The Unofficial Guide to the Disney Cruise Line 2020 by Erin Foster
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“The Unofficial Guide to the Disney Cruise Line 2020” takes interested readers into the ins and outs of the Disney Cruise ships, itineraries, and ports. As they are not paid by Disney to write this guide, they offer their evaluations having cruised with DCL many times. There’s also a lot of comparisons with other cruise lines, particularly Royal Caribbean to offer a counterpoint.
As someone who has never gone on a cruise, but has been curious about them, I have been curious about DCL. This guide unpacked some of the ideas I had gleaned from bits and pieces on the internet and helped me come to the conclusion that I would probably cruise with DCL if the opportunity arose. Disney has one of the highest cleanliness records out of the major cruise lines as well as has one of the lowest impacts on the environment. Both are very important to me. As someone who also doesn’t gamble or drink, some of the major cruise lines that are geared towards those elements also don’t appeal to me. Being more family-friendly, but still having areas for adults-only, I feel like DCL would be a good fit.
I’m not a hot weather person, but seeing what each ship has to offer and that the Caribbean cruises are the cheapest, I’m thinking I might do a 5 night Bahamas cruise and just absorb everything the ship has to offer. It’s also tempting to pair the cruise with a stay at Walt Disney World. Since they’re owned by the same parent company, you can do that seamlessly. And ease of planning is what I look for in a vacation.
I checked this book out from the library prior to the covid-19 pandemic and subsequent shelter-in-place orders. So needless to say, even as things open up, I probably won’t consider a cruise for at least a year. If I’m going to pay all that money for a vacation, the one thing I don’t want as a souvenir is a respiratory illness.
If you’re curious about cruising and you’ve considered DCL, I’d give this book a read. They cover all the bases for all types of customers, with kids, singles, kid-less couples, etc. It’s at least a good place to start.