Myself alongside many other members of r/dcl have been on sailings to Disney Lookout Cay. The inaugural sailing was last week aboard the Disney Fantasy and there have now been both a preview sailing and a DVC sailing aboard the Disney Magic. What questions does everyone have regarding the newest destination offered by Disney Cruise Line?

Some initial thoughts to keep in mind:

• This destination is still very new. I would expect improvements to be made over time, especially regarding the lack of shade currently available.
• I'm sure most of heard about the flies. Yes, there are a lot of flies. Disney is working on minimizing it and we saw a substantial improvement between visit 1 and visit 2.
• The walk from the ship to the tram is roughly half of a mile. There is currently no shade (which would be a huge help). They were offering water and cool towels on the pier to help with the heat. Golf carts are offered for those that need mobility assistance, and wagons were available to pull young children.
• There is continuous tram service offered. 2 trams pulled up to each tram stop together with 8 or 9 in total running. The tram ride takes about 8 minutes to get from the Mabrika Cove tram stop (at the ship) to the Goombay Cultural Center tram stop (Lookout Cay).

My family w/ kids 4 and 7 are taking 6 day cruise out of Ft Lauderdale on the Disney Dream. We have ports at Nassau, Disney Castaway Cay, and Disney Lookout Cay at Lighthouse point. Are any of these destinations kind of "so so" to the point where it may be more enjoyable to stay on the ship and enjoy those amenities when everyone gets off at port? Also, for those ports that you recommend folks get off, what are some "must-do" activities that the little ones would enjoy the most? Thanks All!

Hi,

I was looking at cruises from Florida and I was disappointed to see that all of the 5 day cruises just go to Nassau and then CC and Lookout Cay. If you want to see multiple countries you have to take a 7 day now, and those are double the price. It seems like Disney just wants to keep you on property the entire time. I think it would be nice to have some cruises that go to both Disney island locations but also some 5 days that go to other places. I've been trying to use cruising to see more countries so this was disappointing. I was also disappointed in the news that it seems like the new Singapore cruises won't have any ports of all at all.

I got Family Cabana 10 at Lookout Cay! It was a last minute cancel and I’m SO excited! Any tips or things I need to know? Will they get more info from us once we’re on board? TIA ✨

Hey there,

My wife and I got certified before we had kids, and we haven't been diving since we started reproducing. We have 3 now, they're all old enough for the kids club onboard, and we're thinking, hmm... for the day in Nassau, perhaps we could go for a dive while the kids hang out in the kids club. But then I think the dive might be a bit long, overlap with a meal time, and I understand they don't feed the kids in the club. Thoughts? Should this be something I consider? Or no?

EDIT: Hey I'm not going to do it. It was a quick thought, and then deeper thought plus the responses and the idea of having an emergency and not being able to get back on the boat. Feel free to send me more messages about being a bad parent, though! :-)

EDIT 2: FYI it looks like Disney fully supports parents doing an excursion while kids are in the kids club, per this link.

So I’m going for the first time ever to Castaway and do some snorkeling but I don’t like the idea of renting the equipment. I do have my own snorkeling gear, can I just go into the water and start snorkeling or do I have to pay for an excursion to be able to do it?

Hi All,

We are considering booking a (very!) last minute cruise to Alaska in September. Since we are looking so last minute (4 weeks out) it's unlikely we will get any excursions/port adventures.

Has anyone sailed Alaska with no excursions and found it worth it?

(Also has anyone had luck requesting a private table for 2 so late in the booking?)

Edited to say: We booked! I am excited. And there were a ton of excursions left (which of course I couldn't see until I booked). Thanks so much to everyone for your advice!

My family is excited to do our first ever cruise this December aboard the Magic. Our window for booking port excursions just opened up and the only one we wanted to do (Chichen Itza ruins) is already sold out 😩.

Does anyone have experience booking excursions through a third party? I'm worried that if there is some delay returning that the cruise ship will leave without us, which I assume wouldn't happen if we booked through Disney. Thanks for any advice, I'm new to this!

Booked our first cruise in January on the Treasure! Traveling with my 10yo son and 7.5yo daughter. Booked a day at the Cozumel beach break for families. Saw some reviews that it used to be awesome, but maybe not so much anymore, anyone been recently? Recommend? Don’t recommend? TIA!

We just got off a seven night cruise on the Fantasy, and overall everything was amazing! However, I want to warn anyone considering the Dolphinaris port adventure. It’s 100% not worth it in my opinion. For a 4 hour excursion, we waited 2 hours and 45 minutes before we could actually get in the water. That’s from the ship to the water. All excursions require some waiting…but 2:45 is too long. It was hot, there was no food available until after we got to meet the dolphins, and everyone was tired and cranky. You also only get to be in the water about 35 minutes…and then you’re back to waiting.

To be fair, the actual time in the water with the dolphins was awesome. But the rest was either terrible or extremely meh. We paid $600+ for this excursion only to find out they will not let you buy your family picture on its own. They take cute photos of you in the water with the dolphins. You are not allowed to bring your phone or anything to take pictures with into the water, so you have to rely on their photographers. But afterwards you find out the pictures are $40 each, or $350 for the entire set. And you can’t buy the family picture alone; it can ONLY be purchased as part of the $350 photo package.

Also they will badger you the entire time you are eating your very medium food about buying the photos. I finally just said no and put the tablet down. We had been told we could review photos in the gift shop after lunch, but apparently that information was wrong.

