Disappointed in Disney Cruise & another ?

Aww thanks for this. My kids will be 14, 10 and 4. My 14yo will definitely choose Vibe over Edge (I think there is crossover .. . . ).

Mine is a 4 night cruise so I'm hoping the extra day will give us a better experience and feel for cruising. I'm basically not booking anything on board nor am I booking an excursions.

Frankly, I just want to sit and read my book as much as possible and maybe go to a show or two. And drink some cocktails.

Yes, I am definitely bracing myself for feeling cramped - even with two rooms! This is another reason for limiting it to 4 nights! But since we are going into it knowing this is just a part of cruising then I think it should be OK.

We have been to the parks enough that we know the dangers of trying to fit everything in. And how for us, that can really put a damper on a vacation.

We've met all the characters in the parks a bazillion times including Anna and Elsa. My 4yo will want to meet Minnie or a Princess if it works out so I might try and secure Princess M&G tix. Otherwise we will just wing everything like we do in the Parks - if we see a character with no line we will stop. We are Disneyland vets and so we are used to totally winging it and not stressing.

Mainly we are going on a voyage and that is the main event. That and finally seeing Castaway Cay!

Castaway Cay was really the highlight of the cruise. I was able to sit in a chair with a fantastic drink.. kids swam... we rented float tubes and floated around. We all rented bikes to explore the island.. Even though i never felt crowded with the fantasy , i look forward to being their with 1/2 the people while on the magic.
 
Tonight on the Food Network!


This one-hour special brings together some of Food Network's favorite hosts for a vacation like no other. The Kitchen's Jeff Mauro and Katie Lee, Chopped's Amanda Freitag, and Guy's Grocery Games' Melissa d'Arabian, along with their families and friends, set sail on The Disney Dream cruise ship for three days of sun, fun and food. Go behind the scenes as the hosts go where no cameras have gone before — the inner workings of the ship's galleys, the kitchens, where The Dream's talented chefs prepare food for thousands every day. And no cruise would be complete without surf, sand and, of course, incredible meals. (Episode: ZBSP03H)



Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/fo...eam-cruise-with-food-network.html?oc=linkback
 
Interesting take. I think for port intensive cruises, it doesn't make any sense to sail Disney because it's NOT about the ship. But when we sail Disney it's all about the ship so my daughter can wear her princess dresses, dance with Pluto, go on the Aquaduck, etc. And while I don't cruise for the food, I figure it should at least be good. Good thing there are so many options out there for all of us!

I should have added we have two severe asthmatics...smoke has put them in the ER before...Disney is the only cruise line I know of with the strictest smoking policy...we don't want casinos...so for us it offers us the best possible family vacation with amazing ports. Our problem is we do not like going back to the same ports...so next year, we're pretty limited b/c the Isle trips and European ones are way too much for us...I wish the Tortola cruise would go to somewhere else besides St. Thomas...but technically, we haven't done St. Thomas b/c we spent that port day at St. John's :)
 
On our first cruise (a 5-night), I didn't start relaxing and enjoying myself until Day 4. The first 3 days we were busy running around trying to do and see everything. I've learned to slow down on subsequent cruises, but now we prefer the 7-night. There is much more time to enjoy the ship activities.

Also, the pools are not so crowded in the morning and in the early evenings.
 


Our first cruise was last May/June (5 day Bahamas) and really had a good time. Enjoyed the shows, relaxation, food and Castaway Cay. We are now booked on the 7day Norwegian Fjord cruise this summer. Our daughter also just let us know the MAGIC will be returning to the Med next summer and suggest we plan on the cruise that will visit Greece...... Point being, until last spring when our daughter suggested we go on a cruise, I had never even considered it. Now we are excited to go and see these places that wasn't on our radar......
 
