I’ve always insisted I wasn’t “a cruise person.” I love the ocean, but not boats. I love people, but not crowds. I love to travel, but floating out in the middle of the sea never sounded like travel to me. I have concerns about sea sickness, illness outbreaks, and being stranded out in open water, so if I was going to spend money to travel, a cruise was never among my top choices.
My philosophy was, “I’ll only go on a cruise if one drops in my lap.” So when an invitation hit my inbox to attend the christening of the Disney Destiny along with a complimentary three-night preview sail, I said, “Welp, there it is. Disney’s calling my bluff.”
The invite included three guests, so I along with my husband, 21-year-old daughter, and 16-year-old son (all professed “not cruise people”) embarked on Disney’s new ship with a whole lot of gratitude and a healthy dose of skepticism. I’ve been to Disney parks before and witnessed the “Disney magic” in action. But I wasn’t sure if that would be enough to convert us.
I should know by now that doubting Disney is a losing bet. Here are my family’s impressions as first-time cruisers on the Disney Destiny, along with some newbie tips that might help others who’ve never experienced it:
The ship itself is a work of art
The beauty of the ship is downright awe-inspiring. It’s like a floating art gallery with over 900 pieces of art on display in addition to the overall design gorgeousness in every space. I could talk about the artistic aspect of the Destiny all day, it impressed me that much. From concept art to colorful paintings to gorgeous mosaics, you could spend hours just wandering the ship gawking at the artwork.
Tip: Take the stairs. We rarely used the elevators (though they’re gorgeous in their own right), partially for the exercise and partially because the stairwells have artwork hanging on each floor. I believe that’s true for other Disney ships as well, but as the theme of the Destiny is “Heroes and Villains,” the aft stairwells all have artwork of heroes, while in the forward stairwells it’s all villains.
There was almost too much to do
Having never been on a cruise, I always wondered what people did all day on the ship besides eat and sunbathe. But there’s so much to do on the Destiny there wasn’t time to even see it all—much less do it all. There are things happening all day long throughout the ship, from character encounters to trivia to arts and crafts to movie theaters to Broadway-style shows. The weather was unusually cold on our sail in the Caribbean, so we didn’t even make use of the pools or movies on the top deck. (There’s also a “water coaster” called Aqua Mouse, which our kids tried and said was fun. I was too cold to try it.)
There was a lot more for adults than I would’ve thought
I assumed that a Disney ship would be primarily geared toward children, but it didn’t feel like that at all. There was plenty for kids, of course, but it never felt like we were needing to escape to adult spaces. The main areas of the ship are very classy, and the specifically kid-oriented areas were places you had to purposefully go to. As a family with no little kids anymore, we were all perfectly happy.
Actually, that’s not quite true. My 16-year-old complained because there were too many adult-only places he wanted to go to and couldn’t. There’s a peaceful adult-only (18+) pool area on the rear of the pool deck, and some of the coolest themed areas of the ship are actually the adult lounges—De Vil’s (themed for Cruella De Vil in 101 Dalmations), Cask & Cannon (Pirates of the Caribbean theme), and the Haunted Mansion lounge.
Tip: The adult lounges are super cool but smaller than I thought they’d be and were usually crowded during the times we popped our heads in. We never actually hung out in any of them, but we didn’t feel like we missed out on anything. Like I said, there’s so much to do and no way to do it all.
The musical shows were seriously incredible
When they said they had Broadway-style shows on the ship, I imagined they’d be good, but I didn’t know they would blow me away like they did. We saw Hercules, which is new to to the Disney Cruise Line lineup, and Frozen: A Musical Spectacular. Both were jaw-droppingly good. The caliber of performers, the singing, the sets, the lighting effects, the costumes—it’s the kind of thing you pay out the nose to see in the city. Especially for the seats you can get in the Walt Disney Theater if you show up early.
Tip: Show up early. Get there at least 30 minutes before the show to have your pick of seats. And if you want to experience the full effect of both of those shows, get seats that aren’t under the balcony overhang. (Trust me.)
The hand-washing game was on point
My family is a little bit norovirus-phobic and thus religious about hand-washing before eating. Buffets always freak us out a little because not everyone is conscientious about that, which was one of our big cruise concerns. However, we were delighted that Disney was on top of it. Upon entering Marcelline Market (the buffet eating area), you walk through a row of hand-washing sinks with Disney crew monitoring to make sure people use them. And as you go into the sit-down restaurants, you are handed a sanitizing hand wipe to use as well. That eased our concerns about viral outbreaks a lot.
Tip: Wash your hands. It really does help keep viruses from spreading.
The international cast and crew was so much fun
Every server we had was from a different country, and they all introduced themselves by name and country: “Hi, I’m Carlos. I’m from Mexico.” It was wonderful meeting so many people from all over—it felt like a real-life “It’s a Small World” in the best way. The crew is delightful for the most part and will go out of their way to make sure you’re having a good experience.
