New Series Loading: I am going on a Disney Cruise.

AI Rendering of a cruise. © 2026 P Lynne Designs LLC. All rights reserved.

This past week, I was on a cruise. A Disney Cruise.

So imagine a single, no children (except nieces and nephews) woman, on a Disney Cruise, Disney Destiny, home of Marvel characters, in a sea of families with toddlers, school children, and teens. Tiny humans. I usually call my nieces and nephews, "The littles."

I am here to tell you, solo travelers: If you want the Disney Cruise line, TAKE THE CRUISE!!!. There are adult areas of the ship. Visit the port that the ship docks at. Visit the private Island, Castaway Cay (pronounced “Key”), and Lookout Point Cay (Destiny only docked on Castaway Cay last week). Eat the Churro Mickey Waffle. They are served on the last day, and they are delicious. Sleep in.  These people are not in your stateroom, no more than they would be in your hotel room.  Here is a hint about stewards and staterooms on any cruise line:  they WILL sneak into your stateroom, and render a turn-down service, some chocolates, and a cute little animal made from the bedding.  That happened on both the Carnival Dream (2018) and the Disney Destiny.  I am sure all of them do it. I loved it and took pictures of the creatures, made of towels, a bedspread, and two little pieces of chocolate (courtesy of Dove Chocolate and Disney).

They will announce your name when you embark on day one. Race to grab a napkin when it hits the floor.  Friday, when I was eating, my napkin hit the floor during dinner at home.  I expected my cat, Gizmo Elizabeth, to come running to get me a new one.  No such luck.  Oh, well. They will put a cute little design of Princess Tiana (or any other character) for the froth in your cup of latte.  Pride Lands (the dinner show for the Destiny) was wonderful. Baby Groot was being cute in the Worlds of Marvel.  The food at Palo was very delicious (and extra at $55/person-No Kids please!).

The shows for adults were fun, funny, and a little over the heads of children, so do not bring them in. They had trivia.  I did 80s music, 90s music, and Caribbean (which I do not recommend, unless you know your islands, but it was fun to learn).  I saw Devil Wears Prada 2 in the theater at 11 pm.  Who does that?  This person does, and I have no regrets.  I was going to go this week.  If you like the first one, you are going to love the second one.  I saw Disney’s version of the “Newlywed Game” that had me wondering how the people who are married get by.  This was the funniest game show I have ever seen.  They have two off-off-Broadway shows (meaning you are not going to see them in your local city, either). The first one was Frozen.  They had two showings:  1:30 and 3:00.  I missed both.  The Second was Hercules.  I caught the 1:30 showing, and they had a 3:00 showing.  I loved it, and I have a souvenir, a couple of pieces of confetti that rained down from the sky.  They did stop the show for a minute.  I thought it was because someone did their sneaky version of capturing the show on camera, but it was actually that “Meg” missed her mark.

A few things to keep in mind as you plan to set sail either as a “Dolo Solo,” a group of friends, or with your high- spirited family, including that toddler you kept up way passed their bedtime, and now they are screaming their head off, during the song, “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” beautifully sung by a woman who probably sung through 100 crying toddlers during the last 20 sailings.

Me with five of the stewards on board the Disney Destiny. ©2026 P Lynne Designs LLC.

1.      Set your destination.  I only talked about the Disney Destiny in a nutshell, but Disney has 8 ships: Magic, Wonder, Fantasy, Dream, Wish, Treasure, Destiny, and Adventure (which sails out of Singapore, and has no ports of call).  Believe is the newest ship currently being built as of this writing, and Disney right now has three more in the works, plus partnering with Tokyo, Japan, for a Japanese fleet of ships.  All slated to be finished between 2030 and 2032, and beyond. Disney currently goes to the Caribbean, Alaska, Hawaii, Australia, and some Trans-Atlantic trips (also known as a “repositioning” cruise).  There are 3,4, and 7-day cruises,  unless it is a repositioning cruise, which takes longer. I will have a blog post on how to choose soon.

2.      To date, Disney is one of the higher-priced cruise lines.  My price for two people (myself and another woman who went “half” with me) was $4,300, not counting what I spent on gratuity (automatic 18%), extras (Palo $55 and fancy coffee ($7 and $8), airfare, and extra night before the cruise (my roommate provided that, I just paid her $75 for my part). There was also the Lyft fees (no, Disney only provides transportation from the airports, not train stations), I had three of them:  One from the hotel (Hyatt Place), which I also paid my roommate for my half to the cruise terminal. From the cruise terminal to the Brightline Station in Fort Lauderdale (Lyft 1, which I share with 4 other ladies in the group I was with  ($9)). From the Brightline Orlando Airport Station to the Coronado Springs Gran Destino Tower ($44.00 plus tip). Final Lyft back to the Orlando Station ($40.16 plus tip).  Finally, there is the extra food. I first bought Starbucks at my own airport at home ($11.20), Next was the evening meal at Firebirds in Fort Lauderdale ($61+ tip). Oh, before that, Southwest Airlines gave me a bag charge that should have been in the price of my ticket ($45), plus another when I arrived at the Fort Lauderdale Airport (another $45).  My extra bill on the ship came to $139.63 (tip, two cups of specialty coffee, and Palo). My Brightline train fee was $103.56 for a round-trip ticket from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando and back again.  My checked baggage from the Brightline train was $30 both ways (total $60). My plane ticket with Southwest Airlines was $323.90.  Also, there was the Resort fee from Disney ($800.72 for two nights + the Quick Service Disney Dining Plan). Please note that this was my total bill.  I did not throw in the clothing that I bought before the trip, the souvenirs (5- a keychain for myself and four graphic tees (one each for the “littles” ). I spent no extra food money other than what the Disney Dining plan allowed me to get when I was at the resort

Another note on my bill (from August 2025, when I first booked it, to the end of the trip).  This was my expense, and I am happy to share it with you.  I had problems along the way.  Especially the last couple of months, when I thought I was not going to be able to take the trip.  I will put that in the final part of my trip series.  Just note, I almost lost my beloved cat because of it.  She is doing fine now. Hopefully, at the time of this writing, she would have had her last checkup regarding her illness. That was another $2,000.00+ of my expenses from August to now.

Your cruise may not end up like mine.  Expect the unexpected is what I always say, and I will have a four-part blog post on how to plan your Disney Cruise, how to choose your ship, your destination, costs, the food, and other things you need to know (such as whether you should include the parks, and how many days).

Planning a cruise, any cruise on any cruise line, can be a major expense, and Disney is up there, but with careful planning, with or without a travel agent, your vacation can be a very memorable one. Make it a good one.