"Disney Difference" in the Med?

[Thecrookedcap]

I've been looking at some of the preliminary pricing for the Med Cruises in '21. What do they do onboard in the Med that makes a DCL cruises more worthwhile than a Royal Caribbean or Norwegian?

I've found it easy to choose DCL on the Bahamian sailings (done the Magic and Dream before), as I've treated the ship as the destination. A Mediterranean cruise would be really different, since I'm interested in the ports of call. Given the significant price difference, would I be better off on a non-Disney ship?

EDIT: For the trip I’m planning I will most likely be solo. That’s also factoring into my decision with the single supplement rearing its ugly head.

 

[o&smom]

I've been looking at some of the preliminary pricing for the Med Cruises in '21. What do they do onboard in the Med that makes a DCL cruises more worthwhile than a Royal Caribbean or Norwegian?

I've found it easy to choose DCL on the Bahamian sailings (done the Magic and Dream before), as I've treated the ship as the destination. A Mediterranean cruise would be really different, since I'm interested in the ports of call. Given the significant price difference, would I be better off on a non-Disney ship?

We have felt it was the best choice for us with kids. We cruised in Europe with them when they were 3 mos/ 7, 3/9, 4/10, 5/11, and 9/16. Especially when they were younger, it was a great way to explore Europe and still have it be fun for them and have some downtime with things that interested them. We have continued because they now love Disney cruise line. If it were just my husband and myself, we would have to at least consider other options.

 

[Thecrookedcap]

We have felt it was the best choice for us with kids. We cruised in Europe with them when they were 3 mos/ 7, 3/9, 4/10, 5/11, and 9/16. Especially when they were younger, it was a great way to explore Europe and still have it be fun for them and have some downtime with things that interested them. We have continued because they now love Disney cruise line. If it were just my husband and myself, we would have to at least consider other options.

I did forget to mention I would likely be traveling solo on this

 

[o&smom]

I did forget to mention I would likely be traveling solo on this

Unless you are REALLY into characters, you should at least check out other options. Especially since Disney makes you pay the fare for two passengers even though you are a single. I just saw someone post a single room video on the Norwegian Epic - it made me want to go on a cruise by myself. Not sure if it goes to Europe, though. It supposedly has a sister ship coming out soon, too.

 

[lilsonicfan]

...
Given the significant price difference, would I be better off on a non-Disney ship?

EDIT: For the trip I’m planning I will most likely be solo. That’s also factoring into my decision with the single supplement rearing its ugly head.

Obviously these decisions are quite personal for everyone, but for a solo traveller - I do not see the ship as the destination in the Med. You are there to see Europe and as much of it as you can. The "ship" stuff is the same as it is in the Caribbean, except you have far less time to enjoy it if you're off the ship in many ports.

 

[aggiedog]

DCL is not "worth it" to me for the Med. Unless you have enough money that the differential is inconsequential to you, you should look at other lines and decide if that price difference is enough to make you branch out. If you plan to make the most of the ports, you won't be on the ship very much anyways. If you're someone who likes to vacation ON the ship, and plan to only do short to no excursions, you might want to DCL (or better yet, do DCL in the Caribbean where it's cheaper. )

We did a comparable itinerary in the Med with MSC in concierge for less than half of what non-concierge DCL was. We saved enough to spend a week in France before the cruise.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

In the Med, the Disney Difference is spending several thousand dollars more. Med cruises are port intensive, you're often off ship for dinner, and Disney doesn't offer singles like some cruise lines/ships offer.

Ship as destination is really not something that exists on a Med cruise, especially if you're having to schlep from North America for it.

 

[DCLCruiseFan09]

Unless you are REALLY into characters, you should at least check out other options. Especially since Disney makes you pay the fare for two passengers even though you are a single. I just saw someone post a single room video on the Norwegian Epic - it made me want to go on a cruise by myself. Not sure if it goes to Europe, though. It supposedly has a sister ship coming out soon, too.

Word of Caution: Look for Single rooms but avoid the Epic like the plague. The Epic is by far the worst cruise ship I have ever been on. Its like the Winchester mystery house with all kinds of hallways that lead nowhere and strange doors that have no purpose. The food was terrible. I went on just a short 3 night cruise out of Canaveral and couldn't wait to get off the ship on the final morning to get some real food.

From what I have seen, Celebrity has Single Verandah staterooms on the Edge/Apex? Definitely worth checking out. I saw a really favorable review by someone who was traveling solo.

