DCL Treasure - Pool Deck Woes

[Disneyworldlocal]

You like crush in animators as compared to magic class animators?

Magic class all the way. Just the pirate show on dream class is horrible. Basically a sing along.

 

[Cruisinonlydisney]

Going back to marketing and theming, DCL is at that point, IMO, where many of us have done multiple cruises since our children were little. I asked my 17 year old if it was time to try a different line. His response was that “we haven’t been to the pirate show in about 5 years because it is the same old show.” Even on pirate night, we didn’t see as many people dressing up in the themed clothing as in years past. So yes, he is ready to try RCCL because this age group for the most part, is somewhat tired of the same themes. Don’t get me wrong, he and his friends found plenty to do. But Disney, you have gazillions of dollars, it’s time to come up with some new themes to appeal to the “old” generation of DCL cruisers to keep us coming back for more magic.

Admittedly, my most favorite shows totally designed for the adult crowd occurred on the Treasure the first week of August. They brought on the original singers from Aladdin on Broadway in New York. What an absolute treat…I could have sat and listened to these two sing for hours! Standing ovations both nights. Greatest shows I have ever seen in my 14 cruises! Worth the price of my entire cruise to see talent like that!

 

[mcd2745]

At least 10 things:

- No "wrap-around" jogging track (deck 4)
- No mid-ship elevator bank
- Cove Cafe is a joke (much smaller and way in the aft) on Wish/Treasure
- No shade in the adults area (and way in the back)
- Movie theatre seats are very uncomfortable on Wish/Treasure

- Bars are open areas (don't feel as private and adult as Fantasy)
- Midship Detective Agency is far superior to Uncharted Adventure (which doesn't work)
- MDR tables are WAY too close (especially at Arendelle's)
- Animator's Palate (Dream/Fantasy) is still better than Marvel MDR shows
- Adult areas were an after-thought (and reduced/downgraded)

Very possibly, the #1 complaint about the Dream and Fantasy is all the kids coming off the forward elevators and walking through the adult area all day long. So moving the adult area all the way to the aft of the ship was smart and completely eliminates that problem.

However, how they designed the adult area after making the decision decision to move it all the way back...was anything but smart.

 

[asgur5]

Because we prefer to sail DCL and have the money to do so multiple times per year. We just choose which ships we will sail on and the Treasure isn’t one of them. We’ve sailed other cruise lines and weren’t fans.

So your favourite things are DCL related aspects of the ship/cruise? Which cant be the two things you listed as they arent dcl related at all.

 

[asgur5]

At least 10 things:

- No "wrap-around" jogging track (deck 4)
- No mid-ship elevator bank
- Cove Cafe is a joke (much smaller and way in the aft) on Wish/Treasure
- No shade in the adults area (and way in the back)
- Movie theatre seats are very uncomfortable on Wish/Treasure

- Bars are open areas (don't feel as private and adult as Fantasy)
- Midship Detective Agency is far superior to Uncharted Adventure (which doesn't work)
- MDR tables are WAY too close (especially at Arendelle's)
- Animator's Palate (Dream/Fantasy) is still better than Marvel MDR shows
- Adult areas were an after-thought (and reduced/downgraded)

I agree with many of these. But some i dispute.

Bars are open areas? Two are. Ome large and one small. Just like la piazza and the lobby bar on the Fantasy.

Agree Animators plate (on magic class) is better then marvel. But frozen and coco is better then all of them. Marvel should be compared to enchanted garden as its the secondary restaurant.

No midship elevator bank is a good thing.

Adult areas are too small but their location is far better. Cant complain about kids constantly running through it anymore. Same can be said of concierge.

When both working Midship is vastly inferior. I doubt people have successfully played uncharted would say its inferior to midship. Midship is solely screens based. Unchartered has genuine physical aspects.

The movie seats on the fantasy are the worse movie seats ive encountered ever. Its almost impossible to sit back in them. They are a joke. To argue the opposite just sounds crazy too me.

 

[DCLMP]

So your favourite things are DCL related aspects of the ship/cruise? Which cant be the two things you listed as they arent dcl related at all.

