cmph
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2016
- Messages
- 1,619
And we truly had a ball!! For our family, DCL was perfect. I've been on 4 other lines, and I have a hard time envisioning another line fitting our family that well at this point in time.
Some brief highlights from each family member:
-I worried that my parents wouldn't find enough to do that suited their tastes, and my dad had already mentioned being a bit perturbed at the lack of a casino. Well, that was a pointless worry! They loved all the shows and entertainers (except the ventriloquist, which my mom skipped b/c they freak her out), especially John Charles. If the evening performer had a late night adults-only show - they went. My mom hates raunchy comedy shows, so Disney-fied shows are perfect for her. They saw 4 movies, enjoyed the game show type of activities, and my dad found his new home in the Crown and Fin pub. His favorite part of the entire trip was the beer tasting event.
-DD11 adored all of the broadway-style shows. She's my Disney fan child, so this was no surprise. She was also a huge fan of Eye Scream and all the little craft activities. She loved the Pirate party and watching Funnel vision with snacks in hand.
-DS8 loved having freedom! I'd never let him and his sister go off in the parks, or at Aulani, but he had freedom. And unlimited cheeseburgers from Pete's Boiler Bites, Eye Scream, and nonstop Coke (he rarely gets soda at home). He isn't a singing/dancing fan, but he actually liked the other shows. He was on the floor during Michael Holly's performances.
-DH has celiac and was super impressed by DCL. Embarkation lunch in Triton's was smooth (the servers showed him how they double-verify allergy meals there); gluten-free items were all clearly marked on dinner menus and are still prepped separately if flagged for an allergic guest; a Bulgarian weight-lifting server in Cabanas became his new buddy there, as well as the chef; Palo was simple as I expected; and burgers and fries in Pete's Boiler Bites were always freshly prepared under the chef. The only place he couldn't eat at was Daisy's D-lites, which the CMs were apologetic about, but they said there was too much cross-contamination. He is a weight lifter (hence his Bulgarian buddy!) and picky about gyms, but surprisingly to even himself - loved working out onboard. He was a big fan of the Frozen show, and he's seen the movie exactly once, so he's not a Frozen fan in general. He greatly enjoyed the tasting events he went to (mixology, tequila/margarita, bourbon) - Rodolfo handled the first 2 and was fabulous. Serenity Bay was a huge hit for both of us as well.
-As for me - I loved the Golden Mickeys and Disney Dreams (cheesy and all), thought the Crown and Fin and Cadillac were great, had a great time at Rodolfo's mixology and tequila/margarita tasting, and could wander deck 4 outside and deck 10 for hours happily. Pulling away from ports on deck 10, at the railing, with an adult drink in hand = perfection.
Lowlights were less prevalent. My parents were disturbed that dinner food was almost always just warm, never hot. Our servers were fine but not cohesive (language barrier between them, I think), no magic tricks or anything like that. The kids' clubs were a bust for my kids - one side or the other was always closed when they tried to go, and the last straw was when a CM took my 11yo's ipod and sent me a bunch of nonsense texts on the app. You do NOT touch a tween's electronic device, ha! They never went back. Castaway Cay food was a miss (the 8yo ate 2 burgers a day from Pete's and some times had mini-burgers at dinner, but he thought the burger there was terrible, which is saying something b/c he'll eat burgers anywhere). Tiana's is far too loud and was not great for the first night's dinner as a result - as our assistant server confirmed when she said it's very hard to get to know the guests there (no chairs fell backward the 2 nights we ate there, though, in case anyone is curious!). The kids thought the Twist n Spout slide was really boring (disclaimer - we live in Phoenix and have had water park season passes for the last couple of years). We had a really insane time getting off (just my family) - a really long story involving border control and total, inexplicable communication breakdown between them and DCL. DCL will definitely hear about that from us, but nothing else happened that would make us complain. I'll be emailing positive reviews about a few CMs, as well.
OK, trying not to make this longer than it is! I will post separately specifically about NYE onboard, if anyone would like, b/c I didn't find much info about it in advance and could go on about that for a couple paragraphs, with photos!
