By Adele Chan
You know that magical feeling when you step into Disneyland… the music is playing through the bushes, everyone is so friendly and greets you, and there’s just this special magic in the air that you can’t replicate anywhere else — even at Universal Studios. Well, you’re gonna feel that on a Disney cruise as well, but it’s gonna last less than five minutes. There’s that instant shock and awe when you step onto a cruise that is massive and looks like a floating city or the biggest mall you can imagine; and it’s incredible to think all that is on the ship. But after a few minutes you get used to the idea and because the boat is so stable, you won’t feel sea sick and once again you’ll think you’re in a giant mall.
It’s not a bad thing; just a personal preference. If you’re hoping to have a Disneyland experience, then Disney Cruise is not for you. But for Disney fans in general, this is a different Disney offering that has got water rides, theatres, different food offerings and child-care play centres that are a God-send. It’s definitely not one of those retirement cruises where you see a bunch of older folks lounging around on the sun beds; in fact, you’re going to to see influencers — or content creators as they like to call themselves — more than anyone else because from our five day, four nights experience on the Disney Adventure, this felt like a playground for Instagrammers.
We’ve previously covered all the various places to explore on Disney Adventure, so for the purpose of this article, we’re not going to repeat what every other influencer or media outlet is covering; and because there’s so much to talk about, I’m going to break this down into different sections, starting with the rooms.
STATEROOMS
There are many classes of rooms to choose from, obviously all based on price. Choose according to your budget, but if you wanna splurge, definitely go for an ocean view with the verandah. If you’re travelling with family and friends and need more than one room, select adjoining rooms so you can open the door between the rooms and feel like you have a suite.
We were situated in an inside Stateroom that faced the garden. It was pretty, but we had to spend most of the time with the curtains drawn for privacy.
THE INSTRAGRAMMER
You’ll see them everywhere. Don’t hate them. I’ve worked with tons of influencers in my line of work and many of them are lovely, lovely individuals. Take Melissa Koh, for example. I decided to boldly inject myself into her “content creation” to take this portrait of her.
She shared a comprehensive Instagram post on the seven different areas within the Cruise. Check it out below, plus she even got to try the highly-anticipated roller coaster that was reserved for selective “media” personalities. I wasn’t one of them. So let’s use her video as an example.
It looks fun, and apparently the person sitting in the front seat can control the speed of the car. I did hear that one of the cars did stop midway, and that’s not a rumour, but a fact. Well, with any new ride there will always be technical issues; and in the case of Disney, I believe they will be extra careful and make sure it’s fully safe and functional before opening it to the public.
THE POOLS AND WATER RIDES
I’ve seen pools and water rides on other really large cruise ships, and I don’t think the ones on the Disney Adventure are any more spectacular than those on the Royal Caribbean. If you have kids between the ages of three and 15, they’re gonna love it no matter what. The yellow water slide in particular goes round and round and it’s pretty steep and according to my 15 year-old, she says that was the most thrilling activity on the entire cruise. I would say… definitely give it a try.
Note that there are quite a few pools on the Disney Adventure so explore them all, and the best way to do that is through the Disney Navigator App.
THE NAVIGATOR APP
The Disney Cruise Line Navigator App must absolutely be downloaded. It will give you your daily schedule, a map of the ship, opening hours for various bars and lounges, and most importantly, a summary of your charges that you’ve been racking up on the cruise.
Announcements like lost and found items and safety drills are all communicated through the app as well under notifications. And if everyone in your stateroom downloads the app and connects to the same room number, you can message each other through the app by using the on board Wi-Fi.
WI-FI
So speaking of Wi-Fi, it’s not free. You have to sign up for one of the various Wi-Fi packages and it’s going to cost you a pretty penny; but it’s also a good excuse to stay disconnected from the Internet and from work. What’s great is that you can still message people within your stateroom through the Navigator app because that function is complimentary.
