Is Disney starting to slack compared to other cruises?

[Anchors Away 2016]

If you feel like you NEED the other things to have a good vacation, go right ahead and cruise other lines. Isn't it great we all have choices?

why do you feel the need to slam other cruise lines and the people that like them

I don't like to get involved in these disputes. But I just had to point this out.

Yes, she called some things dumb or whatever, but don't think she slammed any people or cruise lines.

 

[cruiser21]

And a post saying Disney is slacking isn't slamming Disney??

No they were referring to the new ships being built. Disney hasn't had a new ship in a while. I'm sure when Disney comes out with their new ship it will be something to compete with all the bells and whistles of the ships that were seeing today. It may even have rock walls, big slides, things sticking up, who really knows. I have a feeling whatever Disney does you willl like it because it's Disney.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I guess I don't see why one goes on a cruise for a rock climbing wall or a surf pool. I go to oceans to surf, and to real rocks to rock climb. Maybe those are shore expeditions on a cruise, but to me, they aren't boat activities. They're ways of interacting with nature, and the on-board facilities are sanitized.

 

[cruiser21]

I don't like to get involved in these disputes. But I just had to point this out.

Yes, she called some things dumb or whatever, but don't think she slammed any people or cruise lines.

I guess it's all up to interpretation.

 

[cruiser21]

I guess I don't see why one goes on a cruise for a rock climbing wall or a surf pool. I go to oceans to surf, and to real rocks to rock climb. Maybe those are shore expeditions on a cruise, but to me, they aren't boat activities. They're ways of interacting with nature, and the on-board facilities are sanitized.

No I would never cruise for these things, but kids and teens really enjoy them. If it makes the cruise more enjoyable for kids then I'm all for it.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Those type of things don't draw us. Personally, I like the old style cruising back in the days when the Magic and Wonder came out. We hate the crowded mega ships that have all those attractions.

 

[smiths02]

I actually think those other cruise lines are catching up with Disney in an appeal to the fun for the whole family idea.
Maybe I'm just out of touch with reality, but when I grew up (I'm in my 30s), cruises were for senior citizens or a party ship. Most families I knew didn't cruise as a family...they went to Disney, or a road trip in the US, or camping, or a beach vacation...richer ones did Hawaii or Europe

I don't know how much I want DCL adding. I haven't been on a Disney cruise...but we have one booked. Grandma, Grandpa, mom, dad, 3 kids-12-5-5 at time of sailing. I'd say we fit the target market for Disney pretty well. None of us want to zipline, rock wall climb or gamble in a casino on the ship. I can see 5 years from now that my kids might enjoy that, but it's not necessary and would take space from other stuff now.

To me, it's like wondering why Disneyworld doesn't tear down Fantasyland and just put in Six Flags style coasters to appeal to teens/adults.

 

[cgolf]

I agree with what @Dug720 and @LSUfan4444 have said, it's a different market. For my wife and I, we don't have kids, Disney is the right niche for us. We wouldn't want something more "thrilling" than the Aquaduck, not our style. Could care less about a rock climb wall or a zip line. Don't want the smoke of the casinos, etc. For us (as the ad says) "The difference is Disney". I've tried numerous times to convince myself to try Royal but it just has no appeal to me. Disney can keep taking my money as much as they want it. My first cruise ever was on Disney in Sept of 2015 and I'm already Gold and will be Platinum by early next year (God willing). They have my business.

We were in your shoes not long ago, hit platinum in 8 years only ever having sailed DCL, not as quickly as you will be. Finally the value was no longer there for us on DCL and we tried Royal and really enjoyed ourselves. We did do Royal minus our college aged daughter, but we had also sailed DCL without her too. The best I can say is both have their pluses and minuses, but I was surprised to see just as good and friendly service on Royal, I had expected it to be awful based on what I had read here. I have a review on here somewhere comparing the two. We found neither line to be perfect, but found we were about the same amount of busy on both lines.

 

[BartmanLA]

In my personal opinion, much of what the other ships offer are geared towards keeping the guests super active, and thirsty and hungry a lot so they'll spend more money on drinks and specialty dining. They're offering a party atmosphere so much of the time that you keep moving and doing things like gambling, riding the water rides and other athletic activities just so you won't have an opportunity to possibly get bored or relax. At least that's how I see it, and that's fine, if you want super busy and active activities where you're always go go go, that's great. Personally I enjoy the relaxing pace of DCL ships, when I cruise I want time to be able to take in the scenery, watch the waves go by, sit around and chit chat with my fellow cruisers and not rushing off every 10 minutes or so to some event or activity that will tire me out. That's how I see the differences, for me Disney is the difference and it's one I will gladly pay for each time.

