Just back-- very disappointed

[DisneyLovingMama]

Last time we cruise, we wore our suits under our clothes, then stripped at the pool and put the suits in the carryon bag. Once our room was open, we went there and got out of our wet suits. I found that the only time the pool wasn't crazy crowded was on that first day during lunch.

 

[allears]

Other good pool times, first thing in the morning, maybe up to 10 am, closer to dinner time and on port days. We always choose to skip one of the ports in favor of staying and playing on the ship. That's just something we like, as for us, the ship is our primary destination.

 

[treloarf]

To Markey -

Our games for Bingo were only paying $70 & $80 - not a good payback for a $35 investment. Especially if you're only playing 5 games.

The jackpot game was $2000. I guess it's smaller on a 4 day cruise. But the Disney theatre was packed!!!!

 

[DisneyLovingMama]

allears - Thanks for the tip. Have you stayed on board while the ship was in Nassau? Just wondering if it's quiet that day too.

 

[allears]

We've only been to Nassau once, and did get off the ship in the afternoon. But if I remember correctly it was quiet in the morning. Pretty much any day you're in port the ship is quiet, but everythig is fully operational. And don't get me wrong, we love to explore new places, but we really go for the ship. So spending the day on board while others are on shore is big treat for us. And you can do both. On this last trip, while in Cozumel, we spent the morning aboard, after lunch stolled around the mall area, did some shopping and went back to the ship. It's very nice to have your pick of lounge chairs. We also usually don't book long excursions at the ports, but tend to stay off the ship for a few hours.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Last time we cruise, we wore our suits under our clothes, then stripped at the pool and put the suits in the carryon bag. Once our room was open, we went there and got out of our wet suits. I found that the only time the pool wasn't crazy crowded was on that first day during lunch.

I was thinking the same thing.

As far as stripping at the pool, you might want to post that on the "Adult Behavior" thread.

T&B

 

[ann-e-mator]

I work for The Disney Store, and even in that small realm, I've come to find that guests have incredibly high expectations of Disney. It's really unfair for all the workers because if they don't meet even the most minute detail, people label us as a disappointment. And I'm only in the retail aspect. It's hard on us.

I work at The Disney Store too... And I know what you mean... Like what... The customers think WE NEVER have a bad day?!?!

 

[Disneyfalcon]

We were on the magic last week also. We were among the first in the terminal, probably 30th (total guess) in line. We registered for the kids clubs very quickly but we were some of the first in line for that also. I do remember they were having some printer problems, maybe that slowed it down for everyone else. By the time we finished registering the kids we rejoined our party in line which began moving soon after. We went to make ressies for Palos and Flounders immediately. Flounders wasn't open yet, but we made dinner and brunch ressies at Palos for 10 people. Then we headed to Parrot Cay for lunch. I can't remember what time Flounders opened but my sister went right away. She was told they would have worked to accomodate her Palos ressies even if she had been late.

The rooms had a rope in front of them until 1:30. We changed right afterwards and had a fairly empty pool.

 

[ColoradoBelle1]

HI,
Just wanted to add that I'm so sorry you had a bad vacation.
$5000 is a HUGE amount of money for a week vacation with two little ones.
I have never cruised on Disney BUT I've been on about 25 different cruises and loved them all. My daughter's first cruise experience was at age 11months...and we had so much fun because the ship was full of grandma wannabees....everyone wanted us to take off and leave our baby with them!
Plus on other cruse ships, the little ones are usaully FREE or just port charges.

