I know it is fun to see what people leave by your door at the end of the day and the creative projects people make, but over recent years it has gone downhill. On my last cruise in September there was so much dollar store cheap plastic or temu items, falling out of FE's onto the floor, or random items left around the ship. Pixie dusting sounds nice till you get people leaving a million tiny plastic ducks or items around the ship which any small child can get and it makes work for the crew to clean them up. Someone on my last trip posted in whatsapp they were bringing 750 ducks to leave around the ship and we saw two couples putting small Jesus statues and scriptures by doors. I know there are some who put a lot of time and effort into their items, and some are beautiful, but do you feel you are getting the same effort back?

The whatsapp group was even worse. The chats used to be recommendations, setting up meetups, or asking for forgotten items once on board, but all it was was people reporting things getting stolen, mistaken deliveries, or parents who didn't participate in FE asking people to gift them things. I know there is no real way for Disney to control these things other than banning FE's, but now that they are issuing rules about door decorations I wonder if conversations have happened about FE's hanging from the room signs.

We did our first Disney cruise in early October on the Fantasy. I’m 41 years old. I grew up in a house where my dad hated going to Disney World. I went in the late 80’s and again in the mid 90’s. My mom liked Disney stuff, but my dad honestly would’ve rather been redeployed to Vietnam than do a Disney trip.

The first night I was walking around on the boat sort of feeling like the experience was inferior to Royal Caribbean. Then, they started playing Mary Poppins on the corridor stereo. It gave me the kind of warm and gooey feeling of watching it with my mom many years ago. From that moment onward, I really started to appreciate the subtle Disney touches throughout the cruise. I felt like a kid again.

I just got off the Wish yesterday, and WhatsApp didn’t work on the free internet for anyone on our cruise. Is this a recent change?

I also noticed I could receive messages on Facebook messenger but not send. I thought I could do both on previous cruises.

Fortunately, iMessages still worked fine.

I’m really torn and would love to hear from people who have sailed on Disney Cruise Line in January!

I absolutely LOVE the Disney Treasure and really want to sail on her. The reason I’m considering January specifically is because of a special Treasure sailing that visits both Castaway Cay and Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point. From what I understand, this particular itinerary is only offered in January, so it’s not something I can simply put off until a warmer month.

We’ve already sailed on the Wish and visited Castaway Cay, and now we really want to experience an itinerary that includes both of Disney’s private islands.

We have three little kids, so the private islands are especially appealing because we can get off the ship and enjoy a beach day without having to research, book, and coordinate excursions at different ports. Keeping things simple with three young kids is a huge plus!

I’ve considered the Disney Destiny, but honestly, the characters and overall theming just don’t appeal to me nearly as much as the Treasure. I’d much rather sail on the Treasure, especially since this special itinerary checks both private islands off our list.

My dilemma is that I’m nervous about January weather. I’m worried it could be too cold, windy, or rough to really enjoy the beaches with the kids, or that we could end up missing one of the islands altogether.

My other options would be:

Choose another ship sailing from Port Canaveral that visits both private islands, even though I’m not nearly as excited about that ship as I am about the Treasure.

Book a different Treasure itinerary that sails at another time of year, but then I’d need to figure out appropriate excursions at the other ports that would work well with three little kids.

For those who have cruised in January, especially to Castaway Cay and/or Lookout Cay:

What was the weather actually like? Was it warm enough to swim and enjoy the beaches with little kids?
Have you experienced missed ports or cancellations due to weather?
How rough was the sailing? Did anyone experience seasickness?
If you visited the private islands in January, did you feel like you could comfortably enjoy the beach, or was it too chilly?

I know there are no guarantees with weather any time of year, but I’d really appreciate hearing about your actual experiences to help me decide if this particular sailing is worth the risk.

Would you take the chance on the January Treasure sailing to visit both private islands, or choose a different ship or itinerary to avoid the weather gamble?

Thanks so much! I’d especially love to hear from families who have cruised in January with young kids.

