In a few short weeks, my family is going on our 7th cruise on Disney Cruise Line. A few people have questioned my sanity. “Aren’t you getting sick of the same vacation? Don’t you get bored of the same thing?”
In short, no. Although we’ve been on the same ship more than once (our upcoming cruise will be our third time on the Disney Fantasy), each cruise has been different.
We’ve visited different ports and experienced different themes (i.e. Halloween on the High Seas). We’ve done different excursions at the same ports and stayed in different types of cabins. Our kids have experienced the kids’ clubs at different ages and have graduated to the tween and teen clubs. And fortunately, we’ve met a number of great people. So, no two cruises have been the same!
However, on our upcoming cruise we decided to shake things up and try a few more new things.
Aft Verandah Cabins
Usually, my family stays in porthole oceanview cabins. I like having a window to the outside, and the price is significantly less than a verandah (balcony) cabin.
For this next cruise, which is during the off-season, the price of a verandah vs. an oceanview was negligible. We decided to splurge on two connecting verandah cabins in the aft section of the ship.
I’m excited to stay in these cabins because the verandahs are much larger than normal verandahs. Check out this video at the 1:30 mark to see an example of an extended aft cabin verandah.
Remy
My husband and I have eaten dinner and brunch at Palo, the adults-only Italian restaurant on Disney Cruise Line. The upcharge is minimal ($30), and the food and service are exquisite.
For this cruise, we decided to try the adults-only French restaurant, Remy. This restaurant is only available on two of Disney’s ships. It has a higher upcharge ($95 for dinner) and an optional upcharge for Miyazaki Japanese Wagyu beef.
I’m not sure if the food will be over our heads or not, but my husband and I both agreed it was time be adventurous and try Remy. (See review of Remy on Disney Cruise Mom Blog).
Charter Boat
On our stop at Grand Cayman, we are renting a charter boat. Yep, we will have a boat with a captain all to ourselves for 4-5 hours.We found a company with good reviews and a very reasonable price.
The main reason we decided to do a charter is that none of the Disney excursions did exactly what we wanted to do on Grand Cayman. We wanted to visit Stingray City, Starfish Point and another beach. We could get two out of three with Disney, but the cost was the same as getting a private charter that would take us to three places.
Silent Disco
Ok, maybe I’m a little more excited to try this than my husband. But he agreed that he will try silent disco with me.
What is that? It’s like going to a nightclub, but everyone wears headphones. You can choose from a few music choices and dance to the beat of your own selection.
If nothing else, I think watching people at the silent disco will be very entertaining. In looking at past Navigators from the Disney Fantasy, the ship offers silent disco twice per sailing.
Skipping a Major Port
Our 7-night cruise stops at four ports: Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica and Castaway Cay (Disney’s private island in the Bahamas). We decided to stay on the ship in Jamaica and just enjoy the ship’s amenities that day.
Why? Well, my family loves sea days where we don’t get off the ship. We all find them very relaxing. And this particular itinerary only has two seas days, and the second sea days is the Star Wars Day at Sea. We have so many activities scheduled for the Star Wars day that it won’t be as relaxing as a typical sea day. So, we decided to make our own extra sea day.
Why are we skipping Jamaica instead of another port? To be honest, none of the excursions in Jamaica were really calling to me. I thought about getting passes for an all-inclusive resort for the day, but this recent article about the prevalence of sexual assault at those resorts persuaded me to stay away.
Bottom Line
Our upcoming cruise won’t be exactly like any of our past cruises. We always find new things to experience!
Are you a frequent cruiser? What do you do to make each cruise a little different?
Click here to view various credit cards and available sign-up bonuses
Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
Nancy, have you done the Eastern Caribbean cruise? That’s what we’re doing and I have never been to Tortola or St. Thomas so I have no idea what to do there. Not sure I want to tackle Baths @ Tortola (is it worth it? I don’t need anyone getting injured by getting there). We’re not into hanging out at the Beach or snorkeling but would like to sightsee. Has anyone done the jeep tours? worth it? I don’t want to spend a lot and I need something easy to plan.
@Stephanie Yes, we’ve done the Eastern twice. Such beautiful scenery! I do recommend the Baths. I didn’t think it was too dangerous or strenuous as long as everyone has good knees and backs. It’s really a unique place, and the top of the Baths has a gorgeous view! I haven’t done any jeep tours there. On St. Thomas, if you want something easy that’s not too expensive, I recommend the gondola up the mountain. Very relaxing, good views, and you can walk to it from the cruise terminal.
Thanks Nancy!!! I’ll check those out.
I also loved the Baths. You can just take the 9AM ferry there on your own. We had a great time and the snorkeling was good, too.
@Lynn If we ever go again we will take the ferry there on our own next time so that we have more time at the Baths. The DCL excursion was convenient but we didn’t get a lot of time there.