Contemplating First Disney Cruise

[SusieQ93]

Hi - I am a big Disney theme parks fan and have been to Disneyland and Disney World many times. My husband and I even got married at Disney World last year. And we took a trip to Aulani about a month ago. One thing we haven't done yet is a Disney Cruise. I have heard from many different people that DCL is amazing and hands down the best cruise service. And I have taken a few cruises on other lines - one specifically in Europe and enjoyed the ability to see so many different ports without the inconvenience of moving hotels or figuring out transportation.

Here's my dilemma. My husband and I (no kids) were talking about going on a Mediterranean cruise on DCL in 2021, but we just got back from Disney World and now we're not so sure. I love, love, love Disneyland and we had an amazing trip there a couple months ago staying at the Grand Californian and then going back to Disney World this time, we were for lack of a better word, disenchanted. Everything was so so crowded this time. I'm not really talking about wait times so much (although they were long) but everything was just crowded. You couldn't walk around comfortably and enjoy the ambiance of the parks at all. Additionally, when we went to Aulani, especially because the construction was going on we had an amazing time, but we felt like if we were going to go back to that area, we'd rather stay at the Four Seasons next door. Now we're not sure about a Disney Cruise, especially my husband. Mostly I think we're worried about everything being too crowded and also not having it feel adult enough. I still really want to try it but am nervous to invest the money in an international trip in case we don't like it. I know we could try a short cruise to Mexico or something (we live on the west coast), but at the same time I also think the feel on a cruise in Europe and demographics are going to be different than the feel on a cruise to Mexico - I could be wrong.

 

[klug_bug2010]

Well, being we're talking about DCL, there is definitely a less "adult feel" to the ship, but not so much as to turn a person off. There are plenty of adult only places, but late nights aren't too hopping being a lot of couples do have kids. The ships are a bit crowded. I'm not one for crowds, but I find it to be just fine. Going on a longer cruise will help with kid-crowding, and give you a more adult feel. IMO.... you can't go wrong with DCL. DH and I are not big Disney fans, nor are our children (ages 4, 8, 12), but we continue to sail with Disney for the service.

 

[SamFaniam]

I think especially on the Magic, which would be your ship on a cruise in Europe, the adult spaces are better separated from the family spaces. Yes, there will be children on your cruise, but that won’t be an issue while you’re in port. And, the adult spaces, especially the pool area and the adult club area after 9 PM at night, really do feel kind of special. In addition, there are adults only activities during the day.

I do not think the classic ships ever feel crowded, there’s plenty of space for everyone.

if your schedule permits, I would look at May or September cruises, as the number of children on those cruises is likely to be lower due to school dates.

 

[VTNuke]

Crowds are going to happen on a cruise ship. They want to fill the ship up. Not just DCL, all cruise lines. If a ship is full, there are going to be "crowds". But, the ship was designed to hold up to the capacity, so that shouldn't be that much of an issue.

Sounds like you were looking at a trip on the Magic. That's a lot smaller than the Dream and the Fantasy. Where the size of the ship does come into play is a few of the special things you can do on and off the ship. For example, there are only so many tastings, shopping seminars, or Palo reservations during your cruise. It may be harder to find and book one you want on a larger ship over the same length of cruise, especially for a new cruiser that is picking last unless you book concierge.

If you were looking at a trip that goes to Castaway Cay, crowds can be an issue there, more so if you are on the Fantasy or the Dream compared to the Magic or Wonder.

As for your comment about Disney World being crowded. Yes. It is. There are sites dedicated specifically to address this problem, with crowd level indicators and touring guides to get the most out of your trip. This time of year can be busy because of the Food and Wine festival, or if your trip was in October, the Halloween parties.

I had a cousin that contacted me about taking her kids to Disney World last year. She contacted me around December 1st and said they had just booked for the week after Christmas and wanted some tips. I wanted to say "rebook the first week in January", but my advice to her was just to not expect to do everything. There's too much to do and too many people there the week they had booked. She understood what I was saying and I think they had a great time, but I'd never want to go that week unless I had a VIP pass for everything (do they sell that because if I ever book for that week, I'd pay extra for it).

