Adults...need frank opinions

[Juliet25]

I'm considering a 7 night cruise in early May, and I need some opinions from other adults who've gone on a Disney cruise w/out kids. My husband and I are in our mid-20's. We spent our honeymoon in WDW (Jan. 2001) and we just got back from a trip in early December 2001. At this point, my husband is "Disneyed out."

Should we perhaps look elsewhere for a cruise? Here's my reasons for wanting to book through DCL:
**The price I was quoted is within our range
**I've never cruised before and I know that DCL will provide a quality experience
**the island stops are more or less the point of a cruise and they seem great (especially CC)

Here's the drawbacks:
**No on-board casino (a plus for me; a major drawback for husband)
**entertainment that might be just a little too "wholesome" (sorry, I know this is a "family" cruise, but Disney can get a little too sugary at times :rolleyes)

With that in mind, can anyone share their experiences and suggestions? THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

 

[imgoingtodisney]

It took us joining the disney vacation club for my DH to agree to a disney cruise. He was deadset against it. He wants to be able to gamble. I have been looking into where he can gamble in St Marten. Maybe someday, when DVC is paid off in 5 years, we can actually use cash to go on a cruise but until then we are on the disney magic. DH also wasnt sure if he wants DS (age 10 at cruise time) on the cruise. If DS gets to be too much we can always send him to the Oceaneer Lab.

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

I haven't sailed without kids and I haven't sailed other lines, so I won't try to address those issues... you are going to attract a lot of responses from folks who will tell you why DCL is better for adults traveling without kids compared to other lines.

As imgoingtodisney said, you do have options for gambling at St Maarten. There are casinos on Dutch Sint Maarten but not on French Saint Martin. Fortunately the ship docks at Philipsburg on the Dutch side.

Most of the downtown Philipsburg casinos are rather seedy-looking with the exception of one... the Coliseum Casino, which is NOT on the main drag, but is probably a $3 taxi ride from the ship, looked fine from the outside. But you know what they say about judging a book by its cover...

The nicest casino on the island is reported to be the Princess Casino at Port de Plaisance.

www.princessportdeplaisance.com

 

[deebs]

If I were you I would skip Disney if you're not going with kids. Try Royal Caribbean. Food is better, more adult entertainment (R rated comedy clubs), better nightlife and the casino!
If you're not into getting pictures with characters or don't have kids to put in the clubs, I would definitly suggest another cruise line.

 

[kamgen]

My dh and I are similar to you. In our mid (me in my upper) twenties and no kids. We have cruised on DCL three times, including the FABULOUS cruise over New Years just over a week ago.
Dh and I honeymooned at WDW and have continued to go regularly (just look at the list below my signature!)
Still, we love DCL and feel it is the best.

As for wholesome stuff, we drank, danced on top of the bar, and stayed up partying till dawn on these cruises! They are a blast. dh would like a casino too, but he has since fallen in love with the spa on DCL and would rather spend is money and GET something from it.

As for staying away with no kids (sorry deebs) I say that is a crock! We don't have kids and we love it. Believe me, there is adult humor, adult music, and a lot of fun for adults. It isn't as widely advertised I guess, but there are MANY adult only activities.
From talking to many people, including family, who have cruised Carnival and RC, they say there are kids EVERYWHERE!!! I don't feel that way on DCL. The areas are seperated and enforced better than other cruiselines. We love it. I am sure there are people who feel differently, and that's fine. This is my opinion!
I say try it. If you need other advice, please feel free to ask.
You can also check out our website with more info about our experiences on DCL.

Kamy

 

[Cruise]

DH and I are also mid-late 20's. We loved DCL. All of the pros that you have were the same for me. DCL was our first cruise and we went because: 1- my sister had been and said great things about it and. 2 - what I refer to as the "Disney Standard." They lived up to that standard in service, cleanliness and entertainment.

As for your husband being disneyed-out, my DH isn't actually a big Disney fan and he never felt overwhelmed by the Disney aspect of it. You can have as much or little of it as you want. You can either not go to the character opportunies at all, or get in line and have your photo made. There are Disney touches, but it doesn't have to be "in your face" if you don't want it to be.

For the entertainment - see if you can hear the adult version of "Old McDonald's (dsyfuctional) Farm" at the later showing of the Dueling Pianos show. I've never laughed as hard as I did during "Match Your Mate" when the 86 year-old couple started talking about the first time they "discovered the magic." And don't even get me started on why I (and about 25 other women) started taking our bras off in Rocking Bar D one night.....

We're hoping to go back twice this year - once in the spring and once in the fall.

Julie

 

[gina2000]

We just sailed Celebrity Cruise Line's Infinity - awesome experience. Not alot of kids, absolutely stunning spa, great casino, fabulous food.

 

[keenercam]

we did the magic eastern in may-june and loved it; we took dd12 and ds7. they had the best time!!! DH and I are going back in June for the western itinerary--without the kids!!!! we loved the late night comedy club and dueling pianos and sports bar, etc. etc. and we are truly looking forward to doing the navigator series, wine tasting, art of entertainment, etc, without worrying about kids' club schedule or teen activities. also, the new western itinerary has four ports of calls--how awesome to have the quality of this awesome cruise line and four fabulous ports!!! we saw key west, cozumel and grand cayman on our 2000 celebrity mercury cruise and castaway cay in june 2001--the new itinerary gives us our favorite ports on our preferred ship and cruise line. I say "GO FOR IT!!" You will love it!
Cam

 

[KendraS]

If I was traveling w/o kids...I would be doing RCCL. We did Voyager in May '01...no kids were around. If you cruise during spring break or the summer I would think there would be more kids, but I saw MINIMAL children. They have a adults only swimming pool/whirpool(s) and I never saw kids near it. I personally loved the cruise director on Voyager...great sense of humor. I would go again in a heartbeat. We always make sure we are on newer ships and go during off peak times...our cruise was around $1,000/pp w/o air in May...I think I have seen even better rates lately...especially w/ Carnival.

