Did something change post-pandemic?

[Calantha]

If you havent noticed from your replies, you're not allowed to say anything negative about Disney or Disney cruise line. It's all lollipops and rainbows!

I think most commenters offered a balanced assessment of the issue (there is good and bad with anything involving people). I'm sorry that you have felt that the service and other things aren't up to par anymore. I've seen many posters suggesting they were going to try other cruise lines. I think that would be the sensible thing to do.

 

[OhThePain]

I think most commenters offered a balanced assessment of the issue (there is good and bad with anything involving people). I'm sorry that you have felt that the service and other things aren't up to par anymore. I've seen many posters suggesting they were going to try other cruise lines. I think that would be the sensible thing to do.

The grass is always greener...

It's sort of funny, if you go to some of the cruising forums, people complain about the same exact things on most cruise lines. Since Covid, service isn't as good, cleaning isn't as good, food quality isn't as good, menus aren't as good, there are fewer options, too many people, the nickel and diming has gotten out of hand, you are paying more and getting less, etc. etc. etc. Bottom line is, this is what cruising is now and it doesn't matter what line you choose for the most part. Cruising isn't what it was in 2019, just like in 2019 it wasn't like it was in 2009, just like in 2009 it wasn't like it was in 1999. People really need to stop thinking cruising is something it isn't anymore. True luxury on a cruise is hard to find (not impossible, but hard). It is now a vacation for the masses and we are all just a number.

 

[jplee3]

This sounds to me like a difference of expectations and the person / family not understanding the differences between Caribbean / Bahamas cruises and European cruises.

Something to note about the food. The ship will be using some local / European brands and food so to an American person the food may taste different to what they are used to.

The majority of the DCL itinerary's in Northern Europe are one off unique itineraries, so there will be high demand, especially for the Norway cruises.

With regards to Cabanas being crowded. I did the Norway cruise last year on DCL. Its a port intensive cruise, so there is a big % of people up early and out of the day. This means that Cabanas will be busy as everyone wants to eat at the same time so they can go out on excursions. When I did the 7 night Norway cruise last year, I had breakfast every morning in the MDR as I knew Cabanas would be packed. The MDR opened at 8am every morning and it was such a great chill calm way to start the day, instead of the hustle and bustle of Cabanas.

I would say its more the fault of the person who didnt plan and research than the ship and crew.

Great/interesting point about Caribbean vs Bahamas vs European cruises. I didn't realize they would be using European brands, etc - I would think that might make a pretty huge difference for sure. Even quality of meat vs what one might be *used* to in the US. I have to think there would be differences there as well...

Now that I think of it, I'm a bit surprised that they chose a newer-offering destination cruise with DCL. I would have thought they'd want something in the Carribbean or Bahamas but they've likely been on cruises or resorts there multiple times already so maybe they wanted to try something different? I can see now how even the atmosphere and feel would be different on cruises that are in different regions. Carribbean/Bahamas cruises are generally going to feel more relaxed with not a ton of port stops and where people aren't all in a rush to exit the ship at specific times, etc. With Europe especially, I figure everyone wants to leave as soon as the ship docks to maximize their time on land, so most of the people on the ship are constrained to the same schedule IF they want off ASAP (this combined with full capacity [or over]) would definitely make it seem like it's nuts.

 

[jplee3]

You can get covid anywhere, not just on a cruise ship - it's common place now and not a unique experience to get it.
I can't see how they can "over book" a cruise. They have pretty strict capacity limits due to life boats.

Okay, maybe "overbook" was the wrong term. Someone on another forum put it this way:

"It's peak summer holidays and post-COVID revenge travel so pretty much all ships are sailing over 100% capacity, and this is especially true of child-focused Disney ships. Cruise ship capacities are based on double occupancy (2 people per cabin). You cram families of 4 (2 adults, 2 kids) in half the cabins and all of the sudden you're sailing at 150% capacity."

