Anyone else not love the cruise?

[smlev]

I just got back and keep rereading the boards I read before my trip - Am I missing something? There were no characters walking around(only at the end of a long line), bad food not enough for adults to do alone, Castaway Cay is way too short...why does everyone love DCL so much?

 

[BethA]

Wow, sorry to hear your cruise was a disappointment.We are big Disney fans and will be going on our 4th cruise June 26. You are right there are no characters just walking around, but we found the food, staff, and entertainment great. Were you traveling with children?
Beth

 

[sanela]

wow.we loved our eastern cruise.that was a second time we went.we loved everything about it and we are only 32 years old.we are going again in sept.everything about our cruise was so great.food was good,but characters...jus enough.sorry that you did not enjoyed yours.

 

[two-foxes]

We are 2 adults who did our first cruise, a 4 nite, on DCL and we LOVED it. I suppose you have to like Disney to like DCL for the most part. I disagree about the "not enough for adults to do on their own" as we found lots of stuff to do that did not include children...which was nice because it was our Honeymoon. I also disagree with CC being too short....yes it's short, but it is considered a port of call, and you're there for the typical time you are in any port, so I don't think it is a reason to dislike DCL. Characters walk around at breakfast...at least they did in PC for our breakfasts....(I wouldn't bother waiting in line to see them. That is just too darn long.) I gotta agree just a little on the food. I wasn't impressed with the dinners for the most part. It was okay, Palo was wonderful.

Why I liked DCL and will cruise with them again....
The Disney touches..from the art to the stairs to the stern of the ship...it provides "character", if you will.
The service was wonderful.
There are lots of reasons, but mainly, we LOVE Disney, so it is a natural choice for us.

If you didn't like it, don't do it again! I for one, will never go to a gambling city again, including Vegas I hated it. Others love it and live for it. To each their own!

 

[smlev]

Well, you were on your honeymoon without kids? so the times that activities ended probably did not affect you. They only activities we thought were for adults only were the disco night, 70's and 60's night and some movies. The problem with those are they are after 10:30 at night just whrn children usually need to go to sleep. So if you have a child, even though there is a kids club, you are limited. The activities should be available earlier. Ben & Dana just did not cut it!

 

[WDWLVR]

We've done 5 DCL cruises with a 6th this December. We don't have kids, but we aren't night owls either. We've always found plenty for adults to do. From the adults only pool, the spa, tours of the ship, things like the Captains roundtable etc.

Castaway Cay is great and again has some places for adults only. Sorry to hear DCL isn't for you . Do you think you would try other cruise lines or stay with land-based vacations?

 

[KAMLEM]

Our favorite vacations are on the Magic. I would agree that the food isn't fabulous but I definitely wouldn't say that it's bad. We had plenty of character interaction at our character breakfast and before dinner for pictures. That being said, we don't cruise for the characters so it doesn't matter too much to us. If we want to see characters we see them in the parks. As far as activities for adults to do alone, well we don't really look for that. We cruise as a family to spend time as a family so those are the activities that we participate in. Not everyone is going to be happy.

 

[OJulie67]

smlev, where you on the May 9th Wonder? We were....and I have some of the same feelings as you.
We loved cruising, but will definitely try a different line next time. The food was not fabulous...although the seafood buffet was incredible...and the creme brulee cheescake from Parrot cay.
Our DD would not come out of the kids clubs, and my DH and I found out FAST that the entertainment for us was not going to be great. We didn't enjoy "kid" movies, and the shows were okay if the kids were with you, but not for us alone. The dance club was not "our thing." We found ourselves longing for a casino, and ended up in our room almost everynight for drinks on our verandah. (Thank GOD we had that)
The experience was wonderful for our 5 year old, we enjoyed the service and some of the food, but for what we paid...we won't do DCL again. I'm afraid.