BIG THANKS to all here who answered my questions, offered advice, and just generally post helpful info. You helped make this a wonderful vacation!
Some brief highlights from each family member:
-I worried that my parents wouldn't find enough to do that suited their tastes, and my dad had already mentioned being a bit perturbed at the lack of a casino. Well, that was a pointless worry! They loved all the shows and entertainers (except the ventriloquist, which my mom skipped b/c they freak her out), especially John Charles. If the evening performer had a late night adults-only show - they went. My mom hates raunchy comedy shows, so Disney-fied shows are perfect for her. They saw 4 movies, enjoyed the game show type of activities, and my dad found his new home in the Crown and Fin pub. His favorite part of the entire trip was the beer tasting event.
-DD11 adored all of the broadway-style shows. She's my Disney fan child, so this was no surprise. She was also a huge fan of Eye Scream and all the little craft activities. She loved the Pirate party and watching Funnel vision with snacks in hand.
-DS8 loved having freedom! I'd never let him and his sister go off in the parks, or at Aulani, but he had freedom. And unlimited cheeseburgers from Pete's Boiler Bites, Eye Scream, and nonstop Coke (he rarely gets soda at home). He isn't a singing/dancing fan, but he actually liked the other shows. He was on the floor during Michael Holly's performances.
-DH has celiac and was super impressed by DCL. Embarkation lunch in Triton's was smooth (the servers showed him how they double-verify allergy meals there); gluten-free items were all clearly marked on dinner menus and are still prepped separately if flagged for an allergic guest; a Bulgarian weight-lifting server in Cabanas became his new buddy there, as well as the chef; Palo was simple as I expected; and burgers and fries in Pete's Boiler Bites were always freshly prepared under the chef. The only place he couldn't eat at was Daisy's D-lites, which the CMs were apologetic about, but they said there was too much cross-contamination. He is a weight lifter (hence his Bulgarian buddy!) and picky about gyms, but surprisingly to even himself - loved working out onboard. He was a big fan of the Frozen show, and he's seen the movie exactly once, so he's not a Frozen fan in general. He greatly enjoyed the tasting events he went to (mixology, tequila/margarita, bourbon) - Rodolfo handled the first 2 and was fabulous. Serenity Bay was a huge hit for both of us as well.
-As for me - I loved the Golden Mickeys and Disney Dreams (cheesy and all), thought the Crown and Fin and Cadillac were great, had a great time at Rodolfo's mixology and tequila/margarita tasting, and could wander deck 4 outside and deck 10 for hours happily. Pulling away from ports on deck 10, at the railing, with an adult drink in hand = perfection.
Lowlights were less prevalent. My parents were disturbed that dinner food was almost always just warm, never hot. Our servers were fine but not cohesive (language barrier between them, I think), no magic tricks or anything like that. The kids' clubs were a bust for my kids - one side or the other was always closed when they tried to go, and the last straw was when a CM took my 11yo's ipod and sent me a bunch of nonsense texts on the app. You do NOT touch a tween's electronic device, ha! They never went back. Castaway Cay food was a miss (the 8yo ate 2 burgers a day from Pete's and some times had mini-burgers at dinner, but he thought the burger there was terrible, which is saying something b/c he'll eat burgers anywhere). Tiana's is far too loud and was not great for the first night's dinner as a result - as our assistant server confirmed when she said it's very hard to get to know the guests there (no chairs fell backward the 2 nights we ate there, though, in case anyone is curious!). The kids thought the Twist n Spout slide was really boring (disclaimer - we live in Phoenix and have had water park season passes for the last couple of years). We had a really insane time getting off (just my family) - a really long story involving border control and total, inexplicable communication breakdown between them and DCL. DCL will definitely hear about that from us, but nothing else happened that would make us complain. I'll be emailing positive reviews about a few CMs, as well.
OK, trying not to make this longer than it is! I will post separately specifically about NYE onboard, if anyone would like, b/c I didn't find much info about it in advance and could go on about that for a couple paragraphs, with photos!
BIG THANKS to all here who answered my questions, offered advice, and just generally post helpful info. You helped make this a wonderful vacation!
