We recently sailed on board the Disney Dream cruise ship as part of the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. We brought our five person family, plus my mom. My mom booked a separate room, as we were over the capacity for our verandah stateroom.
The Disney Cruise Line sailing experience on the Disney Dream was spectacular. I won’t lie, I was a bit hesitant to take three small children on a cruise. My boys are 5 years old, 4 years old, and the baby was 8 months old at the time of sailing. I was fully expecting chaos. However, when we arrived to our stateroom there was a pack n’ play for the baby, and they had information about child care for us.
After surviving and LOVING our Disney Dream cruise I am excited to share five reasons why sailing on Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Dream is absolutely magical:
Disney Cruise Line – Tips for Sailing on the Disney Dream Cruise Ship
1. First things first, there is no “perfect” age for cruising on Disney Cruise Line – The perfect age to cruise on DCL is whatever age you are right now! Our family group ranged from 8 months to retirement age (shhh, don’t tell my mom I said that), and we all had an amazing time. Some of our friends on the ship also attending #DisneySMMC had teenagers and pre-teens in their family, and their teens had an incredible time. The stateroom next to us was a retired couple traveling without kids or grandkids, and they had a blast! We made friends on Castaway Cay that were a family of seven people (two parents traveling with their four young-adult sons and one girlfriend), and they were raving about the cruise. My point is…Disney Cruise Line is perfect for any and every age!
2. Don’t miss the Sailing Away Deck Party – because Bahama Mama’s. That’s why. Also, there’s fun and music and dancing…and Bahama Mama’s 😉 you can also enjoy food from the buffet as soon as you board the ship and wait for the party to start. They have quite an impressive lunch spread!
3. Select a dinner time that works for your family – DCL dinner seatings are at either 5:45pm or 8:15pm. Dinner is a long format with many courses, and meant to be savored and enjoyed. Each night on the cruise you’ll experience a new (assigned) restaurant, and your dining room staff rotate with you. Which means your server will be the same throughout the cruise. We loved having the same staff each night, and they went above and beyond to make my children laugh and enjoy dinner (and dessert!)
There is also adults-only dining at Palo and Remy that you should book in advance before sailing. My husband and I dined at Palo and it was incredible. The Italian food at Palo was perfection, as was the service. Overall, the food onboard the Disney Dream was super delicious. We enjoyed each of the restaurants we dined at, and definitely needed our Thanksgiving Pants by the end of the cruise lol.
PS – There’s unlimited soft serve ice cream – need I say more??
4. The kids will want to splash and slide all day long…and that’s ok by me! There’s huge waterslides, pools, a hot tub, and a kids splash pad the Disney Dream. My kids didn’t want to leave the splash pad and water slide area. On the Nassau port day they never got off the ship because they didn’t want to leave the water. That is totally ok with me! The adults enjoyed relaxing pool side while the kids had an absolute blast!
5. Castaway Cay is EVERYTHING – I can write an entire post about our day at Castaway Cay (and I will..) but basically this place is pure MAGIC. I don’t know how to explain it other than that. It’s a private island just for the everyone on board your cruise. There is SO much to do there, or you can just veg out on the beach and relax. I chose to relax and soak up sun and memories with my family. It was absolutely perfect…a day I wish I could re-live over and over again.
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