Has Disney really gone downhill?

[happycamper47]

Even Alaska could be changed up by adding some one-way cruises.

Just saw a recent article where Juneau is going to start restricting cruise ships.

 

[bcwife76]

Just saw a recent article where Juneau is going to start restricting cruise ships.

Yes starting next year in 2024, there will be a limit of no more than 5 big cruise ships (defined as having over 950 passengers) per day in port.

 

[holula]

Disney prefers closed-loop cruises of 7 nights or less. They don't offer many longer cruises and they don't offer many one-way cruises. There's probably some good business sense in that. Their repositioning cruises don't sell very well, except for special ones like the Hawaiin and the Panama Canal cruises.

IMO, Disney’s repo cruises don’t sell well as their itineraries are so boring. If you are going to have to repo a ship from say, NYC to FL, why not do a 10-12 night cruise and hit up the ABC islands which count as a distant foreign port?

 

[Kwami]

IMO, Disney’s repo cruises don’t sell well as their itineraries are so boring. If you are going to have to repo a ship from say, NYC to FL, why not do a 10-12 night cruise and hit up the ABC islands which count as a distant foreign port?

Because 10 > 7 and Disney prefers cruises of seven or fewer nights, likely because those cruises sell better and are more convenient for families with children.

I was on the NYC to San Juan repositioning cruise last year and the itinerary wasn't too bad. We stopped in Bermuda, Antigua, and St. Maarten. But even with a smaller ship (Magic), Disney couldn't get enough guests to justify two dinner seatings. The ship wasn't even half full.

 

[o&smom]

Im currently on my 13th DCL cruise, British Isles. DCL has indeed gone down in quality. Food is bad, ie meat such as chicken breasts and pork cuts are dry as can be. Staff just standing around aimlessly and blocking guest hotspots. No dinner buffet is annoying when you return from a mid-day or late day excursion. Kids running around screaming in the cove coffee shop for at least 30 mins before staff said anything. Soda dispensers broke down daily. Kids running around in cabanas putting their hands in buffet items. I have sailed about 15 other cruise lines such as Carnival, NCL, RCL, and princess. Minus the pleasant staff, i had carnival vibes the whole time. This is my last DCL cruise, its not worth the premium price any longer.

We felt the same way on our Dream Cruise in June. Every time we ordered pork it was way over cooked and dry. Fingers crossed the Magic is better in a couple of weeks.

 

[o&smom]

I've heard so many reports from people who went to Europe on the Dream this summer and were disappointed. We were on the 11night Northern Europe trip and had a fantastic time, food was good (not all of it but enough for us not to be put off). Service was fantastic, I didn't see any unruly guest behaviour. Our only gripe was disembarkation in Southampton, that was a hot mess.

We were on the 11 night Med cruise in June, and it was wonderful. Our son was part of about 60 kids in the 1820 Society. It was his favorite cruise so far. The kids were way better behaved on this cruise than our February cruise out of SD. So chaotic! We had some of the very best servers we have ever had...the same with our room attendant.

 

[o&smom]

Another one with a really great all around experience on the Wonder in Alaska. I might be biased though as we had my favorite cruise director (Jimmy) on that cruise.

We also did a Dream cruise in May in the Med. and with both we thought the quality was very high, but the Wonder topped the Dream by quite a bit. I think I just love the smaller ship experience. We also had the best serving team of all of our cruises. And spending more time on the ship and less in ports also helps getting to know the crew better, but in general I felt the crew on the Wonder was more genuinely friendly. Chatting with you, the pool deck attendants coming over bringing me a blanket after I sat down on the adult pool deck to read and other small touches like that.

We are very critical of the downturn in customer service quality at WDW, so definitely not looking through rose colored glasses. But all in all we find that DCL so far has not gone down in quality since we started cruising (me in 2013, my husband in 2006).

The only thing that we really find annoying is that Cabanas dinner service was discontinued.

We continue to add bringing back Cabanas for dinner on our cruise survey. Will Be doing it again next month.

 

[DCLMP]

IMO, Disney’s repo cruises don’t sell well as their itineraries are so boring. If you are going to have to repo a ship from say, NYC to FL, why not do a 10-12 night cruise and hit up the ABC islands which count as a distant foreign port?

As far as Alaska goes most cruise lines have one-way sailings. They give you the opportunity to see Anchorage. If you embark or disembark in Seward/ Anchorage then it's easy to spend a few days in Denali National Park.

