Our Disney Adventure — Lucas Turns Five at Sea

We booked Disney Adventure back in March, almost seven months before we actually sailed.

The idea was quite simple. Lucas was turning five in October, and instead of having a birthday party, we thought it would be nice to celebrate with a family holiday.

Both boys were already quite into Marvel, so a Disney cruise sounded like something they would enjoy. And since Disney Adventure was sailing from Singapore, we didn't even have to travel overseas to get onboard.

I booked our five-day, four-night cruise through Trip.com on 14 March, and then we waited.

Seven months is quite a long time when you've already booked a holiday. For most of that time, the cruise was just something we had to look forward to. But as October got closer, it started to feel real.

And eventually, 8 October came around.

Our First Few Hours Onboard

Our boarding slot was 12:45 pm, but we decided to arrive at the terminal around noon. Somehow, we managed to get onboard by about 12:30 pm, which was a nice surprise.

We'd also planned our breakfast that morning a little differently.

Usually, we'd have breakfast around 8 to 8:30 am, but that day, we pushed it to about 9 am. The idea was to skip lunch before boarding and have our first meal on the ship instead.

And since we were already onboard by lunchtime, we headed straight to Enchanted Summer for the buffet.

It was already busy, but finding a table wasn't difficult. The food was decent, and I remember going for the salmon. Nothing particularly extraordinary about the meal itself, but the staff were lovely with the boys.

Meeting Captain Minnie

The more memorable part came just as we were leaving the restaurant.

We spotted Captain Minnie.

And there was hardly any queue.

Of course, we weren't going to miss that.

So within our first hour or so onboard, we'd already taken our first Disney character photo. The boys were happy, and from then on, they started paying a lot more attention to who might be appearing around the ship.

Not a bad start to the holiday.

The Room I Spent Quite Some Time Choosing

One thing I had put quite a bit of thought into before the cruise was our stateroom.

We booked a Deluxe Garden View Stateroom with Verandah, room 12369 on Deck 12.

There were cheaper room options, including ocean-view rooms, but I liked the idea of being able to look down at Garden Stage from our own balcony.

I even deliberately chose a room near the middle of the row, thinking we'd get one of the better views.

The Pillar

Well, almost.

The view was good, except for one rather annoying teal-green support pillar that partially blocked the stage.

For adults, it wasn't too much of an issue because we could lean out slightly to see around it. But for the boys, who were shorter and usually looking through the glass, it was more noticeable.

Something I'll definitely pay more attention to if we ever book the same room category again.

Inside Our Room

Apart from that, I actually liked our room quite a lot.

It was comfortable enough for the four of us, and the sofa bed arrangement worked well. During the day, housekeeping would turn it back into a sofa, giving the boys a little more space to move around.

And at night, it became their bed again.

There was also a television right in front of the sofa, which, as we later discovered, was going to be very popular with the boys.

Our Favourite Spot

But my favourite part was still the verandah.

Sometimes there would be a performance at Garden Stage. Sometimes Disney characters would appear. And sometimes the boys would just stand there watching the people below.

We ended up spending quite a bit of time out there, even when we had nothing particular planned.

Was the Garden View Worth It?

I was initially a little concerned about the noise, since we were overlooking a performance area. But once the glass door was closed, the room was surprisingly quiet.

There were even occasions when we didn't realise a show had started until we noticed the lights flashing through the curtains.

Joanna wasn't entirely convinced that paying extra for the Garden View room was worth it, especially since there weren't that many stage performances.

And to be fair, I could see her point.

But I think I'd still choose it again. I liked being near the action, even when we weren't actually doing anything.

Just perhaps a different room next time. Haha.

Four Nights Ahead of Us

By the time we'd settled in, the boys were already getting comfortable in what would be our little home for the next four nights.

There was still plenty to explore, and we hadn't even experienced our first Disney dinner yet.

Joanna also had another little project waiting — decorating our stateroom door for Lucas's birthday and the Pixie Dust exchanges.

At that point, we didn't know just how much those decorations and little gifts would become part of our cruise memories.

But that's a story for a little later.

For now, we were finally onboard Disney Adventure.

