Disney cruise was even better than we had dared hope. Go for longer than 3-day cruise if you can possibly swing it.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Very smooth and easy, with no wait. We boarded at 1:30 pm.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Food was excellent in the main dining rooms. Fast food from the counter by the pool was very good. Fast food on Castaway Cay was good. The buffet was okay - not as impressed with it. Room service menu was extremely limited.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Pools with movies - awesome! Lots of available seating around the pools. Loved the adults-only pools.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Walt Disney Theatre shows were amazing - especially Beauty and the Beast, which is a Broadway-calibre production based on the live action movie, rather than the original animated movie. The Golden Mickeys show was thrilling for my 10-year-old son, he was jumping in his seat he was so excited, and in the middle of the show turned and plated a kiss on me, he was so grateful. All the performers were incredible. Buena Vista movie theatre with first-run movies - fantastic! Show and fireworks for Pirate night were such a joy.
Children's Programs
5 out of 5
My 10-year-old son adored going to Edge, for 11-14 year-olds. He was only 1 month away from his 11th birthday, so they let him go there instead of the Oceaneers Club, but he actually went to Oceaneers once as well and enjoyed it. He also loved, loved, loved doing the Midship Detective Agency mystery game that's like a scavenger hunt that sends you all over the ship. He did 2 of the 3 mysteries in our short cruise. Disney characters being available a great deal of time on the ship is awesome as well.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
They went above and beyond in so many ways - it's impossible to give you all of the examples. One example is that we bought a souvenir cup at the Pirate dinner for our son, and then he took it to the Theatre when we went to Beauty and the Beast. When we left the theatre, we forgot the cup. The next day, I went to Guest Services to check lost and found. They didn't have it, but took down our cabin number and said they would let me know if they found it. I didn't hear from them all day, so I figured it was just gone, and I knew that made my son feel sad. Then at dinner that night, the head waiter Felice came up behind my son and said, "I hear you lost your Pirate cup in the Theatre last night!?" Any my son sighed, "Yes." Then Felice said, "Well, that can't be so, because it's sitting right on your shoulder!" My son gasped and took the cup from Felice, smiled and hugged it like a long-lost puppy. There were other things that happened on the cruise that were equally stunning when it came to service - this is just one example.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Beautiful ship, clearly meticulously maintained.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Cabin was perfect for a family cruise. Our cabin 10508 had a verandah, and there is an overhang from the deck above, but it didn't impede our view much at all. It just makes it so you can't watch the fireworks from your verandah. But otherwise, the view of the sea and ports is unaffected by the overhang. I had read reviews where this cabin was said to hear scraping of chairs from the deck above, but we never heard anything from above.
Ship tip
Bring enough money for tips for embarkation porters, disembarkation porters and room service staff if you order room service. Also enough for tips for Waiter, Assistant Waiter, Head Waiter and Cabin Host (steward) for the envelopes for the last night.
My son and I went to Escape Cocoa Beach in the morning before boarding in the early afternoon. It was a lot of fun. While my son and I were at the Escape room, my husband got a therapeutic massage at Cocoa Beach Spa, which is just across the street. He came out and told me that he just met the woman he would leave me for if he were to ever leave me, because she gave such a wonderful massage.
The island is beautiful and fun for kids. The water in early February felt like ice water, so that put a bit of a damper on the day. We didn't get to see the adults-only part of the island, because our son didn't want to go to the island kid's club, so we were only on the family beach.
We waited until about 1/2 hour after disembarkation was started, and we had no line to get off. People had lined up early to get off the ship, and those folks had to wait in lines for a while.
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