Back to DCL, you pay a premium for the trip, but it's considered one of the best cruise lines for a reason. You won't have a bad time. Cruising is very different than visiting the parks. The parks are much more about seeing as much as you can. A cruise is more about relaxing while doing just enough to say you did something that day. If you go to a tasting in the afternoon, hit the main dining room for dinner, and maybe see the show in the Walt Disney Theater that night, you had a busy day. If you did the same at a park, you'd feel like you missed out on a ton.

If you want to avoid crowds, hit the adult only areas. I've never felt crowded there.

 

[aliceinvunderland]

I originally booked a DCL Cruise because I can no longer take kids out of school to vacation and I refuse to do the parks during school breaks because I do not do crowds. At all. The great thing is that with DCL you get that Disney magic in a super classy environment with top notch service without the stress of insane crowds! There are plenty of adult only areas that will allow you to get away from kids, but a European cruise will likely have fewer kids anyway. I LOVE cruising with Disney!

 

[Mommb]

I have been on 4 Disney cruises on the Magic in Europe. The only times the ship felt particularly crowded were at the Sail Away party, the Pirate party, and debarkation. The theater did fill up before some shows, and there was sometimes a line to enter the dining rooms right before dinner, but it was nothing like a busy day at the parks when everyone is shoulder to shoulder.

As others have mentioned, European cruises will have fewer kids than Caribbean/Bahamas cruises, especially if you go in early June or late August/September while many US kids are in school.

Some of the DCL excursions have an "Adults Only" option. You can also find private or semi-private tours from other companies that cater to adults. I have been underwhelmed with Disney Cruise excursions, but the experience on the ship has always been wonderful for the adults in my party as well as for the kids. There were many days I barely saw my kids except at dinner, and I was able to partake of many adult and all-ages activites.

 

[SusieQ93]

Crowds are going to happen on a cruise ship. They want to fill the ship up. Not just DCL, all cruise lines. If a ship is full, there are going to be "crowds". But, the ship was designed to hold up to the capacity, so that shouldn't be that much of an issue.

Sounds like you were looking at a trip on the Magic. That's a lot smaller than the Dream and the Fantasy. Where the size of the ship does come into play is a few of the special things you can do on and off the ship. For example, there are only so many tastings, shopping seminars, or Palo reservations during your cruise. It may be harder to find and book one you want on a larger ship over the same length of cruise, especially for a new cruiser that is picking last unless you book concierge.

If you were looking at a trip that goes to Castaway Cay, crowds can be an issue there, more so if you are on the Fantasy or the Dream compared to the Magic or Wonder.

As for your comment about Disney World being crowded. Yes. It is. There are sites dedicated specifically to address this problem, with crowd level indicators and touring guides to get the most out of your trip. This time of year can be busy because of the Food and Wine festival, or if your trip was in October, the Halloween parties.

I had a cousin that contacted me about taking her kids to Disney World last year. She contacted me around December 1st and said they had just booked for the week after Christmas and wanted some tips. I wanted to say "rebook the first week in January", but my advice to her was just to not expect to do everything. There's too much to do and too many people there the week they had booked. She understood what I was saying and I think they had a great time, but I'd never want to go that week unless I had a VIP pass for everything (do they sell that because if I ever book for that week, I'd pay extra for it).

Back to DCL, you pay a premium for the trip, but it's considered one of the best cruise lines for a reason. You won't have a bad time. Cruising is very different than visiting the parks. The parks are much more about seeing as much as you can. A cruise is more about relaxing while doing just enough to say you did something that day. If you go to a tasting in the afternoon, hit the main dining room for dinner, and maybe see the show in the Walt Disney Theater that night, you had a busy day. If you did the same at a park, you'd feel like you missed out on a ton.

If you want to avoid crowds, hit the adult only areas. I've never felt crowded there.