 

[cgolf]

I would say that DCL while a different experience I feel it isn't the same line we first cruised back in 2008. I think the service was much better back then and it seemed like the crew was more engaged. I noticed a difference when they first expanded with the Dream and started shuffling crew around, and it only got worse as they added the Fantasy. Back when we did the Magic post re imagining in 2013, the crew was a blast and very interactive with us and others. The same crew followed us to the Fantasy 2 months later and they didn't interact with the guests as much to not at all and were always worried about getting to their next activity. Even Fitz wasn't the same as he was on the Magic, looked really worn out. Not to mention that while the price has gone up, we are actually getting less for that price.

Looking at what our current DCL status would get us on RCCL, it is crazy what the difference is. DCL looks to be aiming for few time cruisers to do the Disney family trip vs lifetime cruisers. Once we accepted that we were happy to take our money elsewhere. We will probably try the new ships, but did get our money back on our placeholder cruise for the first time ever.

I want to add, that everyone that hasn't tried another cruise line, should do their research and try another line some time. We went through the DCL is the best and only good line, but have learned differently. Before we jumped though we did lots of research on other forums to determine which line would suit our needs. Worst case you hate the other line and you go back to DCL, best case you like the line and you have a second option if DCL doesn't work.

We found that while RCCL has all the crazy activity stuff, we could still go sit down on deck 4 of the Freedom and watch the ocean go by and love life just like we did on DCL

 

[cruiser21]

In my personal opinion, much of what the other ships offer are geared towards keeping the guests super active, and thirsty and hungry a lot so they'll spend more money on drinks and specialty dining. They're offering a party atmosphere so much of the time that you keep moving and doing things like gambling, riding the water rides and other athletic activities just so you won't have an opportunity to possibly get bored or relax. At least that's how I see it, and that's fine, if you want super busy and active activities where you're always go go go, that's great. Personally I enjoy the relaxing pace of DCL ships, when I cruise I want time to be able to take in the scenery, watch the waves go by, sit around and chit chat with my fellow cruisers and not rushing off every 10 minutes or so to some event or activity that will tire me out. That's how I see the differences, for me Disney is the difference and it's one I will gladly pay for each time.

My kids don't like to sit and watch the ocean go by. On DCL they play video games. Hang out in the clubs. On other cruise lines they are outside more and doing more active stuff. They like them both. I like them both. It's easier to find them on a DCL ship because they're always in the clubs in front of a video game. I find plenty of time to relax on any ship. The nice thing about the ships with all the bells and whistles is their is something for everyone.

 

[AquaDame]

If you look at all the other cruise ships they have just so so many different things. Here are some things.

- THRILLING water slides, Disney has the aquaduck, really? It's not as thrilling as some slides on other cruise ships.

- Other fun, like rock climbing walls, surfing, zip lines, skydiving simulator.

-Partnering with big food stars Guy Fiere. (Hope I spelled that correct)

- Just other simple things, don't get me wrong because they have many things to do but these other cruise lines are just killing Disney in activities IMO. Hope the new ships are a lot better.

I respectfully disagree. I think they are very methodical on what they choose to add to their ships to keep with the theme they are going for.

AuqaDuck isn't a slide...its a coaster and thankfully one that people of any age and ability can enjoy, not just the thrill seekers. As someone else said, just as you don't see 6 flags style coasters in the Disney parks so too you don't get wave machines, zip lines and skydiving on the ships. We'll see what they DO choose to add to the new ships eventually.

They have their own quality chefs - why spend money to bring in a celebrity chef when they don't need to? They don't need brand recognition, they have plenty.

The above are not things we are interested in at all, as young adults cruising just the two of us. Disney knows their clientele well and just as some prefer to go to Universal so too some will prefer other ships. DCL is niche and happy with it so far. We've sailed twice with RCCL and did not think it was worth it even after the cost savings. Frankly I was bored on sea days and we spent a lot more time reading in our cabin.

 

[cruiser21]

I guess will find out when Disneys new ships come out. It will be interesting to see if they follow the competition or stick to what they've done in the past.

