Guest Author - Lisa Shea

When Disney entered the cruise ship business, it marked the true launch of a family-friendly experience. You can combine the cruise with a trip to the Magic Kingdom!

It's important to keep in mind that this is NOT a ride :) This is a real, actual cruise. The normal cruise ship issues like seasickness, security, etc. need to be kept in mind. You need to keep an eye on your kids, you want to practice formal dining with them ahead of time if you aim to bring them into the fancier restaurants.

But that all being said, this is definitely a cruise that is well geared towards the needs of families. On other cruises you might cross your fingers and hope their kids club does not bore your children silly. On Disney you know that you have the best possible chance of happiness. On other cruises, you might run into trouble with the older passengers who have little tolerance for screaming and running. On Disney, the entire ship is pretty much going to be full of families. That is the entire purpose of the ship.

I've heard several people complain that the cabins were small on Disney - which is funny because they are actually much larger than other typical cabins. Disney is trying to gear itself to handling non-cruisers and made the concession of larger cabins - and still people complain. Yes, cabins on ships are smaller than hotel rooms. It's part of the charm of cruising - you have small cabins so you can have large public areas. The ship only has X square feet to spread around amongst everyone!

If you've always wanted to try cruising, and you have kids, this is definitely a great way to get your feet wet. It's very "newbie-friendly" for adults, and is very adept at taking care of kids. Just be sure to remember that, while run by Disney, this IS a cruise. Do all of the normal planning, safety checks and packing routines that you would do on any cruise.

Disney Cruise Lines Homepage