Just Back...and I really wanted to drink the DCL Kool-Aid

[tinkerone]

I've eaten at Palo several times. It's good. Mostly it's just a nice night out without the kids. The mdr food on DCL is good. It just gets redundant I'm usually tired of it by night 4. It's extremely hard to eat it for 12 nights. On Dcl there are no other options. Other cruiselines have options, yes at a price, but there are options. DCl wants everyone in the MDR.

On our last cruise there was no food out in the sports bar they used to put out wings, vegetables, and chips etc. No chips, sour cream, and salsa in the promenade lounge, and no palo apps in the cove cafe. You could get it if you asked. They said it was for hygiene purposes, I personally think it was cut backs. If it was for hygiene why didn't they put out a sign saying that you could ask. Nobody asked because nobody knew accept the handful of cruisers that had cruised before. Kind of like the H20 products. People that haven't cruised before wouldn't know that they used to replace these daily. Now you have to chase down your room host to get a replacement, and this was on a cruise that for most family's of four the lowest priced room would have been a 11k.
I'm not trying to bash DCL, but when you've cruised 13 times in 4 years and 8 months you notice things like that. Also the food and service varies from cruise to cruise and ship to ship.

Another problem I find with the MDR's , and this may be true of all cruiselines, is there is not a lot of options for kids that are stuck between a kids menu and an adult menu. The kids menus are designed for kids under 8 or 9 and the adult menu is very rich with a lot of sauces. Not a lot in between.

I have read the steak house on Carnival is very good. I wasn't planning on eating there, but I may have to now so I can compare.

Didn't I hear they are selling food now in the sports lounge? Wings and such? I remember reading this and chuckling about all the people who say other cruise lines nickel and dime. We don't go there so I'm not sure if that is still going on, maybe someone in the know could answer.
I like the fact that the buffet will be open for dinners on our upcoming RCCL cruise. That is a miss on disneys part IMO.

 

[MickeyD]

Didn't I hear they are selling food now in the sports lounge? Wings and such? I remember reading this and chuckling about all the people who say other cruise lines nickel and dime. We don't go there so I'm not sure if that is still going on, maybe someone in the know could answer.
I like the fact that the buffet will be open for dinners on our upcoming RCCL cruise. That is a miss on disneys part IMO.

Yes, you can now buy wings and such in the sports bar. They did still have freebies outside the adult lounges late night as of 2015, not sure if that has changed. Disney does seem to be going to the nickel and diming as well with the charges in the bars and Vanellope's and Cove Cafe (which is the ONLY place on ship to get edible coffee!)

 

[Geomom]

In August, the Wonder had 'free' food in Diversions and Promenade Lounge around 10:30PM, and Cove Café had the deli meat/cheese, etc in the evening.

 

[niccikatie]

For a 7 night veranda eastern cruise for 2 Im paying 3106 on DCL.
On Royal Caribbean it is 2600. Then add drinks and dining and shows the cost is equal if not more,

The drinks/dining thing is brought up a lot (not picking on you, you just happened to be the one I quoted of MANY who said it). My bill at the end of a Disney Cruise (broken down per day for comparison purposes) is SIGNIFICANTLY higher than the bill I had when I left Celebrity. With Celebrity I had a drink package included and a $200 OBC that I struggled to spend. The 5 night Celebrity vs a 5 night Disney for the same Spring Break last year was $2000 less AND I booked a better cabin than I would've on Disney. I've cruised DCL (2x) and Celebrity (1x with another booked) - so I'm not a cruising expert nor novice but these are my experiences.

Service - Both Celebrity and Disney were outstanding. The servers cut DD's meat, made her ketchup smiley faces, made jokes, etc - just like they did on Disney.

Ships - We've only sailed the Wonder on Disney and love her. I found the older Celebrity ship (Constellation) very comparable in styling and size. That's a plus for me. I don't find a lot of appeal in the new mega-ships right now. It was spring break so the pool areas were crowded. I did not feel that the Casino was overly large or overly in the way of getting from one place to the other on the ship

Kids Spaces - No idea - DD who loves the Kids Club on Disney did not do Kids Club on Celebrity as this was a "girls only" trip with her 16 year old cousins and she wanted to be with them and the adults.

Entertainment - Similar with one important exception. There is FAR more family friendly entertainment on Disney. This should not be a surprise. It was hard to find things for ALL of us to do together. The shows were fine, but trended much older than the Disney shows. Late night offerings for adults were similar.

Another big plus for Celebrity, IMO, is the drink package. I love the true all-inclusive feel of having it. We used it for many beverages other than alcohol, too. The specialty coffees, bottled waters delivered to you on deck, juices, etc. I did not feel the slightest bit nickel and dime on Celebrity like I heard I would feel. As I said, I struggled to spend my $200 OBC.

We cancelled our OBB that we made on the 2015 EBPC. We're doing Celebrity for our 15th anniversary in March. DH really loves Disney and this will be his first Celebrity cruise, so we'll see if his impression matches mine. We're also going on a different class of ship, so we'll see. But, there are other options that offer a great value for your money if you're feeling priced out or bored with Disney.

