Here's My Honest Review Of Disney's Newest Cruise Ship With All Of The Nitty Gritty Little Details

Hi, I'm Audrey and I'm a big Disney person.

I am a new mom of a cute-as-a-button one-and-a-half-year-old named Finn. I've said it before, but vacations with kids are hard because it's just being a mom somewhere else, and you never have all of your equipment with you.

This is my family (my 16-year-old sister, my 50-year-old mom, and my 78-year-old grandmother). They'll come into play later.

Recently, I was invited on board Disney's newest cruise ship, the Disney Treasure. Sailing on the Treasure makes the third cruise ship I've ever sailed on and the third within the Disney Cruise Line fleet. I consider myself a massive Disney fan, so I was excited to see what was new and what was carried over from the other two ships I've been on: Disney Magic and Disney Wish.

Audrey Engvalson / BuzzFeed, Disney

The Treasure takes design inspiration from movies like Aladdin and Pocahontas. It has a new Coco dinner show and Moana stage show exclusive to the ship, but it also has some returning features that the Wish had, like the Worlds of Marvel and 1923 restaurants, Oceaneer Club, and "it's a small world" nursery for kiddos, and Senses spa. Note: BuzzFeed was granted this cruise aboard the Disney Treasure for free, though we were under no obligation to provide a positive review.

Well, because cruises are no small chunk of change, I really wanted to see if the Disney Treasure would actually be fun for the WHOLE family, so I asked three different age groups if they wanted to tag along: My mom, teenage sister, and grandma. Triple mom! We were unstoppable and determined for everyone to have fun, bring a sweater to dinner, and WEAR THEIR DANG SUNSCREEN.

Anyway, if you're curious, here are what five generations loved (and didn't love) about the Disney Treasure.

We did need triple mom because my son didn't want to go to the nursery, and he wasn't quite old enough to hang out with the big kids (the nursery is for kids three and under, and the Oceaneer club is for kids 3-12).

The kids' club is typically "secured programming," meaning adults are not allowed in. The kids stay with the counselors, and their parents check them in and out. The exception is daily "open house" hours, where anyone can come and experience the club, so we were able to take him in then so he could slide and climb.

To be honest, though, Finn spent most of his time eating. He's semi-picky at home, and I hate opening something for him only for him not to eat it or throw it to the dogs. On the cruise, I was able to get a little bit of everything to see what he was in the mood for. Marceline Market, the buffet on board, was so long that I felt like I needed Heely's to get to the end of it.

It was also really nice if he and I visited the buffet alone; 100% of the time, someone asked me if I needed an extra hand getting a drink or carrying my tray, which, to be honest, I always need an extra hand.

And omfg, I can't believe all of the fresh fruit he put away. We have to factor a "berry budget" into our grocery spending at home, and I couldn't help but feel like I was getting away with something any time I gave him a plate of just berries. Watermelon? I just let him eat it and didn't care if his outfit got sticky because we were always in close proximity to our room to change. It was amazing.

Finn also really enjoyed the Toy Story Splash Pad, which was nice and contained. I enjoyed that there wasn't anything that would get me wet if I didn't want to. Most of the water features were at toddler height. I hate going to splash pads, and there's a bucket of water dumped over my head, and I end up getting wetter than the kid I'm chaperoning.

Lastly, I actually could not believe I could get my son, who I think is half-inflatable-tube-guy-at-a-used-car-lot, to sit still (and clap!) during two nights of stage shows. The first night was Disney Seas The Adventure, which starred Goofy and Minnie Mouse, of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse fame (at least that's what I told him), and The Tale of Moana, which the entire family really enjoyed. The ship was buzzing about how good it was when we got out.

Finn's least favorite parts (and I'm making some assumptions here because he only knows 40 words) were the dining times. There are two assigned dinner times: 5:45 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. Lunch, however, ran until 2 p.m., and we just didn't think we'd be hungry for dinner as early as 5:45. We were right in a way. I think we enjoyed dinner more because we were actually hungry for it at 8:15. The problem was that he was pre-goodnight crabby after a long day doing things and being in the sun, so he and I actually had to step out mid-way through two out of the three dinners. Our waitress, however, packaged dessert up for me and sent it with the rest of the family so I could enjoy it in the room.

