Honest Review of a Disney Cruise

My family and I are avid Disney lovers and have been to all of the Disney World parks, so our expectations were in line with our experiences at the resorts/parks.  It was a surreal moment after the first night of our cruise, because of kids running around everywhere screaming, which is not really a problem considering it is a Disney Cruise.

CONS:
The Oceaneers Club had orientation the first day which was nice, because as parents we wanted to see what was available and our kids to know what was in there.  The main problem I have with the Oceaneers Club was the hours of operation.  The next day, again the Club had another orientation, but told us we could drop our kids off at the Oceaneers Lab next door until orientation was over at noon...... My daughter of course was not having it, and after being there for about 45 minutes, we got a call that she wanted to be picked up.  The only reason we wanted to use the those amenities was so my wife and I could work out after breakfast and then pick the kids back up to spend the rest of the day with them. This brings me to my next point, the gym is small and overcrowded.  Having dumbbells that go up to 50lbs was nice, but there was not any room to do movements!  My wife and I only ended up working out that one day and decided that we would stay with the kids the whole time.  We headed to the main pool area which was another eye opening experience. Unsupervised kids running around everywhere..... the whole time.... Whenever we stayed at Disney Resorts, there were always some sort of dance party or activity that the workers/lifeguards put on, but on a Disney cruise there was a "contest" consisting of about 10 kids, on movies or TV shows that I witnessed twice during the whole trip.  So if you have nothing planned for that day, you are stuck at the pool around hundreds of screaming unsupervised kids who could care less what's going on.  Good luck trying to talk to your spouse! Also, there is one whirlpool that clearly states no one under the age of 16 should be in there with the supervision of an adult. The jets in the whirlpool did not work and there were about 30 kids in there playing without adult supervision.  There is a 20 min embarkation party with the characters when you leave port and then two nights later a pirate party with fireworks (favorite) that does not start until 10:30!!!! Why does the pirate party start so late? The gift shops on board and at Castaway Cay are VERY limited.  I was not impressed with the merchandise and it would have been nice to see some sort of convenience store.  Also, Nassau is rundown and there are people everywhere trying to haggle you as soon as you get off the boat.  If you are going to take a taxi, ONLY DO IT FROM THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE BADGES.  Trafficking and stealing is on the rise there.  

PROS:
You are on a Disney Cruise! There is a app you can download before embarking that gives you access to their intranet.  Individuals can communicate via instant messenger and also shows when and where the character meet and greets are, activities, and a dinner menu's.  The lines for the character meets were long sometimes, but we never had to wait more than fifteen minutes! The food and staff are amazing.  Families are assigned a dining team who is with you every night.  DO NOT MISS the nightly shows.  If my wife wouldn't have made me attend all of the shows every night in the main theater, the trip would not have been worth it.  Also, room upkeep/service was amazing.  We were greeted every night walking down the hallways and they remembered all of our names.  My daughter got the princess treatment at the Bibby Boppity boutique that was a great experience, and my son got the pirate treatment on the pirate night. The people who do that are great and the kids had a great time. Lastly, all of the bathroom on the ship were super clean!

If you are deciding on whether to do a trip to Disney World and stay at one of their resorts or go on a Disney Cruise, I would say save your money and go to Disney World.  I do not regret going on a Disney Cruise, but I wish there were more activities for the kids and things to do throughout the day.  Even carnival does small silly dance parties and weird activities throughout the day.  My experience with Disney Cruise was short of magical and "just okay."