3rd Disney cruise and loved it again every time room has been immaculate cleaned every day and towels are folded into animals and bed sheets changed every day. People say pool is too small and the 2 pools for all ages are small however it isn’t easy to have a large pool onboard a cruise ship there are also adult exclusive pools and a pool for teen club vibe (14-17) Ship is easy to navigate with maps all around and staff are friendly the ship has a fun mini golf course and basketball court. The 3 times I’ve been on the cruise my son has been able to go to all 3 clubs oceaners lab (3-12) edge (11-14) vibe (14-17) the oceaners lab is very large and great for kids as there is always activity’s on this also goes with edge and vibe. Edge is fairly small however is my sons favourite out of the 3 and every time has been extremely sad to leave his new friends. The activities range from sports deck fun to trivia challenges and video game challenges and much more. We have never made him go to the clubs yet he has chose to he would wake up have breakfast with us ( which the breakfast is a large buffet) then go to the youth club until dinner have his dinner then go back till the club closed. The waterslide the aqueduct is also a must do. There is a rotational dining plan where you change restaurants every night and cycle between the 3 and your servers rotate with you. And one restaurant even allows you to draw a character and have it animated the food quality is great with bread service,starter, salad/soup, main course, dessert. not to mention the adult only restaurants you can go to. There is also an option to share your table with another family at first this may see odd however I would fully recommend as the look at of you have children there gender there age etc and match you up with a family like so you child will instantly have a friend. You can also get food like pizza and ice cream and soda during the day for no fee The whole ship is in Christine condition as everynight and whenever the boat docks workers are always jetwashing painting or doing maintenance There is also a range of activities for adults including Karaoke music quizzes game shoes etc and like there is plenty for kids to do there is also plenty adult exclusive areas all over the ship Overall an amazing vacation and would recommend to anyone thinking about booking with or without kids Read Less

My husband and I have been on about 40 cruises; seven of which were with multiple grandchildren. We have taken 4 Disney cruises with them, 3 of which were on the Dream. It is such a beautiful ship and children are so well treated that I can't imagine why anyone traveling with children of any age would not choose Disney if they could afford it. Although we usually travel with just two kids at a time, this cruise we took everyone in the family along for our 50th anniversary. Grandchildren's ages went from 2-15. The two-year-old did not hit the clubs; the others loved them. We did not see the 12 or 15 year old except at dinner and at some shows. The food was great; the shows were great, although I think it is time for "Believe" to be retired. I have seen it 4 times in 7 years. "Golden Mickeys" same vintage but I like it better. Beauty and the Beast was done so creatively and so beautifully. Voices were so good; staging so good. You get what you pay for on Disney. Our server did origami for the 3 little ones every night. Our room steward, Rex, did a superb job and had that knack of all great stewards of slipping in when you are at breakfast and when you are at dinner and keeping your room in top shape. We had an extended balcony. Was that ever nice!! So large and so pleasant. The only fly in the ointment was that people dressed like pigs on formal night much less other nights. Cut off denim mini-shorts; flip flops; swim cover ups. What is wrong with these people? Love the way Disney sleeps children separately from each other and does not make use of uncomfortable pull out beds. I plan to take two grandchildren on a Halloween cruise in 2019. Already took two on another one and it was GREAT. I do have to say that the photographers for the Princess Gathering overexposed most of the pictures, but knowing they would (from an earlier cruise), I ordered only digital prints so I could fix them. Or almost fix them. Read Less