And Lucas's fifth birthday was just around the corner.

Before this cruise, Lucas and Ethan were already big fans of Marvel.

They knew their superheroes, especially the Avengers, so I expected the Marvel-themed attractions and performances to be among their favourite parts of Disney Adventure.

What I hadn't quite expected was how quickly they would discover other Disney characters along the way.

And a lot of that actually started in our stateroom.

A Little More Screen Time Than Usual

One thing we discovered quite quickly was that the television in our room had a pretty extensive collection of Disney movies.

There was Frozen, Moana, Toy Story, Inside Out, Big Hero 6 and plenty more.

Naturally, the boys were very happy about that.

I know some parents might prefer to limit screen time during a family holiday. But we were on a Disney cruise. Watching Disney movies and then getting excited about seeing those same characters around the ship felt like part of the experience to me.

Baymax was probably the best example.

Lucas didn't know who Baymax was before this trip. Then he saw a Baymax workout performance at Garden Stage and became curious about the big white character.

He asked to watch Big Hero 6, and after that, Baymax suddenly became one of his new favourites.

It was quite funny how quickly that happened.

One moment he didn't know the character, and the next we were buying him a Baymax water bottle from the onboard store.

We even brought the bottle along when we eventually met Baymax in person.

I suppose that's one of the things Disney does rather well. The boys weren't just watching movies or meeting characters separately. One experience led to another.

Their First Time at the Cinema

Another thing I hadn't expected to do so much onboard was watch movies.

We ended up watching two films at the cinema during the cruise — Toy Story 5 and Moana (2026).

Toy Story 5 was actually the boys' first proper cinema experience.

I wasn't sure how they would manage sitting through an entire movie, especially Ethan. But surprisingly, both of them did quite well.

And for me, it was a little milestone too.

I realised I hadn't been to the cinema in about five years, probably since Lucas was born.

Before having kids, going to the movies was something we could do quite easily. After becoming parents, it somehow became one of those things we just stopped doing.

So there I was, sitting in a cinema again, this time with both boys beside us.

It felt nice.

We enjoyed it enough to watch Moana later in the cruise, especially after the boys had been watching the animated version in our room.

I'm now hoping we can make another family cinema trip when Avengers: Doomsday comes out in December.

Hopefully the boys will be just as cooperative.

A Little Superhero Training

We also spent quite a bit of time exploring the Oceaneer Club.

For the boys, the Marvel-themed areas were naturally the most interesting.

There was an interactive superhero training game where they could use their hands to control the action on the screen. Both Lucas and Ethan loved it, and we ended up returning almost every day so they could play again.

There were daily open-house sessions when parents could enter with their children, so we usually spent around an hour there.

Outside those sessions, the club was intended for children to participate without their parents.

Lucas and Ethan weren't quite ready to stay there on their own for long periods, although they eventually agreed to join a Black Panther workshop.

That gave Joanna and me about an hour to walk around the ship and browse the stores without the boys.

When we returned to collect them, they were surprisingly excited.

They told us about following Black Panther and helping to save people during the activity.

In fact, they were disappointed that the workshop had ended so quickly.

Quite a change from how reluctant they had been about going in without us.

It was a nice little experience for them, and perhaps something they'd enjoy even more when they're older.

Marvel Landing — And My Rather Unfortunate Ride

One afternoon, we headed to Marvel Landing to try the attractions.

There were three rides: Groot Galaxy Spin, Pym Quantum Racers and Ironcycle Test Run.

The boys were tall enough for Groot Galaxy Spin and Pym Quantum Racers.

Both were fairly simple attractions. Groot was a spinning ride, while Pym involved driving little cars around a small track.

To be honest, I wasn't particularly impressed by either ride.

But the boys seemed to enjoy them, and I suppose that's what mattered.

Ironcycle Test Run was a different story.

This was the attraction I was actually looking forward to trying.

The displayed waiting time was around 20 minutes, so I decided to queue on my own while Joanna took the boys downstairs for ice cream.

As a single rider, I managed to get on in about 15 minutes.

The ride had two seats side by side and went around the track twice, with the second lap being faster.

Sounds straightforward enough, right?