 

[Lisa F]

Disney, not just cruise line but parks too, is not your typical "thrill" place. it is about striking the balance for the entire family rather than appealing too hard to any one age group. While there are a couple of thrill rides at the parks, they are hardly thrill ride parks... and same with the ship. They choose to focus on their very limited space on the things that have the widest appeal... so instead of putting in a super thrilling slide where there are height requirements, they put in a family friendly slide that allows people of all sizes and shapes to go on it and even ride it together. I would not mind a rock climbing wall as my kiddo loves dong that but having that on a ship wouldn't be a deal breaker for me one way or the other. As far as celebrity chefs and other chains, I hope Disney doesn't do that. Other cruise lines are not "Disney" and don't have their own branded stuff so it is exciting to see Johnny Rockets or Guy Fieri... Disney has Remy and Vanellope's ice cream shop etc... I would not be missing some loud mouth celebrity chef whose restaurants get mediocre at best reviews on the Disney ship. Disney also has a smaller fleet than others and is not rolling out a new boat every year and it's unreasonable to expect something like that to be updated based on the latest and greatest whims that will be a thing of the past soon when they are no longer latest and greatest.

You can argue whether DCL is worth the price for what it is, but I don't think anyone can reasonably make the argument that for what it is, Disney isn't awesome. if you want something different, there are other options.

 

[Dug720]

And FWIW, I HAVE cruised RCCL and would again if the itinerary is right - but only Radiance Class or smaller. The floating apartment buildings don't appeal to me at all.

But yes, Disney is my line of preference and first choice.

 

[cruiser21]

The guys burgers and the blue Iguana were really good. DCL poolside food is not good. Even if you don't like loud mother chefs it's still better then what you find on DCL.
I'm glad I'm not as fussy as people on here because It allows me cruise 3 or 4 times a year, and see the world. I couldn't do it all the time on DCL.

 

[kid-at-heart]

Aesthetically they are NOT pleasing - and I'm not the only one who thinks that way. I can't say on here what some on another forum site say when they are extending. It's not polite.

I agree. The rock walls, water slides, etc are not aesthetically pleasing. There are many other lines that do offer "a zillion thrills". I cruise to relax, not to engage in thrills. I am glad there are cruise lines that offer the thrills for those who want them. And I am glad Disney does not. In fact, I stick to the Wonder when cruising because I like the classic look and feel of the ship.

We have a child, actually now an adult who enjoyed Disney cruises as a child, teen and now young adult. We are a very active family, however, when we want to be more active, we hit up the national and state parks for hiking, rock climbing etc. For us, even our child today and when she was younger, cruising is for relaxing and socializing. Nature is for being active.

As I said earlier, I am very glad there are cruise lines that offer zip lines, rock walls, gambling, etc. I would not like to cruise with folks who were bored and it is good that there are options for all.

I just do not want to see Disney changing their ships to accommodate a few folks that want thrills. There are very few ships left that offer the relaxing cruise opportunity that Disney offers.

 

[SunnyDhappy]

We love DCL cruises and have done 13 of them with our kids. This year we have opened up to trying other cruise lines.

We have tried NCL and are booked for spring break on Princess. The prices were just right and we wanted to experience other cruise lines. With our NCL experience, kids ages 13 an 10, it was great and while it provided things that DCL does not offer like amazing slides, rock wall, buffet for all meals, pool side grill with amazing food options. Guacamole, salsa and chips while having a rum punch on Adult deck Good stuff! All the dining options on NCL were truly fabulous! With that said, we were definitely missing some Disney awesomeness. We missed the kids clubs, the ease of both daytime and night entertainment, movies in the room, movies in the Buena Vista, and happiness of the crew. It wasn't the pixie dust and Disney feeling cruise but it was very fun and food options beat what DCL offers.

I hope that the new ships have more dining options and all day buffet like other cruise lines. I didn't realize how awesome that having those options would be until we were exposed to it.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

They have their own quality chefs - why spend money to bring in a celebrity chef when they don't need to?

I would suggest, as I did with the new Planet Hollywood Observatory, that some celebrity chefs are threats not promises/upgrades. Guy Fieri?

 

[cruiser21]

I would suggest, as I did with the new Planet Hollywood Observatory, that some celebrity chefs are threats not promises/upgrades. Guy Fieri?

At least he doesn't scream at me while I'm eating like that turtle does. Lol