My kids were 7 and 9. They loved it.

I didn’t find service, food, or entertainment to be special. I enjoyed it because they did so it was appreciation of a completely kid centric trip that they thought was great. It was not inherently my cup of tea.

I did! We went with three families, a total of 5 kids. (This is important because at the time we had an only child and it was really nice for her to have friends on the boat.) They all liked the kids' club, not in the "never want to leave" sense but we could go to the early show, feed them dinner and then a parent would take them all down to the club and the grownups got a good 2-3 hours in the evening of adult time with no kids to watch. The shows were really good, the dinner entertainment was fun, and the ship was nice (we went on the oldest one, the Magic, but it had recently come out of dry dock and I had no complaints). And compared to a trip to Disneyworld it was so much easier in terms of planning and stress levels.

The food is not particularly good, but it's not terrible. The service was good but one problem I noticed is that since everyone relies on tips, there was very little incentive to correct badly behaved kids. I don't mean like, too loud or running in the way, I mean there were kids laying on the stairs at one point right where they could be tripped over by someone coming around the bend (and getting hit in the eyes with the sun, so missing the obstacles) and no crew member would tell them to move because their parents might be offended and get the CM in trouble. I don't blame the CMs because it's a problem of perverse incentives, not personal responsibility.

We went twice and loved it both times, though won't go back. Kids were 3 and 5 the first time and we went with a big extended family, went back two years later with just us. Those were the best ages because the kids wanted to spend hours in the kids club while we got to chill, but we young enough to be enchanted by the magic/characters.
It's been a few years but we loved:

*that it's so kid friendly. Everyone was absolutely lovely and kind; they love spreading magic so you'd be walking down the hall and suddenly Mickey would appear and hold your kids hand, or you'd get a special dessert at dinner for your kids, that kind of thing
*the private island is awesome. So much fun
*the meals are entertaining. And there's a program where halfway through they take the kids to the kids club. Also, one night we didn't want a big meal and ate somewhere else on board, which was also great
*the rooms. I went on a cruise when I was in college and the room was super tiny. These felt huge by comparison. But definately get a balcony
*love the smaller ships, which involve less walking around and much fewer people
*the entertainment: the shows are great and there's lots to do

The downsides: there are still LOTS of people on board and the pools are tiny, so on sea days it feels super crowded. And there weren't many activities on port days, so once when we didn't get off we were kind of bored
Boarding seems to take forever, as does disembarking (make sure to do 5-days or more; it would be too short otherwise).
It's really hard to find deck chairs because people put their stuff on them at 8am and leave for the day. So annoying.

We're not cruise people and won't go back now that the kids are older but we really enjoyed both trips.

Anonymous wrote:This is all reassuring. I’m a single mom doing my first cruise with DS for his spring break. He’s exited-I was tepid but it sounds like there will be something for me too. Thank you all.

For all the people taking about dining as a family or being seated with another famil- I too wanted a table for just the four of us.

For the record- I am NOT a Disney fan, we went and it was good. But after you boom, you can log in to the Disney cruise website, enter your reservation number or whatever- and you will see a bunch of info. Click through some menus/settings and somewhere is a place you can easily find where you request to be seated with another family or just with your family. I wasn’t worried at all when we boarded bc I knew I had made the selection. If you have a travel agent booking, you can ask them but I’d still recommend you go in to check anyway and confirm it is set how you like it.

This is also, I THINK, where you books actors, excursions, etc.

I went the year before the pandemic and my family had a good time. The food was top notch. Definitely better than other cruise food. Not steam tray quality.

The animation dinner was my favorite so much fun. I was able to relax and enjoy myself because the little one was kept entertained. The service was also top notch. Little things like anticipating my DS would need help cutting his food. My kid was into adult food and not finger kid foods.

The only time I was disappointed. as in thought I was going to lose my mind, was when the seas were too rough to dock in the bahamas. 3 days stuck on a boat full of wall to wall kids was a bit too much.

After 2 days on the ship with no egress you really start to notice things like the dangerously crowded pools, that need to be drained every 45 mins because some kid pooped in the pool again.

