Background: We are seasoned Cruisers with high expectations given the premium price of a Disney cruise. ============= We had arrived in Honolulu 2 days before the cruise departure to relax and see a few sights before the cruise. We rented a car to be able to see the sights at our own pace. We checked out of our hotel and took the rental car back to the airport. We were able to stop at the cruise terminal along the way and drop off our luggage. Checked in the car without any problems then took a taxi back to the ship ($30 with tip) Disney’s Check in process is quite efficient so we were on board within a half hour. We spent the afternoon exploring the ship. Lifeboat drill at 4 and the ship departs at 5:00. The views sailing out of Honolulu were spectacular. We have early seating for dinner. Our Category 6A room seemed smaller than other ships but it still was an adequate size. This category had a tiny veranda. (only about 2 feet deep). It was very nicely decorated with a queen size bed and a couch that opens into a bed. There were 2 separate bathrooms (one with a small tub/shower and the other with the toilet). More than adequate storage available. We brought a power strip so we had adequate number of electrical outlets. - Disney has a dining program that rotates between three themed dining venues. Tritons is a traditional cruise restaurant, Parrot Cay is tropical themed, and Animators Palate is a cartoon theme which changes to color. Our first Dinner was tasty with adequate portions and excellent service at Triton's. The "Welcome Aboard" show was nicely done. Went to bed after the show. Slept well. Maui day 2. We had rented a jeep and did a self paced tour to Lahaina and beyond. This road was very scenic without all the curves of the road to Hana. Just got sandwich fixings at Safeway. Returned to the ship about 3. Rested before dinner. Another nice dinner at Animators Palate. Went to a movie (Ant Man) in the Walt Disney theater. Also went to see the Hawaiian Dance Show on deck 9. Maui day 3 Woke up at 6 am to a dripping sound and found a small leak coming from the ceiling. Called maintenance and they came in about Half hour. They fixed the leak later the day and brought in blowers to dry the carpet. Customer Service followed up several times to make sure the problem was fixed and were VERY apologetic. Nicely handled Disney! I had scheduled a snorkeling tour through Disney for the afternoon. We departed as scheduled but it was windy during the ride to the cove where we were going swimming. There were about 40 people on the tour so the boat was a bit crowded. The crew did a good job of conducting our swim tour. I got back to the ship just before it got underway. I hurriedly cleaned up for dinner. Another nice meal at Parrot Cay. The Singer/Comedian show as very enjoyable. Hilo day 4 We had previously booked a Helicopter tour of Volcanoes and Waterfalls through Paradise Helicopters. There was a message on my cell phone from the helicopter company asking us to come earlier than planned because it was raining. We got dressed in double time and took a taxi to the airport. ($17 each way) We were told that there was a "weather hold" on our flight and to stand by. They cancelled our flight 10 minutes later and arranged a refund. We returned to the ship for an "at sea day". The weather continued to rain throughout the rest of the day. Air temperature was nice though. Dinner back at Tritons. Kauai day 5 We had been to Kauai several times so we didn't plan any tours. (For anyone else, I would strongly recommend a Helicopter tour of this beautiful island. YOU WON'T REGRET IT!) We met some friends at the cruise dock and they drove us around the East side of the island and had a nice lunch at CJs in Princeville. They drove us back to the ship after a "mandatory" stop at Walmart. Dinner was at the Animators Palate. At Sea - day 6 We both slept in later than usual. Weather is cloudy with choppy seas. Just read and watched movies. There was a guest speaker who has a great talk in Disney “Imagineering” team. Also did some laundry. We were not hungry dinner so we skipped it. Unfortunately it was the Formal night. Clocks moved ahead 1 hour. At Sea -day 7 I went to the gym while the wife slept in. Went to movies, read books, & Disney talk. Dinner was back at Tritons. It was Pirate party night. Some people went all out with their costumes. We brought our own costumes. The show in the Walt Disney theater was a very good ventriloquist. Clocks moved ahead 1 hour. At Sea - day 8 Same as yesterday. Dinner was at the Animators Palate. The show was the Toy Story Musical. Great show. At Sea - day 9 Another day reading an relaxing. Skipped lunch. Dinner at Parrot Cay. Show was Atlantic City boys(Four Seasons tribute group) was a fun show. Clocks moved ahead 1 hour. At Sea - Day 10 Started day at gym. Viewed Dissemination presentation. It covered all the information needed to get off the ship and Canadian customs. Process. Repacked our clothes for the flight home. Checked in online and paid baggage fees. We took a great "Back Stage Tour" of the Walt Disney Theater (which is usually not offered on the shorter cruises). Final dinner at Tritons. The Evening show was great too. Had to have our bags in the hall by 10 PM. Disembarkation Had to be out of the room by 8 30. Breakfast started at 7:00. Our bags were tagged with a color coded tags which was designed to help us find them easily. Overall Disney made the disembarkation as a painless as it could be. We had prepaid our transfer to the airport through Disney and they got us to the airport by 10:30 am but our flight didn't depart until 4:30PM. We had some Canadian money to buy lunch at the airport. Flight home on Westjet Airlines was uneventful. RANDOM THOUGHTS: - The Disney shows in the Walt Disney Theater & first run movies were the highlights of this cruise. - There were only 276 kids on this cruise which was not representative of a normal Disney Cruise which could be as high as 1,000 kids! - Shore excursions through Disney were not very good value so we arranged our own in almost all cases. - There were a lot of Disney Zealots on the cruise. Some had taken no less than 15 to 20 Disney Cruises before this. - Disney assigns tablemates by similar age groups. Our tablemates were not a good fit for us but that was not Disney's fault. - We didn't pack enough warm clothes for the last few days of the cruise through the North Pacific approaching Vancouver. - Internet is sold by the megabytes but is still pretty expensive. OVERALL RECOMMENDATION: All of Disney's Cruse essentials (Room, Dining, & Service) are equal to Princess, Celebrity, or RCCL. I would only recommend this cruise for people who are willing to pay extra for the "Disney Experience". Read Less

I have recently become a gold member of DCL. My first cruise was Jan 2013. I have been on all of the ships except the Dream. I love everything about this cruise line. Are there small details here and there that I could fill this page with....sure. When I did the Wonder on a 9 day Alaska I had a small issue with a toilet and funky smell. This was not only dealt with ASAP and got a bottle of wine sent to my room as an apology. It was handed and did not repeat itself. Last May we did the Panama Canal on the Wonder and in September 2015 we did the wonder Hawaiian 10 day cruise. It was incredible in every way. Were there a couple of issues with my entire cruise...perhaps but I felt like I got more than my money's worth every time. You would be hard pressed to travel anywhere and not be able to find little things to complain about no matter you star rating. I usually stay in 5 star hotels and I can tell you that I could find things to nit pick there as well. Disney in my opinion is second to none. To see how they care for my family and I and all of the others on the ship is unreal. I travel with my 70 year old mother and my 10 year old daughter.The Child care crews are incredible. There was a gal named Lindsay who was on the Wonder for Alaska, Panama and Hawaii and remembered my little girl. She sent little personalized letters to my daughter every day and sometime twice a day. She loved getting "mail" every day and the messages were so heart felt and lovely. No wonder people who have challenges with mobility choose this cruise line (I have spoken to many that were there with no kids) as they can't go 10 feet without someone trying to assist them with a smile. The shows are incredible and love the options of the movies the buena vista theatre. We watched the entire Star Wars series on the way back from Hawaii. Also we got to see Maleficent before the rest of the world because it was released while onboard so they showed it to us at 0001h on the release date. Super cool. This will be our cruise line of choice for years to come for way more reasons than I have time to mention. Read Less