My Fantasy Experience vs. CCL

[Silverfox97]

I'm pretty sure you tried NOT to use the elevators and used the stairs when possible! I do the same on cruise ships, and managed to not gain weight on two 12-night cruises this spring. I also didn't lose weight - with all of the sweets.

Us too. In 7 nights, didn't even LOOK at an elevator - stairs only!!! and worked out every day except for debarkation morning.

 

[OrcaPotter]

Food tastes and even perceptions of service are subjective. My family is not made up of "foodies" and we did not try Palo on our Dream cruise (1st DCL)--we found the food "good" to "really good". There were really only 1 or 2 plates we found "bad" to the point where we pushed it aside. Our service was "good" but not "fantastic" as so many on the DIS rave about. We don't like to "make waves" so we didn't mention what we thought of the "bad" plates at the time. You would think our servers would notice or say something. Nope. We were constantly lectured, though, about rating them "excellent" on the survey, though. When Mom mentioned the one meal she didn't like, our head server freaked out and wanted to know why she didn't say anything at the time. Like, he was genuinely freaked out that it was going to impact his rating. We assured him it was not his fault, but he insisted it was. Well, if that's the case, why didn't you notice all our uneaten food?

We had better MDR meals and MDR service on RCCL--but found that the overall experience and service on DCL was superior everywhere else.

Now, my brother and his wife prefer Carnival--mostly because it's cheap and (when circumstances are good) they can sail at least twice a year. They insist it's just as good, though reports from them vary on service from ship to ship. They buy APs for all the Orlando parks, and prefer that to the premium cost of DCL. So we went without them on the Dream, and I know my brother was jealous. I think the only way for him to book DCL is after I've booked our next DCL cruise myself! My concern is that they would likely find the MDR food sub-par compared to what they've raved about on Carnival. And knowing them, they'd probably write DCL off as result.

Despite the food, we loved DCL the best and can't wait to book again. I hope to save up some extra pennies for Palo, too.

 

[Disney Fool]

I've been over on the theme parks board, and your comments are similar to those at the parks who are complaining about the rudeness of other guests who are pushing to be the first in line, or cutting the lines, or worse yet, blocking your view because they arrived for the parade at the last minute. It also parallels their comments about the mousekeeping being hit or miss in the resorts. If you travel at all, Disney or not, you surely are aware that this has become a universal (no pun intended) problem--impolite (or downright rude) behavior from guests, and problems getting and keeping good service staff.

 

[Docjason2]

Hmm Jason, I may have to call in about that one then because I know we were charged for the time we weren't there. We were also charged the night he was feverish and I cancelled his time.

Can I ask you something about the dining staff? If you had the same experience on CCL or any other line would you just write that line off? I ask because I think for many people, and I don't want to put words in others' mouths, but just because it's Disney and supposed to be a superior product it's excusable. That's just my take.

It depends on the ship. I can say that I haven't cruised any other cruise line. I know my wife and I would love to try the other cruise lines just to get away sometimes, and I am sure it'll happen. I wouldn't write that line off at all, to be honest I wouldn't write anything off after only one cruise with them be DCL, CCL, RCCL, etc. You can't always have a magical experience on every single cruise, especially since you guys have had a much bigger sampling than I have. The only pass I give them is new crew members. If I had found out they had been with DCL for 5+ years or something, then yeah I would be more upset. If it had happened on any line and they were new, I could understand. I don't want to sound like I am defending DCL, or steer you one way or the other, it's all personal preference.

We enjoyed meeting you and your little ones

 

[Docjason2]

Oh and I have a PSA. People, please be considerate to those with strollers and in wheelchairs at the elevators!! I know everyone wants to get somewhere too but we have no choice but to ride the elevators. I don't know how many times I stood and waited for elevator after elevator while others behind me rushed on leaving no space for a stroller. Thanks to the nice but agressive family from New York or New Jersey that muscled me on an elevator after waiting through three with a cranky, tired baby one night.

