I Went On A Disney Cruise With A Toddler, And It’s The First Vacation I’m Looking Forward To Doing Again
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Being a mom on vacation is wild. Even though you pack the sundresses, get on a plane, and head to a beautiful destination, you’re still a mom. You still have to deal with the sleepless nights, the blowouts, car seat logistics, sunscreen overkill, and a whole host of new challenges. Sometimes, staying at home feels easier.
I am a mom to a one-year-old, and because life’s funny like that, I have traveled more frequently with my one-year-old than I ever had before him.
Actually, Finny and I have been to six states and two countries together, and each trip feels like I’m exponentially more exhausted coming back than I was before I left.
Which is why I was incredibly hesitant when Disney offered me a stateroom on the Magic to see their new island destination, Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point (which I actually enjoyed and you can read about that here). How would an ex-baby who still doesn’t sleep through the night do on a contained boat? Would I piss off absolutely everyone when he inevitably screams himself to sleep? What is there for a baby to do on a cruise ship when all he likes doing is walking 20 feet then falling down in an empty field?
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My gentleman loves Mickey Mouse and splash pads so I decided to give it a whirl.
I am also very fortunate that, while he doesn’t sleep through the night yet, he is a great plane napper, and has napped (sometimes entirely through) plane rides.
Our cruise was leaving out of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, FL, and one of my main gripes about cruises is how you have to take multiple methods of transportation to get on another method of transportation. It’s a lot of effort! Between the time difference and the two planes, three shuttles, and bus it took to get to the ship, we were already exhausted, and his sleep schedule was super messed up.
He actually napped while we boarded the ship, and I was incredibly excited to hurry up and board so we could start relaxing. I’ve found myself doing that more as a mom, trying to get from point A to B as fast as possible so there’s time for rest/nap at point B.
While he napped, we headed to the buffet (which I got to eat with TWO HANDS while he slept in the stroller). Usually I only get to eat with one because I end up feeding him in my lap.
I can really understand why buffets and cruises go hand-in-hand because it feels like the buffet on the Disney Magic had everything. My family eats mostly a vegetarian diet (including my son), and I was surprised at how easy it was to find things that fit into that on the buffet line.
When Finn woke up, he wasn’t too hungry, so we headed to our state room. He LOVED the stateroom, and it was amazing for me, too. He loves hotels, and this was especially great because EVERYTHING WAS SECURED. I didn’t have to worry about him knocking something down on himself, the outlets were all up high, and the drawers were no-slam.
This was his playground. I was able to close the door to the bathroom and the door to the shower room so they latched, and the closet was too heavy for him to open himself.
It was at this point we busted out some snacks. I became increasingly worried my snack supply would reach a critical level before the cruise ended. I’ve found what I miss most about being a parent on vacation is my reliance on my dog to be a snack Roomba. I always have to pick up the snack bits in the hotel room, and of course, some inevitably end up getting squashed under my feet.
He napped during the mandatory safety drill (the places kids can fall asleep never cease to amaze me) and then we got ready for dinner.
Disney Cruise Line does “rotational dining,” which means over the three nights of the cruise, we ate at all three restaurants on board, and our server followed us.
This was the point I realized how amazing having dinner so close by was. We’re always late to things. I was never the “20 minutes early” kind of person before kids and now I’m even more late trying to get a second person ready.
Our first night was at Rapunzel’s Royal Table, which was a four-minute walk away. Finny feels lukewarm about princesses, but he is always down to give a high five.
At the restaurant, I was happy that there was already a cup with a straw (I forgot his sippy in the room), a high chair, and crayons and a coloring book. He’s not excellent at coloring yet, and I had to remind him multiple times not to eat the crayons, but I did get him to doodle a little.
Luckily there was a little show where ruffians and Rapunzel sang, and they were very prompt with the food. Finny really liked gnawing on the bread rolls. He only has four teeth and I think others are going to break through any minute.
I’m really glad they kept the food coming. We never eat out at home. It’s too hard to keep him entertained, and I end up just leaving the table to go walk around outside, but he was very content with the bread. Before our entree, the server came by and even made him a napkin bunny that he played with for three minutes!
I was struggling to find something for Finn on the kid’s menu because his tummy has a hard time with meat. He ends up even more restless at night, and the past few with the jet lag had been very touch-and-go, so I didn’t want to give him something that would bother him. Also, the kids menu turned into a Rapunzel lantern.
The waiter asked what Finn liked eating at home, and I rattled off that he likes things like veggies, tofu, beans, pasta, etc. I was gobsmacked when he came back with a special order just for Finny!!!
Finn loved his food (and the fruit sorbet that came after it), and the waiter asked how it was and what should be changed for the next night. It was at this moment I realized dinner was actually easier than if I had stayed at home. I didn’t have to make anything and he got exactly what he would normally eat.
That night was a show. The Magic had Broadway-style shows every night, and the first night was a Tangled show. I wasn’t sure he’d be able to sit for the show, and I was right. He didn’t make it through the intro until he started babbling at an audible level, I got self-conscious about the noise he was making, and we left.
It was actually amazing skipping the show because it felt like everyone else on the boat was at the second seating of dinner or at the show, so we had the whole place to ourselves.
He LOVED running around on the deck. If it was up to him, he would just do laps on the deck. I was scared at first of him falling overboard, which I equate to the episode of Friends where Rachel is worried a hawk will fly through the window and steal Emma. Everything had safety glass and there was really no risk of that happening, and I got over that quickly and let him run free (with me dutifully following him, of course).