Tip: Spend time chatting with the crew. By the end of our three days, we felt a bit sad to say goodbye to the servers we’d had repeatedly. I imagine on a longer cruise you’d really feel attached by the end of it.
The staterooms were better equipped than I expected
Since we’d never been on a cruise before, I gathered tips before we went. Most people recommended bringing lots of magnetic hooks to hang things on the stateroom walls (which are metal), a battery-operated night light, and a hanging toiletry bag. I lamented that I only had two hooks to bring, but it turned out we didn’t even need those two. Didn’t need the other things, either. The closets have plenty of space, there are hooks in the bathroom and outside of it, there was plenty of shelf space in the bathrooms, and we were able to find places to put things around the room without issue.
Our room had a verandah, which was lovely, but even looking at the lowest-priced staterooms (interior of the ship, so no windows) there seems to be plenty of space. It’s a cruise ship, so no one should expect huge rooms (other than the super fancy suites), but we were pleasantly surprised by how comfortable the space was. (Our teen and young adult kids did say the single beds weren’t terribly comfortable. Our queen bed was great.)
Tip: Don’t stress over what kind of room you get. You likely won’t spend that much time in your room anyway.
The food was both better and worse than we anticipated
We’re foodies with a love of cuisines from around the world, and my husband is an excellent cook, so our food standard is quite high. Our absolute favorite food on the ship (even after trying the much-touted Palo restaurant) was at Pride Lands, the Lion King-themed sit-down restaurant. We ordered the first four entrees on the menu, all inspired by African flavors, and they were all delicious. The desserts at Pride Lands were also our favorite on the ship. I wish we’d eaten there more than once.
The other two sit-down restaurants included are Worlds of Marvel and 1923. (They call them rotational restaurants, as you’re assigned a different one for dinner each night with some kind of special show included.) The food in those ranged from just okay to pretty good, depending on what we ordered. But we actually preferred the buffet food in Marcelline Market, which has a ton of choices. My husband had some excellent lamb and I had some decent chicken tikka masala in Marcelline. My daughter said the sugar-free chocolate mousse dessert was “the bomb.” And it’s quite a charming space.
Tip: Room service is also included, so if you need a break from people you can always order in and watch a movie—they have the entire Disney and Marvel filmography available, of course.
The attention to detail was delightful
I should have expected that Disney would do it up right in the detail department, and they did. One small example is the theming in the stateroom hallways. We were on a Big Hero Six floor, and the carpet in the hall and art in the rooms reflected that. But it wasn’t until the third day that I looked up and noticed the lights in the hallway were also Big Hero Six themed. That got us going to the Brave and Hercules floors to see the how the carpets and lights reflected those themes.
There are details everywhere that give you a feeling of being immersed in another world, so my whole “being out on the sea isn’t really travel” thing fell apart in a weird way while on the ship. Disney takes your imagination so many places, it’s almost like a different kind of travel in and of itself.
Tip: Slow down and look around at the details. That’s a big part of what makes Disney’s theming and “magic” so effective.
Castaway Cay was a perfect stop
First of all, Cay is pronounced “key,” for those unfamiliar with the term like I was. Castaway Cay is Disney’s small private island in the Bahamas. It’s lovely. It was nice to get off the ship after a couple of days (though the movement wasn’t bothersome, I was pleased to find) and the island is a nice size for a day of tropical relaxation and recreation. My animal-loving daughter got to feed and swim with rays, which was a huge treat. My husband got to snorkel, which he loves to do. I got to float on a tube in the turquoise water (which was pleasant despite the temps only being in the low 70s that day).
Tip: There are self-serve soda machines on the island that are included, but if someone comes up to your beach chair and offers to bring you drinks, those ones cost money. There’s also free unlimited soft-serve ice cream.
So did Disney manage to convert us into ‘cruise people’?
I’m not sure if I’m ready to officially make that change in my identity, but we got pretty close. As my daughter said, “Everything here is so well done. I can totally see how people like cruises now.”
My gauge was always going to be whether or not I felt it would be worth paying for it. As our family’s travel planner, I definitely see the appeal of having everything you need—and a whole lot extra—all covered under one upfront cost. A cruise removes so much of the planning, decision-making, and budget negotiations that accompany other travel. You don’t have to think about finding a place to eat. You don’t have to think about the cost of activities or entertainment. A cruise eliminates a lot of the stressors that accompany “normal” travel planning, and adding the Disney magic element on top of that just ups the ante.
I was also happy to have most of my assumptions proved wrong. I thought I would feel trapped on the ship, but I found there was actually something freeing about being out in the open ocean away from the normal world. I assumed cruises were kind of cheesy, but Disney provided far more class than cheese. I assumed the cruise might be overstimulating for my introvert self, and sometimes it was, but I could easily remove myself to a quiet space if I needed to. So yes, I do think it would be worth paying for.
As for the rest of the family’s “cruise people” status? They’re already angling to take the Disney cruise to Alaska. So you win, Disney. Well played.
Check out the Disney Destiny website to learn more. (I’ve barely scratched the surface here, honestly.)
