Avid Cruisers Just off the Fantasy.....

[OKgirl]

After cruising 4 other cruise lines, we finally bit the bullet to try DCL. I agonized over paying double what other cruise lines charge but decided since we are Disney lovers and DVC members that we should try it once. My 6 year old girl loved it but my 12 and 14 year old boys prefer RCCL and CCL (and my husband and I have to agree). To DCL lovers, I can see how very young families might love it but we prefer the more adult entertainment of other cruise lines. The food was bland and under seasoned for our taste and the restaurants seemed to be extremely loud (like the roar of an elementary school cafeteria) but we did love the design touches across the ship. We missed the comedy shows and drink packages of other lines and actually walked out of two of the DCL shows. They weren't bad, they were just meant for very young children. There were characters meets everywhere but after a few of these, I didn't want to stand in any more lines. We felt bored during the day which was unusual for us. Thankfully they have great TV programming so we watched several movies in our rooms. Service was outstanding everywhere so we appreciated that. I was expecting bigger cabins but I don't think they were bigger than Carnival. They were much smaller than Junior suites on RCCL. The ceiling in the shower had to be less than 6 feet tall - I'm not sure how the taller guys and girls fit in there! (We're short so no problems for us!) There seemed to be about 70% children and 30% adults on board and a crew member told me this was a pretty accurate number. I appreciate all of the advice and opinions on this discussion board and I'm glad we tried it for ourselves but for us, we prefer to spend our Disney dollars at WDW! We can go to WDW cheaper than DCL and get our Disney fix there! - Just one Oklahoma girl's opinion....

 

[vegs1]

I still love DCL but have to agree about the food. We just did a 4 night on the Dream and thought the food had really gone downhill since our last cruise. Otherwise, the service can’t be beat!

You are right about the cost though. It’s pricing many people out and other cruise lines often offer some really cheap deals that you almost can’t turn down. They aren’t Disney, but they’re all good.

 

[MomOTwins]

The largest demographic on the ship by far on the Fantasy standard itineraries are families with small kids. I can see how you might think otherwise from this board as it definitely skews more to the adult-only or families of teens crowd for some reason.

I do totally agree with you on the food, I wish they would step it up but people seem to always be complaining about how it is too adventurous as is, so I think it is a lost cause. It’s like Disney parks—outside of signature dining (the equivalent of palo on the ships), table service at WDW tries to appeal to everyone and ends up being just ok.

I AM surprised you did not find more to do during the day—a week of watching tv sounds like no fun. You don’t mention excursions, onboard activities other than the evening shows and character meets, or the pool/sports decks. We never do character meets and our days are completely full.

I am also a but surprised by your room size point. As a family of five, I assume you must have been in a family size room (unless you split into two standard rooms, in which case a comparison to a jr suite isn’t really apt). and per a quick google search the family rooms on DCL are the same or bigger than RCCL junior suites.

 

[sethschroeder]

You talk about missing the comedy shows and walking out of others. Did you go to the adult only shows in the evening or just the main stream shows they have on board?

Also did you grab late dinner? (as supposedly from reading and watching vlogs that's the quiter dinner service)

 

[KashasMom]

After cruising 4 other cruise lines, we finally bit the bullet to try DCL. I agonized over paying double what other cruise lines charge but decided since we are Disney lovers and DVC members that we should try it once. My 6 year old girl loved it but my 12 and 14 year old boys prefer RCCL and CCL (and my husband and I have to agree). To DCL lovers, I can see how very young families might love it but we prefer the more adult entertainment of other cruise lines. The food was bland and under seasoned for our taste and the restaurants seemed to be extremely loud (like the roar of an elementary school cafeteria) but we did love the design touches across the ship. We missed the comedy shows and drink packages of other lines and actually walked out of two of the DCL shows. They weren't bad, they were just meant for very young children. There were characters meets everywhere but after a few of these, I didn't want to stand in any more lines. We felt bored during the day which was unusual for us. Thankfully they have great TV programming so we watched several movies in our rooms. Service was outstanding everywhere so we appreciated that. I was expecting bigger cabins but I don't think they were bigger than Carnival. They were much smaller than Junior suites on RCCL. The ceiling in the shower had to be less than 6 feet tall - I'm not sure how the taller guys and girls fit in there! (We're short so no problems for us!) There seemed to be about 70% children and 30% adults on board and a crew member told me this was a pretty accurate number. I appreciate all of the advice and opinions on this discussion board and I'm glad we tried it for ourselves but for us, we prefer to spend our Disney dollars at WDW! We can go to WDW cheaper than DCL and get our Disney fix there! - Just one Oklahoma girl's opinion....

