Here’s Where Disney Cruise Line Sets Sail in Summer 2025
Disney Cruise Line announced itineraries through Summer 2024 for the Magic, Wonder, Dream, Fantasy legacy ships, plus the newer Treasure and Wish. There are sailings to popular ports of call in the Greek Isles, Mediterranean, Northern Europe, Alaska, and the Caribbean. This post covers the destinations, followed by commentary on pricing, our recommended destinations, and why we’ll be booking on opening day instead of waiting for a deal.
Note that “opening day” booking for the general public will begin on March 22, 2024. Do not call today–these itineraries cannot be booked yet by anyone. Prior to that, there will be a staggered advance booking period beginning next Monday. Here’s the eligibility timeline:
- March 18, 2024 – Pearl Castaway Club Members
- March 19, 2024 – Platinum Castaway Club Members, Golden Oak Club Residents
- March 20, 2024 – Gold Castaway Club Members
- March 21, 2024 – Silver Castaway Club Members, Disney Vacation Club Members, Adventures by Disney Insiders
- March 22, 2024 – All Guests
It’s always a good idea to use an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner to do the work for you, but especially for opening day bookings. For one thing, using them to book your cruise is a great way to save time and stress. For another, their services are free to you since they’re paid commission by DCL on the reservation. You can also book directly on disneycruise.com or by calling Disney Cruise Line at 888-325-2500. Anyway, here are full details about the DCL Summer 2025 sailings…
Disney Fantasy Marks Inaugural Season in Europe – The Disney Fantasy will spend its first summer season in Europe in summer 2025, visiting incredible European destinations from Northern Europe to the Mediterranean from May to late July.
Five to 12-night sailings from Barcelona, Spain and Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy will call on picturesque ports of call throughout the Mediterranean, while one special 12-night sailing to the Greek Isles will feature three stops in Greece, two in Italy and the season’s only stop in Valetta, Malta. Â
From late July to September, the Disney Fantasy will sail from Southampton, United Kingdom to numerous destinations including Spain, Norway and British Isles. Â
Alaskan Adventures Return – The Disney Wonder will once again embark on adventures to Alaska from Vancouver, Canada, with five-, seven-, eight- and nine-night sailings from May to September.
Families will encounter the breathtaking natural beauty of the last frontier, combined with the magic of Disney, on cruises to Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan, with port adventures that offer excursions to Alaska’s majestic glaciers and gold mining relics. Â
Tropical Escapes from Florida – Four Disney Cruise Line ships will homeport in Florida in summer 2025 with three ships out of Port Canaveral and one out of Fort Lauderdale for tropical escapes to the Bahamas and Caribbean, including Disney’s island destinations.Â
The new Disney Treasure will follow its inaugural season with seven-night itineraries from Port Canaveral to the Eastern and Western Caribbean. Eastern Caribbean sailings will take families to Disney’s private island paradise, Castaway Cay, along with Tortola and St. Thomas.
Western Caribbean sailings aboard the new Disney Treasure will bring families to destinations such as Falmouth in Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel, Mexico. The week-long voyages will offer at least two days at sea, giving families more time to enjoy the unique spaces, immersive dining and world-class entertainment onboard the brand-new ship. Plenty of time to take semi-permanent residence inside the Haunted Mansion bar. Â
The Disney Magic will homeport in Port Canaveral for the first time since summer 2016, taking guests on four- and five-night sailings to The Bahamas and both of Disney’s island destinations (Castaway Cay and Lighthouse Point). One special 10-night southern Caribbean sailing in July will take families to both of Disney Cruise Line’s island destinations along with Antigua, St. Kitts, San Juan and Tortola in the British Virgin Islands.Â
In Summer 2025, both the Disney Magic and the Disney Dream will take guests to Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point, DCL’s one-of-a-kind retreat on the island of Eleuthera. The vibrant tropical getaway will provide a unique window into the rich culture of The Bahamas merged with Disney’s signature entertainment and service.
