As a travel enthusiast and travel planner I’ve done travel in a number of different ways. I would say my favorite mode of travel is definitely cruising. The price you pay for the cruise is almost completely inclusive, and you get to sit back, relax, and cruise around the ocean to fabulous locations.
Note from Amber: This is the first of three posts I’ll do on Disney Cruise Line. Next week, part 2 will cover Cast Away Cay and part 3 will cover Remy and Palo.
The majority of my cruising experiences (although not all) have been with Disney Cruise Line. I have had the opportunity to go on a total of 7 cruises and 5 of those were with Disney Cruise Line. Of those 5 cruises, 4 of them were without kids.
When I tell people that the majority of the cruises I’ve been on have been Disney Cruises, I often get comments about “too many” children or Disney characters being around or not enough adult activities. While I understand this sentiment, I have to say that I feel that it is a misconception that the amount of children and characters present somehow encroaches on the ability of adult passengers to enjoy a Disney Cruise.
Therefore, I wanted to try to dispel this misconception and highlight some of the ways that adult travelers can enjoy a Disney Cruise. In my opinion, Disney does a really fantastic job of not only making their cruises tolerable for those who want to have an adult get away, but they actually do a really great job of catering to adult travelers and creating spaces tailor-made for adults. Plus, as with other Disney destinations ,you can rest assured that the vacation you get will be a high quality one.
Too many Disney Characters?
Obviously, with a Disney Cruise you will expect to see a good number of kids and Disney characters. There are definitely opportunities to do meet and greets with a variety of characters from princesses to Mickey and Minnie to Jack Sparrow. However, these are done at very specific times in very specific areas of the ship. You won’t be relaxing by the pool or hanging out at the beach and have Goofy come up followed by a crowd kids wanting to take a picture with him. (My sister and I did, however, have an experience at the adult beach at Cast Away Cay where Jack Sparrow passed our cabana. He waved at us as he stumbled past, seemingly having had a bit too much rum. But that’s a story for another post) Most of the character meet and greets are scheduled around the two dinner times. So, you will see an increased number of characters then.
The majority of the main shows do have Disney Characters in them as do the ship deck shows, for example, the deck show on pirate night includes pirates and Mickey Mouse.
However, it also includes a pretty great fireworks show. Disney was the first in the industry to do a fireworks show at sea. If you don’t want to participate in the shows with Disney Characters, you can choose to have a massage at the Senses Spa or have pre-dinner cocktails at one of the bars or hang out by Quiet Cove pool.
So, what exactly is there for adults to do?
I’m glad you asked that! This is where I really want to spend most of my time for this blog post. Disney Cruise Line has done a really great job of providing experiences that are tailor-made for adult travelers.
On board there are numerous bars and lounges. This can be the Champagne bar Pink, or the Pub 687 on the Disney Dream.
The Disney Magic has Keys, a piano bar. The D Lounge is available on all 4 Disney ships. They have all sorts of activities at these bars and lounges. My husband I went to a whiskey tasting at the Meridian Lounge on the Disney Dream.
They also have cocktail making classes at Skyline Lounge on the Disney Dream and Fantasy. In addition, there are night time shows that go on just for adults at places like Evolution on the Disney Dream and the Cadillac Lounge on the Disney Wonder. These shows range from magic shows, to a version of the newlywed game, to dancing.
There’s also Quiet Cove pool. This is an adult only pool where you can go to relax. There are food and drink options there, as well as a swim up bar on the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy.
Then there’s Senses Spa. If there is a place on a cruise where I want to spend most of my time, it’s at the spa. They have anything from traditional massages and facials, to a rain forest room, to manicures and pedicures.
There’s also a juice bar at the spa and a fitness center (if you’re one to work out on vacation). And they have a variety of other services like morning yoga classes and foot print analysis. On the day that you have spa services, you can use the rain forest room, lounge and whirlpool for the duration of that day.
You can even have a massage at the adult end of the beach on Cast Away Cay but we’ll save that for next week.
Next week, I’ll get into more details about Cast Away Cay, which deserves its own post. And then the following week we’ll devote entirely to the two adult only dining options-Remy and Palo.
Stay tuned!
