Any other Comparable Cruise Line?

[BGRA]

I have been on 6 Disney Cruises, with and without children. March of 2016 I decided because of the cost of a Disney Cruise over spring break I would try another Cruise line. I went on a 5 night cruise on the Independence of the Seas. Not Magical. Not at all. Long lines at check in...around the building and then many weaving lines inside...difficulty finding a seat near the pools, difficulty finding a seat at breakfast, marginal pictures, nickel and diming me to death from soda to lanyards, low budget kids club (they had paper throwing games) and inability of the staff to know for sure which kids were in and who was out (these were older kids), shows and huge on deck TV sometimes not appropriate or entertaing to my children. The final straw was having to wait for 2 hours to get off the ship in a designated place. We happened to be in the theater. Then more lines to get off the ship. I repeat...not magical at all.

It is becoming more difficult to travel in off season times as my children are aging due to school (they are 10 and 11) and the people with whom I travel feel the same (they have high schoolers). A $7500 cruise is $10,000 during peak times. I DO absolutely think that the DCL is the best. I had thought Royal Carribean was a close second. I chose poorly and no longer believe that to be true.

Is there a cruise line anyone would recommend as a close second to Disney if I have to fit a non-Disney cruise in because of timing? I do not want to make another mistake and go on a sub-par cruise... Thanks in advance!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I have been on 6 Disney Cruises, with and without children. March of 2016 I decided because of the cost of a Disney Cruise over spring break I would try another Cruise line. I went on a 5 night cruise on the Independence of the Seas. Not Magical. Not at all. Long lines at check in...around the building and then many weaving lines inside...difficulty finding a seat near the pools, difficulty finding a seat at breakfast, marginal pictures, nickel and diming me to death from soda to lanyards, low budget kids club (they had paper throwing games) and inability of the staff to know for sure which kids were in and who was out (these were older kids), shows and huge on deck TV sometimes not appropriate or entertaing to my children. The final straw was having to wait for 2 hours to get off the ship in a designated place. We happened to be in the theater. Then more lines to get off the ship. I repeat...not magical at all.

It is becoming more difficult to travel in off season times as my children are aging due to school (they are 10 and 11) and the people with whom I travel feel the same (they have high schoolers). A $7500 cruise is $10,000 during peak times. I DO absolutely think that the DCL is the best. I had thought Royal Carribean was a close second. I chose poorly and no longer believe that to be true.

Is there a cruise line anyone would recommend as a close second to Disney if I have to fit a non-Disney cruise in because of timing? I do not want to make another mistake and go on a sub-par cruise... Thanks in advance!

It depends on what you want as a "close second". Kids programming? Possibly Princess or, maybe, Carnival.

Shows? That varies. The best show I've seen on any of our cruises was on Holland America, but it's no longer on the ship. Most cruiselines do "Vegas-style" shows. Basically musical reviews, and not one with a storyline, like DCL does.

Food? Well, that's very subjective. Again, I find the food on both HAL and DCL somewhat comparable - most dishes fine, a few spectacular, as well as a few I'll never order again.

Nightlife for adults? Carnival. And I believe Royal Caribbean. It's quite possible a different ship/itinerary on RCCL would be better for you.

Room size? Well, DCL has the largest rooms when comparing categories, but other cruise lines do fine with their room. I wasn't impressed with Carnival (Oceanview room).

 

[Shanti]

I have been on 6 Disney Cruises, with and without children. March of 2016 I decided because of the cost of a Disney Cruise over spring break I would try another Cruise line. I went on a 5 night cruise on the Independence of the Seas. Not Magical. Not at all. Long lines at check in...around the building and then many weaving lines inside...difficulty finding a seat near the pools, difficulty finding a seat at breakfast, marginal pictures, nickel and diming me to death from soda to lanyards, low budget kids club (they had paper throwing games) and inability of the staff to know for sure which kids were in and who was out (these were older kids), shows and huge on deck TV sometimes not appropriate or entertaing to my children. The final straw was having to wait for 2 hours to get off the ship in a designated place. We happened to be in the theater. Then more lines to get off the ship. I repeat...not magical at all.