Well, not quite.

During the first lap, the ride suddenly stopped while we were suspended somewhere along the track.

At first, I thought it might be a normal part of the ride.

But after waiting for a while, it became clear that something wasn't quite right.

My fellow rider and I were just sitting there, high above the ship, waiting for the ride to restart.

Eventually, it did.

I thought that was the end of it.

Then came the second lap.

This time, the ride was moving faster, and as we passed the area where Joanna and the boys were standing below, I even managed to wave at them.

And then it stopped again.

Except this time, we were stuck on a curved section of the track, with our bodies facing mostly downwards.

I remember thinking about what would happen if the restraint somehow failed.

Not exactly the kind of thought you want to have while hanging high above the decks of a cruise ship.

We stayed there for several minutes before the ride finally restarted and brought us back safely.

Only afterwards did I learn that Joanna and the boys had seen the second stoppage from below. They were understandably worried and had been shouting up at me, although I couldn't hear them.

They didn't even know the ride had already stopped once earlier.

When I got off, the staff apologised and offered to let me skip the queue if I wanted to ride again.

I declined. Once was definitely enough.

The Avengers Show We Almost Missed

One of the performances I really wanted the boys to watch was Avengers Assemble.

The problem was the schedule.

By the time I checked the show timings, I realised that the Saturday performances clashed with our dinner plans, including a character dining experience we didn't want to miss.

That left the Sunday evening performance at 8:45 pm as our only planned opportunity.

I was a little worried because I'd already told the boys we'd watch the Avengers show. If something happened to that final performance, we'd miss it entirely.

Then something unexpected happened on Saturday night.

It was around 11 pm, and we were back in our room watching television.

I noticed some lights flashing through the curtains and decided to take a look outside.

To my surprise, Avengers Assemble was happening right below us at Garden Stage.

I quickly called the boys over.

I'd spent so much time worrying about missing the show, and now I was struggling to get the boys away from the television to watch it.

But there it was — the Avengers performing right below our verandah.

We watched the show from our room, without having to find a spot among the crowd downstairs.

And because we were still around for the scheduled Sunday evening performance, the boys ended up watching Avengers Assemble twice.

That was one of those moments when I felt quite happy about choosing our Garden View stateroom.

The extra cost suddenly felt a little more worthwhile.

Not Everything Was a Hit

Of course, not every Disney activity impressed us.

We watched Remember, one of the shows we'd heard quite a lot about before the cruise.

For some reason, neither the boys nor I found it particularly memorable.

I couldn't really explain why. It just didn't leave much of an impression on us.

We also stayed up for The Lion King: Celebration in the Sky fireworks.

Lucas was especially excited because he loves The Lion King, and we had good memories of the much bigger fireworks show we'd watched at Shanghai Disneyland.

We arrived early to get a good viewing spot, but the actual show was a little underwhelming for us.

There was Lion King music and narration, but we didn't feel the same excitement we'd experienced in Shanghai. The boys were disappointed too.

The swimming pools were another mixed experience.

They were often crowded, so it was more about getting into the water and having some fun rather than actually swimming.

Lucas was old enough for the water slides but wasn't keen to try them, while Ethan was still too young for most of the attractions.

There was also one rather unfortunate moment when Lucas swallowed some pool water, became sick and vomited in the Moana pool.

The lifeguards quickly cleared the pool, and we were asked to bring him to the medical centre for an assessment.

Thankfully, he was cleared to continue with outdoor activities, although he couldn't return to the kids' club for the next 24 hours.

And what did Lucas want to do immediately afterwards?

Go swimming again.

So off we went to another pool.

Sometimes I really don't understand where kids get their energy from. Haha.

The Things They Enjoyed Most

Looking back, I don't think the boys necessarily enjoyed the biggest or most highly rated attractions the most.

Sometimes it was something as simple as watching a Disney movie in the room, discovering a new character, or looking down at a performance from our verandah.

They were also happy with rides that I personally found quite ordinary.

And that's something I kept noticing throughout the cruise.

What impressed me wasn't always what impressed them.

But I think that was part of the fun. We came onboard expecting the boys to love the Marvel attractions, and they ended up finding excitement in all sorts of unexpected places.

