While the Disney cruise ships themselves are a fabulous vacation destination, they are also a floating 'Fantasyland', traveling to beautiful and exotic ports of call. If you can manage to tear yourself away from the activities and amenities of the Disney cruise ships for a few hours, many wonderful adventures await you when the ship docks.

The Disney Wonder departs each Sunday from Port Canaveral for a 4 night cruise, and again each Thursday for a 3 night cruise. Both itineraries include stops at Nassau, Bahamas and Castaway Cay, Disney's own private island paradise. The 4 night cruise also includes either one day at sea, or an additional stop at Freeport, Bahamas.

The Disney Magic departs from Port Canaveral each Saturday for a 7 night cruise, and it alternates between cruising the eastern Caribbean and the western Caribbean. The Eastern Caribbean cruise includes stops at St. Thomas/St. John, St. Maarten and Castaway Cay, while the Western Caribbean itinerary includes stops at Key West. Cozumel, Grand Caymen and Castaway Cay.

This summer of 2007. The Disney Magic has departed from its usual journey around the Caribbean, and instead has traveled across the Atlantic to cruise the Mediterranean for the summer months. It is departing from Barcelona, Spain for 10 and 11 night cruises to beautiful cities on the Mediterranean, with stops in Italy, France, Spain and Sicily. Next summer, the Disney Magic will travel through the Panama Canal to spend the summer on the Mexican Riviera, with stops at Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallerta and Mazatlan.

Beware that the passport rules for American travelers have changed, and may or may not affect your travel plans. As of today, passports are required for all travel across borders by air - including Mexico, the Bahamas and the Caribbean, but not for travelers who arrive by cruise ship. They are planning to make passports required for cruise ship travelers soon - perhaps as early as January, so be sure to keep posted as to the rules. Even when passports are not required, having one certainly makes disembarking much quicker, and the wait for passports is extremely long due to the changing rules, so if you need a passport, be sure to apply sooner rather than later.

Stephanie Larkin is the editor of http://www.WaltDisneyCruise.net, as well as http://www.CruiseNewsOnline.info. She and her family love to cruise - her 3 children especially love the towel animals and chocolates left on the beds at night!