For a very long time, I wished to be a travel writer. I pictured myself wearing something impossibly chic as I stepped off an airplane with a passport full of stamps, tape recorder in one hand and pen and paper in the other.
I started a tumblr (yes, I’m old) when I studied abroad because I just couldn’t keep the stories in, and that snowballed into my first writing job for my college communications department, and now, here I am many years later, a travel writer. A little different, but here. Despite this—or maybe because of this—my bucket travel list has only grown. I want to go everywhere and now, I want to show my toddler the world, too.
I remember watching commercials for Disney Cruise Line on various VHS tapes growing up and hoping that someday I’d get to go, too. So when Disney invited me to cover the Disney Wish, I jumped up and down, literally.
I got a little choked up during the Sail Away party. Look ma, I made it!
Disney, to me, is all about joy. It’s about nostalgia. It’s about wish fulfillment. In this stage of my life with a little kid, in this anxious age as a parent, sometimes, this is just what you need for your vacation. Was it relaxing? Not really, no. Was it a ridiculous amount of FUN crammed into every possible moment? Yes.
My face hurt from smiling so much.
I know I’m coming at this as a Disney Adult. But I do want to assure you: I’m also still a Mom and a journalist. Read on for a real, researched take on what it’s like to cruise on the Disney Wish:
The intentional details made this cruise so toddler-friendly.
Disney nails “family-friendly” and not just 6+. I deeply appreciated the stateroom setup and the small ways that made it so much easier to travel. We stayed in a Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah. The stateroom design is so thoughtful—there’s even a bathtub! The toilet and shower are separate. There’s plenty of hooks and a drying line for bathing suits. A blackout curtain separates the pull-out kids bed/bunks from the main sleeping area. These are all small touches you might not even notice without traveling with little ones, but wow, did it make things so much easier for naptime, bathtime, and bedtime.
It’s elsewhere on the ship, too. Small sinks and changing stations in every bathroom, room for a stroller in every hallway (though we didn’t need it, honestly), the way our service team always had a booster seat and milk ready and waiting at our table each night for dinner. This is the level of attention to detail that helps parents enjoy the trip the same way the kids do!
What about babies?
DCL will also put a crib, sheets, diaper genie (!!), and a bottle warmer in your stateroom if you request it, and there’s a hidden fridge drawer for bottles/breastmilk storage. We’re firmly out of the baby stage, so I asked another Mom about her experience while I was on board:
“This was my fourth Disney cruise, but my first with a baby. The hardest part was working around his schedule, and because everything was so loud, I’d recommend noise canceling headphones for dinner in particular.
We did naps either in the room or in the stroller, and the nursery was a life saver because it allowed us some time to do some things and to have a peaceful dinner. It also gave him some good floor and play time. They were super professional and I was really impressed!
Overall I think it’s probably the easiest trip you could take with a baby! – Kathryn Salisbury, Travel Agent at Straight Away Travel
You know it’s great when your kiddo begs to go back to kid’s club.
Like most anxious parents, I wasn’t sure how kid’s club dropoff would ~go.~ Imagine my surprise when my kiddo begged to go back after the first visit! I got a chance to take a tour during open house hours, when parents are allowed to come play with their kids. After seeing it, I totally understand why my kid didn’t want to leave! There’s a Star Wars ship to play in, a roller coaster simulator, a thinkerspace, an Avengers lab, and several craft/storytime rooms themed to Rapunzel, Belle, and Frozen. For toddlers, you have two options:
- Littlest ones – 0-3 – go to the “it’s a small world” nursery, a super charming, calm daycare space. This is an add-on that is paid, unlike kid’s club, which is included.
- Kid’s club – 3-10 – The difference between who gets to go to kid’s club and who goes to the nursery for 3’s is potty training. As long as they’re out of diapers, they can come to kid’s club. But what I appreciated was that the 3’s and 4’s aren’t just thrown in with the big kids. They have special counselors and are kept together, with their home base in the playground room (you can “drive” the ship!) and rotating among the other rooms, which close off to the older kids at that time. One day my kiddo came back raving that they got to do a craft with THE Rapunzel!
