Disney Fantasy - June 17, 2017 - 11 night Southern Caribbean

[AMusicLifeForMe]

Anyone book their next cruise while on this one? We signed up for the Sep. 2 2018 British Isles trip on the Magic. That will be our first time on that side of the Atlantic.

Not yet. We got the two year booking credit thing. The British isles is actually at the top of our list. We are just sad to see they are only doing 7 days since they are doing a 12 day this year. We might see you on that sailing.

 

[lucas]

Anyone book their next cruise while on this one? We signed up for the Sep. 2 2018 British Isles trip on the Magic. That will be our first time on that side of the Atlantic.

British Isles sounds fantastic!

We didn't sign-up for any other DCL. But, we have the Royal Princess booked for Christmas. And, even though we have WDW booked for Thanksgiving, we are thinking of booking a cruise over that week instead. We're looking at 3 different lines, because they hall have reasonable prices - Princess, Royal Caribbean or Holland America. Since we are going with Princess over Christmas, I am leaning to the other 2 lines and I would love one that goes to Key West. We are really spoiled with sailing out of Fort Lauderdale since we live in Boca Raton. In the future, I would also be interested in another DCL out of Miami (much shorter drive for us).

Hope all is well with you guys!

 

[iadizfans]

British Isles sounds fantastic!

We didn't sign-up for any other DCL. But, we have the Royal Princess booked for Christmas. And, even though we have WDW booked for Thanksgiving, we are thinking of booking a cruise over that week instead. We're looking at 3 different lines, because they hall have reasonable prices - Princess, Royal Caribbean or Holland America. Since we are going with Princess over Christmas, I am leaning to the other 2 lines and I would love one that goes to Key West. We are really spoiled with sailing out of Fort Lauderdale since we live in Boca Raton. In the future, I would also be interested in another DCL out of Miami (much shorter drive for us).

Hope all is well with you guys!

Let us know your take on the differences between DCL and the others. We still have not tried another line, we like Disney so much.

 

[iadizfans]

Not yet. We got the two year booking credit thing. The British isles is actually at the top of our list. We are just sad to see they are only doing 7 days since they are doing a 12 day this year. We might see you on that sailing.

It would be great to see you on that cruise. Keep in touch and let us know if you book.

 

[lucas]

Let us know your take on the differences between DCL and the others. We still have not tried another line, we like Disney so much.

We love Princess (and other lines, too), as you can see from my signature. We are Disney freaks and love DCL, but sometimes it is not necessary to cruise with Mickey. Plus, other cruise lines have been sailing way longer than DCL and DCL probably took pointers from them (including the new hand washing station).

Plus, Princess gives any past veteran (not just active duty or retired) a shipboard credit (dh was in the Navy). And, they give stockholders another shipboard credit every cruise, which Disney does not give to their stockholders.

We feel Princess has much better food (especially pizza!) although Disney shows are #1. (But, the new huge RCCL ships, Oasis, Allure, Harmony have great Broadway type shows and fantastic ice skating shows with Olympic quality skaters - those are my favorite!) The other cruise lines have a dining room set up for anytime dining and their buffet area is open in the afternoons and also for dinner every night. (*Not like what we experienced in Cabanas for dinner that night.) And, every afternoon the other cruise lines have formal tea (for free) and we really enjoy that, too. Of course, you don't get "free" sodas with other cruise lines. But, we are at the top tier with Princess (they call it Elite), so we get a free mini bar set-up with liquor, beer, water or soda included. Or, you can swap the mini bar for 2 free coffee cards for their specialty coffees and ice cream. And, hope I don't get blasted, but Sabatini's on Princess is much better than Palo. Just our opinion, of course.

Evenings in the dining rooms on other lines are always more dressy than DCL, which allows shorts in the dining room. Actually, that might be a plus for DCL!

I know others disagree as there have been many threads on the subject. But, for us, for what Disney is charging (way more than double), we like to be able to go on more cruises than we would if we just sailed with DCL.

 

[iadizfans]

We love Princess (and other lines, too), as you can see from my signature. We are Disney freaks and love DCL, but sometimes it is not necessary to cruise with Mickey. Plus, other cruise lines have been sailing way longer than DCL and DCL probably took pointers from them (including the new hand washing station).

Plus, Princess gives any past veteran (not just active duty or retired) a shipboard credit (dh was in the Navy). And, they give stockholders another shipboard credit every cruise, which Disney does not give to their stockholders.

We feel Princess has much better food (especially pizza!) although Disney shows are #1. (But, the new huge RCCL ships, Oasis, Allure, Harmony have great Broadway type shows and fantastic ice skating shows with Olympic quality skaters - those are my favorite!) The other cruise lines have a dining room set up for anytime dining and their buffet area is open in the afternoons and also for dinner every night. (*Not like what we experienced in Cabanas for dinner that night.) And, every afternoon the other cruise lines have formal tea (for free) and we really enjoy that, too. Of course, you don't get "free" sodas with other cruise lines. But, we are at the top tier with Princess (they call it Elite), so we get a free mini bar set-up with liquor, beer, water or soda included. Or, you can swap the mini bar for 2 free coffee cards for their specialty coffees and ice cream. And, hope I don't get blasted, but Sabatini's on Princess is much better than Palo. Just our opinion, of course.