Why are trying so hard to convince people that what you like is the best. That is just not the way the world works.

 

[Disneyworldlocal]

Going back to marketing and theming, DCL is at that point, IMO, where many of us have done multiple cruises since our children were little. I asked my 17 year old if it was time to try a different line. His response was that “we haven’t been to the pirate show in about 5 years because it is the same old show.” Even on pirate night, we didn’t see as many people dressing up in the themed clothing as in years past. So yes, he is ready to try RCCL because this age group for the most part, is somewhat tired of the same themes. Don’t get me wrong, he and his friends found plenty to do. But Disney, you have gazillions of dollars, it’s time to come up with some new themes to appeal to the “old” generation of DCL cruisers to keep us coming back for more magic.

Admittedly, my most favorite shows totally designed for the adult crowd occurred on the Treasure the first week of August. They brought on the original singers from Aladdin on Broadway in New York. What an absolute treat…I could have sat and listened to these two sing for hours! Standing ovations both nights. Greatest shows I have ever seen in my 14 cruises! Worth the price of my entire cruise to see talent like that!

We just did the Wish Labor Day weekend. It was our first time back on the Wish since the 2022 inaugural sailings. My wife made the comment related to Disney not changing the shows basically ever and how that doesn’t make sense. I agree with that. One of the major draws to DCL is the “broadway quality shows”. However, for cruisers that do DCL on a regular basis I can only imagine the same show over and over and over would get stale after awhile.
This is especially true for me with the Dream class ships and the Pirate Party. It’s terrible. Do something different DCL.

 

[Disnsyncey]

Going back to marketing and theming, DCL is at that point, IMO, where many of us have done multiple cruises since our children were little. I asked my 17 year old if it was time to try a different line. His response was that “we haven’t been to the pirate show in about 5 years because it is the same old show.” Even on pirate night, we didn’t see as many people dressing up in the themed clothing as in years past. So yes, he is ready to try RCCL because this age group for the most part, is somewhat tired of the same themes. Don’t get me wrong, he and his friends found plenty to do. But Disney, you have gazillions of dollars, it’s time to come up with some new themes to appeal to the “old” generation of DCL cruisers to keep us coming back for more magic.

Admittedly, my most favorite shows totally designed for the adult crowd occurred on the Treasure the first week of August. They brought on the original singers from Aladdin on Broadway in New York. What an absolute treat…I could have sat and listened to these two sing for hours! Standing ovations both nights. Greatest shows I have ever seen in my 14 cruises! Worth the price of my entire cruise to see talent like that!

ooooooo I heard/saw that the princess concert crew (Susan, Adam, Courtney, etc) were doing various cruises and it would have been amazing to see any of them, but me being on the Magic (though not dinky, less expected to get the big names!) doesn't bode well....

Lucky you got Courtney and Adam (hahahah the other one hahahahaha)!

 

[MickeyD]

My family and my best friend’s family absolutely loved the Treasure. The theme was awesome, the activities were really fun (Indiana Jones chose your own adventure, audience participation Jungle Cruise, etc). Also the Moana show was very good and I’m a Broadway snob (Beauty and the Beast and Seas the Adventure were mediocre at best). Haunted Mansion Parlor was amazing and I want one in my house! Also it never felt crowded and we were on a Spring Break sailing right before Easter this year.

My hesitation is that I don't care as much about theming as I do about service and quality space. We love Disney, but not as interested in the theming, more the Disney standard of service. Thank you for your feedback, I really appreciate you saying it never felt crowded, because that is a phobia of mine. LOL

 

[BrokeMack]

I liked the Wish better than I expected (last week's 4-night). To the main topic of the thread: I expected to hate the new Quiet Cove, and I don't like the hot tub location, but the infinity pool was nice and wasn't crowded (I went during Castaway Day in the early-mid afternoon though). I wonder if the Treasure's would be given the longer sailing with more sea days.