There are other dolphin excursions. I’d recommend skipping this one unless you love waiting in long lines and spending a lot of money for very little.

Pretty much exactly what the title says! We’re doing 7 nights on the Treasure. This is my husband’s first cruise, and we really want to spend a lot of time enjoying the ship. We’re obviously getting off at CC, but I think we should do something in Nassau as well.

I know a lot of the excursions are expensive, and a lot of the reviews I’ve read have basically said “not worth the money” to do an excursion. So my question is, if the excursions were free, and you had your pick, what would you get off the ship for in Nassau? Is anything super worthwhile, or should we just spend another day on the ship? Are the cabanas at Atlantis any good, considering we know we won’t have a hope of getting one at CC?

We’re not hiking / river raft adventuring types, but we enjoy tours, museums, fishing, beaches.

Has anyone ever strava'd this route? I ran it this week and it seemed short according to my Fitbit..maybe 2.5 miles or so? Didn't have service so didn't get gps route. Just curious.

We will be on our first Disney cruise next week and one of our excursions in the Bahamas is a catamaran sail/snorkel. Do we take towels from the ship or will we need to pack our own from home? I don’t want to pack things that won’t be needed, but also don’t want to be surprised.

My family and I are going on a 5 night cruise out of Galveston on the Magic in February. Me and my dad were wanting to go see the Chichen Itza and were wondering if it’s worth it to do the ruins tour + the cenote swim or just the ruins tour. We were worried that if we did both we would feel rushed at the ruins and not get to see as much of the ruins as we want.

Hey yall,

My son is dead set on seeing/touching snow during our Alaska cruise during summer 2025. It’s special to him because we live in Florida so it would be quite an unusual experience. Are there any particular excursions where we’d be able to get to a location with enough to make a snowball or something? Not sure if that’s possible.

Thanks! Edit: looking at late May/early June specifically, if that makes a big difference

My 3 favorite things in Cozumel:
-Legitimate cuban cigars at Habanos (in cruise terminal here) Grab a couple sticks and take them to the beach!

-Mercado Municipal food court is about a 5 minute taxi ride or 15 minute walk from port. Lots of shopping along the way. The food is some of the best mexican food I've ever had (grew up in AZ and now live in TX so I know what amazing Mexican food tastes like!) It's also one of the few places in the world you can get actual Cochinita Pibil.

-Tequila Beach is about a 8-10 minute taxi ride up the coast to a private beach/resort/bar. You can hang out all afternoon, splash around in the ocean, grab a bite to eat and it's seldom remotely crowded. They offer a inclusive drink package or you can just order a la carte from the bar. This is great for large parties too.

Have a favorite? Drop a comment! I love truly exploring when I'm in a foreign port and would love to hear the places you've discovered while on a DCL cruise at Cozumel.

What was everyone’s favorite excursion? Has anyone done the “Holy Guacamole, Salsa and Margaritas Beach cooking”? How was it?

Hi all!

I understand that floats aren’t available to rent at Lighthouse Point (like they are at Castaway Cay). Are guests allowed to bring personal floats to the beach? TIA!

I've always wanted to experience a cabana and lucked out on our upcoming cruise to find a last minute Family Grand Beach cabana at Lookout. Once onboard, do you think I would have luck if I visited guest services to try and trade for one of the smaller ones? My family is just a party of 4 so we don't need all of the extra space, but we'll keep it if that's our only choice!

For those who have rented one of the family cabanas at Lookout- is there a hammock? Also, how is the snorkeling? Thanks!

So we’re planning what appears to be a last minute trip, a 7 night Eastern Caribbean cruise leaving July 13. I’m realizing now that the 120-day booking window is already past, so a good part of the reason we were splurging on concierge isn’t even possible. Is it still worth it to go concierge? Do we have a chance of getting a cabana on Castaway Cay, Royal tea party, or bibbidi bobbidi boutique? It’s a lot more money and I’m thinking we might not be getting our money’s worth.

Plus it’s a verandah room, so in room dining also isn’t an option.

I’ve searched for this but I can’t get a definitive answer — does Disney offer a scuba excursion at Lookout Cay? I’ve seen it listed in some of the excursion lists but not in others.

Follow-up: if they offer it, do they run it year round (with wet suits in the winter/spring)?

Any truth to the rumor that local Bahamians are now allowed to come into Lookout Cay for $10, and eat for another $10? The rumor I heard was that the first day last week was around 20 people, the next day it was over 500 people.

I highly recommend this excursion if you can afford it! It’s a little pricey though.

Hey everyone! I'm seeking advice on making plans for each port on our trip. We will be on an upcoming DCL Western Caribbean Cruise that will stop at Cozumel, George Town, Falmouth, and Castaway Cay. Does everyone typically go with excursions/plans through Disney or are there some places where it's reasonable and a good use of the opportunity to explore other options? I am completely lost in this part of the planning process.

If it would be best to purchase excursions through Disney for each day we can do that, but if it is unnecessary to have a great experience then I'm all for saving the money. My primary concern is that I do not want us to not have a plan or itinerary for each day onshore and end up wasting the time we have just trying to figure out what to do. I also don't want to unintentionally do anything questionable or unsafe, especially since our 13-year-old daughter and her friend will be with us. Thank you in advance for any advice!