Select itineraries will include stops at both Castaway Cay and Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point, with six Disney Magic or Disney Dream cruises sailing exclusively to Disney’s island destinations, inviting guests to experience even more magic both onboard and on land.Â
The Disney Wish will also sail from Port Canaveral, offering 3 and 4 night sailings to Nassau and the beloved beaches of Disney Castaway Cay. In South Florida, the Disney Dream will sail from Fort Lauderdale on 3 to 5-night sailings to one or both of Disney’s magical island destinations along with Nassau or Cozumel.Â
Here’s a listing of every single Disney Cruise Line sailing for Summer 2025:
When it comes to commentary, I’m really looking forward to setting sail with Disney Cruise Line again. We had a Mediterranean Greek Isles cruise booked last summer for our anniversary, but it was one of several trips we cancelled when we found out we’d be having a baby. (The best-ever reason to cancel travel!)
As much as we’d love to rebook that cruise for Summer 2025, I’m guessing that won’t happen. (I have not consulted with Sarah, who may have other ideas. I’m not the captain when it comes to cruise planning.) It just seems like a lot with a toddler to try to make that time change and enjoy all of the ports. But who knows, perhaps we will.
Instead, maybe we’ll stay in the same time zone and take a do-over on one of the Alaska itineraries. Everyone else we knows–including Sarah’s parents–who have done that sailing had effusive praise and saw far more wildlife than we did. Not that we had a bad time by any means, I just feel like we didn’t have an optimal experience. My hesitation there would be that I don’t feel like it’s something we need to redo just yet, and perhaps we’d be better off waiting a few years when Megatron can walk and would remember the experience. (Three year olds can do 5-mile hikes, right?!)
Setting aside our personal preferences and priorities, if you’re looking for a recommendation, pretty much everyone who has done one will shower the Alaska itineraries with praise. They’re also pretty approachable, and Vancouver is a world-class city. However, our all-time favorite cruise is the Norwegian Fjords itinerary–by a pretty wide margin.
We cover the similarities and differences in Norway vs. Alaska Cruises, but the bottom line is that for us, Norway was much better. Others we know who have done both give the edge to Alaska–you really can’t go wrong either way. At some point, we’ll definitely be redoing both. (See our Norway Disney Cruise Report & Planning Guide for more on our experience with the fjords voyage.)
In any case, I cannot say enough good things about the Norwegian Fjords cruises. If you have a child who is obsessed with Frozen, it’s basically the perfect vacation that blends real-world destinations and culture with Disney. I cannot wait to revisit Norway, but that’s mostly to show it to our daughter and seeing it through her eyes–so we’re still several years off from that happening. She’ll probably be obsessed with Frozen 3/4 by then!
Every year opening day price-points make waves on social media, as prices always jump. This is not really a surprise at this point, but it’s nonetheless easy to be taken aback when first seeing each year’s prices…especially if you remember what prices were 5 years ago.
This has been especially true with Disney Cruise Line in the last couple of years as compared to the post-reopening period. We talk a lot about pent-up demand, and it’s important to recognize that DCL has seen a tremendously lagged version of that. Remember, there were restrictions in place through 2022, and ‘revenge travel’ didn’t really arrive in full force until last year.
We’ve had some sticker shock in looking at DCL prices lately, especially as compared to the post-reopening period when Sarah went on several sailings with friends–there were a ton of last minute steals back then. Now, it’s the opposite. Sorta like Walt Disney World in 2022 when resort discounts were scarce.
My hope is that a similar scenario plays out with Disney Cruise Line. That pent-up demand will start exhausting itself, discounts will return, and pricing will trend back towards “normal” levels. That’s probably wishful thinking, though. Walt Disney World is still up considerably since 2019, and that’s even before taking into account all of the cuts.
To that point, it’s worth noting that opening day stateroom rates are typically on the lower end of the eventual pricing spectrum. Which is to say that as itineraries start to book up and stateroom inventory becomes more scarce, rates invariably increase. Pricing is demand-based, with cruises in recent years rarely decreasing in price–increases are far more common. (Basically, this is my warning to not bank on the exhaustion of pent-up demand leading to price decreases. That’s my wishful thinking, but history is not on my side.)
Ultimately, it’ll be interesting to see what happens with Disney Cruise Line, just like all other aspects of travel. We already have Megatron’s first cruise booked for this year (finally getting the chance for a do-over of the Very Merrytime Cruise) and my guess is that we’ll be doing another sailing in Summer 2025.