 

[Ofinn]

I don't mind being charged extra for things. I do mind it on DCL because the prices are always at least double. Like I've said previously if your pricing cruises for 2 the difference isn't that bad, but when you price them out for four it's a big difference especially when the big three cruise lines let the 3rd and 4th passenger sail free or charge a very minimal fee. The charge for the kids on our upcoming Carnival cruise was 200.00 dollars. That's where I see the big difference. I don't consider it nickel and diming because it's all optional. DCL just doesn't have a lot of dining options or entertainment options so there is really nothing to charge for.

 

[tinkerone]

I don't mind being charged extra for things. I do mind it on DCL because the prices are always at least double. Like I've said previously if your pricing cruises for 2 the difference isn't that bad, but when you price them out for four it's a big difference especially when the big three cruise lines let the 3rd and 4th passenger sail free or charge a very minimal fee. The charge for the kids on our upcoming Carnival cruise was 200.00 dollars. That's where I see the big difference. I don't consider it nickel and diming because it's all optional. DCL just doesn't have a lot of dining options or entertainment options so there is really nothing to charge for.

We almost always price for 2 and the difference for our upcoming cruise is almost $2000 Canadian. That's huge in my books, I can only imagine the difference for a family of 4.

On our upcoming RCCL cruise my drink package is $480 Canadian, about $360 US for 8 nights. Done! Now if I were to sail DCL they would 'nickel and Dime' me every time I wanted a mixed drink, specialty coffee, bottle of water. Its funny how I can now reverse that saying of 'nickel and dimming' that everyone loves to use on other cruise lines and apply it to DCL. I'm finding more and more differences between DCL and other cruise lines, things that I believed before I did my own research. The differences are huge.

Is DCL worth the differences? I'll be finding out soon.

 

[Ofinn]

We almost always price for 2 and the difference for our upcoming cruise is almost $2000 Canadian. That's huge in my books, I can only imagine the difference for a family of 4.

On our upcoming RCCL cruise my drink package is $480 Canadian, about $360 US for 8 nights. Done! Now if I were to sail DCL they would 'nickel and Dime' me every time I wanted a mixed drink, specialty coffee, bottle of water. Its funny how I can now reverse that saying of 'nickel and dimming' that everyone loves to use on other cruise lines and apply it to DCL. I'm finding more and more differences between DCL and other cruise lines, things that I believed before I did my own research. The differences are huge.

Is DCL worth the differences? I'll be finding out soon.

Is this your first non-disney cruise. What ship?

 

[tinkerone]

Is this your first non-disney cruise. What ship?

Yup, first. Oasis, and very excited.

 

[Ofinn]

Yup, first. Oasis, and very excited.

I have co worker whos been on 35 cruises thats his favorite ship. Have fun.

 

[steves100]

I've eaten at Palo several times. It's good. Mostly it's just a nice night out without the kids. The mdr food on DCL is good. It just gets redundant I'm usually tired of it by night 4. It's extremely hard to eat it for 12 nights. On Dcl there are no other options. Other cruiselines have options, yes at a price, but there are options. DCl wants everyone in the MDR.

On our last cruise there was no food out in the sports bar they used to put out wings, vegetables, and chips etc. No chips, sour cream, and salsa in the promenade lounge, and no palo apps in the cove cafe. You could get it if you asked. They said it was for hygiene purposes, I personally think it was cut backs. If it was for hygiene why didn't they put out a sign saying that you could ask. Nobody asked because nobody knew accept the handful of cruisers that had cruised before. Kind of like the H20 products. People that haven't cruised before wouldn't know that they used to replace these daily. Now you have to chase down your room host to get a replacement, and this was on a cruise that for most family's of four the lowest priced room would have been a 11k.
I'm not trying to bash DCL, but when you've cruised 13 times in 4 years and 8 months you notice things like that. Also the food and service varies from cruise to cruise and ship to ship.

Another problem I find with the MDR's , and this may be true of all cruiselines, is there is not a lot of options for kids that are stuck between a kids menu and an adult menu. The kids menus are designed for kids under 8 or 9 and the adult menu is very rich with a lot of sauces. Not a lot in between.

I have read the steak house on Carnival is very good. I wasn't planning on eating there, but I may have to now so I can compare.

Sounds like Disney getting cheap

 

[steves100]

I don't mind being charged extra for things. I do mind it on DCL because the prices are always at least double. Like I've said previously if your pricing cruises for 2 the difference isn't that bad, but when you price them out for four it's a big difference especially when the big three cruise lines let the 3rd and 4th passenger sail free or charge a very minimal fee. The charge for the kids on our upcoming Carnival cruise was 200.00 dollars. That's where I see the big difference. I don't consider it nickel and diming because it's all optional. DCL just doesn't have a lot of dining options or entertainment options so there is really nothing to charge for.

Agree 100%