney Cruise. Were they too old for it now? Would they get enough out of the cruise?
Boy, were we wrong to question a Disney cruise now. There is so much for everyone to do on the ship.
There are activities for all ages, for the young and the young at heart. While there are so many things for the little kids to do on the ship I will not be spending a lot of time covering those things. I might mention kids clubs and activities from time to time in this series of blog posts I will be focusing on the things my family did and experienced. My girls are 12 and 14 years old and so they spent most of their time in the tween and teen areas of the ship!
In this series (the number of blog posts is still to be determined!) I want to cover as much as possible. I think it might be good to share with you our boarding experience and our first day at sea! I want to share with you the parties, fireworks, kids clubs, the food (oh, the food), our stateroom, things that we liked and what we would be sure to do better next time!
ALL ABOARD
So, first up, DAY 1.
We actually arrived in Miami the day before our ship was to leave port. The ship leaves the port of Miami Sunday afternoon at 4:00 pm Eastern. Of course, you need to be on board several hours before that! I highly recommend arriving the day or evening before your ship is to leave. It takes a little bit of the stress out of your trip. There are several hotels near the port, with many only about a 15-minute cab ride away. Many of the hotels even have shuttle buses to take you to the port. We happened to be flying out of Toronto Pearson Airport on the day of a serious winter ice storm in April. Who knew the weather could be so wicked in April. We thought we had lots of time but after several hours of delays, we managed to roll into the Miami Airport at nearly 2 am. Thankfully enough time to gets some sleep!
We headed to the port for about 11:30 am so we had enough time to check in and get settled before boarding the ship. Be sure to have all your documentation ready. You will check your bags outside with the Disney staff but be sure to take a carry on packed with a change of clothes, bathing suits and some toiletries since your luggage will not be dropped off at your stateroom until later in the evening. It takes the Disney staff a few hours to get all the bags checked and delivered. Remember, there are about 2400 passengers on board after all!
TIP: Make sure to pack a carry on with swimsuits, a change of clothes and some toiletries
Once you drop off your bags you get in line to check in and go through a customs bag check. Have your Disney Cruise Line documentation, reservation information and your passports ready. You will need to put all your carry on bags through a scanner and go through a security check. Once through it is time check in and get your room keys. Disney staff will take everyone’s pictures so that your photo ID is connected to your room key called your Key To The World. Since our kids are older we decided to give them buying power on their Key To The World cards so they didn’t need to have us present if they wanted to buy a shirt or collectible pins (our kids collect and trade pins)in the shop!
Now you have your Key To The World card it’s time to wait to board the ship. We didn’t have to wait too long. We were on the ship by about 1:00 pm, much earlier than we expected!
One thing I did learn before boarding the ship was that you are allowed to bring your own wine or beer on board to drink in your cabin!
TIP: Each adult (21 years of age or older) is allowed to take two bottles of unopened wine or Champagne (no larger than 750 ml) or six beers (no larger than 12 ounces) on embarkation day (the day you board the ship). The alcohol must be hand carried in a day bag or carry on luggage
One of the best parts is the Disney Cruise staff announce each family as they come aboard!
Once we were on the ship we went to lunch up on deck 9 in Cabanas. It is an all you can eat buffet! Our rooms were not ready for a few more hours so we had time to sit and enjoy lunch with a view of the port of Miami! The lunch has a very wide selection of food. There were some kid favourites like chicken strips and fries, a salad bar, prime rib and mashed potatoes, noodles and, of course, a dessert station!
And then finally we got into our stateroom! It was about 3:30 pm Eastern!
We had about 30 minutes or so in our room before we had to be on deck 4 for the training! It is mandatory for every single person on the ship! It doesn’t take too long and then you are free to explore the ship, eat, swim, go back to your room, eat, go to a movie or just relax! We had longer to hang out than others because we had the second dinner rotation. We didn’t have to be at dinner until 8:15 pm Eastern. The first dinner seating was at 5:45 pm.
TIP: Early dinner seating means early breakfast on your last day and day of dis-embarkment. Late dinner rotation gives you a later breakfast on the day of docking which is good news for late risers like us!
In part two, I will share some highlights from the onboard parties and how the kids kept themselves entertained on the ship!
