Disney Cruise Review

Disney Cruise executives decided to enter the cruise business based on inspiration from the 1920's.

They developed a mix of luxurious ocean liners of a bygone era with modern conveniences and technology. Their signature ships' are elegantly painted with dark blue hulls, matching red funnels and elaborate yellow insignias.

The interior ambience is casually elegant with etched pewter characters encircling the atrium and mini Mickey Mouse's subtely hiding in the china pattern of adult restaurants. Disney Cruise Line have demonstrated that elegance and family can be harmoniously blended.

Disney Cruise Line Ships

There are currently two 2,400-passenger ships in the Disney Cruise Line fleet:

1. Disney Magic
2. Disney Wonder

These are sister ships with similar themes differentiated by subtle touches. Disney Magic has an art-deco theme while Disney Wonder is more art-nouveau.

Disney Cruise Line Innovations

Disney has led cruise ship innovations with a bath-and-a-half cabins and a rotating dining room schedule in which passengers eat at three different restaurants. They masterfully introduced the "soda card" concept, now copied by competitors. But the Cruise Line Innovation will not be equalled, it went one better to offer free soda in the three restaurants and at the self-service beverage station on the pool deck.

Disney Cruise Line Amenities

Disney Cruise Line ships maintain their family friendly theme by no having casinos or libraries. There are three new public spaces aboard each ship:

Diversions - styled on an English sports pub

Cove Cafe - an adults-only coffee bar, located next to the Quiet Cove pool. Relax on comfortable couches, watch TV, check e-mail or read one of the many magazines on the shelves.

Aloft [ Wonder] and The Stack [Magic] Teen Cafes - with a college dorm like atmosphere

Entertainment Centers

Entertainment is centered on three theatres.

1. The Walt Disney Theater, a Broadway type house,
2. The Buena Vista Cinema
3. Studio Sea - a television sound stage used for G-rated floor shows.

Cabins

Disney Cruise ship cabins have superior quality mattresses, thick towels and sateen bed linens.

Family cabins are six berth and very spacious. Staterooms can cater to four. Nearly half of the outside cabins have verandahs. All cabins have bathtubs, a television, a minibar, a safe and a hair dryer.

Pools

There are three pools. A pool for younger kids with a 200-ft. Mickey water-slide, and a small sprinkler tub for toddlers. A tranquil adults-only pool is a delightfully relaxing area.

Restaurants

Palo is a boutique eatery featuring northern Italian cuisine. Make sure you make reservations as soon as you get onboard as capacity very limited.

Spa

The Spa features a rain forest steam room and the entire spa area is adults only.

Night Clubs

An adult-dedicated area of night clubs includes"Beat Street" on Disney Magic,"Route 66" on Disney Wonder with include a piano bar, dance club and sports pub.

Childrens Program

Once signed in onboard the ship, your children are automatically enrolled in the children's programs on Castaway Cay, Disney's fantastic private island. The children's program run by youth counselors schedules character greetings throughout the day .  Children's facilities are open from 9 a.m. until 1 a.m.

• Flounder's Reef Nursery - caters for younger children up to age 3. It offers afternoon and nightly hours available but is limited in capacity so get in early. Rates are $6 per hour for the first child; $5 for additional children.
• Disney's Oceaneer Club is a supervised program for children aged 3 - 7, spilt into age groups of 3 - 4 and 5 - 7.
• The Oceaneer Lab is split into groups for kids aged 8 - 9 and 10 - 12, and offers high-tech interactive programs, hands-on science experiments and ship-wide treasure hunts. Kids 11 - 12 can compete in a marine biology knowledge game show and send digital postcards to friends.
• Aloft [The Stack] caters for teens age 13 - 17. Featuring overstuffed couches and chairs, the latest video games, MP3 listening stations, board games and magazines, and a bar that dispenses soft drinks and smoothies.

Cruise Vacation Schedules

Both ships are based in Port Canaveral, offering different itinerary options.

• Disney Magic sails 7-night Caribbean trips (alternating Eastern and Western) for most of the year. Summer 2007 it will offer 10- and 11-night cruises to the Mediterranean.
• Disney Wonder handles 3-4-day trips, mostly to the Bahamas; however, it will make two special 10- and 11-night cruises to the Southern Caribbean in fall 2006.

Both ships stop at Castaway Cay with family and adult-only beaches. Options include a land-based stay at the resort.

Suitability

Both ships suit families of all generations and also pamper couples without children with oversized staterooms and underutilized adults-only areas.

Disney Cruise Destinations

Cruise Vacation Resources

Carribean Golf Vacations - thinking of a cruise vacation around the Carribean. How about joining a bit of golf into the program.