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| Our ship, the Disney Dream, docked at Castway Cay. |
My son Ben just turned six years old, and this year his grandparents
gave him the best birthday gift ever. My
family (which included me, my husband, our son Ben, my brother and sister-in
law, and my mom and dad) all took a cruise on the Disney Dream. Since this was Ben’s first cruising
experience, we decided to start small with a 3 day cruise. The cruise left the port on Friday and
arrived back at Port Canaveral, Florida on Monday morning. Ben LOVED cruising and cried huge crocodile
tears as we drove away from his beloved ship.
He announced after that he wanted to live on the boat forever.
My husband and I are no strangers to cruising, though we had
never cruised on a Disney ship before. Disney
has top-notch customer service (as you would expect), and the staff went out
of their way to accommodate us in any way that they could. We had heard that Disney is the best cruise
line for kids, and it certainly did not disappoint. However, because Ben is autistic, we knew that
thoughtful and careful planning would help make the experience more enjoyable
for everyone.
What follows are my tips to help make the cruise a more
comfortable, enjoyable, and memorable one for your child and family, but the
moral of the story is…if you need something, just ask! You may not get everything that your heart
desires, but you won’t know unless you ask.
So, without further adieu…here are my tips for cruising
successfully with children (especially those with special needs)….
Dining
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| The Animator's Palate, Ben's favorite restaurant, early in the evening. |
Let’s face it- one of the most enjoyable parts of cruising
is the food. However, eating can be a
nightmare if you have a picky eater, as I do.
Luckily, Disney is in the business of pleasing kids, so you’ll find a
wide variety of options to tempt even the most picky palate. Still, it does not hurt to be prepared…
1)
Eat
in the sit down restaurant for your first lunch on board.
On the first day of the cruise, you are
assigned a time to go through customs and board the ship. Lunch is served soon after. We quickly discovered that everyone and their
brother flocked to the top deck to eat at buffet dining. We spent several
minutes hunting for a table in an area tightly packed with people before
talking to the staff members to see if there were other dining options. We soon learned that the restaurant
downstairs was open as well.
So, my advice is, for the first lunch, eat
downstairs in the restaurant. Our open
restaurant on the Disney Dream was the Enchanted Gardens, but if you ask any
crew member, they should be able to tell you which restaurant has open seating
that first day. We were seated right
away and there were plenty of food options on the buffet line. The atmosphere was much more relaxed, less pressured,
and comfortable. There were even ice
cream options at the end of the meal, so Ben was extremely happy. I believe that this relaxed meal set the tone
for Ben’s love of the restaurants in the days to come.
2)
Don’t
be afraid to order “off menu”.
One of the great things about
cruising is the dizzying array of food options. Still, I would find myself dismayed time and
again as I walked Ben up and down the buffet lines, trying to find him
something that he would want to eat.
Cruise food is often “fancy” and looks different, which for a kid like
Ben means that it’s too scary to try.
So, be prepared to ask the staff questions in order to get the food that
you need for your child. They will do
their best to help.
If you choose to eat your dinners
in the restaurants (which I highly recommend!), keep in mind that you do not have
to order for your child from the child’s menu.
The kid’s menu consists mainly of pizza, macaroni and cheese, hamburger
or hotdog, a pasta dish, and other kid fare.
Unfortunately, none of these appeal to my son, so most nights I would
order for him off the adult’s menu. The
first night I ordered him chicken and salad (yes, salad!) and he ate them both
happily. They also have the famous
Mickey ice cream bars for dessert, which he, of course, inhaled. I was also told that if you or your child
loved a meal from the night before, you could request it the next night, and
often they would be able to honor your request.
We never had to try this but it was good to know that it was an option.
3)
Eating
in the Restaurants
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| Ben coloring while waiting for his food at the Animator's Palate, which happened to be on Pirate Night. |
There are three main restaurants on the
Disney Dream, and you will rotate to a different one each night. Each restaurant has its own appeal and charm,
but you won’t want to miss the Animator’s Palate. The walls are computerized and interactive. The room changes color as the evening
progresses, which is mesmerizing to watch.
