Jan 13 report Warning may not be positive

[oiler]

Well back home from the 7-day Magic cruise and the wife and I have had time to reflect and judge this holiday. First off let me say this was our 1st DCL cruise, second overall.
Her and I and our 5 year old son and 7 year old daughter.
flight to Orlando went well, Hyatt at MCO is very nice and close.
DCL bus transfer in the morning went good, I think we were on the 1st bus out.
Quite a crowd at the port but it all went smoothly. Boarding pass was a 2 so we were on the boat pretty early, went up to Topsiders for lunch rather than Parrot Cay, got the PLA rotation, didn't really care which rotation it was.
Went to the Mickey pool and then to our room at 1:30.
6068 is a nice room close to midship, very quiet we found.
First day for first timers was actually very good.

First off the positives:
Entertainment at night was first class, I'm the first type of person that would blow these off but I thouroughly enjoyed them.
Staff was very friendly nothing but good things to say about them.
Ship was very classy and the rooms well designed and laid out.

Now for some of the not so great things that in "our" opinion fell short:

The food was so so, Lobster was good but pretty much everything else needed salt, lots of it, Caeser salad was about as dull as a Woody Allen movie.
the desserts were middle of the road also.

Our kids spent one hour out of the whole week in the club, We have always hung out as a family and it just wasn't for them, not Disneys fault, just a personal preference.
Although the one time I did go up to get them there was 6 CMs standing at the front desk yakking while all the kids were standing around looking miserable.

People saving deck chairs need to be punted off the back of the ship.

Blaring music everywhere, I grew up on Aerosmith and AC/DC but I get sick of DJs yelling and "celebration" being played at distortion level.

To me Topsiders is a big problem, besides the obvious breeding ground for all things nasty there is no flow through the place for people and near misses with trays of food are constant.
I'd much rather eat at the dog house or the pizza place.

Whoever came up with the size for the Goofy pool should be made to swim in it for a afternoon after the Mickey pool has been closed because some toddler crapped in it for the umpteenth time.
Come on parents use your heads and your swimmer diapers.
Meanwhile the nice larger adult pool had 6 people in it and I know cause I went down there for a dip to get Goofy water off me which by the way is the colour of pale lemonade, not sure why........

Us foreigners being asked to surrender our passports and then reporting at 6 AM with kids in tow to get them back.
I can imagine what would happen if US citizens were asked to surrender their passports in a foreign country. Wouldn't happen.

If I ever see another photographer in my face it'll be too soon, or hear one yell "Princess wohoo over here"

Having 3 characters in the atrium at the same time and no one there to direct traffic or say which one is going to be where is dumb.
And then for kicks let's rope off the staircases also.

Castaway Cay was nice but the beach reminds me of Manhattan at 5:00 PM. A note to people with young kids, if they take off from you, follow them, they WILL get lost in the crowd.
Our boy did and I helped 3 more kids find their parents.

Having our servers beg us to put excellent down on the comment card.
We would have anyway but it's annoying being bugged about it

Anyway, thats my take on it, you can flame me if you want.
I'd rate the trip on a whole a 6 out of 10.
I guess if you like being herded around like cattle and having a timeline that has to be followed ,cruising is for you.
I'm going to Mexico or Hawaii with my kids next year where we can find a quiet beach or go for dinner where and when we want..
It'll likely be cheaper too.
So long......... flame away

 

[landlockedinkc]

