ksjayhawks
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2004
- Messages
- 3,532
We just sailed spring break of this year.
As other posters say, to each their own, but we had a great experience.
We enjoyed the shows--the variety shows, the ice show was wonderful, the comedians, the magicians, etc. There were all ages at the shows and the ones we saw were appropriate for all ages. We liked the way the cruise director was involved in the shows and in the parades in the promenade. Also, the captain was very visible--he showed up at the shows each night and at the promenade parades.
We bought the soda package and it was worth every penny for us. There were so many locations around the ship to get pop--we didin't have to run up to Deck 9 as on dcl. We seemed to end up going to two places the most and by the third day, if the bartender saw us coming, he had our pop ready for us! There is also a 24 hour cafe with the best cookies and ds would run and get us a couple for our treat at the shows!
We enjoyed our meals. We loved the elegance of the dining room. OUr servers were so nice to us. Had our drinks ready every night, brought us extras, made sure my ds got his meal early so he could head off to tween/tween activities, brought us a special appetizer every night--it was one that we liked the second night, the servers or chefs or kids club did something every night, we enjoyed the food--to us it was very good, but I don't expect gourment meals, after all they are cooking for thousands very night! Our servers were very concerned if we were happy with our choices or could they bring us something else, etc. As soon as my meal was over, my coffee would appear each night.
The johnny rockets surcharge was $3.95, but I look at that as going to palo's for brunch, high tea, etc. Once you paid that you could eat anything and as much as you wanted--and ds did!. You did pay for b&J ice cream, but as I don't drink many specialty drinks, that was a treat I had every day. The servings were very generous. There was also free ice cream up by the pools. We didn't eat at the specialty restaurants this time around.
We also enjoyed the high tea buffet every day from 3:30 to 5. Since we ate late, it gave us a nice snack to tide us over. It was also good for us on one of our excursion days as we just missed the lunch buffet, but could eat there instead. It had so much food--salads, sandwiches, hamburgers, hot dogs, sides, as well as scones, biscuits, etc.
I liked the embarkation. We were in an earlier group, but went down the night before and changed our color to a later one. We weren't rushed--went around and took some final pictures that we wanted. When our color was called, we went out, got our luggage and we were off. No lining up in the foyer or hurrying up to get in line to get off. OUr luggage was very easy to locate.
I thought you could only drink on the ship at 18 with parental permission. But I may be wrong. We were on board with at least 400 seniors and their families--senior trips--and didn't see the behaviors that hooked on magic did. The pools were always busy with all ages.
For us, the cruise was not nearly as expensive as dcl. And for my son at 12, it was great. He enjoyed all the tween/teen activities that they had going on. He liked going to the 24hour cafe with his new friends at midnight or after to get pizza. Since he had the soda pkg he could get drinks in their club area.
Our room attendant was much better than on dcl. We never saw the one on dcl. The rccl one made a point of coming into our room and introducing herself, finding out when we would be gone, eating etc., so that she would not disturb us. She left me sticky notes to put on the mirror if we needed anything.
We enjoy dcl and are so glad we have gone, but for us right now, rccl is great. DS has said he would like to go back another time on dcl, so we probably will in the future. Right now we are enjoying all the different itineraries that rccl has to offer--being able to see different ports of call.
So that is my 2cents worth.
As other posters say, to each their own, but we had a great experience.
We enjoyed the shows--the variety shows, the ice show was wonderful, the comedians, the magicians, etc. There were all ages at the shows and the ones we saw were appropriate for all ages. We liked the way the cruise director was involved in the shows and in the parades in the promenade. Also, the captain was very visible--he showed up at the shows each night and at the promenade parades.
We bought the soda package and it was worth every penny for us. There were so many locations around the ship to get pop--we didin't have to run up to Deck 9 as on dcl. We seemed to end up going to two places the most and by the third day, if the bartender saw us coming, he had our pop ready for us! There is also a 24 hour cafe with the best cookies and ds would run and get us a couple for our treat at the shows!
We enjoyed our meals. We loved the elegance of the dining room. OUr servers were so nice to us. Had our drinks ready every night, brought us extras, made sure my ds got his meal early so he could head off to tween/tween activities, brought us a special appetizer every night--it was one that we liked the second night, the servers or chefs or kids club did something every night, we enjoyed the food--to us it was very good, but I don't expect gourment meals, after all they are cooking for thousands very night! Our servers were very concerned if we were happy with our choices or could they bring us something else, etc. As soon as my meal was over, my coffee would appear each night.
The johnny rockets surcharge was $3.95, but I look at that as going to palo's for brunch, high tea, etc. Once you paid that you could eat anything and as much as you wanted--and ds did!. You did pay for b&J ice cream, but as I don't drink many specialty drinks, that was a treat I had every day. The servings were very generous. There was also free ice cream up by the pools. We didn't eat at the specialty restaurants this time around.
We also enjoyed the high tea buffet every day from 3:30 to 5. Since we ate late, it gave us a nice snack to tide us over. It was also good for us on one of our excursion days as we just missed the lunch buffet, but could eat there instead. It had so much food--salads, sandwiches, hamburgers, hot dogs, sides, as well as scones, biscuits, etc.
I liked the embarkation. We were in an earlier group, but went down the night before and changed our color to a later one. We weren't rushed--went around and took some final pictures that we wanted. When our color was called, we went out, got our luggage and we were off. No lining up in the foyer or hurrying up to get in line to get off. OUr luggage was very easy to locate.
I thought you could only drink on the ship at 18 with parental permission. But I may be wrong. We were on board with at least 400 seniors and their families--senior trips--and didn't see the behaviors that hooked on magic did. The pools were always busy with all ages.
For us, the cruise was not nearly as expensive as dcl. And for my son at 12, it was great. He enjoyed all the tween/teen activities that they had going on. He liked going to the 24hour cafe with his new friends at midnight or after to get pizza. Since he had the soda pkg he could get drinks in their club area.
Our room attendant was much better than on dcl. We never saw the one on dcl. The rccl one made a point of coming into our room and introducing herself, finding out when we would be gone, eating etc., so that she would not disturb us. She left me sticky notes to put on the mirror if we needed anything.
We enjoy dcl and are so glad we have gone, but for us right now, rccl is great. DS has said he would like to go back another time on dcl, so we probably will in the future. Right now we are enjoying all the different itineraries that rccl has to offer--being able to see different ports of call.
So that is my 2cents worth.
