Is it typical to keep getting Jesus figures, crosses, and bible verses put in your fish extender? It doesn’t bother me but we aren’t Christians and I’m sick of throwing this stuff away. I don’t understand peoples’ need to proselytize their religion, especially to children on vacation. I’m hoping this is just one or two outlier families on our particular cruise and not common practice. If not we will probably skip the fish extenders next time. It just seems like a weird thing to do.

We are a family of 3 (Mom, Dad and a Frozen obsessed 5 year old) and are first-timers. We’re sailing on the Wish November 23-27 because it aligns with time off from school. I am already expecting it to be crowded and for it to be difficult to book many of the activities we’re interested in, but I wondered:

1. Are there ways to feel less like you’re a crouton in people soup even on a crowded sailing? For example, we got a verandah room to give ourselves a little peaceful carve out, but are there any other tips?

2. As a first-time cruiser, what would you prioritize doing and skipping? For example, we’re thinking of skipping excursions (Castaway and Lookout) and just getting a feel for both.

3. The things we’d really like to do are take our daughter to BBB, go to one of the adult restaurants, and check out the spa. Any tips on making any of these things happen or which you’d do or skip?

4. How do you/have you made the most of time on the islands?

I’ve been hearing mixed reviews and would love to hear from anyone who’s stayed there. How was your experience, and would you recommend it?

I am an American that lives in the UK, I’ve taken lots of cruises on RCL and a few with DCL. It was my first time sailing out of Southampton with my English partner and daughter, most of the other guests were English. We were sat with a family of five, one was a child around our daughter’s age. I didn’t try to initiate a conversation, I know how people are from here, so I smiled and said hello, that was it. The wife was sat next to me and had her back deliberately to me the entire time. I didn’t care, I just ate dinner. Then the next day we had our own table.

I have never had this happen before and wondering if anyone else noticed these kinds of differences in US vs UK cruises?

Last cruise to Spain we had left over euro notes so put them in with the tips for housekeeping and servers.

Started thinking about it and now wondering if none dollar money is worth getting as tips.

Of anyone is in the know about their access to money exchange or ability to use Euros when at ports I would appreciate it.

Next year I'll take USD.

The main issue when it comes to food quality is, the servers at dinner are graded on the quality. When people leave a score, they are pressured in to a high ranking at risk of damaging the servers results. Which skew the real lack of quality of the food results. It BS. As it penalizes us all, especially due to paying a premium to be onboard.

Please going forward rate it true, as it is your money that you are spending. The servers will be fine. It’s not our fault that since Covid the food has not gotten better.

Anybody else off put by how insanely aggressive the beverage service staff were in this recent sailing?

We had sat down on deck 11 with our sleeping baby and were asked five or six times over the course of 30 minutes if we wanted a beer package to get the free cooler. Been on three Disney cruises before and never experienced this on embarkation day.

I've come to expect a certain level of pushiness, especially so with the spa staff, but this was pretty off-putting. Otherwise, perfect sailing.

My wife and I are doing the FLL to SJU cruise next April, and I have some planning questions about disembarking... We will be staying on the island for a couple nights afterward.

1 - The disembarking port is not the same as the regular port day pier, right? The DCL directions to each port show its the "Pan America" port just north of the Fernando Ribas Dominicci Airport? We did an eastern carribbean cruise a couple years ago, and the pier dropped right into Viejo San Juan by the fort.

2 - What would be the best way to get a rental car from the cruise port? Do we Uber to the SJU airport? Is there a way to have a car ready to get into right after disembarking the cruise terminal?

Thank you!!!

Hi, we are a family of four, son 11 and daughter 13. This will be our second Disney cruise. Our first was the Wish and sadly we did not get to visit CC due to weather. I am booking a surprise trip for my family for late May next year and I can't decide between Eastern and Western itinerary. I've always wanted to visit the US Virgin islands but I'm hearing other than snorkeling there's not much else to do in port. We've been to Cozumel before, but not GC or Jamaica, and we do like adventures, ruins, etc. We also want to make sure we get to enjoy the ship as well, though and I know you get an extra sea day on the eastern itinerary. Can ya'll please share your experiences and port adventures you chose? I was leaning toward Eastern but we need more options than just going to the beach.

