Honest opinions.Is DCL worth the $?

[eeyoresmom]

My husband and I cruised last year on Carnival and had a good experience(especially because of the discount price)We are very close to deciding on the Wonder in Jan for us and our 4 kids(DD17 DD13 DD9 DS8)but since there are 6 of us the price of the Disney cruise is significantly higher.I LOVE everything Disney,(I'm kind of concerned my husband will get too much of the Disney experience though)For those of you who have sailed DCL and other lines what is your opinion?I really need help deciding!TIA

 

[TooPure4u]

I have not cruised other lines but cruised disney this past january. i inititally booked carnival for this upcoming january but changed it over to disney. i cannot imagine another cruise being able to compare to the magical, wonderful, beautiful disney cruise. I truly loved EVERYTHING about disney. Give it a try,,,,I can promise you...you wont regret it!!!

 

[disneysooz]

We have only cruised on DCL. My DD 5 and I are all about Disney; hubby is not a "Disney" person per sae, but when we were talking about booking our last cruise (which we just took Sept. 2004) he was all for the Disney route, even tho I offered to check into other cruise lines. We also have cruise #3 booked on DCL for 2006. He has never complained it was "too Disney" and he is the type to say so. So I would definitely give it a try.

 

[Grumbo]

We have found good deals in the past and love DCL. BUT looking at the prices for 2006 I'm questioning that. We're seriously looking at RCCL or one of the big Carnival ships. The difference in price and a new itinerary may be in order for us.

Cheers,
Grumbo

 

[Pea-n-Me]

You might find this helpful:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?threadid=666657&referrerid=70088

 

[KaitlinsMom]

Love the Disney Cruise, but your kids are older and might want a ship that has more activities for them? Just a thought -

 

[scrapperjill]

With knowing how wonderful the kids programs are on the DCL I don't think as long as my kids are younger...I'd think of doing another line...but with your older kids a diffrent line may be alright...but you do have a couple younger ones also to consider.

 

[eeyoresmom]

ugh! I've read so much about DCL being great for little ones good for teens not so great for the 7-12 set.What has been your experience?

 

[lisa702]

We have sailed RCCL when DD was 1 and def not a child friendly cruiseline. Sailed CCL when DD was 4 and the kids activities were just ok. Sailed DCL when DD was and still is 5 and rebooked onboard for next year. IMHO def worth the extra dollars.

 

[brack]

We have sailed on the Magic four times and this January my DS and his DW will join us for our 5th cruise.

We have friends that have sailed other ships and their stories of the cruises have not even come close to changing this families mind about what cruise line to take. We are already planning to rebook while on board for our 6th cruise on DCL.

 

[macbasset]

We are about to do our 7th DCL cruise and have two sons, one 16 and the other 25. The older one just got married and we paid for his RCCL cruise for his honeymoon on the big ship with ice rink, etc. When he came back, he said it was nice, but just not DCL! He missed the dinner rotations at different restaurants, thought the shows were not up to disney quality and of course, he missed the disney attention to detail and making your experience magical. (And that was his honeymoon!) Once a disney cruise line addict, always!

 

[disneygatorfan]

The big RCCL ships are nice... if you cruise other then disney, I'd reccommend only the newer, bigger ships. I did a 3 day on Carnival, it was like a trash can on the water compared to the Wonder. Soverign of the Seas wasn't much better.

I enjoyed my cruise on the larger voyager class with RCCL a lot, but I prefer Disney. I like DCL because I love Disney, the shows, the characters, the service, the themed dining, the old ocean liner feel. I don't do a lot of the stuff bigger, non-disney liners have anyway. Only thing that might draw me to another line again is to see different ports. I have sailed Carnival, RCCL and NCL, but once I sailed DCL, I haven't sailed anything else since.

DCL is a pretty penny more... and RCCL's larger liners do offer a lot of neat things, like the rock climbing, ice rink, big exercise areas, etc... but like someone else said, it's not Disney.

Something about seeing Mickey when you get on the ship, running into Cinderella, hearing "When you Wish upon a Star." It's a magical feeling no other cruise line ever gave me, and I guess that's what I value more then the rock climbing, and ice rinks, and big casinos. Everyone wants something different out of a vacation, so best advice is to do research and think of what you are looking for in a cruise.

But if you love disney.. then you will absolutely love dcl, and will get hooked!

 

[mmouse37]

We have sailed DCL 11 times with #12 booked for January!!! I have also sailed Carnival twice, RCCL once and Princess once. Enough said!!

MJ

 

[dclwdwlover]

I've sailed other lines - my husband hasn't & I'm having trouble convincing him to do so after 3 DCL cruises & another coming up shortly.

Some of the specific things that sell us on DCL in addition to the "magical" feel & gorgeous decor is the rotation dining rooms, split bathrooms & all of the adults-only areas. We love being with our kids, but also enjoy our time alone & don't always want a ton of kids in the areas where we want to relax. It's fantastic to have an adults-only pool, restaurant, clubs & area on CC.

Honestly, my experience with dining servers was just wonderful on the two other lines I sailed and I did have a very enjoyable time, but I still prefer DCL much more. It's almost hard to explain. Once you sail DCL you will understand.

With the wonderful clubs that DCL has & the fact that your oldest will only be 17 & can still participate in them, I think that it would be a fantastic experience for each of them - especially the 8, 9, & 13 yos. I don't know where you read that DCL 'isn't that great' for the 7-12 yos - my kids have found it to be just the opposite.

