Disney Cruising as a First-Timer: Part 1 – Deciding and Booking

Disney Cruising as a First-Timer: Deciding and Booking The DIS Wonder-Port-2

I consider myself to be pretty well versed in travelling. I’ve taken road trips down to Baja California, camped at the Grand Canyon, flown to and explored Mexico, Europe, and Walt Disney World. However, when it comes to cruising, I am completely clueless. As an avid Disney fanatic, I’ve dreamed of going on a Disney Cruise Line cruise since I was really little. My parents never wanted to go on one because my dad didn’t care to be stuck on a ship with little time to explore the ports. So now that I finally have my own income, my boyfriend and I have decided to take the leap and go on that Disney Cruise!



We made the decision, but at that point, we didn’t really know where to start. As stated before, I’ve never cruised, so becoming well-versed on all things Disney Cruise Line became my new pastime. I’m hoping this small series of articles will give insight on what it’s like to book, prepare for, and experience a Disney Cruise for the very first time. And while we are two adults going on this cruise, I am especially a child at heart, and I can assure you that I will cover some of the “childlike” magical experiences of a Disney Cruise!

Before we could book anything, I had to fully convince my boyfriend this cruise was worth the money. We were already hooked on all the Disney magic the ship will contain that was sure to bring us endless happiness, but we’re also not paying for this cruise in pixie dust. I looked at what was included and that’s when I learned the Disney Cruises are all-inclusive (with the exception of some things such as PALO brunch or dinner, Remy on select ships, alcoholic drinks, specialty drinks, packaged snacks, and alcohol tastings). Knowing this would win him over, it’s the first thing I let him know, and that easily got him “on board” (pun completely intended).



Disney Cruising as a First-Timer: Deciding and Booking The DIS Wonder-Rainbow-1 Wonder-Rainbow-1

Our first step in booking was deciding our vacation dates and length of cruise. Now, this will be different for everyone, but for us, we are about to (finally!) graduate college in May and June of 2019, so we would have to cruise after that. I also wanted to avoid hurricane season and figured summer and the holidays would be more expensive, so we narrowed our search down to October through the beginning of December. But let’s be honest, we’re two soon-to-be college graduates with decent jobs; our budget is obviously tight. However, we like to enjoy our vacations, so we knew that a 5-night cruise would be perfect for our budget and still allow us to experience a good amount of the Disney Cruise.

In terms of cruising destinations, we both knew we wanted a stop at Castaway Cay. We had no intentions of ever going out of our way to visit the Bahamas, so we figured we could knock it out with this trip. From what I could tell, these were also some of the “cheaper” Disney cruises. While looking at the itineraries on the Disney Cruise Line website, we found the perfect one: a 5-Night Merrytime Bahamian out of Miami on the Disney Magic (yay Rapunzel show and restaurant!) which coincidentally sails during our six year anniversary! The price seemed to be reasonable considering it was also a specialty cruise (about $2,200 for an inside stateroom for 2 adults) and when adding up all the costs, we’d be spending about $4,000 for the trip, which is exactly what we spent for our previous 1-week Walt Disney World trip.



Disney Cruising as a First-Timer: Deciding and Booking The DIS Castway-Cay-027 Can Can't wait to see Mount Rustmore!'t wait to see Mount Rustmore!

Now, to book the cruise. For our WDW trip, I had booked with a travel agent which made everything extremely convenient. I figured I’d do it again, and as a huge DIS fan, I went with Dreams Unlimited Travel* this time around. Dreams was really easy to work with and they also are giving us some shipboard credit and a gift basket! We put in the itinerary what we wanted with our passenger information and received a quote back right away. Once we told our agent we wanted to book, we put down the 20% deposit and our reservation for the Disney Magic was put into place. We ended up going with an inside stateroom as we don’t expect to be in our room that much. Our stateroom is 6583, which is mid-ship and mid-deck — the perfect stateroom for my motion sickness (at least that’s what I’ve read).



Once our cruise was booked, it became time to find out what exactly to expect on my Disney Cruise, which I’ll talk about in my next article (which will be coming soon)!

 



Want to get to know me more? Follow me on Instagram (@princess_iliana_of_avalor or @princess_iliana_cosplays) or Twitter (@Disney_Iliana).

*Editors Note: Dreams Unlimited Travel is the official sponsor of The DIS.

author avatar
Iliana Solorzano













Walt Disney World Vacations
Free Vacation Planning!

Dreams Unlimited Travel is here to help you plan your ideal Disney vacation, with no additional cost to you. Our Authorized Disney Vacation Planners offer expert advice, answer all your questions, and constantly seek out the best discounts, ensuring you get the most value for your trip. Let us handle the details so you can focus on making magical memories.
CLICK HERE