I cruise on 4.5 or better star ships and paid at most $800 per adult for a seven day cruisefor a suite with a 200 sq ft balcony AND a personal butler...oh lala ...That was on Celebrity. For an outside cabin without balcony, Carribean 7 day...$600 per adult kids free. A few times during spring break I had to pay 199 for my daughter , then 13. And on a 12 day Panama cruise I think she cost 399. But even when she was 17...on Princess, as a 3rd person in a cabin she never cost us more than 299.

so...to pay 5000 to me is lots of money and i am sure you did it cause of the theming and the child care...which you ended up not getting. I am sad if it turns you off of all cruising, but I hope that you might give cruising another try. Look for discounted cruises for the adult pricing and free or low add on for hte kids...you could try vacationstogo.com for a list of discount cruises and then shop for a better deal from those prices.(check out the 90 day ticker prices)

I love Disney and I love cruising...but maybe they should be separate. enjoy your DVC ownership and then cruse on another line. And IMHO, never cruise for less than 7 days...too rushed and too expensive.

colorado belle

 

[Corryn]

Hi there,
I work for The Disney Store, and even in that small realm, I've come to find that guests have incredibly high expectations of Disney. It's really unfair for all the workers because if they don't meet even the most minute detail, people label us as a disappointment.

You know, while down in Disney, when I see some bratty kid acting up I always wonder how the CM keeps that smile on their face. My dream is to work there after retirement. But one thing I have to work on is my patience. Whenever I see something going on and the CM smiling, I just want to say, tell the kid to shut up already! I'm sure a requirement of becoming a CM is to keep that smile on your face, no matter what

I've never cruised before, this is our first, but I am spending the money on this cruise BECAUSE it's a Disney cruise. If I wanted to take another cruise, I could have, but I'm a Disneyaholic.

 

[eye R.N.]

There are web sites with copies of the kid's navigators. You might want to investigate and at least have an idea of what is planned. If in your opinion this won't work for your family, reconsider. While our youngest was 8 when we first started cruising, she had a good idea of what would be on offer at her club and what she did and did not want to do.

We did do things as a family but then those activites did appear to be geared to the five and up age range.

After this next cruise I expect we too will be looking at other, less expensive cruise lines. Disney has served us as a family very well, but now that the kids are older it may be time to try something new.

 

[BWVPam]

We have cruised twice on Disney (2000, 2002) with two children and will again in 2006. We have had kids in the club and the lab and they loved them both. We didn't have any negative experiences on either cruise. Our servers and room stewards were wonderful and the kids loved the counselors in the clubs. We considered doing another cruise line this year, but I really don't like having a casino onboard. Just my opinion. Now that the kids are older (14/10) I asked them and both wanted to do Disney again.

Pam

 

[musicgirl]

Just my 2 cents in regards to the kids clubs.

I believe I read a post from TChoney (sorry it was a way back) who said that their child went on the first night and then didn't go back. My nephew and niece did the same thing.

Unfortunately I think this happens because on the very first night there is very little happening due to families getting registered and meeting counselors etc. Tell your kids ahead of time about the first night. If they are prepared for a low-energy visit the first night, they will probably go back and try it again later.

I second what an earlier poster said about checking out the navigators ahead of time. They might not be exact but it will give you a good idea of what is going on. Then, once you get on the ship you can determine from the current one what your child will like to do or not go during a time you think they would not like the activity or have a hard time doing whether it is sitting for story time or doing a craft.

I would do this especially if it is the very first activity they might be trying. If their 1st experience ends up being negative because they couldn't sit through the story time, then obviously they won't want to go back. Note: I am not commenting on the OP. I'm just using storytime as an example.

If you know an activity won't be appropriate for your little one, then that is the time to go to the pool or go to scoops or watch a movie or even watch a movie in your room and order room service (get the cookies!!!!). I know on the Magic you could play board games. I didn't see that until it was later in the trip. Our family loves board games.

