Whether it was when I was working on the Disney Wonder or just vacationing, a common thing I would hear from people was, “I would love to go on a Disney cruise, but I would hate to be around that many kids.” I am here to tell you, yes you can have a fun trip as adults without kids! Yes, you can have an incredible time with your family of adults or just your friends! AND YES, you can have a romantic trip with your partner! While kids are inevitable on a Disney cruise, (and typically well behaved) there are 3 simple ways to minimize your interactions with them and enjoy a child-free Disney Cruise experience.
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Choose the Right Itinerary
While all Disney itineraries are family friendly, there are quite a few that will draw less children. Child attendance drops dramatically on longer itineraries, especially on 2-week long cruises. For example, when I worked in Youth Activities, we were used to getting 700+children on average but on the 2-week long itineraries, it dropped to 150 and under from ages 0-17.
As for 7-day itineraries that will have less children, look into taking an Alaskan cruise. Alaskan cruises are some of my favorites aboard the Disney Wonder and they don’t draw as many children, most likely due to parents not being able to just keep their kids entertained with swimming and a lot of excursions require children to be older. While the percentage of kids doesn’t drop nearly as much as a longer itinerary, the tropical temperatures tend to draw families more in the summer than Alaska’s mild temperatures.
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Eat at the Second Seating Dining
When you book your cruise, you will be asked to select your dining time for the main dining rooms. First seating is at 6:15 and the second is 8:15. (Times fluctuate depending on your itinerary) Second seating tends to not draw as many people traveling with small children because the first seating allows families to have an earlier night.
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Stick to Adult Only Areas and Activities
This might sound like a no brainer to the Disney Cruise Line regular, but many people don’t realize there are adult only sections. 
- There is an adult only pool with the most comfortable loungers on deck.
- Adult exclusive specialty dining at Palo or Remy, I can’t recommend eating here enough, go at least once on your cruise for a special night out.
- Cove Café is a quiet place to grab a specialty coffee, read your book or listen to one of the musicians on board that frequent the café.
- The gym and spa are also 18 and over.
- At night, the many bars on board become exclusive to adults with game shows, trivia, special variety acts and more. Be sure to attend the game shows, they are some of the most fun on board. And if you see a variety act you enjoyed at the Walt Disney Theater, odds are, they have an adult act in one of the bars later in your cruise.
- Throughout the cruise, there are lots of adult exclusive programing. You will be able to see on your navigator what those are, and you can easily filter your activities by those age guidelines.
No matter what you choose, I hope that you now have the knowledge to have a more child-free Disney Cruise. Disney does an amazing job at ensuring every guest has a wonderful time and caters to the adults as much as they do to the kids. Don’t let the fear of having kids running around stop you from going on a cruise if you really love Disney. The separation is great and if you are travelling with kids, there is plenty of opportunity to have alone time thanks to the amazing children programming. I hope you get to set sail soon!
