Most of my cruises have been with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises with others on MSC Cruises, Carnival and Virgin Voyages.
As a solo-cruising man in his early 50s, I recognize I am not the core audience for the cruise line. That being said, I am a longtime Disney-pass holder who is a big fan of the parks, but I do not like its animated movie history nearly as much.
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I have seen every Marvel "Star Wars" project, and I have even read every "Star Wars" spinoff book, but I am not someone who has ever intentionally seen a Pixar movie.
When you board the new Disney Treasure, you immediately see that the ship is stunningly beautiful. You enter in a grand atrium that sets the tone for the ship. It’s fancy and filled with rich details in a way you generally do not see on family-friendly cruise lines.
The other thing that’s very quickly obvious is how pervasive the Disney brand is. You cannot escape the music, the characters and the general Disneyfication of it all.
That makes sense, given that many people are here due to their love of the company’s intellectual property. But it would be nice to hear some music that did not appear on a soundtrack, and perhaps the music could be toned down a bitin the public restrooms.
I’m sure there are venues that don’t smash you in the face with IP, but most public spaces are definitely aimed at kids and adults who truly love Disney music, history and animation.
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Disney Treasure cabins are a step above
I often sail solo and sometimes with my now 20-year-old son. That means I have never thought much about cabin design because when you’re alone or with one person who’s happy to sleep on a couch, space is not that important.
The cabins on Disney, however, are incredibly well-designed. My room, which is a balcony cabin, would sleep four, and with both a sofa bed and a Murphy-like bed, it seems as if it would do that comfortably.
Cabins also have a separate shower and sink area and a stand-alone toilet and sink area, which would enable two people to get ready at the same time. That's a significant value for families.
In addition, the tub/shower is more spacious than I have ever seen in a Royal Caribbean or Celebrity Cruises nonsuite cabin. Outlets and USB ports are also in heavy supply, which is fairly common on newer ships.
My cabin also has a full privacy curtain that separates the main bed from the secondary sleeping spaces. That means mom and dad could watch TV on their phones or a tablet or read a book using the plentiful bedside lighting without waking the kids.
It’s the nicest nonsuite cabin I’ve ever had, and it honestly compares pretty well to junior suites on other cruise lines.
My only complaint, and it’s a small one, is that there is no chair at the desk. There’s a padded stool and a little desk you can use from the couch, but as someone who types a lot while on cruise ships, a full chair would have been nice.
That complaint is so small relative to how nice the cabin is that it’s kind of like saying everything about the meal was perfect but I wish the plate was a little rounder.
Disney Cruise Line's food is generally spectacular
Nearly all the food on Disney Treasure, the cruise line’s newest ship, was spectacular. Lunch in the buffet was a clear step above Celebrity Cruises, which had previously been my favorite brunch option.
The cruise line's media team and some more experienced passengers insisted to me that the offering was typical for a Disney cruise. Options include high-end items like lamb chops, freshly cooked salmon, crab claws, and nicely sized shrimp cocktail.
On the pool deck, which houses the buffet, plentiful food stations featured cruise favorites like burgers, tacos, pizza and even barbecue.
Sampling these, I found them more in line with what other cruise lines offer. The tacos were good and customizable, but not particularly different from the similar stations both Royal Caribbean and Carnival offer on most ships.
The only truly disappointing food I found was on the cruise line’s Castaway Cay private island. All the various barbecue stations there have the same menu, and the food was fine but a step below in both quality and selection from what Royal Caribbean offers at Perfect Day at CocoCay.
Dinner, however, was among the best meals I’ve ever had on a cruise ship without any sort of added-fee dining. Disney uses a rotational dining system. On a seven-day cruise, you eat in each restaurant multiple times, with different menus and accompanying shows.
On my three-night cruise, I ate at a Marvel-themed restaurant, an eatery designed to evoke 1923 California, and a third based on the film "Coco." I went into it a little concerned that it was going to be dinner theater every night.
In reality, while the Marvel and 1923 restaurant had some show aspects, it was more background fun and did not get in the way of the meal. The Coco meal had a full-on dinner-theater presentation, but it was well done although it required some explanation as I had never seen the film.
The meal itself was four courses, arguably five if you wanted both soup and salad. That was fine dining, in no way feeling like mass-produced cruise ship food.
I generally eat at the specialty restaurants on both Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises. While many of the dishes I've been served on Royal and Celebrity stood out as being original to these ships, the Disney meals fully compared to anything I have eaten in those restaurants.
Disney Cruise Line's nighttime options are heavy on the Disney
The evening activities on Disney Treasure focus clearly on Disney's intellectual property. They highlight shows built around the company’s famous animated movies with a smattering that aren’t animated, like “Pirates of the Caribbean.”
To be fair, I rarely go to production shows on any cruise line. I skip the Broadway musicals on Royal Caribbean ships, and aside from a comedian or two, I do not generally attend theater shows.
On the first night, Treasure offered a short sort of jukebox-style show that offered songs for many of its animated movies. I did not know most of the songs or many of the characters, and while it was technically impressive, it clearly was not for me.
The crowd, on the other hand, absolutely loved it. Every kid under teenager and most teenagers seemed absolutely enthralled. For me, however, nothing was overly catchy, and some of the character callbacks were C-list stars at best.
Most of the other nighttime programming was built around Disney as well. There were first-run movies, including “Moana 2,” which is in theaters now. I have not seen the first one, and a couple of Marvel films were played, but I’ve already seen them, and I’m not big on rewatching movies.
One bar had a piano player, but it was more background music than a show. The bar based on Disney’s ”Jungle Cruise” ride did have a rock band, but it was not nearly as good as the bands you routinely find on other family-friendly cruise lines, and they played infrequently.
In addition, there were late-night trivia competitions, but after the sun went down, I was not really up for Indiana Jones trivia.
The bars themselves were all heavily themed and had interesting menus. I would largely call them menus for people who generally are not drinkers. A lot of the drinks were sweet, but the visual presentation of many of them was stunning.
Disney Cruise Line does adult daytime really well
Disney Treasure has an adult pool deck that’s quite expansive. It has a hot tub that’s actually hot (which is not all that common on cruise ships) and multiple small pools.
There were plenty of beach chairs, as well as a bar, which could’ve used a few more chairs, and a very nice coffee shop. The location was much better than the adult areas on most cruise ships.
Kids had no reason to walk through this space as it did not attach to anything they would be visiting. It was truly kid-free, which seems like something that many adults on a Disney cruise would probably want at times.
Some complained that the area was windy, but cruise ship pool decks are often windy and this section was a true respite from the rest of the ship.
Disney offers a fabulous family cruise product
My cruise experience would have been very different had I been sailing with friends or a family with kids. I probably would still not have enjoyed the theater shows, but I would’ve taken delight in watching the kids have fun.
The family nature of the ship also makes it harder for me to make friends as a solo traveler than I have previously experienced. Most people are there for a family vacation, and while their kids may make new friends, few people are looking to add a solo male traveler to their group.
Disney Cruise Line serves its audience really well. I very much look forward to cruising with grandchildren, should that ever happen, or perhaps taking my nephew and soon-to-be-born niece on the cruise line.
The nighttime was definitely a little dull for me, and perhaps given how much sports betting has become part of the Disney world, perhaps future ships could have a small casino or at least an ESPN sports bar.
Still, well, I am not the target demographic. It's easy to see how families would be overloaded with choice and eager to come back for another Disney Cruise Line sailing.
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