Or the moms who insist that their diapered babies need, contrary to health code and ship rules be in the pool too and when the life guards intervene, “sorry lady no diapers in the pool” their answer is to take the off the baby, dump it on the side of the pool and put baby sans diaper back in the pool. Ugh it’s one poop away from the worst outbreak of Noro virus you’ve ever had.

I’m not really a big kid person, so being surrounded 24/7 by unruly and unhappy to be traveling very young children can get old really quickly. There is a sweet spot for kids, probably 7-10.

But all in all we had a good time, we booked to go the following year for spring break again, but Covid.

Anonymous wrote:We loved our 5-night Disney cruise, and we aren't cruise people - it was a one and done bucket list experience for our family of 4. Kids were 8 and 11 at the time.

Regarding the dinner seating thing - I don't really get what people are talking about. We were on the Dream ship and yes, the tables at dinner were very close to each other, but other people were never seated AT our table. Lengthwise the table next to ours was maybe 2 feet away - so yeah, closer than I would like. But it wasn't much different than seating at some restaurants these days (especially the 2 tops they have close to each other).

We might try a Royal Carribean cruise sometime in the next few years, but first we have a few European trips on the bucket list to get to.

I'm the PP who was on the Dream and we were supposed to sit AT another family's table. Not near it. At it. Instead, our waiter sat us at a small empty table nearby. Now I know to request it when booking.

This is all reassuring. I’m a single mom doing my first cruise with DS for his spring break. He’s exited-I was tepid but it sounds like there will be something for me too. Thank you all.

Great question, OP! What age are your children? I would imagine there is a "sweet spot" as to what age to take them!

I am a travel snob - lol- I did go on the Disney cruise with my kindergartener and husband, and found it somewhat revolting: the crowds, the amount of food consumtion, the out of shape people by the pool, the fanatics decorating ducks and what not....

That said, mhhy kid loved it and the shows were great in the evenings. ?My point of sanity was getting a week pass to the spa to hide in the sauan daily to have alone time away from the masses.

I say try it once.

THere are many other more enjoyable ways to spend time/money in my opinion... go to Europe, go on safari in Africa, the One and Only in Capetown has a great kids club!

Save the shows for NYC broadway musicals...

Yes, pretty fun. Kids LOVED it. They were 12 and 10 and spent all day in the kids club. Husband and I got our own vacation too.

I don’t like cruises. They make me feel cooped up and they are crowded. Only part I like are the restaurants and buffets.

I’m not a big Disney person nor a cruise person, but my in-laws took us on a Disney cruise when my kids were 1 and 3. We had a great time and I was very impressed with the food. It was excellent

We loved our 5-night Disney cruise, and we aren't cruise people - it was a one and done bucket list experience for our family of 4. Kids were 8 and 11 at the time.

Regarding the dinner seating thing - I don't really get what people are talking about. We were on the Dream ship and yes, the tables at dinner were very close to each other, but other people were never seated AT our table. Lengthwise the table next to ours was maybe 2 feet away - so yeah, closer than I would like. But it wasn't much different than seating at some restaurants these days (especially the 2 tops they have close to each other).

We might try a Royal Carribean cruise sometime in the next few years, but first we have a few European trips on the bucket list to get to.

Anonymous wrote:What is the best age for kids to do a Disney cruise? We have a 3yo (only child) - I’m thinking that he’d get more out of it in another
couple of years, but wanted to see what other’s experiences have been.

We have a handful of kids.

Our youngest was nearly 3 and our oldest was 11 the first time we cruised Disney (with two more kids in between). Everyone had a blast!

Your kid will enjoy it whenever you go. Since it’s best to book a year out, I think your 4 year old would enjoy it next year. And you’ll probably get hooked, so it won’t be your only cruise.

Anonymous wrote:What is the best age for kids to do a Disney cruise? We have a 3yo (only child) - I’m thinking that he’d get more out of it in another
couple of years, but wanted to see what other’s experiences have been.

A 3-YO will still have a blast at the kids club because the staff makes it really fun. 4 YO will be able to do more and a 5 YO might actually remember the trip. The value in a Disney cruise is that the kids are very well cared for while parents get to relax and spend some time alone guilt-free.