ITINERARY: 7-Day Disney Cruise
If you are planning to go on a Disney Cruise to the Caribbean, this post will outline everything you need to know. Our family went on our first Disney Cruise in the spring of 2024 and it was an incredible vacation we will never forget. It was our first cruise and we loved it! I always work with Andrea at Pineapples & Pixie Dust for our Disney trips and she made the planning easy (Contact her here.)
Here is an overview of our itinerary, what we did and some Disney Cruise tips.
It is recommended that you fly to Orlando the day before your cruise to ensure that you don’t miss the cruise because of a flight delay. We actually decided to arrive two days early so we could have a day at Magic Kingdom before going on the ship. It was so much fun to do a single park day, and while it made for a longer trip, I would do it again.
We stayed at Disney’s Pop Century Hotel and it was great. Convenient, more affordable than other Disney hotels and had an easy restaurant right on site. I would definitely stay there again.
Arrival day
Because we stayed at a Disney hotel, we opted to use Disney transportation to get to the port. This meant we got to go straight on the cruise when we got to port, vs. our later afternoon assigned time. We met the bus at 10:15 am and departed about 10:45. It was a 90 minute drive to port. We then got checked in fairly quickly (it felt similar to customs at an airport) and then got on the ship. We immediately got a photo with Mickey and then explored the ship.
Per lots of recommendations, we brought a day bag with swimsuits on the ship, as luggage is not promised until 5 pm. (We had access to our rooms at 1:30 pm). After having a quick lunch on Deck 11 (the pool deck), we got on swimsuits in our room and enjoyed the ship’s big waterslide The Aqua Duck and the pools.
We then got dressed and did some more exploring and pin trading (read about pin trading here — this was so much fun!). We also met a bunch of characters before dinner. One of the things we loved about the cruise was the access to so many characters. This felt like a very different experience than the parks. Waits were typically very short, and we found characters throughout the whole week on the cruise. Definitely be sure to get an autograph book!
Sunday- Day at Sea
For our first day at sea, I got a facial in the morning (I booked this in advance, though it seemed pretty easy to get bookings on ship). While I enjoyed that, the kids enjoyed the pool deck and slide some more. The Aqua Duck slide went around the whole top of the ship and was so, so fun.
We participated in a gameshow type competition and Adeline and I won. It was such a shock and a great memory for us.
We also took time to prep our gifts for the Fish Extender gift exchange that we were participating in. (Ahead of a Disney Cruise definitely find the Facebook group for your cruise and join in the fun of doing the gift exchange. We loved it.)
That evening, we saw one of the ship’s Broadway-esque shows, Aladdin . The production on the shows is excellent and we really enjoyed the show.
That night was formal night, so we got dressed up and took a bunch of pictures with characters before dinner. I decided not to pack super formal outfits because it felt like a lot, but instead found cute matching outfits for the kids and me and thought they were perfect. I would say 2/3 of people were dressed up, but not formal.
Monday – Cozumel, Mexico
Our first post was Cozumel. Because we were first-time cruisers who had booked kind of late, most excursions were booked before we had the opportunity to book. In my research, I found that this is pretty common, but it is very easy to book excursions using services like Viator. We had great experiences throughout the trip and I was happy with my decision to book on my own.
For Cozumel, I booked a snorkeling tour that included sea turtles, fish and sting rays in Cozumel. We got off at the port and had about a 7-minute walk to the meeting point for the tour. We had an amazing time on this excursion – it was the best snorkeling of the whole cruise. We first had to take a taxi to the water, which was about a 20 minute ride. Then we went on the boat and had a 30 minute boat ride to the first snorkeling point, where we saw huge schools of fish and lots of beautiful underwater flora.
After that, we went to another area where there were sea turtles and baby nurse sharks. It was absolutely incredible.
We then went to a third location with huge star fish. By this point, my youngest Ezra was pretty tired, so he rested on the boat, while the big kids and I snorkeled.
I should point out that I brought snorkel masks for the kids and me, vs. using what was provided. I had read mixed reviews online about the cleanliness of gear and kids having a hard time with it, so this seemed like a good option, especially since we were going to snorkel in multiple locations. The kids and I really liked the full masks.
We ended the experience at a shallow area where we got to enjoy the water and some fresh guacamole and drinks. It was a great experience. (I wish I had more photos, but unfortunately I bought the photo package and didn’t ever receive it via email. If you book this tour, definitely have Whats App, which I didn’t have, as that was how they sent the photos…)
Every night we’d come back to our room and get delighted by the towel creations left by the crew.