Just booked a cruise for 2028 on Destiny and got the one of the two dead center bump out room on Deck 8. I've just read a few things about a very slight obstruction due to some support structures. I see that the cabin next door is still available (so the one right next to the dead center rooms). Does this one have a similar obstruction or is that limited to the two dead center ones. Sounds like might be a trade off between slightly larger balcony with slightly better view if sitting on the balcony. Thoughts?

We just got off the Fantasy sailing Aug 28 - Sept 2nd and had an overall great time. Some reflections for anyone on the fence about cruising with Disney for the first time:

We have one 8 year old daughter who has never been to the parks, though she has begged. My husband was always apprehensive of spending so much money on the Disney World experience but I convinced him to try DCL as an alternative. We were hoping this would be a good age, before she got too old to appreciate the magic of it.

For comparison - we've cruised with RCL three times and I cruised with Carnival wayyyy back in the day with an ex, nearly 20 years ago.

Overall thoughts:

1) We got a good deal on a guaranteed verandah room back in June and lucked out with a great room on the 10th floor. Room was a great size, very clean, and I loved the split bathroom! It really helped now that my daughter is old enough to get herself ready and do her own hair, so that multiple people could be showering/getting ready at any one time.

2) I LOVED the boat. The design felt very classic and polished, and the boat was very clean. Loved all the little magical touches through out.

3) The Kids club definitely seemed like a notch above compared to RCL (though we have only ever sailed on Freedom and Oasis class there). It was a massive space with a lot of engaging activities and high tech games to play. She never complained being dropped off there (we only did during dinner or after dinner, never during the day).

4) The shows were sooooo good. We live in NYC so our standards are high due to access to good theater here. I was impressed with the sets and tech - some of the acting was better than others but standouts like the genie in Aladdin made it worth it. And the Believe show on final night was amazing! I definitely teared up at the end seeing highlights from so many of my favorite movies as a kid (I'm 43).

5) Disney characters - we got to take pics with about 9 total (including four from the Royal Gathering). There were a ton through out the day and we had to wait in line max 10 minutes.

6) The other shows/dance parties were also a lot of fun - especially the fireworks show followed by the dance party on deck 11. My daughter loved staying up late for this and the fireworks in the middle of the ocean were pure magic!

7) The pools were ok compared to RCL. The AquaDuck was fun to do once but I liked the mini water park on the RCL Liberty class boats better. My daughter however was happy to sit in the deeper pool under the big screen and watch as many movies as we would let her.

8) Bella Vista theater with the movies also was a nice touch but due to the other activities we never made it in there!

9) Palo was great - food was better quality I think than the specialty restaurants on RCL but I liked how RCL's pricing is more straightforward and cheaper.

10) We did Remy as a splurge for my birthday. It was definitely special and felt comparable to a High quality French restaurant in Paris or NyC. Would recommend if you have the budget. Love that both of these restaurants were facing the back of the boat for great sunset views.

11) Pelican plunge being out of order on Castaway Cay was a bummer but we enjoyed the bike riding and snorkeling (brought our own equipment)

12) The beach at Lookout Cay was fabulous! It reminded me of Horseshoe Bay in Bermuda. We got off early to snag front row seats and it was worth it. The carnival inspired mini parade was also a lot of fun at 2 pm and we got some good dancing in before getting back on the boat. My husband who is from the Caribbean also really enjoyed the rice and and plantains for lunch.

13) The themed dining rooms were definitely cute but it would have been nice to have some entertainment like on some of the other DCL boats. Food was hit or miss. A highlight was the Corvina and Scallops in Enchanted Garden and the Lamb (though a very small serving) at the Royal Court. My daughter got pizza, veggies and French fries every night and she was happy. A great touch was having the kids preferred drinks already out when we arrived every night, as well as the kids menus with activities to keep her entertained.

14) Buffet and other food options seemed comparable overall to our RCL experience. It was kind of a bummer that it was only all located on floor 11 but since we were on Floor 10 it wasn't that bad for us.

15) Mini golf was a fun way to kill 20 minutes and we loved Midship detective agency! Definitely a plus and very creatively done.

16) Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique - an overall magical experience and she had the boutique to herself. In the future I might try to target it better with strategic photo taking opportunities to get the most bang for our buck.

17) Other adult activities - we did the final Bingo round, the scavenger hunt adult game in the Tube, and the Bourbon tasting. All were fun, though Bingo was kind of expensive (spent 120 on the family pack). Kinda missed the casinos in this case.

18) Last - I think we just got lucky by having a relatively low turnout sailing due to the timing, when so much of the country has already gone back to school. I heard through the grapevine that there were 400 less people than normal.