- Older kids can go to Edge (tweens), Vibe (teens), and hang out in the Hero Zone (basketball/ping pong/air hockey/games).
We ended up dropping them off via the big slide after quiet time/nap time most days and the adults went for a little happy hour treat at one of the adults-only lounges. We’re big Star Wars fans and the Hyperspace Lounge in particular was such a fun vibe. In the adults-only pool deck, Cove was another favorite. It was so nice to get some time to ourselves!
The logistics you need to know before booking
Just like when you book a trip to the parks, the cruise has its own system and you have to be READY. You’re going to want to set your alarms and book ahead any “extras” like the Royal Gathering, Bippidi Boppidi Boutique, cabanas at Castaway Cay, adults-only dining reservations at Palo or Enchanté, or spa treatments. I’ll talk more about some of these below and what I think is a must-get, but most of that depends on your budget and your family.
When you’re on board, there’s truly a lot going on. The best advice I can give is to really prioritize what matters for your family. In our case, that meant skipping all of the Broadway-style shows at night because we’re just too wiggly and tired after a long day. Instead, we rotated who in our party got to go “out” each night—I saw Devil Wears Prada 2 in the theater and caught the Pirate Night Fireworks; my parents also babysat for a date night at Palo for me and my husband (thank you!!!). The other nights my parents went out and enjoyed live music in the lounges.
If you’re reading this and worried that means you’ll “miss out,” you really won’t. We did the early Pirate Night show for my toddler, a toddler dance party with all the characters another, and caught the “Wish goodnight” light show at 7 PM one evening in the Grand Hall (it’s usually at midnight.) My kiddo loved playing shuffleboard and wandering around the promenade after dinner and just taking in the fact we were ON THE OCEAN, which was so cool for them.
The hour-by-hour breakdown of our itinerary.
Here’s everything we did! And there was SO much we didn’t get to on this trip:
Day 1: Embarkation Day
Pre-cruise, we stayed overnight at the Art of Animation (my Cars-obsessed toddler LOVED it.) Disney Cruise Line offers transportation from their hotels to the port, which made it easy. Note that this timeline is for an early boarding group (Group 2) so follow your arrival time when you receive it.
7 AM: We put our bags out with our luggage tags for the cruise and packed carry-ons for the day with swimsuits and changes of clothes, as you can’t access your stateroom right away, then went to breakfast.
9:30 AM: It’s about an hour or so but the bus played old-school Mickey and friends cartoons which my toddler loved.
11:00 AM: We arrived at port, went through security, and checked in, which included hooking up our Magic Bands to our stateroom, checking passports, and getting our Key to the World cards. Then, we waited for our group to be called.
12:00 PM: Since we had an earlier boarding group, we got on board fairly quickly. The entrance into the dazzling Grand Hall was so special. We headed upstairs to Marceline Market, the buffet, for lunch, and explored the ship.
3:30 PM Mandatory muster drill for all guests. Time changes based on the sailing.
4:30 PM Sail Away party on Deck 11! We got there early to get a spot to watch by the railing. It was very crowded and difficult for my toddler to wait, but once the show started, we were all dancing.
5:45 PM There are two dinner seatings and we booked the earlier one. (The second seating is at 8:15 PM which, lol with a toddler.) DCL does a rotating dinner selection with three restaurants, so your service team stays with you the entire trip. Tonight was Arendelle. Elsa, Anna, Olaf, and friends sing iconic songs from Frozen and of course, Elsa does some magic. There is no meet-and-greet for this but you do get to wave to the characters and there was plenty of awe and wonder.
By the time dinner ended, my toddler was almost asleep at the table! We crashed instead of doing the after-dinner entertainment, which didn’t start till 8:30 PM. (If you have the later dining time, there’s an earlier show so you won’t miss it.)
