I know there has been many threads lately asking about comparisons between Disney and Princess so I thought I would post comparisons while they're fresh in my mind since we just returned yesterday from the Wonder yesterday. Keep in mind, these are simply my opinions.
First off, let me say we had a wonderful cruise, perfect sunny weather, calm seas and great service. We were a family of 5 and in staterooms 5622 and 5624.
The Wonder is a beautiful ship and very clean but it does show some wear and tear and there are things that need to be redone. Crew is constantly cleaning, maybe a tad more than on Princess but both lines are equally as clean. Our cabin steward Grace was fantastic she really was. I have had cabin stewards that were just as fantastic on Princess so I guess it's just the luck of who you get on any cruise.
Food, it was good, not great but good and I find this to be the case on PRincess as well. Now, Palo is just tremendous. We actully ate dinner there twice and had the brunch on sea day. Michael was our server and I just can't say enough about him. All 3 of our experiences in here were great. After dining on a cruise line that offers anytime dining I can tell you that I so prefer that. I don't like having the 8:30 dining time and that's what we got even though I requested the 8:00 Pm seating. It's just too late to get finished after 10 and I personally feel it ruins the night a bit. Again, this is just my opinion. I also don't understand why even though I had the last seating in the 2nd dining rotation for dinner, we had the earliest seating on the last day for breakfast on the last day for the 2nd rotation. Shouldn't it follow suit that since I had to wait to be last for dinner that I would get the extra 1/2 hour of sleep on the last day? Also, Disney needs to offer more options for those of us who don't want a 2 hour dining experience. Keeping the buffet open during dinner hours would be great and I'm sure there would be those who would take advantage of it. AFter all, after a day at the beach in the sun not all of us want to put on pants and sit for 2 hours. A quick buffet dinner would be perfect. Most other lines have the buffets open for dinner so I'm not quite sure why Disney doesn't do it.
The movies are really nice but with the exception of the day in Nassau where Pirates of the Caribbean in shown at 2:00 pm, it was only shown at 11:00 pm every night. On our sea day the only movies shown over and over again was Cars. Now that's great for the younger set, but not great for the teens or adults on board. I remember more choices on all of our other cruises and so we were disappointed in this. Also, I still don't understand why Disney can't show NBC or CBS on tv. I know they own ABC, but watching another channel isn't really disloyal now, is it?!!!
The crew, now Disney does outshine everyone is the friendliness of the crew that's for sure. There is a big difference in how the crew handles the guests, how they deal with children, and their friendliness. We spent a lot of time in Diversions getting to know Grant, Steve, and Claudio. They were so much fun and so nice and they really helped to make our cruise. It was fun getting to hear about their countries and lives. You won't find such friendly outgoing crew on Princess, you just won't. The crew is great on Princess but just like on Disney.
Entertainment, not enough for adults. The parties they have in Wavebands are nice, but that's all there is and they are exactly the same as when we sailed years ago. It would be nice if there were other things offered. On our sea days most of the activites for adults were jammed together within a few hours so it make you pick one or another. Then come evening there was nothing until 10:45 at night which was pub night. Speaking of pub night, don't miss it, it's so much fun.
My 14 year old loved the ship and had a great time, made lots of friends. My 16 year old decided that he doesn't want to go on another Disney cruise and prefers Princess at this point. There are just a lot more teens on Princess, way too many young kids on Disney and I guess that makes a difference in his age group. My 18 year old did like the college/single thing they held late at night in Diversions as she then got to meet people close to her age. She seemed to have a great time and enjoyed being able to go into Route 66 for the first time at night.
I decided this time around that Disney isn't the ship that I will go on for cruising when it's just my husband and I, things were just too geared for the younger set. Though we had a wonderful time and an excellent cruise I'm not sure we'll be cruising again on Disney. I do love the friendliness of the crew on Disney and that just can't be beat, but that alone for me just isn't worth the large price difference between Disney and other lines. AFter being in a mini-suite on each Princess cruise and a full suite last time, our verandah cabin was so small and the balcony was just tiny. We spend so much time on our balconies on our Princess cruises because they are just so deep and big.
I know that there will be plenty of you who disagree with me just like there are plenty on Princess board who think Princess is the only thing out there and Disney isn't great. This was my opinion and just thought I would share some comparisons for those who are questioning whether or not they could be happy sailing on another line. We have actually enjoyed each and every cruise we've taken on both Disney and Princess. They each of their strengths and their weaknesses. We loved our cruise, it was wonderful and we're happy we took it.
As a side note, we got a room at the Comfort Suites and went to Atlantis for the day. The Atlantis was sold out and there were just way too many people to enjoy the day. By the time we got there all of the chairs and lounge chairs were gone. The pools were a zoo, the lines to go down the slides were so long and it took about 45 minutes to reach the top in the incredible heat. Service was slow, slow, slow. This is the first time we did this during the summer months and it was so crowded and loud that it truly wasn't worth the money we spent. If we go next time, we'll walk around a enjoy the ship.
