We just got back from a 3-night cruise on the Disney Wish. We were gone Friday – Monday and had stops in Nassau and Castaway Cay. After I booked it, I wished I had booked a 4-night cruise to give us a little more time (I booked shortly before so we were already within the 90-day window, and I couldn’t change without losing my deposit).
But my initial reasons for wanting to do a short cruise were because my kids had never been on a cruise, what if someone didn’t like it? I was nervous about having all 5 of us in one small room for too long. My kids go on our boat on the ocean often so I wasn’t too worried about motion sickness but it’s still a possibility it could happen. I also personally prefer resorts to cruises, so I wasn’t sure how I would like it. So, with all of this in mind, I thought dipping our toes into the water of a cruise was best and see how it went.
In the end, we had a great time. There were things I loved, things I didn’t, and lessons learned for next time.
Related Post: What I Packed for Our Disney Cruise
Embarkation Day
On Disney cruises, first time cruisers are the last group to get to check in for the cruise. I did jump on right at midnight on my allotted check-in day to try to get the best time I could, but we still got 1pm.
What I liked about the 1pm embarkation time is that I was not rushed that morning. Since we live in Orlando, it is only about a 1 hour and 15 minute drive from our house to get to Port Canaveral. I was able to get ready that morning and finish packing. Any time I go on PTO from work, the days leading up to it are stressful trying to get everything in order. So, knowing that I didn’t have to be completely packed up and ready to go Thursday night was really nice. Another nice thing is that our room was ready when we got on! I loved that.
One thing I didn’t like about our time is that it was too late (for us at least) to get lunch on the ship. We grabbed chick-fil-a on the way though so it was fine. And I have also heard that lunch on the ship on embarkation day is crazy so maybe we were better off.
We also got our luggage later than those who got on earlier. They said we would get our luggage by 5pm and, because we went to the sail away party at 4:15, it was pretty close to that by the time we got it.
The process to get on the ship:
One of the most frustrating parts of the trip for me was trying to pay for parking. When we pulled up to our port terminal and got in line to park, it was moving slow and some lanes were at a standstill. As we got closer, we realized that there are 4 lanes to be able to pay at but only 2 of them were working. This is a Port Canaveral issue, not a Disney issue. But it took much longer than I expected to pay for parking.
Once we got through, we hit traffic again shortly after. Eventually I realized it was because of luggage drop off. They will direct you where to pull your car up and someone will come and get the luggage that you want to drop off versus carry on.
After that, finally we drove smoothly until we found our parking spot. Our carry-on bags consisted of my Go Skoot tote bag that I love and my husband’s waterproof backpack. We did not bring a stroller because I did not want to have to push that around the cruise ship. My youngest is 3 so it was just fine, but it did mean carrying him a lot through check in. I would still rather do that than have a stroller though.
With it taking longer than expected to park, it was 1pm when we parked so we were able to walk right up and get in line. The first line was to put your luggage through the scanner and that moved pretty quickly.
Then the next line was to check in. If you have a child that needs to use the bathroom (like we did!), here is your chance to do so. The check in line took the longest. Even though they have a lot of cast members working the check in line, I would say it took about 20 minutes. Which isn’t too bad, but when you have 3 boys ready to get on the ship and they have to stand in small lines close to everyone, it feels like a lifetime.
Finally, it was our turn to check in! And the cast member checking us in was SO nice. She saw we had 3 rowdy boys ready for fun and included them in the process to keep them engaged and moved as quickly as she could. This is when you will show them your passports or other required documentation. We have passports and used those. We brought magic bands to use on the ship, so this was when we gave her those to get set up and she gave us our key to the world card.
After that, we were off and walking onto the ship!
What our day looked like on the ship:
As soon as we got on the ship, we went straight to the room to check it out. As a family of 5, we had to get the bigger cabin option. We stayed in a deluxe family oceanview stateroom with verandah and I loved it. I was worried about the room size, but it worked great for us. I like that Disney separates the bathrooms into one with the shower and a sink and another with the toilet and a sink. And the shower is a bathtub so if your kids need to bathe versus shower, you have that option.
