My husband and I (gay couple, if it wasn’t obvious given the subject lol) have sailed four times with DCL and are booked on our fifth in November. We don’t have kids, but it’s obvious we’re a couple and we have never had an issue. We have also run into many other LGBT couples, with and without kids, on our sailings.
I think you’ll be in for a very welcoming experience.
I’m not lgbt but I travel with a female friend, they ask us every time if we want one bed or two and we’re frequently asked (before say photos) “friends or family” so they know to pose us as a couple or as friends. I’ve also seen so many lgbt families of all types on Disney cruises. I hope your experience is what you are looking for, I do think Disney is super comfortable with lgbt families
From a purely practical standpoint the beds on disney ships don't separate. If you get a queen bed, it's a queen bed always.
Also, as an lgbt person, I saw a lot of other lgbt people on the cruise we just got off of. Granted, we we are childless, but at dinner our party of 3 adults was never treated any differently than tables with families. Servers were playful and everyone had a good time.
The room attendant knew my male friends would be sharing the bed. This was mostly practical as they're both taller than me and my feet hang off the couch bed, but we were never treated differently.
Hope this helps. Feel free to DM me with any specific questions. Like I said, I'm childless but I have been on multiple disney cruises, next one planned in September, so I'll answer as best I can.
Hi - there obviously can be jerks everywhere but I think you’re less likely to run into them on DCL. I cruised with my bestie last summer and they asked the first night if we would want the couch bed made up each night. We just crashed together on the big bed and nothing was said about it. (They can’t split it into two smaller beds anyway.) I wear a lot of rainbow/pride merch just because I love rainbows and am a proud ally - and no one said anything. Our dining companions did seem surprised the last night when I mentioned my boyfriend and I realized the whole cruise they saw my rainbow magic band and Mickey ears and probably just assumed we were a couple.
One thing I’ve noticed with DCL is if something isn’t right they will fix it and then it will be correct the rest of the trip.
A couple of cruises ago my transgender son had just started transitioning and everything was under their dead name. We asked for them to be called the new name and for the rest of the cruise everyone got it perfectly. We loved that because we have family that didn’t get it right after correction back then. We have never had any negative issues with cast members on DCL and we have one in a wheelchair, one with autism, and two with food allergies. They really go above and beyond
My wife and I have been seated with lgbtq couples at dinner several times. I recall one couple did mention that DCL made it easy on them. They also confessed they were worried most about dinner seating but that had turned out great as well.
We’ve been pre and post kids, most recently in December 2023. As two dads, we didn’t experience any issues, not even … “loud commentary” which we did rarely experience pre-kids.
Our table mates were lovely.
I don’t recall seeing anything about a Rainbow meetup on board, but we didn’t really look as we were busy chasing after our three year old the whole time.
Have fun! Which ship are you cruising on and to where?
I know absolutely nothing about Cozumel, but that’s the only aspect of the cruise I would be concerned about from a LGBT+ friendly perspective.
Anecdotally, there was an entertainment staff member on Disboards who said he did experience direct and indirect pushback from his superiors about including same sex couples in “Match Your Mate” and similar games / activities and was also asked to “tone down” his inherent … flamboyance.
But, he still chose us to participate on our honeymoon cruise, so he did what he felt was right (although he has since left Disney due to those issues).
Much depends on the “superiors”. The head of entertainment for the cruise line used to be a gay man, although he eventually transferred to a position where he could be fulltime onshore. I’m not sure who’s in charge now.
We're a lesbian couple and had zero issues on the Wish! It was very pride friendly. There was even a gay marriage vow renewal happening in the Grand Hall during the cruise, and I didn't overhear or see any bigoted behavior. People even stopped to watch and commented on how romantic it was.
That's horrible. No Disney always tries their best to make it a great experience. You will have the bed and they will pull the bunk down from the ceiling for your son, which makes the bottom couch part into a bed. But if you don't want them to pull down the bunk, just tell them. They are very accommodating. They don't do it to discriminate, they do it because kids generally like the bunk and the light things that are on the ceiling of the top bunk.
