Halloween on the High Seas are the best cruises?

[Neptune's Fork]

We just did one this past fall and loved it. Loved the decor, the pumpkin tree, dressing up, trick or treating, pretty much everything.

We are planning a merry time cruise next to experience the cruise ship at Christmas time.

So was there anything 'scary' about it, or too intense for young children?

 

[MunFam]

My opinion on the "best cruise on DCL" would be the Panama Canal and Trans-Atlantic Cruises. They have the longer itineraries and fewer children on board. They offer special and unique onboard shows and activities (hello behind the scenes tours!) that usually don't happen on the shorter cruises and the staff were all pumped on the change of scenery, the new activities and the things like the crew talent show.

I did a ton of research before we booked our WBPC Cruise and we chose it because of the sea days and so many opportunities for character interactions. With so few children onboard and longer sail time, the crew got to know our kiddo and the characters remembered her name!! The character interactions lasted longer and were often one on one because there were so few people on board, so in my opinion, the best cruises are the long ones with all the special "extras".

Perhaps the magazines were saying DCL does Halloween best out of all the cruise lines?

 

[Neptune's Fork]

My opinion on the "best cruise on DCL" would be the Panama Canal and Trans-Atlantic Cruises. They have the longer itineraries and fewer children on board. They offer special and unique onboard shows and activities (hello behind the scenes tours!) that usually don't happen on the shorter cruises and the staff were all pumped on the change of scenery, the new activities and the things like the crew talent show.

I did a ton of research before we booked our WBPC Cruise and we chose it because of the sea days and so many opportunities for character interactions. With so few children onboard and longer sail time, the crew got to know our kiddo and the characters remembered her name!! The character interactions lasted longer and were often one on one because there were so few people on board, so in my opinion, the best cruises are the long ones with all the special "extras".

Perhaps the magazines were saying DCL does Halloween best out of all the cruise lines?

Those Trans-Atlantic cruises have definitely caught my eye and would like to do one sometime in the future.

The jist of the articles were that it was just the most fun you could have on ANY cruise. You have to take claims like that with a grain of salt because what's fun to one person may not be to another. The bottom line throughout different articles was that they were well done and a lot of fun stuff to do for all. You would obviously have to like Halloween to have that opinion and not everyone does.

 

[Kuzcotopia1]

I'm starting to think that maybe it's just certain areas of the ship are decorated more 'scary' or could have been the adult areas, I don't know. That's why I post the question.

There's nothing scary about the decorations. They put up a big, leafless tree in the main lobby and every day there are more jack-o-lanterns. Towards the end of the cruise there is a show lighting them up. Most of the decorations are found in this area, nothing in adult areas. It's very minimal.

 

[codylamb18]

Here is our concern... We booked our first Disney cruise for this September and did not know it was a Halloween cruise. Since this will be our honeymoon we are concerned the decorations and activities will take away from the romantic cruise atmosphere. Any thoughts on this? We fell in love with cruising this past January on our first cruise (carnival). We love Disney so we splurged for a Disney cruise. Kind of turned up our nose when we found out about Halloween theme.

 

[fairfax]

We love Halloween, it is our favorite holiday so we love these cruises. There is nothing scary, even the "Scary Stories of the Sea" were pretty tame, but easily avoided if you think your kids would be frightened. There is one day of dressing up and a party. The decorations are pretty much limited to the atrium. It is not as pervasive as the decorations on the Christmas cruises. But if you dislike Halloween, as many people apparently do, I would just avoid these cruises. There are things we don't like that others enjoy, but we just avoid them and let others have their fun. Because "the most fun ever" is pretty darn subjective.

 

[Neptune's Fork]

We fell in love with cursing this past January on our first cruise (carnival).

I'm sure you meant cruising there, but that was kind of funny in that I recently heard a family member complaining about hearing a lot of bad language recently on a Carnival cruise.

 

[lbus42]

Here is our concern... We booked our first Disney cruise for this September and did not know it was a Halloween cruise. Since this will be our honeymoon we are concerned the decorations and activities will take away from the romantic cruise atmosphere. Any thoughts on this? We fell in love with cruising this past January on our first cruise (carnival). We love Disney so we splurged for a Disney cruise. Kind of turned up our nose when we found out about Halloween theme.