Started poorly at embarkation, we were so excited and visited the Supervisors Desk as advised to inquire as if there were any possible available cabin upgrades, knowing full well they are not free but the Supervisor was "surly" no smile and spat out verbally our family was "to early for that" (note we stood at her desk for about 10 minutes while she played with the computer not even acknowledging us, then after seeing us told us she would be with us soon) and made us wait a few minutes more. No smile, not a Disney experience. The Cruise Director was Trent Hitchcock, over the top silly and while not "on" puss on his face while walking the hallway, just off putting. The Tween Club The Edge my daughter reported was not engaging at all, she went several times but would return quickly saying the youth team was not interactive and the activities were pretty much non existent, most kids just sat alone with their own electronics and the youth team could not be bothered with anyone but each other. The entertainment offered was often repeated, the premium price should command better entertainment seemed like to much filler not enough content. We arrived at the private island late (not allowed off until 0930) and this left limited time to enjoy their private island, (the lifeguards start yelling and cleaning the island an hour before you have to leave, feels like you are not a welcomed guest) very disappointed with the schedule on the Eastern Itinerary Castaway Cay Day. The room was clean and the stateroom host (Alston) was amazing, our aft room 6188 was a positive experience. Very little wear and tear and the views from this deck were beautiful. A bit of soot and vibrations but that was expected in the aft, pretty quiet otherwise. The dining team was cordial, kind and full of smiles, loved Malwyn from India just a joy!! The food was okay if not a bit boring, the private island Cookies buffet was sloppy, they could not stay on top of the demand. This was the first time I had ever observed no one staying on top of the buffet offerings. The Fantasy was in decent shape but again not enough entertainment or events planned especially on sea days. The pools and pool decks were ridiculously crowded, verbal arguments occurred over families refusing to limit their time while playing shuffleboard etc. Disappointing adventure for the monies spent. Read Less

Everything about our cruise went exceedingly well. I went with two granddaughters. Getting through the pre-boarding process was fast and easy. Wait staff was always great and food was really good. Added $ to the gratuity of the main waiter who held onto and returned gloves that were part of the 8 year old's pirate costume. Loved our stateroom and host. Added $ to his gratuity because he was so thorough. Fun times with onboard and port events. Prepaid photo package- worth the money. Shopped onboard at every opportunity. Youngest granddaughter enjoyed the Oceaneers Club. Bottom line, very enjoyable experience. I filled out an onboard review and one online after returning home. All positive. Once in a lifetime trip, probably, for us. More expensive than our previous cruises but we willingly went and enjoyed. After arriving home, I noticed an additional $10.00 had been added to the card charges the day after we left the ship. I never gave it much thought until days later. I mean $10 wasn't a significant amount and most people probably wouldn't have paid any attention to it. But I had reviewed the printed out charges from the day we disembarked and everything seemed to be accounted for, so curiosity caused me to call DCL to inquire. After a lengthy wait and a few holds, I was told that the $10 was for a missing DCL laundry bag. I asked what it looked like since I was truly clueless. I explained I never saw that bag and I was the one who had used the closet where it was supposed to reside. You would think I would have noticed it when I put clothes in there or took out the life vests as soon as we got in the stateroom. Well, I have since read reviews that this has happened to a number of people. It's hard to know what you may be accused of taking (and charged for) if you don't have a checklist of what's supposed to be in there. For some reviewers it was a phone for $200. Minor, I know, but kind of sour note to an otherwise great time. Sorry we only used plastic grocery bags for our dirty laundry. Read Less