Looking for Nassau excursion recommendations! 🛳️☀️
We’ll be sailing on the Disney Destiny with my 11-year-old daughter and my mom. We’ve already done Atlantis, Baha Mar, and Blue Lagoon, so we’d love something new!
I’ve had a brutally long year of chemo and radiation, we’re celebrating and hoping to make some special memories together! ❤️
We’re adventurous and open to Disney or independent excursions. What have you loved, especially with tweens?

Hello fellow cruisers! I would like to get an idea of what kind of extras we will be purchasing during our cruise. I know the obvious like alcohol and souvenirs will vary from person to person, but I would like to know your experiences! Also what are some less obvious things that might come up? The last time we sailed was over 10 years ago and I remember all food being included (aside from the premiere dining) but I understand that might not be the case anymore? Is there any place I can look up what things cost? We're 2 adults sailing on the WISH, 3 day. Fellow budgeters, help me out!

It's our first time cruising out of Galveston. When we've cruised out of the Florida ports, we usually self-disembark first thing and plan our flight out the same day and are usually at the airport 9-9:30am. For this trip, friends we are cruising with are dropping us off at the airport. Would it be reasonable to consider an 11am flight out?

Can we talk about how cool some of the random towel animals/ things that are found aboard a Disney Cruise. My kids love it, we did a towel animal excursion so to say a couple cruises ago. It was a lot of fun.

Safe travels

Hi! I just got off a 3 night cruise with the wish. And while it was an absolutely amazing experience. I wanted to get some opinions. It was my first disney cruise after being on 2 royal Caribbean ships. I love disney, own dvc, and was very excited for my first DCL cruise. I will say whatever I did experience had fantastic quality. But the wish just seemed a bit barren. Only 1 slide. 1 small hot tub and a small adults only pool. I feel like I had already done everything the ship had to offer on the first night. The 18+ gameshows were pretty similar to what I've gotten on other cruise lines. The stage shows were absolutely fantastic. However most days I felt like I was just trying to kill time until a bigger event like the show or dinner rather than truly enjoying my time. Ive heard from others on the cruise that the fantasy is a much better experience. Ive also heard that the treasure is better among the wish class

Main point. Would the fantasy or treasure serve me better?

And what do you guys use/view as justification for the higher cruise price. If disney was only a little more expensive I'd pick 10/10 times. But often I find prices nearly double other lines. What draws you into the disney cruise vs others

Hi everyone!
We’re thinking about staying at the port since the rates at the hotel airport have gotten so high.

For those that have stayed in a hotel near the port, what price range should I expect for a room? I’ve looked at several, but I’m hoping to get a broader idea if possible. And any insight or advice anyone has for staying near the port is greatly appreciated!

My elderly mom and I are going on our first Disney cruise this summer. It is probably her only cruise so we’re doing it big and sailing concierge. She loves the ocean and used to be an avid scuba diver so we are doing the snorkeling adventure. Aside from that we want to relax on the beach and spend some more time in the water.

I’m trying to decide if I should try for a cabana. I like the idea of having a base for us to hang out in but wonder how much we could use it considering the snorkeling adventure.

I have a 1pm PAT and am considering Disney transportation to get an earlier time. Is it worth it? There are 6 people in my party. I think I would need to go back to the airport the morning of the cruise to catch the transportation. What about disembarkation? I have an early flight. What time can I catch Disney transportation to the airport without doing express walk off?

Looking for recommendations for excursions in Puerto Rico and St Maarten with 3 and 6 year old! I think we will do one excursion total, so give me your best recs! I

Hi, we've never done a Disney cruise before but looking at options for the future. Currently tossing up between doing a Merrytime cruise in December 2027 vs a cruise in May 2028. I think we'd probably do a 4 night but not 100% set on that, going from Port Canaveral.

In terms of what we want to do on the ship, I'd like to be able to explore the beaches and go swimming and snorkelling. I'm guessing that that's going to be nicer in May vs December?

However, doing the Christmas cruise also sounds really fun and magical.

I also get seasick so calmer seas would be ideal.