 

[DCLMP]

We were on the 11 night Med cruise in June, and it was wonderful. Our son was part of about 60 kids in the 1820 Society. It was his favorite cruise so far. The kids were way better behaved on this cruise than our February cruise out of SD. So chaotic! We had some of the very best servers we have ever had...the same with our room attendant.

My son also had a great time in the 1820 society. They didn't have 60 kids more around 30. On our Wish cruise in January, there were only two, and I thought he was going to be done with cruising after that boring experience. He started college the day after we got back so going forward it will just be Summer cruises for him and that's probably a good thing. My husband and I might sneak off and do a cruise if we find an off-season deal.

 

[Akck]

Yes starting next year in 2024, there will be a limit of no more than 5 big cruise ships (defined as having over 950 passengers) per day in port.

FYI, Juneau currently has spaces for only 5 big cruise ships now. I think the “limit” is a preemptive action because one of the cruise companies is considering building a new dock in the harbor.

 

[RedHead0186]

Because 10 > 7 and Disney prefers cruises of seven or fewer nights, likely because those cruises sell better and are more convenient for families with children.

I was on the NYC to San Juan repositioning cruise last year and the itinerary wasn't too bad. We stopped in Bermuda, Antigua, and St. Maarten. But even with a smaller ship (Magic), Disney couldn't get enough guests to justify two dinner seatings. The ship wasn't even half full.

I would love to see that mentality change. I get it, 7 nights are convenient and usually financially accessible to families. But they are going to double the size of their fleet over a span of about five years. They can't have all their ships doing the same 7-night (or less) itineraries they've always done. They can keep doing their bread and butter cruises to be sure they're raking in the dough, and then try some new stuff. Some of those repo cruises are more appealing to adults because they're longer and less likely to have a ton of kids onboard. (Nothing against kids, and yes DCL is a family cruise line. But some adults like the Disney magic without a lot of younger kids around.)

 

[Kwami]

I would love to see that mentality change. I get it, 7 nights are convenient and usually financially accessible to families. But they are going to double the size of their fleet over a span of about five years. They can't have all their ships doing the same 7-night (or less) itineraries they've always done. They can keep doing their bread and butter cruises to be sure they're raking in the dough, and then try some new stuff. Some of those repo cruises are more appealing to adults because they're longer and less likely to have a ton of kids onboard. (Nothing against kids, and yes DCL is a family cruise line. But some adults like the Disney magic without a lot of younger kids around.)

I don't disagree! I'd like to see more options, too.

 

[anjuan]

I've heard so many reports from people who went to Europe on the Dream this summer and were disappointed. We were on the 11night Northern Europe trip and had a fantastic time, food was good (not all of it but enough for us not to be put off). Service was fantastic, I didn't see any unruly guest behaviour. Our only gripe was disembarkation in Southampton, that was a hot mess.

I was on a NCL Iceland-Norway cruise that ended in Southampton in June. The disembarkation was also a hot mess for our cruise so it sounds like a port issue to me.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Because 10 > 7 and Disney prefers cruises of seven or fewer nights, likely because those cruises sell better and are more convenient for families with children.

I was on the NYC to San Juan repositioning cruise last year and the itinerary wasn't too bad. We stopped in Bermuda, Antigua, and St. Maarten. But even with a smaller ship (Magic), Disney couldn't get enough guests to justify two dinner seatings. The ship wasn't even half full.

Stops in Bermuda and San Juan, ship not even half full? Don't threaten me with a good time! Wish they were doing this sailing with the Dream next year.

 

[CamColt]

Since my last post here I have sailed on the Fantasy. While in general I would still say it hasn't gone downhill I will say the donuts are definitely not what they were. There were all kinds of varieties that looked like they would be great but, I've never tasted a donut that tastes close to what they were serving. But I don't cruise specifically for the donuts (although I did really like them before ).

 

[hmsTigger]

No problems for us with a recent 7 day cruise. Lots of small children onboard and they were not as much of a problem as their parents! While on "DCL on your own excursions" adults asking for water, drinks, or snacks on buses or trains.
We packed for the day when we did an all day "on your own" tour. Parents not handling their children's bad behavior and thinking their actions are funny or cute. Lots of strollers!
No bad disroderly behavior that we saw.
MDR servers are the best always with a smile and timely service. They really hustle yet have time to check on you and ask about your day. Food was good and variety is offered but we are not hard to please. Rooms are attended to twice a day which is nice while on vacation. You feel pampered. The changing of some ports which offer lots to do is going to be a future problem as we see it. Decreasing port days would be a problem for us as we enjoy interesting port intensive cruises. Disembarcation was a breeze and Disney buses were right there to get you to the airport. All worry-free and worth the price. Always someone available to ask questions and give directions.
Lots of daily activities with variety altho' we spent most days out and about.
Bring back Cabanas for dinner!