Day 2: Nassau Day
We stayed on the ship to explore everything:
7 AM: Breakfast buffet at Marceline Market. My family always rides at dawn and cruising is no exception!
8 AM: Open house at the Kid’s Club. I wanted to check it out for myself, honestly, and we had a blast doing the roller coaster simulator together. We had to rip them out of there for…
9 AM: Royal Gathering. This is a must-book ahead. There are characters all over the ship that you can meet, but this basically allows you to walk right up to each princess, interact with them, and get photopass pictures. It took 15 minutes and tears were possibly shed by how cute it all was.
10 AM: Splash Pad! Kids 4 and under can splash around here instead of the pools and it was a huge highlight for us. Little fountains, water slides, lots to touch and play with. Most importantly for adults, none of the fountains blasted you past shoulder height, so no surprises! We waited in line for the Slideasaurus Rex (38” – about 15 minutes) and the Aquamouse (42” – 45 minutes or more). I couldn’t believe my toddler had the patience to wait for the Aquamouse, but they said they LOVED it.
12 PM: We grabbed lunch from the outdoor quick-service options at Festival of Foods. They’ve got solid takes on the basics: Chicken fingers, pizza, barbecue, Chipotle-style burrito bowls. I also ran into the buffet and carried out some salads and fruit and veggies.
2 PM: Quiet time. A much-needed breather for all of us, though I wish we had made time to go to the Hero Zone for the inflatable obstacle course. We needed the break!
4 PM: Kid’s club drop-off. Adults went to the Hyperspace Lounge for some far-out drinks.
5:45 PM: My parents picked up my toddler for dinner at 1923 and my husband and I went to Palo, the adults only steakhouse, just as we were pulling away from Nassau. Gorgeous ocean views, attentive service, and a quiet, delicious meal we could enjoy as a pair. It’s been a million years since we’ve done a date night and wow, it was so nice. Get the chocolate soufflé—you have to order 20 minutes ahead but we paired it with hazelnut gelato and I’m still thinking about it. Dinner went until ~9ish, so we went to bed after for our big beach day.
Day 3: Castaway Cay and Pirate Night
My favorite day of the entire cruise, hands down.
7 AM: Breakfast at Marceline Market before…
8:30 AM: Debarkation to Castaway Cay!
We decided to walk to our Sandcastle Cabana to see the island and meet the characters, but there’s also a tram you can take. I would definitely recommend bringing a stroller for this day, as long as you don’t mind it getting a little sandy. DCL does have some wagons you can borrow but they go so fast, so you’ll probably just want your own. We also used the walk to do a little shopping up front at She Sells Seashells (and Everything Else) near the first family beach.
The Cabanas are at the second family beach, or Pelican Point. This is the beach I’d recommend for toddlers because it’s super shallow and calm—perfect to wade in. DCL provides life jackets and lifeguards. The second family beach also has the Pelican Plunge, which is a swim-out water slide/playground (38”). It was a bit too intense for my little swimmie, so we stuck to the beach and went to the Spring-a-Leak splash pad for some fun, too. After some hilarious attempts to teach them how to snorkel, we ended up staying closer to shore and took turns snorkeling out onto the trail. My partner snuck away to do the self-guided 5K loop around the island.
There is also a kid’s club on the island, which I’m sure would be very fun! Though we live on the East Coast, it’s a haul to get to the beach where we are (1.5+ hours) so having beach time together was more important for us, especially since we booked the Cabana. When I talked to another Mom she said they dropped the kids off and then hung out at the adult beach, Serenity Bay, to rest and to have a couples massage. Also a great idea!
If you’re thinking about splurging on a Cabana, do it. Besides a stocked fridge with soda, chips/fruit/snacks, snorkel and floaties, bike rentals, sunscreen, and sand toys, it was just so lovely to have our own space for the day. The Cabana beach was quiet, spacious, and I never had to fight for an umbrella or worry about leaving my stuff. A true exhale moment, honestly. The hammock was the best place for a nap, and they also provide pack-n-plays for little ones to do their quiet time, too. Plus, it POURED so we were very grateful we could just hang out.
11:30 AM BBQ lunch at Cookie’s Too, which is included. Plus soft serve ice cream, of course. I also got a ‘lil frozen concoction for myself at the Heads Up bar on the second family beach.
