Just back-- very disappointed

[dwkwootton]

It is true that the price of the Disney Cruise keeps going up and the services are on a downward trend. When they began marketing toward the adults, there was more for adults to do than a couple could do in a week. That's changed over the years. As another poster stated, you might have to depend on reading a book which shouldn't be the case for such a costly trip. Of course, and as their advertising states, it certainly should be your choice if you want it. This problem was accentuated for us on our last cruise when we had really bad weather. Your post and others are suggesting that Disney might be falling off, so to speak, on the other end of the spectrum now too with the kids, whether its overbooking the clubs etc. It makes you wonder if their phenomenol success has given way to complacency and I hope that's not the case. As much as we love cruising and as much as we love Disney, we're leaning toward giving other lines a try. For the price, we can probably try two different lines for the cost of one Disney cruise. And lastly, I'm not sure where allears was coming from, but the decor of the rooms is especially nice and the bedspreads are cool enough that you might want to buy one!

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Mickeyfan we were on this cruise also. We had Sasha Monday night at Palos. I agree he was incredible!

 

[jdm]

I enjoyed reading your post, it does help to keep things balanced and this board is for shared opinions, good and bad. I didn't view your post as negative toward Disney.

I think it's really about the ages of the kids. At least for us, I can't imagine taking a cruise with children that young. Limited space in the stateroom, etc. It's a shame the clubs didn't work out for your son. I imagine that changed the tone of your trip. I don't understand the Flounders thing, I thought they limited visits so all children could partake. But, I've never been with children that young, so I don't know.

Our children are 26, 23 & 12. We now have my DGD7 living with us. When my DD12 was very small, we didn't travel. To me, lugging strollers, diaper bags was just not worth it. Not having any adult time etc. Literally, when DD12 was a baby/toddler my DH and I would take turns taking the older kids on vacation (they were 9 & 14) and the other would stay home with the baby. I think people thought we were wierd but it worked for us. None of us had the desire to drag around baby and all that went with her. Not too mention scheduling everything around her naps, moods etc. Granted, we did do many things as a family locally, the zoo, the park, beach etc. Just no big $$$$ family trips. We took our first trip to WDW when she was 5 and even that was carefully planned with breaks etc.

This is not to say that I don't admire the parents who throw their kids in backpacks and go river rafting, traveling the world etc , I just think it's so much work, and really impacts your time.Personally, I couldn't do it. I'm willing to bet that it would have been a totally different experience for you if you'r kids had been even a few years older. I'm so sorry that you spent so much $$$. No matter what the situation, an investment like that to have a less than great time is a bummer.

We are going in a couple of weeks with DGD7 and DD12 and I'm hoping that DGD will enjoy the clubs because I do want to have at least some adult time. My DD12 didn't like the clubs when we cruised 3 years ago. Also, felt it was to rigid, but we were lucky that she was old enough to hang with her cousin (who was older) in the stateroom or at the pool so we could have bits and pieces of adult time. We did the 4 day first, to make sure this was our cup of tea. We enjoyed it and our looking forward to the 7 day. The 4 day was sooo busy, I'm looking forward to the sea days this time.

Thanks again for your post, it helps to know that it being Disney doesn't automatically make it a perfect time and gives some of us a little more perspective.

Thanks
Jenn

 

[cindalu]

I am sorry that you didn't have a good time. I went on my first cruise in May. I have three girls(7,6,3) They had a blast in the club. I had a great time and we can't wait to go again in 2006.
Maybe you need to wait a few more years. I was never bored on the ship.
To the poster who wouldn't travel with a baby. You are missing out. When my 7 year old was 10 months old she took her first airline ride and first trip to WDW.

She had a blast. Yes you make accomodations but that is what being a parent is about. They are only little for so long.

Just my two cents

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Sorry you didn't enjoy your cruise too much. I agree with others it might be a different experience when your kids get older. My kids enjoy the kids clubs and luckily we've never encountered any problems there. I think had the pool and slide been open for you it also would have been better. When my kids weren't in the clubs they spent hours on the Mickey slide while DH and I took turns watching them and doing some things around the ship we enjoyed doing.

 

[dbond]

I'm so sorry you didn't have a magical experience. I could feel your pain though. We went on our first cruise as a family when our youngest was 3. It was without a doubt the worst experience of my life. It wasn't Disney, but even Disney can't salvage cruising with an overly active 3 yo. We took him again when he was closer to 5 and the experience was completely different. Don't give up on cruising, just wait until your kids are older and able to be more sociable on their own.

 

[twinglez]

We will have our first ever cruise in July. I am sorry it didn't go well for your son. My dh has the same concern with our DS who will be 5 at the time of our cruise. he is HIGH energy and dh doesn't want to put anything down on a form that might "SET HIM UP" for beiung a potential problem. Once he knows the rules and the adults are consistent all tends to be well. But he does feed into the energy.

