Planning a Disney Cruise with your family? This week we asked the Parenting Panel: What experiences have you had planning family-friendly excursions on Disney cruises?
Mary Kraemer is an avid Disney fan and travel consultant with CruisingCo/MouseEarVacations who loves to travel with her husband and children to Disney destinations as often as possible! Mary writes
A cruise vacation is an excellent way for families to have fun together, and experiencing fun in different ports can really enhance a vacation. Most of the time, there are plenty of options available at different activity levels, so the first thing to consider is the “mix” of the family members who are sailing together, their interests, and their abilities. We feel that excursions enhance the vacation experience considerably, a perfect addition to enjoying the ship’s amenities.
We’ve been able to share experiences, such as parasailing, scuba, swimming with dolphins, sailing on competitive sailboats, viewing the underwater world from a submarine (no, we did not find Nemo), riding horses on a beach, and splashing through amazing water parks.
Because my elderly dad has cruised with us several times, we’ve also been on excursions that he’s been able to enjoy, too, such as touring some of the various islands, the submarine adventure, and—this one is one of my favorite memories—being able to spend the day on the beach with his grandkids at Castaway Cay. Thanks to specially designed sand chairs that allowed us to push him out to the beach in comfort, he could see the grandkids playing in the sand, snorkeling, and having a great time.
Most of our cruises have been a mix of sea and port days, giving us the chance to enjoy the ship and all it offers as well as time in port for excursions. I think that’s a great balance.
There are other itineraries, though, where the focus becomes more port-intensive, so the ship becomes less important overall, but is a great all-inclusive way to get from place to place. For example, our next cruise is seven nights in the Mediterranean, with one sea day and six port days; excursions for this trip are challenging because we want to fit in so much sightseeing in each 12-hour span when the ship is at port. There is no way that this cruise will be relaxing, but the cultural and historical excursions we’ve planned are going to be tremendous for our family to experience together.
There are also itineraries that offer spectacular natural beauty, such as Alaska, where you can share the experience of seeing glaciers, unspoiled landscape, and wildlife, which is amazing. Adventures by Disney partners with Disney Cruise Line to offer onboard experiences and port adventures to truly maximize the guest experience for this great itinerary.
As a travel agent, I look beyond the excursions offered by the cruise line for my port days. There are only so many vendors in any particular port, and it’s likely that the cruise line is using one of them for guests. Often, when a cruise excursion is sold out, there’s still space directly with the vendor, and frequently, the same excursion can cost less booked elsewhere. The Most Important Thing to Remember about non-cruise line excursions is this: if you are not onboard the ship on time, the ship will leave you. (Yes, really.) If you book an excursion through the cruise line, however, you’re guaranteed that the ship will wait for you if the excursion is delayed. Keeping this in mind, though, opens a lot of options. At my next sailing, for example, none of my excursions are booked through the cruise line, and I’m using four vendors for my six excursion days because of price and feature comparisons.
Chris, also known as GusMan, is always planning his next family trip to the Walt Disney World Resort and loves to help others plan their trips, as well sharing his experiences. Chris writes:
If there is one thing to be said about a Disney Cruise Line vacation is that if you are bored, it is pretty much your own fault. At the same time, it can be difficult to choose between different excursions that would suit your entire family. This is not because any limit of choices, but probably more so due to the fact that there are so many options, you may not be able to get the whole family to agree on a single excursion.
Over the past few trips, we did do a few noteworthy excursions that I would recommend.
Snorkeling at Nassau
Families with older children may enjoy snorkeling. Photo by Chris Salata.My daughter and I did this excursion during our first DCL trip once we found out that the ship would not be stopping at Castaway Cay due to Hurricane Jeanne. Our original plans were to snorkel there, but this was a nice alternative. It started out with the group meeting in one of the lounges and given some brief instructions in regards to where we were going to meet the boat, how long the excursion would last, and when we would expect to be back. We purchased some bottled water for the trip and headed out. It took a while to get to our snorkeling spot, but it was well worth it. The water was very clear and you can nearly see the bottom. We were given instructions on how to use the equipment and some simple techniques on seeing the best through the mask. We then had around 30 minutes of floating around a larger area where we took pictures and got some great shots of fish, coral, and other marine plant life. This was a great trip for a beginner who has never snorkeled before, but you do need some strong swimming skills. I would recommend this event for families with older kids. Younger children may not like the salt water or even get a little freaked out about the depth of the water.
Castaway Ray’s Stingray Adventure
Guests get up close to rays at Castaway Cay's Stingray Adventure. Photo by Chris Salata.This excursion is based at Castaway Cay and combines some education regarding stingrays, as well as the chance to snorkel with them in a secluded part of the bay. It starts out with the usual gathering of snorkel equipment and a meeting to learn a little about stingrays and their habitat. Then everyone gathers around the edge of the water where the stingrays come up a special ramp where they pick up some food and go back into the water. It was so cool seeing them up close and personal, getting to be able to gently touch them. We each also got the chance to feel the ‘rays by putting some food between our fingers (looks like a bar of Jell-O) and having the stingray come up and suck up the food from your fingers. It’s like getting the food sucked out of your hand by a vacuum cleaner and felt real funny! Afterward, you can snorkel in the bay with dozens of the beautiful creatures swimming beside you. If you have an underwater camera—take it as there are many photo ops. Part of your excursion fee goes toward stingray research as well as their care and feeding. I would recommend this event for those who have kids who are interested in stingrays, love to swim, and aren’t afraid of trying snorkeling. One tip, though—try to get an appointment for early in the day as the bay area will be more clear than later in the day when the water is a little murky.
While these are family-friendly excursions, its noteworthy to mention the Teen Excursion at Castaway Cay. Includes bike riding, kayaking, snorkeling and other activities. For the teen that wants to do something on the island without the parents. This was not a supervised excursion, but they were able to do the different events throughout the day with their new-found friends. The price to do the combo pack of events is cheaper than if you wanted to do them separately.
Keep in mind, there are plenty of activities on the ship as well that are family-oriented. All you need to do is check your Personal Navigator, the daily newsletter for guests. There is bound to be different activities that interest everyone!
It's your turn—keep the discussion flowing!
Visit the Parenting in the Parks forum on our MousePad discussion board, and share your opinions about this topic or many others, or send your suggestions via e-mail. Reader-submitted tips might be used in a future article, and you might be selected to participate in an upcoming panel discussion!
