Our First Disney Cruise: Everything You Need to Know About Sailing on the Disney Magic

Last Updated on March 27, 2026 by Adrienne

Our family recently returned from our first Disney cruise, four nights on the Disney Magic out of Galveston, Texas. I’m not a big Disney person and we haven’t done much Disney stuff before (save for one day at Disneyland), so although we knew our 7 year old daughter would have a great time, my husband and I weren’t sure how much fun a kid-packed, Disney-themed cruise would be for the adults. But we ended up being pleasantly surprised, and thoroughly enjoying the food and entertainment on board as well as watching our daughter take advantage of all the character encounters. I thought I would share a recap of our cruise and our thoughts on what Disney does well and what could be improved. This is a very long recap, because when I was planning our cruise I loved reading comprehensive reviews with lots of details. If you’re looking for specific information, feel free to skip around using the table of contents, or leave me a question in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer!

If you’re looking to book your own Disney cruise, I’m also an independent travel advisor who would love to help. I can typically offer onboard credit in addition to any promotions Disney may be running, and I’ll also manage the booking of your shore excursions and onboard activities (yep, that’ll be me logging in at midnight to make sure everything is booked in a timely fashion, not you!), handle any issues that may pop up and be there from booking to disembarkation with any questions you might have. There’s zero cost to you, and you can book through me even if you have a placeholder or a voucher to use. Already booked? You can transfer your booking to me to take advantage of the onboard credit offer if you booked directly with Disney in the last 30 days and haven’t yet paid in full. Reach out to me today at adrienne.miller@fora.travel for more info or to start planning your Disney cruise!

What to Know Before You Go on a Disney Cruise

What’s Included and What’s Not

• Most dining (three main “rotational” dining rooms, a buffet, room service, and a variety of grab-n-go options), soda, juice and basic coffee and tea are included. An adults only a la carte restaurant (Palo), alcoholic beverages and specialty coffees are not included. Lots more details about Disney Cruise Line dining can be found below.
• Production shows, sail away parties, deck parties and character meet and greets, including Royal Gathering (a meet and greet with three rotating princesses which must be reserved in advance), are all free. Special experiences like Royal Tea and Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique cost extra.
• A kids club for ages 3 (potty trained) to 17, divided into groups by age, is included. There’s also childcare on board for children under 3, but a modest hourly fee applies.
• As with most cruise lines, off-ship excursions, professional photos, gratuities, Wi-Fi and spa treatments are not included.

What You’ll Want to Book in Advance and When

You’ll be able to book certain onboard experiences in advance of your cruise at designated times. Windows open at midnight eastern time and things book fast, so do hop on it ASAP.

Note that the times given below are for first time Disney cruisers. If you’re a returning cruiser with Silver or higher status with Castaway Club (DCL’s loyalty program) you’ll have earlier windows than first-time cruisers, with progressively earlier booking times for higher status.

ASAP: Dining times

Unless you book your cruise way in advance, you may not have much choice of dining times. Early dining (5:45 pm) was already sold out when we booked almost six months before our sail date, so we had the late seating at 8:15 pm. If you can’t get early dining when you book, you may be able to switch when you board the ship.

75 days before your cruise: onboard activities and shore excursions

This is your chance to book most onboard activities and excursions, including princess makeovers at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, special meals like the Royal Tea and Olaf’s Royal Picnic, and shore excursions (“port adventures” in Disney speak).

30 days before your cruise: Online check-in and Royal Gathering

This is when you’ll check in and select your Port Arrival Time, e.g., how early you can get on board the ship. It’s also when you’ll book the Royal Gathering, a free but ticketed princess photo op. If you’re interested in Royal Gathering, book that first, as it can book up within minutes and being a few minutes late to check-in won’t impact your PAT much.

Disney Cruise Line Itineraries

Disney sails most of its existing fleet in the Caribbean, with one cruise ship typically summering in Alaska and another in Europe. Itineraries tend not to be very port-intensive, which initially put me off a Disney cruise, but the more I learned about Disney, the more I realized that the ship is the main draw here. In fact, on our 4 night western Caribbean cruise with only one port (Progreso, Mexico) we ended up just staying on the ship the whole time. Relative to other cruise lines, Disney also does a lot of 3 and 4 night and fewer 7 night itineraries, which, again, initially seemed like a drawback. But Disney is expensive per night, so this helps bring down the overall cost, and since the onboard entertainment is the highlight, you don’t really need a full week on the ship. Each ship has three main shows and three unique restaurants, so a 3-4 night cruise really is plenty to get a taste of everything.

