• Rotation Dining – On a Disney Cruise vacation, you change dining rooms each night. The three primary restaurants on the rotation are Parrot Cay, Animator’s Palette, and either Triton’s or Lumiere’s depending on which ship you are on. Your table mates and dining staff rotate with you. So you still get to share memories of your day with the people you dine with and your dining staff knows all of your special requests and dining requirements. Plus your surroundings change so you will never get bored of the same dining room.
• Palo – Palo is the over 18, adult only, restaurant on board both Disney ships. What is unique about Palo as compared to other “signature” restaurants on other ships is that you can make a reservation for Palo online in advance. Another unique Palo feature is on 7-night cruises, Palo also offers a wonderful adult only brunch and afternoon tea on sea days.
• Large Staterooms – The average staterooms onboard both the Disney Magic and the Disney Wonder are by far the largest in the industry. The staterooms were designed with families in mind so you will find amble storage, bunk beds that only convert to beds at night and serve as a living space during the day, and privacy curtains that separate the main sleeping area from the living/sleeping area. The stateroom TV offers family friend programming as well as top notch movies.
• Stateroom Bathroom Design – Although most people would consider the bathroom to be part of the stateroom which is of course true, there are several unique factors to the stateroom bathrooms on the Disney ships that they get their own topic. Most cabins on board the Disney Ships have what is called a split bath design. The split bath is really two separate areas both with their own doors. The first room has a tub/shower and a sink. The second room has the commode and a second sink. The split bath allows for two people to get ready at the same time. Additionally, the fact that each stateroom has a bath tub is very unique. On most other cruise lines, you will not see a bath tub until you get into the higher category of stateroom or in suites.
• Variety of Food – Between the in-stateroom room service, to the food establishments by the pools, to the casual buffet restaurant (Topsiders or Beach Blanket), to the rotation dining restaurants, to Palo, you will find every conceivable type of food on board. Rest assured that the pickiest or most selective eater to the foodie in your group will find something they like. Start with a continental breakfast delivered to your room each morning, followed by brunch in one of the restaurants, followed by chicken tenders, nachos, pizza, wraps, and paninis by the pool or a four-course lunch in the dining room, followed by a cheese dish on your verandah before dinner, followed by dinner in your rotation dining room or the casual buffet, followed by the last evening snack/desert buffets or fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and milk in your cabin before bed, the dining options are endless. Now most cruise lines do offer the same abundance of food. What is unique to a Disney Cruise is the variety that appeals to children as well as the adults. Disney is also very good about working with food allergies as well.
• Complimentary Beverages – Disney Cruise Line is the only mass market cruise line to offer complimentary beverages including soda, milk, tea, coffee, and hot chocolate 24/7 at the beverage station located on deck nine aft of each ship. Other cruise lines will usually offer these beverages as complimentary only when dining in one of their dining rooms during meals.
• Entertainment - All major cruise lines offer high quality entertainment. What sets Disney Cruise Lines entertainment apart is it’s ALL family friendly. Everything is kept at a “D” rating for Disney. Although the entertainment in the adult only clubs in the evening may have a little more adult humor, it rarely goes beyond anything you wouldn’t mind seeing with your grandmother.
• Disney Characters - It’s a Disney cruise after all, of course there will be Disney Characters onboard! Characters appear daily at specific times and locations. It is up to you to go and see them or not. On 7-night cruises, you can even enjoy a character breakfast one morning.
• Children’s Clubs – By far, Disney has the very best children’s programming at sea. Other cruise lines have great children’s programs but no one can compete with Disney in this area. Children’s programs start at age 3 and run through age 17. There are four unique areas on board the ship, Oceaneer Club, Oceaneer Lab, Ocean Quest, and Aloft/The Stack for the various age groups so the 14 years old are not hanging out with the 4 year olds. Another unique feature about the children’s clubs is that parents of every child under the age of 11 receives a beeper to be used the length of the cruise. So if your child happens to be in one of the clubs and wants to see you or is ready to be picked up, all he or she does is notifies a counselor and the counselor will beep you. Additionally, Disney is one of the only cruise ships to offer infant and toddler care for children up to the age of 3 at Flounder’s Reef Nursery. There is a nominal fee for this service and reservations are required.
• No Casino - That’s right; the Disney ships do not have casinos of any kind. Now for some this may be disappointing but for most, it is a welcome feature. The only gambling offered on the ship is the daily bingo game. If you do enjoy gambling, there is usually at least one port on each itinerary that does have casinos so you can still enjoy some casino time!
• Exclusive Adult Areas – Although Disney certainly caters to families and children, they also knew that adults needed places of their own where they could go and no children would be allowed. Both the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder have an adult only pool area with its own jacuzzis and pool bar. Within the pool area is Quiet Cove Café, an adult only specialty cafe with cigars, coffee drinks and pastries. Just forward of the pool area is Vista Spa, the adult only spa which offers a wide range of facilities and services. On deck 3 forward there is Beat Street and Route 66 the after 9pm adult only entertainment area. For those special romantic evenings, there is Palo. the adult only signature Italian restaurant. While at Castaway Cay, adults can escape to a separate adults-only stretch of beach called Serenity Bay. Each of these spaces are designed just for adults and Disney does a good job of keeping the little ones entertained in their own specific areas so that adults can truly enjoy some adults-only quality time.