The Finding Nemo characters even make special appearances. Crush the turtle popped up on the screen by
our table during the meal and had a conversation with us (much like he does at
Epcot).
The meals are long but there’s always
plenty to see and do. Your wait staff
will follow you to each restaurant, which is great because they get to know you
well. Our server Yetka went out of his way to charm
Ben from Day 1. He would sprinkle Disney
Magic throughout the evening. While we waited for our meal, he would stop by
and perform a magic trick for Ben or take his dinner menu and fold it into an
origami crane. Yetka tried very hard to
get a reaction out of Ben with his different tricks and stunts, and when Ben
wouldn’t react, he kept trying harder and harder to impress him. Because Ben is autistic, he doesn’t always
react with a smile or in typical ways that people would expect. As we were leaving the dining room the second
night I took Yetka aside and explained to him about Ben’s autism. He was so understanding and compassionate and
continued to go out of his way to please him throughout the cruise. It warmed my heart to see that he genuinely
cared for my little guy.
At breakfast and lunch you will have the
option between eating in the dining halls and upstairs on Deck 11, which is a
self-serve buffet. We ate in the sit down restaurant the first morning for breakfast, and while it was a beautiful
atmosphere, it took a very long time for the food to arrive, and the food was
good but not amazing. We decided to eat
in the buffet after that for breakfasts and lunches. Ben definitely preferred the upstairs buffet
for breakfast and lunch (and so did we).
On the final Monday, everyone had to be off the ship by 9 am, so we did
eat in the restaurant, and they were much quicker and more efficient. You also get your own wait staff on that last
morning on the ship in the restaurant, so it’s a nice way to get pictures and say goodbye.
There are two other restaurants on the ship
that do cost extra, but the food is supposed to be amazing. We did not try these but I would definitely
consider doing them in the future. They
are adults-only and do require semi-formal or formal attire.
4)
Other
Dining Choices
Deck 11 has several different food options,
including the buffet restaurant I’ve mentioned.
While I recommend avoiding it for lunch on the first day and on the last
day at breakfast (when it’s super crowded), it was a great option for meals
throughout the rest of our cruise. It
was Ben’s favorite restaurant on the ship (aside from the Animator’s Palate)
because it had lots of options, it was self-serve (aka fast), and it had a more
relaxed atmosphere (except at peak times).
We would usually eat there for breakfasts and lunches. On the days when the ship docked at the
Bahamas or Castaway Cay, we would eat upstairs for lunch and practically have
the place to ourselves. Keep in mind
that room service is also free (minus tips) and there is also the pizza and
sandwich restaurant upstairs that’s open practically all the time. Unfortunately, they did not serve alfredo
pizza, the only kind Ben will eat, but it would be a hit for other kids, I am
sure.
5)
Bring
you child’s favorite snacks…just in case (and bottled water).
I know it seems kind of crazy to bring
snacks on a cruise ship full of food, but if your child is an extremely picky
eater like mine, it makes sense to have extra snacks on hand. The snacks really came in handy in the stateroom
in the afternoon hours between lunch and dinner, when Ben wanted to watch
Disney cartoons in the stateroom and take a break.
Also, Disney gave us two luggage tags per
person, which was much more than we needed.
So, we designated one small suitcase for bottled water and snacks. At the end the cruise, we used the now-empty suitcase
for souveniers, and it worked great.
Bottled waters will cost on the ship, though you can fill your bottles
in the drink stations upstairs. Sodas
and juices are free on Deck 11. Also,
keep in mind that there is a concession stand next to the movie theater that
has snacks, though they will charge you for the concession items. We bought Ben the refillable bucket of
popcorn, since he’s a huge popcorn fan.
I wish we would have bought it sooner on the cruise to really get our
money’s worth, but he enjoyed it the last couple of nights during the shows and
in the movie theater.