From my perspective, summer is the ideal time to do Disney Cruise Line–it’s my least-favorite time to travel pretty much everywhere else due to climate and crowds. (“Everywhere else” meaning the places I like to go: theme parks and National Parks.) Since the ships are capacity-constrained, largely indoors, and have a cool breeze outside in the evenings, I find them to be great summertime alternatives to the normal tourist destinations. There’s more to it than that, but anyway, that’s a rundown of the Disney Cruise Line itineraries for Summer 2025!
Planning to set sail aboard one of the Disney Cruise Line ships? Read our comprehensive Disney Cruise Line Guide to prepare for your trip, plan entertainment and other activities, and learn what to expect from your Disney cruise! If you want personalized recommendations for Disney Cruise Line itineraries, ships, and more, click here to get a cruise quote from a no-fee Authorized Disney Vacation Planner. They can find you all of the current discounts, and help you plan the details of your cruise!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of these Summer 2025 Disney Cruise Line itineraries? Any that appeal to you? Any thoughts on pent-up demand for cruises exhausting itself by next summer? Will you be booking on opening day, or taking a wait and see approach hoping to score a deal later? Do you think Disney Cruise Line is worth the premium pricing? Any other tips to add or recommendations? Do you agree or disagree with our advice? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
When you get back to this post, will you please elaborate a bit on the shoes and boots you packed for Alaska and Norway?
Many thanks.
Tom,
We did multiple trips to Europe when our boys were under the age of five. Three with our now 9 year old when he was 2, 3 and 4 and two with our now 6 year old when he was 9mo and 1 year. Several trips since…they always adapt to the time change better than the adults! We learned after the first long haul trip that even though it saves a lot of money, always get them their own seat…so worth it in the end.
DON’T BOOK ANY OF THEM! Enjoy the “before School Age” years when you can save absolutely loads of money by sailing DCL at times when there are no school breaks. And frankly, with a little one, the relaxing Caribbean cruises where you can just enjoy a pina colada on a white sand beach while your kid builds castles in the shade of the umbrella are the way to go. You can book the overpriced summer sailings when you are forced to by draconian school districts in a few years.
But when that happens, Alaska is incredible.
You’re welcome.
Thanks for the advice!
Our “problem” (so to speak) is that we have a lot of travel we want to do before she starts school, and almost everywhere is going to have seasonal crowds, weather, and pricing.
So given that, I’d rather push the cruises to summer (even if it means paying an arm and a leg…he says, before seeing the actual pricing) and do the other things we enjoy more–and think will be impacted by crowds to an even greater degree–the rest of the year. Does that make sense?
A Disney Cruise is 1 of the best vacations with young children, as they actually have childcare you can rely on. Best for ages over 3, but extra fee nursery for under 3 — So a vacation where mom and dad can still enjoy a romantic dinner or going to a show, while baby is in the nursery.
Let’s put it this way — It’s a much better vacation with a baby than going to a Disney theme park.
At ports, your excursions are basically limited to what you can do with a stroller for a couple hours at a time.
Yup, we did a Norway DCL cruise eight years ago and it ranks as one of our favorite trips we’ve ever done. There’s a lot that I love about cruising but excursions are typically pretty “meh” except in Norway where our hiking and kayaking experiences were out of this world.
And hooray for a Very Merrytime Cruise with baby! Our only Merrytime Cruise was with our then-six-month-old baby and it was a near-perfect experience from beginning to end. I was convinced, watching how well Santa Claus interacted with and adapted to each kid in line, and how effortlessly he handled our little girl, that he was the real thing!
I’d love it if a ship other than the Wonder would come out to California
Nothing against cruising, but you might really enjoy Norway via land instead. Far, far cheaper and you can explore some of the country’s inland national parks and get to some really nice hikes and glaciers. Like cruising, Norway is great in the summer due to the weather/climate. And I used to follow page for the famous Kjeragbolten hike and saw a couple do it with a 12-month-old baby in a backpack in 1-2 hours less time than it took me, so it’s Megatron-friendly!
I’ve never visited Alaska, but know many who have taken a cruise there in the past few years. All loved it. It does seem similar to Norway, but I’d still like to visit. Though, again, for me I’ might rather fly and do a land trip.