A cruise vacation is an affordable way for anyone interested in travel to pay a fixed price while still visiting multiple destinations. Although many amenities are included on cruises, all the various cruise lines have their differences when it comes to specific inclusions. For cruisers interested in Disney Cruise Line, we answer what does a Disney cruise include.
What Does a Disney Cruise Include?
At first glance, Disney Cruise Line can be perceived as more expensive than the other mainstream cruise lines. However, one could argue that while the price tag upfront is more costly, Disney does include certain amenities that other cruise lines may not.
Standard inclusions such as room accommodations, onboard activities, food and beverages, and entertainment are the basics. But, Disney Cruise Line puts an extra touch of magic on everything they do. Disney is known for “doing things differently”.
Cruise lines charging for add-ons and extras is much more prominent now than in years past. While this is also true for some aspects of DCL, Disney Cruise Line prides themselves on their service and going the extra mile. Therefore, guests can still have a magical vacation without spending extra money.
Accommodations
The upfront cruise fare includes the cost of your stateroom throughout your cruise. All five Disney ships, including the new Disney Wish and the 6th ship (Disney Treasure) debuting in December, offer a variety of stateroom categories. These options range from interior rooms all the way to multi-bedroom suites. Of course, the cost of your cruise vacation will depend heavily on which type of stateroom you prefer.
Disney cruise ship staterooms, excluding a select number of interior staterooms across the fleet, have split bathrooms. A split bathroom set up is a bathroom with a shower/tub combo and a sink, while a separate bathroom area offers a sink and a toilet. Built with families in mind, this is a game changer compared to other mainstream cruise lines. With small children, this is a life saver for the bedtime routine.
Further, as Disney imagineers continue to keep families in mind, there is a curtain in all staterooms separating the bed area from the couch/tv area. This gives the adults a closed-off place to relax while the kids are asleep.
Further, Concierge staterooms are available on all Disney ships. These staterooms give guests access to additional amenities such as a concierge lounge and sundeck. On Disney Wish, there’s even a separate pool and whirlpools.
Overall, Disney cruise ships offer many stateroom options that will fit any needs. Be sure to research which category is best for your family on your next Disney cruise.
Food and Drinks
While other popular cruise lines are adding more and more specialty dining restaurants at an upcharge, with many also pointing out a decline in the complimentary dining room quality, Disney Cruise Line has stayed true to its roots.
Apart from two adults-only dining restaurants, all main dining options are part of your cruise fare. This even includes room service! Yes, free room service is available on Disney Cruise Line 24/7. This is a huge perk that incurs a fee on many other cruise lines now.
Disney Cruise Line executes dinner a bit differently too, with a rotational dining service. Each ship has three complimentary themed restaurants. Rotating between the venues, guests have the opportunity to dine at a different restaurant every night. On longer cruises, guests will visit each restaurant multiple times, but the menus will change. Your dining service team will also rotate with you through the restaurants. This helps the staff get to know you, your preferences, and your dining styles.
Additionally, one main dining room per day is open for breakfast and lunch table service options. Be sure to check the Disney Cruise app for times and associated restaurants.
Casual dining includes a buffet on each ship as well as poolside dining options. The buffets, Marceline Market on Disney Wish and Cabanas on the other four ships, offer a diverse variety of options from basic kid’s selections to unique international cuisine for breakfast and lunch.
Poolside dining options include standard quick service fare with the likes of pizza, burgers, sandwiches, and chicken tenders on the menu. Disney Wish takes poolside food to the next level, offering a taco and burrito stand as well as BBQ. Of course, the most important part of the poolside food is the soft serve ice cream station!
Adults-only specialty dining restaurants are available on all Disney ships too. This gives adults an opportunity to experience fine-dining while the kids enjoy the kids club, but it will cost you. These restaurants are NOT part of your cruise fare.
Are Drinks Included on Disney Cruises?
Yes! All soft drinks are included in your Disney cruise fare. Iced teas, lemonades, a variety of juices, and basic coffee/tea options are complimentary. Further, Disney Cruise Line offers free Coca-Cola products to their cruisers, including Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Vitamin Water, and more.
Coke products are complimentary on the pool deck, the buffet, and the main dining rooms. For avid soda drinkers, this can be a huge cost-saver, as most other cruise lines require individual purchases or soda package purchases.
