Taking a Disney Cruise with your family can be a magical experience for everyone. The excitement begins the moment you step on board, with enchanting entertainment and delightful dining options designed to appeal to all ages. Here are 15 tips to ensure your family gets the most out of your journey. Whether it’s enjoying the kids’ clubs, participating in family activities, or relaxing by the pool, there’s something special for every member of the family to enjoy.
1. Book Early to get the best room
Disney Cruises are very popular right now and sailings are filling up quickly. Booking early gives you the widest variety of rooms to choose from. Disney cruises offer several different room types for you to pick from. If you are interested in finding your perfect room, check out my article How to Find Your Perfect Disney Cruise Room. If you’re needing more than one room or a room that accommodates a family of five it is even more important to book early because there are a limited number of rooms for that, and they go quickly.
2. Check Out Special Offers
Keep an eye on the Disney Cruise Line website for special offers and discounts. Another great way to keep up on cruise deals is to work with a travel agent. If you let your travel agent know you’re interested in cruising, they can keep an eye on deals for you and let you know when new sailings are released. If you’re interested in cruising and would like someone to track deals for you contact me here. If you’d like to keep up on Disney deals for parks and cruises, you can sign up for my newsletter and have Disney news and promos delivered right to your inbox once a month.
3. Arrange Transportation Ahead of Time
Getting to the port can be stressful, especially with kids. Arrange transportation in advance, whether it’s a Disney shuttle, a private car service, or a rental car. Having all of your travel planned out in advance will allow you to relax and enjoy your vacation more.
4. Explore the Offerings on Different Ships
While all Disney Cruises are family friendly and have wonderful activities for your kids, all of the ships have different offerings. If you have a little one that’s incredibly passionate about certain characters, you may want to explore what ships those characters are available on. For example, Anna and Elsa aren’t actually considered to be Disney princesses so you won’t find them in the princess offerings that most ships have. To find Anna and Elsa on a cruise, you’ll need to set sail on the Disney Wish where you can see them in the Frozen themed dining experience.
5. Book Early to Get the Early Dining Time
Disney Cruise Line offers what they call rotational dining which means throughout your cruise you will rotate dining through each standard restaurant in the ship. For this rotational dining there are two times each night. The first of these times is around 6 and the second is around 8. Most families aim for the earlier dining time so that they don’t end up with tired, hangry kiddos. This early dining time fills up quickly and the earlier you book the more likely you are to get it.
6. Download the Disney Cruise Line Navigator App
The Navigator App is essential for keeping track of daily activities, dining menus, and more. You can also use it to chat with other family members on the ship, making it easy to coordinate meet-ups and activities. One of my favorite features of the navigator app is actually a pre-cruise feature. Once you have your reservation loaded into the app, it gives you this adorable countdown you can see below. Checking your countdown is a great way to engage your kids and build up their excitement.
7. Book Excursions Early
Popular excursions can fill up quickly, so book as soon as your window opens. The booking window depends on your Castaway Club membership level, with Platinum members getting the earliest access. If this is your first Disney cruise your booking window will be 75 days before your sailing date.
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8. Make the Most of Kids’ Clubs
Disney’s kids’ clubs are fantastic, offering age-appropriate activities and allowing parents to enjoy some adult time. Be sure to register your kids in advance during your online check in. When you board the ship you can check out the open house times to explore the facilities together.
9. Attend Character Meet and Greets
Disney characters are a big part of the magic. Check the Navigator App for scheduled meet and greets and arrive early to avoid long lines. The ships will have daily meet and greets with many characters and the lines are fairly short compared to what you’ll see in the parks. There are also several times where the characters will be out in groups like the Sail Away party, the Character Dance Party and the farewell party. You don’t have the opportunity to meet the characters at the group events, but they are a lot of fun!
10. Pack a Day Bag for Embarkation Day
Your luggage will not arrive in your stateroom until later in the day, so pack a day bag with essentials like swimsuits, sunscreen, medications, and any important documents. You will want to keep this bag small and lightweight as you’ll be doing a lot of exploring this first day in the ship.
11. Dress for the Occasion
Disney Cruises have themed nights such as Pirate Night, where guests dress up in pirate attire. There are also specialty cruises like Halloween on the High Seas or Marvel Day at Sea that your crew may want to dress up for. Check your cruise itinerary and pack accordingly to fully enjoy these special events.
12. Get a pre-cruise welcome from Mickey
Want to get your kids really hyped for your cruise? Set up a welcome call from Mickey himself! In your Disney Cruise account go to your reservation and scroll to the bottom of the page. Select complimentary character call. From there you can choose the character you want (currently Mickey, Goofy and Mickey and Minnie are offered), you’ll then need to enter you phone number along with a few other pieces of personal information. Lastly you’ll choose a time for your call.
13. Plan for Tipping
Tipping is customary on Disney Cruises, and gratuities are typically added to your account for your dining staff and stateroom host. You can prepay these or settle the account at the end of the cruise. Plan for extra cash for additional tips. If you’re not a person who carries cash, you can add additional tips using a credit card you just have to go to guest services to do so.
14. Secure those luggage tags!
Shortly before your cruise you’ll receive an envelope that will contain your luggage tags. These tags have your name and stateroom number on them. They are sticky on each side and meant to wrap around your luggage handle. On our most recent cruise we had booked a guaranteed room which meant that Disney picked our stateroom for us. With this our room didn’t get assigned until two weeks before our cruise and we didn’t get our luggage tags before we left home. At the port a cast member hand wrote our luggage tags and quickly attached them to our bags. With his hurry, he only stuck the ends of the tags together. One of the tags came off and we almost lost my bag. If you want to make sure to prevent this you can get these luggage tag holders so that instead of having to rely on the sticker, you’ll just slide the tag into this secure holder.
15. Buy the photo package before you cruise
One of the best parts of a Disney cruise is how many character meet and greets you’ll have access to. Meeting those characters makes for some absolutely adorable moments and amazing memories. A great way to capture these memories is by purchasing the photo package for your cruise. Here’s my pro tip for the photo package – purchase this in advance! The photo package is less expensive if purchased before your cruise. Don’t let yourself get caught spending more on those adorable pictures you can’t resist because you didn’t pre-purchase this package.
A Disney Cruise is a fantastic way for families to create happy memories. By following these tips, you can make sure to have a smooth, enjoyable, and magical voyage for your crew! Happy cruising!
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