As for the rest of the discussion, I like that we have options with the larger fleet. I prefer the style and design of the older ships, but many don't. The bars on Wish are amazing and I expect Treasure and Destiny to be even better. Animator's is best on the Magic class. The late pirate show on Wish is my favorite. Magic's was butt. The between dinners Mickey show on pirate night is a skip for me on all ships. Somebody mentioned carpets a ways back. If Fantasy's carpets are worn, that's one thing (though I remember from the Art of the Show tour that they replace those at just about every dry dock), but some of Wish's carpets didn't look like they were designed for the spaces they occupied. Specifically the ones in the stateroom corridors. To each their own, there are plenty of ships, newer itineraries starting next year, and plenty of discounts.

 

[Lynes88]

I liked the Wish better than I expected (last week's 4-night). To the main topic of the thread: I expected to hate the new Quiet Cove, and I don't like the hot tub location, but the infinity pool was nice and wasn't crowded (I went during Castaway Day in the early-mid afternoon though). I wonder if the Treasure's would be given the longer sailing with more sea days.

As for the rest of the discussion, I like that we have options with the larger fleet. I prefer the style and design of the older ships, but many don't. The bars on Wish are amazing and I expect Treasure and Destiny to be even better. Animator's is best on the Magic class. The late pirate show on Wish is my favorite. Magic's was butt. The between dinners Mickey show on pirate night is a skip for me on all ships. Somebody mentioned carpets a ways back. If Fantasy's carpets are worn, that's one thing (though I remember from the Art of the Show tour that they replace those at just about every dry dock), but some of Wish's carpets didn't look like they were designed for the spaces they occupied. Specifically the ones in the stateroom corridors. To each their own, there are plenty of ships, newer itineraries starting next year, and plenty of discounts.

The Quiet Cove Infinity Pool on sea days gets really crowded... too crowded for my taste. I was just on the Treasure the first week of Sept. There seems to be too few chairs around this area too.

 

[MarriedToAPrince]

The only thing that really got to me on the Treasure is because a lot of the pools are so shallow, the water was like bath water....which isn't great during the day in the Caribbean summer.

There are deeper pools on the Treasure, did you try those? And any pool in the Caribbean summer is going to be warm. The heat is baking them.

 

[Skippyboo]

I did my first 2 cruises on the Fantasy, next 3 on Wish, Treasure, Wish. Got Treasure cruise in October and a May Alaska Wonder cruise.

I don’t know how much of the upper deck on Fantasy is being lost to concierge during the post Europe dry dock. I didn’t really like the pool area right outside front elevator bays on Deck 11 so much traffic. The Fantasy stateroom tvs are tiny and weirdly placed versus the newer ships.

I definitely liked the AquaMouse over the AquaDuck. Definitely easier to get out of raft on the mouse.

 

[dcassetta]

won't do MSC (World Nation) Yacht Club

Have you had a bad experience on MSC? We really enjoy MSC. The Yacht Club is great with the lounge, the private restaurant, and the really nice Yacht Club pool deck. Now we’ve only sailed on the Seaside class, so perhaps the World class would not have the same appeal.

 

[greensombrero]

We just got off the Fantasy the end of July and she is still my favorite ship however I haven’t sailed a Triton class ship yet. Giving the Wish a try in about a month and we will see.

I didn’t feel anything about the Fantasy felt old in terms of worn out or not nice, I thought she was great. Are there aspects that tell me she was designed a number of years ago, yes. We did Goofy’s sport simulator. Very dated game tech sure but we don’t have a big projection screen and space we can do the same thing with our Wii (that’s the era it’s from) and we all, even the kids found it fun. Point being retro can be fun.

Ultimately though I think people cruise for different reasons and I love the saying not every cruise is for everyone but there is a cruise for everyone. Same goes for ships. I just love being at sea and find the Dream class comfortable and enjoyable to be at sea on. I have a slight preference for the Fantasy over the Dream due to adult space theming, shows, and a few layout items like the drink station locations, minor stuff.

However I am itching to try something new so excited to see the Wish and we are going back on the Magic for the first time since our first cruise on her. Will be fun to see what we think, it’s been a while.

I do wish DCL rotated menus and shows more. It makes you want to rotate ships I suppose but sometimes that doesn’t align to itineraries that work for you.