I chose this cruise because we had a terrible winter, we are bad at renting lake houses (the weeks we choose are invariably colder than normal), and I noticed that the Fantasy, the only DCL ship I hadn't been on, had a 3 night that was at Castaway Cay on my BDay. Sold! Booked it at the end of January; sailed July 11. We started sailing DCL in 2003 with the Wonder, then Magic in 2004 and Dream in 2016, so this grand slam took 15 years. (in contrast, I heard one older couple on the ship say this was their 69th DCL cruise!) I have wanted to try aft cabins but none were available, but we booked 9148, a veranda cabin 10 cabins from the back. I know the debate about "get an inside and save your money and go to the common areas to see the ocean" but we enjoy our time on our own veranda. Embarkation was smooth. I had everything filled out including our post-cruise trip right to the airport with Disney transporting our checked bags, so it took about 4 minutes to check in. We had stayed at Disney the night before but opted for a towncar service so we would know when we were leaving for the ship, rather than DCL busses going. We were in boarding group 7. Hey people in the terminal, you're all getting on, no need to hover over the previous boarding groups! We went right to Cabanas and were the first people to choose an outside table. Good food, I focused on shrimp and a slice of prime rib. If you like crab legs they had tons of those too! We did opt to get a half case of water and a little DCL cooler with it (only 2 of us, and we did drink them all). At 130 promptly the cabins opened and we dropped off our carry on bag. We looked around the ship and went to the 230 DVC presentation, which is always fun even though we never win the stateboard credit. Got another DVC hat. After muster drill we found things to do and see until Aladdin, which I would HIGHLY recommend to anyone! Then we did 70s trivia in O'Gill's pub, which I think I came in 2nd in (a total genius young gentleman got a perfect score). Our first dinner was in Animator's Palate. Our server was Freddy and assistant was Nicha; can't say enough about how attentive and great they were. The truffle appetizer was great; my steak was a little dry medium and I switched to medium rare after that. The desserts never disappoint; I had chocolate walnut cake. Crush taught my husband to say "Happy Birthday" to me speaking whale. We had decided to not go to Nassau so we got up early and had some light breakfast in Cabanas, then headed to the spa when they opened; I had purchased day passes ahead of time. We watched the boat docking at Nassau from the rainforest room, alternating between the hot tubs and the warm chairs. This went on for about 2 hours. I have read that on sea days these chairs are "hogged", but we were the only ones in there. We then spent 10-1130 in the adult pool. BTW, at 8 AM there were chairs at both other pools without towels, right in front. They had closed Aquaduck for a crew drill until noon, and at 1130 I thought it was open and dragged my husband over there (I did it in 2016 when we had our then teen son with us but husband had not). It was not open, but opened at about 1150 and we waited about 10-15 minutes in line. It is very fun, but the worst part for an overweight (not obese) 55 year old is getting out of the damn tube! Lunch at cabanas and back to the adult pool until 315, when we finally got out and got ready for our mixology class, which was a blast and I would recommend to anyone over 21. You get pay $20 each, get 5 drinks (you get to make at least one of them), have fun and learn a little. Since my BDay was the next day I got a much bigger chocolate martini which was yummy. If you go on the Fantasy make sure you visit Lionel in Skylines! We went and changed for pirate night and then spent some time up at satellite falls watching the ocean before we did 80s trivia. I won this one---perfect score, baby! I narrowly defeated the same young man who beat me the night before, and I was still tipsy! Maybe that's the key. Dinner at Enchanted Garden. I had the lobster ravioli appetizer and the prime rib and the orange yogurt cake for dessert, plus they brought me ANOTHER dessert to celebrate my BDay. Between two desserts at late seating and 5 drinks earlier, I did NOT stay up for the pirate fireworks. CC day, up at 7 for a (very) light breakfast in Cabanas, then got off the ship right at 830. Walked right to the Serenity Bay tram and was in the water by 9 or shortly after. Our first two trips we had 3 kids under 11 or 12, and last trip CC had a monsoon from 10 AM on, so this was our first chance to enjoy Serenity Bay, which we really did! I rented a float. Tide was decently high in the morning, but by the time we left after 1 it had gone pretty far out. I kept using sunscreen so we did not burn--it's really important, we saw some folks looking like lobsters that night. Ate at Cookies 2 at 1130--wish you could get a small portion of steak, they gave me a huge one and I did not finish it. Everything was wonderful there;it is cook out BBQ food, not a gourmet feast. During my whole day at CC I had two conch coolers; after that mixology class I wanted to take it easy on alcohol. We spent more time on the beach but on one side were dark clouds and thunder (no one got out, LOL) and we even saw a water spout on the other side, but no rain where the DCL people were. We did get out about 1:30 and made our way to the other areas to take some other pics and do some shopping. We got onboard at about 230; husband went to the adult pool and I showered, then went to the DCL desk and booked another one for next summer. I was going to switch lines, but the Mouse got me again. Got a picture with Captain MIckey (how can you not?) Dinner at Royal Court, I had the iced lobster and jumbo shrimp appetizer and the chateaubriand with the grand mariner souffle for dessert. Went to the cabin to put bags out, did some shopping and I went back to go to sleep. Husband was going to see a movie but went to the wrong theatre LOL and the performers were rehearsing, so he just came back as well. We had the 8AM breakfast and then disembarkation was so smooth; we only had one carry on and a tote bag and nothing to declare, so off the ship by 9, onto a DCL bus and off to MCO. Had a few hours to kill before our 145 flight, but if the ship had been delayed we would have appreciated the time. I would highly encourage anyone to celebrate things on DCL. Since Friday was my "actual" bday (as the booking agent put it) every time I did anything I got a "Happy Birthday" from the crew, even when I wasn't wearing my button (like when I got my drinks at CC). It always gave me a huge smile. I had really thought this was my last DCL cruise. In fact I had booked a 6 night Carnival for the same price next year. But dammit it if the crew didn't go so far above and beyond and give me such a damn warm fuzzy feeling, I booked a 4 night for next June (for our "actual" anniversary) on the Dream with two days at CC instead. That chocolate martini was pretty powerful kool-aid! Read Less

