This is a step by step guide to planning a 1-week Disney cruise.
We have been on six Disney cruises, including:
- The Disney Magic in the Caribbean: Port Canaveral, Key West, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Castaway Cay
- The Disney Fantasy with Star Wars Day at Sea: Port Canaveral, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Castaway Cay
- The Disney Magic in Norway: Copenhagen, Stavanger, Alesund, Geiranger, Bergen
- The Disney Fantasy with Star Wars Day at Sea: Port Canaveral, Tortola, St. Thomas, Castaway Cay
- The Disney Dream in the Caribbean: Nassau, Castaway Cay
- The Disney Dream Very Merrytime Cruise in the Caribbean: Nassau, Castaway Cay
- Where do you want to go?
- The adults in our family prefer more days in port to explore new cultures, while the children prefer more days at sea to enjoy the ship's activities, pools, waterslides, and kids' club. You can decide what's best for your family!
- The smaller ships and larger ships each have their own advantages. Don't let ship size be the determining factor. Larger ships have more themed areas and activities, while smaller ships feel more accessible and relaxing.
- The Deluxe Family Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah is fantastic for a family of 4-5. Or, check out the Deluxe Family Oceanview Stateroom if you don't care about a balcony. The two-room bathroom makes life easier.
- The ships are long. To save time, you can get a cabin midship, or closer to the kids' clubs if you have children.
- Two decks below the pool is ideal: it's quiet, but close enough to the pool that you don't need to take an elevator up.
- Cruisecritic.com has informative and helpful cabin reviews. If you can't find a review for your exact ship and cabin, you can check the review for the same cabin on the sister ship: Magic/Wonder, or Fantasy/Dream.
- This blog covers the pros and cons nicely: http://magicaldistractions.com/disney-cruise-dinner-seating/
- We chose late seating for our first few cruises, but found it disruptive to go to a show, then dinner, have the kids Dine & Play for 45 minutes, and then pick them up for bedtime. We prefer the early seating now.
- Early seating fills up first.
- If you don't get your first choice of dinner seating, ask to be put on the wait list.
- Your dinner reservations will be pre-assigned to a different restaurant each night, and your waiter will follow you. We're big fans of the rotational dining. See this FAQ for more details: https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/faq/dining-food-beverages/rotational-dining/
- Your show time will be opposite your dinner time: early dining guests see their show while the late dining guests are eating, and vice versa. You can't go to a main dining room if it's not your reserved time, because they won't have a table for you, but you can see any show at either the early or the late time.
- You can eat a casual meal without reservations almost any time of day. Our kids love the buffet and counter service restaurants.
- You can also order room service almost any time of day.
- You can choose to eat a formal sit-down breakfast in your assigned restaurant, or a casual buffet breakfast, each morning.
- Use this calculator to find out when your booking window opens: http://disneycruiselineblog.com/cruise-planning/booking-window-date-calculator/
- Be sure to pay your cruise balance in full, and be ready to book activities on the first day you can, if your heart is set on specific activities.
- You can find sample activities for each port of call at https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/overview/, even before your booking window is open.
- Choose your top 2-3 port adventures for each day, just in case your favorite is not available.
- On Day 1, you won't be able to get to your room until mid-to-late afternoon, so pack a day bag and don't plan much for that time. You can get some lunch and explore the ship. There will also be a required safety drill right before the Sail Away party.
- Other special events will show up in your Cruise Activities when your booking window opens. The default view is not the most helpful. To get to a better view of your activities, log in and select Cruise Activities to see the Cruise Activities Overview, which has a card layout, one card per day. Click on the words "Day 1" on the second card, then on the bottom of the pop-up window, click on View Details. This will take you to the much more user-friendly view called "Your Cruise Itinerary". You can flip through the days to find the "Sail Away Deck Party" time on day 1, the date for the "Pirate Deck Party" or "Frozen Deck Party", or the "Star Wars Day At Sea".
- If you're on a Star Wars Day at Sea cruise:
- Star Wars costumes and cosplay are encouraged that day, but not required.
- If you're a Star Wars fan, don't plan any book-in-advance activities other than the Star Wars character meet-and-greets for that day.
- Star Wars character formal meet-and-greets are scheduled via a lottery system. Don't forget to select your top meet-and-greet choices and turn in your selections promptly!
- Other Star Wars characters will roam the decks throughout the day, but they do not stand around posing for photos. You can interact with them as if you were in the Star Wars universe.
- The Star Wars Day at Sea includes a special dinner menu. It also includes a dance party in the evening, with fireworks.
- There are Star Wars-related activities on other days, such as the Star Wars movies in the theaters, but not as many as some people expect.
- Pirate Night is a feature of Caribbean cruises. Pirate costumes are encouraged, but not required. It includes a pirate-themed dinner with a rowdy pirate "invasion". On our cruise that included Pirate Night but not the Star Wars Day at Sea, Pirate Night also included an evening show on deck with fireworks. When we had both Pirate Night and the Star Wars deck party, the fireworks were only at the Star Wars deck party. You can check with guest services when you get onboard.
- The Frozen Deck Party is a feature of European cruises, replacing the Pirate Night. It includes fake snow instead of fireworks.
- Reserve the last night of the cruise for packing up. You'll need to repack a smaller bag for overnight, and your main bags will be taken away at dinner time, not to be seen again until after you disembark. It's a busy night.
- If you eliminate the nights with special events, you will know which nights are best for Palo or Remy reservations.
