Is the ship ever "too crowded"?

[nurseb]

The only time we had a less than memorable experience at WDW was during spring break. The crowds were what you would expect....very very large. Is the same to be expected on the Magic? We have ressies March 29th 2003 for the Western. This will be our first family cruise.

If the ship is totally full..do you feel it? Know what I mean? Now don't get me wrong... we love people It's just the long lines and never finding a seat that can get a bit annoying...

Thanks so much for any perspective you all might have..

Betsy:

 

[Chattyaholic]

Hubby and I did the 7-day Eastern a year and a half ago, and they said our cruise was full (including 900 children) but we never felt that it was too crowded. So many places for people to be on the ship, so many choices, to us it always seemed like people were distributed about pretty evenly. We did try to get to the shows early so we would get our choice of seats, and we usually went to the pool around 10:00 a.m. and never had a problem in finding lounge chairs. Even at Topsiders the lines were never very long, most times when we went we could walk right up and pick up a tray and start choosing our food, no problems at all. It was a very enjoyable cruise, and we're looking forward to going back in January!!

 

[dianthus]

Our 4/13/02 cruise was at full capacity with over 1000 kids on board ~ you really didn't know there were that many of them. We really didn't feel like it was a problem at all. We got Palo's dinner & brunch ressies without a wait. The Goofy pool was a bit crowded on sea days, but we found chairs easily, as the CMs were enforcing the no chair saving rules. The only thing we found was the picture lines went a bit slower, as there were more people but it wasn't really a problem.

Our first cruise was in Oct. 2000 for Halloween. There were far less people on board, but the April one didn't seem all that different crowdwise. Both were very festive!

I wouldn't worry about it! It's really not like WDW in peak seasons with the throngs of people everywhere. DCL really takes care of you!

 

[Lisa F]

Our first cruise was last january, supposedly a slower season and picked because it was a slower season. Then disney came out with the $99 cruise in the fall deal and BAM, our cruise was fully booked. I felt my stomach drop when the check in lady told me that and I saw the HUGE line to board the ship. I was terrifed my whole trip would be ruined by throngs of people.

Boy, was I wrong! As others have said, the ship is DESIGNED to hold that many people very very comfortably. It's not like the parks at all... in fact, I was amazed at how short lines were for character greetings and how much more personalized the attention was for the kids than at the parks. They did say they were fully booked at Palo that week and even more busy than christmas week so we were glad we got our Palo reservations early but that was just about it! We had a great time and did not feel crowded at all... but I think certain parts of the cruise will be crowded no matter how full the ship is... like the mickey pool.

Lisa

 

[TxJasmine]

We were on the 9/14 Magic which was a full ship. Compared to other cruise lines with ships that are comparable in size - yes - DCL is crowded. Other ships generally have few 3 and 4 person rooms, whereas DCL has many. So DCL really does pack them in more. However, in general, the lines at Topsiders weren't too bad, and we were always able to find deck chairs. The biggest crowds we saw were at Shutters (photos), and getting on and off the ship at ports. The elevators were also very crowded most of the time, and when you are walking around you are always having to dodge kids and strollers (and yes, we have 2 little kids).

 

[DreamsDoComeTrue]

1000 kids, wow. Is this gonna be some FUN or what!
So now I'm curious ... just what is the capacity of the ship?

Wait, I just looked it up. It's 2,400. FYI