THE FOOD
The food on board is a bit of a tough topic to talk about because food is so subjective. The buffet lunch at Pixar restaurant on level 17 has an incredible variety of Asian, Western and Mediterranean food. I would highly recommend heading there for lunch every day. If you spot the clam chowder soup, the mutton curry and the fried rice, go for them immediately. The lamb chops are a hit or miss, while you can’t go wrong with the cocktail shrimps.
Dinner is a whole new topic altogether; the guests are rotated throughout the various restaurants so you have a different ambience each time you dine. The menus, though, are largely similar and you’ll find standard fare such as beef tenderloin and fish as one of the mains. There are Asian options as well, but coming from Singapore, our standards are high. I tried the Thai boat noodles and it was very similar to laksa. Another media friend tried the laksa, and said not to. There was also a wonton soup, where the soup itself was a watered down version of Maggi noodle stock. Yes, I know how harsh this sounds, but again I’m Singaporean and my standard for Asian food is very high.
I didn’t get a chance to try the seabass, but have been told that it was good. As for the children’s menu, nothing can go wrong because kids generally don’t know any better. It was all spaghetti bolognese, and cheeseburgers and sundaes — again hard to go wrong with young children.
This video came across my feed and I understand why the commentator is so excited about everything. Like I said, to each their own. They might have loved the food (doubt it), but I didn’t.
THE COFFEE
If you love coffee, be prepared, because only Bacha coffee is served on the Disney Adventure. There’s only Bacha coffee in your room, you’ll find Bacha coffee at breakfast, and there’s a Bacha coffee cafe where you can sit down and enjoy a really expensive cup of weak coffee together with a very pricey croissant.
I love my coffee. In fact, I love most and any coffee — I’ll go for Yakun or Toast Box any day. Heck! Even Starbucks will do it for me! But for some reason Bacha hasn’t quite appealed to me yet; perhaps it’s just not as bold and as strong as I need my coffee to be, and it seems like I’m not alone in this sentiment. Other media have expressed the same opinion so if you want your coffee strong, I would suggest bringing your 3-in-1 packets of Owl coffee or even your Key coffee single drip bags.
THE MUST-HAVE FOOD
In my opinion, the best food on the ship was from the Pizza Planet, which is located on level 17 across the deck from Pixar restaurant. The pizza is cooked fresh in front of you and it’s done within 10 minutes. The pepperoni pizza and the barbecue chicken pizza were excellent, and when lunch or dinner didn’t quite meet expectations, that’s where we would end up. The best part of it is that it opens till 12:15am every day.
There’s also complimentary all-you-can-eat soft serve that’s just outside the Pixar restaurant. For the first couple of days, the flavours were strawberry and vanilla. On the last day we saw Chocolate. The soft serve is incredibly refreshing especially under the sun. It’s such a treat; definitely channel your inner kid and have a few a day.
Finally, at the end of the ship, there’s an infinity pool and at that bar there’s a hotdog station where you can choose an all beef or all chicken hotdog. They’re both tasty and come in a toasted bun, and you can request for as many toppings as you like — and yes it’s complimentary.
SHOPPING
There are a few shops scattered across decks 5 to 7, but they’re nothing to shout out about. I was surprised to see Cartier and IWC boutiques. And you know what… during our time on board, there was a bingo game and the grand prize was $10,000. If you win that, go straight to one of these stores. I won one of the games and got $299 in cruise credits (used them for alcohol).
TOP-UPS
Speaking of alcohol, it’s not free. There are also a couple of restaurants, including a Japanese Omakase place called Mike & Sully’s (you know, those guys from Monsters Inc). The menu looks wonderful, but the prices not so much. It’s hard to justify dining at these restaurants, where we have to pay more, considering that our meals were already included in the price of the cruise ticket.
SO WHO’S THE DISNEY ADVENTURE CRUISE FOR?
Not your mom or dad. Certainly not your grandparents. It’s for you and your friends to lim jiu together at the many bars and lounges, or for families with young children who will squeal at the site of mascot Goofy. It’s also for influencers who want content for their feed, and to show-off that they’ve “been there done that”.
Book tickets and discover more on the Disney Cruise Line website here: https://disneycruise.disney.go.com.
