Disney is investing a lot of money across it’s properties in Florida and California.  It is also investing a lot of money in it’s cruise line division.  As most of you know, there are three new cruise ships coming on line in the next few years which will expand the current fleet of four ships to seven ships.  This will allow Disney to expand it’s cruise offerings.  What this means is you have no excuse not to cruise (unless of course you get sea-sick easily then don’t cruise :))

1) It involves a lot less planning than a Walt Disney World Vacation

Don’t want to make dining reservations at that 180 day mark.  Don’t want to make your Fastpass+ reservations at that 60 day mark.  Take a cruise and those dates go away completely.  The only date that you have to worry about is your check-in/excursion booking date which is when you get your embarkation time for your group and book all your excursions.  You can also book some on-board extras as well like dining reservations at Palo and/or Remy and get tickets for princess meet and greets.  That’s it.  All can be done in one day.  Plus, you don’t need to pay for your excursion at the time of booking.  The cost of your excursion goes onto your stateroom bill when you go on the excursion.  Weather changes.  Excursions may not fill up and not happen.  This saves Disney time from potentially reversing a bunch of excursion charges.

In terms of dining, the rotational dining schedule is made before the guest boards.  Guests will have the same wait staff every night of the cruise.  Guests can enjoy the local flavor of the ports for lunch or enjoy the buffet on board the ship.  There is also one restaurant which offers a sit-down lunch every day of the cruise.

2) You get to see the world

And I’m not talking Disney World.  You get to see the world away from US shores though some cruises make a stop in a US port like Key West.  Disney cruises visit many parts of the world like Bermuda, Barcelona, Jamaica, Mexico, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Canada.  The cruise ship is your floating hotel as you go from country to country.  Each country has it’s own culture to explore and you only have unpack and pack up once to explore all of these cultures.

3) There are cruises in all shapes and sizes

Are you an inexperienced cruiser?  Disney has three and four-night cruises if you are looking to “get your feet wet.”  Are you an experienced cruiser?  Disney has seven and ten night cruises to lots of great destinations throughout the Caribbean and Europe.  Want a cruise that is different from all the others?  Take a “repositioning cruise” where you can spend up to two weeks on a Disney cruise as it crosses the Atlantic or goes through the Panama Canal.  The only downside to those cruises is at a lot of “at sea” days.

4) Castaway Cay

Almost every Caribbean Disney cruises makes a stop at Disney’s Castaway Cay which is Disney’s private island.  This port has a variety of excursions which guests can go on.  Most guests use this is a beach day.  The island, itself, is full of nooks and crannies to explore either by foot or by bicycle and you can find some great views of the Caribbean.

The island has two buffet stations which are open for lunch and the wait staff from onboard double as the wait staff at the buffet stations.  The food is top quality as well.  My family has gone back for seconds (and even thirds) during our visits.

A sampler of my lunch at Cookie’s.  A cheeseburger, some grilled chicken, a small piece of corn on the cob, some pumpkin bread for dessert and MY CAMERA!