Now back to reality and tons of laundry!!!
First off, let me say we had a wonderful cruise, perfect sunny weather, calm seas and great service. We were a family of 5 and in staterooms 5622 and 5624.
The Wonder is a beautiful ship and very clean but it does show some wear and tear and there are things that need to be redone. Crew is constantly cleaning, maybe a tad more than on Princess but both lines are equally as clean. Our cabin steward Grace was fantastic she really was. I have had cabin stewards that were just as fantastic on Princess so I guess it's just the luck of who you get on any cruise.
Food, it was good, not great but good and I find this to be the case on PRincess as well. Now, Palo is just tremendous. We actully ate dinner there twice and had the brunch on sea day. Michael was our server and I just can't say enough about him. All 3 of our experiences in here were great. After dining on a cruise line that offers anytime dining I can tell you that I so prefer that. I don't like having the 8:30 dining time and that's what we got even though I requested the 8:00 Pm seating. It's just too late to get finished after 10 and I personally feel it ruins the night a bit. Again, this is just my opinion. I also don't understand why even though I had the last seating in the 2nd dining rotation for dinner, we had the earliest seating on the last day for breakfast on the last day for the 2nd rotation. Shouldn't it follow suit that since I had to wait to be last for dinner that I would get the extra 1/2 hour of sleep on the last day? Also, Disney needs to offer more options for those of us who don't want a 2 hour dining experience. Keeping the buffet open during dinner hours would be great and I'm sure there would be those who would take advantage of it. AFter all, after a day at the beach in the sun not all of us want to put on pants and sit for 2 hours. A quick buffet dinner would be perfect. Most other lines have the buffets open for dinner so I'm not quite sure why Disney doesn't do it.
The movies are really nice but with the exception of the day in Nassau where Pirates of the Caribbean in shown at 2:00 pm, it was only shown at 11:00 pm every night. On our sea day the only movies shown over and over again was Cars. Now that's great for the younger set, but not great for the teens or adults on board. I remember more choices on all of our other cruises and so we were disappointed in this. Also, I still don't understand why Disney can't show NBC or CBS on tv. I know they own ABC, but watching another channel isn't really disloyal now, is it?!!!
The crew, now Disney does outshine everyone is the friendliness of the crew that's for sure. There is a big difference in how the crew handles the guests, how they deal with children, and their friendliness. We spent a lot of time in Diversions getting to know Grant, Steve, and Claudio. They were so much fun and so nice and they really helped to make our cruise. It was fun getting to hear about their countries and lives. You won't find such friendly outgoing crew on Princess, you just won't. The crew is great on Princess but just like on Disney.
Entertainment, not enough for adults. The parties they have in Wavebands are nice, but that's all there is and they are exactly the same as when we sailed years ago. It would be nice if there were other things offered. On our sea days most of the activites for adults were jammed together within a few hours so it make you pick one or another. Then come evening there was nothing until 10:45 at night which was pub night. Speaking of pub night, don't miss it, it's so much fun.
My 14 year old loved the ship and had a great time, made lots of friends. My 16 year old decided that he doesn't want to go on another Disney cruise and prefers Princess at this point. There are just a lot more teens on Princess, way too many young kids on Disney and I guess that makes a difference in his age group. My 18 year old did like the college/single thing they held late at night in Diversions as she then got to meet people close to her age. She seemed to have a great time and enjoyed being able to go into Route 66 for the first time at night.
I decided this time around that Disney isn't the ship that I will go on for cruising when it's just my husband and I, things were just too geared for the younger set. Though we had a wonderful time and an excellent cruise I'm not sure we'll be cruising again on Disney. I do love the friendliness of the crew on Disney and that just can't be beat, but that alone for me just isn't worth the large price difference between Disney and other lines. AFter being in a mini-suite on each Princess cruise and a full suite last time, our verandah cabin was so small and the balcony was just tiny. We spend so much time on our balconies on our Princess cruises because they are just so deep and big.
I know that there will be plenty of you who disagree with me just like there are plenty on Princess board who think Princess is the only thing out there and Disney isn't great. This was my opinion and just thought I would share some comparisons for those who are questioning whether or not they could be happy sailing on another line. We have actually enjoyed each and every cruise we've taken on both Disney and Princess. They each of their strengths and their weaknesses. We loved our cruise, it was wonderful and we're happy we took it.
As a side note, we got a room at the Comfort Suites and went to Atlantis for the day. The Atlantis was sold out and there were just way too many people to enjoy the day. By the time we got there all of the chairs and lounge chairs were gone. The pools were a zoo, the lines to go down the slides were so long and it took about 45 minutes to reach the top in the incredible heat. Service was slow, slow, slow. This is the first time we did this during the summer months and it was so crowded and loud that it truly wasn't worth the money we spent. If we go next time, we'll walk around a enjoy the ship.
Now back to reality and tons of laundry!!!