• Castaway Cay – Disney’s own private island that repeat guests call paradise. Many cruise lines offer a beach day but Castaway Cay was built from the sand up to be used exclusively by Disney Cruise guests. The Disney ships pull right up to a birth on the island so there is no need for tendering. The beach is divided into sections for water sports, a separate section for families, another area for teens, and finally a special area separate from all of the other beaches for adults only. The children’s programming continues on the island so parents can still have some time alone maybe to have beach side cabana massages if they choose.
• Land and Sea Vacation Packages – Port Canaveral is just over an hours ride from Walt Disney World making it very convenient to get the best of both worlds, a Land and Sea Vacation. A Disney Cruise Land and Sea Vacation includes a stay at Walt Disney World followed by a 3 or 4 night Disney Cruise. Disney combines the two trips into one to make things more convenient like the ability to check in at your hotel and be automatically checked in for your cruise or having seamless transportation from the airport to your hotel, from your hotel to the port, and then from the port back to the airport.

• The Disney Cruise Line Terminal is located in Port Canaveral, Florida and you can arrive anytime after the previous cruise passengers have disembarked. Sometime between 9:30am and 10:00am is the earliest you should arrive. However, you must be on board no later than 4:00pm. I recommend that you plan to arrive at the port early (by 10am) if you wish to be one of the first on board the ship. Reasons to be first on board the ship include making any changes to your dining rotations, changing or adding Palo reservations (it is always best to book your Palo reservations online as early as you possibly can for the best availability), changing or adding any spa reservations, getting the kids checked into the kids’ clubs prior to boarding, or you just want to start your vacation as early as possible. If none of the previous apply, you’re probably better off waiting to arrive after 1:00pm to let the early crowds dissipate.
• If you are driving to the port (by means of your own car, a rental car, or car service), you will be asked to present a photo ID to enter the drop off area. If you are parking, it is best to drop off your luggage first and then park your car. There are porters available to take your luggage. They do not work for Disney Cruise Line and will be expecting a gratuity. A good rule of thumb is one dollar per piece of luggage they take from you. Be sure you have already affixed your Disney Cruise Line luggage tags before you give your luggage to the porter. The luggage tag is the way that your luggage will find its way to your cabin. If you are arriving via the Disney Cruise Line bus transportation, your luggage will have already been taken care of for you.
• Before entering the terminal, each adult must show photo ID. Once inside the terminal, you will pass through a security screening much like airport screening. Your carry-on luggage will go through an x-ray machine and you will walk through a metal detector. Once through security, you will be asked to move upstairs to the second level of the terminal via the stairs, escalator, or elevator.
• As you enter the second level of the terminal, go directly to check-in. You will receive a card with a number on it. The number indicates what group you will be in for boarding. Obviously the earlier you arrive, the lower your boarding number. On our last cruise, we arrived at the port around 10:15 and were in group number 3. Only one person from each cabin needs to go through the check-in line. Everyone else can find a comfy spot on the couches by the TVs, explore the ship model in the middle of the terminal, or have their pictures taken with the various characters that wander about. (Character pictures usually begin around 11:00am in the terminal.)
• When checking in, you will be asked for proof of citizenship for each person in your cabin. You will also be asked if anyone in your party has shown any flu or cold symptoms in the past 48 hours. Disney is VERY careful and proactive about keeping, should we say, sick germs off of their ships. Once your check-in is complete, you will be given a Key to the World Card for each person in your cabin. If you have sailed with Disney before, aka: a Castaway Club Member, you will also receive a Castaway Club lanyard and card holder for each person. Your dining rotation will appear on your Key to the World Card. Ask the cast member checking you in how to decipher the code. A good reminder here is that you can greatly speed up your check-in process by completing the required cruise documents online before you leave for your cruise.
• Parking at Port Canaveral is now $15 per day. If you plan to arrive the day before your cruise (which I strongly recommend), you may want to consider staying at a local resort that offers free parking and complimentary shuttle service to and from the port. On a 7-night cruise, the free parking alone will save you $105.
• Lunch is served on board at both Parrot Cay and Topsider Buffet. The buffet lunch is the same in both locations. The choice is yours. We prefer Parrot Cay because it is indoors and air conditioned; purely a personal choice. At Topsiders, you have your choice of eating indoors, or outside. Lunch is served in Parrot Cay until 2:15pm and at Topsiders until 3:30pm.
• The pools are open. Be sure to pack a swim suit to take advantage of some pool time while everyone else is still boarding. On our last trip, our daughter asked if she could wear her swimsuit onto the ship under her clothes to save time having to change later.