You are very accurate in your observations of DCL. We cruised Christmas 05 with our son who was 3.5 years at the time. We found the experince to be both good and bad. The pools were miserably crowded which I tried to discount as part of traveling over the holiday. I had little luck securing a chair anywhere on deck. Once I did find one in front of the Mickey pool and attempted to eat lunch while watching my son. As I was eating a mother watched her school age son splash water in my food repeatedly until I had to throw it away. Our son did enjoy the kids club and I did not have issue with the counselors. The food in general ranged from very average to nasty in my opinion. Much of it appeared to us to be prepackaged processed foods. The only meal we thought worth being excited about was our dinner and brunch at Palo. I too felt pressured by the dining staff to give out good scores. Yes, they were at their job and I did give them good marks for service but they were very proud of the food and I found it difficult to act like it was good not to hurt their feelings. Castaway Cay that was not my idea of a beach. I mean what a waste of a day. I don't mean to be a snob but anyone that thinks that is a good beach experience hasn't been to many beaches. Castaway Cay was crowded and contrived. Overall we liked the Disney experience DCL provides. However don't expect much from the dining if you enjoy good food. Additionally DCL did not fulfill our need for a beach fix. In 2006 we went to Turks and Caicos for a real beach experience on our own time without the herds for the same $$$. We are trying a land/sea Disney vacation in April for our son. However we are going to Maui in November for a real beach fix because we know DCL will not meet our need for beach time.

 

[landlockedinkc]

You are very accurate in your observations of DCL. We cruised Christmas 05 with our son who was 3.5 years at the time. We found the experince to be both good and bad. The pools were miserably crowded which I tried to discount as part of traveling over the holiday. I had little luck securing a chair anywhere on deck. Once I did find one in front of the Mickey pool and attempted to eat lunch while watching my son. As I was eating a mother watched her school age son splash water in my food repeatedly until I had to throw it away. Our son did enjoy the kids club and I did not have issue with the counselors. The food in general ranged from very average to nasty in my opinion. Much of it appeared to us to be prepackaged processed foods. The only meal we thought worth being excited about was our dinner and brunch at Palo. I too felt pressured by the dining staff to give out good scores. Yes, they were at their job and I did give them good marks for service but they were very proud of the food and I found it difficult to act like it was good not to hurt their feelings. Castaway Cay that was not my idea of a beach. I mean what a waste of a day. I don't mean to be a snob but anyone that thinks that is a good beach experience hasn't been to many beaches. Castaway Cay was crowded and contrived. Overall we liked the Disney experience DCL provides. However don't expect much from the dining if you enjoy good food. Additionally DCL did not fulfill our need for a beach fix. In 2006 we went to Turks and Caicos for a real beach experience on our own time without the herds for the same $$$. We are trying a land/sea Disney vacation in April for our son. However we are going to Maui in November for a real beach fix because we know DCL will not meet our need for beach time.

 

[tjeagle]

No flaming here! Opinions are opinions! Thanks for sharing yours!

 

[Floridagram]

Most of the things you described are typical of most cruises. Maybe crusing isn't for you unless you go on a luxury line. Hopefully someone from Disney does read your post and try to alleviate some of the issues that they can.

Different people have different expectations so that would explain why some are so happy with the DCL. We just tend to make the best of every situation and always have an overall nice time when cruising.

I hope no one will "flame away" because everyone is entitled to their opinion and everyone will never agree. So be nice folks, please!

 

[ldeninge]

Oiler,
thanks for sharing the cheers AND the jeers about the cruise.
We were also on this trip and you have alot of good comments. Some I agree, some not, but the balance helps people to have realistic expectations. Some of the most helpful advice I got on this board was the concerns/complaints.
Hope your next vacation is all you hope it to be!

 

[lborne]

Many of your complaints are typical of many cruises. And many others are not the fault of the cruise line, but of idiot cruisers, who usually sail with Carnival, but occasionally you will find them on Disney. Having said that, you do have some valid points. Luckily, we cruised in November and crowds were small. Never had problems getting chairs and lines for food were short. That keeps the frustration level down.

I agree the waiters were always asking us if there was something they could do better or differently. That, and being hounded to buy wine and water packages annoyed me.

However, on cruises to Tahiti and the Med, we (US Citizens), did have to surrender our passports for the entire cruise. I've also stayed at some hotels in Europe where you must exchange your passport for your room key, and must surrender your room key when you go somewhere for the day to get your passport back. I don't have any problem with that.