For those who have cruised one or both of these times previously, what would you prioritise?

If it makes any difference we'd also be tacking this onto a trip to WDW. We've done May before, but not December. December would include going to the Christmas party.

tl;dr - Moor it as a hotel at Tokyo Disney Sea

Disney has a history of using ships (and airplanes) as tourist attractions along a coastline. Remember Port Disney? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Disney . They could use the lessons learned with that to make this work.

So my plan is to preserve the best ship DCL has sailed as a hotel and entertainment space along the seawall at Disney Sea in Tokyo. Build a pier, or drydock or even a cofferdam to moor the ship. Pull out the engines and navigation equipment to free up room and keep the shops, theater, dining and rooms. Overhaul to the pool deck to include a lazy river and make it the most spectacular hotel based water park Disney has. This is probably best used as a premium amenity for the Wonder guests rather than it's own attraction, but it could be expanded if desired.

Keep the theater open to all (paying) guests for Broadway Across America/the World types of shows. Do those shows already tour Japan? If so, you have a good theater right here with an incentive to let patrons stay aboard and go to the parks.

One side would have a view of the parks and the other would have a view of Tokyo Bay. I'll leave it to you to decide which is the better view and higher priced ;)

I don't think you would need a transportation system to get across the road and the existing boardwalk - just walk out to the (new) gate to get into the park. A zipline from a funnel to the park sounds great, but that might be a bit much!

Other ideas: Not sure how possible it is, but the adjoining rooms could be embiggened by reworking the wall separating them. Add a Swedish Meatball Food kiosk to the water park area, hosted by the Swedish Chef (I'll keep suggesting this until it happens, btw) Sound the ship's horn when the park opens Concierge rooms become DVC rooms/villas. Helps offset maintenance costs for upkeep. Maybe even use the whole ship as DVC? Hmm - need to think that through. There may be a way for curious locals that have never cruised DLC/OLC to get a tour to see what it is all about and if it is right for them Add some glass windows below the waterline to see the propellers, side thrusters and Tokyo Bay.

Thoughts?

Fair winds all!

Hey guys!

Long story short, I was thinking of planning a solo trip in February next year to go on the Fantasy. Trying to take advantage of my AP special offers plus some travel credit from United to do a short cruise.

I am stuck between Carribean Beach and Yacht Club to stay overnight and hit 1 or 2 parks before using DCL transportation to PC the next day. I’ve picked these two resorts as they are both accessible to parks that isn’t via Buses only and I haven’t stayed at either of these resorts.

Is it worth the extra money to jump to Yacht Club or save the money for stuff on the cruise or other expenses?Would the category of the resort matter to DCL transportation?

As a side note, I would be sailing the Fantasy (first time on this ship) during my birthday so its something to look forward to.

Thanks again! Any advice is appreciated!

We took our first cruise on the Destiny and loved it. I bought a placeholder and booked the Wonder for Christmas next year. Then I booked the Believe for April 2028. Inside stateroom. However, I realized that I could book a 6 night instead of 4 on the Fantasy and still go to both private islands plus 2 more ports and get a verandah instead of an inside room for cheaper! So I switched around my plans and booked that instead. I have it in my head to sail on every ship eventually. 3 down in 2.5 years is a good start I think.

I searched through the sub but couldn’t find an answer for this question.

My son is turning 3 on our next cruise and is mostly potty trained. However, he sometimes forgets if there’s something super exciting going on. I know the 3-4 year olds are in a separate group, but do the counselors occasionally stop for potty breaks or are they relying on the kids to speak up if they need to go?

Take this for what it's worth. I'd say it's a little more reliable than WDW bus drivers.

Just did a Mixology on the Fantasy and the bartenders made all of the drinks. My previous Mixology experience - guests took turns making the drinks.

Later that evening, I asked the bartender in Skyline (who did our Mixology) how they decide when guests get to make drinks vs the bartenders. She said that guests were no longer making drinks because of some issues with guest behaviour. She said they had guests break a few of the expensive bottles, had guests way overpouring, and even had guests taking shot pours directly from the bottle into their mouths. So as with most things nowadays, the horribly behaved people that only care about themselves have ruined an experience for others.