Oh yes, lol. I am quite familiar with all the crowd calendars, touring plans, etc. planning for WDW. I plan for trips there like it's my job. Like I said, we got married in Disney World last year in December and we have been in October the year before too as well as other times over the years. We go to Disneyland much more often because we're on the west coast and Disneyland is my preference - I love it and I'm sure we will always continue to go to DLR. We just took a step back after being WDW and are a bit hesitant to try a Disney cruise after this WDW trip since it is a total unknown as DCL would be new to us. I've cruised with Holland America before and am cruising with them again this summer to go to Norway with my mom and the service is great, but I don't think it would be the best fit for me and my husband. We cruised with Princess to Alaska over the summer and we loved Alaska, but we thought the service was poor. In port, we had a fantastic time on all our excursions, but we didn't like the ship - mostly for the service.

 

[Wmuflyguy]

Childless and we did our first Dinsey cruise a couple months back. We loved it and rebooked on board. Plenty of adult only stuff to do in the pubs and clubs, even though we are non drinkers. We did chocolate making in Nassau and it was us and another lady whose husband stayed on the ship.

We were sat with two other adult couples for dinner. We attended shows and trivia most nights. Road the aqua duck, watched movies at the pool, and shopped.

it was great

 

[SusieQ93]

I have been on 4 Disney cruises on the Magic in Europe. The only times the ship felt particularly crowded were at the Sail Away party, the Pirate party, and debarkation. The theater did fill up before some shows, and there was sometimes a line to enter the dining rooms right before dinner, but it was nothing like a busy day at the parks when everyone is shoulder to shoulder.

As others have mentioned, European cruises will have fewer kids than Caribbean/Bahamas cruises, especially if you go in early June or late August/September while many US kids are in school.

Some of the DCL excursions have an "Adults Only" option. You can also find private or semi-private tours from other companies that cater to adults. I have been underwhelmed with Disney Cruise excursions, but the experience on the ship has always been wonderful for the adults in my party as well as for the kids. There were many days I barely saw my kids except at dinner, and I was able to partake of many adult and all-ages activites.

Thanks! I am curious to hear why you were underwhelmed with the port excursions. They are more expensive than other lines it seems. Do you just prefer to explore on your own more?

 

[SusieQ93]

Childless and we did our first Dinsey cruise a couple months back. We loved it and rebooked on board. Plenty of adult only stuff to do in the pubs and clubs, even though we are non drinkers. We did chocolate making in Nassau and it was us and another lady whose husband stayed on the ship.

We were sat with two other adult couples for dinner. We attended shows and trivia most nights. Road the aqua duck, watched movies at the pool, and shopped.

it was great

Thanks! Nice to hear the perspective from someone going on an adults only trip.

 

[SusieQ93]

I originally booked a DCL Cruise because I can no longer take kids out of school to vacation and I refuse to do the parks during school breaks because I do not do crowds. At all. The great thing is that with DCL you get that Disney magic in a super classy environment with top notch service without the stress of insane crowds! There are plenty of adult only areas that will allow you to get away from kids, but a European cruise will likely have fewer kids anyway. I LOVE cruising with Disney!

That is great to hear! I am not a crowd person but have always been fine tolerating them at Disney because I love Disney and the magic of the parks. But honestly, this last trip, we couldn't even go in the gift shops it was too insane. I'd be like "I want to check out this shop for a second," we'd go in and then walk right back out because you couldn't look at anything without bumping into someone else. It was just too much for me. We also just got back from Hawaii and it was so chill and laid back and we had the most amazing trip ever so I think there was some culture shock there. We don't normally get to go on so many trips in a row, lol. My husband had a friend getting married in Orlando so we used it as an excuse to go down for a quick trip.

 

[JARNJ3]

Hi - I am a big Disney theme parks fan and have been to Disneyland and Disney World many times. My husband and I even got married at Disney World last year. And we took a trip to Aulani about a month ago. One thing we haven't done yet is a Disney Cruise. I have heard from many different people that DCL is amazing and hands down the best cruise service. And I have taken a few cruises on other lines - one specifically in Europe and enjoyed the ability to see so many different ports without the inconvenience of moving hotels or figuring out transportation.

