Adulting on DCL. Have things changed?

[silmarg]

My family were fairly regular cruisers from 2007-2018. Got up to 9 sailings on DCL. Planned a Mediterranean in Summer of 2020 that never happened. Since then, DDs went to and graduated college. Trying to schedule vacations w careers has proved challenging, but booked a very last minute sailing on the Wish (just got off the boat yesterday). While overall we enjoyed ourselves, I will say, I’ve never seen a DCL so dead after 11pm. The DDs think we are lying when we tell them some prior sailings were hopping after midnight. Has something fundamentally chances w DCL in the past 7 years? We love Disney, but are thinking maybe we need to try Virgin or Royal. Or are classic ships still alive at midnight?

 

[Girl of the South]

I suspect it could be cruise (time of year, type of adults on board) but generally after dinner I check out the bars and they are pretty quiet. I think if my friend and I had gone in and sat down, other people would then come in. Families with younger kids can’t really leave them alone in the cabin.

 

[drstrange]

I have been on some ships that have had more of a lively nightlife than others (20 sailings), but I can say with certainty that not one time would I say a ship has been "alive at midnight". Usually after the adult event of the night, such as "Match Your Mate" is concluded (usually around 11pm), the adult spaces become a ghost town.

 

[SnowWhite2]

I’ve always had issues finding something to do after 11 pm on DCL besides going to the sports bar to watch sports on TV. We spend time walking the decks. Our last cruise we went to the 11pm movies and both times (at least PG13 rated) had toddlers in the theater. You can guess how that worked out.

One cruise Tisa was able to get a group to stay after the adult show and dance. She was giving away spa stuff and DCL merch to people who stayed and danced. She interacted with the “young” adults and us and another “older” couple (who we didn’t know) were ignored. Both couples ended up leaving as we felt unwelcome to “their” party. Now I don’t even bother to stay after the show.

 

[Mommb]

The Wish is designed to cater to families with children. I have no evidence, but it is possible that it does have a larger proportion of parents with young kids than the other ships, and that it has therefore has fewer people eager to be in adult areas late at night.

I know that on the Magic and Dream class ships I've sailed, there have been beverage tastings in bars, live music in 1 or 2 adult lounges, and game-show or guest artist for adults (magician/comedian/ventriloquist) activities in one of the adult lounges after 10 pm, but I don't know how well-attended they've been because I'm usually too tired after late dinner to do much (even when travelling without kids).

 

[Girl of the South]

Here’s a question - do you think it’s just who sakes with Disney OR is there something DCL can do to encourage a nightlife? There is a thread about noise issues - with a couple people saying they could hear loud music late into the night.

Here it is:
Late Night DCL Music

 

[silmarg]

My take on Wish vs the 4 original ships is that the design of the wishes indoor adult spaces is part of the problem. I get they were looking to spread adult spaces more widely than tucked in a corner, but the main dance venue ends up being “open air” to passers by and not nearly as private as they are on older ships. Dance floor is also quite small. And while ideal for some trivia or bingo, Luna does not convert into a dancing space as easy as the Tube or whatever the magic equivalent is.

 

[DCL58]

Just sailed the Treasure. People were much more active and involved than our normal sailings on the fantasy. All the bars were always filled when we went to an event or just walked by. Maybe try sailing the Treasure.

 

[silmarg]

Here’s a question - do you think it’s just who sakes with Disney OR is there something DCL can do to encourage a nightlife? There is a thread about noise issues - with a couple people saying they could hear loud music late into the night.

Here it is:
Late Night DCL Music

This was our first 3 night sailing. So we thought maybe that was a factor. With the holiday weekend, maybe another factor. But then I say… it’s just a weekend. Maybe a more party hearty crowd. But that was not the case.

We have done our fair share of specialty sailings (Panama canal, Southern Caribbean, Canadian maritimes) that maybe those sailing attract a different crowd. Hard to say.

My wife and I are hardly party animals and when one of my DDs were younger she was not always gung ho about being away from us, but for sure it was hopping later at night for the brief moments we could give it a try.

 

[jimmymc]

I don't think the bars have ever been too lively on DCL, unless there was a large group of adults booked on the ship.

The Wish class of ships specifically appeal to families with younger kids. Longer cruises on other ships might have more nightlife.

 

[PsylockeSmythe]

Of our four cruises, the busiest I've ever seen the bars was on our 10-day Med cruise in 2018. The cruise was during July, and the world cup was being shown on all the TVs in the bar area and they also showed the world cup final on the funnel vision screen, so the deck was packed with people cheering on the two teams.

Psy

 

[Mommb]

We have done our fair share of specialty sailings (Panama canal, Southern Caribbean, Canadian maritimes) that maybe those sailing attract a different crowd. Hard to say.

Yes, specialty cruises attract a crowd with fewer young kids. They are longer, which makes missing school more difficult for families with school-age kids. The ports are of more interest to older kids and adults and less interesting to young kids than the more common Caribbean ports. Unique and unusual itineraries also attract more experienced cruisers looking for something new, who tend to be older.

 

[CaptainMarvel]

I think that itinerary and, to an extent, the comparative newness of the ship has a huge impact on what sailings feel like. (Whenever I'm on a new-to-me ship, there's always a certain pressure to try out whatever unique events, drinks, or venues it has). I come from a family of night owls, so we're always looking for things to do in the late evening, and, on most of our cruises (including a summer 2023 Wish B2B), the night time activities we've attended have always had at least some people, and sometimes, a lot of people. (During the Wish B2B, my sister and I decided to attend a post-11:00 p.m. showing of the live-action Little Mermaid, assuming that it wouldn't be too crowded and would be a chill way to spend the evening. Naturally, it ended up being a completely full showing, with people, including kids, sitting on the stairs or standing in the back the entire movie).

However, our most recent sailing (a 4-night out of San Diego) was incredibly dead in the evenings. It seemed to have tons of first time cruisers, many with young children, and it really felt like the vast majority of the ship was back in their staterooms by 10:15 or 10:30. Not only did we walk past numerous completely empty activities in the adult district, but we also had the late night funnel vision movie completely to ourselves multiple times.