Worries About Taking a Disney Cruise

1) What happens if I get seasick on my cruise? Trust me, this was a big one for me when we took our first cruise, as I get badly motion sick in the back seat of a car, so how would I fare on the water? Well, I'll be honest, for the first night, neither of us did too well, and it's worth knowing that you can be affected by the movement of the ship if you're coming out of Port Canaveral on that first night. From what the crew members told us, it was something to do with the waters meetings at the bottom of Florida, and that can result in some unpleasant side effects. I’m happy to report that, once that first night was done, we were fine for the rest of the cruise, and I suspect we were just getting our “sea legs."

Since then, we’ve only ever been affected when there have been really heavy seas, as on our inaugural Mediterranean cruise, and trust me, if you keep an ear out for the captain’s announcement, they will warn you if such a night is coming up. We were able to eat early, and head to bed before the worst of the weather struck one night, meaning our cruise was barely impacted.

If this is something that worries you, then definitely try out some solutions before you leave home. I tried Dramamine once on a whale watching cruise, and it knocked me out completely. Suffice to say I never saw any whales, as I was asleep!

2) There won’t be enough to do on board, especially on at sea days This was a real concern for us on our second Disney cruise. Having just done a three-night cruise before, heading out on an 11-night cruise around the Mediterranean was quite a departure for us. I didn’t know how I’d do with not going ashore every day, but like everyone I know, we came to love days at sea. They are literally packed with activities, if you want to take them up. Of course, you can just sit and relax, and do nothing if that takes your fancy, but never fear, one thing is certain – you won’t be bored.

3) I won’t see much of our ports of call if we only have a day there You certainly won’t be able to see and do everything in a day, that’s very true, but then again, isn’t that what we all say about the Disney theme parks? What a cruise does is offer you a taste of often-exotic ports of calls. Sometimes those tastes are enough for you to get a feel of the place, and that may be all you need. There are ports of call we’ve been to that, while we’ve enjoyed them, we had a taste of them, and felt no desire to go back. There are others that we adored, and our cruise stop acted as a starting point, with us making return visits to various cities, such as Florence and Sorrento in Italy, and Barcelona in Spain. For other ports, there may be no easy way to return, as they could be halfway across the world to where you live and, if that’s the case, isn’t a small taste better than none at all?

4) We can only afford an inside stateroom – will we still enjoy a cruise? Of course you will. If you’re fortunate enough to cruise on either the Disney Dream or the Disney Fantasy, you’ll have the bonus of a virtual porthole, which we loved when we had an inside stateroom. They’re a lot of fun to watch, and every so often a Disney character will pass by, so keep an eye out for that. At the end of the day, you only have to sleep in a stateroom, and you can always spend any down time during the day out on one of the ship’s public decks. Equally, you can head out to a public deck first thing in the morning, if you want to take in the view.

5) Someone in my party really doesn't want to dress up, so they’re dreading formal night. There are a couple of ways around this. Firstly, you can always take a shorter cruise. The three-night doesn’t have a formal night, and the four-night only has a “dress up” night. If you’re on a longer cruise, then you can still get food at the counter service restaurants or even room service, which saves you having to dress up. However, I can honestly say from having had a husband who wasn’t keen on dressing up, that once he did, he really enjoyed it. I can’t guarantee it will be the same result for everyone, but it is worth giving it a go, just to see if you can change those attitudes…

Disney Dream - inside stateroom
Our inside stateroom, number 6669.

In a forthcoming article, I’ll be considering another five concerns voiced by cruisers, and if you have any others you’d like to see featured, please contact news@passporter.com with the details, and we’ll see if we can include yours.

About the Author: Cheryl is the author of the e-book, PassPorter's Walt Disney World for British Holidaymakers, and is the co-author of PassPorter's Disney Vacation Club Guide: For Members and Members-To-Be. Cheryl and husband Mark live in England and love to travel, particularly to Disney, and they have travelled around the world, taking in a number of Disney cruises, Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Aulani in Hawai'i, Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disney and Hong Kong Disneyland on the way. Click here to view more of Cheryl's articles!