Has it really come to this? Is the Little Mermaid onboard??

My first cruise, was as a kid, RCI's Sun Viking. I've sailed pretty much once a year ever since I've turned 18 and had my own money to spend.

With two exception cruises to sample Carnival, and Celebrity, all of my cruises have been on RCI. Love my loyalty points, my rewards, and more than anything Royal's awesome innovative ships, I love Oasis/Allure.

But... you see something's changed.

I now have a princess.

She's 5-years old, is the spitting image of me, and loves nothing more than her Daddy....

Well that is nothing except maybe

Ariel, aka The Little Mermaid.

Everything has to be "The Little Mermaid" the other disney characters mean little but for the past year she's been completely smitten by any and everything mermaid.

She's been on RCI 3 times and saw the Disney ship in port one year, and looked but didn't really have much interest. I brought it up and she said no, she liked our ship because it was the biggest and she had fun in Ocean Adventure. But this past year, the thought that Ariel is onboard has just turned into Daddy please lets go on that ship.

Now I always thought this about Disney

1) Mega Expensive

2) Too many kids

3) I hate the Bahamas!

But what daddy can say no to his princess?

So, I'm looking.

Couple questions especially for typical RCI cruisers.

A) this ship better have Ariel onboard, or at the very least the Frozen characters (Frozen is starting to nudge out ariel a bit) She actually said if Ariel's not onboard she doesn't really have to go. lol She's an RCI fan too. :-)

B) I can't figure out the cabin structure. RCI peeps, we usually do a JS, sometimes a GS I can't seem to find an equivalent. What do you suggest?

C) Have any of you made the switch for your kids? Good Decision or bad? I still can't help put think for less money than i'd pay for 4 days to Castaway Cay & Nassau. I could take RCI's Freedom for 7 days and go to labadee, falmouth, grand cayman, and cozumel, and we'd all love it.

D) What's passenger space like? I hear Disney has the highest passenger count of any cruise line by far. I tried to fly home from my first Carnival cruise because I felt so packed in on the ship. I know they're kids so it shouldn't be as bad, but pics of those desk parties and fireworks shows look like everyones packed in there.

E) Little ones. We have a 2month old too, She will probably be 8-10 months when we go. Do they handle this well? I feel like i'm wasting a lot of cash on having her go, when she'd just be another 2 hundred on RCI.

F) I enjoy the pampering and the extras, is Disney good at that? How much do they focus on adults vs kids? Obviously this cruise will be more for my princess, but will I miss that great customer service I know from RCI and Celeb when they see we're loyal customers?

Ok I'm done :-)

We have 7 and 4 year old daughters who are into everything Disney Princess. So we pretty much tried a Disney cruise for the same reasons you are looking into it. We have done 25+ cruises, mostly on Princess and HAL (but Royal and X as well) so it was a bit of a departure for us as well to look into Disney. They definitely do things differently so it takes some research to figure out how it all works.

A) Yeah, you will definitely find Ariel onboard, both in Meet and greets and in some of the shows. If you sail on the Fantasy she can even get an Ariel make-over at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.

Not sure about Frozen characters. Anna was on the ships around the holidays, but not sure it that was a temporary thing or not. I would think given the popularity of the movie that they would continue.

B) The JS on Royal is roughly equivalent to a Deluxe Family Verandah cabin on Disney (cat 4).

C) Haven't necessarily made a permanent switch to Disney, but it is an amazing experience to do with your kids, unlike anything any other line can deliver.

Yeah Disney's itineraries are pretty vanilla, but let's face it - you aren't doing a Disney cruise for the ports (especially if you are looking at a 3/4 day). Castaway Cay gets rave reviews, but I wasn't all that impressed with it really.

D) Passenger space is like any other ship. It's busy and crowded at the places and times you would expect any other ship to be crowded. Buffet at lunch, pools on sea days, shows, etc. Yup, everyone is pretty much packed in for the sail away party and fireworks.

