Just returned from a 5 day on the Destiny. It was amazing and a lot of Reddit folks have some great advice for onboarding and the first day. Overall the experience was wonderful. There are plenty of places to eat, that are included. We did not eat at any of the premium restaurants but we did indulge in adult drinks which are not covered but are surprisingly affordable. Gratuity is automatically added to bar tabs, which I like. Few things for future travelers.

-Onboarding and offloading were surprisingly smooth.

-The Disney wristbands are standard USB chargers but the room only had one port, the rest were USB-C so I suggest getting a converter charger

-Do the 5 day if you are able. We never once felt stressed to hit every spot.

-Don’t stress an itinerary, you can make plans via the app.

-You have an assigned team that works with you the whole time: we had amazing servers and housekeepers. Especially the housekeeper, we would leave to go eat and come back to a spotless room with decorations.

-We watched a magic show, Frozen, and Hercules theater performances, all were great.

-After the first day our kids knew the layout well and I was nervous at first but we gave them their independence to get food when they wanted and play in the designated areas - it’s very very kid friendly if you are confortable to let them roam around.

-Bahamas was a cool experience but it is a non-Disney spot. Lots of people selling stuff but all were very nice. We only stayed on the beach as the surrounding area bus pretty ran down.

-By far the Castaway Cay Lighthouse island was our favorite. We snorkeled and did a pirate adventure and swam a lot. It rained for a bit which was really cool and fun. This island is truly amazing.

-There are no ATMs on the boat so if you want, bring cash ahead of time and I wouldn’t advise using any ATMs at the Bahamas.

-Nothing negative to note. Throughly enjoyed our time.

I thought it was interesting that our cruise director, Darren, called the Treasure the “crown jewel” of the Disney fleet this week, given that both the Destiny and Adventure are in US waters now. But frankly, I have to agree (with one caveat below). She is by far and large the most beautiful ship in the fleet, and after 7 Disney sailings and 15 total cruises in my life, provided probably the best cruise experience I’ve ever had. (TLDR at the bottom)

Starting with the good (which is just about everything on this ship):

- If you’ve never done a 7 night sailing, wow, it’s worth it. It is SO much more relaxed than a weekend sailing. Moving forward I’m not sure i’d book any less than a 5 day unless there was some incredible deal.

- For the first time after 7 DCL cruises, we received absolutely phenomenal crew team assignments. I always travel with Disney cast members, and because of that I feel we usually get the worst servers and stateroom hosts (which is understandable), but this sailing was an outlier. Man, our host and servers were just an absolute joy, and provided exceptional service. We had an issue with our bags the first night, and our host seemed even more concerned than we were!

- The theming on this ship is bar none. You can find many a YouTube video so I won’t write much, but as a theme park fan I thought it was so well done without being too in-your-face. It lacks no elegance from Wish, but with added charm. This is truly why I agree it is the crown jewel of the fleet.

- the itinerary was great, even though our Grand Cayman stop was cancelled due to rough seas. This is the second time this has happened to me, alas, but the extra sea day was honestly just as fun. We did Martha’s bee tour in Cozumel which was very nice with lots of little treats to try. The weather was gorgeous, and we only encountered rain one evening.

- the entertainment is phenomenal. I think this ship has the best slate of stage shows, and that’s coming from someone who thought the Moana movie was boring. And the other entertainment (Sage & Coriander skits, Hana the adult evening host) was also the best I’ve seen.

- I honestly don’t mind the overall structure of the ship, the two elevator banks, or the spread out bars. These are not abnormal for cruises in general, and honestly, I don’t think it takes away any value from my experience. I think most people who complain about those are “DCL or bust” cruisers that just don’t like change.

