I went on a Disney cruise as an adult without kids. Here's what it was like.

• Nicole Cruz went on a Disney cruise without kids. She was worried it would be more for families.
• The cruise ship provided a lot of activities for adults and there was always something to do.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Nicole Cruz, a 25-year-old cruise-goer who went on the Disney Cruise for the first time. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I've been on a total of three cruises. Previously, I had only ever been on Royal Caribbean cruises, but recently I went on a Disney cruise line with a close friend. We've taken other cruises together in the past, and since we both enjoy Disney, he convinced me to go, too.

We decided on Disney Magic, which is Disney Cruise Line's original and oldest ship. Before boarding I was prepared to see a lot of kids — I've always thought that Disney Cruises are more of a family thing or something you would only do with children.

But once I got on, I was surprised to see that there weren't as many kids as I thought. Instead there were a lot of adults and the cruise ship provided a lot of adult activities.

There were a lot of adult activities

As an adult, I felt like I never ran out of things to do. There were adult lounges, bars, trivia nights, disco nights and game shows, too. All of these activities were made for those over the age of 18.

For me, I think the most memorable activity was the dating show. During the show, they picked three couples from the crowd and asked the women a handful of questions while the men stood in another room.

They then brought them back together in the room and asked them the same questions to see if their answers matched. They asked things like: If you could leave a member of your spouse's family on a deserted island, who would you pick? It was all fun, silly, adult questions and I really enjoyed it.

I also participated in a nightclub activity they had on board. The event had a bar, a little dance floor, a bunch of seating and it had a DJ, too. The downside was it started at 12 a.m. and ended at 1 a.m., so the whole thing only went for an hour.

With that said, I didn't think the Disney cruise provided too much of a night life experience if that's what you're looking for. They also didn't have a show for the second night, which would have been great as the shows were very impressive.

The food was decent, and it was better than the Royal Caribbean's food, in my opinion. You can taste the difference in quality.

The drink package on Disney Cruise

One thing I also noticed with Disney Cruise is they don't offer a drink package in the way most cruise ships do. I was a little worried about how much I'd be spending on drinks.

But the drinks were reasonably priced. Instead of paying $20 for a drink like you usually do at the Disney parks, I only paid around $9 a drink. At the end of the trip, I only spent an extra $127 and that included other things I purchased on the cruise too.

When to book to save money

Disney cruises are known for being a bit expensive. I spent just over $1,000 for our inside stateroom, even though we took our cruise during September, hurricane season, to save some money.

For comparison, when cruising with the Royal Caribbean, I've typically paid around $400 per person for my room. However, the inside staterooms on Disney Magic were also bigger than the inside staterooms on the Royal Caribbean.

I also noticed that there were far fewer college kids compared to the Royal Caribbean — I think that's partly because of how expensive it was. To me, this was a perk because even though I like to party, it was nice being on a cruise that was quieter and felt relaxing.

In my opinion, while the price difference is significant, Disney Magic was worth the value.

The only downside of the Disney cruise

I will say it was a lot of Disney and it was very in your face. There are Disney characters everywhere, and it felt like there was a character in every corner.

At times, they even brought out all the characters for interactions with the guests, and it was very up-close and personal. Towards the end of my Disney Cruise, I felt very Disney'd out.

Still the Disney Cruise provided good value, offered a good service and I was impressed by the shows and the decent food.

If you have been on a cruise and would like to share your story, email Alyshia Hull at ahull@insider.com.