E) Tough call on the baby. Disney has a awesome nursery (you pay for it). The baby of course won't remember a thing, but you will! Our kids were 3 and 6 when we went and I think 3 was even a little young to fully get everything out of the Disney cruise.

F) We found the service to be on par with other lines we have sailed on. We had some really great service, but unfortunately a lousy dining crew which probably skewed my overall impression of the service. They really do focus on and cater to the kids (as they should). However, there are plenty of adults only spaces to get away.

Now I always thought this about Disney

1) Mega Expensive Yeahhhhh.... pretty pricey

2) Too many kids Of course there are a lot of children, but there are also a lot of children on RCI.

3) I hate the Bahamas! Then don't sail the Dream, their designated Bahamas/Castaway Cay ship! The Fantasy alternates eastern/western Caribbean routes.

But what daddy can say no to his princess?

So, I'm looking.

Couple questions especially for typical RCI cruisers.

A) this ship better have Ariel onboard, or at the very least the Frozen characters (Frozen is starting to nudge out ariel a bit) She actually said if Ariel's not onboard she doesn't really have to go. lol She's an RCI fan too. :-)

Of course Ariel is onboard! She has her own bronze statue in the atrium of the Wonder.

B) I can't figure out the cabin structure. RCI peeps, we usually do a JS, sometimes a GS I can't seem to find an equivalent. What do you suggest? Disney staterooms are much larger than the staterooms on RCI ships. If you're booking the JS (287 sq ft on Oasis class) for the extra space, I think you'd do just fine in either a regular balcony stateroom (246 sq ft) or a family balcony stateroom (299 sq ft). If you're seeking the additional amenities of the GS, then you'll probably want to book a concierge-level room.

C) Have any of you made the switch for your kids? Good Decision or bad? I still can't help put think for less money than i'd pay for 4 days to Castaway Cay & Nassau. I could take RCI's Freedom for 7 days and go to labadee, falmouth, grand cayman, and cozumel, and we'd all love it.

I don't have kids, but I did book the Disney Fantasy for May and had/have similar thoughts. The reason I booked is because I wanted the experience. I'm seeking Disney-quality service. Will every cruise after that be a Disney Cruise? Probably not. But I'm looking forward to this one.

D) What's passenger space like? I hear Disney has the highest passenger count of any cruise line by far. I tried to fly home from my first Carnival cruise because I felt so packed in on the ship. I know they're kids so it shouldn't be as bad, but pics of those desk parties and fireworks shows look like everyones packed in there.

The Dream and Fantasy can accommodate 4000 passengers. Royal Caribbean actually holds the record for the most passengers on a cruise ship at 6,168 passengers (not including crew) on the Oasis in April 2010. http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=3795

E) Little ones. We have a 2month old too, She will probably be 8-10 months when we go. Do they handle this well? I feel like i'm wasting a lot of cash on having her go, when she'd just be another 2 hundred on RCI.

I have no experience with children, but I know that Disney is one of the best with toddlers and babies. Also, Disney is the only line to give discounted children rates by age... though still expensive.

F) I enjoy the pampering and the extras, is Disney good at that? How much do they focus on adults vs kids? Obviously this cruise will be more for my princess, but will I miss that great customer service I know from RCI and Celeb when they see we're loyal customers?

In my opinion, Disney really sets the industry standard for customer service.

Very helpful to hear!! thank you.

I am willing to cough up the cash for my little Ariel wannabe

Knowing she gets to see both Ariel and maybe Elsa and Anna, well that's all i needed to know...

Although hearing you don't like Castaway is important.

We were going to do disney world with a 4 day cruise. only going for castaway as I am not a big Nassau fan at all.

Also new ships go there.

but maybe i'll broaden my search now. :-)

Very helpful to hear!! thank you.

 

 

 

I am willing to cough up the cash for my little Ariel wannabe

 

 

 

[

 

 

 

Knowing she gets to see both Ariel and maybe Elsa and Anna, well that's all i needed to know...