- If you're departing from Port Canaveral, check the launch schedule to see if any rockets are launching from Cape Canaveral or the Kennedy Space Center on your first or last day. Note that launches may be rescheduled at any time.
- When your booking window opens, choose your favorite port adventures right away. The booking window will be open from midnight until about 1:30 AM Eastern time, and then close for a few hours for overnight maintenance.
- Most port adventures can be canceled or re-scheduled up to 3 days before your cruise departs, but a few cannot be changed.
- A cabana at Castaway Cay is extremely expensive, and there are plenty of comfortable places to sit and relax for free. We had no trouble finding hammocks and beach chairs for everyone. So, unless you have money to burn, skip the cabana.
- Palo and Remy, the adults-only restaurants, are both worth the upcharge. It's also lovely to get some adult-only quiet time.
- A high-end brunch is also available at these restaurants on days at sea.
- If you'd like to have dinner at Palo and/or Remy, reserve your spot right after you schedule your port adventures and evening activities. The first and last nights of the cruise book up last. Days at sea book up first. I don't recommend a fancy dinner on the last night of the cruise, because we usually find that night stressful.
- If you have children, you can take them to the buffet first, and then bring them to the kids' club while you have your meal. They offer the children food in the kids' clubs at mealtime, but they may not stop playing to eat.
- The Character Breakfast is free and fun, but you need to book in advance to get preferred seating times. Try not to be late, as they bring characters to your seating area just once, based on your reservation time.
- The small-group tasting events in the bars are fun, and you'll learn how to make the drinks as well.
- If you want to attend the Frozen Meet and Greet, or the Princess Greeting, you should book them at the same time as port adventures. These are the only opportunities to take photos with most of the Disney Pricesses. The Frozen Meet and Greet is impressive and highly recommended, even for adults.
- You can also pre-book (expensive) appointments at the Bibbidi Bobbidy Botique, Royal Court Royal Tea, the Spa, and so on.
- It's helpful to leave large unscheduled blocks of time so you can relax and enjoy the ship. Sometimes that means booking a few events back-to-back, as in the Day 2 example below.
- You'll find out about the rest of the onboard activities when you get the daily newsletter in your room. There are usually 3-4 activities that don't require a reservation at any given time and day.
- Your first two dinners in Animator's Palate are special dinner shows, not to be missed. Be sure to request a dining rotation where you're in Animator's Palate when you are not dining at Palo or Remy. You can request a dining rotation through your travel agent, or by calling Disney Cruise Line at 1 (800) 951-3532.
- Dining rotations for your specific itinerary can be found on forums like disboards.com.
- Your dining rotation won't be confirmed until you arrive on board. You can request a change at that time, but there's no guarantee they'll be able to accomodate your request.
** That pretty much covers it! The rest can be planned after you arrive on board. **
- Items with a ^ were pre-booked by me, and items with a + were scheduled by the cruise director.
- The Eastern Caribbean rotations were AERAERA, ERAERAE and RAERAER.
- A = Animator's Palate, E = Enchanted Garden, R = Royal Palace
- The first three nights were the rotation menus for each main dining room. The 4th night was pirate night, then princess night, captain's gala and the farewell menu. The rotations are different for different itineraries.
- Check in at noon
- Casual lunch on deck, explore the ship
- Required safety drill around 4 PM
- 4:15 PM Sail Away Deck Party
- 5:45 PM Dinner at our assigned restaurant
- 8:00 PM Show (more of an infomercial for ship activities)
- ^ 9:45 AM Disney Junior Character Breakfast
- ^ 11:30 AM Princess dress-up package at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique
- Quick buffet lunch or snack
- ^ 1:15 PM Princess Gathering
- ^ 2:00 PM Frozen Meet and Greet
- Formal night, take formal pictures with the kids
- 5:45 PM Watch the early show with the kids
- Get the kids a buffet dinner
- Take the kids to the Oceaneer's Club or Lab
- ^ 7:30 PM Dinner at Remy for the adults
- ^ Request a dinner rotation where Animator's Palate is NOT on Day 2
- Buffet breakfast for the kids
- Take the kids to the Oceaneer's Club or Lab
- ^ 11:00 AM Brunch at Palo for the adults
- 5:45 PM Dinner at our assigned restaurant
- 8:00 PM Show
- Buffet breakfast
- ^ 8 AM Port Adventure
- Buffet lunch
- ^ 2:30 PM Pirate dress-up package at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique
- 5:45 PM Dinner at our assigned restaurant, pirate night
- 8:00 PM Show
-
- 9:30 PM, Pirate Deck Party
(This would be another good night for dinner at Palo or Remy.)
- Buffet breakfast
- ^ 8 AM Port Adventure
- Buffet lunch
- 5:45 PM Dinner at our assigned restaurant, formal night
- 8:00 PM Show
- 9:30 PM, Star Wars teaser show in the lobby
- Buffet breakfast
- Star Wars activities
- 5:45 PM Dinner at our assigned restaurant, Star Wars menu
- 8:00 PM Show
- 9:30 PM, Star Wars show on deck, fireworks, and dance party
- Buffet breakfast
- ^ 8:30 AM Castaway Cay 5K run
- ^ 11:00 AM Port adventure
- BBQ lunch on the island (all food service moves to the island at lunchtime)
- 5:45 PM Dinner at our assigned restaurant
- 8:00 PM Show
- Early breakfast in your assigned restaurant, at your assigned time. You need to be out of your room by your breakfast time.
- You must leave the ship right after breakfast.