Tuesday- Grand Cayman
Since we had a full snorkeling day in Cozumel Mexico, the kids wanted a more low key day. Rather than going to Sting Ray City (I had booked this tour), we canceled and decided to go to a beach for a few hours. 7 Mile Beach is the beach to visit in Grand Cayman and there are plenty of public access points. I asked the taxi drivers at port if they knew of a hotel that offered day passes to use their beach access and they recommended going to Tillie’s for lunch and the beach.
This was the BEST recommendation. I feel like we got so lucky because it didn’t appear that anyone else from the cruise was there. Tillies is a GORGEOUS hotel (rooms start at $1,000 a night), but there was no charge to eat at the restaurant, which was right on the beach.
Restaurant guests were then free to use the beach as well. It was absolutely wonderful. The food was excellent, the beach wasn’t crowded — we couldn’t have asked for a better few hours on the island. We got a table to eat and had a leisurely lunch, and played on the beach in between courses and when we were done.
It was an absolutely perfect day.
That night was pirate night and probably 90% of people were in pirate attire. It was sooo fun! I brought costumes with us and was glad we participated. Disney also provided pirate bandanas for everyone.
We were sure to walk around the ship and get photos with all the characters too. I can’t emphasize enough how much we loved the character interaction on the ship. They were really accessible and it added a lot to our experience.
We absolutely loved dinner each night. We were sat with another family that had two girls and we all became fast friends. We even planned an excursion together for Wednesday so we could spend more time together.
Wednesday – Jamaica
In planning for this port day, I considered doing Dunns River Falls, which is one of the most popular things to do in Jamaica. However, because I dealing with severe Achilles I decided it might be risky to do by myself with the kids. I was worried about making the injury worse, helping my littler ones climb, etc. I did some research and found a River Rapids Excursion that looked perfect – and it was perfect.
I did Dunns River Falls 20 years ago and honestly, I liked this River Rapids experience so much more. I would recommend it to anyone (and have multiple times since our trip).
It was really fun, different and memorable. The guides clip all the tubes together so you are in a group of 8-10. We climbed a small waterfall, jumped into the water and rode small rapids.
The guides were savvy on the river and it was such a great day. Our friends from dinner ended up joining us which made the day even better.
We went down the river and then ended up on a beach where we got to play in the water and have lunch (be sure to have cash!).
I’d highly recommend booking it. The tour met at 10 am, we left at about 10:15 and didn’t get back to port until 2:45.
Also worth noting, this was my kids’ favorite port to shop at. There were lots of great little vendors. Most people only accepted cash so be sure to have way more than you think you’ll need. Elias bought a carved lion head that I think he will have his whole life. I love that he chose such a neat keepsake.
That night we had a lovely dinner with our new friends and recapped the fun day together.
Thursday – Day at Sea
Our day at sea was very relaxing. I got a massage in the morning and it was really wonderful. the kids enjoyed the water slide.
We then spent some time at the pool. Elias enjoyed the teen club Edge. The kids saw the baby race, which we were told is always a cruise highlight (literally babies on the board race).
We had lunch at the Royal Court and then the little kids and I went to the pool. We also went to the magic show. We got changed and packed a bit. Then we visited a few characters, enjoyed dinner and the kids played shuffleboard with our friends.
Friday – CastAway Cay
For our last port stop, we got to enjoy Disney’s private island Castaway Cay. Lots of people told us that this was going to be our favorite day and it was. We booked an excursion through Disney to go fishing, snorkeling in a coral reef and stop at a small sandbar. The kids caught 12 fish between them and had the best time. It was their favorite excursion that we did.
We then enjoyed the snorkeling and seeing some really neat coral, though not as much fish and sea life as in Mexico. The sandbar was quiet and beautiful.
We got back around lunch time and headed to one of the island restaurants. The lunch was provided through the cruise and we had BBQ and burgers. Then we rented a sea trike for 30 minutes and enjoyed doing something we hadn’t done before. Afterward, we went to beach to enjoy the “lagoon” and relax. Adeline and I spent some time reading in the hammocks too.
We stayed as late as we could and got to the boat just before the 4:45 cut off time. It was a wonderful day.
Back Home
We arrived back to port early and flew home that afternoon. Our Disney Cruise exceeded our expectations in every way and we hope to do another someday!