I hope you choose to give DCL a try. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

 

[kplatt]

After 3 DCL cruises (which we loved), I couldn't pass up a great last minute deal on the Carnival Destiny's southern Caribbean route out of San Juan last Christmas. We had a good time, but there were several differences that made it a less than GREAT vacation.

I missed the rotation dining and the split bathroom (although our cabin had much more storage space than Categories 6, 8 and 11 on DCL). The Disney theme is more meaningful (to this baby-boomer).

The entertainment on the Destiny was the Las Vegas-style "feathers and thongs" variety. It was often impossible to get from Point A to Point B without passing the casino. The only observation point on the bow was inside the fitness center. There seemed to be more smokers aboard the Destiny. There were over 3,000 passengers on the Destiny -- just too many for my comfort.

We are looking forward to the eastbound Panama Canal crossing on the Magic next summer!

Karen
Wonder 11/01
Magic 3/02
Magic 11/02
Carnival Destiny 12/03

 

[Northwoods]

We've been on a number of different cruiselines. Here's how they rate.

1. DCL - best service, entertainment, food, ship condition. Great with kids (ours were 7 & 11)

2. Celebrity - outstanding food (but this was quite a few years ago) I think the quality of food on all the ships has gone down.

3. Norweigen - very nice. 1st cruise was better food than one taken 3 years later.

4. RCCL - was a Mediterranean - food, entertainment, ship condition wasn't as good as those above.

5. Canival - worst of the bunch by far. I would not spend my money on Canival again. And I would never take my kids on one - even if it was free. Way too much partying and underage drinking. We had girls exposing themselves (flashing others) when on an excursion - after drinking too much.


We have only taken our kids on DCL. We have considerd taking them on RCCL - but DH said why - when DCL is just so GREAT! It's worth the extra money.

Book early - we got a good deal on our 2006 cruise

And we don't find it too Disney - just a great quality cruise. Our kids aren't into the characters that much so we didn't go to the character meets.
Disney just knows how to provice great service!!!

 

[Grumpy's Mom]

We took our first and only cruise last Christmas on the Magic. My DD's were close to the age where the oldest would soon age out of the Stack, and I had always wanted to do a DCL trip. I chose Disney because of the wonderful experiences we have had at WDW - everyone is pleasant, the parks and resorts are beautiful, clean, and have so much to do that we never accomplish everything we want to in our usual 8 day trips.

I was a little concerned about my husband feeling "disneyed out" - he is a pediatric specialist, talks to kids for 9 hours a day, 5 days a week, and has some clinics in the evenings. I really didn't want him to feel like he could not relax, and that the ship would be swarming with children.

Our DD's ended up not liking the stack (the oldest thought it was hokey), but they did make some wonderful friendships with other Dis families I had met on our cruise thread. They never lacked for something to do, and we rarely saw them except at dinner time, 2-3 am when they came in, and when they got up in the morning.

The money was more than worth it - we knew we could count on having that Disney experience (not just the characters), but the atmosphere that Disney strives to provide. Everyone enjoyed themselves so much that we rebooked onboard with 5 other families from our original thread.

 

[adrien32]

My husband and I have been on nine cruises -- two were with our young daughter. In addition to DCL, we've traveled on Norweigian, Carnival, RCCL, and Dolphin (which is no longer in business). We loved DCL, but I know what you mean about price. The rooms on DCL can't be beat, but we've found the food on other lines to be better. Overall, we prefer DCL's family atmosphere and entertainment, but we have also enjoyed cruising on other lines as long as the ship is large and fairly new. Our daughter loved the kids' programs on RCCL just as much as Disney's, but she's easy to please.

 

[lrodptl]

We spent total $9000 for our 3day sea/4 land trip. We loved the service most of all (Cat 3). It was simply superb to have concierge at your fingertips. Was it worth it? Probably not,compared to others who paid much less and still report a great experience. Is it worth a financial sacrifice? To me,yes! We are middle class earners and I'm blue collar! Worth financial hardship? No. It's all relevant. I have yet to see anyone complain about the value of the lower categories.

 

[logan1_2000]

There are fine cruises to be had on other lines (and some to avoid for sure), but there is something about it being a DISNEY cruise. No one ever said "oh, you went on 'The Norweigian Cruise', or "You're going on that Royal Caribbean Cruise, aren't you'" but when it is DCL, you and everyone you know will know that it is THE DISNEY CRUISE. Everything else is just a cruise. Now, if you want to have a casino, or something like Vegas, or want something less than family friendly, enjoy another cruise line. If you need a rock wall to climb, or the children in your party will, perhaps look at RCCL. And Disney's food is wonderful, but if you going to insist that it be THE HIGHLIGHT of the trip, go for one of the luxury lines. Worth the money? I was never a Disney person, for years and years, and it won me over. No other cruise line has its own playlist of songs with happy memories form the movie or cartoon or whatever like DCL does.

One thought about the fact that yes, DCL is a premium priced item--on your deathbed you will never say "I wish I'd spent $800 less on that cruise 20 years ago" If you remember the cruise at all, and it was DCL, you'll remember a wonderful family time.

I just got "sicked" out of a WDW trip this week when my nephew caught ill and the extended family trip fell apart. My "make it up to you" trip for DS and DW will be a 4 day Wonder I just booked for this coming MLK Holiday weekend. Haven't even updated the signature below yet. And that was chosen despite it being just 10 weeks before our already scheduled 7 night Eastern Magic. Not two cruises in 10 weeks. Two DISNEY cruises in 10 weeks....