Well we did our first ever Disney Cruise this past January and it was our first cruise ever. It was my DW, DS10, DD8, and DS5 and I. Now I used to say I'd never do one but my aunts and Uncles cruise a lot and talk about how much they enjoy them. One of my best friends did his first ever last year on RCCL and loved it. So I decided to take the plunge and try a Disney cruise. My buddy told me I'd be addicted after I did one. Well we went on the 3 night Dream to the Bahamas, had ports at Nassau and Castaway Cay. Kids of course loved the cruise but DW and I were both disappointed. Staff was friendly, everything was clean but food wasn't great like we'd heard cruise ship food would be, pools were so small I don't know how you'd ever use them. Now was it our fault for having expectations too high and not going on a longer cruise as we felt we didn't do much of anything on the ship? I mean we watched the shows, ate and slept and did the Aquaduck once but that seemed to be pretty much it. Also I thought Disney was supposed to send first time cruisers a couple of things but its not toward the end of March and we've still not received magnets etc. Just wondering if we were the only ones disappointed when going on a DCL cruise?


Prune - our first cruise was also with Disney (kids 2 & 5) and I would have to agree with your assessment of the super small pools. I was also disappointed that the adult pools closed at 10 (or 10:30?)

We enjoyed our cruise but I can say with 100% honesty that I didn't feel the MAGIC everyone speaks of when they talk about DCL. We found the service in all areas just meh. No one made a connection with our family or went out of their way to do something special. Even our room attendant didn't meet our basic service expectations. We also had a disappointing experience with the kids club and DCL policy communication that put a major damper on our vacation.

We plan on cruising again in the fall and hope we experience more magic this time around. I hate to say it but if we don't we would rather not spend the extra on DCL and will move to another line.
 
I should have added we have two severe asthmatics...smoke has put them in the ER before...Disney is the only cruise line I know of with the strictest smoking policy...we don't want casinos...so for us it offers us the best possible family vacation with amazing ports.

Celebrity has a matching smoking policy. They do have a casino but do NOT allow smoking in the casino. Just like Disney it is only outdoors in certain places.

Actually disney's policy nearly caused an asthma attack with me because one smoking area is along the jogging deck. Fun!
 


Yes, we were sort of disappointed in our Disney Cruise compared to expectations. We have cruised on Carnival (the Dream), Royal Caribbean (Allure and Oasis) and on Disney (Fantasy), all of them were 7 night cruises. We had done the Carnival Dream and RCCL Allure of the Seas before cruising on the Fantasy. We enjoyed our Disney cruise and had been fortunate to get a great price in a 7A in an early January week. I posted a review at the time, and overall my reaction was that I liked Allure of the Seas better than the Fantasy. I love Disney and we love cruising, and some things about the Fantasy were very nice, particularly the service. But overall I found the "wow" factor of the ship to be lacking compared to the RCCL Oasis class with all of its huge open public spaces, 5 pools, etc. I also preferred the bigger variety of entertainment available on Allure/Oasis - there is something for absolutely everyone on those ships and the entertainment appeals to adults and kids (the aqua theatre show, the ice show, etc. are kid friendly but not kid themed). Sea days on deck on the Fantasy were just ridiculous, IMO - just a sea of people, no space to lounge, and human soup in the tiny pools. Ridiculous design. And I got tired of night after night of Disney variety shows (I know that some people love the shows, but one or two nights of the Disney shows was enough for me). I also missed having the casino and more of a nightlife atmosphere. The food on Disney was very good and I really loved Remy, Palo, and Animator's Palate. The fireworks / Pirate Night was a highlight. After comparing Disney Fantasy with the other ships, we chose last summer to do Oasis of the Seas rather than another Disney cruise. I would do another Disney cruise but not at the prices they are charging for next year. We just booked the brand new Oasis class ship - Harmony of the Seas - which will have 3 huge water slides - for a Med cruise in June 2016 and we will have two adjoining balcony cabins for less than all 4 of us staying in one inside cabin on the Magic in Europe. Crazy. I think having Oasis of the Seas in Port Canaveral is going to have an impact on the Fantasy and its pricing. Once Disney loyalists get over the "its not Disney" thing they may find that the product is comparable if not better in some ways.
 
I have to agree RCCL open space/promenade is so much nicer. We had done RCCL Adventure of the seas (pre-kids) and the shops, pubs, piano bars along the promenade were fantastic... I don't care for the fact everything on the Fantasy has to be accessed by walking thru stateroom corridors... unless you go up to to the top decks. Its one of the major reasons i wasn't comfortable with the kids going places by themselves.. too many secluded areas. and before someone states "its a family vacation" (as people like to point out) kids want a little freedom too..especially if you are all sharing a stateroom.
 
