When you have a seven-year-old crawling under your Christmas tree, as we did yesterday, the pause in festivities inevitably includes watching Disney’s Christmas Day parade on the flat-screen.

So we did.

As grandparents whose interests in cruising are as keen as grandchildren’s interests in what’s under the tree, the presence of Disney Cruise Lines intrigued us. For example, in the one-hour showcase of the “parade” there were six commercials that in some way could connect to Disney cruises.

Actually, to dismiss them as 30-second or 60-second spots is an injustice. These were infomercials and — this is so typical of Disney — while some content was the same the commercials were different. If Disney was going to lure you three times to its new resort in Hawaii, called Aulani, it would be done three different ways.

The ship that services Hawaii is the Wonder, a 2,700-passenger vessel that was the second ship in what will soon be a fleet of four, once the Fantasy arrives in March. It currently makes two 15-day voyages a year to the South Pacific paradise and, since there’s only one day in Oahu, it’s unlikely that a side trip to Aulani is included.

Maybe that cruise connection, between the Disney resort and a ship, is a stretch. A personality connection is not. Jennifer Hudson, who sang during the one-parade special, is a Disney Godmother.

Her ship is the Dream, sister ship of the Fantasy. Between the two of them, 8,000 new beds will be on the sea via Disney. That’s probably the main reason Disney cruises had such a presence on the Christmas parade on TV.

DAILY DEAL:
Disney Wonder
7 nights
April 15, 2012
Los Angeles (return): Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas
Inside $868
www.disneycruises.com