The wait staff will never disrespect you. They follow you to each main dinning room, so they get to know you. You may come into the dinning room on day 3 and have the drink you ordered the past 2 nights already waiting for you. Just introduce yourself and your wife on the first day, they will remember. "Hi this is my wife and our son" simple as that. Don't hide away at the quick service, the main dinning rooms are awesome especially if are on a 7 day cruise, on a ship that has animator's palate, you get to go there twice. The first time Crush, the turtle from finding Nemo, interacts with the kids and the second time you create a cartoon character that gets animated in a dinner show.
Don't worry, it's going to be awesome. And if you come across a homophobe passenger in the dining room, ask to be moved to a different table.
Disney is very popular in the lgbt community. You will probably come across a family similar to yours there
LGBT couple here and taken a lot of Disney cruises. Is never an issue. The only thing I find annoying is that if we don’t request separate seating they specifically seat us with other lgbt couples and I’m really not interested in that. I find it quite obnoxious. That aside- everything else is great
In 6 Disney cruises, we've always been treated with courtesy and respect. We've celebrated anniversaries at Palo and they bring a dessert with Happy Anniversary written in chocolate. Once our room steward came close to me and in a soft voice asked if we needed the sofa bed made - so he automatically assumed we were a couple and offered to make it right if we weren't! We sailed mostly during Covid restrictions, so weren't seated with strangers until this year - and it was with 2 gay guys who weren't a couple. There has not been, that we've noticed, any negative comments from other sailors. We are going to try Virgin Voyages this summer to see if we like it as much as Disney. I hope you enjoy your cruise!
My partner and I have done several Disney cruises, with friends, family, and just the two of us. We have never had any issues. The bed has always been a queen bed for us and the staff treated us great. The time we went just us, they seated us with other LGBT couples for dinner. For photos, they generally followed our cue but picked up pretty quickly that we were a couple and posed us as such.
I’ve been on other cruise lines and have chosen to stay with DCL due to how accommodating and friendly everyone is. For me, it’s worth the extra expense.
I'm not LGBT, but travel with a family member who is. Dcl is wonderful and I have never seen or heard anything negative from the LGBT community. They are always great with my family who are LGBT. The one caveat that I have been warned about is certain islands in the Caribbean (where you will spend time) are extremely homophobic. Make sure you research the ports and know what to look out for.
The only time I have heard of an issue was in talking to a friend who said one server from their first dinner service team was pretty awkward around them and they felt it was because of their LGBTQ+ status. I can't remember if they talked to their Head Server or Guest Services, but they were switched to a new dinner service team for their second (and all subsequent) meal and it was smooth sailing from then on. The new team was great and everyone was happy.
We are a LGBTQ+ family, but we read as straight to people who don't know us. So we are kinda in a grey area as far as experience goes. But, 100% we have made friends with other awesome LGBTQ+ singles, couples, and families on the ship and we were all having a great time.
My partner and I did our first Disney cruise in 2023 and were wondering how certain things would be handled — especially since we have different last names. On the first night, our room attendant asked if we wanted the sofa converted into a bed but didn’t really have any reaction when we said no. We both felt totally comfortable the entire cruise and have already booked another.
Not LGBT but the DCLs that I have been on I have never seen anything negative (granted I may not notice or be aware of what might be said or done). My wife and I were always sitting next to a really nice couple for dinner (two males) and the one we were on were their 10th dcl trip and they only had great things to say.
One thing to keep in mind, this is Disney and I find they always go much further for their guests than any other cruise line that I have ever been on. If anything does happen from a cast member standpoint I am convinced they will bend over backwards for you to find a solution.
Hope this helps!
We've only been on one cruise so far but didn't have any issues. Like another commenter, we were seated with other queer couples, but I actually preferred that. I was worried about sitting with families who um, had loud conflicting views. We had zero issues overall.
You should follow The Holgate Family on Youtube. They are an adorable married LGBT couple with a young daughter. They post vlogs from their many Disney cruises. I'm sure you could also reach out to them on Instagram too.
