If you love Disney, a cruise is something you should do at least once. This was out first trip and hopefully not our last. I have been a Disney lover as soon as I got to experience it in adulthood. When the kids came along and living nearby, we even had Disney annual pass. It has become unaffordable for us and we have not had them in a while. We have gone back a couple times for ‘Mickey’s not to Scary Halloween’ party. This year it was cruise time!!!
The cheapest time to cruise, and probably the least crowded time, is Labor Day weekend. Most kids are back in school and it is also hurricane season. You do run that storm risk, but it was worth the risk. Although there was some rain at times, it was still so much fun!!
Evie and I went with our best friends. A friend for her and a friend for me, perfect combo!
If you go, buy the photo pass. Getting photos are Disney was always a perk and it was equally great on the cruise. Anytime we saw a photographer, just jump in line. The girls even explored the boat on their own and grabbed their own photos.
It meant that everytime that there was character, we could get out photo and not worry about getting our phones out. There were so many opportunities, but these were some of our favorites, Mickey and Minnie, Donald and Daisy, Encanto, Captain Jack and more . Even the slightly blurry Eugene, taken on my phone. The girls were laughing/cringing at his smoulder.
We had the opportunity to dress up, which is always a favorite for us. There is the typical fancy dinner night. The girls had a few coordination outfits for the trip and fancy night was one of them. They each have their signature colors to wear, yellow and green. We had our fancy dinner in the Animator’s Workshop. The walls were alive with the animations starting as sketches and turning into the finalized colored image. We did our best to guess them before the were finished. Also, the food at each other the 3 sit-down dinners, was amazing and our serving duo was so sweet.
Our other dress-up night was Pirates Night!! Some people wore pirate shirts, some just wore the handy bandanas that they provided for us that night during our room turn-down. I thought that was a nice touch, in case someone was prepared. We were all ready to rock the pirate looks from head to toe!! Their photo set-ups with all pirate-themed that night too. I think we rocked it, went to dinner, and then stayed on deck for a whole prate party!! We were so well dressed, that they asked us to be one of the featured families on the big screen. The cameras shined on us and we had to do a little dance! I was ready for bed, but Evie would have partied all night long. She is still young and I was having a chronic pain flare-up, and I am old.
We made two stops on the cruise. The first one is Castaway Cay. It is Disney’s private island and I would have happily stayed there forever. It is Disney’s private island and on this private island is even a private, adult-only beach, which we enjoyed for an hour before the children were asked to be rescued from the kids club. They wanted to be in the ocean, and we can’t blame them. I am glad they gave us an hour. We enjoyed a drink and the gorgeous colored water and white sand while we read our books. You could have also booked a massage, bike ride, and more.
The beach we took the girls to, was just as fun, with a little less silence and more children, but we still had fun. They had a water slide that we went on with them and the water was perfect. The food was not as fun as on the boat, but they still fed us and gave us so much ice cream!!!
The next stop was the Bahamas. We could have just shopped at the dock and stayed on the boat and enjoyed all the entertainment on board, but booked an excursion at this stop. We took a boat the the Blue Lagoon Island for more beach!!! There were a few other different cruise passengers on this excursion, but we scored an awesome seat immediately and we just chilled while the girls played on the floating waterpark. Next time, I want more boat time, but this excursion was still so fun. There were newly released Disney movies playing on the boat theatre that we had not seen and I wish I had not been too tired to enjoy.
This whole trip was amazing. One of my favorites for the year. I love cruises as well, and this was one of my favorites. Maybe next time the whole family will come with us. They do not like boats much, so we won’t push it. It would be nice to share the experience. Evie and I know that we want to go again. All the Disney Magic on the sea!!!
