The second half of our amazing week with Disney’s Social Media Moms Celebration was on a Disney Cruise! I was so excited to take our kids on their first cruise, and to have it be on a Disney Cruise, exceeded all our expectations. Our ship, the Disney Wonder is one of Disney’s four cruise ships and it was recently “re-imagined” as they say. It had a BIG makeover, as in completely gutted and made new, and it’s beautiful!
The Family friendly atmosphere of a Disney Cruise can’t be beat. From the amazing crew of the ship who go above and beyond to make sure you are well taken care of, to the over the top shows every night…to the FOOD! Ah…the food was so good! Even the elevator style music in the hall ways are classic Disney songs you know and love. We seriously can’t wait to go on another Disney Cruise.
There’s way too many pictures in this post, because it was one of those vacations where it was a non stop party. We joke that a vacation is a trip without kids, and a trip is one with kids; but when you’re on a Disney Cruise, it is a vacation for everyone…seriously. Our kids loved the kid areas, and we felt good knowing that when they were not with us they were safe and in the best hands making new friends and having so much fun.
I love the classic navy, red and yellow of the Disney Cruise ships.
We went on a three day cruise with one stop on Disney’s private island: Castaway Cay (pronounced Castaway “key”). It was a Thursday and Friday down to the island from Port Canaveral, we spent Saturday at Castaway Cay and then the ship travels full speed through the night back to Port Canaveral. A quick three day cruise was perfect for our first time cruise with kids.
I loved learning about the island of Castaway Cay. It’s Disney’s private island, and only 15 percent of the island is developed. On the island there is a family beach and an adult beach for those not traveling with kids.
From the beginning the party begins with Goofy at the door to greet you.
The send off party was such a fun way to kick off the next few days.
We loved exploring the ship that first day. We were amazed by their cool hand washing sinks. One hand in each side and you hold them in the water until it reads – all clean. This sink was just outside the kids area, that my son loved!
There was two kid areas connected by a long tunnel like hall way. The kids are checked in and out with a security wristband. We really appreciated this security system. How fun is this cute ToyStory Slide?!
There are so many fun things to do on the Disney Wonder, from the swimming pools and slides,
to playing basketball in the middle of the ocean (that doesn’t happen every day!)
The kids loved the sweet surprises in our Stateroom every night, like this adorable teddy bear shaped towel.
My daughter is 14 this year and she LOVED everything about her first cruise…She loved making fast friends with the kids of other Social Media Moms and hanging out at the “tween club” the Edge. She LOVED the Broadway style shows every night, the food, the fun…all of it! I loved experiencing it all through her.
One of our favorite things about a cruise is the all you can eat self serve…”Eye Scream”.
We love to grab a cone and walk the top of the boat at night…it’s so fun.
There were three restaurants on the Disney Wonder: Tiana’s Place, Tritons, and Animators Palate. We loved them all! The food really was excellent, and we all hugged our wait staff goodbye on our last day because they were the sweetest.
Some foodie favorites included the beignets at Tiana’s Place,
the Banana’s Foster at Tiana’s Place,
this Chocolate layer cake at Tritons,
and this Lemon Meringue pie. All so good!
We had a fun filled day at sea during the Disney Social Media Moms conference hearing from amazing Disney insiders, previewing extended trailers and sneak peaks of the cutest new animated shorts. I’m excited to share a bunch of the fun news from Disney with you this year, as they are released.
I have to say my favorite restaurant on The Disney Wonder was Animators Palate. It’s the cutest inside! It’s all black and white with the simple pencil sketches of all the Disney Characters you know and love. It’s so well thought out. Once inside it’s a dining experience like you’ve never seen. Our kids were amazed at the show during dinner and at the end.
The wall paper was a good mix of old and new Characters…they even had Moana!
The island of Castaway Cay was awesome! I’ve been on a couple cruises, and when you get off the ship, you are on your own for meals, and because you are limited on time, the food costs can get high near the port. Also, sometimes you get bombarded with the locals trying to sell stuff to you, but because CastAway Cay is Disney’s private island, the lunch buffet was included…just like it would be on the ship, and no one was trying to get you to buy anything. A bunch of the ship’s crew gets off the ship to work the two BBQ eatery spots.
Plus they have all you can self serve soft serve cones…as well as a soda fountain…the diet coke was flowing!
I could really go for another pineapple strawberry twist cone right now, it was so good!
While on the island, we signed up for a day excursion that included snorkeling and feeding the sting rays, a floaty tube rental and bike rentals for an hour.
Feeding the sting rays was a neat experience. I loved learning all about them. The kids thought it was so neat
After feeding and snorkeling with the sting rays, it was nice to just relax and enjoy the sun. It’s so bizarre to think it was snowing back home in Utah…full on winter when we were at the beach in the warm sun. It’s one of those days you keep mentally in your back pocket to help you get through the grey days of winter.
One of my favorite parts of this day was exploring the island on our bikes. It was so serene. Such a fun day spent together as a family.
We had some gorgeous sunsets on our three days out at sea. I loved sharing this amazing trip with my family.
Thanks for reading…if you are ever considering going on a Disney Cruise…do it! It will be one of your most favorite vacations!
A big Thank YOU to the amazing Disney Social Media Moms team for all the hard work they put into preparing for this conference both at the parks and on the Disney Wonder. It was an experience my family will never forget and we’re so grateful for the opportunity to attend.
#DisneySSMC – Disney’s Social Media Moms Celebration is an invitation conference for Social Media Moms /Influencers. We paid for our flights and a conference fee to attend. We did receive some discounted and complimentary items from Disney Parks, Disney Cruise Line, Disney Media, and their conference sponsors. I’m not required to write about our experience and all opinions are my own.
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