 

[o&smom]

Word of Caution: Look for Single rooms but avoid the Epic like the plague. The Epic is by far the worst cruise ship I have ever been on. Its like the Winchester mystery house with all kinds of hallways that lead nowhere and strange doors that have no purpose. The food was terrible. I went on just a short 3 night cruise out of Canaveral and couldn't wait to get off the ship on the final morning to get some real food.

From what I have seen, Celebrity has Single Verandah staterooms on the Edge/Apex? Definitely worth checking out. I saw a really favorable review by someone who was traveling solo.

Sorry, yes, you are correct. It was on Celebrity. My bad. I have only cruused Disney and all of the other ships are still a confusing mystery.

 

[Lauri]

I love DCL! We started sailing when our kids were little, and continue to sail them now that our kids are grown and it's just the two of us. For sea days, bring on DCL. But for a port intensive cruise, we always sail with Princess. We've now done Alaska, Rome to Athens and a Baltic Cruise with Princess. We were barely on the ship on those cruises, and were too tired from sightseeing to do anything when we got back to the ship. In most European ports, the ports can be as much as an hour away from the city you would like to visit (and one time, even 3 hours each way.) On DCL, we usually get oceanview cabins, but on Princess, we've always got balconies, for significantly less money. For the Mediterranean, I would definitely go with another cruise line for the money.

 

[Mommb]

This is not relevant to singles or most couples, but for families, having a split bath may be a major advantage. It was also very helpful for my son and daughter to have separate beds rather than sharing a sofa bed. It appears that other cruise lines have some cabins with 3 or 4 separate beds, but not as many per ship as on Disney. These alone may not justify the cost difference, but coupled with the kids' programming it was enough for us to stick with Disney while our kids were under 18.

 

[Disney_Fan_01]

We are not experienced cruisers by any means. We have only done one 3 day cruise in the bahamas and one 7 day mediterranean both with Disney. We are not into cruising as we prefer visiting new destinations; hence, more ports are appealing to us rather than extra sea days. For 2021 we have decided to sail with Norwegian which has zero sea days and 6 ports. Our cost will be almost half of what DCL would charge for similar dates. We had a great time with Disney, but with the savings, we can add another week in Europe and have a nicer vacation overall. It justifies the high cost of airfare by being able to spend more time in Europe and not all for the cruise.

 

[lilsonicfan]

This is not relevant to singles or most couples, but for families, having a split bath may be a major advantage. It was also very helpful for my son and daughter to have separate beds rather than sharing a sofa bed. It appears that other cruise lines have some cabins with 3 or 4 separate beds, but not as many per ship as on Disney. These alone may not justify the cost difference, but coupled with the kids' programming it was enough for us to stick with Disney while our kids were under 18.

The split bath is helpful to families, I agree. But the room layout is just as much good for some as it is bad for others - on many ships, the main bed is two twins put together to form a king bed - which means they also split apart nicely so that siblings or parent and adult child could share a room with less awkwardness than on DCL where someone essentially gets a sofa bed or a pullman. In my view, DCL is really geared towards families. Yes, adults can find things to do and have just as good a time sans kiddos, but I don't think there's any argument that their target audience isn't singles or couples, it's families.

 

[kiford]

Ship as destination is really not something that exists on a Med cruise, especially if you're having to schlep from North America for it.

No, you won't spend as much time actually on the ship for a Med cruise, but we've looked into other cruise lines and come to the conclusion that there are a very limited number that I'd be willing to cruise on - regardless of itinerary - for various reasons (which I won't go into here). So for us, the question starts not with "how much time will we spend on the ship versus in port" but with "what will the experience be on the ship for the portion of time I am on it". If there is a cruise line that isn't on my limited list, it would only mean that I would be unhappy for a shorter period of time on a Med cruise than a less port-intensive one if I sailed with them. That's a non-starter as far as I am concerned, especially if I've had to pay a lot of money to get there. If I was to try a different cruise line, a Med cruise certainly wouldn't be the first one I'd do with them given the length of time I'd be on it and cost to get there. Each person has to define whether or not the ship is important to a Med cruise. It is for us.

 

[ChicosWife]

I also see that these seem to be more adult-filled Disney ships. Do people not take their kids for a reason, maybe cost, flights, etc.?

 

[Travel60]

Look at the small ship cruising for the Med (large yacht class). Some have no single supplement.

 

[DCLCruiseFan09]

Sorry, yes, you are correct. It was on Celebrity. My bad. I have only cruused Disney and all of the other ships are still a confusing mystery.

Nothing to be sorry about! A lot of norwegian ships do have the single rooms (the epic included). I just had such a terrible experience on that ship I felt I should say something.