For your reading pleasure, a funny cruisecritic review

[DVC_Corrys]

So,
This was pretty funny. Also, I think they are talking about some of us on the boards ....

I have included the entire review but the first paragraph is hilarious.

I thought Disney was for kids - From Cruise Critic.

Wow! I had no idea that there is a counter culture of adults for whom Disney is their church. This group likes to camp out in front of the stores in sleeping bags awaiting limited edition pins and fight for T-shirts whenever they are strategically stocked in the stores. They also like to interrupt childrens programs to answer trivia questions intended for children and dress up in costumes and break out in Disney songs all the time. They treated the Characters like celebrities.

Wow. I was kind of disturbed by all of this.

We went on a family vacation with our two small children, but felt like complete outsiders by all of the obsessive adults on board without children.

The chldrens programs were pretty pathetic. The staff did not entertain the children at all and my children were really scared to go there after the first day. So this was not the relaxing vacation we were hoping for at all. Disney, do you really think you can let toddlers fend for themselves? It may be okay for 10 year olds, but you can't group 3 and 10 year olds together with minimal supervision and expect for it to go well. Pretty shocking for Disney.

The food was disgusting. I was so upset that I had to put such greasy, low quality food into my kids bellies for 7 days! Hard pancakes and waffles, greasy pizza, gross chicken fingers. Yuck! And the sodium in the food for adults was really noticable. I really did not feel well after eating this for so long. If you are health conscious, there just aren't any options for you. I was so relieved to get off the boat and find healthy food! I would pay so much extra for it too if it would just be an option!

We were bored a lot. There was hardly any live music. That was odd. The ship was eerily quiet.

Not our cup of tea I guess.

 

[kimistry6]

To each their own. My kids loved the club but my 4 yr old did get a little bored with it. I personally loved the chicken fingers!!

 

[jmcross]

If these people don't rebook another cruise that just leaves more spots open for the rest of us.

 

[DVCconvert]

I bet these folk made for fun tablemates!

 

[E&Cmom]

My 7 and 4 year old had to be dragged out of the clubs to actually spend time with us. They were constantly asking to go there.

The cruise was definitely "our cup of tea".

 

[Timon]

"...gross chicken fingers. Yuck! "


What????????????

I dream about those chicken fingers and I'm not even a huge chicken lover

 

[clten]

"...gross chicken fingers. Yuck! "


What????????????

I dream about those chicken fingers and I'm not even a huge chicken lover

I know and all that unhealthy fresh cut fruit that they hide right at the beginning of the buffet. Yuck. (I dream about the fresh pineapple!)

 

[SallySkelington]

Oh my, that poor unfortunate soul just insulted chicken fingers. I think my hubby just died a little some where inside.

But hey, if DCL ain't your cup o' tea, I'm alright with that. More room for the rest of us!

 

[K8T]

Everyone is different!!! Although I can see where this poster was coming from.

We have done only three Disney Cruises, but are going on another next week. The last two were both in the Med and we had a fantastic time.

As to the people who are really 'in' to Disney, I can accept that and would say each to their own, there are a lot worse interests to have!!!

I agree that the kids clubs are chaotic though. I was really surprised and have posted such on the boards, how much a 'free for all' it is. Our dd was 3 the first time we went (potty trained), but no way would I have left her in there. Even as a 5 year old, I couldn't relax, it just seemed to me that the children ran riot, with little minimal supervision, until a short activity took place. Now the ages are mixed I am even more concerned and have let DCL know this.

I can see how, if you are used to a structured kids club (as we are), with children in similar age groups, doing activities together throughout the day, that DCL is definately lacking.

As for food, I agree, far too much salt, I sent at least two meals back because of the salt content - one I really couldn't eat. However, that was not the norm and the general standard was some of the best we have ever had.

The kids menu - well I hated it, macaroni cheese, chicken nuggets and burgers, not what I call 'good' food for kids, on both our 10 nights, there was very little change in the kids menu - luckily, our dd ate off the adult menu.

However, we still enjoyed ourselves and are sailing again next week, but I have to stand up for that poster on CC and understand where they are coming from, but in the overall scale of the cruise, it was insignificant.