I booked my September 2017 cruise around the May through July 2016 time frame. The cruises in September and October were already listed on the Disney cruise web site as a Halloween on the High Seas cruise. Complaining about this is like booking a Star Wars cruise and then complaining that there are Star Wars activities going on.

 

[wombat_5606]

I booked my September 2017 cruise around the May through July 2016 time frame. The cruises in September and October were already listed on the Disney cruise web site as a Halloween on the High Seas cruise. Complaining about this is like booking a Star Wars cruise and then complaining that there are Star Wars activities going on.

But not all cruisers booking for that time frame are so lucky.

Disney does not announce which cruises are HOTHS or SWDAS till after opening day for the dates affected. Last year all the cruises were not announced for 2017 until Sept. 29, 2016, so if you booked anytime between the spring when the cruises were announced and that date, you would not be aware.

There are cruises already announced for Sept. 2018, with no designation that they may end up being Halloween cruises.

 

[SandeeJim]

I've been reading a lot of travel reviews and articles lately and read in three different, non Disney affiliated travel publications that the Disney Halloween on the High Seas cruises are absolutely the best and most fun cruise experience in the industry right now. I know there are many here that have done these, so I would like to hear feedback as to whether that's really the case, or an exaggeration.

We did the Disney Cruise this past fall and it was FABULOUS!!! So much fun. Not an exaggeration. I would do it again and again. Lots of people dressed up in costumes for Halloween!!

 

[cruisehopeful]

Here is our concern... We booked our first Disney cruise for this September and did not know it was a Halloween cruise. Since this will be our honeymoon we are concerned the decorations and activities will take away from the romantic cruise atmosphere. Any thoughts on this? We fell in love with cruising this past January on our first cruise (carnival). We love Disney so we splurged for a Disney cruise. Kind of turned up our nose when we found out about Halloween theme.

There's really nothing to disrupt your honeymoon. You do not need to attend any of the halloween activities. You can easily just hang out on the adults only deck and go to the spa, etc, and not even know Halloween is going on elsewhere. There are a few decorations on a couple decks. People will dress up in costumes, but they also do that on pirate night on every Disney cruise. It really isn't a big deal.

 

[pearljammer]

We have sailed 3 halloween themed cruises, even before they were sold as such. I found that with each cruise, some things changed, some stayed the same.
Dressing up - trust that a LOT Of people dress up for the evening they choose for their halloween party. And I've seen some really cool stuff so that was a lot of fun (with contests).
Our first sailing (Dream), they had huge amounts of candy EVERYWHERE, especially at the entrance to buffet, dinners. They have a dance party which is fun with the halloween music and the gang in their halloween costumes. The kids got a trick or treat bag in their room to hold candy.
Now our last cruise which was 7 nighter on Fantasy, they had changed things up and had a Halloween tree with a storyteller which was really cool. Now on this cruise, they didn't have the large amounts of candy sitting around but had some sort of cheesy games for the kids and they got candy upon completion. They had some folks around certain areas where the kids could go up and get candy. Again, trick or treat bags were provided in the stateroom. Cabana's has carved pumpkins all over and they are well done.

So keep in mind, you'll have 2 dress up nights on these cruises. 1-Halloween and 2 - Pirates Night.

We really loved it personally. But as I said, we noticed out of the 3 we cruised, there was always enough different from our prior sailing that it was nice yet funny how you wish some things stayed the same. ;O)

Again, I got just as much enjoyment looking at everyone's costumes as I did anything else. It's amazing how much work some folks put into their costumes. WOW.

As far as decorations, yes...the decorations will be around the entire cruise but there is only one day of the cruise dedicated to the halloween festivities. So I think if anyone is concerned about being romantic, I think any situation can be as romantic as you choose to make it. Heck, you could dress up as a groom and bride! ;O) Enjoy a second wedding if you will.........

Also keep in mind, if folks are at the holiday celebrations, you may have more room/space to yourselves in the adults only section. ;O) If you liked Carnival, Disney may just blow you away. Honestly, there's NO comparison. The beds are awfully comfortable! Whatever your decision, have fun and enjoy. Don't let it set you back.

 

[SandeeJim]

Here is our concern... We booked our first Disney cruise for this September and did not know it was a Halloween cruise. Since this will be our honeymoon we are concerned the decorations and activities will take away from the romantic cruise atmosphere. Any thoughts on this? We fell in love with cruising this past January on our first cruise (carnival). We love Disney so we splurged for a Disney cruise. Kind of turned up our nose when we found out about Halloween theme.