 

 

 

 

Although hearing you don't like Castaway is important.

 

 

 

We were going to do disney world with a 4 day cruise. only going for castaway as I am not a big Nassau fan at all.

 

 

 

Also new ships go there.

 

 

 

but maybe i'll broaden my search now. :-)

The newest ship the Fantasy goes to the Caribbean which might be out of your price range because it is the newest ship it is the most expensive( hints why I have not sailed on this ship it just not in my budget) The Dream to the Bahamas. The Magic is doing Bahamas right now and will be doing Caribbean after her European cruises this summer(recently refurbished). And the Wonder (has a statue of Ariel in atrium in front of the Restaurant Triton's) is doing alternate Bahamas and Caribbean until reposition cruise in May and then picks it back up after the summer out of Miami. I have personally been on the Magic and the Dream. I did not have issues with the crowds. If you Bahamas, I am not a big fan of Nassau either but use it like a sea day to explore the ship. The newest ships have twice as many passages as their older ships but when looking at how many RCI holds it still less passengers than most of their ships. You might want to look at past Personal Navigators Disney's equivalent of the Compass to help better see what each ship has to offer. A good place for that is http://disneycruiselineblog.com under cruise planning hope that helps. I can relegate to your little girl when I was a kid I had Ariel lunch, boxes, shoes, outfits, etc... Oh and even though I typically not a beach person I love Castaway Cay.

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Now I always thought this about Disney

 

1) Mega Expensive Yeahhhhh.... pretty pricey

 

2) Too many kids Of course there are a lot of children, but there are also a lot of children on RCI. There are a LOT more kids on Disney ships. Their passenger to space ratio is much higher than RCI. Their pools are much more crowded which led to a near-drowning last year.

 

3) I hate the Bahamas! Then don't sail the Dream, their designated Bahamas/Castaway Cay ship! The Fantasy alternates eastern/western Caribbean routes.

 

 

But what daddy can say no to his princess?

 

 

So, I'm looking.

 

Couple questions especially for typical RCI cruisers.

 

 

A) this ship better have Ariel onboard, or at the very least the Frozen characters (Frozen is starting to nudge out ariel a bit) She actually said if Ariel's not onboard she doesn't really have to go. lol She's an RCI fan too. :-)

Of course Ariel is onboard! She has her own bronze statue in the atrium of the Wonder.

 

 

B) I can't figure out the cabin structure. RCI peeps, we usually do a JS, sometimes a GS I can't seem to find an equivalent. What do you suggest? Disney staterooms are much larger than the staterooms on RCI ships. If you're booking the JS (287 sq ft on Oasis class) for the extra space, I think you'd do just fine in either a regular balcony stateroom (246 sq ft) or a family balcony stateroom (299 sq ft). If you're seeking the additional amenities of the GS, then you'll probably want to book a concierge-level room.The average Freedom of the Seas stateroom is larger than the average Fantasy stateroom. The Fantasy/Dream staterooms are 10% smaller than the Magic/Wonder staterooms. A JS on Oasis class is 287 sq ft PLUS a 78 sq ft balcony for a total of 365 sq ft whereas the category 4 on Fantasy is 299 sq ft including balcony. Disney staterooms also allocate a large proportion of their square footage to their split baths, roughly a total of 60-70 sq ft is in the bathrooms, so their staterooms feel smaller.

 

 

C) Have any of you made the switch for your kids? Good Decision or bad? I still can't help put think for less money than i'd pay for 4 days to Castaway Cay & Nassau. I could take RCI's Freedom for 7 days and go to labadee, falmouth, grand cayman, and cozumel, and we'd all love it.

I don't have kids, but I did book the Disney Fantasy for May and had/have similar thoughts. The reason I booked is because I wanted the experience. I'm seeking Disney-quality service. Will every cruise after that be a Disney Cruise? Probably not. But I'm looking forward to this one.My kids were not impressed. DD got food poisoning.