Entertainment
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| Ben swimming in the Mickey pool on a busier afternoon. |
1)
Skip
the sail away party if your child hates loud noises....
Disney has many great entertainment options that kids will love. However, for a child with sensory needs, this
can quickly become overwhelming if you are not prepared. For example, the Sail Away party on Deck 11
was so packed with people and loud that we only stayed a few short minutes
before retreating to the buffet restaurant upstairs (which was empty) and
watched the boat sail away in calm and quiet.
You know your child best, but we decided for Ben, the open air parties
on Deck 11 in the evenings were just too loud and too much for him. There were fireworks on Pirate Night, but
they weren’t until 10 pm, so we decided to pass on them too. We could hear the music pulsing from our
stateroom, so I think passing on the firework show was the right choice for us. This was the only night we heard loud music
in the evening, by the way, and Ben slept through it all soundly.
2) ...but don't skip the shows in the theater!
However, Ben LOVED the evening theater shows. We had the early dining time, so we were able
to eat, watch the show, and get him to bed by 9 or 9:30 on most evenings. Ben was tired the first night that we
decided to let him sleep instead of watching the first show (The Golden
Mickeys) which was a shame, because he LOVED collecting the “Golden Mickeys”,
these jumbo sized golden Mickey Mouse confetti that were sprinkled throughout
the ship for the rest of the cruise. The
second night was Villains, which was a comedy and not scary to him at all. The third night’s show I think was called
Believe and featured characters and scenes he recognized, and he enjoyed
singing along to his favorite tunes. If
your child has never been to a live theater show before, I would suggest
sitting towards the back in case you need to make a quick getaway. The shows were less than an hour long, fast-paced,
and entertaining for all ages.
There are also plenty of movie options on the ship. Ben also enjoyed watching Big Hero 6 in the
movie theater one afternoon. There are
Disney movies, both classic and new, playing in the theater and in the stateroom
at different times throughout the cruise.
There are even movies playing on Deck 11 that you can watch from the
pool.
3)
Speaking
of the pool area…
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| Ben and his papa zooming by on the Aqua Duck. |
Deck 11 is every child’s fantasy come true. There are two large kiddie pools (one shaped
like Mickey) and a hot tob (and adult-only pools and hot tub in a separate
area!) along with a Finding Nemo splash pad, a water slide, and then this giant
water tube that snakes around the entire top of Deck 11 (and out over the water
away from the ship) called the Aqua Duck.
One afternoon while we were at port in the Bahamas, Ben braved the Aqua
Duck with his Papa. They had to wait
about 20 minutes to get on the ride, and my Dad said that initially Ben was
squirming to get off, but by the end he was super psyched about the ride! When he got off he yelled, “That was
awesome!!!” The swimming pools are often
very crowded, so seek them out at times when the crowds will be elsewhere. For example, the pool was pretty much
deserted in the afternoon on the day that everyone was on the island, so that
was the perfect time for Ben to take a dip with the grandparents.
4)
Castaway
Cay is the place to be!
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| Ben had lots of fun in the sun on Castaway Cay. |
Disney has their own private island called Castway Cay (pronounced
Castaway Key) and it is truly lovely. It
is a small, relatively undeveloped island in the Carabbean with beautiful sandy
beaches. The island has both a family
beach and an adults-only beach. There
are even restaurants to eat at for free while on the island. We didn’t eat on the island, but my parents
did and said it was very good. You can
snorkel on the island, bike ride, and do a variety of other activities. There’s even a 5K run. My advice is to get to the island early and
stake claim to the free beach chairs and enjoy the beach while it is
quiet. There were very few people on the
beach in the morning so we enjoyed the calm and quiet while Ben dug in the sand
and splashed in the water. We brought
our own beach toys, but they had a store with beach supplies that were pretty
reasonably priced. I would recommend
bringing plenty of sunscreen, from home as this can be costly to buy on the ship.