Thanks for your opinions.

 

[BethA]

I wish DCL would hear that everyone HATES the repeated excellent speech. Also the fact that if you do not mark the food as excellent it is held against your server is ridiculous. They aren't cooking the food and can only offer to bring something else, which you might not like either. I have never thought the food was excellent, but put it because-speech aside-we have always loved our server.

I think it good to have other thought posted. with too many glowing reports people have unreal expectations.

 

[Bella8286]

I wish DCL would hear that everyone HATES the repeated excellent speech. Also the fact that if you do not mark the food as excellent it is held against your server is ridiculous. They aren't cooking the food and can only offer to bring something else, which you might not like either. I have never thought the food was excellent, but put it because-speech aside-we have always loved our server.

I think it good to have other thought posted. with too many glowing reports people have unreal expectations.

Agreed! We just returned from a 4 night on the Wonder and although my son got quarantined and things didn't go as planned... I must admit I set my expectations WAY too high after coming to the DIS boards and hearing about about wonderful DCL is. We had a good time and will definately return. My husband and I as well did not care for the food and even he didn't care for Palo all that much. I fully enjoyed my Palo dinner however. Thanks for your opinions!

 

[sopandbass]

We were on the same cruise and our experience was different. This was our 4th DCL cruise.

I'm sorry you had to endure the endless 'excellent' speeches. Our server never once mentioned the 'excellent' rating which was excellent. On our third cruise, it was obnoxious. We thought perhaps the managment HAD gotten the word that we're all tired of it and how it diminishes the dining experience so they had told the servers NOT to give the speech this time around.

We were at Palo on lobster night and it was fabulous - it was served with a risotto and spinach and it was lovely.

I must admit that we rarely eat at Topsiders so maybe that's why we were unaware of problems there. Our daughter loves the Oceaneer's Club so we had both family and couple time. I agree that the Goofy Pool is in desparately need of revamping. We went directly into the ship and skipped the Bon Voyage picture and that set the tone for a mostly no-photo cruise this time, by our design. (We did choose to have a pic with the Captain because we hadn't done that before.)

We ran into some people who said they saved deck chairs by putting their things on three chairs near the Goofy Pool at 7am and leaving them there all day. Ugh. I think if you don't see movement or bodies on or around a deck chair after 20 minutes or so, it's up for grabs again. That would be my theory.

We've cruised with RCL and Princess also. We don't feel herded around on Disney, especially the wonderful way they board and unload passengers. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your cruise more because it is a boatload of money. But, as Lauri said earlier, I hope your next vacation will be everything you're looking for and more!

Thanks for sharing your views, though!

 

[tynkerbell]

I wish DCL would hear that everyone HATES the repeated excellent speech. Also the fact that if you do not mark the food as excellent it is held against your server is ridiculous. They aren't cooking the food and can only offer to bring something else, which you might not like either. I have never thought the food was excellent, but put it because-speech aside-we have always loved our server.

I think it good to have other thought posted. with too many glowing reports people have unreal expectations.

Really?? Not marking the food excellent is held against the server? We marked the service excellent but marked the food quite low. We HATED the food onboard and weren't about to pretend otherwise.

 

[JLDSMD]

We were on the same cruise and our experience was different. This was our 4th DCL cruise.

I'm sorry you had to endure the endless 'excellent' speeches. Our server never once mentioned the 'excellent' rating which was excellent. On our third cruise, it was obnoxious. We thought perhaps the managment HAD gotten the word that we're all tired of it and how it diminishes the dining experience so they had told the servers NOT to give the speech this time around.

We were at Palo on lobster night and it was fabulous - it was served with a risotto and spinach and it was lovely.