OMG AMY!!!! I cannot tell you how many times I had to watch 4+ elevators go by sitting there with Jake. The worst part is once the next one came, a bunch of people who'd been standing there for 5 seconds all jump on leaving me waiting for the 5th elevator. I must say there are some very considerate people, but I could name a few teenagers that could use a Ms. Manners course

 

[La2kw]

We have done CCL, NCL, and Disney. CCL is probably the most fun for us, since there are way fewer children on board- and the ones that are don't seem as bratty as the ones who frequent DCL. On DCL, kids are everywhere and many adults do not respect the adult only areas. DCL ships are much more pleasant in design and CCL are very "vegas-y". We enjoyed our meals on CCL much more than on DCL. DCL meals take way too long and have too many courses. We've had dinners take 2.5 hours on DCL. On CCL, an hour is about average in our experience and is much more enjoyable. The food on DCL is also way too salty. Service on CCL is very, very good, just as good as on DCL, though there seems to be more language barriers on CCL than on DCL.

Our biggest complaint about CCL is the smoking allowed on board. If not for that, we would book CCL more often than DCL.

 

[Yokelridesagain]

There were really only 1 or 2 plates we found "bad" to the point where we pushed it aside. Our service was "good" but not "fantastic" as so many on the DIS rave about. We don't like to "make waves" so we didn't mention what we thought of the "bad" plates at the time. You would think our servers would notice or say something. Nope. We were constantly lectured, though, about rating them "excellent" on the survey, though. When Mom mentioned the one meal she didn't like, our head server freaked out and wanted to know why she didn't say anything at the time. Like, he was genuinely freaked out that it was going to impact his rating.

Our servers have not been too intrusive about this, generally only mentioning ratings at the last service. Which I think is fine, given the importance of those ratings to them.

What I didn't like was the pressure to rate the food well as that apparently reflects on them too. Yes, I understand they're supposed to recommend things I like but...I try nearly 50 main dining room courses during a seven week cruise. Of them, perhaps two would be something I would be happy to serve in my restaurant (don't have a restaurant...just saying). Given that I think less than 5% of your food is anything resembling 'excellent', it's pretty unlikely that any server is going to recommend four things I like every night.

So I give the food the 2/5 rating it deserves, and if the servers do well I give them 5/5 ratings and mention them on the comment card. Hope that's helpful to them...it's not their fault the food is bad.

 

[jahber]

Food tastes and even perceptions of service are subjective. My family is not made up of "foodies" and we did not try Palo on our Dream cruise (1st DCL)--we found the food "good" to "really good". There were really only 1 or 2 plates we found "bad" to the point where we pushed it aside. Our service was "good" but not "fantastic" as so many on the DIS rave about. We don't like to "make waves" so we didn't mention what we thought of the "bad" plates at the time. You would think our servers would notice or say something. Nope. We were constantly lectured, though, about rating them "excellent" on the survey, though. When Mom mentioned the one meal she didn't like, our head server freaked out and wanted to know why she didn't say anything at the time. Like, he was genuinely freaked out that it was going to impact his rating. We assured him it was not his fault, but he insisted it was. Well, if that's the case, why didn't you notice all our uneaten food?

We had better MDR meals and MDR service on RCCL--but found that the overall experience and service on DCL was superior everywhere else.

Now, my brother and his wife prefer Carnival--mostly because it's cheap and (when circumstances are good) they can sail at least twice a year. They insist it's just as good, though reports from them vary on service from ship to ship. They buy APs for all the Orlando parks, and prefer that to the premium cost of DCL. So we went without them on the Dream, and I know my brother was jealous. I think the only way for him to book DCL is after I've booked our next DCL cruise myself! My concern is that they would likely find the MDR food sub-par compared to what they've raved about on Carnival. And knowing them, they'd probably write DCL off as result.

