Welcome to the Disney Parks Moms Panel site, Tarea!
I'm so excited to hear that you are looking into cruising with Disney for the first time. Family cruise vacations have gained so much popularity, and Disney Cruise Line is definitely THE top choice. Everything from the amenities, to the food, to the youth clubs and activities... you can expect it to be high quality!
When choosing a voyage, I would look at your family's schedule first, since school and work calendars would usually dictate when you can go off on vacation. A lot of first-time cruisers choose to start with a
3-night Bahamian itinerary. This allows your family to
test the waters :-). Though I would highly suggest going with at least a 4-night or longer itinerary. There are way too many activities to squeeze in, and I'm sure your family would want to try and experience as much as they can - and still be able to get some downtime on the ship. Be prepared, you might just end up booking your next cruise vacation immediately after. I love the themed cruises... Disney Cruise Line takes it up several notches with their Holiday, Halloween, and even Star Wars themed cruises. Double the magical experiences!
Staying in a stateroom that is as close to midship as possible is a good choice. It's been our choice location for most of our cruises, though we've sailed in aft and forward staterooms and were perfectly fine too. Your family of 5 would fit nicely into a deluxe family stateroom with a verandah. Check out this link for
stateroom comparisons too.
Cruising is definitely a
different way of doing Disney. And I think you and your crew would really enjoy it!
~ Dolly