I also did not originally want a verandah because I was worried about it with the kids, but I ended up being so happy that we had it. It is bigger than I thought it would be and we were able to all be out there comfortably without being on top of each other. And if you’re like me and afraid of heights, I could sit towards the back and there was still plenty of room between me and the railing. The railing was tall and it had the Plexi glass on it so nobody could stick their hands through the railing. We spent a lot more time out there than I thought we would. We even saw dolphins, manatees, hammerhead sharks, and fish just from our balcony!
After that, we went to the Oceaneer kids club to register and let the kids play. Registration was easy and the kids loved it there. We ended up staying there until they kicked everyone out at 3pm for the muster drill.
The muster drill was at 3:30pm and I think we got there about 3:20pm. This was the best muster drill I have ever gone to (keep in mind, I haven’t been on a cruise in 10 years) because it was inside and we got to sit down at one of the theaters. The video we had to watch started at about 3:45pm and it was only about 5 minutes. After that, we all got to go.
From the muster drill, we walked to get ice cream and then to find a spot along the railing to watch us sail away and watch the sail away party. We did not prioritize getting a good spot for the sail away party, we hung out by the railing and then maybe the last 5 minutes, we moved to be able to see the end of the party.
The sail away party was cute and the kids enjoyed it. Afterwards, we went back to the room to unpack, rest, and get ready for dinner. Our dinner reservation was the 5:45 slot and we were at Arendale the first night. I’ll talk more about dining later on.
After dinner, we went to the pool and spent the evening there. I am so happy we did, that ended up being my favorite time by the pool. It was not crowded, there was a movie playing, the kids swam, and I went on the Aqua Mouse with my older two multiple times because there was no line. It was a great night and we had been wanting to get to the pool deck all day.
We capped the night off with a Disney movie in bed (The Incredibles) until the kids fell asleep. They stayed up way past their bedtime but hey, that’s the joy of vacation.
Day 2: Nassau
I had originally planned not to get off at Nassau at all and just have it be a day to explore the ship. But once we got there, my husband really wanted to get off at least for a little bit. So we did and I was pleasantly surprised by what the Bahamas has done to the port. They have a straw market with bright colored buildings and what I assume are pre-approved vendors. There are also restaurants and bars to stop at and a big area with a stage and tables. It was clean and so nice. We stopped at one of the vendors to get fresh coconut water.
At the end of the port, you get to the gate and when you go out of the gate, then there are people trying to get you to buy things or sign up for excursions. My oldest really wanted a conch shell so we stopped at one of the street vendors to get him one. We ended up exploring for about an hour and then walked back on the ship. I was tempted to go to Atlantis because I have always wanted to go there but with this being a short cruise, I wanted to take advantage of our ship and explore all that it had to offer.
Back on the ship, we went straight to the pool. My youngest did the Toy Story splash pad while my older two and husband got in line for the Aqua Mouse. My youngest really liked the splash pad and there is also a pool right outside of the splash pad that is perfect for toddlers because it is shallow.
Eventually he got bored of this area and we went back to the big, deep pool that is close to the entrance to Aqua Mouse. We saw my husband and older boys who were still waiting in line for Aqua Mouse. They ended up waiting for 45 minutes to ride it and then came to the pool to meet me and my youngest. I am so glad that we rode Aqua Mouse multiple times the night before because there is no way that we would have waited in a 45-minute line multiple times.
We swam in that pool for probably about 30 more minutes or so. The way the pool deck is laid out is that there are multiple small pools. This does help to spread everyone out, but it also means that to me, the pools are kind of underwhelming. When it comes to a pool day, cruises (at least this one) don’t compare at all to a resort.
After the pool, we grabbed lunch (and ice cream of course) and then got dressed to explore the ship. The kids went to the kids club for about an hour but that was all my youngest wanted to do and I don’t want to push that if they don’t want to. But my older two did say that they had a dance party with Minnie so that was cute.
