Disney Cruise Line

Overview

With the launch of Disney Cruise Line in 1998, families were offered yet another reason to take a cruise. The magic of a Walt Disney resort vacation plus the romance of a sea voyage are a tempting combination, especially for adults who discovered Disney movies and the Mickey Mouse Club as children. Mixed with traditional shipboard activities, who can resist scheduled opportunities for the young and young-at-heart to interact with their favorite Disney characters?

A Disney cruise begins even before embarkation if you opt to use bus transfers from the Orlando airport or Walt Disney World. A slick orientation video passes the time and gets everyone revved up for their first view of the ship. Passengers who added a pre-cruise stay at Walt Disney World seamlessly complete their cruise check-in before leaving the resort; check-in for the balance of passengers is handled in the efficient Port Canaveral terminal designed especially for Disney. While waiting to board, capture your children's attention by pointing out the cut-away model of a Disney ship and a map of the Bahamas and Caribbean inlaid in the floor. Shipboard entertainment leans heavily on popular Disney themes and characters. Parents are actively involved in the audience with their children at production shows, movies, live character meetings, deck parties, and dancing in the family nightclub. Teens have a supervised, no adults- allowed club space in the forward fake funnel, where they gather for activities and parties. For adults, there are traditional no-kids-allowed bars and lounges with live music, dancing, theme parties, and late-night comedy as well as daytime wine-tasting sessions, game shows, culinary arts and home entertaining demonstrations, and behind-the-scenes lectures on animation and filmmaking.

A giant-size LED screen has been affixed to the forward funnel on Disney Magic. Passengers can watch movies and special broadcasts while lounging in the family pool area. For many Disney Wonder passengers, the cruise is a three- or four-night extension of a Walt Disney World vacation, while Disney Magic sailings more resemble a traditional seven-night cruise with a Disney twist. All Bahamas and Caribbean cruises call at Castaway Cay, Disney's private Bahamian island with its own pier for convenient dockside debarkation. It's the only cruise line private island with a dock.

210 Celebration Place, Suite 400, Celebration, FL, 34747-4600. 407/566-3500 or 888/325-2500. www.disneycruise.com. Cruise Style: Mainstream.