Despite the food, we loved DCL the best and can't wait to book again. I hope to save up some extra pennies for Palo, too.

I guess it is just the luck of the draw. Our server was very concerned every time I left more than a bite or two of food on my plate. At first I didn't understand why he was so very worried about me eating enough (as if the appetizer and salad I had just eaten, plus the endless food all day, and the dessert I had already ordered wasn't enough--was I going to starve?). It was probably the last day (day 4) when I realized his job was to make sure I enjoyed everything I ate, or replace it with something else. So, if I didn't eat it all, I didn't enjoy it, I guess. I suppose that equates to good service on DCL.

On the other hand, our dinner on night one took almost 2 hours! 2 HOURS! I made a game of predicting when the tables around us would receive their food (before us, of course). We had late seating. Some have said main seating feels rushed, but that actually sounds nice to me

 

[snorkelfool]

DCL meals take way too long and have too many courses. We've had dinners take 2.5 hours on DCL.
Our biggest complaint about CCL is the smoking allowed on board. If not for that, we would book CCL more often than DCL.

How can they get away with 2.5 hr meals? With so many young kids, that is just begging for disaster. There is no way that my 4 yr old could sit through a meal that long. We are trying to decide if DCL is worth it for us and when I hear something like that it gives me great pause. It wouldn't be so bad if they offered a buffet for dinner so we could come and go as we please. It seems options are limited if you don't want to do the MDR meals. And, if food quality is sub-par on top of that, what am I paying a premium for?

 

[mhsjax]

WE have done 3 DCL's in the past. My DH was "over" paying premium prices for DCL and said he would never do another one. We went on CCL Liberty last summer. Ship, cheap looking. Food, overall better than DCL with the exception of the Harry's Steakhouse, TERRIBLE. People, not what I want to be around. Still to party animal for my liking. The night time entertainment, terrible for kids. Didn't like that there weren't any of the little snack places around the pool like there are on DCL. I hated going into the buffet for everything.

SErvice was pretty good, cabin steward was fantastic. Our waiters left a lot to be desired. No personality what so ever, DD was completely forgotten on formal night and the other 4 of us sat there with our food getting cold because al the waiters went off to sing their stupid little song. There was no one around to flag down to get her food. Finally they stopped by to see if everything was ok, no apology no nothing and our food had gotten cold.

Leaving the ship took forever, and we could not wait to get off that boat. Needles to say, my DH is eating his words and we are back on DCL fantasy this coming June, I will never cruise anything else. It isn't worth risking what I consider a large chunk of change for something that I may not enjoy.

Also, I actually enjoy long dinners and so do my kids. There were brought up that way. To us dinning is an experience and not just about stuffing your face, although we do enjoy that also. I know not everyone feels that way, but we do enjoy it.

I keep coming back to add things.. I see where the OP stated that they hadn't been to CCL's private Island and I forgot to add this, It is FANTASTIC. I think if must be right "down the road" from Castaway Cay. It has the same wonderful deserted feel with white sand and crystal blue water. The food on CCL's Island does lose out to DCL and well as their seating arrangement. We also had a cabana, which was a lot cheaper on CCL and it was heaven on earth.

 

[SeaNana]

This has been a very informative thread. We were also on the same cruise and it was our 4th DCL cruise. We want to try another line, but our entire family loves Disney. We can forget about reality and live in fantasy (and Fantasy) for a week. Except for Remy, we found dining much more pleasant on the Magic (size?). We always felt rushed and it was noisy and crowded. After not being able to chew a very tough steak, I stuck to fish or vegetarian. Sometimes just the first two courses were enough, if I did dessert. Elevators were never a problem until we wanted to go to Overlook one night. Only one elevator goes to Deck 14 and it took us so long to finally get there that the pianist had finished. Since our children are grown and we don't have to worry about the grandchildren, we like the adult night spots. Nothing on Fantasy compares to Sessions, which we really liked. Maybe someday we will be brave enough to try another line, but DCL is now like family.