We headed for the Hero Zone after that and that was a huge hit with my kids. This area has ping pong tables, air hockey tables, and foosball tables. We spent a lot of time here playing those games. Then they had a huge inflatable obstacle course set up that was an Incredibles theme. My kids wanted to do it so bad but unfortunately, I didn’t have socks. And socks were required (my what I packed post talks about this as well). We are Floridians and we are going to the Bahamas, so socks never even crossed my mind. But make sure you pack them if you want to try this!! The Hero Zone closed at 2:45 and then opens again later on, so we stayed there until they closed.
We explored the ship some more, got more ice cream, and then went back to the room to relax until dinner. It was pirate night! So we headed to the Grand Hall at 5pm and took pictures in front of the back drops that they set up and I loved how these pictures turned out. I paid for the photo package before getting on the ship and it was worth it to me. I love pictures and some of my favorites from the trip are from the photos we got. It was just over a hundred dollars, I want to say around $115.
We then waited in line to meet Donald Duck, which was only about a 15 minute wait.
After that, it was time to go to dinner. Our dining rotation that night was 1923 and the entrance to that is right there at the Grand Hall so it was easy to walk to. The photographer that came by our table that night took the cutest pictures, and the bottom of them says “pirate night”.
From dinner, we went to the store to get some souvenirs and we grabbed socks. But when we went to the Hero Zone afterwards, the inflatable obstacle course was not set up. Instead, they had the basketball court going and people were playing a game. The boys were sad for a minute but they practiced their dribbling and played more air hockey and had a great time.
We capped the night again with another Disney movie. They watched Inside out this time.
Day 3: Castaway Cay
This day was the day that I was the most excited for and it absolutely lived up to my expectations. It was my favorite part of the entire trip!
We were able to get off the ship at 8:30 and I think we got off about 8:45. When you get off the ship, there are cast members handing out towels so make sure you grab those because they don’t have them further down the beach.
Shortly after we walked off the ship, we saw a photographer in front of this photo set up and there was no line. So, we quick took this picture, and I am so happy we did! It’s one of my favorite photos from the trip.
After a short walk onto the island, you will come to a tram stop. We stopped to wait because there were not a lot of people initially, but it started filling up pretty quickly. So, we decided to walk instead. It was not a short walk, but it wasn’t bad. I preferred walking versus waiting with a crowd at the tram stop. We were also able to get this picture on our walk so it all worked out
As we were walking to find a place to set up for the day, I saw a shop with sand toys out front. I instantly realized I didn’t bring sand toys and knew I would be back to buy some. We found a spot on the beach in the front row, and it was perfect! There was plenty of seating to choose from on the beach.
After we picked our spots on the beach, we grabbed life jackets because you need those to snorkel and I went back to the shop to grab beach toys. We put in a full day at the island floating in the water, playing with sand toys, and snorkeling. The older two boys went on two long snorkel adventures with my husband and they loved it. We brought our own snorkel masks and they worked great for them.
There is a barge type of structure with a slide that my husband and older two boys waited 45 minutes for and none of them were impressed with it. They said it was not worth the wait. So, they didn’t do it again. There is another play structure that has monkey bars and a rope that go out into the water and they test your strength. My oldest loved these and did them quite a bit. It looked like a lot of older kids liked doing this.
For lunch, we grabbed food from one of the dining spots and brought it back to the chairs to eat. But we made sure that the kids sat and ate and once we were done, we brought our tray and plates back. Another family left their food there and seagulls attacked it. Do not leave your food unattended and make sure to bring everything back once you’re done. We are used to this from going to the beach back home.
Lunch was good, they had burgers, hot dogs, ribs, mac and cheese, various desserts, and other sides that you would expect to see at a BBQ.
The weather was beautiful while we were there, water was warm and crystal clear, and it was just an overall gorgeous day. I could have spent an entire week there relaxing and watching the kids play. Around 2pm, the beach was noticeably less crowded than it was earlier in the day. It was so nice and would be a great time to get pictures.
We had to be back on the ship at 4:30 so we started heading back at 3:15. We took the tram this time. Getting back onto the ship was easy. We went back to the room to relax and get ready for dinner. Our rotational dining that night was Marvel. I was looking forward to this dining experience for the boys and they had a great time. But unfortunately, I’m sure because of our fun filled day on the island, my youngest fell asleep in the middle of dinner. They were so nice though and gave us a lid so we could take his dinner back to the room for when he woke up.
