We completed a 7 night Disney cruise a year before we booked a short getaway on the Disney Wonder to Castaway Cay and back. At first, I thought our expectations had been raised so high from our fantastic experience on the Disney Magic's Eastern Caribbean cruise that the 3 night on the excursion just couldn't measure up, but after giving it some time and thought, I realize that the 3 night cruises are simply too short for a family to achieve the best experience. I fear that because the 3 night cruises really don't measure up, families may be turned off by the Disney cruise experience and avoid the longer cruise, thinking it's just not all that it's cracked up to be. That would be most unfortunate.

While Castaway Cay is a nice stop (and Disney does the private island better than the other lines) this is not destination cruising. Castaway works best as a last stop on a longer cruise...it's a nice transition - a nice beach day if you will - from some of the more exotic Caribbean locales back to home...

First, the positives: Disney does family cruising better than any other line. Period. There's no comparison. The staterooms are larger and more family friendly. The Kid's Club is superior to what you find elsewhere. And the Disney ambiance couples with the exceptional level of service on a family cruise makes the experience far more pleasant than you are likely to find anywhere else. The shows are broadway quality. And you will never stand in a line to meet a character for a shorter period of time than you will on the ship. Where you may stand in line for an hour at a park, in many cases, 10 minutes, and you've met the character on the ship. Read more