Watching them discover those things was probably one of my favourite parts of the cruise.

One thing I was looking forward to on Disney Adventure was the dining experience.

I'd heard quite a bit about Disney's rotational dining, where guests move between different restaurants while being looked after by the same waiter team throughout the cruise.

It sounded like a nice arrangement, especially when travelling with two young boys.

And as it turned out, some of our favourite memories happened during dinner.

Dinner Was More Than Just Dinner

We had chosen the 6 pm dinner seating, which worked quite well for our family. The boys usually eat early, and I didn't fancy having dinner too late after a full day of activities.

Our first dinner was at Animator's Palate.

The restaurant had an activity where everyone could draw a character on a sheet of paper, and later in the evening, those drawings would appear as animations on the screens around the restaurant.

I thought it was a pretty clever idea.

But the best part wasn't actually seeing our drawings come to life.

It was Ethan.

When his drawing appeared on the screen, he got so excited that he stood up and started dancing along.

I don't think he cared very much about how the animation worked. He was just happy to see his drawing moving around on a big screen.

And honestly, watching him enjoy that moment was more entertaining than the animation itself.

We returned to Animator's Palate on our final evening, although the drawing activity wasn't repeated.

I was glad we'd experienced it on our first night.

A Few Familiar Faces at Every Dinner

Another dinner I remember was at Navigator's Club.

There was a live performance featuring Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Daisy, and the characters also came around to interact with guests at their tables.

Naturally, the boys enjoyed that.

It was also one of the reasons we didn't want to skip dinner just to catch Avengers Assemble. We knew the boys would enjoy seeing the characters up close, and we didn't want to miss the experience.

As for the food itself, I thought it was alright.

There was a good selection, and we could order more than one dish if we wanted to. The boys had their own children's menu too.

But to be honest, I'm not much of a foodie.

After four evenings, I felt that quite a few of the menu choices were similar. I generally went for fish or beef, and while the food was decent, there wasn't really a particular dish that stood out to me.

For me, the dining experience was more memorable than the food.

Especially because of the people serving us.

The People Who Made Us Feel Looked After

Having the same waiter team throughout the cruise turned out to be a really nice arrangement.

By the second or third evening, we were already seeing familiar faces whenever we sat down for dinner.

They were friendly, attentive and genuinely good with the boys.

It wasn't just about bringing our food or clearing the plates. They made the whole experience feel comfortable, especially when we were dining with two young children.

Our housekeeping experience was equally good.

Every evening, the room would be prepared for bedtime, with the sofa converted into a bed for the boys.

And during the day, it would be turned back into a sofa again.

It's a small thing, but when four people are sharing one stateroom for several days, having that extra space makes a difference.

We appreciated the service enough that, even though gratuities were already automatically charged to our onboard account, we gave additional tips to our waiter and housekeeper.

We didn't feel obliged to do it. We just thought they'd done an exceptional job looking after us.

More Than Just the Food

Looking back, I probably couldn't tell you what we ordered for dinner on most evenings.

But I can still picture Ethan getting up from his chair and dancing when his drawing appeared on the screen.

I remember the boys getting excited whenever the Disney characters came around during dinner.

And I remember how comfortable the waiter and housekeeping teams made us feel throughout those four nights.

The food might not have been particularly memorable to me, but the experience certainly was.

Especially that little dance from Ethan.

Although Lucas's birthday was on 11 October, I think he had been celebrating it from the moment we stepped onboard Disney Adventure.

He knew this cruise was for his fifth birthday, and I could tell how happy he was throughout the trip.

And there was one birthday surprise that actually started before we even left home.

A Little Birthday Magic on Our Door

A month or two before the cruise, Joanna had been reading up on something called Pixie Dust.

Apparently, it's a little tradition among Disney cruise guests where people leave small gifts or surprises for one another, usually in bags or containers hanging outside their stateroom doors.

We thought it sounded quite fun, especially since we were celebrating Lucas's birthday.

So Joanna started preparing decorations for our stateroom door.