We pretty much feel the same way as you. Our preference are Oasis class ships - so much more to do for our daughter - lots of pools, rock climbing wall, Abyss, (she doesn't go in the clubs) - and she loves the shows, especially the musicals. Other than the shows based on Disney movies we really don't enjoy the Disney shows - and no longer go to them. Agree about the food - daughter is a vegetarian and last Disney cruise was a struggle. We also get a bit bored in the day - can't really go in the pool, and don't care for trivia or bingo. We do love the Very Merrytime cruises because there are more activities we enjoy. We're going on 3rd in November and plan to switch things up (where we eat, going to some movies, etc.) but it's likely our last Disney cruise until the new ships come out (with NEW itineraries, hopefully).

 

[tinkerone]

I to agree with what your saying.

As for the cabins, I kept hearing that all other lines had such small ones, Disney's, in comparison, were so large. Wrong! We started sailing Oasis class a few years ago. We tried several different cabins and found that our favorite are the Central Park cabins. Some don't like them because they don't have the traditional ocean view but for us, being able to sit out in the evening and listen to crickets, see soft lights, I can sip a glass of wine, I love it. These cabins (ocean view or CP or BW) are 234 sq. ft., which includes the balcony. Disney's are 246 sq. ft. so not a big difference. As for your comment about Junior Suites your right on the money. A Junior Suite is 367 sq. ft. where as Disney's Family stateroom is only 299 sq. ft. Huge difference.

There are so many pluses to RCCL as opposed to DCL but I certainly see where the attraction for wee little ones would be tilted toward DCL. We will be taking our grandson in a few years as Disney is the birthday tradition for 5 year olds in our family. We are also taking a DCL cruise in a few weeks by ourselves however going forward we are back to RCCL with a B2B booked on Symphony and I find that I am looking more forward to that then I am our DCL cruise. The big plus is that as Canadians we can book RCCL in Canadian dollars. Can't do that with DCL so that increases our cost by about 40%.

 

[tinkerone]

I am also a but surprised by your room size point. As a family of five, I assume you must have been in a family size room (unless you split into two standard rooms, in which case a comparison to a jr suite isn’t really apt). and per a quick google search the family rooms on DCL are the same or bigger than RCCL junior suites.

Here's the comparison I found. These are directly from their sites.

Fantasy
Deluxe Family Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah
Sleeps 3 to 5 - 299 sq ft Including Verandah
Private Verandah

RCCL/Symphony of the Seas
Junior Suite

An incredible intimate suite with a great view.
Beds

• Two twin beds that convert to a Royal King bed
• One double sofa bed in staterooms with up to 4 and 5 guests
• One Pullman bed in staterooms with up to 5 guests

Size

• Stateroom: 287 sq. ft.
• Balcony: 80 sq. ft.

Not sure about other classes of RCCL ships though but you can see there's a big difference.

 

[iivye]

We love Disney cruises but we also noticed a roar in the dining rooms on our last cruise and we had late dining. That was the first time the noise ever bothered me. We've sailed on NCL and I really missed the split bathroom layout and movies by the pool but the drink package was nice. We have a Disney and NCL cruise booked for this year but I'm definitely wanting to try RCCL too. We enjoy cruising and it's nice to have so many options. Thanks for posting your experience!

 

[belle032]

Thanks for posting your honest review! DH & I just got off the Magic and felt much the same way you did. I posted a review in the DCL vs. Carnival thread. DCL is great, but we do miss beverage packages and adult entertainment and late night activities. We love Disney and cruising in general but we decided that for us, our Disney dollars are better spent at WDW. So we have a cruise on CCL booked for January and a WDW trip in the works for next October!

 

[xuxa777]

DCL is great, but we do miss beverage packages and adult entertainment and late night activities.

Ha, that is like saying went we went to a BBQ restaurant but I really miss the vegan options. Not so much a review.

 

[belle032]

Ha, that is like saying went we went to a BBQ restaurant but I really miss the vegan options. Not so much a review.

Huh? What review? I wasn’t looking for those things on a Disney cruise and complaining that they weren’t there.

We tried DCL because we hadn’t done one before and love both Disney and cruising. We wanted to experience the cruise line, because who knows? We might fall in love. However, even though we had a great cruise, we realized we missed those things I previously mentioned and they were important to our vacation.

Everyone vacations and cruises differently. I’m not putting down DCL by any means. We still love Disney, we just will probably choose to cruise elsewhere in the future.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

I'm totally in agreement on the food and MDRs--food is not great (sometimes it is just bad) and it is so LOUD in there. The lack of other options in the evening is our biggest complaint.

 

[smmco]

Ha, that is like saying went we went to a BBQ restaurant but I really miss the vegan options. Not so much a review.