3 PM It started raining again second time was just as we left the cabana to get back to the ship and out of the sun. We walked back because the tram lines felt a little too mayhem-y. We were greeted with warm towels on our way in, which was so thoughtful. Besides, we needed to get ready!
5:45 PM Pirate Night! We were back at 1923 but there’s a special pirate night menu at all three restaurants this night.
7:30 PM Family Pirate Show: This was a tough wait as we were verrrry tired after a long day at the beach, but once the show started, all was well! My toddler sang and danced and waved hi to pirate Minnie and Mickey and we had a blast.
8:15 PM It was my turn to go “out” so I did Devil Wears Prada 2 (finally!! so good!) in the movie theater. I miss going to the movies as a Mom, so this was a big treat for me.
10:15 PM Fireworks at sea! Disney is the only cruise line that does fireworks and these were pirate-themed, with an ‘80s rock band, Capn’ Jack Sparrow, and plenty of oohs and aahs. A real highlight, made possible by babysitters back in the room! I did see lots of young kids here, but because of our beach day ‘lil friend was too tired to stay up.
Day 4: Day at Sea
This day was packed with so many activities, it was hard to choose!
8:00 AM Today we decided to take it slow and do breakfast at 1923, which was so lovely!
9:30 AM Then we played at the Hero Zone in the morning, which was so fun. Ping pong, air hockey, basketball, and getting a little bit of the wiggles out.
11:00 AM My toddler asked to go to the splash pad again! So we ended up mostly hanging out there for the day instead of the other events going on like the Diaper Dash, Bingo, Trivia, or other shows. The wait times were much lower today for the Slideasaurus Rex and the Aquamouse during lunch.
12:00 PM Lunch at Festival of Foods on deck in between water slides and splash pad time.
1:30 PM Marceline Market – the buffet closes at 2 PM so we snuck in right beforehand for a little snack, and then a special trip to Inside Out: Joyful Sweets for some ice cream and candy. I wanted everything in the case and ended up choosing a chocolate-covered marshmallow treat decorated like Rainbow Unicorn. (This costs extra.)
2:30 PM Quiet time. It really is a must for us!
3:30 PM Our kiddo asked to go to kid’s club again, so we went to Keg and Compass (the sports bar) to hang out and picked them up in time for dinner at…
5:45 PM Marvel dinner. We LOVED this show because it was more interactive. And of course, getting to meet your friendly neighborhood Spiderman was a huge highlight for my little superhero.
After dinner, my parents went to the Mandalorian and Grogu movie which had just come out in theaters and we stayed in packing and getting ready to go home.
Day 5: Debarkation Day
Womp, womp, time to go home! We booked the Disney transportation back to the airport, and I’m glad I did. The night before, we repacked our luggage with our tags and left it outside for our host. In the morning, after an early morning breakfast at Marvel (similar items to the buffet, just sit down) we found some comfy couches in the Grand Hall and set up with a coloring book to wait for our tag color/character to be called.
Once we were called, we disembarked and showed our papers, picked up our bags at port. A porter helped us get everything to the buses, and off we went to the airport, about 45 minutes or so. Disney will also arrange transport to the resorts if you’re extending your visit, too.
The best items I packed for our cruise.
What was great about this trip is that DCL provides so many of the bigger, bulkier travel items which makes it so much easier. I did pack a few special things, though:
- I zhuzhed up this fish extender with some personalized patches from Etsy. Folks leave these on hooks outside their room, and other guests drop trinkets in throughout your stay. I bought a few of these fun sticker packets to hand sheets out. (You can sign up for formal exchanges in your cruise’s unofficial FB group. Just search the dates and ship name.) This ended up being one of our favorite things about this trip for my toddler!
- Pirate costumes. Pirate night was the best night of the cruise, imo. EVERYONE dressed up, which was amazing to see! DCL provides a pirate-y bandana but having the costumes made it extra festive. We went as pirates for Halloween so I didn’t technically buy this for the trip but would recommend.