Thanks for the input. It will help me be better prepared.

 

[MrsMork]

Just have to post. DH and I just did our 6th Disney cruise in Dec. Have 2 more booked. We have sailed with kids ranging in age from 4 to 14,and with no kids. Each experience is different, but each has been magical. The reason for my post is that on this last cruise we tried the tacos for the first time. We both LOVED them and did not find any "chili" in ours. There was meat that was Mexican seasoned and so many toppings on it (tomatoes, cheese, onions, guacamole, sour cream) that we made an awful mess and had to scoop a lot of it off the plate with a spoon. YUM. Delicious in OHOs. So, would suggest those who have not tried the food yet to not take OP opinion nor mine on that as we all seem to have different tastes. We usually are so full from breakfast, dinners, etc that we are not able to try the food on deck 9, but will make it a point to have the tacos again.

 

[suesings]

We will be taking our first Disney Cruise in May. We will have our two DD's with us. One that will have just turned 5 and the other will be 22 months old. I have been trying to read everything I can on the Kid's Clubs and Flounders Reef. It does say on everything I've read that if a child is disruptive, they will be excluded from the Kid's Clubs. If the parents are saying their son is VERY hyper then he is probably extremely so. At least that is what we have seen with friend's children. They will say their son is "active" and then the rest of us are going out of our minds when the boy is around. I think we can only expect so much from the Counselors in the Kid's Clubs. I certainly hope that my 5 year old will love it and will behave accordingly, but if she doesn't, we will just have to find other things to do together. I hope our 22 month old will get into Flounder's now and then, but we will have to see. I've been reading Navigators to find things that we can do together as a family since we are planning a family vacation.

I'm going to keep positive thoughts as I know from personal experience that vacations (as in life) are what you make it!

Take care,

 

[jdm]

Just a quick response to Cindalu who I think was addressing me on "missing out" on not traveling with an infant. I traveled with my older children, as I was a single parent then if I didn't travel with them we didn't go. I found it very stressful and it took me a while to figure out that infants and toddlers don't need big trips to have fun!! One of those trips was 3 days on a train from Rhode Island to Seattle with a 9 month old In fact, that may have been the trip that did me in on traveling with babies

All kidding aside, everyone is different. I certainly never felt that I missed out by not traveling with my youngest child- as I said, we did lots of family activites locally. We have been taking big trips with her anually since she was 5 and we have an absolute blast!! For us, it was the way to go and we're glad we made the choices that we did. But!! There are those I know that have tons of fun with their babies on the go!! Different strokes!!!

Jenn

 

[Corryn]

To the poster who wouldn't travel with a baby. You are missing out. Yes you make accomodations but that is what being a parent is about. They are only little for so long.
Just my two cents

Hi Cindalu
Is this in response to my earlier post? Oh, well.... but if so.....
I hope I am not taking this the wrong way, but it kinda sounds Nasty.....

I have never quoted someone's Opinion and then negatively critiqued it.

That's just not nice and not in the good spirit of these DIS Boards...

My advice doesn't change. I've seen many a mommy while touring Disney who seemed at the end of their rope while trying to calm their over-stimulated bawling infants. And that advice is, if you're on the fence about whether or not to take the kids to Disney when they're one or when they're five, just think back to how old you were for one of your first memories and you've got your answer. I'm sure it's not at One year old.
(I'm not talking about Preschoolers, I'm talking about Babies)

Judging from a lot of other posters who were trying to help make DVCajun feel better after her cruise, they gave the same advice:
Try again when they're older.

That's what these boards are all about, giving your Opinion.
Why do people come to look & post at these boards?
They're coming for people's Opinions.

Just My opinion

 

[mickeyfanmom]

DVCajun-

Sorry that you didn't have the "magical" trip that you expected. Given the high cost of a 7 day on DCL, I would be very disappointed if things didn't work out the way I expected.

I did see firsthand that things improve as your children get older. Our friends had a rough time taking their 3 (almost 4) year old. He didn't want to sit still for movies, had a tough time with separation issues etc. Two years later, they couldn't drag him out of the club and didn't get paged once the whole trip vs. every ten minutes the first trip.

So if you wait until both of your children are school-aged and try it again (DCL or other line) you may find the situation to be dramatically improved.

Or you may just not be cruisers. Since you are DVC, continuing going to the parks may be the better option for you.

Now for us, the 7 day Eastern was the best trip we've ever had as a family. (That's saying something because we do travel a lot.) We've found that we are sailors at heart!!

 

[bengals01]

immigration was bad, i had heard they didnt get there till 6:50, we got in line at 7:45 and done about 8:15, about then the ones that were doing the out of state people came so that made 4 doing immigration, i also dont like tendering, we didnt get to beach until 11:00AM

 

[Mississippian]

DVCCajun,

I've never taken a Disney Cruise, but have read extensively on the cruisecritic web site.

Many people give Disney poor marks for families with young children precisely because there are so many of them.

