Is Disney starting to slack compared to other cruises?

[kaseyC]

Bolding is mine...one of our DCL cruises we had late dining and apparently missed a big fist fight during early dining. Another one we came across a couple having a bit of a domestic argument (and I quote "oh so NOW you are going to act like a good father?"). And on yet another one in the stateroom corridor, a man was yelling at his spouse that he always hated her mother, the spouse was in tears.

So basically ignorant hot headed people pretty much can be found on any cruise line.

I have to agree. The whole idea that Disney has a higher quality of clientele because of their prices is ridiculous. The drunkest, most obnoxious person I have ever seen on a cruise (over 25 cruises, 10 of those on DCL) was on a DCL WBTA in 2007. By the 5th night of a 14 night cruise, this person was banned from Rockin Bar D because of their falling down drunk, foul mouthed and rude behavior.

 

[mevelandry]

We were surprised how much we liked the Breakaway -- especially considering it was the biggest ship we had sailed on to date. The buffet lines were interesting as they can enter from both ends, but the food was great. Our only "complaint" was the way the casino was laid out -- there was no way to walk that deck without walking through it on either side. We started going on the deck above to get to guest services so we wouldn't have to walk through the smoke. Try the Irish Pub -- free specialty restaurant and the food was great!

We saw her docked in NYC during our last trip (in NYC). She's beautiful.

 

[cruiser21]

NCL Breakaway to Bermuda had some amazing shows that were free (Burn the Floor, Rock of Ages and Comedy shows), and some that costs with a dinner show (Cirque de Soliel) -- we loved them all! Nice variety and venues.

This is good to know. This ship is going to be in the Baltics next year. I'm waiting to see the WBTA on DCL before I make a decision.

 

[RedSox68]

This is good to know. This ship is going to be in the Baltics next year. I'm waiting to see the WBTA on DCL before I make a decision.

Another tip about design -- they chose to put the live entertainment in the same area as guest services, shore excursions and the internet lab. It is defeaning when they are performing. If you eat at the Irish Pub which is right above that, ask them for a seat in the back around the corner -- otherwise you won't be able to hear each other as there are no walls to block out the noise. But we thought the food was so worth it we ate their three times -- and the breakfast is awesome.

We saw her docked in NYC during our last trip (in NYC). She's beautiful.

I do love the NCL paint jobs on the fronts of their ships. The Breakaway was an impressive piece of art. When we were there in October, the Magic was parked right next door. I miss her.

 

[RedSox68]

I have to agree. The whole idea that Disney has a higher quality of clientele because of their prices is ridiculous. The drunkest, most obnoxious person I have ever seen on a cruise (over 25 cruises, 10 of those on DCL) was on a DCL WBTA in 2007. By the 5th night of a 14 night cruise, this person was banned from Rockin Bar D because of their falling down drunk, foul mouthed and rude behavior.

I was there -- and I know who that person is! She was a terrible embarrassment to her family too.

 

[cruiser21]

Another tip about design -- they chose to put the live entertainment in the same area as guest services, shore excursions and the internet lab. It is defeaning when they are performing. If you eat at the Irish Pub which is right above that, ask them for a seat in the back around the corner -- otherwise you won't be able to hear each other as there are no walls to block out the noise. But we thought the food was so worth it we ate their three times -- and the breakfast is awesome.



I do love the NCL paint jobs on the fronts of their ships. The Breakaway was an impressive piece of art. When we were there in October, the Magic was parked right next door. I miss her.

I really like the look of new Bliss. I was going to sail on the ship in Alaska, but the port days seemed too short. I think the ship will be in the Caribbean in the Winter.

 

[darnheather]

nevermind

 

[cruiser21]

we have decided to do the NCL breakway's 9-night Northern Eurpean cruise August 2018 instead of the magic. It's going into dry dock May of that year, so can't wait to see how it looks!

I was planning on booking the British Isles cruise or wbta on DCL, but started looking at this again. I like that I can go in June which is a better time of year for us. I didn't know about the dry dock. What are they doing?

 

[keaster]

I was planning on booking the British Isles cruise on DCL, but started looking at this again. I like that I can go in June which is a better time of year for us. I didn't know about the dry dock. What are they doing?