 

[Silverfox97]

On the other hand, our dinner on night one took almost 2 hours! 2 HOURS! I made a game of predicting when the tables around us would receive their food (before us, of course). We had late seating. Some have said main seating feels rushed, but that actually sounds nice to me

How can they get away with 2.5 hr meals? With so many young kids, that is just begging for disaster. There is no way that my 4 yr old could sit through a meal that long. We are trying to decide if DCL is worth it for us and when I hear something like that it gives me great pause. It wouldn't be so bad if they offered a buffet for dinner so we could come and go as we please. It seems options are limited if you don't want to do the MDR meals. And, if food quality is sub-par on top of that, what am I paying a premium for?

Is this a theme with late dining? In 6 DCL cruises, we've always had main dining (5:45pm) and are always out by 7pm with 1 exception - this last cruise on the Fantasy on the night of the 2nd AP show with the drawings and that was only because we didn't order our dessert before the show started and then we were out at 7:15. We started cruising when DD was 2 1/5 (she's now 5) and there is NO WAY she could sit there for 2+ hours. Hell, our PALO dinners don't even take that long. We always book the 1st dinner at 6pm & are usually out by 7:30pm.

 

[Meriweather]

Which Princess ship were you on? I have been on 4 Princess cruises (2 in Alaska and 2 in Europe), and loved the ships and cruises.

Golden Princess.........love, love Alaska. 3rd cruise there.
The ship was fine.........however, food in buffet was terrible (DD...adult....could find nothing to eat.), shows were pretty bad, there was nothing to do most days. I am used to having activities, like crafts. There was one card making session. Staff said "here is the supplies, good luck, you are on your own".
Our room attendant was great..............a lot of staff was not friendly and some plain grumpy.
We were a group of 11, with 6 first time cruisers. 3 of them really hated it and will not cruise again. The others were luke warm about it.

I love cruising, but probably won't try Princess again. We really wanted Glacier Bay for this trip, so gave them a try.

 

[NancyIL]

Golden Princess.........love, love Alaska. 3rd cruise there.
The ship was fine.........however, food in buffet was terrible (DD...adult....could find nothing to eat.), shows were pretty bad, there was nothing to do most days. I am used to having activities, like crafts. There was one card making session. Staff said "here is the supplies, good luck, you are on your own".
Our room attendant was great..............a lot of staff was not friendly and some plain grumpy.
We were a group of 11, with 6 first time cruisers. 3 of them really hated it and will not cruise again. The others were luke warm about it.

I love cruising, but probably won't try Princess again. We really wanted Glacier Bay for this trip, so gave them a try.

I was on the Golden Princess to Alaska in 2009, right after a major refurbishment. I especially loved the International Cafe in the Piazza, and preferred to eat my lunch there rather than in the Horizon Court. I had no complaints about the food in the dining room or the buffet, but the Horizon Court was really too small for the number of people onboard. I don't recall bad shows or lack of activities. However, on Alaska cruises, I'm either in port or outside enjoying the scenery as much as possible.

When it comes to lack of adult activities - the Disney Wonder on both of my 4-night Bahamas cruises wins that award! When the Navigator says, "Books and magazines are available in the Cove Cafe" and "the sports court is open" - you know there's NOTHING happening onboard while the ship is in Nassau and Castaway Cay! I'm used to activities like trivia, and it was held only on the sea day. (My roommate and I won!) I went to the afternoon DVC presentation on my first Disney cruise for a lack of anything else to do. Things improved a bit on the Dream, but I learned to avoid seeing any Disney movies within 6 months of a Disney cruise, as that's how I occupied myself when I returned to the ship after lunch.

 

[Yokelridesagain]

I had late dining with my preschool children in Alaska. We always got out in about 90 minutes, even with four courses.

