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Is a Disney Cruise the right cruise for your family?

Disney Social Media Moms Celebration is an invitation only event. However, it is a conference for which I paid a fee to attend. A fee was paid for my family members, as well, and the fee covered two night hotel stay, park hopper passes, and more. All opinions are 100% my own.

Disney Social Media Moms Celebration is an invite only event, but you still have to pay a conference fee. It’s not FREE, but it is discounted. It’s an invitation many of those in my industry would love to receive, but Disney can’t invite everyone. Our family has been lucky enough to be invited three years in a row. Normally, the event takes place at the parks and resort hotels. However, this year, it involved a Disney Cruise on the Wonder ship. Which brings us to the question of the hour…. is a Disney Cruise the right cruise for your family?

Is a Disney Cruise the right cruise for your family?

Before I share the Disney SMMC Cruise experience, let’s reminisce a bit

Let’s travel back in time, and recall our first experience with the Disney Cruise Line. It wasn’t pretty, and the company did NOT handle it well. It still hasn’t handled it well. Choosing to attend the conference this year was not an easy decision for my family, however, like most of my decisions in life, my kids were thought of first.

Both children had started asking if we could go on a Disney Cruise again, if we promised not to use the children’s clubs. I was dead set against it, as I never received any kind of apology from anyone I interacted with from the Disney Cruise Line organization since they put my daughter’s safety at HIGH RISK back in 2012. However, my kids are far more forgiving than I am. Enough time had passed in their eyes, and as long as we didn’t utilize the kid clubs, everyone’s safe!

Against my better judgement, I paid the conference fee and registered us for our third Disney Social Media Moms Celebration.

Is a Disney Cruise the right cruise for your family?

Disney Cruises are infused with Disney magic. They are also much more expensive than every other cruise line in existence. What’s included with a Disney Cruise?

  • Lots of great Disney inspired shows
  • Pirate Nights
  • Send off parties
  • Final night parties
  • Character meet-n-greets
  • Pools, and slides

Food is another great treat. You never go hungry on a Disney Cruise, because it’s everywhere and all included. Beverage stations make it possible to drink sodas, juices, water, coffee, tea and hot chocolate whenever, and however many times you wish.

If you’re lucky, you get to enjoy Castaway Cay for a day when you cruise on certain Disney ships. If you have teens, you’ve got the advantage of giving them a little breathing room, and apparently a great little club for them. I wouldn’t know, I don’t have any teenagers.

As for the kid club? Not our family. NEVER doing that again, based on my previous experiences with the staff at the clubs. There seems to be a disconnect with the Disney way, and the kid club staff. If safety is your main concern with your kids, I’d seriously re-evaluate your vacation plans.

Expensive, but a lot is included

It’s a big nut when you go on a Disney Cruise. A cabin with no outside view, is expensive. Luckily, this time around, my family stayed in a cabin with a verandah. Why were we able to afford this? Disney Social Media Moms Celebration gives a HUGE discount to all of us, in order to attend the conference, and receive a bit of a “treat” with awesomeness like a cabin with a verandah. Now that I’ve experience a cruise with access to the REAL WORLD from our cabin, I will never go back to no porthole at all. It means….. a Disney Cruise might not be in our future, because it is far too expensive.

Yes, a lot is included, unlike other cruise lines. While on the cruise, we never have to worry about:

  • Food
  • Non-alcoholic drinks

Plus, my kids are huge fans of characters, and they do love the world of Disney. However, they’re getting older and I’m not sure it will fit us for much longer. I can work on finding a different cruise line, with great places to visit, and private islands of their own.

What I do love is not having to get onto a smaller boat to get to a private beach/island, because with Disney Cruise Line, you just walk right off the boat onto the private Castaway Cay Island they have there. It’s a luxury, but I’m not sure that small bonus is worth the HUGE price tag. I’ll leave that up to you out there!

So, how does one decide if a Disney Cruise is the right cruise for the family?

Don’t let the “hype” get into your head. People will rave about what they love, and give you no other feedback. Do your research. At the end of the day, you have to balance out what’s the most important parts of your vacation, along with your family’s needs. If you can spend the money, Disney Cruise Line is a HUGE yes for me. If you can’t, think about shopping around. Weigh your options.

Don’t go into debt just to go on a Disney Cruise.

 

By | 2017-08-01T10:13:45-04:00 April 10, 2017|Reviews, Travel|Comments Off on Is a Disney Cruise the right cruise for your family?

About the Author:

Staci loves to write, and loves to share her "take" on everything thrown her way. Movies, entertainment, food, fashion, shopping, money, travel and family. There's nothing off limits at NovemberSunflower.com, and Staci's always telling it like it is: good, bad, and all that lies in between!