How to Plan a Family Disney Cruise Vacation Without Stress

For a couple of year now, my youngest son has been asking to take a cruise. Never mind the fact that he’s got a full course load in virtual high school, is an assistant coach on a local football team and works seasonally in the Halloween haunt community: “can we please make it happen, Mom?” Sure, in all your spare time!

Seriously though, planning a family Disney cruise vacation has been on my bucket list for a while now. The husband and I took a cruise through the Alaskan passage about 15 years ago now and absolutely loved cruise life. Go to bed with one view out the balcony and wake up to an entirely different scene. Eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and endless snacks in all very different restaurants. Experience numerous shows, go back to the room and take a nap, and go out and see more shows. Sign up for excursions on land, and never have to tote your luggage because your home base moves with you. Cruises are such a fun way to travel!

We’ve never done a family Disney cruise vacation yet though, and every time we see a commercial, my son reminds me. “Mom, I’m not getting any younger here.” When I remind him that his schedule makes it difficult, he doesn’t have a good answer, but secretly, he’s right. He’s growing so fast and I know my time to take some of these vacations with him is limited, as he’ll be off at college in the blink of an eye. I think now it’s time to knock this item off the bucket list!

How can I pull this together now? With the help of Jones Family Travel. We’ve decided that with the flexibility of my son’s school schedule, once the football season is over, we can squeeze in a Disney cruise. I’m a huge Disney fan and we have annual passes for California’s Disneyland and California Adventure, so this cruise will be the perfect combination of family time together while taking a beautiful cruise, all Disney-themed. What gets better than that? No worrying about setting up anything other than making it to the cruise departure on time!

My son will be thrilled if we can pull this off! I still need to get school permission but I’m pretty sure that won’t be a problem. He’s getting straight As and I never have to ask him to complete his course work. I think a family Disney cruise vacation will be an ideal reward! He can roam and do his things, then meet us for meals or other on-board entertainment. There are activities for all ages so he gets his independence and we still get to spend time with him while on vacation. (Half the time he asks us to go places just so we can stay in a hotel, so I can’t imagine how excited he’ll be to hear about a cruise ship room!)

Check out the Disney Fantasy Cruise Ship Departure video below for a brief glimpse of the experience. You can subscribe to their series for even more travel adventures. I’m personally excited about the idea of seeing so many Disney characters on the ship and all the hidden Mickeys! See you on the ship!