 

[tidefan]

Were sailing on Utopia in January. We sailed on Allure in 2020. I thought it was good not great, but was good enough that I was open to try RCCl again.

Sailed on Odyssey in Europe in 2023. I think that it is the perfect European ship. New ship, not to big, nice layout etc..really loved it. I wish that ship didn't have such lackluster itineraries in Europe next year. RCCL for some reason is sticking to 7 day sailings in Europe. We are currently leaning towards DCL next year

If we like Utopia I plan on booking Icon or star while onboard. Not sure what they offer for doing that, but thats my plan.

The only negative thing I have to say about RCCL is having to book a non-refundable deposit to get the best price. I've also never had bad service on a cruise either and even Carnival. Some servers are better than others, but I wouldn't call any of them bad.

I think the adult pool area is much better on the Fantasy, but If you have to hang out in the kid area....God speed. I was fortunate my kids never wanted to go to the pool. My youngest is 21 has been on 34 cruises and has never been in a DCL pool. If I had to hang out at the family pool or stand in line for characters. I would have been one and done.

If your youngest is 21, you really should consider giving Virgin Voyages a try, especially in Europe. We did a 10-night Greek Isles/Adriatic on Valiant Lady last year and it's probably the best cruise we've ever done, and we've done some good ones. It's not really applicable to most on this forum because the ships are all 18+, but if everyone is of age, you need to give it a try. The food is so superior to other lines and it's so different from main line cruising that I think everyone should try it at least once. We love it. Strangely, one of the biggest things that throws off newbies to Virgin is the no tipping policy. On Virgin, service is included in the fare (which is a bit higher) and crew are paid much differently than on other lines in that they are paid an actual competitive wage that does not depend on tips (they all LOVE that, BTW). And it's not just what you typically think of. For instance, when you buy a $10 drink, magically, it is $10, not $11.80 after some 18% gratuity is added. Also, there's no "upcharge" restaurants. Everything is included (there are a couple of additional cost items, but they are things like massive seafood platters, etc.).

And whoever at Virgin said "hey, why don't we put a hammock on the balcony and try that" should win some sort of award...

Also, I am more of a "ship" person than a "line" person, as ships tend to vary greatly within lines. I see that the Oasis class ships get heavy praise on here, but we went in with super-high expectations on Oasis OTS and while our cruise was fine, it was just "meh". It seemed to me that if you wanted decent food, it was going to be an upcharge (though we did like Loco Fresh). A few months later we sailed Carnival Mardi Gras (I know!) and surprise... we all liked it much better. It was so different from Carnival's prior ships and the food, especially the included comfort food was vastly superior to what the Oasis had. Previously, we had been on Carnival Sunshine, and while OK (and fun!), it was nowhere near as good as Mardi Gras.

Similarly, the only cruise out of almost 50 that we've done that we literally couldn't wait to disembark was Independence OTS. That cruise was terrible and nowhere near our experience on Oasis. Another example was another of our favorite cruises which was a British Isles cruise on Regal Princess. That was a great ship! However, we did another cruise on Caribbean Princess and it was nowhere near as good as our cruise on the Regal.

 

[Disneyworldlocal]

If your youngest is 21, you really should consider giving Virgin Voyages a try, especially in Europe. We did a 10-night Greek Isles/Adriatic on Valiant Lady last year and it's probably the best cruise we've ever done, and we've done some good ones. It's not really applicable to most on this forum because the ships are all 18+, but if everyone is of age, you need to give it a try. The food is so superior to other lines and it's so different from main line cruising that I think everyone should try it at least once. We love it. Strangely, one of the biggest things that throws off newbies to Virgin is the no tipping policy. On Virgin, service is included in the fare (which is a bit higher) and crew are paid much differently than on other lines in that they are paid an actual competitive wage that does not depend on tips (they all LOVE that, BTW). And it's not just what you typically think of. For instance, when you buy a $10 drink, magically, it is $10, not $11.80 after some 18% gratuity is added. Also, there's no "upcharge" restaurants. Everything is included (there are a couple of additional cost items, but they are things like massive seafood platters, etc.).