JMHO

 

[lookingforward]

What an interesting thread. Everyone has great comments and differing opinions. We sailed in September on a four night cruise that was shortened to three nights thanks to Jeanne or Francis (I can't remember!). There were many things we liked about the cruise (the service, our waiter, the beauty of the ship, the characters). There were many things we did not like as well and some of them were due to the circumstances of our sailing (weather, different itinierary, no CC) and these things could not be avoided and were not the fault of DCL. However, I was very dissapointed in the kids clubs. We had our five year old daughter and two 11 year old boys (my son and his friend) with us. Our daughter did not like the clubs AT all. She has cruised often in her life and has never had a problem before with clubs (RCCL, Celebrity, NCL). She did not like the large crowd in the clubs or the dim lights. She did not feel comfortable "checking in " to the clubs as there was always a long line and lots of parents lingering about to watch what was going on. She went to the club in the evening and felt that they watched too many movies (she likes to move around). When they played dress up there was one counselor with them and the girls got a bit rough dividing up the clothes. But the biggest let down for us was the paging system. She was smart enough to figure out that she could pout a little and say "I want my mom" and they would immediately call us. I have been flamed before about this because people feel this is not "DCL's Fault" but she was there for about 20 minutes when we were paged and she was not crying or upset when I got there a few minutes later. There was no attempt to distract or encourage her to stay. It was frustrating.

The older kids had some great activities but the timing was difficult and if you missed the beginning you were out of luck so my boys did not do any of the great stuff they had planned. This was more a function of our poor planning, though.

I found that RCCL Voyager class ships were MUCH better for the older kids and even our little one. They kept them physically moving and engaged in fun things more, in my humble opinion. My boys loved to rock climb, roller blade and golf. For the little ones they had a kiddie pool in the clubs and visits to Johnny Rockets, etc.

We are going to try another DCL cruise for 7 nights but I am a little wary and we are planning on booking the cheapest room available even though we love to do the suite thing. I don't want to spend $11,000 for a Cat 3 and feel the same way. It will be a Cat 11 or 10 and THEN if our experience is better we will try again with a suite.

Thanks to the original poster who was so articulate and honest. That is why I love these boards.

 

[mickeyfanmom]

It is very true about the first night not being a good representation of what the kids clubs are actually like.

It is also very true that you should check out the Navigators and see what will interest your child. We made the mistake of sending our DS9 to an animation activity the second day. He hates to draw and was not participating. When they told him that he needed to draw (I do agree that the kids should participate in the activity at hand if they are there) he was unhappy and wanted to leave. Since they were busy, they made him wait which made him even more unhappy.

We then had to push him to go to the club again. Once he did, he loved the rest of the activities and didn't want to leave. We were glad that he went back and tried again, otherwise he would have missed out on the fun.

A similar thing happened with our daughter on the same day. They were showing a movie that she had seen many times when she was younger. When we picked her up, she said that the club was "boring" and that she didn't want to come back. Again, we pushed her to go and she loved it the rest of the trip.

Next time I will check to make sure that it's something my kids actually want to do before I send them off to the club. (Unless it's our Palo or couple's massage time- then they are out of luck! )

 

[turtle51]

I have read alot of posts and i can see where some of you have not had a good time. But you also have to remeber your on vacation and if you sit and pick at every little thing you arnt able to enjoy whats going on around you. If you are an adult 18+ you should take advantage of all of the adult things that disney has to offer. I went in april mind you i was only 20 and i had a blast. on castaway cay i jsut sat there and relaxed. The adult pool was not even full. I loved the entertainment. I thought it was awesome. I mean for anyone thats ever danced you try dancing around a stage while the ship is rocking and rolling without falling over. I thought the food was far more supieror that RC. But you also have to let yourself go into the disney atmosphere.

And there are some people that jsut dont enjoy cruises. My friend is one. All she did on our first (non-disney) cruise was complain about everything. She even complained that she wanted canned soda insteasd of soda in a glass with ice.

Maybe its the time inyour life. Maybe 10 years from now youll love it.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

I must chime in here about our experience in 2003. My then DD5 did not stay in the club as long as I had expected. She's been in daycare two days a week since the age of one and loves it, she's very outgoing and active. She is a very social child and has always gravitated toward other children. Our experience was she wasn't allowed to deviate from what everyone else was doing, craft, storytime etc. I think they need some "free play" time.

I'm not sure why they don't let them use the play area if they are not interested in watching a movie that they've seen many times. The planning video (which we saw multiple times) showed the kids playing on the equipment so I imagine not being able to play would be a huge let down.

