This past June, I went on my first European Cruise and my first Disney cruise aboard the Disney Dream.  Today I’ll share an overview of the cruise and my experience, as well as my honest thoughts and recommendations as you think about booking a similar cruise. 

I was really excited to go on this cruise, not only to experience a new Disney Cruise Line ship but also to see some new cities throughout Europe that have been on my bucket list for a while.  The cruise departed from the Port of Civitavecchia, which is about an hour outside of Rome, Italy.  It was 7 nights and 8 days long and had stops in Naples (Italy), Santorini (Greece), Mykonos (Greece), and Chania (Crete).  

Let me start off by saying that I am a HUGE fan of Disney cruises.  Before this one, I had only been on two others (both on the Disney Wonder) but I had the most marvelous time and can’t stop recommending them to everyone I know.  That means that my expectations for this one were pretty high.  

The planning process for this cruise was very easy.  We did decide to only plan one excursion for this cruise because we were on a strict budget (something I actually never recommend doing – but I’ll get into this more later). 

DISNEY DREAM FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The ship itself was beautiful and well-maintained.  It’s bigger than the Disney Wonder but not too big to navigate.  There are 14 decks and all of the amenities you expect on a Disney Cruise (pools, restaurants, lounges, coffee shops, entertainment spaces, theaters, kids clubs, and more). I especially liked the adults-only area on the top deck because it had tons of comfortable loungers (that aren’t available in the all-access areas).   

One of the things I find most appealing about a Disney Cruise are the intricate details sprinkled throughout the ship, and so I really like spending time exploring every nook and cranny while on my vacation.  This ship has no shortage.  (I also like doing an activity called “The Art of the Ship” on every cruise, which takes you on an hour-long tour of the ship to discuss various points of interest in its design.) 

We had a standard verandah room and it was quite spacious, just like on every Disney cruise.  (Read my full Disney Dream Verandah Room review here.)  I particularly liked having a verandah room on this cruise since the views were stunning. 

DAY 1 – DAY AT SEA / FIRST DAY ACTIVITIES

Once we got settled and were through some of the introductory activities, it was time for us to truly enjoy our first day at sea! 

On every Disney cruise there is a welcome party on the top deck and also one later in the night in the atrium.  Both are not to be missed.  It sets the tone for your vacation and they are just pure fun.  

Our first dinner rotation was in the Enchanted Garden dining room, a beautifully themed room that harkens to the gardens of Versailles.  Our meal was really incredible (as are most meals on a Disney Cruise, you can order as much as you want so you and your party can try everything if that interests you!).    

All-in-all, we had the perfect day 1 and were off to a great start on our cruise! 

DAY 2 – PORT STOP IN NAPLES, ITALY

This is where things started to take a bit of a turn for me.  The next day was our first port stop.  This was in Naples, Italy which I had read isn’t that safe to tour alone.  It’s also VERY close to the Amalfi Coast which has been a dream of mine to see since I was in college.  We decided to do an excursion on this day so that we could see the Amalfi coast and stop in Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, and Ravello.  

We booked our excursion through Shore Excursions (a reputable company that I had used on my Alaskan cruise).  Long story short, they put us on the wrong tour. (We’re not sure how this happened and we still haven’t gotten our money back. The tour we were on only gave us about an hour in Sorrento, Positano, and Amalfi (but by the time we parked and walked into the city center (and then walked back in order to get the bus on time) we had only about 30 minutes to actually do anything in each location. It was a lot of driving for very little reward and it cost $200/person. 

While I’m forever grateful to have seen the Amalfi coast (and snap some of those “iconic” photos).  I would never recommend this to anyone else going on this cruise.  I would recommend focusing on one activity (maybe just go to Positano) and book it through Disney Cruise Line. 

Once we got back on the ship, we were anxious to meet all of the Disney costume characters who were dressed in Italian outfits! (Are you kidding me?!)  Then we had dinner in the Royal Palace, a dining room themed after all of the Disney princesses!  Again, another incredible meal and is when we really started to bond with our serving staff.  We capped off the night with some music in “The District”, which is the 21-and-over area of the ship where there are a series of different bars you can enjoy.  We went to the District Lounge and listened to a husband/wife duo sing pop songs.  

DAY 3 – DAY AT SEA

After the crazy day we had prior, we were so excited to have this day at sea.  It was filled with tons of relaxation, reading, character meet & greets, the “Art of the Ship” tour I previously mentioned, and more.  