The only other thing he didn't like was the waves on Castaway Cay, Disney's private island. When we were on the beach, Finn decided it was his sole job to put all of the sand from the beach back into the ocean, and he got very frustrated when the waves were undoing all of his hard work. (In his defense, this was close to nap time.)

My sister (16 years old) went to the teen club Vibe a couple of times, but what she really liked was all of the little events on board. She went to practically every "how to draw" class, made crafts, and competed in trivia.

She loved running through the inflatable obstacle course at the Hero Zone, the sports deck on board. A couple of hours each day, there was an entire Incredibles-themed obstacle course. She had a lot of fun, but my mom totally smoked her.

She also really liked the Aquamouse, a waterslide attraction at sea that has multiple storylines depending on when you ride it. She kept wanting to go back at certain times so she could catch the new "story" being played. The Disney Treasure has an exclusive Aquamouse show called Curse of the Golden Egg, which is Ancient Egypt-themed.

The thing is, my sister has terrible FOMO, so she kind of panicked when she couldn't do it all. Because so much is going on around the ship at any given moment, you have to choose what you want to do sometimes. For example, she really wanted to see inside the Haunted Mansion Parlor, which is 21+ after 9 p.m. It only opened at 5:30, so that gave her a minimal window to see it, and she actually had to miss some of the Beauty and the Beast show one night to see the parlor.

Another thing she didn't like was the snorkeling on Castaway Cay. Disney has a new island destination called Lookout Cay and Lighthouse Point, and she was underwater at Lookout Cay for probably three hours. She said after seeing the life underwater at Lookout Cay, she "questioned her place in existence." She was done after about 20 minutes at Castaway Cay. The water was freezing, and she said she didn't see any fish; she only saw one stingray. I guess she didn't care about her place in the universe as much.

My favorite part of the cruise was that my son was contained. He could walk wherever he wanted, and I knew he was welcome.

There are some places I go with my kid, and I feel like they're barely tolerated. Still, everywhere Finn and I went on the boat, people were smiling and waving at him, saying hello to me and asking if we needed anything, and generally, the ship was big enough to where I didn't feel like I was on top of anyone.

I also really liked the abundance of specialty coffee options on board. I'm a cold brew drinker, and the Treasure has Hei Hei Cafe and the Lucky Cricket Cafe, themed after Moana and Mulan, as well as specialty coffee at Marceline Market. It was a huge perk for me. The Disney Magic has one place on board where you can get a cold brew, and it's in the adults-only section, which is tricky to access if you're holding a baby. I'm glad the Treasure had plenty of places I could caffeinate.

Another thing I loved about the Treasure was our stateroom. It was the most comfortable mattress I ever slept on. I actually googled who made it to see if I could buy one. I also really liked that the sofa was converted to a bed and another bed dropped from the ceiling to make a bunk. During the day, it didn't feel like we were cramped, but at night, it was nice and cozy with all of the beds out.

Audrey Engvalson / BuzzFeed

Also, each day, our room attendant visited the room during the day to tidy up and make beds and at night during dinner while we were gone for turn-down service. This is why I kind of only want to cruise with my kid.

It's such an uphill battle keeping a liveable space with a toddler. It was so lovely always coming back to a clean room. Actually, thinking about it and looking around at my current house makes a deep longing well up inside of me.

I did have a couple of olfactory complaints about the cruise. The Treasure (I noticed this on the Wish, too) has a perfumey scent in the Grand Hall, which I would have found overwhelming if I had been in there that long. Typically, I only passed through the Grand Hall to get somewhere else, though. Another thing my nose didn't love was the Haunted Mansion Parlor smelled like a working bar, which it was, but it did take me out of the immersion a little bit.