Onboard Activities
There is no shortage of fun on a Disney cruise ship. A schedule of complimentary activities is available from sun up to well after the sun goes down to ensure all guests are having a great time.
All Disney ships have a pool deck with various pools, hot tubs, and loungers for cruisers to enjoy. Not only are swimming pools available on every ship, a splash pad is also available on every Disney ship for even the youngest cruisers INCLUDING those still in diapers. This is a significant difference from most cruise lines, as they often do not offer any aquatic activities for children in diapers.
Still, due to US Coast Guard regulations, children that are not potty trained are not allowed in any onboard swimming pools.
Further, all Disney ships offer at least one waterslide, with some ships offering multiple. Disney Wish even features the first attraction at sea, the AquaMouse. Funnel Vision, Disney’s spot for all outdoor movies, plays Disney and Pixar movies around the clock for guests to enjoy. If your idea of a magical vacation is soaking up the Caribbean sun, be sure to grab a spot here on a sea day.
While there is plenty for the kids to enjoy, all Disney ships feature an adults-only section of the pool deck as well. This area has upgraded loungers, pools, and hot tubs for those looking for some quiet time.
Poolside entertainment such as live music and deck parties are happening throughout the cruise too, and you will not want to miss them! You might even see some of your favorite characters.
Sports courts, a jogging track, and a full gym are available fleet wide, while sports simulators and mini golf are on select Disney ships. Not to mention, there’s a movie theater on each ship showing current Disney movies that are in theaters back home.
The Disney activities staff offer entertainment for all interests during the voyage. Onboard events like trivia, game shows, karaoke, scavenger hunts, drawing and cooking classes, and towel making classes are all available for no additional fee. The Daily Navigator app will tell you times and locations for all activities. Even if you don’t participate, some events are worth watching! Disney separates some of these activities between family friendly and 18+, for those adults who wish to enjoy some of these activities kid-free!
There’s also Disney character meet and greets daily. While there won’t be as many characters as in the Disney parks, there are ample opportunities to meet Mickey and his friends, various Disney princesses, and more. Frozen and Marvel characters are available for meet and greets Disney Wish as well.
Nightly Entertainment
While Disney Cruise Line offers a plethora of onboard activities, they don’t skimp on nightly entertainment either. Disney cruise ships feature Broadway caliber nightly shows, such as Disney’s Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and more in the main theater. Here, other nightly shows include original productions incorporating various Disney songs and characters.
Other nightly entertainment may include magicians, comedians, ventriloquists, and live music.
Pirate Night is held on all Disney ships, except for Alaska sailings. On Pirate Night, dinner features a pirate-themed menu. Special characters such as Captain Jack Sparrow and Captain Hook are available for character meet and greets, and there’s a pirate party on the pool deck!
Additionally, Disney Cruise Line is the only cruise line with fireworks at sea! One night per sailing, typically on Pirate Night, guests can enjoy a fireworks show from the upper decks.
Youth Programs
Disney’s kids’ clubs shine when compared to other mainstream cruise lines. Like most cruise lines, these supervised youth programs are part of cruise fare for children ages 3-17. Disney ships also offer open houses for one or more youth areas throughout the cruise. This gives children the opportunity to experience what the clubs have to offer, even if they don’t want to be left alone in them.
Disney’s Oceaneer Club and Oceaneer Lab are the designated areas for children ages 3-10. Here, highly trained Disney Youth Activities Staff engage children in age-based activities. The Oceaneer Clubs are themed to the likes of Star Wars, Toy Story, Princesses, and more. Good luck pulling your little ones out of here!
Edge is the supervised club for tweens, ages 11-14, while Vibe is the supervised club for ages 15-17. These clubs provide a place for teens with access to video games, TVs, computers, and other daily guided activities such as dance parties, trivia, scavenger hunts, and more.
Lastly, It’s a Small World Nursery is the nursery for children 6 months to 3 years old. Although, this does come at an hourly upcharge.
What’s NOT Included on a Disney Cruise?
Although cruises are known for their inclusivity and affordable options, there are still extras on board that are not included in your cruise fare. None of these additions are necessary to have a great vacation but may be things you want to include in the budget.
Alcohol and Specialty Beverages
Alcoholic beverages are not part of your cruise fare. While Disney ships offer a multitude of fantastically themed bars, any beer, wine, cocktails, and spirits will come at an additional charge.