I must admit that we rarely eat at Topsiders so maybe that's why we were unaware of problems there. Our daughter loves the Oceaneer's Club so we had both family and couple time. I agree that the Goofy Pool is in desparately need of revamping. We went directly into the ship and skipped the Bon Voyage picture and that set the tone for a mostly no-photo cruise this time, by our design. (We did choose to have a pic with the Captain because we hadn't done that before.)

We ran into some people who said they saved deck chairs by putting their things on three chairs near the Goofy Pool at 7am and leaving them there all day. Ugh. I think if you don't see movement or bodies on or around a deck chair after 20 minutes or so, it's up for grabs again. That would be my theory.

We've cruised with RCL and Princess also. We don't feel herded around on Disney, especially the wonderful way they board and unload passengers. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your cruise more because it is a boatload of money. But, as Lauri said earlier, I hope your next vacation will be everything you're looking for and more!

Thanks for sharing your views, though!

We were on this cruise as well. It was our 4th.

We had the same server as 2 years ago. No "excellent" speach from him.

Soapandbass, a couple of things in your post reminded me of some things we observed on the ship.

First, on Thursday morning, there were about 13 chairs saved at the Mickey Pool when I went up at 8:00 a.m. (by the way, I sat in my chair the whole time until DS came up to the pool - very relaxing there without all the kids). After an hour or so, I was getting to the point where I was going to remove the towels from the chairs that had them and leave them open. The people who put "personal" items on the chairs I was going to take and put on the towel bins with a copy of the Navigator with the section of "no seat saving" circled. I didn't because I figured I'd have to hear them "B-ing" at the pool all day. And the people who showed up were real winners. I do want to mention that we always were able to finds seats regardless of the time or day.

The other is the Captain's photo. We had late seating and were in Lumiere's on Monday night - the night of the photos. The Captain and several of his officers came to dinner there and were seated right next to us. DW overheard the Captain say, "I've been smiling for 2 hours and it feels like 100". So, I urge everyone to get your picture taken with the Captain whether you're going to get it from Shutters or not. If he can't take 2 hours to pose for the pictures, then don't offer it at all.

Otherwise, we found the cruise to be great. Weather couldn't be better and the seas were relatively calm.

We had no problems getting beach space on CC and DS loved playing in the sand. We just know to go further down the beach. Most people enter at the first chance. We've learned to head down past Cookies and turn in by the showers/bathrooms. Always chairs available down there and we didn't get off the ship until at least 45 minutes after the disembarkment time.

 

[BethA]

our server gave us the excellent speech several times and we assured him that he was excellent, but he said that it is his job to be sure that you love the food and to bring something else if necessary. On a recent cruise a guest gave the food a poor rating and he was held accountable, so he wanted to be sure we understood that was also a reflection on him. This was not the first server that has old us that and I do not think it is fair. People have different tastes and expectations for food and the server can only bring what is in the kitchen

 

[akdaisy]

Thanks for sharing your opinions. I appreciate it. After reading 6000 glowing trip reports, it is nice to get a little bit of balance.

We are cruising on DCL for the first time next month, and I am trying to temper my excitement a little bit, because I have never cruised with them before. I want to give them a chance to impress me...but am keeping my expectations realistic. What is important is that we are together as a family, which hardly ever happens in the "real world", because of my DHs job.

I especially love your comment on the saving of deck chairs. This is something that drove me bonkers on other cruise lines...hopefully people that actually do save seats all day by putting their crap on a chair will read this and not do it any more.

Again, thanks for the dose of reality.

 

[Doug7856]

Us foreigners being asked to surrender our passports and then reporting at 6 AM with kids in tow to get them back.
I can imagine what would happen if US citizens were asked to surrender their passports in a foreign country. Wouldn't happen.

Actually it is pretty common. We have had to give up our US passport in London, St. Petersburg, Moscow and on a Princess Cruise in the Med. It makes you a bit uneasy at first, but we've never had a problem.