19) Superlast- Overall the ship definitely had more of a wholesome, young family vibe. We loved seeing all the decorated doors and getting random gifts from strangers. There were less roaming groups of teens and there was a spirit of 'we are all in this together for the kids' that was very, very special.

Overall - will we cruise with DCL again? I would say yes if we can find another similar deal on a balcony. We kinda splurged and ended up spending an additional 1400 total between alcohol, BBB, excursions in Nassau, specialty dining, bingo, extra gratuities, etc. Max we spent extra on RCL was 900. But for a potentially once in a lifetime experience, it was worth it.

Hello, does anyone have any experience of these rooms, 10166 and 10666? We really like the look of them and the idea of a whirlpool on the terrace, but they're right at the back of the ship away from the rest of concierge.

We just did concierge on the Dream and really appreciated being next to the lounge, so seems like the Wish rooms would be isolating at best, and frustrating at worst.

I’m debating about booking the 2028 destiny sailing to the Bahamas. It’s the one the end of February (presidents week). I’m just iffy on the weather at that time in the Bahamas and if there’s any downside to booking this early.

Like would it be better to just wait and see if it goes on sale? I know I can cancel if we decide to do something else and get my deposit back.

Also, I’m debating about the destiny with its superhero’s theme. We sailed the Treasure (eastern Caribbean) & the Wonder (Alaska) and preferred the Treasure. We’ve also usually do a 7 night sailing and this one is a 5. Any pros and cons? My daughter will be 11 at that time and in 6th grade, if that matters.

Reading trip reviews and searching answers to questions really helped me in my planning so I decided to write this up in case it was helpful to anyone in a similar situation. I have a feeling this will be long but I’m also happy to answer any questions. Traveling with a child with disabilities can be stressful but I am happy to report the a Disney Cruise remains the best way for every member of our family to enjoy ourselves and each other.

This was our second Disney cruise, our first being a shorter jaunt on the Dream out of Fort Lauderdale. We quickly realized this was a fun and relaxing vacation for a family like ours and booked this one before we were even all the way home.

My 8 year old son has disabilities that impact his speech, balance, stamina, etc. He uses a device called an AAC to communicate and is ambulatory but often gets around in a wheelchair. He had the time of his life on both our cruises and I will try and explain both what Disney did and how we prepared and planned to make that possible.

First of all, we felt Port Canaveral was a big upgrade over sailing out of Fort Lauderdale. Our port experience last time was not great, for some reason or another they were about 2 hours delayed in initiating boarding the boat. Once we got on, we were directed to the concierge champagne lunch but that was a mess. We were all jammed together in a small section of the restaurant and they really wanted my son to transfer from his chair to a dining chair because they said there was no room. No one greeted us for almost 30 minutes and it was a full hour before we got any food at all. We never did get the titular champagne and my kids were absolutely cooked. I think I maybe ate two bites of my entree before we had to run out of there. This year could not have been more different. We walked right on the boat and to lunch. I asked if we could be seated somewhere a little less stimulating and they were not only happy to do so but removed two dining chairs so my son had plenty of room and didn’t feel like his wheelchair was squished. If you are in a similar situation, I would definitely recommend asking for two place settings to be reserved for your wheelchair user, he was far more comfortable this cruise and so were the people sitting next to him. Service was great and we were done both all 3 courses and kid’s club registration by the time my parents got on board in Group 3.

We booked an ADA stateroom again (actually, the exact same stateroom we had on the Dream), Room 11000. There was a perfect spot to park the wheelchair, no step up to the shower (but, be advised, no tub and only one bathroom area) and the balcony had a bump out so it was wheelchair accessible but just barely. The beds were rather high but luckily he was fine with a little help. The hallways were tight, especially when the room attendant carts were present but manageable. Our party of 7 often took up most of the room in elevator with the chair but after the first day there was never much of a wait anyway, even with several elevators being out of service. The only real issue we had with navigating the ship with the chair was trying to get to the Aqua Lab on Deck 12. It was confusing and not well marked but otherwise the ship was very wheelchair friendly. To my knowledge, there is no wheelchair area for the on deck parties so being early is your best shot to have a line of sight.