June is never good for us because our daughter is still in school at that time! Sounds like the Breakaway is doing a general refurbishment, I found this on their website:

Norwegian Breakaway will depart her New York homeport on April 15 for the first time since her inaugural season in 2013 for a 12-day transatlantic voyage to London (Southampton). Following her arrival in Europe, Norwegian Breakaway will undergo enhancements in dry dock and then journey to her new seasonal homeport of Copenhagen, where she will sail nine-day Scandinavia & Russia cruises through the summer season

 

[cruiser21]

The Breakaway is going into dry dock? She's currently the runner up for our Bermuda Cruise plan! (We have our eyes on the Anthem right now).

Just an FYI for you and anyone else. NCL is offering 50pp deposits until April 10 fully refundable. If your looking for a cruise in 2018 and don't want to put a lot of money down now's your chance.

June is never good for us because our daughter is still in school at that time! Sounds like the Breakaway is doing a general refurbishment, I found this on their website:

Norwegian Breakaway will depart her New York homeport on April 15 for the first time since her inaugural season in 2013 for a 12-day transatlantic voyage to London (Southampton). Following her arrival in Europe, Norwegian Breakaway will undergo enhancements in dry dock and then journey to her new seasonal homeport of Copenhagen, where she will sail nine-day Scandinavia & Russia cruises through the summer season

We are on the May- Aug break here in AZ. My oldest son just informed me he want's to go to Europe next year. I'm going to book the Breakaway in June. It's been a rough year for him. I'm so happy he wants to cruise next year. My youngest does online public school(works better for him). It's also very flexible and we can cruise anytime as long as we have internet. I was planning on the British Isles on DCL next year with just my youngest. Now I'm not sure what will do, but I know the two of us will do something on DCL next Fall.

 

[mevelandry]

Just an FYI for you and anyone else. NCL is offering 50pp deposits until April 10 fully refundable. If your looking for a cruise in 2018 and don't want to put a lot of money down now's your chance.

I agree that booking right now (refundable) would be nice and would give us the time to pick if we want to sail NCL or RCCL.

My only concern is the price. What if the price of the cruise gets lower? Am I stuck with the price I booked with?

 

[cgolf]

I agree that booking right now (refundable) would be nice and would give us the time to pick if we want to sail NCL or RCCL.

My only concern is the price. What if the price of the cruise gets lower? Am I stuck with the price I booked with?

If you were to choose the RCCL option I know that you can apparently reshop it and stay in the same room prior to the paid in full date. How you do that I have now clue, our Dreams TA did this for us last year and got us a better price or obc at least once.

 

[RedSox68]

I was planning on booking the British Isles cruise or wbta on DCL, but started looking at this again. I like that I can go in June which is a better time of year for us. I didn't know about the dry dock. What are they doing?

We did this cruise on Princess in 2012 -- 12-night in a verandah for 3 adults and saved $7,000 over what Disney wanted for the same thing.

 

[RedSox68]

The reason my oldest son is not cruising with us this year is because of something that happened to him in the teen club. It's had a lasting effect on him. I'm not going to go into details, but Kids on a DCL cruise or no different then kids anywhere else. Some are good and some are down right awful. Same goes for the adults. People are people. People may try to act better when they're around kids, but I haven't noticed a huge difference in people's behavior from one ship to another.

My daughter tried the clubs when she was 9 and 13, and hated them. She was bullied and cliques formed that deliberately shut out other kids. My DD is quiet and felt truly left out. She just hung with us, which we were fine with. Yes, this is a common occurrence in schools for kids, but on vacation at a "kid's club", I would expect the crew running the rooms to be sure all kids are included and having fun.

 

[Pens Fan]

I agree that booking right now (refundable) would be nice and would give us the time to pick if we want to sail NCL or RCCL.

My only concern is the price. What if the price of the cruise gets lower? Am I stuck with the price I booked with?

From what I have learned, as long as it's not past the paid in full date, you can cancel and rebook but you will get get whatever perks (UBP, SDP, etc.) they are offering at that time, not what you originally had. So you have to make sure the change in price is worth it. I have read on CC, that if you have paid in full early, prior to the PIF date, they won't do anything for you, but I really have no clue if that is true. It seems odd if that really is the case.

