Need Advice from Anyone Who Has Been on the Disney Cruises!

We have taken several cruises on various cruiselines prior to having children. The Disney cruise was the absolute best vacation we've ever taken. They treat every guest like royalty. There are tons of activities for the various age groups. My godsons went with us and they had the best time. They were 8 and 11 at the time, but I do recall special programs for younger children. Hubby and I decided we will only cruise with Disney in the future. Their ship was clean at all times. The service is beyond belief. You will meet your wait staff your 1st meal on board. That same staff rotates dining rooms with you every day. They remember everything from what you prefer to drink down to which condiments you use. I am on Coumadin, a blood thinner, it requires me to strictly monitor my vitamin K intake as vit K counteracts my medication. One night the dinner menu was various choices of pastas. Literally everything on the menu contained some form of leafy green veggie which I am not allowed to have. Our waiter went to the kitchen to ask the chef what alternatives would be available. The head chef came out to our table to personally discuss with me what I was allowed to have as well as what I could not have. He suggested he make my pasta noodles and sauce without spinach or any other greens. He then proceeded to make my meal in the dining room kitchen where we could watch. God love him he made me an entire meal from scratch in a manner of minutes and had his assistant make me a side salad with iceburg lettuce. To his credit he still made sure everyone else in our dining party's food would be ready at the exact same time. We now have a 4 yr old and a 7 month old. We will be taking a disney cruise once our 7 month old gets a bit older. Castaway Cay, Disney's private island, is beautiful beyond belief. Tons of activities for kids of all ages as well as the adults. I remember the older kids were carted off to build rafts and race them like survivor. They all looked to be having a great time. My suggestion is to contact Disney to discuss their toddler program policies. As for the ship's safety, again they are unmatched. Even their lifeboats were encapsulated for maximum safety. Everything on board is geared towards children's safety. They also have a deck devoted strictly to adults for those times when your child is checked into one of their activities and you want a break from kids. As I recall each parent and child are issued matching id bracelets. You can not check a child in or out unless your barcodes match. I am not sure if it is still the same but each parent was also given a beeper should they need to contact you with any questions or concerns. It is worth every penny. I promise you will not be disappointed.

I have not been, but have lots of friends who have gone and they say it is by far THE BEST vacation they have ever done as a family. But their kids were older.

If you are wanting a lot of alone time with hubs, then your 19 mos daughter needs to have no separation anxiety. Otherwise you'll need to plan you entire day around her likes and dislikes and naps and bedtime.

Hi Kim~ I actually help people plan Disney Cruises all of the the time. I am just a Disney freak and we go every year on one. I just gave a very detailed reply to another mom and here is the thread. So read it and my reply there. Any questions feel free to message me. Have fun!
www.mamapedia.com/questions/5941589203149258753

I've been on the Disney Wonder, but without children. The Disney ships are extremely clean -- they are lovely. From what I could tell, they had wonderful on-board programming/activities for children of all ages -- as old as teens. However, your child must be potty-trained to be left in any of the on-board programs. I thought it was an extremely safe ship -- I hope to take my own kids someday.

The Disney island, Castaway Cay is phenominal (if you are going to the Bahamas)!!! You would have an incredible time there with your youngest!

We went on one with a 3 yr old and an almost 8 yr old. There was lots for our oldest to do aboard ship. But our youngest mostly just felt shuttled from meal to pool to show to explorer club. However, they both LOVED the stop at Disney's private island (Castaway) Best day ever! We also got to choose an activity at the stop in Nassua -- We did the dolphin encounter. Both boys loved it. This mom was less than enthusiastic about getting in a small pool with a huge marine mammal. The servers (surprisingly) were a highlight of the kids day. Ours did magic tricks, told jokes, etc. and the boys thought they were the coolest.

Your 19 month old will be fine but mostly won't care about planned events, etc.