I really wanted to go on a Disney Cruise so we went last year. Loved it overall but I would not do it again. Price was ok as we did a last minute Military deal and got free plane tickets/points (thanks to everyone here who said get a Southwest Credit Card) - we flew into Tampa and rented a car as it was much cheaper.

Room was great. We had a balcony and it was huge (but we have a small house) with two bathrooms. I wasn't a huge fan of the two bathrooms but it was helpful at times. If we shared with more adults it would have been great. Beds comfortable. Loved the pull down bed for the child and couch to sit on. Balcony was lovely. Room Service was great. Ship was very nice. Loved the Disney Beach stop and I hate beaches/water.

Hated - pools - too crowded/long lines. Hated the kids. There was some nasty, whiny, over tired kids with checked out parents. Every night at dinner we had to sit next to a family where the 2 year old was too tired and hungry and had a tantrum. Parents ignored while the waiters fed the three kids so the parents could eat. We had to wait for our food till they were done. It was annoying. I think they realized we were annoyed and moved our table a few nights when they could. We'd feed our child room service snack to go to the late meal. That family should have gone to the early meal or fed the kids first. Rude teens without parents running the ship and just pushing people out of the way to get food and their needs met. One got pissed when I said something.

Disney shows were just ok. Some bad, some great. Disappointed we had trouble getting a grilled cheese or mac and cheese at the quick service.

Kids club overrated - my child went an hour a day but loud, crowded as lots of open space and lots of electronics and other stuff but not much with climbing or games. Too overstimulating. The hand washers were cool and they seemed to be responsive to the kids and call parents when asked. Our child said the staff and everything was nice. He has a food allergy so they couldn't feed him there so we'd have to get him, which was fine. It was disappointing they couldn't at least give him an alternative snack.

Dinner service times were both terrible. I like to eat at 6-7. Too early or too late. Food overall was good but some was not good. They'd replace it if you didn't like it. They tried hard and waitstaff were great.

Cost - no way I'd pay full price.

Its best to go if your child loves Disney and the characters. Ours had no interest. He wouldn't even get one picture. So for that reason, beyond price, I might go again for price and other reasons but I will look at other ships next time.

Also -you don’t have to do either dinner seating. The lunch buffet place has food (never been but I’ve heard about it). We’ve eaten poolside at the quick service places and let the kids swim during dinner, when the pools aren’t as busy.

No casino. Not a huge deal, but it is something I enjoy, so I missed having it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pools are always tiny on cruise ships. And most people avoid them because of the germs.

When planning my next cruise, we decided we would take our kids to the pool immediately at opening (8:30am) and let them stay until it becomes kid soup. Kids don't seem to care but it is a nightmare for me.

The smaller ships have less of a problem at the pools. I remember the pool on the Magic being a lot less crowded than on the Dream.

Correct. The pools are comparable in size, but the smaller ships carry half as many people.

Anonymous wrote:Anyone send their 3 year old to the kids club?

We did and she liked it, though she had a friend with her. Also I agree that the counselors don’t really engage the kids too much- they just manage the space. My kid spent most of the time there on the computer. She had much more fun when she was 5.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those curious about prices:

The next cruise my family of 5 is taking (2 adults, age 3, age 6, age 11) is costing us 9,104.00 for a 7 night in a verandah room.

For ONE room?!?

Haha yes unfortunately. This is for an April cruise. The same room can easily be 11k for summer cruises and it's NOT concierge.

It includes a split bath.. one room with shower and one room with toilet and it sleeps 5.. 2 bunk kinda beds and one pull down out the wall, plus a regular bed.

Sounds relaxing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am pretty much same as you.

We disliked the crowded pool. My kids loved the Aquaduck but to me, the long line for it was really annoying (and neither were tall enough to go alone). My boys liked the kids club.

I loved the nightly shows, but the late dinner seating was too way too late for my young family. I wish there was some other option at your convenience.

The rooms were a good size, I thought and I liked the curtain separating two areas.

I liked the Disney theming and the characters. We all really liked Castaway Cay.

The free movie theater playing current Disney releases was cool!

I would do it again.

Why didn't you do the early seating for dinner? That's what we do: early dinner followed by the evening show.

Either the show or the dinner was going to be too late for us. I decided i wanted us to see the shows.

