Ahoy Matey

One of the most fun events during a Disney Cruise is Pirates IN the Caribbean Night! This is usually Castaway Cay night on 3 and 4 night cruises but could be a different night on 7 day cruises. The festivities kick off before dinner when Mickey & Minnie come to their character meet and greet in their Pirate attire. Guests are also encouraged to dress up for the evening by donning their best pirate costume (eye patch anyone?). If you just can't summon your inner Jack Sparrow then no worries tropical attire works too! Characters around the ship this night include Jack Sparrow himself, Captain Hook, Smee and Peter Pan.

On the 4 or more night sailings the three main dining rooms all have the same Pirate Menus on Pirate night with some delicious seafood featured. After dinner the real party kicks off! They have a kid-friendly pirate party at 8pm at the pool deck. There will be some dancing, singing and special surprises awaiting for the littlest pirates. After the second seating dinner there is more action up by the pool. More dancing, singing, a short skit and fireworks! That's right..fireworks..right from the ship itself! Disney is the only cruise line to do a fireworks show from sea. And if you know Disney you know their fireworks shows are spectacular!

After the fireworks show there is a dessert buffet set up and more adult entertainment on the pool deck.

For guests sailing aboard the Disney Fantasy, Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique transforms into the Pirate’s League on Pirate Night. Here swashbuckling boys, girls and grownups can get ready for the pirate life. Each guest gets an official pirate name then it’s off to Muster Station for applications of beards and bandanas, swords and scars, earrings and eye patches – all done with the savvy skill of a pirate master.

Get ready for swashbuckling good time!

Disney Cruise Rotational Dining

One of the unique things about Disney cruising is the Rotational Dining they use on the ships. Upon checking in each family is assigned a dining time (Main or Second Seating), a table number and a dining rotation. Your Key to the World Card will list a series of codes that tell you what dining room you are assigned to eat in on which night. This information will also be located on tickets waiting for you inside your stateroom. There are 3 main dining rooms on the ships and you will have the opportunity to eat in each dining room at least 1 time during your cruise. The unique thing is that your servers will rotate with you! You will meet your serving team at dinner on your first night. They will quickly learn about your family and will happily meet you in each dining room during your cruise. They will also make sure you know which dining room to go to the next evening and they will serve you breakfast on debarkation day.

Each dining room is very different both in the menu and decor. The rotational dining is a great opportunity to see different dining rooms and experience different menu options. It's wonderful to have the serving team follow you from dining room to dining room as well. They really take the effort to learn what your family likes and dislikes. You'll go home and really miss having that drink waiting for you at the table when you arrive for your dining time and having the "crumb comb" cleaning up after you each evening!

No Kids Allowed

My husband and I went on a Disney cruise this past September. We left our 4 kids at home. Yep..we, 2 adults, went on a Disney cruise without kids. By choice! When we told people what we were doing we got a lot of funny looks. Like people couldn't believe we were going on a Disney cruise WITHOUT kids. We absolutely loved it and in fact, booked another adult only cruise for this year!

Let's see if I can answer some common mis-understandings about traveling on a Disney cruise without kids:

Weren't there kids every where? I'm sure there was but honestly, we didn't notice. We sat at a dinner table with 6 other adults - 2 other couples and a pair of sisters that were traveling together. When we wanted to go to the pool we went to the adult only pool..where no kids are allowed. When we wanted to hang out after the shows we went to the adult only lounges. Again..there is strict monitoring to ensure that no kids are in those adult-only areas. At Castaway Cay - same thing..adult only beach! And the spa - heaven! And again..no kids allowed at the spa!

Isn't everything for kids on a Disney Cruise? Absolutely not! There is TONS of adult only entertainment. The ships have a fabulous cruise staff who puts on great programming for adults. From games at the pool to lively parties in the late evening there is always something going on.

What about those characters everywhere? While there are tons of opportunities to see Disney characters onboard we didn't seek out any characters so this wasn't a big deal to us. We occasionally would walk by a character meet & greet but we never stopped to say hi.

If you and your sweetie or girlfriends want to take an adult only trip I highly recommend a Disney cruise. It can be a very relaxing, peaceful and fun way to vacation! The service is unparalleled, the food amazing and the entertainment is fabulous!