 

[KSDisneyDad]

We've done late dining on our last four cruises and our meals are rarely longer than 90 minutes unless we choose to stay longer. One night we lingered with after dinner drinks and at 10:15 (2 hours after dinner started) the restaurant was empty except for just a handful of people.

I don't know where these 2.5 hour dinner comments are coming from. Even 2 hours is long for DCL in our experience. 90 to 115 minutes seems normal for the late dinner and with no small kids, our table was often the last one served. The tables with younger kids seemed to move faster than ours service wise.

Maybe this is like the main thread about bus waits. A 20 minute bus wait often gets reported as 45 minutes because it felt that way to some. 2.5 hours for main dining is impossible as the late diners are there by then. 2.5 hours for late dining would be very rare given our experiences. Even 2 hours is rare given that the dining room was empty at that mark the one time we did a 2 hour meal.

 

[jfahome]

Just my 2cents.

We sailed on CCL for our Honeymoom many years ago and will NEVER go back. It was a horrible experience. From service, things to do, communication to guests etc... From what I know, in regards to CCL has many mixed opinions. Some people have great times, others not so much.

On the other hand, we've sailed on DCL 4 times (soon to be 5) and have NEVER had a problem! Someone has started a "The little things that DCL does" or something like that. It's those things that make the BIG difference. Again, in my opinion.

 

[lmhall2000]

We've done late dining on our last four cruises and our meals are rarely longer than 90 minutes unless we choose to stay longer. One night we lingered with after dinner drinks and at 10:15 (2 hours after dinner started) the restaurant was empty except for just a handful of people.

I don't know where these 2.5 hour dinner comments are coming from. Even 2 hours is long for DCL in our experience. 90 to 115 minutes seems normal for the late dinner and with no small kids, our table was often the last one served. The tables with younger kids seemed to move faster than ours service wise.

Maybe this is like the main thread about bus waits. A 20 minute bus wait often gets reported as 45 minutes because it felt that way to some. 2.5 hours for main dining is impossible as the late diners are there by then. 2.5 hours for late dining would be very rare given our experiences. Even 2 hours is rare given that the dining room was empty at that mark the one time we did a 2 hour meal.

We had horrific service at late dining, main course came at 9:50 pm and dessert after 10:30...two nights dc had to leave without dinner bc youth had events at 9:30...we finally complained...it was not fun to have to explain that was not acceptable...steak was so cold the butter on top could not melt...stayed cold!

 

[toontoy]

I can understand the longer dining time. In January my brothers families, my parents and ourselves traveled on the wonder. We were a party of 11. Dinner most nights took a full 2 hours. We were usually the last to leave the dinning room. My brother after the 2nd night started taking the kids to the clubs after the appetizer came since they were usually bored. I think it really depends on who you get as your servers. The food to everyone else tables came quick course after course. Our drinks were never refilled after our app's without asking for it. Hands down it was the slowest service we have ever had on Disney or any ship. It wont stop me from Cruising again but I often wonder about that exceptional Disney service line though as the ships from our experience are in line with RCCL, Princess and Celebrity. Better than Carnival though but at WDW Deluxe they don't have the service of any Hilton Resort I've been to.

just my 2 cents

 

[KSDisneyDad]

We had horrific service at late dining, main course came at 9:50 pm and dessert after 10:30...two nights dc had to leave without dinner bc youth had events at 9:30...we finally complained...it was not fun to have to explain that was not acceptable...steak was so cold the butter on top could not melt...stayed cold!

That's too bad. That seems like at outlier situation and one where I would have let the had server know on night one as unacceptable! Were you the last group in the MDR. When we left at 10:15, there were only a handful of tables still sitting. On another cruise, we were always the last ones in the MDR at late dining (4-night Wonder), and never had the issues you described even then. To me, the Head Server's job is to ensure you don't have experiences like you described. With over 30 plus nights of late dining, I think what you described seems rare.