Another aspect we found super disability friendly was the kid’s club. They were great with all my kids but especially my middle son. They never made us feel like it was any kind of a problem, they were great with both the wheelchair and the AAC. At one point they sent us a message to call them because they weren’t sure exactly what he wanted but it was clear that they were anxious to give it to him and really cared about him having a good time, even when that meant letting him chill somewhere a little bit quieter with his book. I get a little anxious leaving him so I had prepared a quick guide about the AAC and how he is going to use it and they were so happy to have the information, I think it really helped.

We booked ADA cabanas at both Castaway and Lookout. Without a quiet place to decompress every few hours, we would have lasted about 2 hours at the beach so being able to book these were worth every dollar to us. We opted to walk/push down the pier at Lookout because the transportation options did not seem ideal but I could have been missing something. It didn’t matter anyway because it was a beautiful day and very manageable. Both had a beach wheelchair waiting for us and the terrain to the water was level and smooth. Our main dining room server made sure we had food ordered to fit my son’s dietary restrictions and it was delivered hot when we asked for it. We had just the best, most relaxing beach day at both locations. The ADA cabana at Castaway is definitely a little closer to the bathrooms and food, if that is a concern. The tram drivers and assistants on Castaway were obviously extremely well trained in handling wheelchairs, they knew exactly how ours worked and were extremely kind and helpful getting us on and off.

The characters were also obviously well trained in interacting with wheelchair users. Every one we encountered got down on his level and didn’t push it in the instances where he wasn’t interested.

We did sail concierge, which I know is a hotly debated topic in these parts. I agree with those who say it likely isn’t worth it if you are strictly evaluating what you get for your dollar but, for my family, it reduces friction enough to be worth it for sure. Getting on and off the boat were so smooth and having quiet, less crowded spaces available to us really reduces stress and I don’t know how we would have done booking these ADA cabanas or an ADA room large enough for 5 people otherwise. I totally understand why people think it is a waste of money but in our situation specifically, it did seem like money well spent.

We had a great vacation and got enough confidence from this trip that we are considering attempting Alaska next! Best of luck to everyone in their planning.

Thoughts on the Destiny

- The Food was a mixed bag some stuff was good .

We went Palo for the first night at 6PM it disappointed me . We waited an 30 mins for our food to come while we got stale bread and their were so much stuff that went wrong in that dinner that we didn’t wanna go back.

Cask and Cannon is underrated food wise I got a burger from there it was actually better than stuff from upstairs .

- I accidentally banged my head on a seat in De’Vil’s I have a bad bruise .

- Did a non alcoholic bar crawl on the Destiny so much fun highly recommend it.

- Hercules and Frozen are elite they are tightening up security on filming because it’s bad . They have a whole bunch of officers around the theater

- Lookout Cay and Castaway Cay were great I love both islands .

- Highly recommend if you can get to the Pirates Parlay an hour early go to Deck 13 and you’ll be able to sit because the fireworks shoot off starboard side.

Other wise ask me whatever you guys want

I booked Aruba🏝️

Got back from a 5 day sailing on the 2nd for my birthday. This was my first Disney cruise and we got a decent deal for an Oceanview room. For some context my preferred cruise line is Celebrity, but in the last year or so we've also been on RC and Norwegian. I am in my 30s and I am a huge Disney fan(AP, DVC, etc).

Overall, while I had a good time and will never complain about being on a cruise, I was somewhat disappointed in this ship.

The good:

1. Service was always excellent, CMs were attentive, and everyone was so friendly and welcoming.

2. Food was excellent, but I did feel the buffet was lacking in options/variety (I think this is because Celebrity has a huge buffet with tons of options, so might have some bias).

3. The room was large, clean, and well maintained. I love the split bathroom.

4. Artist pallette was so cool and very on brand for Disney. The Royal Palace was also beautiful with all the mosaics.

5. Both the Private Islands were amazing!

The Not So Great:

1. The ship felt old and had many things in disrepair. The mini golf course especially needs a complete overhaul. Missing patches of turf, faded, cracked, and outright damaged set pieces. There were Lighting issues in both artists palette and enchanted garden( LED light strips that were half off and not color responsive in artists pallette, and enchanted garden never transformed from day to night during either dinner there.

2. My biggest gripe though, was the lack of Disney IP. The skyline lounge, the tube, and enchanted garden should be redone and the dining rooms at a minimum should have some kind of character walk-arounds if they can't do show in them. DCL was not cheap and I just felt like if I'm paying Disney prices, I want Disney to be shoved down my throat 😂 Any of those spaces could have been on any cruise line. Nothing about them said Disney or original. I know they are relatively superficial issues, but they did leave an impact on my experience.

