10/09/2004 magic

[minmom]

We flew in from San Diego the day before stayed at the airport Hyatt. I cannot recomend this enough it's easy and makes the long flight and the long 1st day enjoyable. We were the 1st people on the 1st bus to leave the airport. The ride was great and I highly recommend this. When we got to the port there were no lines and I was able to upgrade to a Cat 3 Suite from a Cat 6 for 1196.00. This was the best decision of our whole cruise. When your in a suite you are the 1st to board, You go to a lounge and the concierge books everything you need there. No ressie rush and they make sure you don't forget to book anything. The suite itself was wonderful we had 2 large full baths, a living room, dining table, wet bar, desk in the livingroom and bedroom, and a large walk in closet. Our varanda was a wrap around at the back of the ship and had 4 lounge chairs and a table and chairs. Every day we got a treat of cakes, fruit, cheese and crackers or canapes. My children received metal DCL book marks, coloring books and crayons, and cards for the arcade. I don't know how we'll ever stay in a normal room again. Before I start the rest this was my 14th cruise I've been on Carnival, NCL, Royal Carribean, Celebrity, Princess, and now Disney. I'm 42, DH 43, DS 9, DD 8. The shows are wonderful we loved them. I had the best facial I think I've ever had but with tip it was 210.00. We had early seating and hated it we are from the west coast and always felt rushed to get to dinner. We have never had early before and never will again. The food is just OK. Palo is nice but not the best. The Service overall is great but not any better than most other lines and nothing compaired to Celebrity which is the best. We thought the childrens program was excellent but way to crowded. My kids had a great time but there were from 50-70 kids at anytime in the 8-9 year old age group so there was not as much bonding with the councelors as on other lines and they missed that. The pools were crowded so they did not enjoy them as much. The biggest disapointment was interacting with the characters. They are only out for a short time during the day and the lines are long so we never saw them. We asked the cruise director about this and she said it was beacause of union regulations and the time they can spend in the suit. Well hire more people when your on a Disney cruise you want to see the characters and too many kids are crying when they are only out for 20 minutes a day and the line is too long. The ship itself is very nice but small for all the people. Most lines do not have as many people with kids so not as many 4 or 5 to a cabin which made it crowded. We rented a Hummer golf cart in Key West it was a blast. We just drove around and took the kids for rides. Costa Maya was fun we had a palapa on the beach in between both pools so the kids ran around and had a great time and we could just relax. We rented a jeep in cozumel and went to the far side of the island we had a beach with a bar all to ourselves. It rained but it was still fun. Castaway Cay looked so fun but it poured down rain and everything was cancelled and closed. Overall I'm glad we did Disney but we won't go again there are to many other places to see and for the price we feel there are much better cruise lines out there for our family. I'm not sure if after reading these boards I was just expecting too much. I love Disneyland and Disney World and was hoping for so much more. Have any of you who post so often and love DCL so much ever been on another cruise line? I'm just wondering your thoughts.

 

[jfs9900]

What room did you have?

We were on the first bust from the Hyatt as well, you must have checked in just before we did - because when we asked about an upgrade there were none left!!!

 

[minmom]

8102 I forgot to mention that there is a back staircase to topsiders and every morning I would just run up get my kids breakfast and they would have breakfast in bed it was great. Also I was thinking this morning we did 4 ports and I think this is to much not enough time to relax. I think I like 3 better.

 

[lookingforward]

minmom, thanks for the report. I totally agree with your assessment of the cruise. Although we only did a three night (four night shortened by hurricane) I felt that the kids did not get any individual attention in the clubs which happens on more adult lines (celebrity). I know that it is not the "purpose" of the clubs but they missed that and expected it. The other thing I was unhappy about was the amount of people at the kid's pools. It seemed dangerous to me but I am sure they had it well in hand. My five year old was overwhelmed by the amount of parents and kids in the mickey pool. Dollar for dollar I don't know if we will sail again on DCL. I love to book suites and on DCL they are really, really highly priced, overpriced in my humble opinion. For instance, I could book the penthouse suite on Celebrity for about the price of a Cat 3 suite on DCL. That is Celebrity's top of the line accomodations and comes with a jacuzzi on the deck, butler, etc. It is a hard decision and please DCL lovers do not flame me for my opinion. It is just my opinion!

Good job on the upgrade! That was a great deal. Once you sail in a suite it is hard to go back. We were upgraded on the Celebrity Millenium from a concierge room to a royal suite. The experience has changed me !!

 

[tvguy]

Yeah, early seating is way too early for West Coast folks. We even had late seating on our Alaska cruise, and it wasn't too late, but we WERE on the 4 meal a day plan...Breakfast, Lunch, 5pm Snack, Dinner.
We got a free upgrade the week before our cruise from category 10 to 6. That would have cost us $1600 if we had to pay for it. It gave us a verandah, which we used, but not $1600 use.