I’m writing this piece while I sit in the airport waiting to catch my flight to New York. While I was making the four hour drive to the airport, I called my sister and got the skinny on the Disney Cruise from which she just returned. Since I have vacations on my mind, I thought I’d pass along what she had to say.
She has a good friend who works for Delta Airlines and the two families were able to travel together at a discount. If you’ve ever been to one of the Disney Resorts you know that Disney knows how to handle crowds and how to deal with families! My sister, who was traveling with her husband and two young children, reports that they run their cruises just as efficiently. She said everything was designed for families. Most cruise line’s cabin bathrooms have a tiny stall shower. Disney knows that they are carrying small children and their cabin’s bathrooms are equipped with small tubs. Their cabin had two small bathroom areas, one with a commode and sink and the other with a shower and sink. She said having two sinks was a huge help with four people sharing the cabin. Even with four people, the cabin did not feel as crowded as she expected. The steward would make the sofa up as one bed and another would descend from the ceiling just above it to make bunk beds for the kids. There was a curtain that could be drawn between these beds and the adult bed for at least an illusion of privacy. Every morning after they left, the steward would stow the bunks away again.
She said the shows were great fun for children as well as adults. There were big production shows in the main room as well as very funny family-friendly comics in the smaller lounge. This ship stopped in Key West, Grand Cayman and at Disney’s private island. My very frugal, very clever sister chose not to take any excursions, opting instead to set off on their own. On the day the ship docked in Grand Cayman she had her family members each grab an extra box of granola and a banana from the breakfast buffet. They departed the ship, flagged a cab and asked the cab driver to take them to a good snorkeling beach. The cabbie charged them $5 each and took them to the Marriot Resort beach area where they practically had the place to themselves. They had a wonderful time snorkeling and playing on the beach. When they got hungry, they ate their granola and bananas. She said their only other option would have been $10 hot dogs from a beach stand. They had arranged for the taxi to collect them at 2:30 and were back on the ship in plenty of time to have a late lunch there. I’m going to remember that tip the next time I go cruising!
Her kids loved the onboard kid’s club and spent a good deal of their free time there. The ship gave pagers to the parents when they dropped off their kids, which enabled the kids to text them when they were ready to leave. While onboard ship they enjoyed a pirate themed dinner and a character breakfast for that special Disney flavor. The husbands were able to catch some football games and my sister reports that she and her friend played Scrabble and went to a wine tasting. She was surprised to discover that, although only about 10 yards away, just beyond the stacks, the noise from the kid’s pool area was completely inaudible from the adult’s only pool.
She had fun, her husband had fun and her kids had fun. Although not an inexpensive vacation, she said she can understand why people with children say it’s worth the money to cruise with Disney.
While I don’t see any cruises in my immediate future, I love cruising. Maybe I need to start a real vacation fund!
Do you have a favorite family friendly vacation? Or a way to make a vacation be a little more budget friendly?
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