oh the horror....LOL

[RN_Mom]

Just thought I'd share....this evening while talking with my DD6(who has done 6 Disney cruises and no others) I was telling her we were hoping to go on a 12 night cruise to Europe next summer. She got super excited until I told her it wouldn't be Disney. Her face went from pure excitement to a look of shock like I had just committed blasphemy. I couldn't help but laugh at her when I realized she has the same fear as DH and myself. The itinerary and price is just to good to justify Disney this trip:'(

[jdb in AZ]

We "jumped ship" and did a non-DCL european cruise last year. We figured it was such a port-intensive cruise we really wouldn't have enough time to enjoy the ship, and the cheaper(!) fare paid for lots of shore excursions. And the food was better too.

Meanwhile, we also did the DCL Hawaii cruise this year -- lots of sea days, so we had plenty of time to enjoy the Disney atmosphere.

Disney is our favorite cruise line, but there definitely other great ships/lines out there. So many cruises; so little time/money.

[NancyIL]

I would consider DCL for a port-intensive Europe cruise only if their prices and itinerary were as good as those of other cruise lines. I've sailed in Europe on RCI, Celebrity, and Princess, and all were great cruises.

I'll be on DCL's Transatlantic in May 2013. It has one of the least impressive TA itineraries out there, but the price is right for a long Disney cruise.

[JOANNEL]

Us too, doing NCL next summer in the med. Just a moving hotel. For 6 it was sooooooooo much cheaper!!

[RN_Mom]

We are looking at NCLs 12 night med from Barcelona to Venice and being it is sooo port intense is why we are looking to jump ship to half the price. That pays for a LOT of excursions

[carpenta]

We did DCL as well as RCL in the Med. and had a wonderful cruise on both lines. Like you state the cash you save goes a long way to shore excursions. Have a wonderful cruise.

[Golden Rose]

This made me laugh, since we're doing a not quite as port intensive 14 day Mediterranean cruise with RCCL next summer. We are doing it out of Southampton (and really only looked at cruises that sail out of England) because we can get a nonstop from Houston to Heathrow, and we're taking our (then) DD2 and DS8. I didn't want to mess with changing planes to get there with young children. (That is what we did when we took our DS when he was 5, too, and it worked pretty well.)

The only think I'm worrying about is no nursery on the RCCL ship we'll be on. I hope we don't regret our choice of ship.

[kcashner]

We did a "try out" on another line this summer as a preliminary to Europe. Family rules--we're on DCL. IMHO, the food on the other line was better, but the entertainment on DCL is far superior.

[JOANNEL]

Originally Posted by RN_Mom

We are looking at NCLs 12 night med from Barcelona to Venice and being it is sooo port intense is why we are looking to jump ship to half the price. That pays for a LOT of excursions

That's what we are booked on April 17th.

[darwinsrule]

Wouldn't it be nice if you could just call DCL and tell them where and when and they made it happen?

We have both the Dream and the Fantasy booked for next year. This summer we strayed so we could get to Bermuda. Loved the island so much we will stray again. The kids (8 & 4) actually did better with the fact that it was non-DCL then their parents. Now if DCL announces Bermuda for 2014 we will have it booked day of release.

[kaseyC]

Originally Posted by RN_Mom

Just thought I'd share....this evening while talking with my DD6(who has done 6 Disney cruises and no others) I was telling her we were hoping to go on a 12 night cruise to Europe next summer. She got super excited until I told her it wouldn't be Disney. Her face went from pure excitement to a look of shock like I had just committed blasphemy. I couldn't help but laugh at her when I realized she has the same fear as DH and myself. The itinerary and price is just to good to justify Disney this trip:'(

All of European cruises have been on other cruise lines. Our children have enjoyed each one as much as our DCL cruises. We used the savings for some absolutely amazing private drivers and tour guides for many of our port days.

In 2013, we will get the best of both worlds. We will sail the Magic's 14 night EBTA to Barcelona, fly to Copenhagen and board the NCL Star a few days later for a Baltic cruise.

[Golden Rose]

DS7 has been happy on both Celebrity and RCCL. So have we. We all agree that the food is best on Celebrity, and we're foodies, so this matters to us. (Admittedly, even on Celebrity, we spent half our time in specialty restaurants.) I am hoping that our upcoming DCL doesn't ruin him for other lines, because up to now, he's been happy with whatever we've chosen.

I wish DH had the time off to do a transatlantic plus an additional cruise. We've talked about doing it, but haven't so far. He doesn't like to take more than 2 weeks off in a row, although he'll push it a couple of days when we go to Europe.

[kcashner]

Originally Posted by Golden Rose

DS7 has been happy on both Celebrity and RCCL. So have we. We all agree that the food is best on Celebrity, and we're foodies, so this matters to us. (Admittedly, even on Celebrity, we spent half our time in specialty restaurants.) I am hoping that our upcoming DCL doesn't ruin him for other lines, because up to now, he's been happy with whatever we've chosen.

I wish DH had the time off to do a transatlantic plus an additional cruise. We've talked about doing it, but haven't so far. He doesn't like to take more than 2 weeks off in a row, although he'll push it a couple of days when we go to Europe.

The food on Celebrity was amazing...and we didn't even eat at the upcharge restaurants.

[DMMarla07860]

depending what kind of cruises DCL does in 2014 I'm thinking about jumping ship for at least one cruise. I've always wanted to try RCCL, so might be prefect chance to try a 5 night to test it out.

[ilovetexas]

Originally Posted by darwinsrule

Wouldn't it be nice if you could just call DCL and tell them where and when and they made it happen?

We have both the Dream and the Fantasy booked for next year. This summer we strayed so we could get to Bermuda. Loved the island so much we will stray again. The kids (8 & 4) actually did better with the fact that it was non-DCL then their parents. Now if DCL announces Bermuda for 2014 we will have it booked day of release.

Originally Posted by kaseyC

All of European cruises have been on other cruise lines. Our children have enjoyed each one as much as our DCL cruises. We used the savings for some absolutely amazing private drivers and tour guides for many of our port days.

In 2013, we will get the best of both worlds. We will sail the Magic's 14 night EBTA to Barcelona, fly to Copenhagen and board the NCL Star a few days later for a Baltic cruise.

I think we often forget that our kids are FAR more flexible and accepting of new things than we are. They haven't had time to get set in their ways or have high expectations; they just go and have fun. Wouldn't it be nice to be 8 again?

I'm looking at a European cruise next summer since I'm going to be over there most of May, anyway. None of DCL's cruises meet my timeframe.