What to expect from a Disney Magic At Sea Staycation Cruise

The Countdown is on – Disney Cruise Line Staycation Cruises officially set sail from the UK this summer. This series of 2, 3 and 4 night cruises onboard the Disney Magic are available to UK residents only and depart from Liverpool, Southampton, Newcastle and London Tilbury ports.

Even in ‘normal’ times, cruising takes a bit of planning. Add in a global pandemic, and there’s even more to get up to speed on. Disney Cruise Line have released lots of information about what to expect on board and how these staycations will differ from cruises in a pre-covid world.

These will be the first Disney Cruise Line departures since the start of the Covid pandemic, so give us an insight into what we might expect when full operations resume.

Firstly, I would expect to use the app. A lot. Disney Cruise Line’s Navigator app will be used for pretty much everything on board - I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve written about the app below. Make sure you’ve downloaded the Navigator app from the app store before you go. Although Disney Cruise Line does charge for use of wifi on board, use of wifi for the Navigator app is completely free. As a bonus, the app features a cute countdown timer for your cruise.

So, what do we need to know about these cruises?

Vaccine requirements and testing

DCL’s vaccination policy is the same as the majority of other cruise lines operating UK staycation cruises this year - all adults aged 18 or over must be fully vaccinated in order to sail. This means you must have received your second vaccination at least 7 days prior to sailing.

It took a little while for the formal vaccination information from Disney Cruise Line to be announced and it came as a surprise to some cruisers. However, this is an almost industry wide standard this summer. I can see why – cruise lines are desperate to resume sailing and can’t risk an outbreak on board.

Under 18s don’t need to be vaccinated, but must provide proof of a negative Covid-19 PCR test taken between 5 days and 24 hours prior to sailings.

All guests, regardless of age or vaccination status, will need to take a rapid lateral flow test at the terminal prior to embarkation.

Health and safety measures

Even during pre-pandemic cruises, you would constantly see crew out and about cleaning onboard the ships. It was impossible to enter a restaurant without someone handing you a hand sanitising wipe and I would say almost half the times I used an onboard restroom, someone would be cleaning. Disney will be taking on even more thorough than usual deep cleaning.

Here’s another deal breaker for some – masks will need to be worn for guests aged 11 and up. Exceptions are for eating, drinking or taking an outdoor photo, but you must be stationary at this time. It’s recommended that younger children wear a face covering, even if they are not required to do so.

Even if the UK mask policy is relaxed this summer, I think it’s unlikely that DCL’s mask requirement will change. I would use this as an excuse to go ahead and buy some Disney themed face coverings!

Other enhanced health and safety measures include temperature checking; both before embarkation and regularly on board. There will also be a pre-embarkation health questionnaire (asking about covid symptoms, as well as the usual questions about recent stomach bugs) and a daily health questionnaire via the app.

Embarkation

All guests will be required to select a Port Arrival Time (PAT), which can be selected from 30 days before sailing. To allow for social distancing in the cruise terminal, I’d expect Disney to be pretty strict on only allowing you into the terminal in your designated arrival slot.

Once on board, staterooms won’t be ready until 4pm. This is later than usual on a cruise, allowing additional time for enhanced cleaning of your stateroom. Bear this in mind when packing your day bag – you’ll have to carry it around with you until your room is ready, where as checked luggage will be taken to you room for you.

The muster drill will look a little different as well. Rather than having a large number of guests congregating in one space for a safety briefing, guests will only have to visit their muster station to check in before sailing. A safety video will be available on the in room tv and on the Navigator app (of course).

The ships won’t be setting sail until around 7pm in the evening and don’t expect any Sailing Away party (or any kind of party that involves large crowds).

Food

Let’s be honest – this is the real reason why lots of us cruise!

Disney’s rotational dining system will still be in place, where you rotate between 3 main dining rooms for dinner each night; Lumiere’s, Animator’s Palate and Rapunzel’s Royal Table. Your serving team will also rotate with you each night. On 2 night sailings, you’ll only get to visit 2 of the dining rooms.

In pre pandemic days, smaller travel parties would often be seated with other guests at dinner time (although requests not to be seated with other parties were often granted). Personally, I always enjoyed dining with others and DCL always did a great job at matching our party of 2 with others. However, for these staycation cruise you will only be seated with your travel party.