 

 

D) What's passenger space like? I hear Disney has the highest passenger count of any cruise line by far. I tried to fly home from my first Carnival cruise because I felt so packed in on the ship. I know they're kids so it shouldn't be as bad, but pics of those desk parties and fireworks shows look like everyones packed in there.

The Dream and Fantasy can accommodate 4000 passengers. Royal Caribbean actually holds the record for the most passengers on a cruise ship at 6,168 passengers (not including crew) on the Oasis in April 2010. http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=3795 Using your numbers, the Dream and Fantasy have a passenger:space ratio of 32.5 (130000 tons/4000 pax). Oasis has a passenger:space ratio of 36.5 (225000 tons/6168 pax), so Oasis has 12% more space per passenger.

 

E) Little ones. We have a 2month old too, She will probably be 8-10 months when we go. Do they handle this well? I feel like i'm wasting a lot of cash on having her go, when she'd just be another 2 hundred on RCI.

I have no experience with children, but I know that Disney is one of the best with toddlers and babies. Also, Disney is the only line to give discounted children rates by age... though still expensive.

 

F) I enjoy the pampering and the extras, is Disney good at that? How much do they focus on adults vs kids? Obviously this cruise will be more for my princess, but will I miss that great customer service I know from RCI and Celeb when they see we're loyal customers?

In my opinion, Disney really sets the industry standard for customer service.

One note about Ariel - yes, she is one of the core characters on DCL, so there is a 99.99999 percent chance she will be on board.

BUT, unlike at the Parks, they do not always have backups, so if 'Ariel' is sick, she may not appear. It's not likely at all, its be aware.

As far as Frozen goes, that seems to be in flux. I wouldn't promise them as that could change at any given moment either to the positive or negative.

I think you have to do it and decide for yourself if it is worth it. Someone can counter every positive or negative comment anyone makes. We've cruised Carnival once and Disney twice. I preferred Disney's Wonder to Disney's Dream. My kids hated the kids's activities on the Carnival ship. They said it was like daycare and one was required to share a bowl of popcorn with a stranger which seems particularly unsanitary.

I have felt like the Disney ship itself was the destination. I didn't care too much about the ports. Sea days are so relaxing. Maybe you'll find that to be the case traveling with an infant (sea days easier than port days).

Castaway Cay was great, but if you go to the beach regularly, no beach is too exciting. Next time around, if the kids are with me, I could go back to ship after lunch. If the kids aren't, I'm parking it at Serenity Bay!

FYI Ariel was NOT on our Disney Fantasy cruise back in January! Anna from frozen WAS however. boith girls were very disappointed Ariel was not there. I guess she was on vacation that week.

If you don't like the Bahamas, perhaps try Alaska? I'm going on the Wonder in August! :) Last time I went to Alaska via Disney, Ariel was onboard.

I was on the Fantasy in January with no Ariel as well. I was told that Anna was there instead (as in the casting was the same person) and they don't have the same person play 2 different characters on one cruise due to being recognized. More recent cruisers have said both are on board, so they may have gotten another cast member on there.

I can say, I LOVED Castaway Cay. So it will be a personal preference. It was beautiful, well maintained, and I didn't have to deal with locals peddling things to me. Kids loved scuttles cove and Pelican Plunge (I loved Pelican too!).

The other plus on board was that all of the evening entertainment was totally appropriate for the whole family - and then they did non-family appropriate shows later at night for adults only. Nice balance.

I would recommend not doing the short Dream cruises. You'll have a better cruise on the longer itineraries, less rushed feeling, better ports, more time to do the character meet and greets, etc.

Very helpful to hear!! thank you.

 

I am willing to cough up the cash for my little Ariel wannabe

 

 

Knowing she gets to see both Ariel and maybe Elsa and Anna, well that's all i needed to know...

