2 new ships - what must features should they plan into the design?

[Dallas_Lady]

My understanding is that larger pools present a problem for ship stability. I recall reading that large top-heavy water like that can cause problems for cruise ships, which is why they are kept smaller and more shallow.

Yet every other cruise line seems to figure it out.

More/bigger pools- that was the area we found severely lacking on teh Fantasy- none of the 3 of us (DD11, DH and I) got into what we called "kid soup" ie all the kids bobbing in their life jackets staring at the TV screen- eww!

Us either. Our kids got in the pool, but there was no way I was getting in that oversized bathtub.

 

[Quellman]

Yes and no. Cabanas is not truly a "MTD MDR". It is more of a restaurant than dining room IMHO - there is a menu and you can go whenever, but it feels more like a restaurant than a Main Dining Room. (Granted, the one night I was going to try it I left because I swear they went through and picked out the things on each menu I find disgusting and put them all on the Cabanas menu.)

I see combining rotational dining and the MTD concept as a logistical nightmare. Would the MTD peeps be assigned a rotation or would it be free-form? If they get an assigned rotation, that takes away an element of the freedom they want. If they don't, I can see everyone trying to go to one of the three on the same night (due to themeing, AP is pretty popular on Pirate Night, for example) and chaos and anger ensuing. Easier just to have one extra dining room that is traditional MDR dining - perhaps all three menus (for the nights there is a difference) could be offered and you select. On Pirate Night and the like it doesn't matter because all three have the same.

I would envision that the My Time dining people would still rotate each night to a new restaurant, they could just come any time between first and last seating. The only thing it takes away is the WHERE not the WHEN. Logistically you know that you will still be serving 1,000 fried brie.

But I totally see the appeal of a fourth dining room just for my time dining. Not to drill too far into the weeds, but would it be a selection like 1st, 2nd, and MTD? This way you can control how many people are doing MTD, wouldn't want 75% of passengers trying to get into one place each night !

 

[wlee7]

For restaurants it would be nice to have Asian and Mexican food. I'm for a Polynesian/Tiki bar serving Dole Whip! And also maybe improve the Wifi on the ship as other cruise lines have done. But then again I'll probably never use it since there's always too much to do on Disney cruise ships...

 

[gometros]

Or just a dining room for those who want the MTD concept. Why upset the whole rotational thing that's already going strong and well on DCL by splitting them? Just add a fourth dining room that is exclusively MTD. No you don't see the different MDRs, but that is your choice by going MTD.

I agree. We'd love to see MTD. We've enjoyed it on Princess. Second seating is too late for us and main too early, but we go with main, because we have no choice. With MTD, we were able to eat at a comfortable 7:00pm. On Princess though, MTD was now popular, so they had 4 dining rooms with one having part of it set aside for traditional dining.

 

[mommary]

A larger adults only area! My DH and I cruise often with Disney and it would be nice to have more lounge chairs.

 

[Bella29]

I'm sure Disney will have some awesome plans, I'd love for them to perhaps include more theming from their classic characters and movies. A family friendly upscale or speciality dining would be fantastic, maybe one with special characters? hint hint. I would love some more activities/sports things for teens/adults maybe even a fitness course/obstacle source of some kind. I'd love a completely non-smoking ship(including outer decks). Some single cabins would be lovely as well like norwegian did. A top deck floor that somehow would stay cool in the sun would be a miracle, I love Celebrity's grassy area on top so that would be lovely on a disney ship too, bring back the arcade but make it free games for everyone to play with, hammocks to relax in on deck, more hot tubs, bathrooms you won't trip going into- seriously why aren't these level with the ground, some tables for 2 in the dining room :O, a swimming pool that looked out over the side of the ship- not just a hot tub, an amphitheater or show-theater outside, an asian/indian eatery- or something from the chef's home region, a real craft cocktail bar- please stop putting sour mix in everything disney!!, pool with retractable roof for those rainy/cool days, magic bands at sea, i'd love to some effect a virtual glass bottom boat- or at least where I could watch the ocean under the ship from my stateroom TV or something.

love all these ideas! although I thought the ships already were non-smoking except for a smoking area somewhere?

 

[Dug720]

I would envision that the My Time dining people would still rotate each night to a new restaurant, they could just come any time between first and last seating. The only thing it takes away is the WHERE not the WHEN. Logistically you know that you will still be serving 1,000 fried brie.