 

[hydster]

I was on the 5/1 Magic to the Eastern Caribbean and I feel pretty much the same way as smlev and OJulie. Food went between mediocre to being very disappointing although the desserts...I should have just ate those first and then had a salad or something if I was still hungry! Our kids HATED the club and wouldn't go so we had no free time. The movie selection was terrible in the theatre I mean come on, how many times do we have to watch Finding Nemo, Brother Bear and Pirates of the Caribbean all of which we saw in the theatre and now own. I found the stuff to do in the day lacking with or without kids. We were looking at the Navigator wondering what we would do even if the kids were in the clubs happy. We don't like Napkin Folding or listening to the DVC talk, we dont like listening to their Behind the Magic series as I could really care less but we absolutely LOVE DISNEY! We've gone to Disneyland every year at least once for the last 10 years. We had such terrible wind (that I know DCL doesn't control) but we couldn't even sit out and enjoy our balconies because it was too windy. In the future we will be sailing Carnival or RCCL. We did DCL in 2002 on the 4 day Wonder and had a blast which is why we tried the 7 day this time but I have to say that we liked the other lines better in almost every category (except that the employees on the Magic and Wonder were AWESOME) but we've had better food and entertainment and hubby and I like you Julie were wishing for a casino some nights.

Oh well...we tried it twice, got 2 different experiences and are now ready to move on to a line that doesn't attract 977 kids in the clubs.

Heidi

 

[mrsfuzzmo]

We agree. We cruise often and love it. We ahve done many different lines, all types of cruises to all different ports of call. When we decided to join some friends on a DCL Magic cruise, we began reading and posting on these boards. From what we read, we thought it would be the absolute best cruise we've done, but we thought the vacation itself (from the cruiseline standpoint) was just OK. It was fine...the ship was beautiful, the adult pool was a nice touch. Everything else was just OK. Entertainment, we agree after dinner was just not there for a couple with no kids, looking for some fun. The 70s and 80s night were kind of fun (we made our own fun on 80's night). We were VERY disappointed in the "Sport bar - diversions" when the overflow from the comedian show in the Rockin D brought everyone and their brothers, sisters and kids into our "space" and the screens were all turned to the comedian next door. We left quickly.
The food was average and our waitstaff, Blah (not the lines fault I know, just made for a couple of LOOOOOOONG boring dinners). PALO was great for brunch.
I am just amazed in all the people on this board who will not try any other line. There is so much out there and I can tell you, so many other cruises that are as nice or better. I do not stick with one cruise line, as I like variety and am glad we did Disney only in the fact that it was another cruise under out belts. We did enjoy the ports of call, we did enjoy the Non-disney excursions that we booked, we really enjoyed spending a week with our friends, we enjoyed the fact that the weather was great, we really enjoyed the fact that we were on vacation, but we could have had those experiences on any number of ships/lines. We will not do Disney Cruise Line again. There are just to many other things to do and places to go on this planet. It definitly was not special enough for us to return.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We pick our cruises by the itinerary, and DCL is the only one that goes to Castaway Cay and so we knew that we would go on at least one Disney cruise. We can't wait, it's only a 3 nighter and will be followed by a night at VWL, so this will be a no lose vacation for us. I'm sorry to read that your cruise was a disappointment.

Had you ever cruised before? Maybe it's the cruising experience that's not right for you.

Bobbi

 

[DCLADDICT]

I FOR ONE LOVE DCL!! I HAVE BEEN ON OTHER CRUISELINES AND I FEEL THAT WHEN YOU DO THEM, THERE IS AN ATMOSPHERE OF GAMBLING AND PARTYING. I GUESS WE ARE JUST NOT INTO THAT STUFF AND ENJOY THE "FAMILY ATMOSPHERE" AND WE ARE STILL KIDS AT HEART. I PERSONALLY HAVE NOT HAD THE DESIRE TO DO "ADULT STUFF", AND ENJOY DOING THINGS WITH MY FAMILY. HOWEVER, MY WIFE AND I DID OUR FIRST DISNEY CRUISE WITHOUT KIDS, AND WE LOVED IT SO MUCH, WE HAD TO START BRINGING THE KIDS, AND THEY LOVE IT TOO. MY 17 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER CHOSE THE FAMILY CRUISE VACATION AS A GRADUATION TRIP. MAYBE WE ARE JUST NOT PICKY ABOUT THE FOOD AND ENTERTAINMENT, BECAUSE WE THOUGHT IT WAS ALL GREAT. YES, CASTAWAY CAY IS NOT LONG ENOUGH, BUT IT IS SO NICE, SO WE APPRECIATE THE TIME WE ARE THERE. WE WERE VERY IMPRESSED WITH THE STAFF ON OUR FIRST TRIP- WE WERE WAITING FOR THE ELEVATOR TO GO DOWN TO BREAKFAST ONE MORNING AND THE HOUSEKEEPING PERSON WAS VACUMING; SHE STOPPED WHAT SHE WAS DOING AND ASKED US HOW WE WERE ENJOYING THE CRUISE AND WHAT WE HAD PLANNED FOR THE DAY. THAT HAS NEVER HAPPENED TO ME BEFORE, AND NO, NOTHING WAS MISSING FROM OUR STATEROOM. I GUESS WE ALL HAVE DIFFERENT TASTE AND FIND INTEREST IN DIFFERENT THINGS. I KNOW THIS, SOMEONE ELSES BAD EXPERIENCE OR PERCEIVED BAD EXPERIENCE WILL NOT CAUSE ME TO THINK DIFFERENTLY ABOUT DCL-WE LOVE IT AND CRUISE AGAIN ON MAY 23RD!

