10 Things You May Not Know About Disney Cruises
1) Ride the AquaDuck!
When you see the cruise ship for the first time, you will obsess over the size of the vessel. As you approach, something else will draw your attention, presuming that you’re riding the Disney Dream or Disney Fantasy. These two ships come with a water coaster built into the very walls. To date, Disney cruises are the only place where you will find such a ride.
You may wonder what a water coaster is. In simplest terms, it’s a water slide that mimics the twists and turns of a roller coaster. The idea of constructing one on a moving vehicle seems impossible, yet Imagineers did just that. Called the AquaDuck, this monstrous ride is 765 feet long and is propped up by 46-feet tall stilts. You can watch this video to see the AquaDuck in action.
2) You Should Listen to the Ship’s Whistle
Sometimes, Disney Imagineers are a bit playful with their designs. While constructing the ginormous vessels in the fleet, they wanted to do something to make the ships more Disney-themed in nature. Specifically, they messed with the whistles.
You know what a ship whistle should sound like. When you’re on a Disney cruise, you may want to pay attention. You’ll realize that you are hearing songs instead of a whistle.
Specifically, the “whistle” plays recognizable Disney tunes like It’s a Small World, Be Our Guest, and When You Wish Upon a Star. The exact songs played depend on the cruise ship. You can make a game of the Name That Tune aspect of your ship’s whistle.
3) You Can Accrue Loyalty Points
Loyalty programs represent the best ways to maximize your purchase power at the places where you shop most frequently. Whether you have a sandwich shop card, a Pizza Hut account, or a Best Buy membership, you’ve gotten something heavily discounted at some point in your life thanks to your rewards.
Disney Cruise Line has a loyalty program of its own. The Castaway Club is exclusive to cruise guests. You don’t even need to sign up for it. The instant that you sail on your first cruise, you’ll become a member. You’ll start as a Silver member of the Castaway Club. On your fifth cruise, you’ll level up to Gold membership. On your tenth voyage, you’ll reach the final level, Platinum membership.
The benefits of this program are quite good. You’ll receive special booking windows for future cruises. You’ll get the first opportunity to schedule popular character greetings and meals. You’ll even get a special check-in at the cruise terminal, a huge benefit. Disney will also throw in a gift during your cruises to denote your status as one of their most loyal customers.
You may read a full list of Castaway Club member benefits here.
4) You Can Get Your Movie Fix
Disney Cruise Line knows what hooked you on Disney in the first place. Your love of Disney classic cinema is why you’re so passionate about your favorite characters. Thanks to the beautifully appointed movie theater onboard the ship, you’ll get to keep up with Disney’s latest cinematic offerings and experience some titles from the Disney Vault on the big screen.
Yes, each cruise ship in the fleet features a movie theater. Disney doesn’t scrimp on the film selections, either. Their lineup is so current that cruise guests sometimes get to watch titles that haven’t even been released in theaters yet! Their first-run titles include 3-D releases, too. Your kids will lose their minds at the thought of watching a Pixar movie in 3-D during a cruise. I guarantee it.
5) You Can Get Your Play Fix
Sure, you’ve seen most if not all of the movies in the Disney Vault. You’ve kept up with the current releases, too. Have you ever watched them as musicals, though?
At Walt Disney Theatre, your cruise ship presents that they proudly describe as “Broadway-caliber entertainment.” Frozen, Tangled, Beauty & the Beast, Aladdin, and Cinderella are all shows that you could potentially watch during your cruise.
Cast members also perform other shows that feature some of your favorite Disney characters. You’re going to love all the time you spend at the theatre during your Disney vacation.
6) Sheldon Cooper Would Love Disney Cruises
The character from The Big Bang Theory hosts Fun with Flags, a podcast/videocast that discusses flags of various countries around the world. He’d feel right at home on Disney cruises. They employ the nautical flag alphabet on their ships.
For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, it’s simple and not exclusive to Disney cruises. The International Code of Signals employs flags to send messages. One flag indicates the letter ‘A,’ another is ‘B,’ and so forth. The letters have nautical meanings such as C, which means yes. Well, technically it means “affirmative.”
When you wander around on a Disney cruise ship, you will see the flags. You may compare them to a provided alphabetical guide to learn the meaning of each one. Disney even uses the nautical flag alphabet on Castaway Cay. Knowing the codes will help you get around the cruise ship and island more easily.
7) You Can Tell the Ship by the Disney Character
Disney themes each of the vessels in the fleet in a memorable way. They create busts and other representations of Disney characters so that you’ll know where you are. When you see Steamboat Willie on the bow of the ship, you’re looking at the Disney Wonder. If Admiral Donald Duck is posing in front of you, you’re on the Disney Dream. And a gold statue of Minnie Mouse is the centerpiece of the lobby of the Disney Fantasy.
8) You Can Make Plenty of Friends on a Cruise
Disney cruises are an extrovert’s dream. If you love striking up conversations with strangers, you’ll have the time of your life. The maximum occupancy for these cruises is 4,000 people, with at least 2,500 guests on most of them. This number is based on double occupancy in the 1,250 available rooms. Of course, larger families add to the passenger total.
The actual number of humans on the ship is even larger. Disney cruises feature a crew of 950-1,458 on average. So, you’re likely to have somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000 potential new friends on each ship. The other thing that will impress you is the international nature of the crew. Disney’s cruise ship information indicates that the average cruise will include cast members representing 86 different nationalities.
9) Room Service Is Free
Whenever I tell friends this fact, they decide immediately to book a cruise. It’s 100 percent true, too. When you book a Disney cruise, free room service is part of the package. Sure, you should tip the delivery person a couple of dollars, but that’s petty cash.
When you vacation the right way with Disney, you never have to leave your room. You can hole up for as long as you want, and they’ll bring the food straight to your room! It’s so intoxicating that if this option were available in real life, I’d never leave the house. How about you?
10) You Will Eat a LOT
The best part of a cruise for many people is the food. These vacations aren’t a time for people to wear belts. You want loose-fitting clothing, preferably with expandable waistlines. You’re going to need the space since you’ll eat more than you ever have in your life. One of the most enjoyable parts of a cruise is the gluttony, after all.
Disney has collated some staggering statistics that support this notion. According to their fact sheet, guests on a seven-day cruise eat:
- “Beef – 5,000 pounds
- Chicken – 10,000 pounds
- Salmon – 1,200 pounds
- Shrimp – 1,300 pounds
- Lobster Tail – 1,000 pounds
- Melon – 15,000 pounds
- Pineapple – 4,500 pounds
- Eggs – 71,500
- Coffee – 57,820 cups
- Soda – 3,125 gallons
- Beer – 12,385 bottles/cans
- Wine and Champagne – 2,700 bottles”
Don’t worry. As long as you walk around and swim a lot, you’ll burn off the calories. If not, you can always start the diet the day you leave the paradise of a Disney cruise and return to the drudgery of the real world.
Look, everything about a Disney cruise is terrific. You owe it to yourself and your loved ones to schedule your dream vacation at sea. Speak with one of the wonderful agents at MickeyTravels to book a cruise. Their services are entirely free, and they’ll ensure that you will have the cruise of a lifetime! Bon voyage!
Thanks for explaining that you’ll eat a lot and that there will be the opportunity to burn it all off as well. My wife and I are looking for fun vacations to go on. We’ll have to look into Disney cruises and other fun things to do with Disney for adults.