Embarkation

Embarkation from the port of Galveston was pretty smooth. We had secured a 12:15 Port Arrival Time at online check-in and arrived around 12:25 due to heavier than expected traffic. We were able to head right on inside and after some brief lines for security and check-in, we were boarding the ship! We were in Cabana’s buffet having lunch shortly after 1 pm. You can go to your stateroom any time after 1:30 pm, although luggage may not arrive until quite a bit later so I recommend packing a day bag with anything you’ll need for your first afternoon – including swimsuits, if applicable – and carrying that with you on board. Disney does a cute thing where they announce every family by name when you board the ship, and the assembled staff cheer for you. It’s a small thing, but I thought it was really cute and a great way to start off the cruise.

The Ship

The Magic is Disney’s oldest ship, launched in 1998. She looks great and doesn’t really show her age, thanks to several dry docks for restorations, the most extensive of which was in 2018. There are a few stains on the carpets in some places, but that was really the only one wear and tear I noticed. I was also impressed with the cleanliness on board. You can tell Disney devotes significant staff time and attention to cleaning the public areas, because they were spotless. I also appreciated the attention to personal hygiene, including handwashing stations outside the buffet and kids clubs.

Stateroom

We had a deluxe oceanview stateroom on Deck 2. It was pretty good-sized for a cruise cabin and I especially liked the large porthole window, the amazingly comfortable bed and the fact that the toilet and shower are in separate rooms and each have a sink. There’s also a curtain that divides the kids’ sleeping area from the adults’ which would be useful with really little ones who nap or go to bed very early. I don’t think I would have wanted to be in an inside stateroom, but with the large window I didn’t miss having a veranda at all.

Dining Onboard the Disney Magic

Main (Rotational) Dining: Rapunzel’s Royal Table, Lumiere’s and Animator’s Palate

Disney Cruise Line has a very unique main dining room set-up. Guests rotate through three different themed restaurants. Your waitstaff rotates with you, so you get to know them the same way you do on other cruises. The rotation is assigned in advance and if your cruise is more than 3 nights, you’ll repeat restaurants (with different menus).

I wrote a whole blog post about the Disney Magic’s three main restaurants, Rapunzel’s Royal Table, Lumiere’s and Animator’s Palate, but the short version is that we thought the main dining room food was very good to excellent (with the exception of breakfast, where we preferred the buffet). Some standout dinner dishes included the prime rib from Rapunzel’s, the chocolate opera cake from Lumiere’s and the focaccia bread with garlic dip and black truffle pasta purseittes from Animator’s. At lunch I loved the hazelnut chocolate molten cake available on the first full day. There’s tons of kid-friendly food for picky eaters, although kids with more adventurous palates are welcome to order off the regular menus.

Cabana’s: The Main Buffet Onboard the Disney Magic

Cabana’s is the Disney Magic’s main buffet and is where we had many of our breakfasts and lunches. Note that unlike on many cruise lines, the buffet is not open for dinner. We generally found Cabana’s food to be pretty good. Highlights from breakfast included crispy bacon, the blueberry muffins (so moist and with a perfect crunchy top), the iconic Mickey waffles (the churro version is typically available on the morning of the last full day) and really excellent French toast. Lunch highlights included the roast turkey carving station, individual chicken pot pies, the daily focaccia varieties and pretty much any pasta dish. I’d heard a lot about how bad Disney’s drip coffee is, but I thought it was fine. I’m not a connoisseur though. Cabana’s could be crowded and a little hectic, however we were usually able to find a table within a minute or two of looking.

Grab-n-Go Options

The pool deck has a variety of free grab-n-go options, including the Duck-In Diner that serves hot dogs and chicken fingers, along with shawarma bowls (a nice touch for adults who get sick of the omnipresent American/Italian/French fare on cruises), Pinocchio’s Pizzeria, and soft serve at Eye-Scream, which really hit the spot during pool time. There are also a couple of casual spots with an upcharge: Frozone (smoothies) and the Cove Cafe (specialty coffees) but with so much free food available we didn’t feel any need to pay extra for these.

