Thoughts on our first Disney Cruise

[DisneyBride08]

Hi all,

We got back two weeks ago from our three week trip which included the four night cruise at the start of our holiday.

I wanted to tell you all that we left the ship in tears not wanting to leave but that sadly wasn't the case. It wasn't the fault of Disney Cruise Line it was just circumstances.

I have discovered that I suffer from seasickness. I didn't feel well even with tablets but I also had very little sleep. I think there was a mixture of exhaustion in there too as I didn't sleep very well on the days leading up to the cruise, or the first night.

The first night our son was terribly sick. They kept saying it was seasickness at first but he wasn't well all night and I was worried he had caught a bug. A trip to the hospital in the morning, our son has autism and is pre-verbal so this wasn't easy but the doctor was a true star. We discovered it was tonsillitis. To say I was relieved was an understatement. I'm also not sure if my son felt a little sea sick but we just can't tell. I was told that we had hit a rough patch by the crew.

I also underestimated how jet lag would wipe the kids out at the start of our trip. In hindsight I understand why people add cruises to the end. We were meeting family on this one so the timing was out of our hands.

The mix of the illness and the tiredness meant we only made it through one dinner, the last one. We also didn't see any evening entertainment.

This is what I was looking forward to the most and perhaps why I'm so unsure about how I feel about it all.

The children only went in the club twice for 30 minutes, this was our choice. My son was spotted sitting in a circle there which is an achievement.

We did have the dover cruise booked for next year but decided to cancel as I felt so ill. The nights were the worst for me.

That being said I would never say, never again. If we ever got the chance to go again I would like to try the 3 or 4 night at the end of the holiday. It was a learning curve.

The staff were amazing and really looked after us. Our stateroom host was a star. And the poor man who had to come in to help us that first night with the cleaning needed a medal. We didn't really get the chance to know our servers but we took full advantage of the room service.

Our little lady loved every minute and keeps asking to go back.

I have started to post our vlogs in the TR Florida section if anyone wants to take a look.

[Geordieprincess]

Ah what a shame, sorry to hear you had such a disasterous cruise.
My daughter is desperate to do a Disney cruise after going to see the Disney Magic at our local port a couple of years ago. I've done two cruises before we had kids - one Caribbean and one Alaska and both times I had really bad seasickness, though thankfully only for a day out of the week. It was enough to say never again though. Several years later and I'm really tempted by the 4 night Disney cruise from Miami as it has no sea days but it's one of the smaller ships and I can't get my head round what if we are ill. Other members of my family are cruise mad and keep telling me you don't get sick on cruise ships but I certainly do! It's such a lot of money to spend to have an awful time!
Hopefully you enjoyed the rest of your holiday.

[DisneyBride08]

Originally Posted by Geordieprincess

Ah what a shame, sorry to hear you had such a disasterous cruise.
My daughter is desperate to do a Disney cruise after going to see the Disney Magic at our local port a couple of years ago. I've done two cruises before we had kids - one Caribbean and one Alaska and both times I had really bad seasickness, though thankfully only for a day out of the week. It was enough to say never again though. Several years later and I'm really tempted by the 4 night Disney cruise from Miami as it has no sea days but it's one of the smaller ships and I can't get my head round what if we are ill. Other members of my family are cruise mad and keep telling me you don't get sick on cruise ships but I certainly do! It's such a lot of money to spend to have an awful time!
Hopefully you enjoyed the rest of your holiday.

See more...

This is why I felt we had to cancel to Dover one. I was so torn as my little lady loved the cruise so much. I could feel every movement and my husband thought I was mad lol.

The rest of the holiday was busy. Two children really do change your Disney experience

[Loulou127]

Originally Posted by DisneyBride08

This is why I felt we had to cancel to Dover one. I was so torn as my little lady loved the cruise so much. I could feel every movement and my husband thought I was mad lol.

The rest of the holiday was busy. Two children really do change your Disney experience

See more...

When we did a 3 night Dream cruise the minute I set foot onboard I could feel it moving, my oh thought I was mad !

[disney_l81]

I can sympathise with the sea-sickness - Coming from a tiny little island in the middle of the Irish sea and crossing it over the winter. We have done a few cruises now, the first one we did, I had no sea-sickness, so we booked another, to Norway. The 2nd day was quite rough and I had horrendous sickness, I visited the acupuncturist and he put these tiny little seeds in my ear- hey presto sickness gone. The last cruise we did towards the end of the cruise got a little lumpy and bumpy crossing the bay of Biscay but with my trusty ear seeds- no sickness or queasiness at all- I even managed a wine tasting class.

Hope you managed to enjoy the rest of your hols though and that your little man is now better.

[Smilesonfaces]

Such a shame you didn’t enjoy your cruise. Hope you enjoyed the rest of your holiday. It’s just awful especially when the children are sick.

Maybe if you decided to give it another try you could consider a larger ship and I think you feel movement less. We went on Royal Caribbean Harmony of the Seas and possibly due to the ship size we didn’t feel it move at all. We had had sickness during the villa stay the first week so I was a bit worried. Nothing at all during the cruise, felt like we were in a hotel not aboard a ship.

Hope you and the children are all fine and not put off cruising for life !

[Loopylooloo]

Hi, totally understand this feeling, am a terrible sailor, despite working for a cruise line for twelve years! I now use Phenegan, tablets, they make me a little drowsy so I take at bedtime, sleep like a baby then feel right as rain the next day, this has changed my cruising life, and I now never travel without them. Its basically a strong antihistamine- it just helps the balance issue, sometimes am worse when I get home, which is reverse sea sickness, but since using Phenegan have not noticed that either.
Be a shame if you never cruise again..
Am about to do a christmas markets cruise in december am terrfied of the rough seas across the channel wish me luck!

[Bats]

So sorry you felt poorly and that your son was poorly too, but it's great that you found some positives in it all.

Sea sickness is horrible, no doubt, but trying different methods is the key to finding something that works for you. Lots of people wear the wrist bands, the little sticker behind your ear or take a tablet. What works for one may not work for everyone so it really is necessary to try other stuff.

The medical centre onboard offers an injection (not sure of cost) and that apparently cures every one of their sickness. Goodness knows what it is!

We always take our cruise at the end of a park holiday as most do I think, but it's a learning curve for you of course. That jet lag is a nasty beast. Melatonin is a great thing to have for jet lag, we swear by it now. All natural and ok for children too (check with pharmacy if they're already on meds though).

The sea on the first night of a cruise departing Port Canaveral has 3 different bodies of water joining together so this can sometimes make it a little 'rolling'.

[Loopylooloo]

Originally Posted by Bats

The medical centre onboard offers an injection (not sure of cost) and that apparently cures every one of their sickness. Goodness knows what it is!
(

See more...

The injection is usually Phenagan, which is how I came across it! I just get my own now, as visiting the medical centre is costly, and jabs not fun. The acupuncture appeals though, I will look into that!

[Geordieprincess]

Originally Posted by Bats

The sea on the first night of a cruise departing Port Canaveral has 3 different bodies of water joining together so this can sometimes make it a little 'rolling'.

See more...

I know no one can predict rough seas, but all things being equal weather-wise, is Miami to Bahamas cruise likely to be less rolling than leaving port canaveral?
I'm torn between bigger ship from port canaveral but only 3 nights with no sea days or smaller ship (eek, always work on the bigger the better)from Miami 4 nights with no sea days - at Easter to avoid hurricanes, ... or is the Med or Baltic 7 nights in summer a better option? But again smaller ship and some sea days - How I wish I was a good traveller!