- Magic Band+. You don’t need this for your trip, but it definitely makes things easier. This was a worthwhile purchase for us because we go to Disney almost every year. They come in one size but are adjustable. (We picked princesses, Winnie the Pooh, and Star Wars, respectively.)
I’ll have a more detailed packing guide coming soon!
Should you take a Disney cruise with a toddler?
A Disney cruise is a big investment—honestly, it’s a total slam dunk for anyone with elementary-school age kids. While waiting to ride the slide I asked a few kids ahead of us (9, 7, and 5) and they all agreed Disney had the MOST activities and the most fun compared to other cruises they had been on.6
This cruise is a great choice for you if…
- You’re traveling with mixed ages, ie, your toddler is your youngest, because there’s so much for everyone! Or if your toddler is on the older side, 3+.
- You (or your kids) LOVE Disney, especially the princesses. We met or saw Captain Mickey and Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Spider-man, Elsa, Anna, Belle, Rapunzel, Tiana, Moana, and Cinderella! Plenty of characters were also wandering around for spontaneous meet-and-greets, too. You can meet Bluey and Bingo, too.
- You’ve already booked a Disney parks trip and want to extend the magic a few more days.
- This is not your first time dropping kids off into a childcare/daycare scenario (though the counselors are trained for that if it is your first time).
- Your kiddos can flex bedtime easily because some of the most exciting events are relatively late at night (and dinner doesn’t start till 5:45 PM, which is late for us.)
This cruise is a skip for you if…
- You or any of your children struggle with sensory issues, loud noises, or overstimulation. This kind of cruise (or any cruise, imo) is a LOT and the noise level at dinner and shows can be difficult for little ears.
- You’re meh on the Disney thing, or your kids are meh on characters…that’s what you’re paying for! Or they’re too scared by the characters right now.
- You’re still on 2+ naps per day. Especially with the 3- or 4-night itinerary, you’ll end up spending a lot of time in your stateroom.
- You’re a big drinker—there is no alcohol package on this ship so that’s all extra $$. Personally, I appreciated this as it kept the family-friendly vibe of the ship compared to other cruise lines. Most of the adults imbibing were hidden in lounges or other adults-only spaces, so it didn’t feel like EPCOT at 10 PM on a Saturday, if you know what I’m sayin’.
- Not that there’s many of you here, but I wouldn’t book The Wish if I was going without my family. The adults-only spaces were wonderful, but you’ll be surrounded by families and little ones otherwise!
Final take: A Disney cruise really is magical for every age
Almost took Captain Mickey out with such an enthusiastic hug.
What stood out to me about this cruise was not, actually, the Big Things. Yes, of course the water slide and the fireworks and the dinner/shows and all that are incredible, worthwhile reasons to choose Disney over another brand. But what made it special for us were smaller moments of magic: Running back to our stateroom to check for pixie dust left behind, giggling over Mickey churro waffles one morning at breakfast, delight when our Magic Bands turned different colors during the Marvel dinner.
Watching my kiddo’s face light up because Elsa is doing her snow magic at dinner gives me so much joy. And that was what this trip was about. Joy. Watching the pirate show and they kept saying, “Hi Mickey! Hi Minnie!” to the stage as they came out—oh, my heart.
I would recommend, honestly, a seven-day itinerary over the four-day one we sailed because just as we settled into a rhythm, we left! I would also 10/10 recommend bringing grandparents along not just because they were a great help (which they were!) but because it was so fun to experience this all together as a family. Tears may have been shed at the Royal Gathering, watching all the kiddos, not just mine, meet the princesses of their dreams.
The logistics part of any Disney trip is daunting, but trust me, once you’re on the ship, that all goes away and you can just experience it all.
To making magical memories,
Kayla
If you liked this post, please consider supporting my work. I’m just a mom in the thick of the toddler years trying to create core memories for our whole family while minimizing meltdowns—I sincerely hope this helps you do the same.
This post was originally published on Travel with Toddlers. Subscribe for more real-talk travel advice, toddler-friendly itineraries, and tried-and-true gear recommendations.
