Have you ever thought to yourself, “You know what would be awesome? If I could go on a tropical vacation and get to meet Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers?” Well if so, and even if you haven’t, do I have news for you! Disney Cruise Line offers an AMAZING 5-night cruise from Miami, Florida that features your favorite heroes on Marvel Day at Sea.

So, what exactly is Marvel Day at Sea? MDAS is a special 5-night cruise that sails from Miami, Florida on the Disney Magic. This special cruise is only available on select dates from January until March. There are two Western Caribbean itineraries with the first featuring George Town, Grand Cayman, and Disney Castaway Cay; while the second features Cozumel and Disney Castaway Cay. There’s also the Bahamian itinerary with stops in Key West, Disney Castaway Cay, and Nassau!

For our cruise, we selected the Bahamian itinerary. We flew to Miami the night before our cruise, and stayed at a local hotel that offered both an airport AND cruise terminal shuttle. I always recommend that my clients arrive the night before sailing. You don’t want to risk having flight delays, and missing your cruise! These cruise ships WILL leave without you. Once we arrived at Miami Port, we made our way through security and then up to guest check in. Guests will need their confirmation, and valid IDs to get through security. The Disney Cruise Line confirmation is sent to your home, along with the luggage tags if you are checking your bags to be sent to your room.

Our room was ready at 1:30 pm, so once we boarded, we were able to go straight there. One of the cool things that Disney offers is in-room gifts. Since this was my husband, Phil’s first cruise, I purchased a few of their Marvel room decorations including Spider Man and Iron Man cut-outs, a really cool dome light that beamed the various symbols of the Avengers, and the Marvel Day at Sea blanket and pillow set! In-room surprises can be purchased through your Disney Cruise Line account, and have to be requested at least 48 hours in advance. They make a really fun surprise, especially for kids or first-time cruisers!

Marvel Day at Sea took place on our first full day while we were cruising. The whole ship transforms heroically. Guests are even encouraged to wear their favorite hero costumes! The music on board also switches to that of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Needless to say, everyone was grooving to Guardian of the Galaxy’s “Awesome Mix.” Guests can reserve time slots to visit Groot, along with the New York Encounter. The New York Encounter was the meeting place for Hawkeye, Black Panther, and Spider Man.  Each character had their own special backdrop and the lines moved rather quickly. My mom, who is an avid quilter, had made us quilt blocks for the characters to sign. Their interactions with us were awesome and we had some great talks with Black Panther and Spider Man. Unfortunately, Tony Stark was busy getting ready for the Stark Expo which would take place that evening, so Iron Man wasn’t available to meet.

Thor and Loki were meeting with guests midship, while Captain Marvel and Captain America were meeting outside the Walt Disney Theater. All of these character meet and greets could be found in the Disney Cruise Line Navigator app. We also realized, that if you were wanting a specific character, it was best to show up at least 15 minutes before they were to arrive. We saw a few people get in line to see Captain Marvel, only to be told that they would be meeting Captain America because of their place in line. I’d also recommend meeting a character, and then get right back in line to meet the next one. By doing this we met Thor and Loki, then Captain America and Captain Marvel. It also keeps you from running all over the place.

Besides the characters in the DCL app, there were also roaming heroes. We stumbled across Star Lord, Gamora, and Doctor Strange. We heard that Black Widow was out, but never found her. The roaming characters were fun because you would turn a corner and “Woah! It’s Doctor Strange.” Speaking of Doctor Strange, there’s also a special show that features him! “Journey Into the Mystic Arts” invites young heroes on stage to learn more about the mystic arts.

If character meets aren’t your thing, no worries, Disney has plenty of other activities planned. There were adult only activities like the Ravagers Dance Party and the 1920s USO party, featuring Captain America. The kids clubs also had tons of hero-related events planned. My favorite, outside of the characters, was definitely the fun hero themed lunch and dinner menu! There really was something for everyone! The night ended with the Stark Expo! Here, Tony Stark showed off his newest invention… which caught the attention of some of the MCU’s most notorious villains! Red Skull, Hydra, and Loki all showed up to steal the invention. Thankfully, the Avengers were there to stop them.

If a Marvel cruise sounds like fun, let’s chat! Disney also offers Star Wars Day at Sea for those Jedis and Siths who need a break from the real world. JessicaM@travelwiththemagic.com