 

[mousefan73]

Just wanna throw out a comment about US-based food procurement versus European food procurement. The quality and taste of the food is basically the same in my experience. I do prefer chicken procured in Europe because it doesn’t taste like it’s been bleached. The only difference you’ll notice is with packaged goods like yogurt in Europe usually has a higher fat content as it’s more natural. One difference might be things like salad dressings might taste a little bit different. For example, the ranch is more yogurt based in Europe versus mayonnaise based in the US. You might also find an European Sailings They have a standard milk at the coffee stations versus cream, depending on cruise line, but the potatoes taste the same, as does 99% of the stuff.

Last year on one of the longer Europeans Sailings, they seem to ran out of their chicken strips, which I assume Disney for procures for themselves. But this was just after Covid were there were supply chain issues. Actually was kind of funny because I believe on the Sailing we had three different types of chicken strips. All were good but of course everyone one of the ones that were “DCL.”

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

I've been on 3 Disney Cruises (Wonder 2011 and Fantasy 2014 and 2019). All of them were great. We have also been on Royal Caribbean (2016) and there was definitely a difference in food quality, service, etc...

My friend went on the Dream for the 10-day Norway cruise in the past month and said he had a terrible experience (it was his family's first Disney cruise). He said the food was bad, it was super crowded and packed (overbooked?) and one of the drains in the bathroom caused the entire room to smell horrible and apparently nobody could do anything to resolve it. To top it off, he ended up getting COVID as well

I was shocked at his report, as I would have thought DCL would be something they would have loved (he has high standards but I'm shocked to hear how bad it was per his report). It's disappointing to hear about his experience regardless.

We are booked for the Magic for a 4-day (including a stop at the new island) in 2024 and now I'm a bit concerned. Reading recent reviews too, it seems there are more people complaining about the food quality and other things and it's got me a little worried... it just doesn't sound like the Disney Cruises that I've been on at all.

I'm just wondering what's going on or what happened - has anyone else here had similar experiences to my friend's?

https://disneycruiselineblog.com/cruise-planning/trip-reports/

Disneycruiselineblog did a review of his 8 night Greece/Italy cruise this summer. It seems he agreed with your friend. He was so disappointed in the food that he said they should not have bothered redeeming their platinum Palo credits.

 

[tlovesdis]

I was on the Dream in April/May of this year and it was amazing! Yes it was crowded, but manageable. Food was great, staff was amazing, we enjoyed all the activities and characters and loved our verandah cabin!

 

[soniam]

My friends were on that cruise. None of them got Covid. They have cruised on DCL pre and post Covid. They didn’t complain about the food or their cabin. Their only complaint was about rude children and some rude adults. That may be a post Covid issue but is also related to the guests onboard. They had a great time though.

 

[PsylockeSmythe]

Okay, maybe "overbook" was the wrong term. Someone on another forum put it this way:

"It's peak summer holidays and post-COVID revenge travel so pretty much all ships are sailing over 100% capacity, and this is especially true of child-focused Disney ships. Cruise ship capacities are based on double occupancy (2 people per cabin). You cram families of 4 (2 adults, 2 kids) in half the cabins and all of the sudden you're sailing at 150% capacity."

Except that quote isn't quite correct either. Yes, cruise ships have X number of rooms on them, and they figure that each room is double occupancy. So, the Dream for example, has 1250 rooms, and they figure that means 2500 passengers. The issue is that the Dream has a max passenger count of 4,000 with a crew count of just over 1,450. So unless there were more than 4,000 passengers, it wasn't over capacity. The cruise lines don't really use the 2 per cabin as the capacity rate. They know that some rooms will have more than 2 people.

I feel that what is happening now, is that people who cruised during the Covid years, got use to the smaller crowds and now passenger counts are back up to what they were before Covid, the ships feel crowded compared to a previous cruise.

Psy

 

[jplee3]

Except that quote isn't quite correct either. Yes, cruise ships have X number of rooms on them, and they figure that each room is double occupancy. So, the Dream for example, has 1250 rooms, and they figure that means 2500 passengers. The issue is that the Dream has a max passenger count of 4,000 with a crew count of just over 1,450. So unless there were more than 4,000 passengers, it wasn't over capacity. The cruise lines don't really use the 2 per cabin as the capacity rate. They know that some rooms will have more than 2 people.

