When we first considered a Disney Cruise Line vacation, we had no idea what to expect.  Since we are used to very active vacations when we visit Walt Disney World — all that walking! — we didn’t know if we would be bored, stuck on a ship with nothing to do.  We couldn’t have been more wrong.  From the moment you board the ship, you will find a variety of activities that are far from boring.  In fact, you may even find that some Disney Cruise Line vacations are just as active as a Walt Disney World trip; there’s so much to do that you can end up running from one end of the ship to the other if you try to do it all.

In this post, we will try to cover a few of the typical onboard activities, not including the excursions you can take once the ship is in port.  There are many family activities on the ship, as well as targeted activities for children, adults, and special age groups (for example, teens and young adults ages 18-21).  This is just a sampling of the many types of activities available — the exact set of activities varies depending on the length of the cruise, itinerary, and the ship itself.

Live Shows

Every night, Disney will put on a live show in the Walt Disney Theater — the largest theater on the ship.  The live shows vary from Broadway-like musical shows, family friendly comedy shows, or magic acts.  The Disney-themed musical shows feature dancing and singing, often with cameo appearances from characters such as Mickey or Minnie.  The shows on a particular ship do not change very often — so if you’ve seen the show on a prior cruise, it probably hasn’t changed much.  The ships do offer different shows, so be sure and check if something different is offered.  In addition to the live shows in the Walt Disney Theater, Disney Cruise Line’s entertainment staff serve as emcees for a variety of family game shows where family members can compete and share their knowledge of all things Disney.

Entrance to Walt Disney World Theater

Movies

One of the most unique aspects of a Disney Cruise Line ship is their ability to offer quality movie entertainment — they are able to offer their wide range of Disney and Pixar movies onboard, One unique way to watch a movie on a Disney cruise is on “Funnel Vision” — the large screen mounted on one of the ship’s funnels adjacent to the main pool.  We’ve sat poolside on more than one afternoon at sea, watching a Pixar or Disney movie from our lounge chair.  It’s especially amusing to be at port and see passengers from other cruise lines watching the Disney Funnel Vision movie from their own ship!  Recent movies, including first-run movies and special 3-D pictures, can be viewed in the glamorously outfitted Buena Vista Theater.  Finally, the ships feature on-demand movies that you can watch from your stateroom.  We discovered several old favorites and even some new ones on our last cruise; in fact, you could probably spend your entire cruise watching Disney movies and not see them all.

Funnel Vision

Seminars and Classes

Disney Cruise Line features various seminars or classes for the entire family to enjoy on board.  These include towel and napkin folding sessions that show you how to make all the various shapes you see while on your cruise, either in your stateroom when you return at night or awaiting you at your table when you arrive for dinner.  There are also animation classes that teach you how to draw your favorite characters.  Each cruise offers a variety of craft sessions where attendees can make scrapbooks, door hangers, etc.  Finally, there are a variety of trivia contests on board as well, ranging from pirate to Disney trivia.

Towel Folding

Kids Clubs

As you would expect to find on a Disney ship, the kids are a large focus of the cruise.  In addition to the various pools and water features found on the ship, there are kids clubs geared toward children of all ages.  The It’s a Small World Nursery is available for children 3 years and under.  Space in the nursery is available via reservation and is an additional charge.  This should give most parents enough time to enjoy a night or two out.

One of the themed rooms in the Dream’s Oceaneer Club

The Oceaneer Lab and Oceaneer Club are for children ages 3 to 12.  The Club is a place for story telling, with themed rooms that vary depending upon the ship.  Characters will come into the club to lead the children in various activities, including Stitch, the Princesses, Mickey, Pluto, Goofy, Tinkerbell, and others.  The Lab is more for exploring and adventure.  Cooking classes, science experiments, and computer stations are some of the main activities in the Lab.  In the Club and the Lab, most of the activities are led by the counselors (or characters).

The computer section to the Dream’s Oceaneer Lab

The Edge is a place for the preteen crowd, ages 11 through 14.  The focus in the Edge is on group activities, including playing games, scavenger hunts all over the ship, and trips to the sports deck, facilitated by the Edge’s counselors.  In our experience, the Edge kids form connections early in the trip, so those first few days on the cruise are critical if your preteen wants to find other kids to hang out with.

The Vibe is the club for the teenage crowd, ages 14 through 17.  The Vibe usually has the best space on the ships: in the funnel on the older ships and forward on the new ships with their own sundeck.  We don’t yet have a child who has visited these clubs, so we can’t offer much advice.

You can rest easy knowing that the counselors can and will reach out to you via the onboard phone system if your child is at one of the kids clubs and needs you.  They will also feed your kids if they are in the clubs during lunch and/or dinner.  You can choose if you would like your child to check themselves out of the club or if the counselors should contact you when they want to leave.  There are no additional charges for the kids clubs with the exception of the nursery.

Adult Activities

Disney Cruise Line hasn’t forgotten about the adults on the ship.  There are lots of adult only activities to partake in.  One popular activity is alcohol tastings — there are many varieties offered onboard, including beer, whiskey, chocolate and liquor, tequila, and martini tastings.  These are usually offered at a “reasonable” price, around $20 or so per person.  If a seminar is not your thing, each of the ships has multiple adult clubs and bars to enjoy a drink or dance the night away.

There are spa facilities onboard all the Disney ships that will be happy to pamper your worries away for the right price.  Each Disney ship has a fitness center with a variety of exercise equipment and group classes ranging from yoga to spinning.  There’s also a track on Deck 4 where you can go for an outdoor walk or run (but mind the shuffleboarders!)

In our opinion, the best portion of the ships for adults is the adult only pool area.  Guests 18 and over can enjoy these areas without worrying about kids running around.  There are always bars in these areas to get a drink from.  The main pool area can get very loud with all the families enjoying the top decks, so we will often escape here for a bit of quiet time when our kids are enjoying the kids clubs.  The adjacent Cove Cafe is a nice touch as well — it’s the Disney ship’s gourmet coffee bar, where you can enjoy (for a small fee) a specialty coffee or alcoholic coffee drink.

One of the adult pool areas on the Dream

Summary

Regardless of whether you are young or just young at heart, there is no shortage of activities for you on a Disney cruise.  There are activities to fill every waking moment of your day, if that’s what you want to do.  There are also nice quiet places to relax and safe, fun, exciting places to send your kids off to enjoy.

If you have enjoyed this article, please be sure to check out our Disney Cruise Line information page, which has useful hints in addition to our cruise trip reports!

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