 

[Juliet25]

What wonderful responses! I really appreciate it.

Tentatively, we've decided to go for it. The price really is what closed the deal for me. Plus, with DCL leaving from Port Canaveral, we know we can make it in one day (we drive).

My husband's (and my own) fears were definetely assuaged. Now I can look forward to this knowing he will be looking forward to it!

Thanks again!!

 

[magyar2]

We sailed once on Carnival (with one child at the time), and Disney this past Sept. (with 2 kids). I am pretty easy to please with a Disney vacation, my husband is not. However, after our Disney cruise, he has stated that we will not cruise with any other cruise line but Disney.

My husband was impressed with the wonderful level of service we experienced right from the moment we stepped on board, something that was sorely lacking on our Carnival cruise. After just one night, he was hooked.

The major selling point, though, was how well we were treated when Sept. 11th happened (we were cruising on that date). The knowledge that Disney is willing to go above and beyond anything we ever expected, in the hopes of trying to salvage some happy memories from a sad time, has convinced us that there will be no other cruise line from here on out. God forbid anything like that should happen again, but we are certain that if it did, DCL would again do everything to help their stranded passengers.

The comfort that comes with this is what made my husband agree to another cruise for us this coming December!

Oh, one more note - the night of the 11th, Disney Dreams was the show. My husband, the strong man that never cries, actually had a bit of wetness in his eyes at the end. He swears it was just the emotion of the day, but know what? He already said he wants to see the show on the Dec. cruise! And this from the man who said if we don't go back to WDW for 5 years, that's ok with him!

 

[inkkognito]

I am 30-something and my hubby is 40-something, and we have sailed Disney 17 times, with 9 more already book (one is only a little over a week away--yay!!). We do not have children, and in addition to Disney, we have also sailed four times on Royal Caribbean. In our experience, Disney offers the best cruise experience for adults. They have adults only areas (pool, beach, clubs), and unlike RCCL, those areas are actually enforced. We don't mind children, but we like to be able to escape and enjoy some "big kids" time, and Disney offers an excellent opportunity for that. Disney Cruise Line is a class act all the way, and unless you are so Disney-ed out that you would go crazy if you heard another song from a Disney movie, "Disney Dreams" is an awesome show for both kids and adults. We have seen it 18 times and are never tired of it. But there are plenty of fun, non-Disney themed activities, such as the 70s party, Match Your Mate, etc. I say give it a try!
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[wsurrettema]

Hi All

I'd like to make one suggestion. Look at multiple cruise review sites, not just ones dedicated to a single line (cruisecritic.com for example). Comparison shopping... I say!

Just FYI, I've never been on a Disney cruise, though I will be in April with my family (DW, DD-9, and DS-7). Admittedly, I *never* would have considered a Disney cruise without kids - ever. I have had had exactly one WDW experience and it was a total disaster. Even my sister, the total Walt Disney World *fanatic* said that she would choose another line if it weren't for her kids (she likes RCCL too). By the way... could not care less about the lack of casino... not for me!

I have only two cruises under my belt.. one on the Carnival Destiny and one on the RCCL Monarch. I *liked* the Carnival cruise but *loved* the RCCL cruise (and the kids would have too... *awesome* pool area on the Monarch).

I can only hope that I like the Disney cruise nearly as much (By the way... I *will* have a good time regardless). Of course I hope our kids will love it the most..... that's what's important to us.

I *promise* to give an honest review of my cruise upon my return in April!

Cheers!

GusMan

 

[Tluvs2talk]

My husband and I do not have any children and LOVE Disney Cruises. We have sailed once on Carnival It was Ok, But the rooms and colors on ship were rather Tacky. We will be going on our 3rd Disney cruise this Sunday and can't wait.

 

[Denine]

I am 33, DH is 35. We have sailed DCL 3 times and have back to back cruises booked for October. We love Disney. We have sailed Princess and are sailing them again in April. If Disney went to the Panama Canal, I would be sailing with them instead of Princess.

 

[danicaw]

We are in our late 20's, no kids, we honeymooned with Disney and have found our way across the states to WDW every year since. We actually joined DVC to make it easier. We did our first cruise ever in Dec. 2001 on the Disney Magic.
We had a wonderful time. We both love disney and we weren't going to miss the gambling.
We found plenty to do on board and on shore.
The adult only district met any needs we had for entertainment afterdinner.
Yes the shows have the Disney touch, but if you really don't want that you can skip them. We went to the Rainforest Room in the spa one night instead of the show and had the whole place to ourselves. Also hubby loved the Adult entertainment series they offer during the day.

 

[buzz2400]

I am a single parent with one child. I went on a 7 day disney cruise last may. If I had my choice I would go on another cruise line. The food is not all that good and the kids run wild on the ship. Most of the activities are family oriented. If I was you I would go on another cruise line and then go on a disney cruise when you have kids.