Palo (Additional Cost)

The Disney Magic’s adults only specialty restaurant is Italian-themed Palo, which serves both brunch and dinner. Reservations are hard to come by; I tried to get one when our booking window opened, but I wasn’t able to. DCL fans rave about the food here.

Shows, Characters and Onboard Entertainment on the Disney Magic

Production Shows

Each Disney cruise ship has several long, Broadway-style shows. The Disney Magic currently has Tangled (a faithful adaptation of the 2010 movie with a few original songs), Twice Charmed, a delightful alternate version of Cinderella with original music and lyrics, and Disney Dreams, a show featuring a variety of popular Disney characters and classic songs. The sets, costumes, acting and singing in these shows are spectacular and it’s really not an exaggeration to say they’re Broadway-caliber. I particularly enjoyed Twice Charmed, since it was a brand new story and it felt like we were seeing an amazing new musical before its public premiere. These shows were a highlight of the cruise for our whole family; absolutely don’t miss them.

Character Greetings and Royal Gathering

Character greetings were another big highlight of the cruise for my 7 year old daughter. There are scheduled character encounters throughout the day (more on sea days, as you’d expect) and you may run into a character informally, although that only happened to us once. Lines for these can be pretty long – I’d say 15-30 minutes is pretty typical – so if you have very young children you may want to send an adult ahead to hold a place in line. The Disney Magic currently has a variety of popular princesses including Cinderella, Rapunzel, Belle, Ariel and Tiana, as well as Mickey and Minnie (in cute captain’s outfits), Goofy, Pluto, Donald Duck and other beloved Disney characters. Marvel superheroes and Encanto characters also make an appearance at one point.

Disney also offers a free but ticketed character opportunity called Royal Gathering that you can book at midnight 30 days before your sailing date. This lets you meet three princesses (on our sailing it was Belle, Cinderella and Tiana) with one line. There’s really no need to book this, as all these princesses can be met individually as well, but if you have a princess-obsessed kid it’s really fun, and an easy way to knock out three characters in one go. I also think you get a bit more time with the princesses here.

Pirate Night

Pirate Night is a big thing on Disney cruises with a special menu in the dining rooms, and a deck party that culminates in a fireworks show. Disney is really proud of the fireworks display and boasts of being the only cruise line that does this. The pirate deck party is traditionally held at 10 pm, but I’ve heard that Disney often moves it up to 7:30 pm (between the early and late dinners) when sunset times permit, and indeed they did that on our cruise, which was really nice for those of us with younger kids who weren’t going to make it until 10:30 pm. Disney provides free Mickey pirate bandanas to all guests, but many people also wear more elaborate costumes on this night, and there are opportunities to take photos with fun pirate backdrops.

Royal Court Royal Tea

Every Disney ship has one paid character experience. The Magic’s is Royal Court Royal Tea. I love a proper afternoon tea service, but I read a lot of reviews online that said the price for this was not worth it because the food and character interactions are very basic and you’re mainly paying for the souvenirs you get to take home. With so many free opportunities onboard to meet princesses (and plenty of stores in which to shop for toys) we opted to skip it and I have no regrets.

Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique

A visit to Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique is expensive but a really fun add-on for younger girls who love princesses. You can buy the full package that includes a princess makeover as well as a dress and accessories from their shop, or pack your own dress and opt for the cheaper package that’s just the makeover. And on the ship you don’t have the time pressure that you do in the parks. If you can choose when you book your appointment I recommend lunch time or early afternoon, so you can take advantage of water activities in the morning but still have plenty of time to wander the ship and get photos post-makeover.

Other Onboard Entertainment

In addition to all of the Disney-specific things described above, DCL has many kinds of entertainment that are standard on other cruise lines including a spa, fitness center, bars/lounges and organized activities like karaoke, trivia, cooking demonstrations and a sailaway party – many of them Disney-themed, of course.

Pools, Waterslides and Onboard Sports

There are three main pool areas on the Disney Magic, all on the same deck (Deck 9): the quiet “Cove” adults only area in the forward part of the ship, Goofy’s Pool and the AquaDunk waterslide mid-ship, and the AquaLab splash pad and Twist ‘N Shout waterslide in the aft.

