Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Vacation Review - Disney Cruise

Next month, I'll be attending a show at Lincoln Hall featuring a lesser known Austin based rock band called The Black Angels. I'll be writing a review of that show in The Elbowroom next month, but this month I'm going to go the corny route and write about our Disney Cruise we took on Spring Break, 2011. We understand about 60% of our audience do not have kids yet, but over half of that group will be having kids in the next three years or so. If this review doesn't apply now, it might in the near future.


I'm happily married with a six year old daughter (Alix) and a five year old son (Noah). We are a 'smaller house, many adventures' kind of family. So this year, we chose the Disney 7-day Mexican Riviera cruise as our flagship vacation.


Some background - We have gone on two previous cruises before, both Carnival. When you cruise, or any kind of vacation for that matter, it's a HUGE bonus to have the option of supervised activities for your children so you and your significant other can chill out. A friend of mine posted on Facebook recently that 'vacationing with your younger kids is simply relocating them.' I knew instantly what she meant. Even though you're on vacation, you still have to make sure they're fed, they go to the bathroom, you wake up when they wake up, you need to watch over them, make sure they don't jam a fork in their eye, etc. In other words, vacationing with your kids will still require much of the work that's required at home, which is a lot. But here is where Disney excels.

First off, Disney Cruise Line is about twice as expensive as any other cruise line. But that whole 'relocation' thing I just wrote about, most of that work is relieved but then it has the added layer of your kids having the time of their lives. Here's the breakdown:

Characters and Princesses - Jack Sparrow, Cinderella, Belle, Jasmine, Sleeping Beauty, Donald Duck, Mickey and Minnie Mouse are just some of the fully dressed characters seen throughout the ship. My kids met almost everyone of them and we took about 300 pictures. They loved it.

Oceaneers Club and Lab - On a Disney Cruise, they have separate areas for children to hang out and play, supervised of course. On our previous Carnival Cruises, this was not a good feature. The kids area was boring, not much to do. On our Disney ship, total opposite. I wanted to hang out in there. Movies, computers, Wii, character visits, themed activities (Toy Story 3 Boot Camp), cooking classes, slides, climbing nets, etc. My kids didn't want to leave. They would spend 2-3 hours per afternoon when we were at sea and maybe an hour at night if they wanted to go. Perfect time for Mom and Dad to have a super foofy drink poolside. Note - if your kids are not in day care, preschool, kindergarten, or grade school, I can't guarantee success with this important aspect of this cruise. There are a lot of kids in these areas and a lot going on, if your kids are not used to this, they might not like it.

Stage Shows - There's a show each night, all geared towards kids, but great for the adults as well. Toy Story 3 and Disney Dreams were the highlights. Each show is not too long, not too short. The production is top notch.

Current Movies - Yes, we saw 'Mars Needs Moms' the day it came out in theaters, in 3-D as well. We also saw 'Gnomeo and Juliet' in 3-D. These movies are playing throughout the day and night. In the room movies are free and they play several old and new Disney movies 24 hours a day. Perfect for the early a.m. wake up call from your six year old.

Service - Unbelievable. As a business owner, truly inspiring. Never a "No," never attitude, always a smile, everyone goes the extra mile.

Food - This was the only average grade. We had better on Carnival, and the kids choices were typical (hot dog, fried chicken tenders, pancakes, waffles) but I understand that on a 7 day cruise, food supply diversity is tough on space. We started ordering adult entrees for the kids half way through, that was the better solution.

Adult Stuff - Fitness center was adequate, I also used the 1/3 mile jogging track they had. The spa was really nice, geared towards couples. They also had a Rainforest Room, it's co-ed with a two steam rooms, a sauna, and a couple of rain showers. I'm a spa junkie so I was in there everyday.

Getting on and off the boat - super simple, total opposite of the experience we had on Carnival.

I could go on about the excursions, but those will be the same no matter what cruise you choose. We went to Cabo San Lucas twice and Puerto Vallarta. Both were excellent.

So was Disney worth twice the cost of Carnival? Absolutely. I had a great time seeing my kids laugh and smile every 5 minutes. There was never an “OK, now what are we going to do?” moment on this ship. I'm hoping as my kids get older that we'll be doing more adventurous vacations (National Parks, skiing, etc.) so this might be it as far as cruises go for awhile, but what a great memory it is.


"For the most part, fear is nothing but an illusion. When you share it with someone else, it tends to disappear." - Marilyn C. Barrick

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