The boys were already big Marvel fans, so she went with a Marvel theme. We also had personalised “Lucas turns Five” magnets from le.keepsakes, which became the centrepiece of the decorations.

Along with the magnets, she prepared a Mickey Mouse Pixie Dust gift holder and a small whiteboard where other guests could leave birthday wishes for Lucas.

Once onboard, Joanna spent about 15 to 20 minutes putting everything up.

And just like that, our otherwise ordinary stateroom door looked rather different from the others along the corridor.

Of course, we weren't the only ones decorating. Some guests had elaborate setups, complete with lights and all sorts of Disney decorations.

It was quite interesting walking along the corridors and seeing what everyone had prepared.

Giving a Little Pixie Dust

We had also prepared around 100 little carabiners to give away.

Rather than simply dropping them off ourselves, I thought it would be nice to let Lucas take part.

So I gave him a bag of the gifts, and we walked around the stateroom corridors together.

I followed behind while he decided which doors he wanted to visit.

Usually, he'd pick one with decorations that caught his attention.

Then he'd walk over and carefully place a carabiner into the gift bag or container hanging outside.

And off we'd go to find the next one.

I think he genuinely enjoyed doing that.

It wasn't an organised activity or something Disney had scheduled for us. Just the two of us walking along the corridors, looking at decorated doors and leaving little surprises for other families.

But it's one of the memories I still think about when I remember this cruise.

Birthday Wishes From People We'd Never Met

Over the next few days, we started finding little gifts in our Mickey Mouse Pixie Dust gift holder too.

There were Disney-themed items, stickers, stationery, keychains and other small surprises.

Some guests had even prepared personalised gifts with their stateroom numbers attached.

We also noticed that Lucas's birthday whiteboard was gradually filling up with messages.

People we'd never met had taken a moment to wish him a happy fifth birthday.

I thought that was a really nice gesture.

Of course, not everything went perfectly. We did notice that one of the gifts in our Mickey Mouse gift holder had disappeared.

But I didn't think too much of it. Some guests had separate boxes where others were welcome to take a gift, so perhaps someone had simply misunderstood how ours worked.

Overall, the Pixie Dust exchanges turned out to be one of the nicest surprises of the cruise.

And for Lucas, the birthday wishes had already started arriving well before his actual birthday.

The Birthday Boy

The day before Lucas turned five, we stopped by Guest Services to check that his birthday had been recorded in Disney's system.

We'd heard that Disney provided birthday certificates and badges, and we wanted to make sure Lucas would receive his.

The staff confirmed that everything was arranged and told us the certificate and badge would be delivered to our room the following morning while we were having breakfast.

Sure enough, when we returned to our stateroom on Sunday morning, there they were.

A birthday certificate and badge, waiting on the bed alongside some folded towel animals.

Lucas was happy to receive them, especially the badge.

He wore it proudly throughout the day.

And whenever a crew member noticed it and wished him a happy birthday, he enjoyed the attention.

I think that was part of what made the day special for him. He knew it was his birthday, and everyone around him seemed to know it too.

Meeting Baymax on His Birthday

One of the highlights of Sunday was finally meeting Baymax.

By then, Baymax had become one of Lucas's new favourite Disney characters, and we'd even bought him a Baymax water bottle from one of the onboard stores.

So naturally, when it was time for the meet-and-greet, Lucas brought his new bottle along.

I thought it was quite nice that a character he'd only discovered during this cruise had become someone he was excited to meet on his fifth birthday.

It wasn't something we'd planned when we booked the trip, but it worked out rather nicely.

One More Birthday Song

That evening, we returned to Animator's Palate for our final dinner onboard.

Our waiter team had been looking after us throughout the cruise, and by then, we were already familiar with them.

During dinner, they brought Lucas a slice of birthday cake and sang Happy Birthday to him.

It wasn't a big celebration, but I don't think it needed to be.

Between the birthday badge, the greetings from the crew, meeting Baymax, and having everyone sing for him at dinner, Lucas had been enjoying his special day from morning until evening.

And really, that was all we'd hoped for when we planned this trip.

More Than Just One Birthday

Looking back, I don't think Lucas saw his birthday celebration as something that happened only on Sunday.

