The Cruise Report With Cruise Specialists Cruise Reporter Ralph Grizzle

When he was but a nine-year-old boy, my son Alex reached into the Windex-blue waters on a sandy Bahamian beach and quickly withdrew his hand to proclaim, “Dad, I touched a stingray.” He furrowed his tender brow and added thoughtfully, “They’re nice.”

In doing so, he had ascribed a sweet, if somewhat inaccurate, characteristic to the stingray. Yes, the stingray was nice indeed, particularly with its barb blunted for safety. None of tragedy that befell animal lover Steve Irwin here. Off the coast of Australia, a ray’s barb had pierced his heart and stunned the world.

Alex, my daughter and I were in a friendlier place, a paradise really, free of danger and removed from the real world, an idyllic island created for us by a cruise line.

Following is the draft script for The Travel Channel’s Secrets of Disney Cruise Line, which aired for the first time in the spring of 2007. The Q&A provides useful information for families considering a Disney cruise.

Awesome Overview
With its obvious tie-in with Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line is an absolute no-brainer for families who want to cruise. Disney’s Caribbean itineraries can be blended with a stay at Walt Disney World and a cruise that stops at Disney’s highest-rated (by passengers) port: Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island. Some complain about Disney overload, but the post-cruise reaction is nearly universal: Disney does it right, whether you’re 7 or 70.