What To Wear on a Disney Cruise
Whether it’s your first time or 50th time, here’s what to wear on a Disney cruise!
We went on our very first Disney cruise on the Disney Wish at the end of May for the girls’ birthdays and we had the TIME OF OUR LIVES.
I know you may not know me, but I can promise you if it was a horrible time, I would tell y’all straight up. Going to the beach every year is LES MIS, but really and truly we had a great time!
Although I am nowhere near a fashion queen, I definitely have some tips on what to wear on a Disney cruise that may differ from any other cruises you’ve been on so buckle up, buttercup and let’s set sail.
Man, that was lame. Please forgive me.
What To Wear: Disney Cruise Edition
How strict are dress codes on a Disney cruise really?
This boy woke up immediately from a nap and said that he wanted to go get an ice cream and since it was our last day I obliged.
But he walked out of his room with shorts, no shoes, and no shirt.
And nobody said a single word.
On the Disney Wish (at least the 4 day/3 night cruise that we went on), the dress code is extremely casual, even for dinners.
How much or how little you dress up depends entirely on you.
Do people wear ears on Disney cruises?
YES!
We actually did not and left all of our ears in our other luggage that was packed for our Disney trip after this cruise.
But we saw tons of Disney ears and the gift shop sold Disney cruise specific ears as well that were nautical themed and super cute!
I also was able to find a ton of cute Disney cruise ears on Etsy and rounded up some of my favorites for you!
Cute Disney Cruise Ears
What We Wore on Our Disney Cruise
Embarkation Day
We weren’t able to get on the ship until about 1:30 which was rough since it was so close to nap time, but it was also good because we were able to go straight to our room.
However, what we did NOT plan for was that our sound machines were confiscated because they had to be “inspected” which means we didn’t have it for naps. COOOOLLLLLLL.
We already had planned to put them in their bathing suits and cover ups to get on the ship and I’m so glad we chose to do that.
Although we didn’t go straight to the water, it was just easiest to explore the ship in bathing suits so that if the kids wanted to try the T-Rex slide or the AquaMouse, we could do that!
I did not have a bathing suit on, but had it readily accessible.
Instead I wore my absolute favorite plus size friendly Daydream denim shorts from Aerie (they have an elastic back!!!!) and a comfy tank I got from Nordstrom Rack.
Again, comfort is key, especially on embarkation day. No, you won’t be walking as much on the ship as you do at Disney World, but I can promise you – it’s still a lot of walking so comfy shoes are still going to be key.
Dinners
Dinner our first night was at the Avengers restaurant which was super fun, and if you’ll look closely, I’m still wearing the same outfit I was earlier.
Our dinner rotation time was 5:30 (the other option is 8:30) so we didn’t have too much time to explore before we were getting ready for dinner.
We changed the kiddos and she wore the cutest little romper from Walmart and nailed the look obvi.
Char wasn’t feeling well at all so we put her in a simple little tie front tee from Walmart and some purple athleisure type shorts that were comfy.
Now, we spruced our garbage truck loving little man up a little bit with a floral button up I got him at a consignment shop but he still had on cotton shorts that were sweatpants material.
The last night of our rotation was at the 1923 restaurant which is the nicest of the 3 in rotational dining.
The theming of this one leans more “adult” and retro Disney with hand drawn animations on the walls, versus the Avengers or Arendelle themed restaurants.
Knowing that ahead of time, I chose this as the only time I “dressed up” lolz.
I wore a plain black 2 piece dress from Amazon and some comfy slides cuz ya girl has plantar fasciitis and have to be incredibly selective with shoes I wear. Life is fun when you’re nearing 40.
Pirate Night
Pirate night fell for us on May 27 which was Collins’s actual birthday. Which means she adorned her Bluey themed “I’m Two-ey” shirt with black shorts and her festive little red bandana.
We got the kiddos shirts that said “Brother of Twodles” and “Sister of Twodles” from Etsy and Collins wore her Twodles shirt during the day.
The pirate headbands and eye patches were an Amazon purchase.
Caught these two influencers in the wild trying to get the perfect shot.
Jordan loves these golf shirts from Walmart because they’re lightweight and cool, but look way more put together than just a plain black tee which he wears the other 98% of the time he’s not in this.
He’s got about 4 or 5 of these and loves them.
They run the pirate party twice on pirate night so regardless of your dinner time (5:30 or 8:30), you’ll be able to attend.
We went right up to the deck after we ate and enjoyed the show, but didn’t stay too long because right after this photo was taken, I left to take Char to the infirmary because she was running a fever and felt terrible. Luckily it was something that passed quickly and she was fine to enjoy our last full day on the ship.
Swimwear
Most of the time, we were in bathing suits. It was dead summer on a cruise ship in the Bahamas. If you’re outside NOT in swimsuit, I don’t know how you were surviving.
It was SO HOT.
TL;DR – Disney Cruise Outfit Ideas
- Comfy shoes (not Disney World level walking, but these ships are BIG)
- Lightweight polos or golf shirts
- Bathing suits/coverups (what I wore 90% of the time except to dinner)
- Comfy athleisure shorts/tops
- Long sleeve or hoodies (for chilly nights or being cold inside restaurants or character meet and greets)
- Pirate themed wear (we saw some ELABORATE pirate themed outfits and costumes so you can do something simple or go all out)
Favorite Places to Shop Disney Outfits and Swimwear
- Gap and Gap Factory (Josiah’s embarkation suit and rash guard came from Gap Factory for next to nothin’!)
- Hanna Andersson (If you catch them end of season, you can get killer deals on swimwear! This is where Colli’s Mickey Mouse swimsuit came from!)
- Walmart (THE CUTEST EVER Bluey bathing suit came from there, as did most of her and dad’s cruise attire, ha!)
- Janie and Jack (their looks are a little more sophisticated and a bit pricier, but still SUPER cute!)
CLICK ANY IMAGE BELOW TO SHOP CRUISE OUTFIT IDEAS!
At the end of the day, remember this is a vacation.
So relax, dress to the nines if you feel comfortable, but also know that on a Disney cruise you can be super casual and nobody will say a word! 🙂