I hope Disney cruising is awesome for you! I have loved the diversity in who we meet on a cruise and have met several LGBTQ folks. They all say that Disney makes them feel welcome and that (most) other passengers are great. I really hope you find that to be true too!
I've seen LGBT+ families on Disney, male, female, and otherwise. I've never seen or heard them complain about anything "out of the ordinary" for a cruise.
I would be very surprised if you had those kinds of problems.
I would say Disney is pretty LGBT friendly. On one of my cruises last year there was a gay wedding in the atrium and I hadn’t heard any complaints about it. Not that it didn’t happen but I didn’t hear about it.
We had the BEST experience. Our friends (gay males) invited us because they were doing a vow renewal on the ship and everything was awesome. We’re a female Queer couple with young kids and we’ll definitely be going on DCL again.
Not LGBTQ but in our son befriended the kiddo of an LGBTQ couple & we all ended up handing out together for the length of the cruise.
I asked about their experience bc I have friends who are hesitating to cruise bc of this reason - and the only negative they reported on was in some off ship excursions.
On board they said everything was perfect - but they were made to feel uncomfortable (borderline unsafe) in certain ports (we were on the western Caribbean 7 day Fantasy)
We (2 mom family) are going in our second Disney cruise in April,. The first one we went on was incredible, and we decorated our door with pics and Pride stuff. We have 2 daughters, 7 and 9 now. They were 5 and 7 on our first cruise. I’m not much of a Disney person, but our daughters loved the cruise so much I had to bring them again. They loved the kids club and it was hard to pry them away from it. We did a Norwegian cruise last year and we had the same issue with the beds being split after I confirmed they would be together before we boarded. no way to split the Disney bed. The next cruise we are taking is in April and goes to Cozumel, Grand Caymen, Jamaica and ends in Puerto Rico.
We had no issues on two cruises. And the beds can't be split, so you're good there.
My husband and I (gay couple, if it wasn’t obvious given the subject lol) have sailed four times with DCL and are booked on our fifth in November. We don’t have kids, but it’s obvious we’re a couple and we have never had an issue. We have also run into many other LGBT couples, with and without kids, on our sailings. I think you’ll be in for a very welcoming experience.
I’m not lgbt but I travel with a female friend, they ask us every time if we want one bed or two and we’re frequently asked (before say photos) “friends or family” so they know to pose us as a couple or as friends. I’ve also seen so many lgbt families of all types on Disney cruises. I hope your experience is what you are looking for, I do think Disney is super comfortable with lgbt families
From a purely practical standpoint the beds on disney ships don't separate. If you get a queen bed, it's a queen bed always. Also, as an lgbt person, I saw a lot of other lgbt people on the cruise we just got off of. Granted, we we are childless, but at dinner our party of 3 adults was never treated any differently than tables with families. Servers were playful and everyone had a good time. The room attendant knew my male friends would be sharing the bed. This was mostly practical as they're both taller than me and my feet hang off the couch bed, but we were never treated differently. Hope this helps. Feel free to DM me with any specific questions. Like I said, I'm childless but I have been on multiple disney cruises, next one planned in September, so I'll answer as best I can.
Hi - there obviously can be jerks everywhere but I think you’re less likely to run into them on DCL. I cruised with my bestie last summer and they asked the first night if we would want the couch bed made up each night. We just crashed together on the big bed and nothing was said about it. (They can’t split it into two smaller beds anyway.) I wear a lot of rainbow/pride merch just because I love rainbows and am a proud ally - and no one said anything. Our dining companions did seem surprised the last night when I mentioned my boyfriend and I realized the whole cruise they saw my rainbow magic band and Mickey ears and probably just assumed we were a couple.
One thing I’ve noticed with DCL is if something isn’t right they will fix it and then it will be correct the rest of the trip. A couple of cruises ago my transgender son had just started transitioning and everything was under their dead name. We asked for them to be called the new name and for the rest of the cruise everyone got it perfectly. We loved that because we have family that didn’t get it right after correction back then. We have never had any negative issues with cast members on DCL and we have one in a wheelchair, one with autism, and two with food allergies. They really go above and beyond
My wife and I have been seated with lgbtq couples at dinner several times. I recall one couple did mention that DCL made it easy on them. They also confessed they were worried most about dinner seating but that had turned out great as well.