On this night, we had “formal” night.  My friend and I REALLY decided to do it up, so we spent some time getting ready in our stateroom and taking photos on the top deck.  This is one of my favorite nights because all of the Disney characters come out for photos in their formal wear and it’s just so special.  

On this night there was another party in the atrium where the cruise gave out free drinks for an hour.  The drinks were actually really really good and we had such a great time.  It’s also the night where you can see your first Broadway level show, “The Golden Mickeys”.  I’ve actually seen this show on every single cruise at this point, and it’s honestly very dated.  BUT I love it anyway, because they have a red carpet outside and they really make it feel special for all the guests who dressed up in their formal attire for the night. 

This night we had our dining rotation in Animators Palette, which I was bummed about because it really didn’t seem like a great fit for formal night, but WOW, was I wrong.  They used all of the digital screens around the restaurant to make you feel like you were underwater and it was actually quite beautiful. 

We went to bed a bit earlier on this night to gear up for Day 4. 

DAY 4 – PORT STOP IN MYKONOS, GREECE 

Our next stop was in Mykonos and we were pumped!  I’ve always wanted to go to Mykonos.  We were up and ready to get off of the ship the second we docked but for some reason there were some pretty substantial delays with disembarkment on this day.  This gave us about an hour to meet Chip and Dale in their Greek outfits (swoon) and get some character coffees from Cove Café (specialty coffees cost extra). 

When we were finally allowed to exit the ship, we had to take a small ferry to get to the main touristy area of Mykonos.  I highly recommend always being first to get off the ship.  In this case, when you get off the ship you also have to get in line for a ferry.  Our first two hours in Mykonos were HEAVEN.  The streets were quiet and empty.  It was peaceful and just STUNNING.  Worth getting off the ship first!

By around noon, the place was jam-packed.  Mykonos is a popular stop for many cruise ships and so the streets became so overrun with people that it definitely wasn’t as fun as when we first arrived.  We grabbed some lunch at a recommended restaurant and around 3pm decided we had seen enough and were ready to get back on this ship.  

Mykonos is small enough that you don’t need to plan an excursion on this day.  It’s super easy to walk around and very easy to get to and from the ship.  I imagine there is lots more to explore on the island itself but given that we were given such limited time at this port, it didn’t seem worth it to try and plan more.  

Back on board the ship, we got ready for the highly anticipated PIRATE NIGHT.  Everyone receives a Pirate Mickey bandana in their stateroom so you can participate even if you forgot (or didn’t know to) bring an outfit.  Each dining room serves the same pirate-themed meal (definitely order the jerk chicken, most delicious dish) and the staff all dress like pirates!  

At the end of the night there is a Pirate Party on the top deck where the cast members put on a show and then there is a full-on dance party! It’s the most fun. (Oh, and don’t forget to check out the characters in all of their pirate-themed outfits too!)

DAY 5 – PORT STOP IN SANTORINI

Here’s where things REALLY took a turn for me.  Santorini is amazing.  I had actually spent 5 days here previously and loved every second.  There is much to explore and it’s a lot bigger than Mykonos.  

To get to Santorini, you need to take a tender boat to the main dock, and then a cable car up to the main town of Fira. This part is nuts!  As you can imagine, there are a lot of people trying to get off the boat to explore this port stop.  We were lucky and got off the ship as soon as we could so we didn’t have to wait long, but if you don’t do this, you will likely have to wait at least an hour or more just to get to the first town. 

 This was another stop where we didn’t have an excursion booked and I had grand plans of spending the day driving an ATV from town to town.  Renting an ATV is actually really easy and convenient in Santorini and is generally something I would highly recommend… if you are not visiting during high season, when all of the cruise ships are stopping here.  We ended up only going to Oai and it was a big hassle and waste of money to get the ATV.  (Although we loved the rental company and all of the guys who worked there, so again, if your visiting on an non-cruise day, I completely recommend doing this.) 

By the time we got to Oai, so many groups had beaten us to the punch, which was hard for me to understand since we were the first off of the cruise ship.  This is because Disney is not the only cruise ship to dock here.  It was literal “nuts-to-butts” as my friend likes to say, and we were miserable.  It was also the hottest day of the year on record for Santorini.  

We did make the best of it and had an incredible lunch with a view, and managed to find a few really special spots, but by the end of the day, we were both drained and frustrated.  We decided to just head back to Fira and get back on the cruise ship, only to discover the line for the cable car was wrapped around 5 town blocks.  