We selected Disney as they have always provided the best service, food variety, entertainment and shore excursions. This was our second Disney Alaska cruise. This was a 9 day adventure and it took us to places we did not experience before. People ask us, "what about the kids?" Well, Disney has play & pool areas and entertainment set aside specifically for kids. Also, they have clubs and an area called the Quiet Cove, that are restricted to Adults. Kids that venture into those areas, with or without parents, are requested to immediately leave. When we went on shore excursions, just the mention that we were with Disney always seemed to get the guides, drivers etc attention. The entire crew, from the maintenance people to the ship's Captain, are all alert to their guests needs and requests. The was never a problem with the food offered, whether is was at a buffet, dining room or specialty restaurant. There are activities planned from 8:00 am until 1:00 am the next day.Disney is more expensive than some other cruise lines, But, here is where the old saying "you get what you pay for" comes into play. Read Less

Why did we choose this Cruise? 1. Our 7yr.old Grandsons first cruise 2. It's Disney. 3. It's Disney Our travel agent said it would be great. She was right! She said you can drop your child off at the "oceaneers club" for kids and they'll be happy. She was right! Our grandson did not want to leave. allways told me" one more hour","one more hour" The food was plentiful, delicious and everywhere. Dinner service each night was great.Servers were very attentive and helpful. Food was Great Entree's and if you want to sample one or two, just fine! Cabin service was attentive ,quick and conscientious. Offered advice for going off the ship and other helpfull information. One negative comment but I understand. you can bring champagne and wine on your carry-on but we brought liquor and they had to hold it until we disembarked. Drink prices onboard are reasonable but we spent a few hundred dollars in beer and cocktails. Read Less

We figured Disney would be great with kids considering the characters, shows and kids club. We have a 7, 5 and 2 year old. No previous cruise experience. Many kid friendly resorts though. So on the criteria of characters, shows and kids club. Characters, Disney comes through. No complaints. If you have kids who love princesses, ignore the rest of this review and just go. We have 3 boys, who were fine to meet Elsa, along with Spiderman, Woody and Mickey. Would have been nice if Disney could do more Cars stuff, not sure if its logistics or Pixar limitations but character meetings met expectations. Avoid that Bibidiboppity makeover if you want to save yourself a couple of hundred bucks but I can see how parents of princess fans spring for it. We did not buy the prince charming package. The shows, perhaps others will not have this problem but if your kids go to bed by 8, there are literally no shows they can go to. There are no matinees. There are 2 show times. One during early dinner and one during late dinner. Our kids would be eating during early dinner and could not stay up late for the next showing. That said, there were at least 2 entertaining dinners. Kids club, They put 3-12 year olds in same area. While loosely there is an older kids club and a younger, they are linked and kids can move freely between them. The kids club was disappointing as I was hoping for more of a camp where they would stratify by age and keep them busy. Although there was always a guided activity, it was optional and parents are not allowed in. My 7 year old naturally defaulted to playing video games and my 5 year old to watching videos. Technically the upside was that I spent more time with them outside of the kids club. Other things All the kids loved it, despite my views The nursery is good value Alaska is beautiful, with great weather which we had the first week of July. Kids got to use pool twice. Two year old in swim diapers are not allowed in the pool and restricted to kids splash pad. Waiters cutting the food (steak, chicken, fish) for kids was great service. Everywhere should do that Excursions are interesting Having a concierge (which we sprung for) can turn you into an overly demanding jackass As I write this I am upping my rating from poor to average Read Less

