Disney Cruise Line - The Highlights

Once you have experienced Disney Cruise Lines (DCL) you will have some HUGE shoes to fill when trying another cruise line. After speaking to several seasoned cruisers, they all agreed, Disney is head & shoulders above the rest for families. Here's our list of "The best of the best of DCL"

#1 CUSTOMER SERVICE - the staff on board the ship would literally do ANYTHING to please you. From the bus transfer to check-in desk, kids club, entertainers, servers, housekeeping...they ALL treat you like royalty and pay special attention to Olivia. In the dining room our servers would do magic tricks for her, make origami our of her paper menu, customize her meal, and even pour her ketchup in the shape of Mickey Mouse! INSANE!!

#2 ENTERTAINMENT - You simply cannot imagine the schedule that is made up daily for entertainment until you see it. Hundreds of staff are working at every minute to keep you and your children entertained. On the schedule there is a section for each age group, families and adults. This literally covers every waking minute of the day, even if we are in port. Olivia was given a GPS tracking device bracelet that also scanned her into kid's club which ran all day until midnight. Brilliant! Too bad she wouldn't stay without crying :( It looked SO fun! The live performances in the huge & glorious Walt Disney Theatre are easily Broadway quality (and those who know me know how I love my theatre!) with incredible talent, costuming and special effects. Drinks & food are allowed in the theatre too which makes the grown ups happy! The stage shows are at 8:30 PM so Olivia was up to see most of them. New Years Eve on the ship was voted our best New Year's Eve ever, thanks to the entertainment on our cruise. They did it ALL in style with a live concert & dance floor, they even had fireworks off the ship at 12 am!! INCREDIBLE!!

#3 DISNEY CHARACTERS - These guys are everywhere at all times, and there is a spot on the schedule where it tells you which location who will be at (i.e. Belle in the Atrium at 2 pm). Then there are big events like the "Meet the Princesses" when all 5 of the Disney Princesses are together for meet & greet, professional photos and a wee chat with their fans. The line up was HUGE so go 30 minutes early! The professional pics are terrific but costly. They allow you to take your own too at all times. Then there is a Character Breakfast with the Mickey and gang characters, each one comes to your table for a personal photo op. They are on the dock in port, on the beach and in the live stage shows & special events.

#4 THE FOOD - The quality and variety was insane for a floating resort. Surf & Turf flows like water & for kids, there are tons of choices and perfect kid "fun" foods. Even waffles in the shape of Mickey! This is the 1st trip Olivia actually ATE on! YAY!! She ate like a crazy person, we were so so happy. The servers at dinner would literally get meals from other restaurants or room service to please us, or make-up something special just the way we like it. I ate soup at every meal! SO SO good! Only the highest quality of meats and cooked to your liking. You choose your dinner time (6pm or 8 pm) and have 3 restaurants you rotate through, dining at each one at least twice. They are gorgeous restaurants with linens and beautiful Disney art, very entertaining too! I can't say enough about the food after eating at countless far inferior resorts.

#5 THE SHIP - Although the Disney Wonder is considered a small ship, it was stunning with SO many nooks & crannies for dining and entertainment. The 9th deck has the pools and restaurants, plus other food stands and self-serve ice cream! The only difficulty was getting a spot by the pool, mostly because other guests would put their things down and then never actually use the chair. If we couldn't get a spot pool side, there was always somewhere on 9 or 10 we could bask in the sun and hear the fun. Our stateroom 7072 was adorable! We did pay a bit more for the 7th deck for the higher deck & slightly bigger room. It was a Classic Sailor Mickey themed with original animee art on the walls. Of course the rooms are teeny tiny (ours was 268 sq/ft) you are on a boat! But with our 3 huge suitcases full, there was easily a spot for everything. A curtain divided Olivia and us (She had a bed made from the couch that was comfy) for privacy and the bathroom was split with a door so Sam had his own sink and I had mine. YAY!! Toilet and sink in 1 half, and tub and sink in other half. It was so so clean, honestly the housekeeping was the very best I've ever seen in regards to timing and attention. Turn down service nightly with awesome towel art and Sleepy dwarf chocolates on your pillow! Our bed was a queen and incredibly comfortable, the TV played many Disney movies at any given time, our verandah was beautiful with clear plexiglass and incredible views & sunsets. Each room comes with "Wave phones" which are 2 cordless phones for the parents to stay in touch while on the ship! GENIUS!


PHEW! That's one long review! I will do another with the very few things we had difficulty with, just to point out certain things for others that may be planning of cruising with Disney, which obviously I HIGHLY recommend! We are talking about a 10 day Mediterranean Disney Cruise for 2012!