We can't all be perfect!!! Can we????!!!!

 

[lilsonicfan]

We have a Sept 2012 repositioning cruise booked with DCL and while I know that all reviews need to be taken with a grain of salt, it does concern me that the kids club is getting a poor review. We just got off an NCL cruise and I thought the kids club was done really well. Some of the hours were "freestyle play" with various age groups, but by and large the kids were separated into 2-5, 6-9, etc. My son will only be 3 when we cruise, will he really be grouped with 10 year olds?

 

[Makayna]

We have a Sept 2012 repositioning cruise booked with DCL and while I know that all reviews need to be taken with a grain of salt, it does concern me that the kids club is getting a poor review. We just got off an NCL cruise and I thought the kids club was done really well. Some of the hours were "freestyle play" with various age groups, but by and large the kids were separated into 2-5, 6-9, etc. My son will only be 3 when we cruise, will he really be grouped with 10 year olds?

If he is potty trained, yes. The "Club" (3-6, I think?) and the "Lab" (7-10) are combined, which means that 3 y/o's can go freely into the Lab... all they have to do is ask the CM of the room they're in. And vice versa. So, what this means is that the Club/Lab is for 3-10 year olds, which I think is RIDICULOUS!!! A 3 year old and a 10 year old are on COMPLETELY different levels of development, both mentally and physically. Games that 10 year olds enjoy would go over the heads of 3 year olds. And games 3 year olds enjoy would be boring, or "baby games" for 10 year olds.

I personally think that Disney did a horrible dis-service to ALL kids in this age group when they combined these two groups. And it basically comes down to them NOT enforcing their age groupings to begin with. ALL 10 year olds are allowed into the Edge, which is for 11-13, and 13 y/o's are often let into Vibe, which is for 14-17 (or 18 if you're still in H.S. or just graduated). If they would just stick to the age groupings that they put in place to begin with, they wouldn't be having this problem!

But to answer your question, yes. Your 3 year old could quite possibly be in the same room with 10 year olds.

 

[lbgraves]

Yes, that is one of the dumbest things that DCL has ever done. Due to the number of people who wanted to have one child stay with another sibling and having to change their age group in the system, they changed their policy that any kid in the 3-10 age groups can do any program they want in those groups, which would have been split into three seperate age groups prior to this change [3-4, 5-7, 8-10]. Add to that the 11 & 12 yos who want to visit the lab for certain activities or because their parents don't want them to have signout privs and you could have a 3 yo in a room with a 12 yo. Personally, I am glad that they did things the old way when my kids were younger. Reports were that most kids stayed with the intended age-apropriate activity. I have no idea how they would manage that. DD was VERY shy at 3 and wouldn't have questioned anything.

 

[E&Cmom]

On our cruise, I found that most of the older kids stuck to the lab while the younger ones were in the club. Even though they can go back and foward, the activities in the club were geared more to the younger set and their interest levels. My girls went to the Lab a few times but were more interested in the club.

My girls are 7 and 4 and while I understand and agree with the concern of not having the seperate age groups it did work for us since it meant that the could be together. I think my 4 year old would have had a hard time initially without her sister. I haven't been on a nother cruise line with a age structured kids club so maybe they would have been fine there too. All I know is we had a positive experience in the club.

 

[SLK1]

I can see where the reviewer is coming from. We sent our two youngest to the kids club and not one worker interacted with them. Luckily the 9-year-old entertained and kept an eye on the 4-year-old, but it left a bad impression and they wouldn't go back. My kids don't like chaos, and as much as we tried to get them into some of the structured activities, it wasn't their thing, and not being spoken to that first night just wasn't cool.

As for the food, I'm not the healthiest of eaters at home, so I was fine with the sodium/grease content (if you must put it that way), but I was disappointed in the variety of food. Not much change from night to night so the sodium and grease couldn't be put in something new.

Some of the adults DO get a bit carried away to the point of creepiness. I myself experienced it in the DVC member celebration. People acting like fools and I walked out. Yes, please have a GREAT time, but don't be an imbecile about it.