 

[yargrnhoj]

I wish DCL would hear that everyone HATES the repeated excellent speech. Also the fact that if you do not mark the food as excellent it is held against your server is ridiculous. They aren't cooking the food and can only offer to bring something else, which you might not like either. I have never thought the food was excellent, but put it because-speech aside-we have always loved our server.

I think it good to have other thought posted. with too many glowing reports people have unreal expectations.

Luckily, we did not get the 'excellent' speech. Our server, Steve, handed us the comment cards and said something like, "I hope you found everything to your liking and please let us know if you did not". The table next to us got the hard-sell 'excellent' speech which I overheard, and I tell you, if I had gotten that speech, the rating would have dropped from 'excellent' to 'good' and I would have told DCL the reason was being told I had to mark it excellent.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

The design of the Goofy pool is the most disappointing thing about DCL. It really makes you wonder what DCL was thinking.

And yes, there is nothing worse then heading up to deck 9 and finding out the Mickey pool is closed and the Goofy pool is now a zoo.

The best time to swim is between 5-6pm. Yes, that interferes with early dinner and quite honestly it means we blow off seeing the shows but it really is such a peaceful time to be at the Goofy pool.

And in terms of your kids liking the clubs.....I will say that its hit and miss. My kids were 5 & 6 when we first started cruising and DS liked going to the clubs but DD did not. Ouch - no "love in the afternoon" for DH & I.

On subsequent cruises both kids went to the clubs depending on what activities were scheduled. That's when I really liked that DCL had schedules of the kids' activities printed out for the entire week so the kids could pick and choose when they wanted to go to the clubs.

And with Oceans Quest on the Magic - neither kid asked to go the pools until Thursday because they were so happy going to Oceans Quest.

As for the food......it varies.....I've had good dinners and so-so dinners. I'm just so happy not to have to cook it or clean it up so I'm tolerant of the not-so-good dishes.

 

[cristit14]

No flames here! Thanks for sharing your opinions! I agree with you about the flow in Topsiders, it is pretty hard to get around in there. Overall the food wasn't fabulous like some think, but at each meal I never had anything that was bad, I had some things that were okay and I usually had one thing that I loved (many of the soups come to mind).

 

[Wendy1953]

Thanks for sharing your opinions. I appreciate it. After reading 6000 glowing trip reports, it is nice to get a little bit of balance.

We are cruising on DCL for the first time next month, and I am trying to temper my excitement a little bit, because I have never cruised with them before. I want to give them a chance to impress me...but am keeping my expectations realistic. What is important is that we are together as a family, which hardly ever happens in the "real world", because of my DHs job.

I especially love your comment on the saving of deck chairs. This is something that drove me bonkers on other cruise lines...hopefully people that actually do save seats all day by putting their crap on a chair will read this and not do it any more.

Again, thanks for the dose of reality.

I too am greatful for this post...leaving on our first ever cruise in 9 days, and am a little unsure of how it will go. The comments on saving deck chairs is not only a cruise line problem, but any pool I've ever been to. People come down to the pool area at God only knows what time, put their gear or towels on the chairs(mostly just towels....and I've also been to the racetracks here in NY, and people do the same thing-not towels but newspapers, betting papers, and such, meanwhile someone else could have sat down to ease their tired feet), and then don't show up for hours on end to use them....I agree with the OP...if someone doesn't show up in I'd say half an hour....take the towel off the chair, place your butt on it, and let them have something to say when they come to claim "their" chair...body as dry as a bone!

 

[MassDisLovers]

I have to say that I agree that the CMs repeatedly asking for ratings of "excellent" is VERY annoying. I am a reasonable person (and I imagine most DCL cruisers are as well ) and i will l give excellent ratings as they are deserved. We've taken 3 DCL cruises and have always been annoyed with the way the servers and cabin attendants ask for excellent ratings near the end of the cruise. Can't DCL find some other way of gauging customer satisfaction that doesn't involve their employees having to beg for a good rating? I can't imagine that they enjoy it any more than we do!