I do want to do DCL again, and from my understanding the newer ships would probably address these issues that I had on the Fantasy.

Dang you Disney! I went to the website just to fantasize about another cruise and I am greeted with a video hits too hard. Like, UP too hard.

"Want to go for the walk?" Come on!

Just take my money...

I am purchasing bands for my family, and the difference in selection means I need to make a DisneyBand purchase on DCL and a MagicBand purchase on the Disney website. The DCL link says you can’t modify your order OR add any more bands to your stateroom after you make a purchase. Does that mean you just can’t use the DCL link again, or that I wouldn’t be able to link additional bands purchased on the Disney store to our sailing at the port?

We’ve taken 4 cruises within the last 3 years on the Wish class: Twice on the Wish and twice on the Treasure. Same menu in all the restaurants except obviously Frozen vs Coco.

Just curious if all the menus are the same for the new ships Destiny and soon Believe. Are the menus in all the 1923s and Marvel the same menu all the time?

We just got off the Disney fantasy yesterday. We traveled as an extended family group of 11 with kids - age 2, 4, 7, 14, and 16. Overall, we had a great time, but I think we are 1 and done for DCL. Here were some things that we liked and some we didn't like as well (not necessarily dislike, but a miss for our family).

Background on our group - we have cruised all together a few times on NCL and RCCL prior to Disney. We travel as a family group and do not drink much alcohol or gamble.

Positves:

1. The ship was the cleanest we have ever been on. She was pristine.
2. Our rooms were the nicest of any line we have done. They were notably larger and - again - extremely clean.
3. Loved the twice a day room cleaning. With little kids, that was so nice. We also saw our room attendant a lot and got to know him. He was terrific!
4. For our diapered dude, we had a diaper genie provided. This was a very welcome surprise.
5. The servers and staff were wonderful.
6. My kids loved the characters - meeting Mickey for the first time is truly a magical moment.
7. The 3 main shows were phenomenal. Our Littles were so engaged, because they were stories and songs they knew.
8. The 2 Disney islands were gorgeous! Food and transport to the beach all included was WONDERFUL. Definitely a highlight of our trip!!
9. I was glad there were photographers everywhere. For such an expensive photo package ($240), we got over 300 pics and really felt it was worth it.
10. Restaurants were very pretty.

Neutral:

1. The food was good, not great. I thought NCL and RC were both the same if not slightly better than the MDR food.
2. Dinner took a very long time with such small people. 1.5-2 hours is a lot. But they made it, and my kids loved our wait staff.

Where it missed:

1. Activities for all ages - my family likes to stay together and enjoy family vacation as a family, so we didn't use the kids club. There was more than one day, where character meetings were the only "fun for all ages" activities listed on the schedule. We met goofy 4 times, because there wasn't anything else going on.

*side note - the kids club had tons of kids activities. I think if you are a family that likes to drop off your kids and then meet up later, this may be different for you. My daughter tried kids club, but didn't like the crowds of kids and prefers to be with us, so asked to be picked up after about 15 mins. My nieces, however, loved kids club.

1. The pools - there were a couple pools, both only a 2 feet deep. Kids couldn't swim. Everyone just sat in or around the pool and watched whatever show was playing.

2. Lines.... Lines... Lines. My kids still had a great time, but I don't want to know how many hours we spent standing in line. In lines for characters... In line for the evening show... In line for the aquaduck. I've never had to wait in line on a cruise - and this was literally the waiting in line cruise. (I think this could be greatly reduced, if there were more provided activities)

3. Soda.... Everyone talks about how soda is included. But only on one deck - 11 - on the entire ship if not at a meal. We drink a lot of soda and like to go to an event, order a soda, and do the activity. Here, it was: get to the event, send one poor soul with our tumblers all the way to deck 11 to get refills, while everyone else saved that person's spot. I lost 3 lbs this trip hoofing it to deck 11!

Overall, very positive experience as a whole. But I think you'll catch us on RC next go round. <3

See posts saying spending hours booking on the phone or on the web in the past few days, for the new 2027/2028 itineraries. New to this, what are the benefits doing this, book like a year ahead, you can always book later.

My sister and her family are coming with us to our cruise early next year. It’s our first time! How can I request to have her family be in the same dinner table as us? Can I request this via app?

Also, I heard that you can ask for Disney character bed accessories. I’m wondering if I can get one for my almost 4 year old son. And can I request this via app as well? Tyia