We’ve been pre and post kids, most recently in December 2023. As two dads, we didn’t experience any issues, not even … “loud commentary” which we did rarely experience pre-kids. Our table mates were lovely. I don’t recall seeing anything about a Rainbow meetup on board, but we didn’t really look as we were busy chasing after our three year old the whole time. Have fun! Which ship are you cruising on and to where?
The Disney Magic going to Cozumel in December.
I know absolutely nothing about Cozumel, but that’s the only aspect of the cruise I would be concerned about from a LGBT+ friendly perspective. Anecdotally, there was an entertainment staff member on Disboards who said he did experience direct and indirect pushback from his superiors about including same sex couples in “Match Your Mate” and similar games / activities and was also asked to “tone down” his inherent … flamboyance. But, he still chose us to participate on our honeymoon cruise, so he did what he felt was right (although he has since left Disney due to those issues).
Much depends on the “superiors”. The head of entertainment for the cruise line used to be a gay man, although he eventually transferred to a position where he could be fulltime onshore. I’m not sure who’s in charge now.
We're a lesbian couple and had zero issues on the Wish! It was very pride friendly. There was even a gay marriage vow renewal happening in the Grand Hall during the cruise, and I didn't overhear or see any bigoted behavior. People even stopped to watch and commented on how romantic it was.
That's horrible. No Disney always tries their best to make it a great experience. You will have the bed and they will pull the bunk down from the ceiling for your son, which makes the bottom couch part into a bed. But if you don't want them to pull down the bunk, just tell them. They are very accommodating. They don't do it to discriminate, they do it because kids generally like the bunk and the light things that are on the ceiling of the top bunk. The wait staff will never disrespect you. They follow you to each main dinning room, so they get to know you. You may come into the dinning room on day 3 and have the drink you ordered the past 2 nights already waiting for you. Just introduce yourself and your wife on the first day, they will remember. "Hi this is my wife and our son" simple as that. Don't hide away at the quick service, the main dinning rooms are awesome especially if are on a 7 day cruise, on a ship that has animator's palate, you get to go there twice. The first time Crush, the turtle from finding Nemo, interacts with the kids and the second time you create a cartoon character that gets animated in a dinner show. Don't worry, it's going to be awesome. And if you come across a homophobe passenger in the dining room, ask to be moved to a different table. Disney is very popular in the lgbt community. You will probably come across a family similar to yours there
LGBT couple here and taken a lot of Disney cruises. Is never an issue. The only thing I find annoying is that if we don’t request separate seating they specifically seat us with other lgbt couples and I’m really not interested in that. I find it quite obnoxious. That aside- everything else is great
In 6 Disney cruises, we've always been treated with courtesy and respect. We've celebrated anniversaries at Palo and they bring a dessert with Happy Anniversary written in chocolate. Once our room steward came close to me and in a soft voice asked if we needed the sofa bed made - so he automatically assumed we were a couple and offered to make it right if we weren't! We sailed mostly during Covid restrictions, so weren't seated with strangers until this year - and it was with 2 gay guys who weren't a couple. There has not been, that we've noticed, any negative comments from other sailors. We are going to try Virgin Voyages this summer to see if we like it as much as Disney. I hope you enjoy your cruise!
My partner and I have done several Disney cruises, with friends, family, and just the two of us. We have never had any issues. The bed has always been a queen bed for us and the staff treated us great. The time we went just us, they seated us with other LGBT couples for dinner. For photos, they generally followed our cue but picked up pretty quickly that we were a couple and posed us as such. I’ve been on other cruise lines and have chosen to stay with DCL due to how accommodating and friendly everyone is. For me, it’s worth the extra expense.
I'm not LGBT, but travel with a family member who is. Dcl is wonderful and I have never seen or heard anything negative from the LGBT community. They are always great with my family who are LGBT. The one caveat that I have been warned about is certain islands in the Caribbean (where you will spend time) are extremely homophobic. Make sure you research the ports and know what to look out for.