 

 

Although hearing you don't like Castaway is important.

 

We were going to do disney world with a 4 day cruise. only going for castaway as I am not a big Nassau fan at all.

 

Also new ships go there.

 

but maybe i'll broaden my search now. :-)

I wouldn't say we didn't like Castaway, just not our favorite private island stop. Docking was convenient, although taking the trams once we got there took just as long as tendering would have. Next time we would skip the trams and walk to the beach. Family beach felt extremely crowded to us, but would of course be less so if you were on one of the smaller ships. We usually get a cabana at the private island stops, but wasn't an option for us on Disney as they are all snatched up by the repeat passengers who get to book them early. Anyway, it was ok, but we went back to the ship after a few hours to take advantage of fewer people onboard.

I'm with you on Nassau. Stay onboard and enjoy the ship when it is less crowded. We skipped St. Thomas on our Fantasy cruise and spent the day in the pools/slides with no crowds. Best day of the trip!

We did the cruise first and then Disney World after. If given the option I would do those in the opposite order. Do the parks first and then use the cruise afterwards to relax.

Oh, one other thing I forgot to mention that we really liked was that they do matinee performances of the shows. This worked really well for us with younger kids. We could do the show in the afternoons when the pool deck was most crowded and then the kids still had time to go to the kids club after dinner instead of rushing off to a show.

Seem like the consensus is not to do anything shorter than a 7 day, even when combining with Disney world. So... we'll knock the dream out then.

We're down to these three options

1) Fantasy Western - Caribbean: we can still pop into disney for a day before we go. love grand cayman, newer ship

2) Magic Southern -- This gives the daughter a disney ship, and the wife and I a couple new islands that we haven't seen. (mostly her but there's 2 new for me) Best of both worlds.... for us and the kids, just an older ship, and maybe less of a chance of ariel.

3) RCI --- I'm wondering more and more if it's smarter to wait for the newborn princess to get a little older and take both girls when they're 3 & 8. We have come cruise credit money in the pocked on RCI already. May make sense to just wait a few years... and maybe by then the bigger ships will be on the southern route.

Seem like the consensus is not to do anything shorter than a 7 day, even when combining with Disney world. So... we'll knock the dream out then.

 

We're down to these three options

 

 

1) Fantasy Western - Caribbean: we can still pop into disney for a day before we go. love grand cayman, newer ship

 

2) Magic Southern -- This gives the daughter a disney ship, and the wife and I a couple new islands that we haven't seen. (mostly her but there's 2 new for me) Best of both worlds.... for us and the kids, just an older ship, and maybe less of a chance of ariel.

 

3) RCI --- I'm wondering more and more if it's smarter to wait for the newborn princess to get a little older and take both girls when they're 3 & 8. We have come cruise credit money in the pocked on RCI already. May make sense to just wait a few years... and maybe by then the bigger ships will be on the southern route.

Those are all really great options. I chose the Fantasy Western for our upcoming cruise because I wanted to sail the newest ship for seven days.

Are you considering the Magic out of Puerto Rico? That itinerary was really enticing to me, but unfortunately not a time that I could have off for vacation. The Magic may be an older ship, but she actually just got an amazing refurb. They completely redid the children's areas to add the Toy Story children's center and also (your princess probably won't be impressed by this...) a Marvel Avengers Academy. All dining venues have been redone, as well as the pool deck which now has a more impressive kids' slide, as well as the Aqua Dunk water coaster. I don't think that you will be disappointed with this ship or itinerary.

Ooh... that's an interesting age difference between the princesses. If you wait until 8, the need for Ariel may be over (which I suppose would just save you money), but the 3 year old won't remember any of it. Though I don't have children, I completely understand why parents choose to bring theirs when they are too young to remember on any vacation - it's not necessarily about your children's memories, but about your memories of them. You know this because after all that is why you are considering the Disney Cruise - you want to create wonderful memories of your little Ariel. Would you regret it if you missed out on her 5-year-old enthusiasm? That's something that only you can decide.