I feel that what is happening now, is that people who cruised during the Covid years, got use to the smaller crowds and now passenger counts are back up to what they were before Covid, the ships feel crowded compared to a previous cruise.

Psy

SleepyDeb wrote this above per what her head server told her:

I was on the same cruise. It was very crowded. Our head server said it was 4300 passengers.

If the head server was right, then it sounds like they were in fact over capacity.

I don't know when the last time it was that my buddy cruised but he's generally not one for crowds (neither am I). That said, maybe he generally just got used to be spaced out in restaurants, etc and not being so close to a lot of people ever since COVID. I think many peoples' perceptions of what personal space is or should be have changed since COVID

 

[msu2002]

I was on the Dream in April/May of this year and it was amazing! Yes it was crowded, but manageable. Food was great, staff was amazing, we enjoyed all the activities and characters and loved our verandah cabin!

In regards to my earlier post, our cruise was an Alaska cruise on the Wonder. Yes, you may be correct my wife and I have discussed this to great length since returning maybe the best crews are being given to the Wish and even Fantasy and Dream. I bet the WiFi works lol. I am sure the new Buffet is probably much better on the Wish and maybe the MDR menus haven't gone stale LOL sarcasm...I know the MDR's are brand new.

 

[lanejudy]

If the head server was right, then it sounds like they were in fact over capacity.

When the Dream launched her capacity was stated as 4000 but I have heard multiple reports of up to ~4300 so I don't know if more life rafts were added or how that was accomplished. DCL will NOT allow more guests to be booked to a stateroom than there are beds in that stateroom (even for infants/toddlers), NOR if there are not enough spots in the lifeboat assigned to that stateroom. So "overbooked" doesn't really fit DCL's cruising capacity.

In my experience, any cruise that has a lot of kids will feel more crowded. Peak summer vacation will have a lot of kids.

 

[PsylockeSmythe]

SleepyDeb wrote this above per what her head server told her:


If the head server was right, then it sounds like they were in fact over capacity.

I don't know when the last time it was that my buddy cruised but he's generally not one for crowds (neither am I). That said, maybe he generally just got used to be spaced out in restaurants, etc and not being so close to a lot of people ever since COVID. I think many peoples' perceptions of what personal space is or should be have changed since COVID

Hard to say. When we cruised Alaska last year (May), we received different answers when we asked how many passengers were on board. I think we were told anywhere from 900 to 1400. It just mattered on who on the crew we asked. Based on how the MDRs looked and the table placements, our best guess was in the 1100 range.

Psy

 

[sadiecatie]

If you havent noticed from your replies, you're not allowed to say anything negative about Disney or Disney cruise line. It's all lollipops and rainbows!! I will get destroyed for this post by the dont dare insult my precious Disney crowd but oh well, YES I just got off an Alaska cruise and I can tell you post pandemic the guest service has unfortunately gone down, our servers were not up to par, the ship ( Wonder) is old and needs to be retired, ( they really charged me for that Wifi? ) Cabanas is terrible between nowhere to sit and same bland food every day, and rotational dining room food was OK with a few hits ( lobster), but I am not paying a premium for OK. How about a menu change for once I can recite these in my sleep by now. Oh and the navigatior app is complete junk. I guess I wasn't feeling that "Disney magic". I always thought Disney charged a premium for it being top of the cruise world first class, and we previously felt that way. I guess I didn't drink enough of that free soda and ice cream for the premium Disney price, but hey the cruise director can yell to a theater of 12 year olds "was this your best cruise ever??!!!" and get the screaming response he's lookin for.

I'm not sure what you mean about not being "allowed" to say anything negative - there are plenty of posts on here about things people don't like or bad experiences people have had. There are just on average more positive experiences.

I'm sure some of these things do vary from sailing to sailing, and I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your trip (my family sailed Alaska in June and had a great time). I'm just curious what specifically about the ship was so egregious to you that you think the Wonder needs to be retired? (other than the Wifi, which I grant I've heard is a joke - we didn't purchase it as we want to disconnect on a cruise) I thought the ship looked beautiful, so I'm genuinely curious what stood out to you.

 

[msu2002]

I'm not sure what you mean about not being "allowed" to say anything negative - there are plenty of posts on here about things people don't like or bad experiences people have had. There are just on average more positive experiences.