The ship actually had a running trail (that I didn’t see anyone on), that went all the way around the boat, so we did a few laps on that, then headed back to the room.
When we headed back to the room, the crunched Cheerio on the floor was gone, the bed was made, and the room was cleaned! I had only been on one cruise prior and totally forgot there was a turn-down service.
The bed rail was already on the bed, and walking back to a clean room for bed time that I didn’t have to clean was so, so unbelievable.
He had a hard time getting to sleep, and I was anxious that the neighboring staterooms would hear him and hate me, so he and I walked around the ship until he fell asleep.
I walk around A LOT of places in the middle of the night trying to get that man to sleep, but this was my favorite. Areas around the theater and restaurants didn’t have people, weren’t around staterooms, and had pleasant instrumental music and warm lighting. I didn’t feel pressured to quell his light fussing, and liking the atmosphere added to my patience in getting him to sleep because I didn’t mind doing laps and swaying.
The next morning, we woke up in the harbor of Lighthouse Cay, and I was exhausted. Staying up late to walk the child around, getting up with him in the middle of the night, AND everything we did the day before took it out of me.
I am incredibly fortunate to travel with my mom and sister, who love Finny, and they took him to breakfast and a craft while I took a nap.
We ventured onto Lighthouse Cay. My fear of my baby’s skin and the sun is real. I slathered him with sunscreen. Travel time where he doesn’t sleep as well makes me hyper-aware of anything that could hurt or ail him because I don’t want him to sleep worse than he already does.
We were told to be back on the ship by 5 p.m. and we were buzzer beaters. I thought for sure he would sleep well because of all his playing and how we were all sun-tired. He was “sad gross beach kid,” a term I coined that describes a kid whose cheeks are red, whose skin is sticky from sunscreen, whose feet and hands are sandy, and whose unbelievably tired from a day of tropical fun (you know the one).
We had dinner at Lumiere’s, the French Beauty and the Beast-themed restaurant on board, and it was, by far, the adults’ favorite food on the cruise.
I wanted to take him to a kid’s club, but I found out the Oceaneer Club is for kids 3â12. The Nephew’s Splash Zone on the ship also closed at 6 p.m. so that wasn’t an option. I thought, “What is he going to do?”
The ships do have an “it’s a small world” nursery for kids 6 monthsâ3 years, but I have a Velcro child who gets really mad when I’m not around. Plus, you have to make reservations, and it’s $9/hour, which is cheap for babysitting, but I also don’t like being away from him, so we opted not to use the nursery.
Instead, we wandered around the boat again. While I thought it was boring, I had to keep reminding myself that Finny was having the time of his life. All of the cast members were giving them stickers when he waved to them; he was able to drift in and out of events and people-watch; and we’d run into characters!
The second night was Pirate Night. They have a pirate-themed deck party and all of the characters were out in their swashbuckling best. We had to see our main man, Mickey.
He’s so amped to see the characters when we’re waiting in line. Like, his whole body will lean forward towards them, and then when we get to them, he gets really nervous.
I tried SO HARD to keep him up for the Pirate Party and fireworks, which started at 10 p.m. He fell asleep at 10:02, missed the majority of the party, missed fireworks, and woke back up when we got to the room. He fell back asleep at 1 a.m.
The last day we docked for the day in Nassau, but Finn and I stayed on the boat. While I did a thing for work, Finn met four (4!) princesses. He took a three hour nap on me while I sat on the balcony and watched a storm come in. It was really lovely to just sit and not have to worry about dishes or laundry or answering emails.
It rained most of the day, but we were all good because we had a Dole Whip. We were also pretty tired still from traveling and Lighthouse Cay, so it was nice to have a day to chill, walk around, and meet characters.
Also, I learned that the kids clubs all have a couple hours every day for an open house where anyone can go play in them regardless of age. Finny liked walking around and playing in there, and it was nice that I could go with him.
Our last dinner was at Animator’s Palate, which had a special surprise visitor who stopped to make a special visit to Finn.
The adults agreed that Lumiere’s was still our favorite food-wise, but Animator’s Palate was our favorite theme-wise.
When we got back to our CLEAN room (seriously, I can’t stress enough how awesome this was and how luxurious this felt), we got into jammies and played a little before bed.
He slept through the night! There’s something to be said about just how much you do on a cruise! I actually had to wake him up to disembark, which I was worried about because packing up everything and schlugging it to the next stop is so much work, but we literally walked right off the boat and breezed through customs to our bus. It probably took 10 minutes.
Since then I have been looking into another Disney cruise, and never in my life did I think I would become a cruise person. However, it was three days without chores, without making do, and without having to plan an itinerary. It was all done for me. The mental load was less, the service was great, and for the first trip since I had a baby, it felt like a vacation and an escape from the grind.
The “kid” features were not what I liked on the Disney cruise either. We didn’t use the nursery or the kids clubs, we didn’t go to every show, and we didn’t try to hit every event, but I had to constantly remind myself that he thinks the little things are amazing, like the cup covers on the cups in the room and the light switch by the nightstand.
After running the gamut of trips with my little one from national parks to beaches to family gatherings to Disney World, this felt the most baby-friendly (and probably not in the way it was meant to be). 10/10 would recommend a Disney Cruise with a one-year-old.
I have a lot of beef with people who say “he won’t remember this, why are you taking him?” which I’ve heard everywhere from vacations to sporting events. The truth is, I don’t want to be confined to my house because I am still an adult who likes to go places and do things.
Have you taken a favorite vacation with your wee one? If so, where did you go, and why was it great? Tell me in the comments below!
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