The adults only pool in the Cove is really nice. All of the pools on the Magic were nicely heated (which was appreciated since even in March it could get really chilly, especially on our sea days), but the adult pool was heated to almost hot tub temperatures and was bliss. We didn’t get to spend much time there, but when we visited it was quiet and serene and a nice retreat from the much more crowded family-friendly areas.

Goofy’s Pool is about 4 feet deep and has a massive screen above it showing Disney movies. It was almost always jam-packed with kids. Our kiddo enjoyed it, but my husband and I found it kind of overwhelming. Cruise ship pools are always crowded though; I don’t think that’s a huge failing on the part of Disney. No one in our family tried the very steep AquaDunk slide, but it seemed like the lines for it were minimal.

Our 7 year old’s favorite water feature on the Magic was the gentle Twist ‘n Shout slide, which she rode over and over again. I went on it a few times too and really enjoyed it, and thankfully wait times were minimal here as well. The slide doesn’t dump into a pool, so kids don’t need to be strong swimmers to go on it. This part of the pool deck also has the Aqua Lab splash pad area for kids as well as a splash pad area for toddlers who still wear swim diapers.

The Disney Magic also has a sports deck on Deck 10, with a basketball court and ping-pong tables. Other sports, including shuffleboard and a running track, are located elsewhere on the ship.

Oceaneer’s Club and Oceaneer’s Lab: The Disney Magic Kids Clubs

Disney has a variety of complimentary youth clubs, including the Oceaneer’s Lab and Oceaneer’s Club for ages 3 (potty-trained) through 10, the Edge tween club for 11-14 and the Vibe teen club for 15-17. Kids who miss the cutoffs by a year or so can typically age up with parental permission, but Disney is very strict about no aging down. There’s also a nursery for children ages 0-3 where babysitting is available for a surprisingly modest fee. Unlike the complimentary kids clubs, this requires an advance reservation.

I expected great things from Disney’s kids clubs, and truthfully this was the one major area where the cruise didn’t live up to my expectations. While the physical facilities were great and included delightfully themed play areas (as you can see above), and the staff we met were very friendly, I was a little surprised by how prevalent screens were in the younger kids clubs. In addition to movies playing on big screens in the background, they also had a lot of personal devices out almost all the time in both the Club and Lab. We’re not a family that’s especially conservative about screentime, but I feel like at Disney prices they could be doing more to be engaging kids, especially the little ones, in non-screen activities. I get that tweens are hard to pry away from video games, but there’s really no need for tons of iPads in a club that serves 3 year olds, in my opinion.

Another issue with the kids clubs was the fact that they had extended “open house” hours during which adults were required to stay. On the first day it was nice to have an open house so we could all visit and familiarize ourselves with the space (and I understand that many kids may be reluctant to be dropped off without a visit with a parent first), but some of our subsequent cruise days had as many as four hours per day of open house times, which seems excessive. Even worse, many of the most appealing activities and character encounters, including Woody and Jessie from Toy Story, happened during the open house hours, so kids under the age of 8 couldn’t attend those things without a parent (those 8+ can check themselves in and out of the club and can go alone during open house hours). That kind of defeats the purpose of the kids club. I’m not sure if the club was understaffed during our sailing or what – that could potentially explain both the over-reliance on screens and the excessive open house hours. But I was surprised and truthfully pretty disappointed after hearing so much about how amazing Disney’s kids clubs are.

Service

While we did meet a cast member or two who seemed less than thrilled to be in their job, on the whole I thought Disney’s service met or exceeded the generally high standards of the cruise industry. Our servers were amazing about getting us in and out of the dining room quickly, which was much appreciated since we were doing late dining with a 7 year old and our home time zone was 1-2 hours ahead of ship time. And, as I expected from Disney, everyone did a great job of focusing on the kids and making sure they were having a great time.