Expect to use your Nagivagtor app to view the menus at your dinner table, although paper menus will be provided on request for guests without a mobile phone.

Cabanas, previously a self service buffet restaurant available for breakfast and lunch, will be modified, as all buffet options will be suspended on the trip.

Palo, the adult only specialty restaurant, will be available for Brunch and Dinner. Expect brunch, which previously featured self service savoury and sweet buffet options, to look a little different too. There is an upcharge for this restaurant, which has recently increased to $45, with an a la carte option for dinner also being available.

 Kids clubs

Often on a Disney cruise it’s difficult to get young ones out of the kids clubs. I don’t blame them – the clubs are amazing!

For these sailings, reservations for Disney’s Oceaneer Club and Oceaneer Lab (for ages 3 – 12) can be made 30 days prior to sailing. 1.5 hours can be booked for embarkation day and 2.5 hours on a sea day. Extra sessions may be booked on board if there is availability.

Reservations for Edge and Vibe, the tween and teen clubs, are not required. It’s a Small World Nursery will not be open for the sailings.

Shows

Each sailing will feature one Broadway style show, with an addition of a variety act on 4 night sailings. Previously, you could expect 3 different shows on a 3 or 4 night cruise. The show will be Disney Dreams, which will showcase characters and musical numbers from a wide range of the Disney classics. The show will be shown multiple times to allow for socially distanced audiences.

Activities

A number of activities are available to book in advance of sailing. This is where it gets a tad confusing, as different activities are bookable at different times.

Premium activities (ie things that cost extra), like adult dining in Palo, beverage seminars (wine tasting, mixology) or Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique (princess and pirate makeovers for kids), are available to book a certain number of days out, based on your Castaway Club status. This is the loyalty scheme that you become a part of after completing a Disney Cruise. Anyone sailing for the first time on a staycation cruise will automatically become silver once they disembark. These activities are available to book at 120 days (platinum cruisers – 10 or more completed cruises), 105 days (gold cruisers – 5 – 9 completed cruises), 90 days (silver – 1-4 complete cruises) or 75 days out (first time cruisers). To book these activities you must have paid off your cruise in full.

Slots for these activities seem to be going quickly and can be tricky for new cruisers to book. I wouldn’t worry if you can’t snag a reservation – on a first cruise there will be so much to take in during a short space of time, that you won’t need to worry about filling your time. On historic sailings, Disney would always hold back some slots to be booked on embarkation day. However, it’s not known if this will be the case.

Other activities, that previously were not bookable on previous cruises, like seating at the shows, or kids clubs slots, can be booked at 30 days out, regardless of whether you have sailed before or not.

A virtual queue, via the Navigator app, will be in operation for Goofy’s Pool Deck.

While character opportunities will be available, you won’t be able to be able to get up close for cuddles with the characters. The experience could look a little like the current situation in Walt Disney World, where there are several ’selfie spots’ for photos with the characters at a suitable distance.

 Cashless ship

Even before the pandemic, I thought Disney Cruise Line was a cashless ship! However, DCL will be ensuring that all payments are contactless, so crew members do not need to touch your Key to the World card when making a transaction. Receipts will now be digital and available to view in the app.

The on board currency on DCL has always been US dollars, and these sailings will be no different. To help offset any conversion fees that your card might charge, Disney will be taking 2% off the final bill. However, I’d suggest using a credit card that doesn’t charge transaction fees, or some sort of pre-paid currency card to pay your onboard bill. Due to sailing in UK waters, VAT will be added to purchases.

You’ll also be able to chat to Guest Services remotely using the Navigator app.

The Disney experience

Having completed 4 Disney cruises to date, I can safely say that Disney will do everything that they can to provide a magical experience, without compromising on guest safety. Yes, the experience will certainly be different in many ways to pre-pandemic cruises. But after the year we’ve all had, many of these measures seem like a small compromise.

 

Right, that was a lot to take in. Disney Cruise Line have been gradually releasing more information, so make sure you stay up to date with all the latest info on Disney Cruise Line’s official website.

 Have you booked one of these Disney Cruise Line staycation cruises? Let me know in the comments below.