Lookingforward is correct, no effort was made to encourage her to stay. In fact after one surprised look when we showed up I felt the opposite was true.

DD3 on the other had, fared much better than expected. She is more of a go your own way child but I guess she just didn't care if she played with the other children.

That was our experience.

 

[LookOutBelow]

We just got back from our cruise, and we had a wonderful time. Our kids are 8&9, and they practically lived in the Oceaneers lab. We were only paged twice, and we practically had to drag them out of there for dinner or bed time. They made flubber, drew Mickey, learned line dances, camped out on deck, had races and games, made a commercial, had a sleepover party, and ended with a graduation show. As for adult activities, both my husband and I found plenty to keep us busy. I attended all but one of the "Art of Entertaining" series, and my husband attended info talks about the ship. Both of us spent time relaxing on deck 4. The excursion to Cozumel for snorkeling and a sea lion show was our favorite. Grand Cayman was the worst due to the tender and the overwhelming number of people shopping on the main strip. But the snorkeling with Stingrays was a great time. My daughter was petrified of the stingrays and screamed to be allowed back on the boat, but the rest of us really enjoyed it. Over all, Grand Cayman still rated highly. Castaway Cay was crowded at the family beach, but what do you expect on a Disney cruise? The adult beach was nice, I thought. I can't really complain about anything related to this cruise at all. Our server, William, was excellent. I thought the food was great, and I'm somewhat of a gourmand myself. Granted, Pluto's dog house and the pizza place are fast food mostly designed for kids. But you know this ahead of time. As for Topsider's, I found the whole experience there to be fantastic. Once we had overcooked sausage, but these guys are feeding 2700 people every day...nobody can get it right down to the last sausage for that many people every single time. All in all, I figure I got my money's worth. My kids are already begging to return, and my husband agrees.

 

[MELISSA1925]

sorry to hear about your disappointment..but i really must say... i think it is kinda your responsibility to have your 4 year old under more control...i mean that is school age..if he can't sit still for a few hours and participate in the activities disney has planned that isn't anyone else's fault but yours..(unless of course he has a special need that makes him unattentive)...you, yourself stated you would like to get a break from the kids..think about what it is like for the employees trying to attend to several kids...i know i have relatives that deal with this kind of situation(hyper children)..and really it does put a strain on the parents..but you can't really expect that disney should have to share in the task of trying to keep your children under control..i know it may seem harsh, but it's just an opinion...

 

[frozeninroch]

Hi DVCajun,

I was just browsing on these boards, actually preparing for an upcoming Carnival Cruise. My family of 5 went on a Disney Wonder cruise last year - Feb 2004 - a 3 night cruise. Ours wasn't as long as yours, but it was our first cruise, like you.

We are husband and wife (at the time we were 41 and 39), and our 3 daughters were 12, 10 and 6. We were lucky enough to book Palo - for the first night - which was a bit hectic, because our reservation was for 6pm, which is exactly when the kids clubs opened up ... and it took awhile to get the kids situated. My husband and I both loved Palo - the food & the adult time. However, our kids were only in the kids clubs that very first night - and never again. The girls promised to try out the clubs the first night so we could enjoy our grownup dinner. They stuck it out, but never wanted to go back because they were bored, and they said the counselors really didn't do much to get the kids to know each other, so it was hard to make "friends", and the activites were boring. They met more kids, who were friendlier, at the Mickey Pool and at the deck parties. So, my husband and I didn't have much alone time, but we did enjoy the cruise as a family - overall. It just wasn't up to our expectations, which as many have said, were raised pretty high by the testimonials on these boards. I also felt that the total experience we got (ship, food, excursions, activites) wasn't really worth the (high)_price we paid (and I booked more than a year in advance). That's why this year we're giving Carnival a try. My expectations aren't as great with Carnival, as they were with Disney, so maybe I won't be so easily disappointed. But, I also won't have spent as much money!