And whoever at Virgin said "hey, why don't we put a hammock on the balcony and try that" should win some sort of award...

Also, I am more of a "ship" person than a "line" person, as ships tend to vary greatly within lines. I see that the Oasis class ships get heavy praise on here, but we went in with super-high expectations on Oasis OTS and while our cruise was fine, it was just "meh". It seemed to me that if you wanted decent food, it was going to be an upcharge (though we did like Loco Fresh). A few months later we sailed Carnival Mardi Gras (I know!) and surprise... we all liked it much better. It was so different from Carnival's prior ships and the food, especially the included comfort food was vastly superior to what the Oasis had. Previously, we had been on Carnival Sunshine, and while OK (and fun!), it was nowhere near as good as Mardi Gras.

Similarly, the only cruise out of almost 50 that we've done that we literally couldn't wait to disembark was Independence OTS. That cruise was terrible and nowhere near our experience on Oasis. Another example was another of our favorite cruises which was a British Isles cruise on Regal Princess. That was a great ship! However, we did another cruise on Caribbean Princess and it was nowhere near as good as our cruise on the Regal.

Thanks for posting this. A couple of questions for you. Can you give a general sense of Virgin Voyages and the thought of “Party Cruise “. I haven’t put them on my radar as I have a personal perception ( no real facts ) that it might be a party type of cruise. I have keen interest in the Utopia of the Seas just from it being so massive with tons to do. But, I have seen so many videos of just wild crazy drinking parties on the pool deck that has me not want to go to on that one. It’s probably why my wife and I love DCL so much. Not too many people stumbling around plastered with LOUD music blaring on the pool deck with shots being guzzled left and right. And please know I don’t have anything against anyone that wants to do that. But in my situation it’s not good for me.

Also related to your Regal Princess cruise comments. How long ago was that cruise ? Just curious as I am looking at that one as an option to try a different cruise line next May. Decent entertainment, food, service, things to do ??

Thanks for any information you and anyone else is willing to share

 

[tidefan]

Thanks for posting this. A couple of questions for you. Can you give a general sense of Virgin Voyages and the thought of “Party Cruise “. I haven’t put them on my radar as I have a personal perception ( no real facts ) that it might be a party type of cruise. I have keen interest in the Utopia of the Seas just from it being so massive with tons to do. But, I have seen so many videos of just wild crazy drinking parties on the pool deck that has me not want to go to on that one. It’s probably why my wife and I love DCL so much. Not too many people stumbling around plastered with LOUD music blaring on the pool deck with shots being guzzled left and right. And please know I don’t have anything against anyone that wants to do that. But in my situation it’s not good for me.

Virgin is much more "large luxury yacht" than "party ship". I think that when VV first launched, they did themselves a terrible disservice in their advertising, which really doesn't match the onboard experience. I am not sure what people are expecting, but it seems like when I talk to people they think it's a bunch of 20 and 30 year olds running around drinking champagne the entire time. While I'm sure there is some of that, in reality, I'd say that the average age of a VV cruiser is in the 40's to 60's. Quite honestly, they are some of the most laid back cruises I've ever been on. Are there party events? I'm sure there are, but you can choose what you do and there is a variety of things to do so that you can make the cruise your own. Also, the free arcade with tabletop Ms PacMan/Galaga/Galaxian is awesome for this Generation X kid at heart...

FWIW, the original CEO of Virgin Voyages (he is now retired) was Tom McAlpin, who held the same position for many years at Disney Cruise Line...

Also related to your Regal Princess cruise comments. How long ago was that cruise ? Just curious as I am looking at that one as an option to try a different cruise line next May. Decent entertainment, food, service, things to do ??

Thanks for any information you and anyone else is willing to share

We've been on Regal Princess 3 times and really like that ship. The British Isles cruise was in Summer of 2023. It is very much more laid back than something like Carnival or RCCL. Entertainment-wise we loved it, but we are not really big production show people. Where I thought Princess excelled was in having a ton of smaller entertainment things going on like game shows, tons of live music (the crew band on that trip was a highlight), smaller acts, trivia, etc. We were never bored.