Here's my dilemma. My husband and I (no kids) were talking about going on a Mediterranean cruise on DCL in 2021, but we just got back from Disney World and now we're not so sure. I love, love, love Disneyland and we had an amazing trip there a couple months ago staying at the Grand Californian and then going back to Disney World this time, we were for lack of a better word, disenchanted. Everything was so so crowded this time. I'm not really talking about wait times so much (although they were long) but everything was just crowded. You couldn't walk around comfortably and enjoy the ambiance of the parks at all. Additionally, when we went to Aulani, especially because the construction was going on we had an amazing time, but we felt like if we were going to go back to that area, we'd rather stay at the Four Seasons next door. Now we're not sure about a Disney Cruise, especially my husband. Mostly I think we're worried about everything being too crowded and also not having it feel adult enough. I still really want to try it but am nervous to invest the money in an international trip in case we don't like it. I know we could try a short cruise to Mexico or something (we live on the west coast), but at the same time I also think the feel on a cruise in Europe and demographics are going to be different than the feel on a cruise to Mexico - I could be wrong.

My sister & I did the Disney Med cruise for our first DCL cruise. Wasn't crowded at all! I loved it! We had no kids - I stayed in the Adult only area at pool time - took the second seating for dinner. It was awesome.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[SusieQ93]

My sister & I did the Disney Med cruise for our first DCL cruise. Wasn't crowded at all! I loved it! We had no kids - I stayed in the Adult only area at pool time - took the second seating for dinner. It was awesome.

Good luck with your decision!

Oh nice! Can you elaborate a little bit on what you loved? Did you do excursions through Disney or more exploring on your own?

 

[coast2coastmickey]

To sum up my thoughts on the parks v cruise conversation: do the cruise.

I took my first cruise last year, and it was a Disney cruise, and it spoiled me to the point that I'd rather do a Disney cruise rather than a park 10/10 times. It's just a great way to really enjoy vacation without all the added decisions that come with a park trip. We go to Disneyland and WDW at least once per year it seems and each trip comes with a ton of decisions to make and it all has to be planned relatively well otherwise you're going to get that feeling that you missed out on stuff. The cruise is much simpler: pick a cruise, a room, a dining time, some excursions...and that's about it. The rest is handled once you're on the boat by a wonderful team of Disney Cruise cast members.

Examples:
Only 4 stateroom categories on the boats, none are horrible (inside, oceanview, verandah, concierge). At the parks you have tons of hotel options from deluxe to not deluxe and everything in between, and location is a factor as well. On the cruise, location is only a minor factor if you're able bodied. The ship isn't THAT big to walk end to end in the worst case scenario.

Food decisions: it's all included, with the exception of Palo/Remy. But it's good enough and sometimes really over the top delicious, and you don't need to worry about dining plans or budgeting $ per day for food. Oh and if you want to do multiple food dishes, either in the dining rooms, or on deck, or with room service, nobody bats an eye. It's the lack of being held down by your wallet that makes decision-making easy.

Activities/Ports: Want to sit and drink all day every day? you can do that. If you're a commando and want to do activities all day every day? you can do that on the boat and in the ports. Want to minimize your view of kids? There's plenty of adult areas.

TL;DR: Go on a cruise and give it a shot. You'll probably like it.

 

[Capt_BJ]

Crowds are going to happen on a cruise ship. They want to fill the ship up. Not just DCL, all cruise lines.

I strongly disagree

Once you try sailing on a smaller cruise ship you discover that crowds and long queues do NOT have to be the normal. AND you can find smaller ship cruising in the same price range as DCL ... and with NOT the kid overload you can NOT avoid on Disney

Some things I've noted on 'small ship' cruising

crowded pool: never

Chair hogs: non existent

pressured to buy drinks : never

annoying photog' : not even on board

 

[Marc D]

Thanks! I am curious to hear why you were underwhelmed with the port excursions. They are more expensive than other lines it seems. Do you just prefer to explore on your own more?