 

[hydster]

DCL--It's great you love DCL and can't wait to go back. We thought DCL was for us as well with the kids especially after our cruise on the Wonder in 2002. This whole cruise experience was very different and very disappointing. We didn't plan on not spending the trip with our kids and it was really ok that they didn't want to go to the clubs BUT if they aren't into the clubs and there is NO room in the pools to swim without getting beat to death with all the cannonballers and pencil stick droppers, or if you didn't really care to see Finding Nemo, Brother Bear or Hidalgo there was NOTHING to do to keep the kids entertained. I love to sit on the deck at the pool with a boat drink and a good book but the kids don't. We ended up in our cabin A LOT watching movies in there and the kids watched Cartoon Network because we couldn't find anything to do as a family. We've never had this problem on other lines (but then again the pools on other lines weren't as full of kids either so we could spend more time there) and the Carnival waterslide is a riot and EVERYONE in our family can go on it including mom and dad. We thought DCL was going to be a perfect fit for our family based on our 2002 trip and no we are not food snobs (In fact I just had Mac N Cheese for lunch from Kraft) but the food in the dining rooms was mediocre to us, topsiders buffet for lunch was a HUGE letdown almost every day and the pizza at pinocchios was gross. We ended up gagging down something somewhat nourishing and then going to the room, watching tv and ordering room service cookies and milk.

To each his own but for the $$$$$ it cost us to go on this trip with 5 people and 2 rooms it was not that great of an experience. We've paid 1/2 that and had just as much fun or even more on other lines as a family and as a couple.

Oh well...you'll love it and go with DCL and we'll hate it and go with someone else....all that matters is you find a vacation right for YOUR family and do that.

Heidi

 

[OJulie67]

As far as the evenings go...
A great way to describe it is like this...

If you are a young at heart, hip parent who loves dressing up and the whole "vegas" nightlife scene...then DCL IS NOT your cruiseline.
If you are really into standing in line to see characters, seeing Disney kids movies, and Disney stage shows, and being in bed by 10:00pm then you will have the time of your life in the evenings!!!

I am not saying that DCL is a bad experience at night. It just didn't have the type of night activities WE, as a couple, enjoy on a vacation.

 

[BethA]

I'm curious why you enjoyed the previous Wonder trip more. Was it because it was shorter? Did the food seem better then? My parents feel there is not a lot to do either and after our cruise this June we are trying RCL since the Magic will be in CA. We enjoy the service and the atmosphere, and have gotten to know cast members each cruise. As I said we LOVE disney so didn't have any problems. WE were pleased with the food, but maybe it's changed. Any comments from other recent cruisers.

 

[Cuzisayso2]

I too have to agree with Smlev and OJulie. I just returned from the May 6th Wonder and while we had a good time. I feel it should have been better. The food was good, but nothing to brag about, our servers were ok and room steward was below my expectations. I could also see that the Wonder is in need of dry dock. The hallways on deck 7 definitely need a paint job and smelled musty and the carpets by the elevators were dirty. Also, the vista spa rasul room could have been cleaner and the spa treatments are overpriced. Again, maybe I had built this vacation up to a point that I was going to be a bit disappointed no matter what. I think that I definitely did too much research and worried about every little detail to the point that nothing was a surprise or "magical" for me. I guess my point is...for the price we paid, I expected better.

I do have to say that I was VERY impressed with the kids programming. My DD loved it and that allowed my DH and I some much needed private time. As far as the adult entertainment...with no kid around DH and I were able to make our own entertainment!