To each his own. We still love DCL and will cruise again and again (we are Platinum members); my DH won't even think of another cruise line. We have two cruises booked for the upcoming year!

 

[Alexander]

I know and all that unhealthy fresh cut fruit that they hide right at the beginning of the buffet. Yuck. (I dream about the fresh pineapple!)

OMG I forgot about all of that pineapple! Oh man, I cannot wait to get back on the ship!

 

[Alexander]

I don't know what has happened with food in all of Disney over the past few years. We have cruised 3 times and never felt the wow-factor about the food. It was just food. WDW food has gone so far downhill over the past 5-7 years we eat maybe twice in a 7 night stay on property. I mean really? How hard is to make a decent hamburger?

 

[SallySkelington]

Everyone is different!!! Although I can see where this poster was coming from.

We have done only three Disney Cruises, but are going on another next week. The last two were both in the Med and we had a fantastic time.

As to the people who are really 'in' to Disney, I can accept that and would say each to their own, there are a lot worse interests to have!!!

I agree that the kids clubs are chaotic though. I was really surprised and have posted such on the boards, how much a 'free for all' it is. Our dd was 3 the first time we went (potty trained), but no way would I have left her in there. Even as a 5 year old, I couldn't relax, it just seemed to me that the children ran riot, with little minimal supervision, until a short activity took place. Now the ages are mixed I am even more concerned and have let DCL know this.

I can see how, if you are used to a structured kids club (as we are), with children in similar age groups, doing activities together throughout the day, that DCL is definately lacking.

As for food, I agree, far too much salt, I sent at least two meals back because of the salt content - one I really couldn't eat. However, that was not the norm and the general standard was some of the best we have ever had.

The kids menu - well I hated it, macaroni cheese, chicken nuggets and burgers, not what I call 'good' food for kids, on both our 10 nights, there was very little change in the kids menu - luckily, our dd ate off the adult menu.

However, we still enjoyed ourselves and are sailing again next week, but I have to stand up for that poster on CC and understand where they are coming from, but in the overall scale of the cruise, it was insignificant.

We can't all be perfect!!! Can we????!!!!

I never expect anyone to be perfect, nor do I expect Disney to be perfect, but I know that in most cases they try to do their best. There has been so much "Disney bashing" lately that it puts a damper on the magic for others. There was no reason why every thing that the CC said couldn't have been put in polite manner voicing his concerns like you did.

Of course also note that no one is really taking this guy seriously. I'm happy the guy tried it. If he didn't like it then good for him. I imagine that he was grumpy, and grumpy people on cruise ships just do not go well together. lol. But as you said we're all different, and I agree.

 

[mousejunkie98]

This person is what I refer to as a Mouse Hater. Sadly, I have one in my own family (my SIL), and I refuse to take her on DCL or to WDW, knowing she would make herself have a horrible time just because she hates Disney.

I have two boys, ages 7 and 4. My 4-year-old is on the shy side, and no way would he have gone willingly into the Club if he couldn't have been with his brother. Because he could be with him, he loved going and had a great time. From what we noticed, the older kids stayed in the Lab, and most of the younger kids stayed in the Club unless they were playing with an older sibling. I never saw any lack of supervision, there were always plenty of CMs watching the kids and engaging them. It was not a free-for-all, no one was running amuck. And this was on a sold-out Dream cruise with 1,300 kids on board.

 

[Makayna]

I think one way to solve this would be if they made it that the older kids from the lab could go into the club if they wanted, but NOT the other way around. That way, you're basically going to be having kids with younger siblings in the club... a 10 y/o that doesn't have a younger sibling isn't likely to want to go into the club just to be doing. I know that wouldn't solve ALL of the problems, but I think it would help. But maybe that could create a situation where there are too many kids in the club?!

I just think the way they have the club/lab now is pathetic and potentially dangerous.

 

[pdwimmer]

I could not get my kids to stay in the clubs last cruise. 15 minutes after I dropped them off the stupid pager started beeping. I hope the new clubs entertain them for at least an hour so my hubby and I can enjoy some music and a cocktail before bed. If not, oh well. We'll have our own party on the deck.