YMMV, but this is what we were told.

ETA - many people are posting that they've been able to mix their own on different ships/bartenders, which has been the case for years. The main info I was intending to share that seems to be missed by many is what the bartender told me on WHY guests did not participate. I have never heard that reason before. Could be new, could be just that barterder deciding based on their bad guest behavior, could have been made up.

During the Prince Ali song of Aladdin on the Wish (and I assume the Treasure too), some of the cast members throw money in the air in the audience. My wife was able to catch one, and we noticed there is a random acronym in the lower corner of the money:

BDKJB
MMKCSJTLO
RGJKCP
JGCBCARK

I’ve been scratching my head to figure out if this is just gibberish or abbreviated song lyrics, or something else entirely.

Anyone know?

We're going on a Disney cruise next week with our 10-month-old and 3-year-old, stopping at both Lookout Cay and Castaway Cay.

I've heard that Disney has complimentary strollers and wagons available on both islands, but where exactly do you pick them up? Especially at Lookout Cay with that super long pier! Are strollers available right when you get off the ship, or do you have to walk all the way to the beach area first?

I'm debating whether to bring our own stroller or just use the baby carrier. I've also heard there are wagons available, but I'm not sure our 10-month-old is quite big enough to sit comfortably in one.

For anyone who's been recently with a baby around this age, what would you recommend? Is it worth bringing our own stroller, or can we get away with just the carrier and whatever Disney has available?

Trying to pack as light as possible, so I'd love to hear your experiences! We are going on the Dream so any other tips appreciated!!!!

I recently went on my first ever cruise on the Dream and loved every moment! I was so enamored with everything, the whole time I was telling my partner we need to plan our next one!! The only negative was having one of our magnets stolen from our stateroom door :( I naively thought no one would take it since so many other doors were covered in magnets. It was of Chip and Dale bathing in a warm coconut with Castaway Cay written on the bottom.

I would gladly pay in advance for the price of the magnet then pay for the shipping to send the item.

Attaching a photo that shows the magnet. I would be so grateful to whoever would be able to send this to us!!!!

I was thinking of leaving Disney pins around the ship for people to find but now I'm 2nd guessing it. I'd leave a tag saying "you found me" or something and put them up higher so a toddler doesn't get them but maybe it's still not a good idea?

We got off our first Disney cruise early this month. We sailed on the Fantasy and really enjoyed it. We purchased placeholders for two rooms for a future cruise. How do I book using my placeholders? Is there a placeholder portal or something? Everything I see leads me to the normal looking booking sites. Is it something only our travel agent can access?

A while ago there was a post here, where people shared their unfortunate bad experience in this port.

It made me honestly nervous, but Here I want to share our experience.

We arrived on the Disney Destiny in Puerto Plata, I believe that was the second Disney ship ever to go there.

The area around the dock is build beautiful, everything seems quite new (excuse me I did not read up on when it was built). Washrooms top notch and clean. The walk to the busses was for some people in our group quite long, one lady struggled quite a bit. Our family enjoyed the walk, there were quite a few cool things to see.

We were booked on the authentic chocolate experience. And I would say it was one of the best excursions we have done. Its a family run chocolate plantation. It was the first time a stop didn't feel overrun. We didn't feel like cattle.

The family truly showed they love what they are doing. My kids had an amazing time learning about the production of chocolate beans to chocolate butter. It was hands on. The lunch was amazing. The drive was about 50 minutes. The roads were and adventure, but that was part of the fun.

The tour guide that was with us from the Port also was amazing. He gave us much insight into the country and culture.

On the way back we quickly cooled off at the fountain in the port area. Walking past the amazing looking lazy river.

Yes, the shop employees will say hi, or ask you to look at things. But there was no pressure. We traveled lots of other countries where people will follow you or even grab you. Here it was just a hallo and maybe saying what they offer.

We would totally go back.