But I totally see the appeal of a fourth dining room just for my time dining. Not to drill too far into the weeds, but would it be a selection like 1st, 2nd, and MTD? This way you can control how many people are doing MTD, wouldn't want 75% of passengers trying to get into one place each night !

That's how the lines that have it - or at least Royal and Celebrity - do it. Three options.

 

[Bella29]

My family and I are really excited about the new ships! Our wishlist:

- stuff for active older teens - zip line, flow-rider, rock climbing-wall, waterslides.
- more variety of movies in the BV theater and comfier seats with some leg room.
- roomier main dining rooms, I do not mind sharing a table with another family but I loathe having other tables one foot away like on the Fantasy.
- upscale dining option that is family-friendly and includes the fab 5 characters and/or the Pooh characters, preferably for brunch so we don't have to miss a dinner in the main dining room. Like a Crystal Palace breakfast buffet.
- nice quiet adult lounge/pool area with shallow water you can put chairs in and no kids traipsing through.

And this is not specific to the new ships, but while I'm wishing, I would wish for a digital photography package you can purchase that does not have the annoying borders. Also a 10 day Southern Caribbean itinirary in the beginning of January.

 

[tvguy]

Yet every other cruise line seems to figure it out.
Us either. Our kids got in the pool, but there was no way I was getting in that oversized bathtub.

Which cruise lines have bigger pools? I just Googled and the Dream and Fantasy pools are listed as have 2 of the 10 largest pools on any cruise ship.
Pools on cruise ships need an area to contain splashing water in rough seas. That's the lowered area around the pool. The longer and wider the pools is, the longer and wider the containment area needs to be. Just not going to be physically possible.
More pools certainly is doable. An indoor one like the SS Norway had would be nice too.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

P

Which cruise lines have bigger pools? I just Googled and the Dream and Fantasy pools are listed as have 2 of the 10 largest pools on any cruise ship.
Pools on cruise ships need an area to contain splashing water in rough seas. That's the lowered area around the pool. The longer and wider the pools is, the longer and wider the containment area needs to be. Just not going to be physically possible.
More pools certainly is doable. An indoor one like the SS Norway had would be nice too.

Obviously whomever came up with that stat has never actually been on any other cruise ships. Every pool on every RCL ship is larger than any pool on any Disney ship, which would put Disney's pools at somewhere in the 70-80th largest pools on a cruise line - and that's just RCL's pools.

 

[egesicki]

Would love to see spa themed cabins like some other lines have, could include bottled water and rainforest passes and extra toiletries. Love the idea of the hammocks in the Havana cabanas on the new carnival vista. Larger water play area. Ropes course. Alcohol package??

 

[jlemieu1]

From the first rendering, it looks like there is a new deck under the satellite falls deck. I bet they are putting in a new Concierge Deck not found on the Dream Class ships. It looks like it would be right off the Concierge Rooms and would not be visible or accessible to the rest of the passengers.

That is the first thing I looked at. There looks to be an extra deck. Maybe 2 full deck of concierge cabin?

 

[bcwife76]

Bigger pools.

Bigger adults-only areas

More activities for teens and tweens (by the time the first new ship comes out we'll have a teenager, eeeek!)

a couple more upcharge restaurants (asian, steakhouse, mexican)

 

[DLM1980]

I am really excited. The Disney ship of my dreams would include some kind of Disney theme park ride/attraction. This is something that would be different than what other cruise lines could offer.

I love this, some sort of Pirates IN the Caribbean themed Omnimover that takes up a deck. The cabin would have to be boat shaped, possibly rock back n forth as the actual ship rocks to counter the effect of the ships movement. Don't know what else, don't want it to be a clear ripoff of Pirates at the parks.


I would like to see taller showers, and if we can't do wider showers, at the very least install those curved shower curtain rods that the Hilton hotels have so it FEELS bigger....a 6 ft man has little room to shampoo without hitting the ceiling.

It's also Disney, why are we outsourcing photography to Mycruisephotos, Photopass the ships already, I'm pretty sure there would tons of Disney Photopass photographers that would love to work in the cruise line department. The stateroom doors already use RFID, just allow us that have magic bands to associate a band with a reservation to operate our doors. Since Photopass is on board, we can use the Shutters area for something else. Perhaps a better version of The Art of Disney instead of the Print on Demand service, something with prints you can take off the ship.

 

[tvguy]

P

Obviously whomever came up with that stat has never actually been on any other cruise ships. Every pool on every RCL ship is larger than any pool on any Disney ship, which would put Disney's pools at somewhere in the 70-80th largest pools on a cruise line - and that's just RCL's pools.