I can say that I don't foresee Disney moving the Fantasy or Dream to the southern route (though I would love it if they did) within the next three years and that will only happen when they release a new ship. The Magic and Wonder sailed the same respective itineraries for about a decade before the Dream and Fantasy replaced them, allowing those ships to sail more unique itineraries.

I have two boys, so I can't really advise on the availability or princesses. However, I will offer the following opinions:

* I've always had good service on RCI, but Disney is next-level. Our head waiter brought a customized (PBJ) lunch for our son ashore at Castaway Cay (nuff said).

* We thought Castaway Cay was the bomb, but I can see where it might not be for everyone.

* The ship (Fantasy) was amazing, though I'll admit I haven't been on RCI's latest.

* It is expensive. $$$

Seem like the consensus is not to do anything shorter than a 7 day, even when combining with Disney world. So... we'll knock the dream out then.

 

We're down to these three options

 

 

1) Fantasy Western - Caribbean: we can still pop into disney for a day before we go. love grand cayman, newer ship

 

2) Magic Southern -- This gives the daughter a disney ship, and the wife and I a couple new islands that we haven't seen. (mostly her but there's 2 new for me) Best of both worlds.... for us and the kids, just an older ship, and maybe less of a chance of ariel.

 

3) RCI --- I'm wondering more and more if it's smarter to wait for the newborn princess to get a little older and take both girls when they're 3 & 8. We have come cruise credit money in the pocked on RCI already. May make sense to just wait a few years... and maybe by then the bigger ships will be on the southern route.

We took our kids on thier first cruise last year, my daughter was 8 and my son was 3. To me that was the perfect age, the older one could keep an eye her little brother while in the kids club -giving me a little piece of mind. I think any children younger than 3, will not remember much. My son still asks me to this day- when are we going on another Disney cruise. Yes, it is more $$$$, but we felt it was worth it. Our kids had a blast and that is priceless.

As far as rooms go there is nothing on Disney to compare to the Grand Suite on RCI which is what we always get. On Disney the one bedroom concierge is the way to go in my opinion. That is what we book on Disney and it is a great room. RCI has nothing like it. The owners suite on the Oasis for example is 569 sq. ft. The one bedroom on the Disney Dream or Fantasy is 500 sq. ft. These figures are without the balcony. However the Disney suite has a better floor plan and more amenities. And the bathroom on Disney is AMAZING!

I'll disagree with the consensus on this one. We just did a 4 day Dream AFTER the parks and found it a great way to wind down.

The one advantage for the older one on the cruise is there is a lot more character interaction available (shorter lines, etc) than you can typically do in the parks (the line for Cinderella was never more than 15-20 kids long at peak - biggest lines were for the special characters at Castaway Cay).

My suggestion, if you are doing the parks, is to go on the Dream after, which will give you a good taste of how Disney operates (rotational dining, food selection, entertainment, etc) and how it fits your family. Check out Castaway, skip Nassau or shop quick, and enjoy some adult time.

Then, at ages 3/8 or 4/9 do one of the longer itineraries if you want to continue with Disney, or go on RCCL.

BTW on a short cruise, I do not think concierge is worth the premium.

Seem like the consensus is not to do anything shorter than a 7 day, even when combining with Disney world. So... we'll knock the dream out then.

 

We're down to these three options

 

 

1) Fantasy Western - Caribbean: we can still pop into disney for a day before we go. love grand cayman, newer ship

 

2) Magic Southern -- This gives the daughter a disney ship, and the wife and I a couple new islands that we haven't seen. (mostly her but there's 2 new for me) Best of both worlds.... for us and the kids, just an older ship, and maybe less of a chance of ariel.

 

3) RCI --- I'm wondering more and more if it's smarter to wait for the newborn princess to get a little older and take both girls when they're 3 & 8. We have come cruise credit money in the pocked on RCI already. May make sense to just wait a few years... and maybe by then the bigger ships will be on the southern route.