We are loyal DCL but I get it's not for everyone and everyone has different reasons for their choices. I'm curious about the Allure and Oasis. From the website, I can't find a cabin that accommodates 5 except suites so it appears even more expenses than Disney because we would have to get two cabins. Also how are the kids club. When we did a last minute RCCL cruise on Liberty of the Seas I found the kids club to be inconvenient. They closed late in the day before dinner and then reopened, then charged after a certain hour regardless of the kids age. This is important to us since I don't have family that can help with my kids so Hubby and I can have some alone time too. On DCL, it's one of the only times all year where we have an adult dinner (usually at Palo) or a couples massage and don't have to pay a babysitter a fortune.
 
We are loyal DCL but I get it's not for everyone and everyone has different reasons for their choices. I'm curious about the Allure and Oasis. From the website, I can't find a cabin that accommodates 5 except suites so it appears even more expenses than Disney because we would have to get two cabins. Also how are the kids club. When we did a last minute RCCL cruise on Liberty of the Seas I found the kids club to be inconvenient. They closed late in the day before dinner and then reopened, then charged after a certain hour regardless of the kids age. This is important to us since I don't have family that can help with my kids so Hubby and I can have some alone time too. On DCL, it's one of the only times all year where we have an adult dinner (usually at Palo) or a couples massage and don't have to pay a babysitter a fortune.

RCCL does have cabins that accommodate up to six people, you just can't book them online, you have to call. If you are searching for cabins on a particular cruise down at the bottom of the cabin selection page there is a gray box that says something about "cabin selections not available for online booking" if you click on that it will show you the options. On the oasis class ships they are about 350 square feet, have the queen bed, a queen sofa sleeper and 2 Pullmans. They are available as insides, ocean view and verandahs. The other option is because they are so less than DCL, get connecting rooms and have the luxury of 2 bathrooms
 
We love Disney Cruises. The food is fantastic, the entertainment is fantastic, the ameneties are fantastic........we always have an absolute blast!:cool1::banana::dancer:
 
Prune, I think 3 days might be too short to get a real feel of cruise life! Did you get off the ship? Did you book any excursions? Did you try any of the better quality restaurants onboard? It's usually the extras that really make the cruise. If you want awesome food and less crowds, and more attention a luxury cruise line such as Cunard or Oceania might more suit you! Some of those lines cruise with hundreds vs thousands! I will be trying a Cunard cruise in the near future!
 
Any line, but especially DCL because of their unique product, vessels, Disney Magic and Pixie dust, a 3 day cruise is impossible to do most things, never mind all the things available. Its not really a fair judgment stick.

AKK
 
I will say we enjoyed the port days, loved the dolphin encounter at Blue lagoon island, loved the day at Castaway Cay but was disappointed they cancelled our glass bottom boat tour with no reason given. It was just too short of a cruise to really get a good feel for it I guess. We will try another longer cruise, it may not be DCL just because of pricing but we will see how it goes.
 
I will say we enjoyed the port days, loved the dolphin encounter at Blue lagoon island, loved the day at Castaway Cay but was disappointed they cancelled our glass bottom boat tour with no reason given. It was just too short of a cruise to really get a good feel for it I guess. We will try another longer cruise, it may not be DCL just because of pricing but we will see how it goes.

I'm sorry they didn't state the reason, but 9 times out of 10 when one or more of the boat-involved activities at CC is cancelled it is because the currents are preventing the small crafts from safely getting there. They come from neighboring islands and they have to not only be able to get there safely but also conduct the excursion safely.
 
I'm sorry they didn't state the reason, but 9 times out of 10 when one or more of the boat-involved activities at CC is cancelled it is because the currents are preventing the small crafts from safely getting there. They come from neighboring islands and they have to not only be able to get there safely but also conduct the excursion safely.

The boats were actually there; we kinda felt the reason they cancelled it was just because they didn't have that many people book it but really no reason was given so its hard to say.
 
What is this magnet they send? We sailed in spring of 2012 and never got a magnet :guilty:
 
The boats were actually there; we kinda felt the reason they cancelled it was just because they didn't have that many people book it but really no reason was given so its hard to say.
It's funny, the glass bottom boat on CC was the only excursion sold out when I logged on to check my concierge bookings last night. Probably because we are sailing in the summer.
 

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