Additionally, specialty coffee, lattes, espressos, etc., will cost extra. All coffee bars offer a punch card for a free coffee after the purchase of five coffees. So, if you are an avid coffee drinker, be sure to ask for this card. Canned soda, bottled water, and specialty mocktails or smoothies will also be an additional charge.
As mentioned prior, basic drip coffee and fountain sodas are free.
Disney Cruise Line doesn’t offer an unlimited drink package like other cruise lines but does offer small deals such as beer and wine packages depending on the amount guests order. A drink of the day is available in alcoholic and non-alcoholic forms at a cheaper price as well.
Gratuities
Gratuities are additional service charges that are not part of your cruise fare. These charges are split amongst the Disney Cruise Line staff that made your vacation great. These “tips” serve as a thank you for their hard work.
These additional fees are a per person, per day amount charged to every guest onboard. Guests can pre-pay these fees or have them added to their onboard account at the conclusion of the cruise.
Current gratuity charges:
- Standard Staterooms: $14.50 USD per person, per day
- Concierge/Suite Staterooms: $15.50 USD per person, per day
For any crew members that made your trip extra special, guests can tip extra in addition to these standard charges.
Specialty Dining
Though most dining options are included in the upfront cruise fare, some optional restaurants will come with a charge. Each Disney ship has adults-only specialty dining restaurants. Palo is found on all ships in the fleet. Disney Fantasy and Disney Dream offer an additional dining venue, Remy. While Disney Wish features Enchante. These fine dining options have a pre-fixe and/or ala carte menu along with top notch service.
These restaurants do require reservations and fill up quickly. So, if you’d like to dine at one of these restaurants be sure to reserve your slot when your booking window opens.
Other additional costs are popcorn and candy at Preludes outside of the movie theater, a sweet shop with specialty desserts, and the sports pubs with appetizers.
Wi-Fi
Cruising used to be the vacation where guests unplugged from the world, and this is still true to an extent! But, Wi-Fi options onboard have come a long way in recent years.
Cruisers can use the Disney Cruise Line app to chat with family and friends onboard without Wi-Fi. This chat feature is included in your cruise fare.
Anything additional to the DCL app such as streaming, social media, texting family and friends back on land, and surfing the internet will come at an additional cost. Disney offers a variety of Wi-Fi packages available for purchase with options for single day packages all the way to full cruise length packages. Be sure to check the Wi-Fi rates once onboard.
Select Onboard Activities
While cruisers don’t have to spend any additional money for entertainment, there are some activities that do cost extra. Activities like Bingo, mixology classes, luxury shopping, and select fitness classes have associated upcharges. However, there are no casinos on Disney Cruise Line ships.
Further, Bippity Boppity Boutique is an upcharge experience allowing children 3-12 to transform into their favorite prince or princess.
Spa Services
All spa and salon services come at an additional fee on Disney Cruise Line. Senses Spa and Salon offers a variety of treatments such as massages, manicures, pedicures, facials, haircuts, and more.
The Rainforest Room on each Disney ship includes heated loungers, hot tubs, saunas, steam rooms, ice rooms, aromatherapy showers, and more. To access this thermal suite, guests need to pre-purchase a pass for the duration of the cruise. Select day passes are available for purchase onboard the ship based on availability.
Shore Excursions
While Disney Cruise Line is your form of transportation to many amazing ports of call, activities at each port of call are not part of your cruise fare. Disney offers a variety of shore excursions at each location. Or, guests can book excursions through a third-party retailer if they’d prefer.
Excursions can range from full day experiences to something as simple as a walking tour or a cooking class. The longer the experience, typically the more expense it is. Pricing also varies depending on the port of call and region of the world.
Booking shore excursions in advance is highly recommended, but guests can head to the Port Adventures desk onboard the ship to check for any last-minute availability.
Other Onboard Expenses
Other onboard expenses that guests could incur are laundry services should you want any clothes washed or pressed, photo packages, any onboard celebrations such as room decor or specialty cakes, or any souvenirs.
Overall, Disney Cruise Line offers so much as part of their standard cruise fare that guests certainly do not have to spend additional money once onboard the ship. While Disney Cruise Line prices are higher than other popular cruise lines, there are many included amenities that other cruise lines charge for.
For those trying to stay on a budget, I highly recommend researching beforehand what add-ons are important to you. This way you can plan, budget, and book accordingly, so there aren’t any surprises.
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