We started to get really nervous about not making it back in time (and also standing in line for 2 hours baking in the sun).  So we decided to do the most foolish thing of all – hike down the “donkey path” to the port.  There is a reason why this is NOT recommended.  We knew this was not recommended before we did it – Disney makes it very clear before you get off of the ship.  Years and years of donkeys climbing up and down this 800-foot cobblestone path have worn down and smoothed all of the rocks, making each step incredibly slippery and dangerous.  The path is very steep, and it took us over an hour to walk down because we were slipping and sliding everywhere.  I was quite worried that one of us would be injured.  

We got back on the ship just in time for dinner and crawled our way to the dining room, where I’m not sure we even spoke to each other the whole meal.  Haha.  Exhaustion from the entire day took over us. 

We left dinner early and took our dessert back to the room with us (you can do that, by the way!) We were able to watch the sunset from our balcony, which was gorgeous and then we called it a night.

DAY 6 – PORT DAY IN CHANIA, GREECE

Our last port day was in Chania, which is technically part of Crete.  Because things went so poorly in Santorini the day before, my friend decided not to get off the ship this day.  I hate “wasting” an opportunity to see something new, so I forced myself off the ship even though I had no real plan.  

Here is where I deeply regret not booking an excursion.  I decided I wanted to have a “beach day”.  Crete is known for its stunning beaches and I was very tired from the day before.  I looked up the most beautiful beaches in the area on Google and started on my journey to take public transportation to the beach.  It looked to be about an hour drive away from Chania.  

Long story short, the beach I chose can only be reached by ferry and all of the ferries were basically all-day excursions so I would miss getting back on the cruise ship on time.  I found this out after sitting on a bus for 2 hours to get to the ferry port.  I ended up calling a cab and going to a random beach he recommended for 1 hour before heading back to Chania and getting on the cruise ship.  

I felt very sad like I had wasted the day.  So let my mistakes, be a lesson for you.  It pays to plan.  It also pays to just do an excursion.  Going the “cheap” route on a vacation like this is not the way, in my opinion. 

Back on the ship, we had our last dinner in Animators Palette.  This is a very special night that happens on all Disney cruise ships.  I won’t spoil it for you but let’s just say it’s magical, and your kids will love it! 

Then we headed to the main theater to see the stage performance of “Beauty and the Beast”.  This is the crown jewel of the Disney Dream onboard entertainment and is not to be missed.   

DAY 7 – DAY AT SEA

We concluded the cruise with our final day at sea.  I was sooo excited to spend this day laying out at the adults-only pool, relaxing.  What I did not take into account, is that on this last day, the cruise ship has to book it back to the Port of Civitavecchia, so it’s traveling a lot faster than on other days.  This meant it was actually quite cool to be outside and that the wind was crazy wild on the top decks. 

So I ended up spending most of the day exploring the ship, trying to see the characters in their 25^th anniversary outfits, shop, etc. It ended up being a great way to end the trip and I was so grateful to have one last day at sea.  

We had our last meal back in the Enchanted Garden, where we started our culinary journey.  The last meal is always a little bittersweet.  You start saying your goodbyes to the staff and you have to pack up your belongings for the last day. 

I actually ended up getting sick after dinner so this is where my trip essentially ends.  If I had been feeling better I would have gone to the final Broadway style show in the main theater and the farewell party in the atrium.  Two things that are such a great way to end your trip.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Since I’ve been back, the question I get asked most is, “would you recommend this?”  Makes perfect sense, people want to know if it’s worth it to travel all the way to Europe just to get on a Disney Cruise.  My honest opinion is that, no, it’s not worth it.  

I absolutely love Disney cruising and I also love Europe.  What I didn’t love, were mixing the two.  I felt cheated on both.  I felt there wasn’t enough time to fully enjoy the Disney cruise because we were so tired every day after the ports, and I felt there wasn’t enough time to do any of the ports justice.  I think if you’re going to do a Disney cruise, do one somewhere more relaxing.  And if you want to go to Italy and Greece, then just go to Italy and Greece (in September when it’s cooler and off season).  

We definitely made the best of our trip though.  Just putting this review together took me back to all the great moments.  I’m so glad I was able to experience the Disney Dream but I don’t know if this particular cruise is the best for a first time cruise.  If you don’t really care about the ports and just want the cruise experience, then by all means, go on this cruise!  The theming on the ship was really fun and we were obsessed with the character outfits.  I would just make sure to go with the right expectations. 

I hope you found this review helpful. If the Disney Dream European Mediterranean Cruise has been on your bucket list, then hopefully understanding more of what to expect will go a long way in helping you decide what to do.  Let me know which Disney cruises have been your favorite.  It’s my new goal to start cruising a lot more over the upcoming years and can’t wait to share it all with you!