Googling photos they don't seem that much bigger. They are a great line, cruised them twice.

 

[Bella29]

I love this, some sort of Pirates IN the Caribbean themed Omnimover that takes up a deck. The cabin would have to be boat shaped, possibly rock back n forth as the actual ship rocks to counter the effect of the ships movement. Don't know what else, don't want it to be a clear ripoff of Pirates at the parks.


I would like to see taller showers, and if we can't do wider showers, at the very least install those curved shower curtain rods that the Hilton hotels have so it FEELS bigger....a 6 ft man has little room to shampoo without hitting the ceiling.

It's also Disney, why are we outsourcing photography to Mycruisephotos, Photopass the ships already, I'm pretty sure there would tons of Disney Photopass photographers that would love to work in the cruise line department. The stateroom doors already use RFID, just allow us that have magic bands to associate a band with a reservation to operate our doors. Since Photopass is on board, we can use the Shutters area for something else. Perhaps a better version of The Art of Disney instead of the Print on Demand service, something with prints you can take off the ship.

excellent ideas, especially Photopass!!

 

[deanimal]

I'm pretty sure that if the price increases continue like they have been there's no way I'll ever make it onto the new ships, but here goes:

The pool areas need a new vision: anyone who's cruised on other lines can see that. If water volume is an issue, how about a large, multi storey slide and water play area? There was a pirate themed one on the MSC cruise ship we were on in the Med and it did a great job of pulling a lot of the kids out of the pools since sitting in a pool is pretty boring compared to spraying each other with giant water guns and dodging giant water dumping buckets. The water play areas they have now are great for toddlers but you could make something geared to older kids and free up pool space for people who want to soak or swim instead of splashing and playing.

Some others may hate this idea, but I'd love to see tickets for the shows. Other lines do this and there's enough for everyone but you don't have to worry about hurrying to the theatre or people saving seats.

Little kid only areas in the kids clubs, or going back to a division of ages. My kids are older now, but I still remember when they were three and four and totally overwhelmed by the place. I appreciate that families want to be together, but most preschoolers need a little more adult attention and a little less chaos than school aged kids can handle.

Non pool play areas for toddlers. I feel like non potty trained kids between walking age and three are treated a bit like second class citizens. Sure there are open house times in the nursery and clubs, but a small soft play area that families can use at any time and let their toddlers play safely would be great and wouldn't take up too much space.

But the my biggest wish for the new ships isn't really a ship feature at all. It's the possibility of new and less boring itineraries! Seriously, how many times can a person visit Nassau??? And the same half dozen islands over and over? Sure, there's Europe, but we prefer to do land based trips in Europe, one day isn't enough for most of those ports in our opinion. But why not some other Caribbean islands? Or different North American ports on the East coast? Central America anyone? Bermuda? The one thing that may get us willing to pay the prices Disney now wants is the possibility of visiting some new ports and two new boats would give them the perfect chance!

 

[diznymom]

Or just a dining room for those who want the MTD concept. Why upset the whole rotational thing that's already going strong and well on DCL by splitting them? Just add a fourth dining room that is exclusively MTD. No you don't see the different MDRs, but that is your choice by going MTD.

Isn't that kind of what Cabanas is at night?

 

[michellekcm]

Non pool play areas for toddlers. I feel like non potty trained kids between walking age and three are treated a bit like second class citizens. Sure there are open house times in the nursery and clubs, but a small soft play area that families can use at any time and let their toddlers play safely would be great and wouldn't take up too much space.

They were trialling this on the ships last year. On the Magic it was at the end of the Promenade Lounge, just next to the internet cafe. At the time Brent said they were trialling different places on the 4 ships to figure out where it would work best. I was hoping something would be set up by the time we next cruised.

When they were trialling it they had a couple of mini slides and climbing house, and some big squishy shapes they could play on and stack and hide between etc.

 

[Dug720]

Isn't that kind of what Cabanas is at night?

Again, Cabañas is more like a restaurant. With MTD you have the option to make a reservation, and if you like your waitstaff you can request to be with them every night. Also there is no dress code (suggested or otherwise) at Cabañas like in the MDRs.

But even if it is, no one is using Cabañas like that at night.

It would be nice if they would do another dining room for MTD exclusively and leave Cabañas a buffet at night. Most other lines I've been on or looked at DO have a buffet option at night.

(excuse the stupid accent - my Surface insists it has to be there.)