Are you wondering what to do for your next vacation? Have you been thinking about going on your first cruise? Well, if the answer to either of those questions is “yes,” then this blog post is for you! Tammy Whiting, our Disney Cruise Line expert, has five reasons why you should be booking a cruise for your next vacation, plus five reasons that cruise should be with Disney.
1. Some destinations are best seen by ship. Some places are easier to get to via ship. Alaska is a good example. Don’t get me wrong—there are some great land vacations to be had in Alaska. But some towns are hard to get to! Like Juneau, which is inaccessible by roads. And glaciers? Some of the most stunning glaciers in the world, like Hubbard Glacier, can only be seen if you’re floating in front of them.
2. You can visit destination clusters. Cruises are a great way to see more than one place on the same trip, so there’s no packing and unpacking every time you visit a new town. Unpack once, and visit multiple places on the same vacation! That brings me so much joy.
3. You can maximize your vacation time. On a cruise ship, the traveling usually happens while you are asleep! So when you awake, you’re in a new destination! Not that there’s anything wrong with sea days. Sometimes, you’ll wear yourself out in these destinations, and you need a day to relax. On Mediterranean cruises, in particular, you’ll be begging for a day off after a few port days of intense touring.
4. It’s a good way to preview destinations. Cruise ships are only in ports of call for a limited time. They’ve got somewhere else to travel to, after all! In many ports, you won’t have time to do everything you want to do. A cruise is a great way to try a destination out, so to speak. You’ll never have time to see it all in some big cities. On a cruise, you can visit a city for several hours and decide if you need more time there in the future.
5. You can enjoy an extra destination. There is an extra destination included in a cruise—the ship itself! Cruise ships are designed to be floating resorts. First-timers may be surprised at how much they enjoy the actual boat. There will be times that you decide to spend the day onboard, even if you have the chance to get off in a port. That’s fairly common in some ports!
6. You can experience the DCL value (yes, I said it!). Value and Disney Cruise Line are not words you normally put in the same sentence. Disney cruises are expensive! But cruises really can be a great value. The price you pay includes transportation between destinations, your room, dining, entertainment, character meals, and more. While Disney cruises are certainly not as cheap as other lines, guests who frequent Disney parks may notice that, as park prices rise, cruises are becoming a better value all the time. You used to be able to spend a week in the parks for less than a cruise. Nowadays, not so much!
7. Disney fans will feel at home. If you consider yourself a Disney fan, a Disney cruise is going to feel very familiar, and not just because of Mickey Mouse and friends. That Disney service level you’ve become accustomed to at the parks is amplified on the ships. The entire crew is on par with the absolute friendliest of cast members on land. The nighttime shows are Disney-heavy in a good way.
8. Kids can have lots of freedom. My kids feel like they grew up at Disneyland because we lived in California when they hit the age that they could have more freedom in the parks. It doesn’t get much safer than onboard a Disney ship, so that freedom may come even more quickly. I would never have let the kids stay out until 1 a.m. on land. But on a Disney ship in the Oceaneer Club? I wouldn’t hesitate.
9. It’s great for multigenerational families. I’ve always thought one of the best things about cruising is the ability to make family members of all ages happy. We’ve done many cruises when our party was made up of young children all the way up to grandparents. Whether we were in port or on the ship, we were each able to split up during the day and enjoy things tailored to our individual interests. We didn’t feel bad about leaving someone because we still all ended up back together at night for dinner and the shows. We felt like we had great extended family vacations without feeling like we had to spend every moment together.
10. New things are coming. Disney Cruise Line is adding some new and exciting things to their portfolio. I, for one, cannot wait to see Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point! I literally cannot wait; I immediately booked the very first cruise when it was announced. The new Disney Treasure looks amazing, and yes, I’ll even fly to Singapore to sail on the Disney Adventure! Big things are coming in the next few years!
About the author of the blog: Tammy Whiting is the coauthor of The Unofficial Guide to Disney Cruise Line. Blogger, Space Force wife, and mother of two, Tammy has been involved in the travel industry for more than 15 years. Though she certainly enjoys vacations of all kinds, her favorite adventures around the globe have been on cruise ships. Tammy spent five years of her childhood in Europe as a military brat and has been a military spouse for over 30 years, living in almost every corner of the US. When she isn’t traveling, you can find her enjoying her family, buying camera equipment, and planning her next trip!
If you’re planning a Disney Cruise Line vacation, order The Unofficial Guide to Disney Cruise Line 2024 now!
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