 

[stkgator]

We were on the Fantasy this past week. At the stop at Grand Cayman, there was also a Celebrity cruise ship in port. Grand Cayman is a tender-boat port - where the ship anchors off-shore and a smaller boat takes passengers to and from the dock. When we got off the tender-boat, there was a very long line of Celebrity passengers waiting to board their tender back to their ship - there was no line for the Fantasy. When we returned to the dock a few hours later, the line for Celebrity was still really long - while we just walked right onto a waiting tender-boat back to the Fantasy. It appears that Celebrity had hired only two tender-boats for their passengers. From what I could see, DCL had hired five or six tender-boats, thus the reason for no lines waiting to get back to the ship.

I assume that Celebrity did this for cost savings. The Fantasy was not originally scheduled to stop in Grand Cayman (it was scheduled to be in Bermuda but changed due to Hurrican Lee), so I am thinking that tender-boats were available, but Celebrity chose not to hire additional boats.

 

[Cfabar1]

We recently did a cruise on the Wish... Our observations:

1. Food quality, while not perfect, was substantially higher than RCL recently. Also, in the MDR, all items were inclusive, no silly plus ups. All the lines have probably gone downhill here, but we thought overall the Disney quality was high.
2. The staff on the Wish was not the best. We have had better service on RCL. Maybe because it is a 3/4 day ship they don't get a higher caliber of guest services members, or they don't feel it is worth the extra effort. We were surprised how most staff (though not all) really didn't seem to empathize or want to work to create solutions with the few issues we ran into.
3. The lack of a dinner buffet is extremely limiting to many, but especially to families - which is, ironically, the demographic they are most trying to court. This is a massive downgrade
4. The ship emphasizes experiences, but to the point I think it will be a challenge to get repeat cruisers who will say "I've seen that show, done that, etc.".

To us, the biggest disappointments and steps back are no dinner buffet and the mediocre service we encountered. We personally are not buffet people on the cruise ships, but it felt like a MAJOR omission (even though we were not going to use it), and it felt like it put further pressure on the dining experience for those of us eating in the MDR.

The service not being spectacular, for a premium cruise line, was jarring, and the biggest reason we would consider not sailing Disney again.

I wonder if the tough labor market affected their ability to find good employees. With some exceptions we found the service to not be up to Disney standards. That said, we will sail Disney again. The spirit and vibe of DCL is what we are looking for - no casino, family friendly (whether traveling as a family or not), entertainment options, good food, great spa services, fair drink prices, etc.

 

[Kwami]

We were on the Fantasy this past week. At the stop at Grand Cayman, there was also a Celebrity cruise ship in port. Grand Cayman is a tender-boat port - where the ship anchors off-shore and a smaller boat takes passengers to and from the dock. When we got off the tender-boat, there was a very long line of Celebrity passengers waiting to board their tender back to their ship - there was no line for the Fantasy. When we returned to the dock a few hours later, the line for Celebrity was still really long - while we just walked right onto a waiting tender-boat back to the Fantasy. It appears that Celebrity had hired only two tender-boats for their passengers. From what I could see, DCL had hired five or six tender-boats, thus the reason for no lines waiting to get back to the ship.

I assume that Celebrity did this for cost savings. The Fantasy was not originally scheduled to stop in Grand Cayman (it was scheduled to be in Bermuda but changed due to Hurrican Lee), so I am thinking that tender-boats were available, but Celebrity chose not to hire additional boats.

I had the same experience back in 2019, but the other line was for HAL. I kind of felt bad for them. They were standing in a huge line and it was very hot that day. We had no line at all going back to the Fantasy. We just got right onto the tender boat.

 

[happycamper47]

I assume that Celebrity did this for cost savings. The Fantasy was not originally scheduled to stop in Grand Cayman (it was scheduled to be in Bermuda but changed due to Hurrican Lee), so I am thinking that tender-boats were available, but Celebrity chose not to hire additional boats.

I had the same experience back in 2019, but the other line was for HAL. I kind of felt bad for them. They were standing in a huge line and it was very hot that day. We had no line at all going back to the Fantasy. We just got right onto the tender boat.

I think both of those lines use their on-board "Tender/Lifeboats" where as DCL uses the port tenders. I don't think any DCL ship has Tender boats.