10 Reasons We Love Sailing Aboard The Disney Dream Cruise Ship
Here are our 10 favourite reasons why we loved sailing aboard the Disney Dream Cruise Ship and what makes the Disney Cruise Line so special for family vacations.
AquaDuck
The AquaDuck is a water slide that runs right around the midship of the Disney Dream Cruise Ship. This is a favourite activity for both kids and adults. It can get very busy at times, so be prepared to wait in a queue. The queues are usually much shorter while the ship is docked at port (especially Castaway Cay).
Watch our YouTube video of the Disney Dream AquaDuck Water Slide here.
Pools
The Mickey Pool and Donald’s Pool areas are good for the kids to cool off and enjoy watching a movie at the same time. The water slide is only recommended for guests aged between 4 to 14.
Adults can escape the family pool area if they need some relaxation time and head to the Quiet Cove Pool which is exclusively for adults only.
Goofy’s Sports Deck
Sports lovers can enjoy Goofy’s Sports Deck located on Deck 13 of the Disney Dream Cruise Ship. Here they can shoot some hoops on the basketball court, enjoy a round of mini-golf or have a game of ping-pong or foosball.
There is even a virtual sports simulator available (charges apply for the simulator).
You can see our YouTube video of Goofy’s Sports Deck here.
Kids Clubs
The kids clubs aboard the Disney Dream Cruise Ship are so good that your little darlings will never want to leave them! We hardly ever saw our boys as they were always off doing activities and playing games at one of the kids clubs. You can grant self check-out access to kids aged 8 upwards so the parents do not even need to be at drop-off or pick-up.
There are kids clubs suitable for all ages.
It’s a Small World Nursery – suitable for youngsters aged 6 months – 3 years.
Disney’s Oceaneer Club and Lab – suitable for 3-12 year olds and featuring themed play spaces including;
- Star Wars: Millennium Falcon – kids can learn to train like a Jedi and take control of the Millennium Falcon.
- Andy’s Room – the world of Toy Story comes to life and kids can play with larger-than-life characters, including Rex the dinosaur, Hamm the piggy bank and Mr. Potato Head.
- Disney Infinity Game Room – not just any ordinary interactive video game area.
- Pixie Hollow – a magical fairyland inspired by Tinkerbell.
Edge – a tween activity and chill out zone for kids aged 11-14.
Vibe – a cool hangout for teenagers aged 14-17.
There is even a kids club on Castaway Cay called Scuttles Cove.
Castaway Cay
Most of the Disney Dream Cruises sail the Bahamas and stop at Disney’s own private Island called Castaway Cay.
On Castaway Cay there are a variety of activities and excursions you can book or otherwise you can just relax on the beach. There is a family beach section as well as the adults only Serenity Bay. There are cabanas available for rental, but you do have to book these online months in advance to secure one.
For the family beach goers there is the Pelican Plunge Water Slide to enjoy as well as a climbing and swinging frame that the kids love. Be sure to bring some goggles though as the water is very salty for the kids eyes. You can also rent swimming gear such as swimming masks, snorkels and inner tube floats. Swimming vests are provided for free in all swimming areas.
Activities on Castaway Cay that can be booked include banana boat rides, parasailing, deep-sea fishing, glass bottom boat cruises, swimming with stingrays, jet skis plus much more.
See our YouTube clip of the Pelican Plunge Water Slide here.
For a look at our YouTube clip of Disney’s Castaway Cay Island click here.
Rotational Dining
A great aspect of Disney Cruises is the rotational dining so you get to try out the different themed restaurants. Our favourite was Animator’s Palate where the Interactive Finding Nemo characters make for a fun night. If you’re really lucky you might get to have a totally awesome conversation with Crush the Turtle.
The other rotational restaurants on the Disney Dream Cruise Ship are the Enchanted Garden and Royal Palace.
There are also two adults only fine dining restaurants that you can book for an additional fee which are Remy and Palo.
Unlimited Ice-Cream
Kids love this part of the Disney Dream, the help yourself soft serve Eye-Scream machines. Located near the family pool area, its hard to keep them away from these!
Even while at Castaway Cay the kids don’t miss out on any ice-cream, there’s soft serve machines on the island too.
Movies and Shows
There is no shortage of opportunities to watch one of your favourite Disney movies. Buena Vista Theatre screens first run features as well Disney classics daily. Walt Disney Theatre is home to full production live theatre entertainment. Even if you are relaxing in your stateroom you can watch on-demand Disney movies and TV favourites.
Not to mention the Disney movies continuously playing at the pool area.
Disney Characters
The Disney characters on board the Disney Cruise make for a lot of fun times for the kids. There are daily character dance parties and It all kicks off with the Sailing Away Celebration Dance Party.
We loved Mickey’s Halloween Dance Parties during the Halloween on the High Seas Cruises.
See our YouTube clip of Mickey’s Halloween Dance Party here.
There are plenty of character appearances on board the Disney Dream Cruise Ship. You do however need to reserve your meet and greet tickets online prior to sailing for a guaranteed meeting with your favourite character.
Cocktails
We like to purchase the souvenir cocktail glasses (plastic not glass) with the cocktail of the day at the sailing away party and then all refills throughout the cruise are available at a cheap duty-free price. There are also specialty cocktail making and tasting classes that you can attend throughout the cruise (fee applies). Us adults found these a lot of fun, we especially loved the mixology class which was held in the Skyline Bar.
Conclusion
As you can see, the Disney Dream Cruise Ship has so many activities to provide both kids and adults with the most magical family holiday.
You can also read our other posts about our Disney Dream Cruise Ship experiences;
