When planning a Disney Cruise Line Vacation there are many factors that you can start with : Departure Port, Price, Ports of Call, and Date.
There are six Departure Ports:
Galveston, TX
New York, NY
Los Angeles, CA
Port Canaveral, FL
Seattle, WA
Vancouver, Canada
Destinations include:
Bahamas- 3, 4, 5, & 8 night cruises
Alaska & Pacific Coast
Caribbean - Eastern and Western
Mexican Riviera
Canada & New England
Hawaii - 2 special sail dates (April & October 2012)
You have to start at what is more important to you: If it's price, then you want to go with one of the shorter bahamas cruises. or if you live near a departure port that could save you on price by not having to drive very far or fly. Also, off-season dates are going to be lower in price,which includes hurricane season and "winter" months. You just have to be willing to be flexible as with any cruise, weather can change things at any moment.
Once you have chosen a cruise based on what is most important to you, you now much choose a stateroom. You can get as small as an inside stateroom or up to a two-bedroom suite. If you don't think you will be in your room much, other than to sleep and shower an inside stateroom could suit you just fine. On some cruises (only Dream & Fantasy) the Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom w/ porthole window is less expensive than the inside stateroom. This is because the inside staterooms on those ships have "magical" porthole windows, with a real-time view of the outside of the ship that reflects the actual stateroom's location. Also, Disney animated characters may make cameo appearances in the Magical Porthole from time to time and can be turned off by the flip of a switch! If you are given the chance to pick your stateroom number, just look at the surrounding areas and floors above and below for things like Elevators, Night Clubs, and the Movie Theatre.
Ok, Now you have your cruise and stateroom booked/ picked out. You now need to pick a dining time, your options are Main Seating and Second Seating for dinner.
On the Disney Wonder and the Disney Magic, the Main Seating is at 5:45 p.m.; the Second seating is at 8:15 p.m. On the Disney Dream and the Disney Fantasy, the Main Seating is at 6:00 p.m.; the Second seating is at 8:30 p.m.
With each dining time there also is a Live Show time, So if you choose the Main Seating your Live show will be at approximately 8:30pm and if you have Second Seating it will be at approximately 6:15pm. If you are worried about your kids missing out on the activities if you decide on the Second Seating, you can take advantage of "Dine and Play" which allows the children time to eat and as long as they are registered at the Oceaneer Club or Lab the Youth Counselors will come by the dining room at 9pm and will escort them to the youth clubs.
Also, if you are traveling without kids or want to have an Adult-Only dinner.... all four Disney Ships have an Adult- Only restaurant on board and I highly reccommend making reservations as early as you can as it can book up fast.
All you have left to look at is all the exciting and fun excursions that are available. All of the ports of call have different options to choose from, they are an additional cost and are not required. You may decide to not get off the ship at all (unless it stops at Castaway Cay, which I highly reccommend getting off and walking around the island, eating lunch, taking pictures with characters or just lounging on the beach), it is your vacation and you can do as much or as little as you want to do!
Prior to your travel you should recieve a booklet with all your travel information. Included in this packet is your luggage tags. Once you arrive at the port, you "check" your bags with those tags on them and they will be delievered to your room sometime that afternoon. So make sure you have in a carry-on bag what you will need for that day.
Once you are on the ship, eat lunch, take pictures and take -in all that the Disney Ships have to offer!