There is a tree in the foyer that "grows" pumpkins through out the week. Other than there is a Halloween party that lasted about 30 minutes near the tree. People get dressed up in costumes but honestly, the ship is so big with so many other things to do, you should be fine.

 

[2Bnºoºt2B]

I think that Halloween just adds another element to the overall fun of being on a Disney cruise especially on the 14-night Halloween on the High Seas Panama Canal Cruise from San Diego that we are booked on this October ... we'll celebrate Mickey's Halloween Party at DL before the cruise and Halloween aboard the Wonder on Day 5 which is a day at sea. We also considered whether to attend Halloween Horror Nights at Universal or Knott's Scary Farm ... we just like the theming and the fun of Halloween. In addition to the FE's aboard our cruise there are Trick and Treat exchanges being planned on that day and so forth ... throw in transiting the Panama Canal cruise and that it's 14 days ... what's not to enjoy

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

We have done quite a few of them as they happen to be at the time we cruise. We think they are good fun. We never seen to be in the right place for the events though so the timings are strange to us. We Like the decor and the meet and greets. Jack and Sally are fun. Mickey and Minnie cute in their outfits. The shows like A nightmare before Christmas are good.

I still wish they would get rid of pirate night but that is just me! That night we are off to Palo..

 

[codylamb18]

We have sailed 3 halloween themed cruises, even before they were sold as such. I found that with each cruise, some things changed, some stayed the same.
Dressing up - trust that a LOT Of people dress up for the evening they choose for their halloween party. And I've seen some really cool stuff so that was a lot of fun (with contests).
Our first sailing (Dream), they had huge amounts of candy EVERYWHERE, especially at the entrance to buffet, dinners. They have a dance party which is fun with the halloween music and the gang in their halloween costumes. The kids got a trick or treat bag in their room to hold candy.
Now our last cruise which was 7 nighter on Fantasy, they had changed things up and had a Halloween tree with a storyteller which was really cool. Now on this cruise, they didn't have the large amounts of candy sitting around but had some sort of cheesy games for the kids and they got candy upon completion. They had some folks around certain areas where the kids could go up and get candy. Again, trick or treat bags were provided in the stateroom. Cabana's has carved pumpkins all over and they are well done.

So keep in mind, you'll have 2 dress up nights on these cruises. 1-Halloween and 2 - Pirates Night.

We really loved it personally. But as I said, we noticed out of the 3 we cruised, there was always enough different from our prior sailing that it was nice yet funny how you wish some things stayed the same. ;O)

Again, I got just as much enjoyment looking at everyone's costumes as I did anything else. It's amazing how much work some folks put into their costumes. WOW.

As far as decorations, yes...the decorations will be around the entire cruise but there is only one day of the cruise dedicated to the halloween festivities. So I think if anyone is concerned about being romantic, I think any situation can be as romantic as you choose to make it. Heck, you could dress up as a groom and bride! ;O) Enjoy a second wedding if you will.........

Also keep in mind, if folks are at the holiday celebrations, you may have more room/space to yourselves in the adults only section. ;O) If you liked Carnival, Disney may just blow you away. Honestly, there's NO comparison. The beds are awfully comfortable! Whatever your decision, have fun and enjoy. Don't let it set you back.

Thank you for the input! Great idea of dressing up as bride and groom!

 

[Stratus22]

We're ready!!! We are big Halloween fans so this October will be a trip to remember.

 

[AquaDame]

We keep ending up on them since our anniversary is in early October... I think its a nice diversion if you like halloween but I wouldn't go out of my way for it. As others have said there are decorations around and a couple of events but its a regular cruise in most ways. Have you been to Mickey's not so scary halloween party or anything like that in the parks...? I'd say a few things are that scary. The tree might be creepy as may the old woman who comes out every night for a bit of story. The (pretty tame) creepy tales on deck they did in 2014 was probably the 'scariest' if you could call it that. It was dark on deck, they played sound effects to go with the stories and they were kind of goosebump-y in nature. The rest is colorful costumes, halloween themed crafts, candy candy candy, cute pumpkins and fake spider webs on the windows.