Disembarkation

I don’t know that disembarking a cruise ship is ever a great experience, but our experience on Disney was about as good as it gets. Disney assigns everyone a time to eat breakfast in a main dining room, which I really liked because it was so much less chaotic than everyone rushing the buffet. Those with late dinner seating get later breakfast times, although I believe they can make adjustments to accommodate early flights. We had an 8:30 breakfast time at Animator’s Palate, so we stayed in our stateroom until about 8, then headed up to have a fairly relaxed and tasty breakfast. At around 9:30 we waited in about a five minute queue to walk off the ship. The whole experience was pretty smooth, and even with the relatively late departure from the ship, we ended up catching an earlier 12:45 pm flight home out of Intercontinental (IAH) airport (which is nearly 1.5 hours from the port in Galveston), and getting home quite a bit earlier than planned. As with other cruise lines, you can leave your luggage outside your stateroom by 10:30 pm the night before to have it transferred to the baggage claim in the terminal, or you can walk it off yourself.

Is a Disney Cruise Worth It?

Well.. there’s a reason this post is titled “our first Disney cruise” 🙂

Disney cruises aren’t cheap, but it’s hard to beat the experience when traveling with kids, especially preschool and elementary age children who are in the perfect window for all the Disney magic. The fun character encounters, fantastic stage shows and kid-forward service mean the value can be there for those who are more focused on the onboard experience than the ports. And the 3-4 night cruises provide a way to experience a Disney cruise without breaking the bank. Although I’d also give Disney high marks in categories like food, cleanliness and the embarkation/disembarkation process, I don’t think these things alone justify the price differential over other cruise lines.

The Disney ships vary, and many have more “extras” than the Magic, but on our ship, we didn’t feel like there were tons of opportunities to spend money on board. We opted for the unlimited digital photo package, which I thought was worth it for our first cruise (for a little under $200 we got about 100 photos, although to get this many we took advantage of just about every photo opportunity on board) and we took our daughter to Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique as a birthday present, but those (plus gratuities) were the only real add-ons to our base cruise price, and we would still have had a great cruise without them. If you’re looking for a very inclusive experience where you pay upfront and don’t feel like money is constantly flying out of your wallet while you’re sailing, the Magic is a great Disney ship.

Tips for Making the Most of Your First Disney Cruise

• The Disney Cruise app is a must. As with Disneyland, the app is your guide to everything happening on the boat and is really user-friendly. You can easily add things to your personal schedule by “liking” them, and also preview the full day’s schedule (and menus) for every day of your cruise as soon as you connect to the DCL Wi-Fi network in the embarkation port. It’s such an improvement from the olden days of paper schedules delivered to your stateroom.
• Make sure you’re set up to text your traveling companions. Disney’s free onboard Wi-Fi network allows you to connect to the app (which includes a messaging feature so you can chat with others in your stateroom), iMessage and texting apps like WhatsApp, so you can communicate with your traveling companions without paying for their pricey Wi-Fi.
• Join your cruise Facebook group. Every cruise has one and this is a great place to meet others on your sailing, and to sign up for groups for “pixie dusting” and “fish extenders,” both DCL traditions that involve giving small gifts to other passengers.
• Choose your ship wisely. Relative to other cruise lines, Disney has more ship-to-ship variation because the themed restaurants, shows and characters vary a lot. If your children have specific character interests, it may be worth choosing your cruise based on the ship, as much or more than the itinerary. For example, the Disney Wish is currently the only Disney ship with a Frozen dinner experience, and the Disney Dream has special Marvel sailings that are more likely to appeal to tweens and teens who’ve aged out of princesses.
• Feel free to get into the Disney spirit with door magnets and Mickey ears. Even if you aren’t a Disney person, it’s hard not to get swept up in the magic a little bit. If you want to show your Disney spirit without going all-out, I recommend picking up a pair of Mickey ears before your trip – there are cute nautical options online. Decorating stateroom doors is also a big things on Disney cruises and you can find all kinds of cute, customizable magnets on Etsy and Amazon.
• Consider staying on board for at least one port day. Disney cruises are really about the onboard experience, and since the ship empties out on port days, this is the best chance to book experiences and do character meet and greets with minimal lines. Compared to other similarly sized cruise ships, I found the Disney Magic pretty crowded – and this is the line’s smallest and reportedly least crowded ship – so getting a bit of a break from the crowds is welcome.

Have you been on a Disney cruise? If you’re considering booking one, what questions can I answer about our experience?

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