 

[brentm77]

Huh? What review? I wasn’t looking for those things on a Disney cruise and complaining that they weren’t there.

We tried DCL because we hadn’t done one before and love both Disney and cruising. We wanted to experience the cruise line, because who knows? We might fall in love. However, even though we had a great cruise, we realized we missed those things I previously mentioned and they were important to our vacation.

Everyone vacations and cruises differently. I’m not putting down DCL by any means. We still love Disney, we just will probably choose to cruise elsewhere in the future.

I completely agree with your assessment that everyone vacations differently. There is nothing wrong with you saying the things you missed on another cruise. That doesn't imply that you expected them on a Disney cruise.

For our family, even with teen children, the Disney cruise just works for us. We are particular about cleanliness and service, which Disney excels in. I like the design of the ships. We aren't night owls, so we don't miss late night entertainment and have yet to even make it to the night time adult entertainment. The live shows are hit or miss, and we would definitely skip a few if we sail on the Fantasy a third time (though the recent changes might mean we see most).

I have a stressful job where I am connected all the time. Stepping onto a ship with poor and expensive internet, gives me a great reason to disconnect and enjoy time with my family. I would actually see it as a negative if Disney improved the internet situation. I also don't mind that there isn't non-stop entertainment, as I have and odd personality quirk where I don't like to feel like I am missing something on vacation (I often have nightmares leading up to vacation that we sat around all week and missed all the sites). Having limited options lets my brain say it is ok to relax and I am not missing anything important.

I agree that the food is bland, but it is good enough for a mass-produced product and I still enjoy most meals. How can they still not figure out how to make normal tasting pizza, how to season to a normal level, or dessert with a little pizazz? Another shortcoming is the extreme lack of variety on cruise itineraries. But since we are just getting back into cruising after my wife was in bed ill for five years, we have only taken two Disney cruises and still have plenty of options for new itineraries (Greece next year, and a short Baha surprise for my wife the year after to get us out of the cold/dark Utah winter, then hopefully on to Alaska and back to the Caribbean).

I enjoy seeing the many happy children on the ship, and enjoy even more that it means many of the adult areas aren't too busy since parents are often with their children.

I enjoy everyone gathered together in the room to watch a Disney classic, knowing we are all safe and happy - not many more years of that as my olders is a senior.

Overall, it is just the low-key, not too flashy, but upscale style of the cruise line that works for us. I have been on one other line and didn't enjoy it as much. But that was many many years ago, on a cheap cruise, so I am open to trying new lines sometime again. But for now, each time the choice comes up, since the extra cost is within our budget, we end up going with a product we know we will love. I only have so much vacation time in a year, so it is difficult to want to experiment too much with time that won't come around again for another year or longer if we choose non-cruise vacation time.

But, I completely understand that there are people who enjoy other cruise lines. Some people are looking for more excitement on a vacation, and Disney cruises aren't exactly that.

 

[3monkeys4me]

Thanks for your thoughts!

We are currently trying to decide what to do. We are booked on the Fantasy during our kids' fall break next year but for roughly the same amount of money we can go back on RCCl, on the Allure while she is still sailing out of Barcelona. The cruise itself is quite a bit cheaper but of course the flights and hotels would be more expensive.

It has been several years since our last cruise on DCL and while my youngest would like to give it another go now that she will be old enough for the Edge, my older two really enjoy RCCL and the various activities they have. Plus, the enjoy the chance to eat at the speciality dining venues and my oldest loved being old enough for the "adult" pool area on our last cruise. She isn't into the clubs so having a quiet place by the pool to relax with a virgin cocktail and a book is her idea of a good time.

As i read more and more I tend to think we would be better off making the switch for fall. Then maybe spring 2021 the youngest and I can do a short cruise on DCL as a mother/daughter trip with the older two are gone on a school trip since DH isn't a huge fan of cruising or Disney.

 

[cdoc29]

We had the opposite experience. We went on Explorer of the Seas last year for our Alaska cruise in a junior suite and the cabin was a bigger by 27 square feet but not laid out as well as DCL. We felt the entertainment was a disappointment after DCL, the service was not up to the same standard, the food was mediocre and kids club was a huge let down. The area around the casino was smoky and that wafted up into the royal promenade. The benefit they had was it was about $4k less than the DCL in a Deluxe Family Ocean View with Verandah. While on one hand I was glad to save the money and we did some pretty awesome excursions, on the other the onboard experience was such a disappointment I wished we had just bit the bullet and went with Disney. Now I have written this before and many have responded that Explorer is an older ship and that the newer ships that sail the Caribbean are much better, but to me that just demonstrates that RCCL doesn't put out a consistent product across the fleet.