Evenings in the dining rooms on other lines are always more dressy than DCL, which allows shorts in the dining room. Actually, that might be a plus for DCL!

I know others disagree as there have been many threads on the subject. But, for us, for what Disney is charging (way more than double), we like to be able to go on more cruises than we would if we just sailed with DCL.

Appreciate that comparison... We have started looking at other cruise lines primarily because of the Disney's prices. They are ridiculously higher. We love DCL but maybe too much?

 

[lucas]

Appreciate that comparison... We have started looking at other cruise lines primarily because of the Disney's prices. They are ridiculously higher. We love DCL but maybe too much?

Exactly. I love Disney, too! There is a plus side and minus side to all the different cruise lines. But, DCL prices are really getting crazy high.

If you do decide to go with another line, of course you will compare every small detail to DCL. You'll think DCL is best, but then you start finding things that the other lines excel at, too. (We go back and forth with comparisons all the time.) It is kinda exciting when you try a new line because it feels like a new adventure. It is fun not knowing every little thing that is coming your way and to experience new things.

Of course, we have some WDW trips coming up and I hope to be back to DCL. But, our upcoming cruises will be non-Disney ones for awhile. Again, living in South Florida makes it easy for us to drive to the port and hop on other ships!

P.S. Another plus for DCL is that they are the only one to dock at their private island. The others all use tenders.

 

[iadizfans]

What we've always appreciated about the Disney ships is simply their appearance - inside and out. The attention they pay to detail... the marble flooring in the common areas. The restrooms. When we pull along side other ships in port you can see a difference in appearance. But is that worth the ever widening difference in price. We're really starting to think Disney is too expensive for us.

 

[AMusicLifeForMe]

What we've always appreciated about the Disney ships is simply their appearance - inside and out. The attention they pay to detail... the marble flooring in the common areas. The restrooms. When we pull along side other ships in port you can see a difference in appearance. But is that worth the ever widening difference in price. We're really starting to think Disney is too expensive for us.

I get the price thing. My Dad and I recently started traveling on Disney. This was by far the most expensive cruise we have ever gone on. Now, even with the appearance, for us the service exceeds every cruise line we have tried by a long shot. We see the price worth it in the service alone and the appearance is an added bonus. Now, have we had great experiences on other cruise lines? Yes. However, it is important to go in with different expectations. Even on the nicer ships on other cruise lines, go in with a different outlook, because in our eyes, they don't compare to Disney.

Cruising Disney has definitely determined on what type of stateroom we get though. Like, we had to get an inside stateroom for this cruise. If we took this same cruise on another cruise line, we could have possibly gotten a suite for the price we paid for this cruise.

 

[lucas]

I get the price thing. My Dad and I recently started traveling on Disney. This was by far the most expensive cruise we have ever gone on. Now, even with the appearance, for us the service exceeds every cruise line we have tried by a long shot. We see the price worth it in the service alone and the appearance is an added bonus. Now, have we had great experiences on other cruise lines? Yes. However, it is important to go in with different expectations. Even on the nicer ships on other cruise lines, go in with a different outlook, because in our eyes, they don't compare to Disney.

Cruising Disney has definitely determined on what type of stateroom we get though. Like, we had to get an inside stateroom for this cruise. If we took this same cruise on another cruise line, we could have possibly gotten a suite for the price we paid for this cruise.

That is what dh always says! And, Princess suite perks are very nice!

Any hoo, we can't cruise with DCL without a FL resident rate. No way. And, when I tell all the other Florida residents that I work with, that we are going on a DCL cruise, they are still shocked that we sail with them. That's because they know how expensive DCL is compared to other lines.

But, I still love Disney!

 

[iadizfans]

I get the price thing. My Dad and I recently started traveling on Disney. This was by far the most expensive cruise we have ever gone on. Now, even with the appearance, for us the service exceeds every cruise line we have tried by a long shot. We see the price worth it in the service alone and the appearance is an added bonus. Now, have we had great experiences on other cruise lines? Yes. However, it is important to go in with different expectations. Even on the nicer ships on other cruise lines, go in with a different outlook, because in our eyes, they don't compare to Disney.

Cruising Disney has definitely determined on what type of stateroom we get though. Like, we had to get an inside stateroom for this cruise. If we took this same cruise on another cruise line, we could have possibly gotten a suite for the price we paid for this cruise.

Good point regarding the service. I've heard that other cruise lines do not have DCLs service. But I think that with the cost difference being that wide.. and seemingly getting wider by the day.. we're gonna give the others a try.

 

[lucas]

We've never sailed with Celebrity. But, I've heard they are top notch, too. (Royal Caribbean owns Celebrity.)