Also, you may read mixed reviews about the Princess medallion. Yes, it doesn't work great on some ships, however, at least for us, it worked great on the Regal.

 

[DCLMP]

If your youngest is 21, you really should consider giving Virgin Voyages a try, especially in Europe. We did a 10-night Greek Isles/Adriatic on Valiant Lady last year and it's probably the best cruise we've ever done, and we've done some good ones. It's not really applicable to most on this forum because the ships are all 18+, but if everyone is of age, you need to give it a try. The food is so superior to other lines and it's so different from main line cruising that I think everyone should try it at least once. We love it. Strangely, one of the biggest things that throws off newbies to Virgin is the no tipping policy. On Virgin, service is included in the fare (which is a bit higher) and crew are paid much differently than on other lines in that they are paid an actual competitive wage that does not depend on tips (they all LOVE that, BTW). And it's not just what you typically think of. For instance, when you buy a $10 drink, magically, it is $10, not $11.80 after some 18% gratuity is added. Also, there's no "upcharge" restaurants. Everything is included (there are a couple of additional cost items, but they are things like massive seafood platters, etc.).

And whoever at Virgin said "hey, why don't we put a hammock on the balcony and try that" should win some sort of award...

Also, I am more of a "ship" person than a "line" person, as ships tend to vary greatly within lines. I see that the Oasis class ships get heavy praise on here, but we went in with super-high expectations on Oasis OTS and while our cruise was fine, it was just "meh". It seemed to me that if you wanted decent food, it was going to be an upcharge (though we did like Loco Fresh). A few months later we sailed Carnival Mardi Gras (I know!) and surprise... we all liked it much better. It was so different from Carnival's prior ships and the food, especially the included comfort food was vastly superior to what the Oasis had. Previously, we had been on Carnival Sunshine, and while OK (and fun!), it was nowhere near as good as Mardi Gras.

Similarly, the only cruise out of almost 50 that we've done that we literally couldn't wait to disembark was Independence OTS. That cruise was terrible and nowhere near our experience on Oasis. Another example was another of our favorite cruises which was a British Isles cruise on Regal Princess. That was a great ship! However, we did another cruise on Caribbean Princess and it was nowhere near as good as our cruise on the Regal.

I will keep that in mind for the future. We decided on NCL Viva out of Istanbul. Great itinerary including Croatia, Venice and Montenegro. No sea days. It will be busy. I agree with you on ships vs lines. That’s evident even with DCL. I will look into Virgin for the future. We are locked into the Viva with our 500 dollar credit. Thanks for the review. It’s helpful.

 

[Disneyworldlocal]

Virgin is much more "large luxury yacht" than "party ship". I think that when VV first launched, they did themselves a terrible disservice in their advertising, which really doesn't match the onboard experience. I am not sure what people are expecting, but it seems like when I talk to people they think it's a bunch of 20 and 30 year olds running around drinking champagne the entire time. While I'm sure there is some of that, in reality, I'd say that the average age of a VV cruiser is in the 40's to 60's. Quite honestly, they are some of the most laid back cruises I've ever been on. Are there party events? I'm sure there are, but you can choose what you do and there is a variety of things to do so that you can make the cruise your own. Also, the free arcade with tabletop Ms PacMan/Galaga/Galaxian is awesome for this Generation X kid at heart...

FWIW, the original CEO of Virgin Voyages (he is now retired) was Tom McAlpin, who held the same position for many years at Disney Cruise Line...


We've been on Regal Princess 3 times and really like that ship. The British Isles cruise was in Summer of 2023. It is very much more laid back than something like Carnival or RCCL. Entertainment-wise we loved it, but we are not really big production show people. Where I thought Princess excelled was in having a ton of smaller entertainment things going on like game shows, tons of live music (the crew band on that trip was a highlight), smaller acts, trivia, etc. We were never bored.

Also, you may read mixed reviews about the Princess medallion. Yes, it doesn't work great on some ships, however, at least for us, it worked great on the Regal.

Thanks so much for the detailed information. I really appreciate it