It is becoming more difficult to travel in off season times as my children are aging due to school (they are 10 and 11) and the people with whom I travel feel the same (they have high schoolers). A $7500 cruise is $10,000 during peak times. I DO absolutely think that the DCL is the best. I had thought Royal Carribean was a close second. I chose poorly and no longer believe that to be true.

Is there a cruise line anyone would recommend as a close second to Disney if I have to fit a non-Disney cruise in because of timing? I do not want to make another mistake and go on a sub-par cruise... Thanks in advance!

Maybe try one of the newer Royal ships? RCI is supposed to be comparable to DCL, so maybe you just got a less-than-ideal ship. You still have kids, and seem to really value the kids' clubs & other family amenities at which DCL shines. If you've firmly decided you really don't like Royal, which is also very much a family line (& reportedly an even better line for many teens than DCL), then I recommend sticking with DCL, and just cruising less often. Alternate cruises with other types of trips.

I'm a teacher and a mom to a 12 year-old, so I also am limited to paying for peak season vacations.

 

[Vicki106]

Like others here we love DCL. But we recently booked a Princess Cruise next summer to Alaska. DCL was just too much $$$$ for us to justify and Glacier Bay is important to us. For a bit more than what we would have paid for one inside room on DCL, we are getting a Mini-suite balcony room and an inside directly across the hall. We are hoping that the cruise experience is similar to what we've come to expect on DCL. (We've only sailed DCL.)

 

[Marshmelo]

Back in the early 2000s before our son was born and we did several cruises, we found that Celebrity ranked second best to DCL. Look into that line.

 

[deanimal]

We've done four Disney cruises but the prices have driven us elsewhere. Last March we tried the Norwegian Breakaway with our 6 and 7 year old and it was our favourite cruise yet! The facilities were amazing (climbing wall, bungy trampoline, mini golf, ropes course, great pools and slides) and the food and service was just as good, maybe even a bit better. The variety of the restaurants was fantastic. I was worried about whether the kids would like the clubs as much but I was pleasantly surprised when they liked NCL's even better! The staff was amazing and the staff to kid ratio seemed higher. The only area that was a bit lacking was the entertainment. Our cruise had Rock of Ages, which isn't exactly kid friendly, and not too much else for the kids. The Cirque dinner show (which cost extra) was amazing and worth every penny. But after four cruises with Disney it sort of felt like we'd seen most of the shows so it didn't feel like we were missing too much. Of course, everyone has different priorities and likes different things, but we were very glad we tried NCL.

 

[KashasMom]

We've done all of the "main" lines except Holland America. The ships that currently work best for our family are the RCI Oasis class ships. Love that there are 4 pools for my daughter, rock climbing wall, flow rider, etc. We also enjoy all their shows - family friendly. We've learned how to work around the crowds and actually the ONLY time we've encountered crowds was at breakfast buffet (which we fixed by coming 15-30 minutes earlier). We love that there are so many food options (including "free") and when my daughter (8) and I cruise alone together I LOVED that she could come to the specialty restaurants, which were excellent (as we thought all the food was). We never felt nickel and dimed on any cruise - something I never understand when people say. The ONLY thing free on Disney that you pay for on our lines is soda! Other ships may have more shops but you certainly don't have to buy or even go into them! (The lack of specialty Disney merchandise on Disney cruises actually bugs me.)

We've also done NCL big ships (3 times with extended family) but not enough pools and no family entertainment to speak of. We're doing the new Bliss to Alaska next year again with extended family and with its slides, etc. its looks like a great choice for the Caribbean. If we like the ship it will be a contender for the Caribbean in 2019.

I've done Princess and Celebrity with children but it's been a while. Based on my previous cruises, I don't think either one of them would work for us. I agree with the other poster who said it depends on what it's important to you on a cruise. For us it's pools are very important (my daughter could swim for hours). Family entertainment is as well. We've seen the same old shows on Disney and actually skipped some on our last Fantasy cruise. The option of a dinner buffet is too. Sometimes we just don't feel like doing the whole dining room thing (and like a buffet). And finally the kid's clubs are not important since my daughter won't go in them but she loves the other activities (rock climbing wall, ropes course, etc.).

 

[darwinsrule]

As the kids get older it does get easier to do new and different things. And on some of those trips the destination is more important than the ship. As others have noted Alaska is one of them.