For future reference, lots of people dressed their little ones in pjs for the later show. While some kids fell asleep, most kids stayed awake (the shows are quite good and very engaging).

Even with older kids, we still prefer the early dinner seating. Everyone is hungry by 5:30. 8pm is too late for most people to eat.

Thansk! I'll consider it. We went last year when my kids were 7, 5, and 2. I'm not sure when we will go again, but they'll be older, so maybe the later time will be ok.

I totally get what you're coming from about the late shows etc. My 3 year old can't sit for an 8:30pm show. It's simply too late for her. Fortunately, they have the shows on in room tvs on the Dream and Fantasy so at least you won't miss them completely.

Anonymous wrote:Pools are always tiny on cruise ships. And most people avoid them because of the germs.

When planning my next cruise, we decided we would take our kids to the pool immediately at opening (8:30am) and let them stay until it becomes kid soup. Kids don't seem to care but it is a nightmare for me.

The smaller ships have less of a problem at the pools. I remember the pool on the Magic being a lot less crowded than on the Dream.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those curious about prices:

The next cruise my family of 5 is taking (2 adults, age 3, age 6, age 11) is costing us 9,104.00 for a 7 night in a verandah room.

For ONE room?!?

Haha yes unfortunately. This is for an April cruise. The same room can easily be 11k for summer cruises and it's NOT concierge.

It includes a split bath.. one room with shower and one room with toilet and it sleeps 5.. 2 bunk kinda beds and one pull down out the wall, plus a regular bed.

Anonymous wrote:For those curious about prices:

The next cruise my family of 5 is taking (2 adults, age 3, age 6, age 11) is costing us 9,104.00 for a 7 night in a verandah room.

For ONE room?!?

Pools are always tiny on cruise ships. And most people avoid them because of the germs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am pretty much same as you.

We disliked the crowded pool. My kids loved the Aquaduck but to me, the long line for it was really annoying (and neither were tall enough to go alone). My boys liked the kids club.

I loved the nightly shows, but the late dinner seating was too way too late for my young family. I wish there was some other option at your convenience.

The rooms were a good size, I thought and I liked the curtain separating two areas.

I liked the Disney theming and the characters. We all really liked Castaway Cay.

The free movie theater playing current Disney releases was cool!

I would do it again.

Why didn't you do the early seating for dinner? That's what we do: early dinner followed by the evening show.

Either the show or the dinner was going to be too late for us. I decided i wanted us to see the shows.

For future reference, lots of people dressed their little ones in pjs for the later show. While some kids fell asleep, most kids stayed awake (the shows are quite good and very engaging).

Even with older kids, we still prefer the early dinner seating. Everyone is hungry by 5:30. 8pm is too late for most people to eat.

Thansk! I'll consider it. We went last year when my kids were 7, 5, and 2. I'm not sure when we will go again, but they'll be older, so maybe the later time will be ok.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids love to swim so we considered a Disney cruise but when I read about how crowded the pools were, they sounded so unappealing. Then I saw this photo online--what was Disney thinking building such tiny pools?

http://photobucket.com/gallery/user/wombat94/media/cGF0aDpEaXNuZXkgQ3J1aXNlIDIwMTEvMDJkYjZkODcuanBn/?ref=

I emailed a complaint about it to Disney. I got back an email basically saying it's one of the biggest of it's kind and they've heard no complaints. EYE ROLL.

DP - but also one who said we didn't like the small / crowded pools on the Disney cruise. I've only been on that one cruise, though, so I don't have anything else to compare it to.

Anonymous wrote:My kids love to swim so we considered a Disney cruise but when I read about how crowded the pools were, they sounded so unappealing. Then I saw this photo online--what was Disney thinking building such tiny pools?

http://photobucket.com/gallery/user/wombat94/media/cGF0aDpEaXNuZXkgQ3J1aXNlIDIwMTEvMDJkYjZkODcuanBn/?ref=

I emailed a complaint about it to Disney. I got back an email basically saying it's one of the biggest of it's kind and they've heard no complaints. EYE ROLL.

Anonymous wrote:For those curious about prices:

The next cruise my family of 5 is taking (2 adults, age 3, age 6, age 11) is costing us 9,104.00 for a 7 night in a verandah room.