Second cruise, first one was not good!

[tnkrbell]

We went last spring on a Norwegian sky 3 day cruise and were very unhappy swore we would never cruise again. This year my Mon decided to take the whole family on a Disney cruise!! Anyone who has done both want to tell me that Im going to love this one?? from what I am seeing Dream looks Amazing!!

[Yvet]

What was the reason that you said no cruising never again??

[MikeAndNick]

If you look at my signature below you will see we had different experiences with different cruises. Disney stays our favorite at this time. We also really liked Royal Caribbean and want to cruise with them again. The worst cruise we have been on is Norwegian on the Mexican Riviera; it felt like Motel 6 on the water. Motel 6 has it's place and I stay there when I just need a bed, sleep and go but I do not want to stay for a long time. I have been told there are people that have been on other NCL cruises and loved it. I may use NCL again but I will do lots of research on the ship and make sure it is what I am looking for.

What I am trying to say is do not let one bad cruise stop you from trying again. Enjoy the cruise and talk to your DIS group before your cruise.

[tnkrbell]

Originally Posted by MikeAndNick

If you look at my signature below you will see we had different experiences with different cruises. Disney stays our favorite at this time. We also really liked Royal Caribbean and want to cruise with them again. The worst cruise we have been on is Norwegian on the Mexican Riviera; it felt like Motel 6 on the water. Motel 6 has it's place and I stay there when I just need a bed, sleep and go but I do not want to stay for a long time. I have been told there are people that have been on other NCL cruises and loved it. I may use NCL again but I will do lots of research on the ship and make sure it is what I am looking for.

What I am trying to say is do not let one bad cruise stop you from trying again. Enjoy the cruise and talk to your DIS group before your cruise.

EXACTLY!! Felt like a motel 6!! I guess Might be a "hotel snob" for instance... Love Disney!! But cant stand the value resorts. Two different experiences.

[tnkrbell]

Originally Posted by Yvet

What was the reason that you said no cruising never again??

Dirty ship, horrible food, private island looked like a bomb had went off and leveled the island. Entertainment stunk!! Lol I did like my balcony!!!

[over50visits]

Originally Posted by tnkrbell

We went last spring on a Norwegian sky 3 day cruise and were very unhappy swore we would never cruise again. This year my Mon decided to take the whole family on a Disney cruise!! Anyone who has done both want to tell me that Im going to love this one?? from what I am seeing Dream looks Amazing!!

You're going to love this one!

[tnkrbell]

Originally Posted by over50visits

You're going to love this one!

It looks beautiful!!!

[clten]

Originally Posted by tnkrbell

Dirty ship, horrible food, private island looked like a bomb had went off and leveled the island. Entertainment stunk!! Lol I did like my balcony!!!

So if the things that stick out about the NCL cruises are what you listed above and you want to know how DCL is different and going to give you a different experience:

Disney ships are well maintained. You mentioned the Dream which is a newer ship but even with the classic DCL ships, they are contantly doing maintenance and you will see plenty of housekeeping staff in the public areas -- cleaning all public areas including the atrium, the elevators, all the glass and most especially the public restrooms.

NCL I think tries to get most people to use the upgraded ($) restaurants. Now, dining is a personal opinion and I am a picky eater. I don't think that the Main Dining Rooms on DCL are 5 star restaurants, but they certainly have enough choices that you should be able to find good tasting food. (I put it on the level of excellent catering food since they are cooking for hundreds at each dinner seating.) But the dining experience itself on DCL is in the excellent level if you get great servers (if you don't, talk to the head server, they'll either make it better or move you.) DCL still makes it part of the cruise experience and since the staff is still working for tips (not automatically getting a fixed part of the service fee like they do on NCL), the good ones do try to give you excellent service.

Disney's Private Island is different than other cruise line islands and it shows. It is very well maintained (with a small # of DCL employees living on the island so it is ready for each ship that stops) and has plenty to do and the best part compared to other "private" islands -- no getting harrassed by the locals to buy stuff.

Disney is an entertainment company. They offer 3 Broadway style shows on every sailing along with many many other activities. As they don't try to funnel everyone to a casino, they have to have many options through the evening/night to keep thousands entertained. You should find several options appealing. And if you can't find anything -- go look at the animated art with the OnBoard Dectective Agency to bring it to life.

I've been on NCL ships (haven't done a full sailing) and dealing with some of their personnel, it is not the same service standards I am used to from other cruise lines so personally, I will not sail NCL. I'm sure others enjoy it. Their "freestyle" is just exactly contrary to what I enjoy about cruising so I would not waste my time sailing with them.

[tnkrbell]

Originally Posted by clten

So if the things that stick out about the NCL cruises are what you listed above and you want to know how DCL is different and going to give you a different experience:

Disney ships are well maintained. You mentioned the Dream which is a newer ship but even with the classic DCL ships, they are contantly doing maintenance and you will see plenty of housekeeping staff in the public areas -- cleaning all public areas including the atrium, the elevators, all the glass and most especially the public restrooms.