I would also question if there is that huge of a difference between the Magic and the Wonder? It seems that most of the people that absolutely LOVE DCL cruise on the Magic. Some input on that would be appreciated. DH and I want to take another cruise vacation in the future and are debating DCL or RCCL (which I heard has a great kids program too).

All and all we really enjoyed ourselves. If nothing else, with this being our first cruise, it proved to us that cruising is the way to go for a terrific family vacation.

Gina

 

[hydster]

Beth there are various reasons why I think we enjoyed the 4 day more

1. The kids club was not nearly as chaotic as it was on 5/1

2. We had a stop each day at a port so we didn't have to "fill up" time on sea days if the kids didn't want to go to the clubs (which they didn't on the 4 day either) but since we had an excursion in Nassau and Freeport it broke up the day.

3. The food was something we really looked forward to on the Wonder 4 day whereas the food on the 7 day Magic was something we actually dreaded.

4. Since we didn't have to travel so far on the 4 day (or as far as on the 7 day) the seas and seasickness weren't an issue.

5. At the shows after dinner at night on the 4 day we never saw a family of 5 kids and 2 parents sit down to start their daily drug routine for colds and coughs. The 2 youngest children we had seen at the Club the first night picking their noses and coughing on stuff. I remember them because they were darling kids (look wise) and very well behaved *except for the nose picking thing*and polite. The night of the show Hercules they had the worlds most CROUPY cough! It was terrible. THe other members of the family were blowing their noses, snuffing, coughing...all sick and out infecting us. The mother behind me had a whole lap full of stuff from children's Ibuprofen liquid to Nyquil liquid gels, to cough drops and the list goes on and on. Needless to say there were MANY sick people with colds and coughs on board.

6. Our room on the 4 day Wonder was a family suite midship. THis trip we had booked 2 connecting Cat 8's on deck 6 and then got complimentary upgraded to 2 connecting Family suites at the most forward part of the ship. We were in rooms 8504/8506 this time and the wonder we were in 8550.

Those are just the things I can think of off the top of my head why 2002 was much more fun than 2004.
Heidi

 

[sanela]

like somebody said before you have to love Disney to enjoy Disney cruise.my DDs are 12 and 9 and they loved it.they did not go to the clubs but they did everything else.we did not see them for a good part of the day.as for my DH and me,we enjoyed time at the adult only pool,and time at our veranda.for pete sake, it was vacation.you all were supposed to relax and not do anything.
our kids were great.at night they would go to sleep,and we would just leave them there and go have couple of drinks.just enjoying our time alone.

 

[hydster]

We DO love Disney! We've done Disneyland at least once a year every year for 10 years and sometimes 2 or 3 times. We go to the movies, have stuffed animals, go to the ice shows....we really do love everything about Disney! I don't think that liking or not liking Disney plays that big of a role in the cruise. I think for us the biggest role player was the amount of $$$$ we spent and besides the character breakfast and pictures with the characters it didn't seem to us to be a good value.

Your kids are also older so you can leave them in the cabin....with my oldest being 10 and my youngest being 5 leaving them in the cabin at night wasn't going to work (although we did do it one night for about an hour and came back to the room with 2 emotionally distraught kids) but leaving them in the room each night wasn't an option for us.

The amount of kids on board made the pools really hard to enjoy and then when the goofy pool got closed the poor Mickey pool was filled to capacity and then some.

As for it being a vacation and you are supposed to relax..it's kind of hard to do when you have to find something to entertain your children that hate the clubs, don't want to take on 400 kids in the small pools, not big fans of just reading a magazine by the pool all day...so trying to find things for them to do was not relaxing by a long shot but what other choice did we have???? The stuff to do in the day was very limited compared to our other cruises and while I understand that some people love to listen about fruit carving, how to buy into DVC with their "show" and the Magic in dry dock..we do not and there wasn't anything else going on to do. I've looked at the navigators several times to see if we missed something that would have been fun for us and NOPE didn't miss a thing! We got so desperate that we even sat through Pirates of the Caribbean even though we saw it 3 times in the theatre and own it and have almost worn it out.

We love Disney and will continue to go to Disney it just will not be in the form of a cruise.

 

[BethA]

Heidi, thanks for the info---the sick kid think would drive me crazy--I'm forever telling my son not to touch everything, and in the kids' clubs you can't stop that.
I wonder what is happening to the food--not good.
We are going in June and I'll post how we find everything.
Beth