I always said I would never take a cruise…never say never.

I am a planner by nature, yet my first Disney cruise was planned somewhat spur of the moment – about 3 weeks before departure (!). While I frantically pulled all the documents together, made flight and hotel reservations, and packed for myself and my 2 kids, I didn’t have time to make any plans or worry about what to do on the cruise. For someone who plans trips for a living, this was a little unnerving.

As a first time cruiser this is what I was afraid of:
Getting seasick. The open ocean. My kids safety. Having enough to do.

How many times did I actually think about any of those things while on the cruise? 0

I boarded my first cruise about 50% excited and 50% nervous. I left 100% sure I would do it again.

Without hesitation, I would say that my time on the 4-night cruise on the Disney Dream was the best vacation I have had in years. Everything was top-notch: the service, the activities, the kids’ clubs, the food. From Castaway Cay (pronounced ‘key’) to Pirate night, we enjoyed every minute.

I came out of my first Disney cruise experience bursting with tips for clients. Here are the best ones:

Don’t stress if you don’t get the reservations you want prior to boarding.
We planners stress when we can’t get our clients’ the reservations that they want – whether for dining or an excursion, we like to make clients’ dreams happen. For my trip, booking 3 weeks in advance meant slim pickings for on-board activities, ‘adult’ dining reservations, and excursions. But as we always say, checking the website regularly may open up some opportunities, as will asking Guest Services upon your arrival. Thanks to those tips, we were able to score reservations at both fine-dining restaurants on board, plus the Princess Meet-and-Greet (one of the only meet-and-greets that required a reservation), the Castaway Cay 5K, and even an adult mixology class!

Staying on the ship in Nassau has its benefits (especially if you have little ones).
I did a lot of thinking and reading about this before boarding – should we get off the ship, or stick around to explore? We opted to stay on board and I was completely happy with my decision. (Note: if you have older kids or want to explore, Disney offers a variety of port adventures just for you!) I wanted to experience the Disney Dream as much as I could, and the day in port at Nassau was amazing. We were able to enjoy a leisurely breakfast and shorter lines for character meet & greets, not to mention smaller crowds at the pool, which meant going on the AquaDuck water slide over and over! The kids had time to enjoy the kids club, which gave the adults time to relax at the Rainforest Room at Senses Spa (which I highly recommend!). We got ready for dinner early and met a bunch of characters before meeting up with our group at dinner. The perfect first day!

Make the most of your day at Castaway Cay – you won’t regret it!
Castaway Cay was by far the highlight of an already amazing trip. I recommend getting off the ship as early as possible (I hustled the kids off the ship by 8:30am). Getting there early meant we got a great spot at the family beach, and spent the next 45 minutes enjoying the Pelican Plunge (an anchored structure in the bay with waterslides and a spray park) with hardly any people. By the time it got crowded we had moved on to exploring the rest of the island. As we got ready for lunch we saw many families arriving from the boat and searching for chairs. Again we sent the kids to the kids club (they begged to go, I swear!) and we took some time to explore the adult side of the island at Serenity Bay.  (Spoiler alert: it was paradise and we didn’t want to leave.) We made our way back to the ship by 4:15, stopping only to mail postcards to family back home.

You cannot do everything…which is why you need to plan another cruise while you are on board!
While way less stressful then a day in WDW, there was so much activity on the ship that we never stopped moving. The day at sea was especially packed with activities. From the minute we woke up we were on the go: meeting princesses before an adult brunch at Palo, followed by a character dance party and the pool (plus, an ice cream sundae at Vanellope’s Sweets & Treats!); in the afternoon, we saw the Diaper Dash (where infants on board crawled to victory) and took an adult Mixology class, before one more trip down the AquaDuck; in the evening, we saw Broadway style show (Disney’s Believe) and enjoyed a Silent DJ dance party before dinner, and then to the final Sea-You-Real-Soon party — the day was amazing from beginning to end! With all that fun, there were things we didn’t do and whole parts of the ship we didn’t explore. But it’s okay — I’m already planning next year’s cruise!

I could go on and on about our 4-night cruise but the best thing I can say is: if you are hesitating, do it! You will not regret it.

by Regina Saake – Director of Communications Marketing at ET Family Travel