I'm sure some of these things do vary from sailing to sailing, and I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your trip (my family sailed Alaska in June and had a great time). I'm just curious what specifically about the ship was so egregious to you that you think the Wonder needs to be retired? (other than the Wifi, which I grant I've heard is a joke - we didn't purchase it as we want to disconnect on a cruise) I thought the ship looked beautiful, so I'm genuinely curious what stood out to you.

Okay, retired might be a bit much, but here's my perspective. It needs to not be used for such a premium cruise or cruise brand or charge such a premium price. The ship is almost 25 years old and feels like stepping into 1999 with its amenities. I feel it has Carnival or Norwegian amenities for Disney premium price. Compared to the Wish, Dream and Fantasy I guess i'm saying it should not be under the "disney brand" when it's a Carnival or Norwegian ship.

 

[msu2002]

Okay, retired might be a bit much, but here's my perspective. It needs to not be used for such a premium cruise or cruise brand or charge such a premium price. The ship is almost 25 years old and feels like stepping into 1999 with its amenities. I feel it has Carnival or Norwegian amenities for Disney premium price. Compared to the Wish, Dream and Fantasy I guess i'm saying it should not be under the "disney brand" when it's a Carnival or Norwegian ship.

It makes me wonder about introducing the wonder to a brand new Australia crowd.

 

[mousefan73]

Their only complaint was about rude children and some rude adults.

Have heard this from friends.. "The ENTITLEMENT !!!" was her comment.. I was really bad on her recent Wish and Fantasy sailing.

would also want to comment for those that sailed during Covid, we were spoiled. I did 3 sailings. under half capacity. It was GLORIOUS! I think we forgot what a full cruise ship is during school breaks.. even pre-covid you had to stratically plan your dining on the lido deck regardless of cruise line. We took a cruise on MSC this summer and were so frustrated on how for breakfast we could never get a table at the buffet.. it was crazy... but then we remembered Covid is over.

I have told many this, I would almost like to go back to masks on board and have half the ship to myself. lol

 

[soniam]

Have heard this from friends.. "The ENTITLEMENT !!!" was her comment.. I was really bad on her recent Wish and Fantasy sailing.

It was bad on our 9 night Southern Caribbean in 2022. I was asking my friends about the makeup of the guests, and we figured out what it probably was. They don't have kids and don't feel comfortable telling rotten children to behave. I have a kid and have perfected my evil eye So it went to good use on that cruise last summer I would have been appalled if my son had acted that way on a cruise. Maybe they just don't know/pay attention.

 

[mousefan73]

Okay, retired might be a bit much, but here's my perspective. It needs to not be used for such a premium cruise or cruise brand or charge such a premium price. The ship is almost 25 years old and feels like stepping into 1999 with its amenities. I feel it has Carnival or Norwegian amenities for Disney premium price. Compared to the Wish, Dream and Fantasy I guess i'm saying it should not be under the "disney brand" when it's a Carnival or Norwegian ship.

just curious what amentities you find missing on the Wonder, we have the wonder booked and love her. But maybe we dont expect much.. I like the calm, classic vibe.

 

[mousefan73]

It was bad on our 9 night Southern Caribbean in 2022. I was asking my friends about the makeup of the guests, and we figured out what it probably was. They don't have kids and don't feel comfortable telling rotten children to behave. I have a kid and have perfected my evil eye So it went to good use on that cruise last summer I would have been appalled if my son had acted that way on a cruise. Maybe they just don't know/pay attention.

Actually this summer I went beyond the evil eye... not on DCL. .. so we get in the elevator ( not DCL) and maybe a 10-12 year gets on alone. He just starts pushing all the buttons! I put my hand on his wrist to stop him, ( for the record VERYgently) and yelled at him "NO!, you do not do that," he just looks at me and gets off.

My DD was like oh mom, I said at some point you have a right to speak up for rude behavior. It wasnt so much that he did that ( I told my DD, listen we all might have done that as kids, but in an empty elevator as a joke and then you run out), but that he no respect for others and did it while we were there watching him.. I would really like to know what his parents are like.