Yes we realize if we go thus year it's only a trip for our oldest. We don't expect the infant to get anything out of it

I'm going to go check out the blogs

I love to see a fellow mermaid after my own heart. :) We love Ariel so much (well actually, if you see my office, my lunch bag, my phone cover and my 'snorkel' gear, its actually bordering on obsession I suppose :D)

We LOVED our Disney cruise and we don't even have kids, but we love the Disney brand and parks and cruising. After my last CCL, I had decided to give up cruising but the parents had other plans and now we are all HOOKED on Disney cruising. Our next one is in less than a month! Woohoo!

As for Castaway Cay, it is AWESOME. So much value there with the included food, drink and icecream, fruit, characters, snorkeling (long swim out but TONS of fish), and water slides, volleyball, funny hermit crab races, and we never even made it to the adult beach. This time, we are going to run the 5k, take our mermaid tails to the family beach (we will have at least 3 mermaids, maybe 4, this time) and then relax on a catamaran snorkel on the reef.

I have been to Labadee and CoCoCay (its been some years), and I still LOVE LOVE Castaway Cay for comfort and convenience and amenities.

I think if your family loves Disney as much as your photos show, you should at least give it a try once. I only did a 3 day and it amazed us. We are doing Epcot, Hollywood, 4 days on the Magic with the Sea Lion encounter on Blue Lagoon in Nassau, the snorkel catamaran and 5k on Castaway, a fancy brunch on sea day, and Sea World after debarkation. Land and Sea is a wonderful vacation. I used to only cruise 7 days or more, but I have learned that Disney can make other's 7 days look like a boring waste of time and money. If you can cruise a week, than definitely do that! But if you can't, cruise a few days less.

My favorite is no more than 2 days of parks prior to cruise, and a day or two after to chase away the cruise blues! If there was a decision to make on EITHER before or after, it's all good, but we prefer the excitement of wearing ourselves out at the parks under the fireworks first and THEN boarding the Magic and getting some down time and excitement...but its all good!

That's what I would...and am doing! :D

Ps, we had our photos take with Ariel (she had legs fyi) and told her that we snorkled as mermaids on Castaway that day and without missing a beat, she asked "oh, what color mermaids were you?" So its more than just photos, they actually interact and chat with you. We LOVED it...and we are in our 30s!

As far as the infant, no one does family cruising better than Disney. And the character photos with the babies are SOOOO cute. Talk about memories that will last forever!

I haven't sailed DCL in awhile but back when I did, you only paid the taxes and port fees when under 3. Is this the same policy now? RCCL charges full 3rd/4th pax rate for infants.

A short cruise is a good way to get the DCL experience. You won't spend much time in the room so consider just a regular balcony or one with and extended balcony instead of putting more money into space. I think its worth it to toss out the RCCL cost comparisons when the kids are young and you haven't done DCL yet. Later, sure, make the comparisons and they will age out of princesses so embrace it now.

You are paying for the DCL experience so by all means, especially traveling with a baby, don't think in terms of experiencing the ports. Nassau is a great opportunity to stay on the ship and relax some and do activities wouldn't have time for otherwise. Some others do excursions and the ship is less crowded. Cruising with a baby AND it being your first time on DCL....... I'd want to get off the ship for Castaway Cay only. IMHO

FYI, somewhere around this board is a WDW/DCL review by Jensieb. She stayed in a Little Mermaid themed room at the Art of Animation resort. You want to be sure that your daughter doesn't see it. The grotto shower is particularly cool.

FYI, somewhere around this board is a WDW/DCL review by Jensieb. She stayed in a Little Mermaid themed room at the Art of Animation resort. You want to be sure that your daughter doesn't see it. The grotto shower is particularly cool.

Here are the photos.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1742881&highlight=mermaid&page=40