NCL I think tries to get most people to use the upgraded ($) restaurants. Now, dining is a personal opinion and I am a picky eater. I don't think that the Main Dining Rooms on DCL are 5 star restaurants, but they certainly have enough choices that you should be able to find good tasting food. (I put it on the level of excellent catering food since they are cooking for hundreds at each dinner seating.) But the dining experience itself on DCL is in the excellent level if you get great servers (if you don't, talk to the head server, they'll either make it better or move you.) DCL still makes it part of the cruise experience and since the staff is still working for tips (not automatically getting a fixed part of the service fee like they do on NCL), the good ones do try to give you excellent service.

Disney's Private Island is different than other cruise line islands and it shows. It is very well maintained (with a small # of DCL employees living on the island so it is ready for each ship that stops) and has plenty to do and the best part compared to other "private" islands -- no getting harrassed by the locals to buy stuff.

Disney is an entertainment company. They offer 3 Broadway style shows on every sailing along with many many other activities. As they don't try to funnel everyone to a casino, they have to have many options through the evening/night to keep thousands entertained. You should find several options appealing. And if you can't find anything -- go look at the animated art with the OnBoard Dectective Agency to bring it to life.

I've been on NCL ships (haven't done a full sailing) and dealing with some of their personnel, it is not the same service standards I am used to from other cruise lines so personally, I will not sail NCL. I'm sure others enjoy it. Their "freestyle" is just exactly contrary to what I enjoy about cruising so I would not waste my time sailing with them.

Thank you for the info!! That was another issue, service was terrible on Sky!! I dont expect Dcl food to be 5 star just edible I think my family actually lost weight on the Sky!! Lol lol

[podsnel]

I think anothr factor is cruise length- although on DCL, a 3 day cruise is very nice, on most other lines, those are cheaper cruises on older ships, so I would not expect anything great from it. I am now looking at NCL Breakaway for next summer (because we just can't swing $5000 just to fly to the cruise in Europe on DCL). While NCL is not my favorite, I think that it will be a new ship (just coming out this year) with a ton of cool things to do, especially for my teenage sons. And it's going out of NYC, which is what we were looking for. But you can bet I will be glued to every review between the first sailing and mine to see how its going! I am also just counting in the extra $$$ we will spend eating in specialty restaurants right off the bat, so I won't (hopefully) feel nickel and dimed onboard.

You will love the Disney Cruise- have a wonderful time, what a generous gift!

[Fielhol]

I cruised on the NCL Pearl. Excellent ship, very clean and I loved it!! But it was just DH and I. No kids. With the kids we prefer Disney. The service is bar none then any other ship I have been on. Lots and lots of things for the kids to do. I would cruise RCCL with the kids as well. But I have never cruised with them personally. DH has. He really enjoys that line.

[tnkrbell]

Originally Posted by podsnel

I think anothr factor is cruise length- although on DCL, a 3 day cruise is very nice, on most other lines, those are cheaper cruises on older ships, so I would not expect anything great from it. I am now looking at NCL Breakaway for next summer (because we just can't swing $5000 just to fly to the cruise in Europe on DCL). While NCL is not my favorite, I think that it will be a new ship (just coming out this year) with a ton of cool things to do, especially for my teenage sons. And it's going out of NYC, which is what we were looking for. But you can bet I will be glued to every review between the first sailing and mine to see how its going! I am also just counting in the extra $$$ we will spend eating in specialty restaurants right off the bat, so I won't (hopefully) feel nickel and dimed onboard.

You will love the Disney Cruise- have a wonderful time, what a generous gift!

Yes VERY generous!! We are very lucky!!

[RedxPanda]

My first cruise left me less than enthused as well. But, I now know that it was probably because I didn't know what I was getting into! Now, with the help of the DIS and Cruise Critic, I know exactly what kind of cruises and cruise ships to book. It also helps to get a good idea of what to do in each port of call. I didn't do that the first time either, so we didn't get the best experiences on the islands we visited .

Our second cruise was 4 years later on NCL Pride of America. It sails within the Hawaiian islands from Honolulu. BEST VACATION EVER! I am so angry with myself that we didn't try cruising again sooner.

Don't discount a whole cruise line based on one 'weekend party cruise' (3 nighters are commonly marketed as such). In fact, I am now looking into Carnival again with hope that we can get a better experience than on our first cruise.

["Cinder" Ella's Mom]

I have been on both the Norwegian Sky and The Dream. There is no comparison at all. Dining on NCL was so horrible. With Freestyle dining you never have the same servers so they are slow and don't know your preferences or care to. The MDRs were so bad (this is purposeful, I think) so we ate at the upcharge restaurants (just like they wanted us to!). It is a much older ship and the service is nowhere near Disney's. You will love cruising this way!!!

[tnkrbell]

Originally Posted by "Cinder" Ella's Mom

I have been on both the Norwegian Sky and The Dream. There is no comparison at all. Dining on NCL was so horrible. With Freestyle dining you never have the same servers so they are slow and don't know your preferences or care to. The MDRs were so bad (this is purposeful, I think) so we ate at the upcharge restaurants (just like they wanted us to!). It is a much older ship and the service is nowhere near Disney's. You will love cruising this way!!!

Glad to hear this!!!