We headed back to the boat for lunch (it parks right at the dock so it’s
not far if you want to come and go from ship to island), and then Ben went
swimming in a nearly empty pool on Deck 11 and watched a movie later in the
afternoon. It was a great day! We saw the crowds heading to the island as we
were leaving around noon, so we once again avoided too many people and enjoyed the
quiet and calm (which Ben both needs and craves).
5)
Check
out the kid zones.
The kid’s club on the ship for Ben’s age group is called the Oceaneer’s
Club. They also have a babysitting room
for babies (for a cost) along with a room for preteens and another for
teens. The Oceaneer’s Club was a great
setup. It had a dance floor that lit up,
a room with oversized Toy Story characters, a Monster’s Inc room, and a room
full of computers, among other things.
The kid’s club has Open House times when the whole family can explore the
area with the child and then they have times when the child must stay with the
Disney staff and can different projects and fun events.
Ben stayed one time by himself and got to design his own racecar and then
race it in a competition. He had a blast
but he usually wanted to be with us and didn’t want to stay in the kid’s club
by himself after that. However, I found
the kid staff to be high energy and excellent with the kids. Each child in the Oceaneer’s club had an arm
band that served as a sort of GPS device.
They scanned it upon entry to the room, and each adult picking up the
child had to know the family code word (designed by the family) for the child
to be released to them. The technology
in the room was amazing. For example,
the day I went to get Ben, the lady looked on the computer and could tell that
Ben was in the rec room playing video games (I guess from the tracking
device).
We didn’t take advantage of the Oceaneer’s Club as much as we could have,
but they had great events the entire time.
Characters would stop by at certain times during the cruise, the kids
would have fun projects to do, and dance parties. On the day that the ship is at Castaway Cay,
the kid’s club takes place on the island and the kids do things like treasure
hunts in their little part of the island.
However, the children have to be dropped off. Adults can’t stay with them except during
Open House time. Ben was having none of
that, so just be forewarned. The kid’s
club staff can call you using the ship cell phones (see below) if an issue does
arise.
Character Meet and Greets
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| We missed out on seeing Captain Hook. Here he is with two random children. |
1) Meeting the Characters
What would a Disney cruise be without the Disney characters? From the moment we arrived at Port Canavaral
and went through customs to the time we exited the ship, the Disney characters
were out and about. There are no
shortage of opportunities to see them, but be warned that, just like at the
parks, the lines can be long, especially at peak times such as Pirate night
when certain characters (like Captain Hook or Pirate Mickey) make one-time
appearances. My best advice is to get in
line for the characters your child loves about ten minutes early, because they
do not stay once their time window closes.
Ben is not a big fan of costumed characters as a general rule, but he did
pose for a couple of Mickey Mouse shots, along with his pal Stitch, who we saw
right away when we got on the ship. We
got a great shot with the whole family and Mickey once we got off the ship at
Castaway Cay.
2) Character Autographs
Don’t worry about getting the characters to sign the autograph book while
on the cruise. Instead, bring the matte square
from inside a picture frame and put it inside a Ziploc bag with markers. Then, bring the bag to Guest Services within
the first day or two, and on the last night of the cruise, the bag will be
returned to your stateroom with autographs from all of the Disney
characters! You can choose to do Mickey
and Friends or the Disney Princesses.
There is a limit on two per stateroom.
It’s a great (free) trip memento!
3) Pirate Night
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| Ben checking out the hanging monkey on Pirate Night. |
Disney cruises have a pirate night, when everyone dresses up like
pirates. Disney will provide you with a
bandana in your stateroom, but many people really get decked out for the night,
and you don’t want to be the only one not dressed in proper pirate attire. Also, it’s a great opportunity to get your
picture taken with Pirate Mickey, Captain Hook, and other characters. We bought a pirate outfit for Ben on Amazon and
packed it in the luggage, and he absolutely loved transforming into a pirate
for the evening. There are pirate
costumes and props for sale in the gift shops (we bought Ben a plastic hook),
but everything is obviously more expensive on the ship, so come prepared. This is also the night that the show Villains played in the theater. As I mentioned earlier, make sure to stake
your spot in line early to see the characters that appear that night.