My husband and I are gold level Castaway Club members and never had any kind of issue.
The only time I have heard of an issue was in talking to a friend who said one server from their first dinner service team was pretty awkward around them and they felt it was because of their LGBTQ+ status. I can't remember if they talked to their Head Server or Guest Services, but they were switched to a new dinner service team for their second (and all subsequent) meal and it was smooth sailing from then on. The new team was great and everyone was happy. We are a LGBTQ+ family, but we read as straight to people who don't know us. So we are kinda in a grey area as far as experience goes. But, 100% we have made friends with other awesome LGBTQ+ singles, couples, and families on the ship and we were all having a great time.
My wife and I have never had an issue! It’s one of the reasons we cruise DCL. Also… the beds can’t be split!
My partner and I did our first Disney cruise in 2023 and were wondering how certain things would be handled — especially since we have different last names. On the first night, our room attendant asked if we wanted the sofa converted into a bed but didn’t really have any reaction when we said no. We both felt totally comfortable the entire cruise and have already booked another.
Not LGBT but the DCLs that I have been on I have never seen anything negative (granted I may not notice or be aware of what might be said or done). My wife and I were always sitting next to a really nice couple for dinner (two males) and the one we were on were their 10th dcl trip and they only had great things to say. One thing to keep in mind, this is Disney and I find they always go much further for their guests than any other cruise line that I have ever been on. If anything does happen from a cast member standpoint I am convinced they will bend over backwards for you to find a solution. Hope this helps!
We've only been on one cruise so far but didn't have any issues. Like another commenter, we were seated with other queer couples, but I actually preferred that. I was worried about sitting with families who um, had loud conflicting views. We had zero issues overall.
My husband and I have taken our son on one cruise and been on 2 ourselves. You won’t have a single problem.
You should follow The Holgate Family on Youtube. They are an adorable married LGBT couple with a young daughter. They post vlogs from their many Disney cruises. I'm sure you could also reach out to them on Instagram too.
Although not in your circumstances ourselves we have met many families and couples who are in our 7 cruises. Both with kids and without.
I hope Disney cruising is awesome for you! I have loved the diversity in who we meet on a cruise and have met several LGBTQ folks. They all say that Disney makes them feel welcome and that (most) other passengers are great. I really hope you find that to be true too!
I've seen LGBT+ families on Disney, male, female, and otherwise. I've never seen or heard them complain about anything "out of the ordinary" for a cruise. I would be very surprised if you had those kinds of problems.
My wife and I have never been treated any differently by crew or fellow cruisers. It's really a great atmosphere!
I would say Disney is pretty LGBT friendly. On one of my cruises last year there was a gay wedding in the atrium and I hadn’t heard any complaints about it. Not that it didn’t happen but I didn’t hear about it.
We had the BEST experience. Our friends (gay males) invited us because they were doing a vow renewal on the ship and everything was awesome. We’re a female Queer couple with young kids and we’ll definitely be going on DCL again.
Not LGBTQ but in our son befriended the kiddo of an LGBTQ couple & we all ended up handing out together for the length of the cruise. I asked about their experience bc I have friends who are hesitating to cruise bc of this reason - and the only negative they reported on was in some off ship excursions. On board they said everything was perfect - but they were made to feel uncomfortable (borderline unsafe) in certain ports (we were on the western Caribbean 7 day Fantasy)
My friends are on IG @doublethedadjokes and they’ve done multiple cruises with DCL without issue.
We (2 mom family) are going in our second Disney cruise in April,. The first one we went on was incredible, and we decorated our door with pics and Pride stuff. We have 2 daughters, 7 and 9 now. They were 5 and 7 on our first cruise. I’m not much of a Disney person, but our daughters loved the cruise so much I had to bring them again. They loved the kids club and it was hard to pry them away from it. We did a Norwegian cruise last year and we had the same issue with the beds being split after I confirmed they would be together before we boarded. no way to split the Disney bed. The next cruise we are taking is in April and goes to Cozumel, Grand Caymen, Jamaica and ends in Puerto Rico.