I'll give you my (one) personal experience with this. We booked our upcoming July NCL cruise as soon as it was released because we were looking for a specific category of stateroom that only had 6 cabins. About a year later, while the price for our stateroom had not changed, they were offering a perk package that included some nice OBC's. For our stateroom category it was $300. I called them to see what they could do for us. Bottom line:

- We got the $300 OBC
- Fees / Taxes had gone up by about $20 and we had to pay that increase.
- Cruise fare was unchanged
- Specialty dining package offer had changed from 4 meals when we originally booked to 3, so we lost a meal.

I was pretty happy with the result, especially since our category of stateroom was sold out and had been for quite some time. The really didn't HAVE to do anything for me. There was another twist to this, as well. We originally booked with an AARP discount that saved us approximately $500. Since that time, NCL has discontinued the AARP affiliation and they no longer offer that discount. In my opinion they would have been well within their rights to say this is a rebook and you can't have the AARP discount, but they didn't. We got to keep our AARP discount, gained a $300 OBC, lost one free specialty meal for 2 people and paid $20 for fees/ taxes.

All in all, a great win for us I thought.

 

[RedSox68]

From what I have learned, as long as it's not past the paid in full date, you can cancel and rebook but you will get get whatever perks (UPB, SDP, etc.) they are offering at that time, not what you originally had. So you have to make sure the change in price is worth it. I have read on CC, that if you have paid in full early, prior to the PIF date, they won't do anything for you, but I really have no clue if that is true. It seems odd if that really is the case.

I'll give you my (one) personal experience with this. We booked our upcoming July NCL cruise as soon as it was released because we were looking for a specific category of stateroom that only had 6 cabins. About a year later, while the price for our stateroom had not changed, they were offering a perk package that included some nice OBC's. For our stateroom category it was $300. I called them to see what they could do for us. Bottom line:

- We got the $300 OBC
- Fees / Taxes had gone up by about $20 and we had to pay that increase.
- Cruise fare was unchanged
- Specialty dining package offer had changed from 4 meals when we originally booked to 3, so we lost a meal.

I was pretty happy with the result, especially since our category of stateroom was sold out and had been for quite some time. The really didn't HAVE to do anything for me. There was another twist to this, as well. We originally booked with an AARP discount that saved us approximately $500. Since that time, NCL has discontinued the AARP affiliation and they no longer offer that discount. In my opinion they would have been well within their rights to say this is a rebook and you can't have the AARP discount, but they didn't. We got to keep our AARP discount, gained a $300 OBC, lost one free specialty meal for 2 people and paid $20 for fees/ taxes.

All in all, a great win for us I thought.

We have had excellent experiences like this with both NCl and Carnival. Even after PIF, if the price for our cruise went down they would accommodate us with an equal OBC or if pre-PIF, they would adjust the rate to match the new sale and give us whatever amenities they were offering -- and we got to keep our room. We are booked on Carnival in September and they had a sale which saved us another $180 -- and they were more than happy to adjust our balance.

 

[Pens Fan]

We have had excellent experiences like this with both NCl and Carnival. Even after PIF, if the price for our cruise went down then would accommodate us with an equal OBC or if pre-PIF, they would adjust the rate to match the new sale and give us whatever amenities they were offering -- and we got to keep our room. We are booked on Carnival in September and they had a sale which saved us another $180 -- and they were more than happy to adjust our balance.

Love to hear this! I have been very happy with NCL so far. I called them a few weeks ago because I had preordered (and paid for) some bottled water. They had reduced the price since then and I called them to see if we could get a refund for difference. No problem! They had to do a full cancellation and they reorder it, but the result was the same. It's funny, I see people on CC complaining all of the time about the phone reps for NCL, but I've had nothing but positive experiences. Now, we are very new to NCL and have only called a few times, but I still can't help but think that sometimes people just like to complain.

 

[mevelandry]

I just checked for NCL Bermuda but the rates are WAY too high right now (1271$ CND/pp) ... I'll wait.

 

[chaseg03]

I think there's a ventriloquist or magician once in a while but I haven't seen their shows.

Just wanted to say the Magic act is legit. Last time it was Mike Super from AGT. Amazing

 

[mevelandry]

Just wanted to say the Magic act is legit. Last time it was Mike Super from AGT. Amazing

Good to know.