And, we've never sailed on a Carnival ship. I don't think that would be our cup of tea. Although Carnival owns:
Carnival Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, P&O Cruises, P&O Cruises Australia, Cunard, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, and Seabourn. Carnival stock covers all of these.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We've never sailed with Celebrity. But, I've heard they are top notch, too. (Royal Caribbean owns Celebrity.)

And, we've never sailed on a Carnival ship. I don't think that would be our cup of tea. Although Carnival owns:
Carnival Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, P&O Cruises, P&O Cruises Australia, Cunard, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, and Seabourn. Carnival stock covers all of these.

We've cruised HAL, Princess and Carnival. I find the service generally "better" on DCL. Not really better in the sense of the service, but more personable. That is, the servers on DCL are more interactive. I think it mostly has to do with the attitude of the passengers. On the other cruiselines (especially HAL) the passenger attitude seems to be more "they are here to serve us" and they don't really talk to the servers/room hosts. We've been able to get our servers on the other lines to loosen up and they really are pretty much like the DCL ones after that. But they seem surprised when we try to talk to them initially.

Food - I find the food on the lines we've been on to be pretty much the same - catered banquet style. That said, the food on Princess is heavily italian (lots of pasta and tomato based dishes), on Holland America I find the menus are more varied that DCL. They even serve "regular" sorts of dishes - meat loaf, sweet & sour (whatever meat), simple spaghetti. DCL seems to have the same menu (even though it's called different things) - a pasta dish, a chicken dish (and you could shake them all up in a bag and not know which one you got from night to night), one or two fish/seafood dishes, and a beef dish (not steak, but prime rib or something else).

On Carnival I found the buffet better than the meals in the dining room.

 

[lucas]

DCL servers may be more interactive because they deal with so many kids and I'm sure are trained to be that way. Doing magic tricks, cutting up their food for them, etc. We've actually told servers on 2 different DCL cruises"no thanks" when they put the crayon type puzzle on the table for us. I enjoy talking to them, but we're not interested in doing puzzles to pass the time when the service is slow.

 

[iadizfans]

DCL servers may be more interactive because they deal with so many kids and I'm sure are trained to be that way. Doing magic tricks, cutting up their food for them, etc. We've actually told servers on 2 different DCL cruises"no thanks" when they put the crayon type puzzle on the table for us. I enjoy talking to them, but we're not interested in doing puzzles to pass the time when the service is slow.

LOL.... We do the same. I feel so bad for the servers in Animator's Palate when they have to pitch those "Crush" drink mugs at each and every table regardless if there are any kids sitting there. The guy on this last cruise looked relieved when we told him we were not interested.

 

[AMusicLifeForMe]

LOL.... We do the same. I feel so bad for the servers in Animator's Palate when they have to pitch those "Crush" drink mugs at each and every table regardless if there are any kids sitting there. The guy on this last cruise looked relieved when we told him we were not interested.

I saw them, but we were never offered one. They were tempting though lol.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

LOL.... We do the same. I feel so bad for the servers in Animator's Palate when they have to pitch those "Crush" drink mugs at each and every table regardless if there are any kids sitting there. The guy on this last cruise looked relieved when we told him we were not interested.

I don't recall having a Crush mug being pushed in AP. But we love the crayon puzzles. In fact, the first one we got, I figured out. And then helped the next table to ours (who we actually wound up talking to most nights) when their turn came.

I suppose whether you want to (or expect to) be seated with others depends a lot on your concept of what cruising is all about. I grew up on "Love Boat" and old movies about cruising, and they all had shared tables, usually 8-10 people ones. I find that's a part of traveling that I enjoy - meeting others and learning about where they're from, even if it's in my own country.

 

[lucas]

I don't recall having a Crush mug being pushed in AP. But we love the crayon puzzles. In fact, the first one we got, I figured out. And then helped the next table to ours (who we actually wound up talking to most nights) when their turn came.

I suppose whether you want to (or expect to) be seated with others depends a lot on your concept of what cruising is all about. I grew up on "Love Boat" and old movies about cruising, and they all had shared tables, usually 8-10 people ones. I find that's a part of traveling that I enjoy - meeting others and learning about where they're from, even if it's in my own country.

Oh yes, we love meeting others while cruising. One of the highlights of this cruise was meeting everyone at our Meet & Greet. And, then running into ya'll throughout the cruise and getting to spend time together at some of the events was especially fun.

Hey Zach, hope you are having another great time on your current trip!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Oh yes, we love meeting others while cruising. One of the highlights of this cruise was meeting everyone at our Meet & Greet. And, then running into ya'll throughout the cruise and getting to spend time together at some of the events was especially fun.

Hey Zach, hope you are having another great time on your current trip!

I enjoyed the Meet & Greet - I just wish more people had shown up for it. I mean aren't there more than 4 parties on this thread? I would have liked to have met everyone who's participated on this thread.

 

[AMusicLifeForMe]

Hey Zach, hope you are having another great time on your current trip!

I am! Currently at Disneyland!