Off the top of my head, here are the Disney Wonder Positives:
Embarkation, disembarkation went very smoothly.
Registration for kids clubs actually went smoothly, too, but we did it on board
Decor of ship & public areas are beautiful, flow of ship is easy to learn, easy to get around.
Verandah is very nice and was worth extra expense
Disney toiletries provided in stateroom bathrooms were very high quality.
Food quality was pretty good, but selection seemed limited. It seemed like the same entrees were served every night, regardless of dining room, especially for kids.
Kids really enjoyed watching Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (1st run Disney movie) - before it was in theatres!
Disney shows were entertaining, but we didn't get as excited about them as some people.
Castaway Cay is beautiful & clean. We had the best time on Castaway Cay day, and wished we could have spent more time on the island. Wonder docks in Nassau until very late at night, but for some reason on Castaway Cay you have to be back on the boat by around 3pm, I think. Not enough time!

Disney Wonder Negatives (with the caveat that this is just my personal experience - no flames, please. I truly think it's good to read both (all) sides of any story):

Kids clubs - not enough computers/equipment for # kids in clubs, no real "get to know each other" type activities to generate bonding (even on 1st night). Staff also seemed to pick favorites and ignore the rest of the kids. OK so my kids weren't chosen as favorites...

Stateroom - we were in 8558 - Family Stateroom with verandah. The room did have enough bedding for the 5 of us, but when the murphy bed was down, not only did you have to climb over it to get out onto the verandah, it also completely blocked the "steamer trunk" storage area - which was where all 3 kids' clothes were. You could not open the steamer trunk at all while the bed was down. So, my husband and I had to lift up the murphy bed every morning ourselves and hold it up (and it was very heavy), while the girls quickly got their clothes out. For the life of us we couldn't figure out how to get it back up - safely - without letting go! Also, the bedding for our twin/queen bed (comforter/bedspread) was threadbare, pillows were about 1/8 inch thick, mattress was extremely saggy, and the walls & floor of the room definitely showed signs of lots of wear & tear. I was kind of surprised. Stateroom hostess didn't replace toiletries or tissues when we finished them. Also didn't give us enough towels (only gave us 3 each day!) Had to ask for more toiletries and towels. Also, she never made even 1 towel animal! Surprising after all the testimonials...

Servers - I suppose we were unlucky enough to get servers who were just about to have time off the boat (they told us how excited they were for their time off). I guess our servers were just sick and tired of waiting on cruisers. Yet have read glowing reviews of lots of servers on these boards. Our head server wasn't very friendly and the asst server ended up doing almost everything for us - but we had to track him down all the time. The head server actually had the nerve to ask us how much we paid for our cruise! That was about the extent of his conversation with us. We really aren't picky people & weren't expecting much from the servers, except - well - service, but I had read many accounts on these boards about servers remembering everyone's likes & dislikes and performing magic tricks, etc. So, wasn't what I was expecting. The maitre d' also came up to us on the last night of the cruise basically begging for tip, even though he had never been asked to do anything for us, and had never even stopped by our table! We didn't make any special requests, and didn't ask for multiple courses or anything...

Pools - very overcrowded (although I didn't expect the pools to be empty, I was a bit surprised. You could basically just stand in the water), lots of kids in the hot tubs (even though I don't think they weren't supposed to be), babies in diapers in regular (goofy) pool. I have kids so I know how tough it can be to enforce rules... So I informed the parents about no-diaper policy for that pool & they glared at me & just ignored me. I also told the kids they weren't supposed to be in the hot tubs (my own kids weren't). I then had to track down several (3-4) Disney employees before one of them finally asked the woman to get the baby out of the pool. Lifeguard was nowhere in sight.

Overall, nothing was really terrible on our cruise, but our family's experience of the Disney Cruise wasn't as great as everyone else's on this board seemed to be, and it definitely didn't seem like it was worth the cost. We've been on lots of vacations to all sorts of places & countries, paid much less, and actually enjoyed it more. I'm posting hoping it will be valuable for someone to read all honest opinions about Disney, the good, and the bad.

I'll be happy to answer any questions anyone has...