Just booked a Disney Cruise for the first time

We’ve got two kids (5 and 10) and grandma going with us. We’ve sailed with Royal Caribbean a few times but we’ve never gone with Disney before. It’ll be a five-day trip to the Bahamas with stops at Nassau and the two private islands.

I don’t know anything about what to expect. There are YouTube videos about Castaway Cay saying they have snorkeling, which my family loves to do, so I’m thinking of bringing our own gear like the videos say you can do. But is it worth hauling fins and masks?

I guess I just need to know how it’s different from Royal Caribbean. Like, can you grab a slice of pizza late at night if you need to? Is there a place to watch a sports game and have a drink?

15 Likes

Expect to not be able to book any activities. Really.

While we enjoyed DCL, if you are a first time cruiser, you are dead last when it comes to being able to book excursions, cabanas, etc. through DCL because it goes by status.

I honestly much prefer Royal for numerous reasons but a key one being that I can be a lower status cruiser and still be able to easily book the extra items.

5 Likes

I was just looking at this identical cruise for the end of 2025! Not worth lugging your own masks for a complete family just to use for 1 hour or so. Especially if you have to check another bag to bring them.

Also, the one time I packed my own snorkel on a trip it was damaged in transit. I didn’t notice until I dipped my face in the water and inhaled a bunch of seawater. Worst part was we went to a beach without a snorkel rental location, so I practically couldn’t snorkel.

BTW, you can hire snorkels in a package with bikes and other features at castaway cay, so you may discover it’s bundled with things you already want to do.

3 Likes

I’ve only done Disney once, last year, have done RC 4 times. But my last RC was not long before my first Disney. Actually have another Disney and RC planned for next year. If it wasn’t for the price I would be doing Disney all the time. Keep in mind I have 3 young kids who love Disney.

The kids club is phenomenal and for young kids awesome. My kids who are not easy drop off and leave them kids loved it and it felt crazy safe with their procedures.

The shows were phenomenal. I’m usually not going out of my way to make shows on RC here we saw each show and we all loved them.

For a short weekend cruise I found the food to be awesome in the dinning rooms and loved the fact we switched venues. I found the buffet to be about the same as with RC. But the two Bahamas cruises compared, the main dinning on Disney was much much better, not comparable honestly.

The service was awesome. I’ve heard Disney is one of the lines cruise employees really try hard to get on and stay with, they need to provide good service to do that.

Their app is great, with showing everything going on. With the kids they loved seeing the characters albeit sometimes we waiting 15-20 mins in line.

The pool areas was not as large for kids as you find on the larger RC ships, but they still had fun.

No casino if you want that and less of a late night crowd as well. I also did Cococay is a better island, even after seeing what they have on the new island, which we did not stop at. Castaway Cay was good, but mainly just a beach spot.

Yes, things are certainly more expensive.

It was nice to have soda, coffee and other drinks available and complimentary.

Overall Disney in my opinion is a step up in service and luxury. The ship I was on was a 4,000 passenger ship but never felt like it, and doesn’t look like it too. No huge promenade, more of a classic layout to the ship. Certainly kid centric, but even for adults lots of up scale places and some nice bars too. You’ll enjoy it.

4 Likes

Did you book directly with Disney?

6 Likes

Disney is my greatest favorite! We sail RC because Disney is so pricey. You switch restaurants every night and your wait staff move with you. One of the eateries is black and white and turns up all colorful by the end of the evening. Their meal is amazing!

5 Likes

You are going to have the finest time!!!

Order the Disney bars (ice cream covered in chocolate in a stick, shaped like a Mickey head!) from room service (free) at nighttime :slight_smile: you will not miss anything about Royal. And I say that as someone who has sailed both and has an Odyssey trip booked in March…

So jealous, you and your kids are going to have a BLAST!

4 Likes

You definitely want the mask in order to view the fish! I purchased two of those full head face masks that cover the top of the head with a snorkel tube, and they are really effective! Flippers are not necessary, and they may be more portable than bringing along a traditional face mask and snorkel.

Better than Royal, especially if you have kids, it’s really similar to that. It’s nice to turn a corner and, if you enjoy meeting characters, say “Hey!” Belle is there, eager to meet you!

4 Likes

Be prepared to pay more money and deal with overstimulated children.