Given the size and age differences in the ships for most of the main cruiselines you are likely better off looking at the newest ships they have (the ones with the bells and whistles). As others mentioned the NCL -Away class ships were fun. We have done two on Getaway, and have a third booked.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

I have been on 6 Disney Cruises, with and without children. March of 2016 I decided because of the cost of a Disney Cruise over spring break I would try another Cruise line. I went on a 5 night cruise on the Independence of the Seas. Not Magical. Not at all. Long lines at check in...around the building and then many weaving lines inside...difficulty finding a seat near the pools, difficulty finding a seat at breakfast, marginal pictures, nickel and diming me to death from soda to lanyards, low budget kids club (they had paper throwing games) and inability of the staff to know for sure which kids were in and who was out (these were older kids), shows and huge on deck TV sometimes not appropriate or entertaing to my children. The final straw was having to wait for 2 hours to get off the ship in a designated place. We happened to be in the theater. Then more lines to get off the ship. I repeat...not magical at all.

It is becoming more difficult to travel in off season times as my children are aging due to school (they are 10 and 11) and the people with whom I travel feel the same (they have high schoolers). A $7500 cruise is $10,000 during peak times. I DO absolutely think that the DCL is the best. I had thought Royal Carribean was a close second. I chose poorly and no longer believe that to be true.

Is there a cruise line anyone would recommend as a close second to Disney if I have to fit a non-Disney cruise in because of timing? I do not want to make another mistake and go on a sub-par cruise... Thanks in advance!

We absolutely loved the Carnival Vista, here's a link to my trip report with lots of pictures, https://www.disboards.com/threads/thoughts-on-the-new-carnival-vista.3521334/
With that in mind, we also went into the cruise knowing it would not be a Disney experience. You cannot cruise another cruiseline and think it will be. You may need to ask yourself, do I love cruising or do I love Disney cruising? If it's the latter, you're never going to find a close second to DCL.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

What's MSC all about? Anybody know? The ships look way too big for my liking, but just wondering.

 

[FigmentSpark]

I don't know much about MSC, but my TA had mentioned that some people don't like that so much is multi-lingual. Personally, if that's the only problem, the price is right and the rooms seem nice from the plans. But I don't know much more than that.

 

[KVH]

What's MSC all about? Anybody know? The ships look way too big for my liking, but just wondering.

Check out next Sunday's Mighty Cruise Ships show. Will be covering the MSC Divina.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

@KVH I don't get the Smithsonian Channel... Maybe it will be on YouTube? We're cruising on Viking Ocean next year and the sister ship of the one we will be on was featured on Mighty Cruise Ships (my mom gets that channel but not us).

 

[Cackyschmackers]

I don't know much about MSC, but my TA had mentioned that some people don't like that so much is multi-lingual. Personally, if that's the only problem, the price is right and the rooms seem nice from the plans. But I don't know much more than that.

Wonder if there is too much smoking? Two other cruise lines we have/will be on are nonsmoking, which I love!

 

[FigmentSpark]

Wonder if there is too much smoking? Two other cruise lines we have/will be on are nonsmoking, which I love!

Could be, but I thought their policy was similar to others. Anyway, their website says this:

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/en-us/Manage-Your-Booking/General-Information.aspx


However, the cruise deck plans website says this, which is in line with many other lines:

https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/DP/deckplans/MSC-Seaside

 

[KVH]

@KVH I don't get the Smithsonian Channel... Maybe it will be on YouTube? We're cruising on Viking Ocean next year and the sister ship of the one we will be on was featured on Mighty Cruise Ships (my mom gets that channel but not us).

There are some complete show videos on the Smithsonian site, but they all seem to be from Season 1. The second is somewhat new and it may be a while before they show up for viewing. That stinks.

But enjoy the Viking! A trip report from them would definitely be interesting reading.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

There are some complete show videos on the Smithsonian site, but they all seem to be from Season 1. The second is somewhat new and it may be a while before they show up for viewing. That stinks.

But enjoy the Viking! A trip report from them would definitely be interesting reading.

We're so excited; the ship looks amazing; it has a thermal circuit area in the spa and a room where it actually snows! And an infinity pool at the end of the ship! And a glass dome that covers the pool deck if it is too chilly! Restaurants are supposed to be amazing as well.