Another thing that got me was the auto-tipping. Service was excellent, and I would've wanted to tip anyway, but the specialty beverages I bought included an auto-gratuity of 18%. It's partially my fault because I just tipped a couple of dollars and signed the receipt, but the auto-gratuity was part of the bill. Then, there was also a spot for tips, so I ended up double-tipping a couple of times before I realized it was already getting tacked onto my bill. Additionally, we ended up buying souvenir drinkware from the Haunted Mansion Parlor, and an auto gratuity was added to the souvenir mugs, which kind of frustrated me.

Because my mom is also a mom, her favorite thing was how everything was taken care of for her. Nobody was asking her what was for dinner or saying, "I'm bored." Instead, there was plenty for everyone to do; she didn't have to use her brain as much.

My mom is a vegetarian, so she also liked how there was still plenty for her to eat. There was at least one vegetarian option at all of the food stands and at least two plant-based entrees to choose from at each dinner.

She also really liked the Skipper Society, the Jungle Cruise-themed lounge on board. The Skipper Society is unique in that it's open on all sides so that people can drift in and out. It has a small stage (it's where we played trivia and heard live music), and the atmosphere is charming.

Audrey Engvalson / BuzzFeed

It also has some great hidden details as an homage to the attraction and the parks, like these paddles with 55 and 71 on them, which represent the years Disneyland and Disney World opened, respectively.

There are some really great Easter eggs on the ship, and because it has design elements inspired by the Middle East, there are a lot of beautiful mosaics on board that my mom and grandma really liked finding.

One thing she didn't love was the Hippopoto-mai tai at The Skipper Society. The "hippo" (as she shortens it) is her favorite drink, served at the Trader Sam's bars in both Disney World and Disneyland. The "hippo" on the Treasure, though called the same name, is an entirely different gin-based recipe. My mother is a mai tai purist and was stoked that they were serving her favorite drink on board, but she was crushed when they were using a completely different recipe.

Another thing she didn't like was that there were so many things to do; she didn't feel like she had any time to actually just sit and relax. The Treasure sails on seven-day cruise itineraries, but we were on a three-day cruise. Three days is just not enough time. It's just enough time to get the lay of the land, and then you have to get off. We ended up leaving pretty exhausted instead of refreshed because we felt like we had to pack it all in.

Mimi was initially very nervous about what to pack, but I assured her that Disney cruises really run the gamut of style. None of the restaurants are really black-tie. You've got people like me in yoga pants and a sweater chasing a kid in a Mickey Mouse t-shirt and shorts, you've got people that dress for the 'gram, you've got people who are wearing vacation leisure, and you've got people who are in their swimsuits all day. No matter what you wear, you really don't feel out of place.

I can tell you right now Mimi's favorite part, much like Finny's, was also the food. It was so far Mimi's favorite part that she took a video of the buffet at Marceline Market to show her best friend back home, and she wrote how she was dreaming about the cruise food in the Christmas card she sent me.

One lunch, my mom came up to me and whispered, "I don't think I've ever seen my mother order dessert before." It was great!

Another thing Mimi really liked was because we were all contained, she had a lot of fun drifting between family members to do things. For example, she went with my mom and Finn to open house hours at the kid's club, then my mom took Finn back to the room to nap, and Mimi went with my sister to go a craft. While Finn and my sister were at the Toy Story splash pad, my mom and Mimi went to the gift shops. There was always someone doing something, so she was able to team up and do everything. Everything was so close to each other that it was easy to get around, too.

The only thing Mimi didn't like about the cruise was the disembarkment procedure. We were shuttled back to a Disney resort, and it wasn't very clear when we were supposed to leave the ship. Our waiter told us the last night we were invited to breakfast at 8:15 the following morning and to bring our luggage and disembark after. I got nervous and dug through the app to find out when our bus left. It said in small print that we should disembark at 8:30 and that buses would leave at 9. We shot up, skipped breakfast, and bolted. She said it wasn't a huge deal but definitely could've been communicated better.

OK, so is there a perfect age to go on a Disney Cruise? I'd say no because there actually is something for everyone, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't trying to price out and plan my next cruise as I'm typing this.

Until then, I'm going to put on steel drum music and scrub the blueberry schmutz off my floor.