We’ve sailed on DCL, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian. Tour operators around the globe are the same across all cruise lines. Of course, DCL excludes some that are used by other lines, but a large percentage are the same. You will not see different excursion quality across cruiselines. As for prices, DCL is on par with other lines. They seem to always offer a low-cost option, like a walking tour or a bus tour, which is not always the case on other lines.

 

[SusieQ93]

Crowds are going to happen on a cruise ship. They want to fill the ship up. Not just DCL, all cruise lines.

I strongly disagree

Once you try sailing on a smaller cruise ship you discover that crowds and long queues do NOT have to be the normal. AND you can find smaller ship cruising in the same price range as DCL ... and with NOT the kid overload you can NOT avoid on Disney

Some things I've noted on 'small ship' cruising

crowded pool: never

Chair hogs: non existent

pressured to buy drinks : never

annoying photog' : not even on board

Do you have any small ship lines you recommend? I was looking at Viking and was interested in them. The thing that draws me to a cruise is the ability to travel to many different ports and not have to worry about transportation or moving hotels. When we vacation, we really like to be out doing things and get a chance to experience the culture of the place we're visiting. My favorite things to do are visit art/history museums and outdoor adventures like hiking and kayaking. We also really like local food tours. I do like that the DCL itineraries seem to have pretty long port days (at least the Mediterranean itinerary I was looking at)

 

[Marc D]

As for crowds and crowd composition, the Magic cruises in Europe are probably the best in the lineup. A smaller ship, plenty of port days where everyone comes back to the ship at various hours, a large proportion of repeat cruisers, including a large portion of Gold and Platinum guests, so the activities on sea days are not as crowded as on Fantasy/Dream.

 

[Mommb]

Thanks! I am curious to hear why you were underwhelmed with the port excursions. They are more expensive than other lines it seems. Do you just prefer to explore on your own more?

My family found that the ship excursions had large groups so they did not move quickly. We were able to see much more in Rome, St. Petersburg, Lisbon, and Marseille by booking private tours than we would have on ship tours, and we were able to go places the excursions didn’t. There was nothing wrong with the ship tours we did, but for 4 people, the cost of the private tours in the larger cities was almost the same as the cost of the ship tours. For 2 adults, the difference may be greater, unless you find others to do a small group tour with you.

 

[auntlynne]

First, congratulations & best wishes on your wedding and marriage.

Sounds like a parallel here between Disney land/world and Magic class / Dream class ships. The smaller and original feeling more intimate, less crowded.

I have sailed Disney and Princess to Alaska. The Disney experience is nicer overall - service, main dining room food, staterooms and general appearance. Princess wins on itineraries for me. And price.

I also did DCL in the Med. The itinerary is so port intensive that the extra money for Disney is rather wasted (although it was cheap in 2011 - an inside was $1k per person for 11 nights). I’d pick the carrier for this area based on the itinerary you prefer.

My suggestion is find a 5+ day cruise to a unique location (not just the typical 3-, 4- or 7-day Bahamas or Caribbean) on the Magic or Wonder when school is in session. More adults sailing without children so fewer passengers overall.

The main dining rooms will always feel full & loud. Can’t help that with 400 people or so eating together.

As for small ships, I have not sailed but looked at Oceania, Azamara, or Viking. And there’s also river cruising through Europe - I can’t imagine them as crowded.

You mentioned your stay at Aulani as being chill. I laughed at how relaxing the Leeward side is, but Waikiki is so much like Disneyworld with all the pushing shoppers.

...When we vacation, we really like to be out doing things and get a chance to experience the culture of the place we're visiting. My favorite things to do are visit art/history museums and outdoor adventures like hiking and kayaking. We also really like local food tours. ...

Perhaps there’s a Disney Cruise (other than the Med) that has these type of Port Excursions.

Whatever you pick, I hope you have fun. And that the honeymoon continues.