• Your cabin will be ready by 1:30pm. If you arrived to the port early, your luggage may start to be delivered by then as well. Don’t be concerned if not all of your luggage pieces arrive at the same time. Luggage is delivered throughout the day until 6:30pm. Usually the earlier you arrive, the earlier your luggage makes it to your cabin.
• When you get to you cabin, you will find several things waiting for you. These would include that day’s Navigator so you can see what is happening the rest of the day, your dining tickets which show you your dining time and restaurant rotation (be sure to read your dining tickets as our rotation on the tickets were different than the rotation on our Key to the World Card on our last cruise), any shore excursions that you pre-purchased through Disney, any stateroom gifts that you may have ordered, and a gift from the cruise line if you are a Castaway Club member.
• At 4:00pm there is a mandatory muster drill. Around 3:45pm, you should head to your cabin, put on your life jackets, and follow the directions on the back of your door to find your muster station. The drill lasts about 15 minutes so by 4:15, you’ll be heading back to your cabin with everyone else.
• 4:30pm is the Adventures Away sail away party at the Goofy Pool, mid-ship on deck 9. If you would like to get a table for the party, be sure to have someone from your party head to the Goofy pool as soon as the muster drill is over and you have returned your life jacket to your cabin. One person can hold a table while the rest of you party arrives. If you or your children would like to be seen on the big Ariel Vision above the pool, be sure to make your way front and center on the dance floor. Another great vantage point for the party, if you know you won’t be dancing on the dance floor, is around the railings on deck 10. One last thing about the Adventures Away party, servers will be walking around with trays of tropical drinks. The drinks are not complimentary and come in a souvenir glass which is an extra charge. Drinks are available in regular glasses as well; all you have to do is ask for one. I see a lot of souvenir glasses left behind because people don’t realize that they have paid for them and the glasses are theirs to keep. Don’t pay for the glass unless you intend to take it home.
• The ship will castoff at 5:00pm to the wonderful ship’s horn tooting “When You Wish Upon a Star.” The horn is pretty loud so you may not want to be standing under the forward funnel when the horn goes off. Enjoy the moment as your sail away and wave good-bye to the rest of the world.

• A night light – Hotel rooms and ship cabins can get very dark in the evening and some bathroom lights are connected to the bathroom fan so to save from having to hear the fan all night, bring your own night light.
• An inexpensive shoe organizer – Yes, you can use it as a shoe organizer but put on the back of the bathroom door, the organizer will hold everything your family needs in easy reach.
• A roll of paper towels – You may be saying, “Yes, but I can get napkins for free just about everywhere.” While this is 100% true, there are just some things, like cleaning up spills and washing out cups or tableware that are just much easier with a paper towel.
• A corkscrew – I can’t tell you how many corkscrews we have had to buy over the years. If you plan on enjoying a nice bottle of wine in your room, don’t forget the corkscrew.
• Duct tape – There are hundreds of uses for duct tape from fixing hems in an instant to fixing a broken piece of luggage well enough to get it home.
• Clothes pins – Clothes pins are great for keeping curtains together, or for hanging clothes on the line in the bathroom, or just to seal a bag of chips.
• Zippered baggies – Throw a handful of various size baggies in your suitcase. You’ll be amazed at all of the ways you will use them.
• Bubble wrap – Protect your fragile vacation treasures on the trip home with a little bubble wrap.
• A pop-up laundry basket – An inexpensive pop-up laundry basket fits easily in your suitcase and can really help keep your room or cabin neat. Keep it in the closet and just have your family make their “deposits” every day. It’s a great way to keep clean clothes separate from the dirty ones.
• A laundry bag – Use a laundry bag to transport your dirty clothes to the laundry room if you plan on doing laundry while away. Or, use it to separate your dirty clothes from any clean clothes left in your suitcase on the way home.
• A spare tote bag – Much like the corkscrew, I’ve had to purchase many unneeded, and often overpriced, tote bags to bring home those last few items that just won’t fit in the suitcase. The ones that fold up into a tiny pouch are great.
• Crazy/Super glue – From gluing a sole back onto a shoe, to fixing a broken toy, to a broken nail, crazy glue is great to keep in your travel bag.
• Safety pins – Use safety pins to secure just about anything that you can’t secure with crazy glue like a broken strap on a dress or handbag, or to keep two ends of a broken shoe lace together.

Remembering to pack the following items will certainly save you time by not having to go find it and money.

• A compact umbrella
• Disposable ponchos – several for each person (check The Dollar Store for great deals)
• A small pair of scissors
• Tweezers
• Good (broken in) walking shoes
• Blister and Anti-biotic Band aids
• Sun tan lotion (Waterproof 30+ SPF)
• Extra walking/hiking socks
• Sunglasses
• A sweater or sweat shirt
• Your camera and plenty of film (if digital, the charger, and extra memory sticks)
• Chargers and extra batteries for any electronic equipment
• Travel size laundry detergent and dryer sheet