But one of the nice things about the cruise industry is there is lots of choice, if DCL was not your thing then by all means go with RCCL, just as RCCL is not our thing and we plan to only go with DCL from here on out.

 

[dclpluto]

No way was it 70 percent children and 30 percent adults.

 

[KashasMom]

We had the opposite experience. We went on Explorer of the Seas last year for our Alaska cruise in a junior suite and the cabin was a bigger by 27 square feet but not laid out as well as DCL. We felt the entertainment was a disappointment after DCL, the service was not up to the same standard, the food was mediocre and kids club was a huge let down. The area around the casino was smoky and that wafted up into the royal promenade. The benefit they had was it was about $4k less than the DCL in a Deluxe Family Ocean View with Verandah. While on one hand I was glad to save the money and we did some pretty awesome excursions, on the other the onboard experience was such a disappointment I wished we had just bit the bullet and went with Disney. Now I have written this before and many have responded that Explorer is an older ship and that the newer ships that sail the Caribbean are much better, but to me that just demonstrates that RCCL doesn't put out a consistent product across the fleet.

But one of the nice things about the cruise industry is there is lots of choice, if DCL was not your thing then by all means go with RCCL, just as RCCL is not our thing and we plan to only go with DCL from here on out.

I don't think that it's necessarily that they don't put out a consistent product across the fleet. They've grown and changed to meet the market, which for many of us Disney has not. I don't think you can compare what you haven't been on but...this is a Disney board so there's that. Again it always goes back to what is important to each family. We're just lucky that there are so many options to keep us all happy.

 

[OKgirl]

No way was it 70 percent children and 30 percent adults.

According to a crew member I asked - there were around 4000 passengers total last week. 1500 were children under 12 and 1000 were ages 13-17. 2500 total under 18 (leaving about 1000 over 18). My guess was pretty accurate if his numbers were correct. Many families were like ours with 3 children but I saw many families with 4-5 children as well. I saw several blended families where it looked like second marriages with 2-3 kids from each previous marriage.

 

[OKgirl]

The largest demographic on the ship by far on the Fantasy standard itineraries are families with small kids. I can see how you might think otherwise from this board as it definitely skews more to the adult-only or families of teens crowd for some reason.

I do totally agree with you on the food, I wish they would step it up but people seem to always be complaining about how it is too adventurous as is, so I think it is a lost cause. It’s like Disney parks—outside of signature dining (the equivalent of palo on the ships), table service at WDW tries to appeal to everyone and ends up being just ok.

I AM surprised you did not find more to do during the day—a week of watching tv sounds like no fun. You don’t mention excursions, onboard activities other than the evening shows and character meets, or the pool/sports decks. We never do character meets and our days are completely full.

I am also a but surprised by your room size point. As a family of five, I assume you must have been in a family size room (unless you split into two standard rooms, in which case a comparison to a jr suite isn’t really apt). and per a quick google search the family rooms on DCL are the same or bigger than RCCL junior suites.

We cruised in connecting Family Ocean View cabins with verandahs on the Fantasy and thought the cabins were very nice, but I think I was expecting them to be much larger than standard rooms due to reviews posted here. Maybe the extra room is in the bathroom? The beds were the most comfortable we've experienced on any cruise ever and the sheets were wonderful as well. As for the pools - weather was very rainy due to hurricane season so one sea day it poured all day. The other sea day was the first day of the cruise and the pools were so packed we only ventured in for a short time. Excursions were great but they are great on all cruises. As for other onboard activities during the sea days- there wasn't much unless you wanted to pay for wine/whiskey/rum tastings. My husband wasn't interested in towel folding or cake decorating (but I might have enjoyed those...) I've been in a Crown Loft Suite on the Oasis which was fabulous (and an unfair comparison to a Disney family verandah cabin) but that suite was cheaper than a DCL standard family verandah on spring break. We love to cruise in a Junior Suite in RCCL with a standard balcony cabin next door for the kids. It sure seemed like double the size of a standard balcony cabin on RCL or DCL - there was a walk in closet large enough for me to change clothes in while my kids were in the room. We are trying a Havana Cabana Suite with just my husband and I on the CCL Panorama in February and have 2 connecting balcony cabins on the RCCL Harmony next summer. We just love to hop around between cruise lines!

Not trying to bash DCL at all here.... service was outstanding on DCL. I asked about any spicy foods on the menu and my server had some Indian butter chicken specially ordered for me the next night. That was the BEST food we had! I asked why it wasn't on the menu! Just goes to show how far they will go to please you. We tipped our dining staff well. I'm glad we tried it and we still had a great vacation overall - just thoughts for a discussion board!