4) Pin Trading
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| Ben is carefully making his selection for the trade. |
Ben is a huge fan of collecting things, and so we thought he might have fun pin trading. My family bought him special pins to wear during the cruise, along with a lanyard. There is one special time on the last evening when you can trade pins with the ship's officers. Ben loved doing this, so if your child is a fan of pin trading (or just likes to collect things), it is worth doing!
The Cabin
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| Aaah! Nothing like a freshly made bed, a towel seal, and chocolate mints! |
Disney cabins are, in my opinion, the best in the cruise industry based
on the cruise lines I have sailed on in the past. They have lots of storage nooks and crannies
and have more bathroom (aka shower) space then most. We did have a cabin with a balcony view,
which I highly recommend if it’s in your price range. Here are some things to bring and do to make
your cabin even more enjoyable.
1)
Decorations
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| There was so much cabin storage that I was able to use some space for displaying cruise mementos! |
The cabin doors are magnetic, so bring magnets to decorate the door for extra
fun. This will also allow child to
quickly recognize your door. My parents
paid a bit extra to have the Disney crew decorate the cabin for Ben’s
birthday. This included a large birthday
magnet for the door, an oversized birthday card, a huge banner (which they
draped over the bed), and a hanging birthday sign. For a price, Disney will add extra touches to
any special event.
2)
Lighting
The cabins are VERY dark once all the lights are turned off, so we
brought touch lights for our cabin. They
came in handy in the closets and by the bedside at night. There were nightlights that we kept on for
Ben.
3)
Beds
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| Ben's special loft bed. If you look, you can see the "night and stars" on the ceiling. |
Our
cabin had a bed for my husband and me, and then Ben had a choice between a
pullout couch and a loft bed. Our cabin
attendant asked us on the first night which we would prefer, and I hesitated on
the loft, fearing he may fall out, but she encouraged me to try it and
reassured me that he would have rails on all sides. I’m so glad we tried the loft because he
absolutely LOVED it. It was one of the
highlights of the cruise for him. There
were even little stars on the ceiling above his bed in the loft, and every
night she would do special things with his stuffed animals in his bed. The loft bed folds into the ceiling during the day for extra room space. Of course, they do the towel animals and
special chocolates as any cruise line will do.
Communication
1)
Get
the special cruise app
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| This was one of the first pictures I took on the Disney Dream. Ben was in awe of the ship. |
Disney has created a special app called Disney Navigator that is just for
its guests on the ship. If you have a
smart phone, I highly recommend this app.
It has information on all of the special events on the ship, including
character greets, meal menus, and show times.
You can add events to your favorites so that your phone will alert you
just prior to the time of the event. By
far the best feature is the ability to text using the app. Obviously, you cannot access wifi at sea, but
the Disney Dream has it’s own way of communicating wirelessly, but you have to
be connected to their wifi system. The
only downside is that for some of our family, you had to actually be in the app
to see the alerts. My phone would buzz
when I got texts from my family, but my husband’s didn’t, so there were times
when I was trying to text him but he wouldn’t see it until a half an hour later. They are working on this glitch, but the
other features alone made this app worthwhile.
If you don’t want to use the app, each stateroom has two cell phones for
communication. Or, you could always put
a magnetic dry erase board on your stateroom door to leave messages for family
and friends.
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| Yetka is quickly and efficiently cutting Ben's chicken while Ben plays shy. |
Overall,
we had an excellent time on the Disney Dream, and I would highly recommend it
as the best cruise line for families.
Every staff member on board went out of their way to make the cruise
experience a memorable one for our family.
Thanks so much, Mom and Dad, for making this special dream a reality for
our family!