We landed in Vancouver on the Friday before the Monday departure. There was a long line for taxis at the airport. I should have ordered a car--lots of people had. But the taxi fare was a flat fee of $31 Canadian to downtown. We stayed at the Blue Horizon hotel. Big rooms and balconies. You could walk to the port (all downhill) but we took a taxi. It was easy to board the ship. They did itemize our two bottles per person wine but that was okay. I purchased the wine package pre-boat for dinner but it was the same price on the boat. We brought two corkscrews and we ordered cheese platters in the late afternoon so that we could have wine and cheese on our balconies with the wines we were allowed bring on board with us. Our room was very near the laundry and that was helpful. It was also nice to be on the starboard side of the boat. Predeparture, we were told that the verandah partitions could only be opened if there were connecting doors, but really you could open the deck partitions for about five rooms in a row depending on where the steel bulkheads were. So for example rooms 7584 all the way through 7592 could have had open verandah partitions, which we liked because we were a big family traveling together. The Disney coffee was awful. I brought my own. All the musical acts on board were excellent. We really liked the Cadillac lounge. The Crown and Fin pub was able to show the world cup games which were very popular. The Frozen show that we saw was pretty bad. Not equal to their other efforts. There were lots of first-run movies. We don't have little kids so we didn't have to worry about standing in line for characters and photo ops. I brought a swimsuit in case I want to go to the hot tub but I never did. Kids were able to swim in the pool because it was warm enough. The fitness area on the Wonder has enough machines, but doesn't have any dedicated group work out space although there were classes offered which were very popular and I'm sure on future cruises they are going to have to expand that area. We brought field glasses to view from our deck. Lots of whale tales and seals and birds. We did the white pass railway in Skagway. It was a little long but the views were great. In Juneau, we meant to take the bus to the glacier but milled about town and soaked up Wi-Fi instead. In Ketchikan we did the zodiac boat tour adventures and that was really fun. Our kids were able to book on the Tracy Arm boat and really liked it, although they liked the zodiac tour better. Getting off the boat was easier than expected. We did not give them our bags the night before. We did the 7:30 AM walk off and there was essentially no immigration/custom rigmarole and there were no lines for taxis; we could have been in a taxi by about 7:50 AM. By about 9 AM, there was a line for taxis. Unfortunately, I had ordered a noncancelable car to the airport for 9 am and it couldn't come earlier so I wish I had taken a taxi instead! At the airport, it took about half an hour to clear security and US immigration and customs which was done on the Canadian side. If you had Global entry, it would have been much much quicker. So for anyone who has time to apply for Global entry and do the interview prior to their cruise, it would definitely save you time at the airport. We thought that we would be pushing it to make a 12:50 PM flight on the same day that the ship docked but we had oodles of time. If anyone did the walk off at 7:30 am, you could probably make any flight starting at 11.30 AM. But if you let them take your bags the night before and you have to pick them up from baggage claim, you would very likely be getting off the boat at 9 AM and there might be a line for taxis by then, which would delay you. We had a beautiful scenery and great weather in Alaska. Very much enjoyed it. Because it's the inner passage, there was always mountains to look at. Not like a Caribbean cruise where there is just ocean all around you. Read Less

We took our 4 grandchildren ages 3,8,8 and 9 on a 7 day Alaska cruise on the Wonder. Our big worry was keeping track of all of them as they are “busy”. The wonder is truly a very safe ship for kids. They have plexiglass which does not detract from the view but does allow for added safety for the kids. No worry about climbing and falling over or through. Kids club issues a bracelet so they can track the children. If you lose your child they take them to the kids club and they call you. They allow kids 8 and over to check themselves in and out with your permission. We allowed them to check themselves in and they would message us to let us know they got there but you need to ask them to do that. One of the lessons learned: keep carry on light as embarkation is a “process” and with 4 kids and luggage it is a little more difficult. We had each kid with a carry on bag and getting them all through the scanners and such was not a totally easy process. A backpack each is plenty. Dress is much more casual and kids wear a lot of costumes. Layers for clothing is perfect! Another review suggested bathing suits under clothes for embarkation and we did that and it worked well. However the pool has a lot of chlorine and our little ones eyes burned a lot that night. I would suggest goggles. There really is a ton to do and there are several repeats so don’t stress if you miss things. The service is amazing and a little thoughtfulness from you goes a long way with the staff. I’m coffee picky so I took Folgers instant coffee and one of the waiters said he hadn’t seen those and that Folgers was popular where he came from so I gave him some of the packets and he was so excited. The staff is away from their homes and family for 4-6 months at a time so little touches from “home” goes a long way. I also took some candy to thank them as well. The ports were great. We found a great park in Juneau for the kids to run and play in as the kids just like to run. My husband and the 3 older kids did the dogsledding with Temsco and while expensive they all said it was totally worth it and they are still talking about it! We also went to the lumberjack show in Ketchikan which was very fun. Disney is expensive but we felt it was totally worth every cent. Everyone was very helpful and kind even when the kids were not at their best the staff tried to help without being intrusive. We would definitely cruise with Disney again!! Read Less