He knew from the beginning that we were going on Disney Adventure to celebrate him turning five.

The badge and cake on Sunday were lovely touches, but they were part of a much bigger celebration.

We'd booked five days and four nights to celebrate one birthday.

And I think, for Lucas, it really did feel like a celebration that lasted the whole trip.

When I first booked Disney Adventure, I was really doing it for the boys.

Lucas was turning five, both boys were already big Marvel fans, and I was quite sure they would enjoy spending a few days surrounded by Disney characters.

What I hadn't quite expected was how much I would enjoy the experience myself.

I was born in 1982, so much of my childhood was spent growing up in the 1990s, when Disney had so many memorable animated movies.

The Lion King, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and all those familiar Disney characters were part of growing up.

Being onboard Disney Adventure, hearing the music and seeing the characters again, brought back a little of that feeling.

Of course, this time I wasn't the kid watching Disney.

I was the father bringing my own kids along.

And I think that made the experience quite different.

One thing I also noticed during the cruise was that there were quite a number of adults travelling without children.

Before this trip, I probably would have associated a Disney cruise mainly with families bringing young kids.

But after spending a few days onboard, I could understand why adults would want to experience it too.

There's something familiar about Disney, especially if you grew up watching the movies.

And it was nice watching Lucas and Ethan discover some of those characters for themselves.

Characters I'd grown up knowing were becoming part of their childhood too.

Our Last Night Onboard

Our final evening was a fairly quiet one.

After dinner, we returned to our stateroom to pack because guests who wanted their luggage collected had to leave it outside their rooms that evening.

We didn't want to be rushing around the following morning, especially since our breakfast was scheduled for 6 am.

So we spent the rest of the evening in our room.

The boys watched television while we finished packing.

Nothing particularly elaborate. Just the four of us enjoying the room we'd called home for the past few days.

It was quite a nice way to spend our last evening onboard.

An Early Morning Goodbye

The following morning came rather quickly.

Because we'd chosen the earlier dinner seating, our disembarkation breakfast was scheduled for 6 am.

Which meant we had to wake up very early.

Not exactly my preferred way to end a holiday.

After breakfast, we waited for our turn to disembark.

Thankfully, the whole process was quite smooth. From what I remember, it took around 30 to 40 minutes before we were off the ship.

We took a taxi home and reached our place at about 9 am.

The boys were mostly just tired after four busy days.

And just like that, our Disney Adventure was over.

Would We Sail Again?

This is probably where I have slightly mixed feelings.

On one hand, I genuinely enjoyed the cruise.

The boys had a wonderful time, Lucas got to celebrate his fifth birthday surrounded by Disney, and I had a chance to revisit some of the characters and memories from my own childhood.

The service was excellent, our Garden View stateroom worked well for us, and there were plenty of little moments that made the trip memorable.

But Disney Adventure isn't exactly a cheap family holiday.

We paid around S$6,300 for the cruise booking, and spent another S$1,000 or so onboard, including gratuities and shopping.

That's roughly S$7,300 for five days and four nights.

For the same budget, we could probably take the family on a longer holiday to another country.

I also felt that towards the end of the cruise, we were starting to run out of things to do.

Not because there was nothing happening onboard, but after a few days, we'd already experienced most of the activities that interested us.

So would I book another Disney cruise?

If the price were lower, I think it would be an easy yes.

At the current price, though, I'd probably save it for another special occasion rather than making it a regular family holiday.

Perhaps Ethan's fifth birthday?

We'll see.

A Birthday Trip Worth Remembering

Looking back, I'm glad we decided to celebrate Lucas's fifth birthday this way.

It wasn't the cheapest family holiday we've taken, and not everything onboard lived up to our expectations.

But Lucas knew this was his birthday trip, and I could see how much he enjoyed it.

Ethan had his own little moments too, from dancing at dinner to discovering new characters and enjoying his first cinema experience.

Joanna enjoyed the trip overall as well, even if she wasn't entirely convinced that our Garden View stateroom was worth the extra money.

And I had a pretty good time myself.

I suppose that's what made this trip worthwhile for us.

We each found something to enjoy, even if it wasn't always the same thing.