After dinner, we were all exhausted, so we went back to the room, watched a movie, and enjoyed the view from our verandah.
I also had to pack up after dinner because I didn’t realize that if we wanted our luggage carried off the ship for us, we had to have it packed up and in the hallway by 10pm that night. So keep that in mind for your last night!
Debarkation Day
We were up early so I went with the boys to grab breakfast. I knew that they would not be able to wait until after we got off of the ship to get something on our way home, so we made sure to go get breakfast.
After that, we went back to the room and hung out there briefly to get everything together. It was almost the time that we had to be out of the room so we were about to walk to the Grand Hall when they called our debarkation category (we were red Mickey).
Getting off the ship was easy, they scanned our magic bands. We then walked to where the luggage was stored, everything was already there, and we just grabbed our bags. When we got to customs, there was a line for people with passports and a line for people with birth certificates. The birth certificate line was longer and I’m not sure how quickly it was moving. We had passports and walked right up to someone, the monitor scanned our faces, and we were good to go. The longest line we waited in was the elevator in the parking garage! It was a smooth and seamless process.
Dining
Breakfast: My original plan for breakfast was to order room service in the morning because buffets stress me out when you are out numbered by kids. But it was continental breakfast with cereal and pastries. So, we didn’t end up doing that because I figured the kids would want waffles, pancakes, etc.
We went to the buffet and it was as stressful as I thought it would be. The first morning, I wanted to go get coffee first thing, bring it back, and then all go get breakfast together. But because the coffee was where breakfast was, my kids saw the breakfast and wanted it right away. I couldn’t carry the coffee and the plates back to the room, so they all ended up carrying their own plates. It was a very risky situation. The next morning, I went to get coffee solo, so we didn’t have a repeat situation. But it was 8:15 by the time we all got there to eat breakfast and finding a table for a family of 5 was SO difficult. I was fully prepared to eat at two different 2 tops that weren’t even next to each other and I would just stand. But thankfully, the 4 top next to one of our 2 tops happened to get up and we were all able to sit down and next to each other.
Next cruise we go on, I will 100% be doing room service, regardless of what is on the menu. Or I had a friend give me a very good idea. Order room service for your first night (and honestly, we ordered room service every night because why not) and then keep your tray. This way you can bring your tray with you to fill plates up with breakfast and then bring it back to your room to eat.
Lunch: Lunch was also a buffet, but I did not experience the same issues that I did with breakfast. I was able to pile multiple pieces of pizza, burgers, or hot dogs on to one plate with no issues. And finding a table was not nearly as hard as breakfast, and we ate at 12pm so prime lunch time. And on Castaway Cay, they had trays! So, I put multiple plates with food onto the tray and carried that back to our seats.
Dinner:
- Arendale: For me personally, this was my least favorite. But I know so many families love Frozen (and so do I!) so this may be a lot of people’s favorite but it wasn’t for me. It could be though because I didn’t love the food and it was our first night, so it felt like we were trying to figure things out that night. The entertainment though was great. The napkin twirling they do at the end was so much fun!
- 1923: I loved this restaurant and I thought it would be my least favorite. If we were to skip one night and hang by the pool instead, I thought it would be this one. But I’m so glad we didn’t. We had the most special interaction with our lead waiter that night too. It was definitely a great night. Food was delicious!
- Marvel: Theme wise this was my kid’s favorite. Food was good, entertainment was good, and overall, we had a great time.
Overall Feedback
I am so happy we went on this cruise! I think our kids made so many memories and they are already asking when we are going on another one. As someone who wasn’t sure of a cruise, prefers resorts, and was worried about how our family of 5 would fit into one room comfortably, I can safely say I had a great time and would love to do it again.
Bringing our snorkeling masks was a big win but forgetting our sand toys for the beach and socks for the Hero Zone was a fail. Check out my packing list on my other post for more details: What I Packed for Our Disney Cruise
I will definitely do breakfast differently next time, the buffet was too much for me. But lunch and the rotational dining for dinner was great.
If you’re getting ready to sail away on a Disney cruise, get ready for a great time!