Disney Cruises? Feedback?

[bubbaray]

Anyone done a Disney Cruise?

In 2011, they are cruising from Vancouver to Alaska. This would be ideal for us -- no long (7+ hr) airline flight from Vancouver to Miami/Orlando.

We've never cruised. I'm a little afraid of open water boating, to be honest, but I'm fine if I can see the shoreline. I believe that most of the way up to Alaska, you can see land.

Are the kids activities, esp. the Oceaneer's club, included in the prices? What are the activities for kids like??

[megv]

We did the Land/Sea combo to the bahamas. We were nervous to go longer as it was our first cruise, but we really enjoyed ourselves. We figured that we like everything else at Disney, so we would give it a shot.

The boat was amazing, although I found the pools to be a bit disappointing. Food & dining were easy and very kid friendly. We stayed in a deluxe family room w/ veranda which was a nice size and worked well with the 2 kiddos.

We were nervous to try the Oceeners club, but wound up taking our older DS on the 2nd to last day. He absolutely loved it, and we had to drag him out of there. We actually took him after dinner, and when we went to pick him up, Goofy was there reading a bedtime story in his jammies. The staff was great, and they really segment the kids by age. They also will feed the kids, and they give you a pager ICE. There were no extra fees, but I believe you have to sign up the kids in advance as there is limited space.

We got off the boat in Nassua and went to Atlantis. The excursion was well organized, but a bit of a PITA with 2 little kids. (DS2 was just 6mos at the time.)

A word of caution - pack light!

[rlu]

Can't speak to Disney cruise specifically, but

we love the cruising in Alaska. We've done the Vancouver/Anchorage(Seward) trip and vice versa. Love love Sitka if that's a port on your route, be sure to see the Raptor Rehabilitation center. This last time was a roundtrip from Seattle and our first with DS who was 5 and our cruise didn't include Sitka, but Skagway's train was a big hit with all of us as was the Mt. Robert's tramway in Juneau.

ok - I've cruised three different lines in Alaska, twice on Royal Carribean which I highly recommend. The last was with DS and we had him go twice to their Aquanuts program. They theme their days so we picked two themes we knew he'd like (pirates and trains) and he had a blast both times. Oceeners sounds the same idea, sort by age, registration required, FREE, pager if necessary.

Also, seconding the pack light suggestion and take a bottle of Woolite. We took clothes for half the number of days, I did a little handwash each night, and it worked out well.

[LD92599]

We just came back from a 7 day intinerary, Western Caribbean, on the Magic. We've also done the Easter Carib as well as the 3 & 4 days cruises, all from Port Canaveral, FL.

I'd LOVE to do Alaska in 2011...off to check on that!

My DS didn't like the Oceaneers Lab/Club too much both times he was eligible but i think that's because of a few reasons....most of the kids seemed to have siblings, cousins and/or built in friends that they traveled with. The counselors though are fantastic. The club/lab is included in your fare.

You also can't beat their luggage handling (well except for all the new flying limits we encoutered w/ luggage).

Food & Dining options are GREATLY improved over the last few years too, we've cruised w/ Disney 6 times since 1999. HUGE strides there.

The rooms are fairly large when compared to other cruise lines.

I'm with you in wanting to see land! I'm always psyched when we're walking around and can see lights on the horizon! But it's always been fine, despite 30' waves one night a few years ago!

Go, have fun! Our most recent one was 7 days and for me, was a few days too long. I definitely prefer a 4 or 5 day cruise.

BTW bookings start Sept 28th for anyone else interested.

[bubbaray]

THanks ladies! Still not sure, might give them a few months to work the kinks out on that run, KWIM? THat is good news about the Oceaneers club, it sounds great. And yeah -- big rooms would be good for us.

Why pack light??

[LD92599]

Why pack light??

I think for airline issues, but you don't need to fly, do you?

We packed too heavy, despite really trying not too! If you plan on participating in the themed dinners and parties then you need to dress for them. Oh and if you do go, DEFINITELY book Palo for you and DH one night.

The one aspect of cruising that i don't really like is having to "dress" for dinner every night, although a few years ago we decided a few nights before leaving that we weren't going to the restaurants and we'd eat casual on deck 9, which i actually missed doing this year. Every time we were up there it was either right after lunch or right before dinner!

The staff is fantastic with kids..absolutely fantastic!

[codex57]

I love cruising. Been to Mexico once (didn't like), Alaska twice, the Bahamas/Caribbean three times.

Alaska has been my favorite cruise destination so far by a mile.

However, of the lines I've been on, Disney has been my favorite by far. Granted, I am a Disney fan. Even worked at Disneyland for about a year, but was a fan before and after that.

Still, as a somewhat experienced cruiser, I do like the Disney line a lot. Cabins are very roomy, which is great for families. Also, the little details were VERY well done. I did the Caribbean land/sea trip. The parks were nice and all, but I really loved the cruise. Enough luxury and stuff for adults, but kids will love it. I think my favorite was still the dinner at the place where it starts off black and white and throughout the meal, everything sneakily gets all colorful. But the Disney private island is quite awesome as well.

If Disney is cruising Alaska now, I might have to go a 3rd time. And I'm only 30 too. I'm gonna be cruising like a senior citizen.