4 Likes

Prefer Royal to Disney for many reasons (price, activities, casino (free cruises), and just many physical active things to do). I felt like Disney had a lot of things to go watch and see, which is fine, but it definitely is focused on the younger children (my 7 year old is all about the Wish’s kids club). My kids don’t care about character meets/photos. My 12 year old prefers Royal. The food was much better on Disney, but not $3000-7000 better.

You’ll find that everyone goes to bed kinda early on DCL and there’s not a promenade cafe/sorrentos 2am hangout situation. RC has the benefit of many different types of bars open late doing activities for adults (karaoke, dueling pianos, salsa dancing, the music hall, the night club). On DCL, there are bars and a nightclub of course, but they close much earlier than RC bars (around or a little after midnight). But again everything is centered around littles on Disney.

I like Coco Cay better than Castaway, but we enjoyed the manta ray experience on Castaway.

I have a B2B booked on Destiny in 2026 but that’s only cause I had placeholders that were non refundable. I like Disney but with the casino offers on RC, the price of that 4 and 5 night back to back in a verandah would be equivalent of three 7 night cruises in a suite on Royal.

5 Likes

@Hudson Be prepared to pay more money and deal with overstimulated children.

4 Likes

Ex DCL crew and honestly the best thing about DCL is so much is included that I’ve never really felt pressure to book activities at any extra cost when I was cruising as a guest.

Having a mask is nice at castaway but you really don’t need full on snorkel equipment to see fish and things like that, only if you’re really wanting to dive. The 2 times I’ve been to the island my favorite thing was renting bikes (it’s super cheap like $15) and just checking out the island bc there’s so much space between the beaches.

On the ship like people said room service is free, soda dispensers are open most hours on the open deck and included in the email cost at sit down too which is a huge selling point for me. Check out the kids clubs on the open house days, usually only the kids can go but they’ll have specific hours parents can check it out and the spaces are super cute.

Also on that note you NEED the DCL navigator app. It had free messaging between your party, let’s you book any extras you want to, and favourite items. I usually go through on the first night when we’re just hanging out and star everything we even might be slightly interested in and then it’ll send push notifications throughout the cruise I believe 10 minutes before. There’s sooooo much going on on the ship and it’s a good way to make sure you don’t miss anything.

3 Likes

You’re going to love it! Although a little more costly, they are really worthwhile. While the children are at their clubs or activities, there are areas designated for adults as well. A spot to watch sports as well.

3 Likes

Hi there! I went on my first Disney cruise 2 years ago with my parents and sister and we had previously done Royal Caribbean as well! We all went as full adults with no little kids.

Room service is always available and free as other people mentioned and they do have Mickey ice cream bars that can be delivered straight to your room as well. I can’t remember if they had a late night option like sorrento’s on RC.

As far as differences go, I will say dining is very different and spectacular on DCL. You do rotational dining on Disney where you move restaurants nightly but your serving team stays with you as opposed to RC where you just go to the main dining room at your assigned time. Idk what ship you’re on but on mine we had 3 different restaurants that we ate at. I think animators palate is on all ships and that is a super fun experience. They also have pirate night as well, where I won’t give too much away but I personally think that right there is worth the money you pay for Disney!

While it is Disney, it’s not like magic kingdom on the water situation. There are a lot of activities for kids, especially the kids only areas and there are bars for adults. Unlike other cruise lines though, there is no drink package to purchase, but you can always find something to drink. There’s also adult only areas too, if you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of other decks.

Another difference is there is NO casino on Disney! that area is typically used to character meet and greets or other assorted activities. Obviously there’s going to be a lot of Disney themed trivia and activities, but they do have non Disney themed stuff going on as well.

Castaway is a beautiful island and that was a fantastic stop. My family only hung out at serenity bay (the adults only beach) BUT the island is totally made for families. We’re not snorkeling people so I can’t speak to that part of your question unfortunately.

I encourage you to check out a YouTube tour of your cruise ship, this may give you a better idea and overview of what to expect. I hope this helps but if you have any more questions, happy to try and answer them!

2 Likes

I failed to mention that food is available 24/7 either room service or a quick serve station on the deck, and it is free of charge.

1 Like

Our boys adore taking Disney cruises. There are tons of things to do, and I’m glad there aren’t any casinos.

The fireworks show is a highlight, and the kid’s club is fantastic. You will really enjoy it.

You may bring or hire equipment.

1 Like

Our boys adore taking Disney cruises. There are tons of things to do, and I’m glad there aren’t any casinos.

The fireworks show is a highlight, and the kid’s club is fantastic. You will really enjoy it.

You may bring or hire equipment.