For example, Princess agressively limits the number of children allowed on each cruise. As a result the children's programs don't get overloaded. In addition, it is reportedly easy to get a babysitter on a Princess cruise, but because of the huge number of children on a Disney cruise this can be impossible.

My family might take a Disney cruise when the children get a bit older, say pre-teen, but for now any cruise we take will be elsewhere.

 

[lbgraves]

I'm in no way flaming or bashing anyone's experiences but just wanted to let those who have been thinking of going on a Disney cruise with young children or who have already booked & are now second guessing their decision, please make your decision based on your family & your experiences with traveling. We first cruised with 3 yo DD & 5 yo DS. We all had a total blast & rebooked 2 weeks after coming home, wishing that we had on board. My now 4 1/2 yo still talks about Cinderella knowing her & calling her by name every single day. She was so in awe of all the characters and floated on air whenever she was around them. The look in her eyes then was & is priceless to me. No, we didn't have "adult" time or go to Palo but we knew that our shy DD probably wouldn't want to stay in the club...and that was fine with us because we didn't go expecting it to be otherwise.

 

[Corryn]

You Go, Lisa!
I like giving my opinion (just like everyone else) but when my remarks are quoted, and then critiqued for no reason, I feel I have to explain my opinion, which is babyish, I know.
My gosh, an opinion is just that. It's not the Rule Of Life that everyone must follow. I don't think I've ever posted and quoted someone else before, and then tell them a thing or two about their opinion.

My advice is just that, my advice. People who post on these boards who are not sure about something ask a legitimate question and read all the different opinions and advice that come from that question from different DIS'ers. Then it is up to the person who asked the original question what to do with that advice.

I am all for freedom of speech. You can take it or leave it.

 

[DisneyLovingMama]

DVCajun - Sorry you had such a poor time. Hopefully, as time goes on, your negative memories will fade while your positive ones stay bright. I know we ran into some problems on our first cruise, but I've all but forgotten them now, remember only my DD's face when she first met Cinderella or Belle.

Could you tell me what time you went to Flounders and it was "sold out"? I'm really worried about getting a spot for my DS when we go on our 4 day in July.

 

[Scott5150]

Hey, we were on the 2/5 Magic cruise with you. I can offer some thoughts. St Thomas immigration was horrible. I hope that was not thier standard process, because it wasted 60 minutes of my cruise. I was not planning on getting off right away, so I could have slept in.

The pizza was horrible - I avoided it after one bite.

However, the chicken fingers WERE the best I ever had. Had them several times.

Palo was excellent as always.

Topsiders breakfast has declined in food quality. I went to Lumieres most everyday after the first. Lumieres is MUCH better.

Same with lunch - a burger at Lumieres is twice as good as a burger at Plutos.

They did an excellent job with the Super Bowl party, except for the English guy hosting it that though it was OK to keep talking over the game.

Ship looks almost as good as it did 6 years ago. They are doing a good job keeping it looking good.

The kids clubs do not appear to be for everybody. My son tried it last cruise and did not enjoy (He was just 3). We had to have a counselor work with him to get through our Palo reservation. They were slow that night so they helped out. People should not expect their kids to love the clubs, as it seems that many kids don't. I think that Lucas though he was missing out on what we were doing.

Scott

 

[mamalle]

I agree with you Lisa. My kids were not so sold on the kids club this time and granted the waves were 15ft the first night but wow what a fun time we had all together! It was priceless to see Tae's face when she saw her favorite princesses or when she walked down those stairs in her gown. she loved every minute of being a princess. My son couldnt wait to get out of his car seat this morning to tell his preschool teacher- I went on a cruise! I would give the DCL a chance if disney is your thing. They are only young once and to see it through their eyes is just the absolute best!

 

[SailorMinnie]

..."It is true that the price of the Disney Cruise keeps going up and the services are on a downward trend. When they began marketing toward the adults, there was more for adults to do than a couple could do in a week. That's changed over the years. As another poster stated, you might have to depend on reading a book which shouldn't be the case for such a costly trip. Of course, and as their advertising states, it certainly should be your choice if you want it. This problem was accentuated for us on our last cruise when we had really bad weather. Your post and others are suggesting that Disney might be falling off, so to speak, on the other end of the spectrum now too with the kids, whether its overbooking the clubs etc. It makes you wonder if their phenomenol success has given way to complacency and I hope that's not the case. As much as we love cruising and as much as we love Disney, we're leaning toward giving other lines a try. For the price, we can probably try two different lines for the cost of one Disney cruise."..

One thing that needs to be understood by everyone who reads these thread, is that somewhat sweeping statements like this post are simply the opinion and personal experience of the poster. Just as my opinion that service has not dropped off and my fantastic experiences are just that mine. In the end we're all going to have to judge this on any experience from our own perception. Some people have a lousy time, some people have outstanding times. That is human nature and even Disney can't over come that.