On Disney Cruise Line, Children Can Customize Their Cruise Experience

Always on the leading edge for family cruises, Disney Cruise Line recognizes that separating junior cruises into rigid age groups doesn’t work for everyone. Once again reinventing onboard children’s experiences, Disney is taking an entirely new approach to youth activities and allowing kids to let their imaginations set sail by customizing their cruise vacation. More youth activities than ever before are available and children can choose experiences based on interest, not age. Exciting new youth activities and dedicated children’s spaces are available now on Disney Magic and Disney Wonder and are coming to Disney Dream beginning with the ship’s maiden voyage in Jan 2011.

“The changes within Disney Cruise Line youth activities will allow children freedom to create a customized experience onboard our ships,” said Disney Cruise Line Vice President of Entertainment Jim Urry. “Children can select their own adventures and immersive experiences for a truly personalized, memorable cruise vacation.”

Customized Experiences: On Disney Cruise Line, children can personalize their cruise vacation by selecting activities and events, regardless of age. Oceaneer Club and Oceaneer Lab are open to children age 3 to 12 on the Disney Wonder and age 3 to 10 on the Disney Magic.

While Disney Cruise Line will continue to recommend activities that appeal to specific maturity levels and ages, the entire menu of offerings is open to every child. With this evolutionary approach to shipboard youth activities, children and parents may select programs based on the specific interests of each child to create a customized and very personalized experience. Unique to the cruise industry, children of different ages—siblings, extended family, and friends—can participate in youth activities together throughout their cruise.

The majority of children’s events and free-time activities occur within dedicated youth spaces on the ship and on Castaway Cay. As always, Disney Cruise Line youth activities are supervised by specially trained, experienced counselors. Specific program information is available on the day of check-in at the Youth Activities registration desk located in the Disney cruise ship terminal building prior to boarding, or onboard in the Oceaneer Club and Oceaneer Lab.

A World of Youth Activities: With more than 100 activities, events and programs, and with all youth activities open to all ages, children have more choices than ever before on Disney Cruise Line.

Many experiences draw inspiration from classic Disney stories and popular Disney characters:
• During Cinderella’s Royal Ball, Cinderella shows young cruisers how to be a prince or princess.
• So You Want to be a Pirate offers adventurous high seas tales, pirate training for young buccaneers, and a special appearance by Captain Hook.
• Children are immersed in the world of Disney-Pixar’s “Toy Story” during Toy Story Boot Camp led by Corporal Green.

Hands-on activities appeal to children’s sense of creativity and invention:
• The next great celebrity chef could be discovered at Ratatouille Cooking School.
• During the new Animal Tracking Series, children discover that conservation can be fun.
• In Flubber, children join Professor Goo in creating magical green goo and other interesting concoctions.

Other onboard youth activities include playful programs such as Mouseketeer Training and Little Einsteins for preschoolers; challenge-and solution-games like Stitch’s Great Adventure and Detective School with Goofy; high-action group activities such as Kim Possible: Cruise Control, and The Challenge of Davy Jones; and unstructured free time to enjoy the youth areas, play on computers and spend time having fun with new friends.

The Most Family-Friendly Cruise: Along with this evolution in youth activities, Disney Cruise Line continues to provide the most family-friendly cruise experience available. While children are enjoying the most extensive youth activity areas at sea, parents can enjoy the ship “worry-free,” thanks to an onboard paging service that allows kids to contact their parents anytime and anywhere on the ship. Plus, Disney Cruise Line has the industry’s longest operating hours for children’s activities, providing greater flexibility for parents and even more fun for kids.

Recently introduced, Dine and Play allows families to enjoy dinner together, then gives kids more time to enjoy youth activities while parents relax at the end of the meal. With Dine and Play, parents may check their children (age 3 to 12) into evening youth activities during second seating in all of the main dining rooms. Families enjoy dinner together, then youth counselors whisk children away to play so the grown-ups can savor some time together in the adult-exclusive areas of the ship.

Disney stage productions, family activities, special events, first-run films in digital 3-D, poolside movies, deck parties, a family club and the Castaway Cay Family Beach provide even more opportunities for families to experience a memorable cruise vacation together.

Here's a Disney Cruise Line factoid that sets them apart from other cruise lines. If your infant or toddler needs a diaper changed while in the nursery or kiddie program, Disney's caregivers will change it. On most other cruise lines, diaper changing by counselors is a no-no and parents must be called.

To learn more about Disney Cruise Line or to book a vacation, visit Disney Cruise Line's web site, call 888/DCL-2500, or contact a travel agent.