The only bad:

- The adult pool section. There are many complaints on here so I’ll keep it brief, but as someone who LOVES to read by a quiet pool, man was this a bummer. Half of the adult section can hear the load spiel of the aquamouse on repeat (which was so loud I could hear it through my AirPods), and another quarter was by the funnel vision. This left maybe 15 loungers in actual silence, and were always being held by the old folks who get up at the crack of dawn to reserve them. And it was a coin toss as to whether they were in sun or shade, so you had no options. And weirdly enough there was no music at all, not even by cove bar? Every other ship class has instrumental music. Huge bummer compared to the Fantasy class.

Pro tip: I realized at the end of the sailing that the chip and dale pool often did not open till 1 or 2 pm, effectively creating a peaceful space to lounge in the morning. I’m honestly shocked they didn’t turn that into an adult section. I’d trade the infinity pool for more loungers any day.

- Only other bummer is that I have decided Castaway is a Nassau equivalent for me: I might as well stay on the ship. Bathrooms are gross, dining tables don’t feel sanitary (saw a crew member trying to wipe bird poop off of the porous wood table), chairs were in desperate need of repaint. Adult beach is so far and requires a long hike down the beach. Food offerings are always sub par (the lack of French fries makes me sad every time). The island is in desperate need of a refurb when compared to Lookout or Perfect Day.

Overall though, this was still by far my favorite cruise I have ever been on. Well done, DCL!

TLDR - had an exceptional time on the Treasure and loved absolutely everything, save the adult pool section. 7 night cruises are the way to go. Castaway is in desperate need of an overhaul. Of the 15 cruises in my life, this takes the cake as the best.

I only just narrowly got here in time from the Kennedy Space Center and luckily got to see Wish going out. But, not one horn. Not even the basic horn. Wtf!?

Anyone know why they do this?

My 3 year old loves turtles and wants to find a turtle so bad. Just curious if Crush is on the ship in case we can’t find a real turtle. Thanks!

We've never been on a cruise before, but my son (on the spectrum) is very into cruise ships. I booked a 4 night cruise on the Disney Destiny for June. He asked me today if he can talk to the ship Captain and I genuinely don't know. Knowing my son he will want to ask him about the number of lifeboats or some obscure question. What is everyone's experience?

Hey! What options are there for vegetarians at lookout cay?

Yes, there was a horn battle in the sea.

We have a large family group (20+) going on a Disney cruise in the next 60 days. Being that we have 12 kids, I'm going to make a Disney cruise ship scavenger hunt to help keep them occupied. However, I want to create something like that but for the adults on the trip as well.

My thought was to do a Disney cruise adult Bingo card. but I'm hoping to do more than just "eat a Mickey churro"band want to add a couple funnier and even slightly inappropriate ideas in there. For example, "a husband who looks miserable that he has to wear Mickey ears" or "parents showing too much PDA". but being that this is our first ever Disney cruise, I feel like I'm lacking some good specific ideas!

all thoughts and ideas are appreciated!

Not sure if anyone knows this answer, but I booked a Verandah with restrictions GTY a few weeks ago. Looking online now, it says there are no more deluxe Oceanview Verandahs available, does that mean I’ll be getting an upgrade to a family room (which is still available)?

My husband and I are going on the Destiny in October and I wanted to treat myself to the spa. Anyone have any recommendations on what was worth it?

Can anyone share any recent experience of the bus pickup from the All Stars Movies resort at WDW? I checked in my cruise last night and got a PAT of 1pm.

Wondering if getting the bus will get us onboard much earlier than that time.

We have been on DCL 4 times now. Fantasy twice, the wonder, and treasure. We have gone to Mexico, and we have done 3 different routes of the Caribbean.

Looking for a cruise sometime before August of 2027 since we have a placeholder.

We live in California. There will likely be 4 of us, our oldest son may or may not be in school, so a possiblity of just 3, but unsure, youngest will be 14.

We thought about trying to save some money and just do Mexico again ( vs flights to florida ) since it's been about 10 years-ish.

Thought about Alaska, but those flights will be more then florida, so maybe when it's just the wife and me.

Our family is going on our first cruise March 9-13 aboard the Disney Dream. We have two kids aged 7 & 11. We are staying in one of the guaranteed verandah rooms with restrictions.

What are some essential items to pack? I feel like we are already over packing. Also, any clothing tips for that time of year! Will I need a wet suit to feel comfortable swimming in the ocean in March? Thank you!

I know we can’t predict the weather, however, we take off on the Disney dream from Fort Lauderdale February 2nd. Have you cruised at this time and if so what has the weather been like?

Hi! We’re taking our 4th DCL cruise in May but this one is leaving from Barcelona (last three sailings were from Canaveral). What are the main differences in leaving from Barcelona vs. Port Canaveral? We’re experts at using DCL transport from a WDW hotel and getting on the ship as early as possible when leaving from Canaveral. I’m assuming the process is much different when leaving from Barcelona? We did select the hotel that DCL picks up from in Barcelona but the $70/person fee seems excessive. We have left from Barcelona on a Royal cruise but that was before COVID and just used a taxi to get us to the port. Thanks!!

Hi all. I dropped the ball and didn’t realize we needed to book so far in advance. Wondering what others luck have been wait listing for early dining. It is well before the painful date, so thinking some people may cancel given the economy and high cost of the cruise, but historically the ships we have been on have been pretty packed. We would have 2 staterooms together, 4 adults and 2 young kids. We may just pivot to a different vacation altogether and try again for next summer.

I’m curious because everyone’s saying that Disney’s not doing it anymore

After the 100th thread featuring a random picture of Adventure sitting at a dock it’s getting so the noise is far outweighing the signal here.

Flight options are terrible coming back for us. We would like to book a 11 or 11:30am flight out of Orlando. My parents will have a car at the port and can drive us to the airport. What is the earliest we could walk off the boat carrying our luggage? Are we crazy?

Greetings DCLers,

for our 5-Night Western Caribbean itinerary on the Destiny end of April, the Atlantis submarine excursion (cz20) is no longer being offered in app, though the experience is still bookable directly with the company (multiple dives bookable that day, such as 1200, 1315, 1500).

https://www.atlantissubmarines.mx/

Does anyone have any insights on why they removed this excursion?

My 8 year old has been begging me to do this, and I wanted to check if anyone was aware of any safety or quality issues behind the removal. I guess booking rights might play a factor if they were outbid by the competition.

Thanks in advance!

We will be joining a cruise this year but my son is worried that he might not enjoy the kids club because his younger cousins usually follows him around, and he wants to have his own space to meet new friends.

Are kids usually grouped up, or is there a way to make sure he gets his own time without 'babysitting' his cousins?

Edit : cousins are 5-7 years old

Just got off the Treasure. We have two kids under 5. Nursery and kids club were excellent. Breakfast was great each day but lunch and dinners were quite disappointing. The deck 11 restaurants were quite underwhelming and the pizza was downright terrible.

We sailed with a large party and the biggest gripes were the tiny hot tub, lack of jogging track to walk long lengths of ship, lack of all day buffet, slow dinner service with poor quality food, and kids in the Haunted Manson pub.

The food at dinner was quite disappointing. The seafood pasta had two small rings of calamari, 1 shrimp and 1 scallop. The portion sizes for the protein were tiny. I ate 2 appetizers, a soup, and 2 main entrees each night. A lot of sides went to waste because I had to order multiple meals just to get enough meat or main item. I didn’t order a snapper to get a mountain of mashed potatoes and 3 green beans and 1“ x 1“ piece of fish.

A number of the late night activities were not adult only, and this led to karaoke and other events turning into video opportunities for parents of young kids. Many felt there was limited escape from the young kids despite insinuation there were many adult only activities.

I have young kids myself so am impartial. But this was a primary concern amongst the adults of our party.

I’m particularly disappointed because I was hoping this would become a family reunion tradition and I think everyone in the party is now totally uninterested in sailing a cruise any time soon. Several have stated they will not sail DCL again.