Name three things that did NOT live up the hype?

[cruisinluver]

IYHO, what three things on your cruise{s} did NOT live up to the pre-cruise hype?

 

[princess22]

The character breakfast (too rushed) and Costa Maya. Those are the only two things I can think of, everything else was perfect!

 

[PizzieDuster]

1. The food
2. The noise in the restaurants. It sounds like a cafeteria, silverware clinky galore.
3. The last night, everything closes up.

 

[Mickey_loves_Minnie]

Good idea--this will be helpful to me. Nothing sucks worse than having your expectations dashed. And mine are high for my first DCL cruise!

 

[Kim&Chris]

The food. That's about the only thing that didn't live up to the hype. Everything else was wonderful.

*Editing to add one more thing: The DCL merchandise available on the ship was VERY limited. I expected much more...but most of it was the same exact stuff they had at any given gift shop throughout WDW. I wish they had more DCL-specific shirts, sweatshirts, etc. Not that there was any 'hype' about the merchandise, but thought I'd add it anyway!

 

[birkner]

The food. That's about the only thing that didn't live up to the hype. Everything else was wonderful.

I guess I have never read anywhere on the boards that the food is anything but good. Palo is very good, but not haute cuisine.

 

[mom2grace]

2. The noise in the restaurants. It sounds like a cafeteria, silverware clinky galore.

ITA! The dining rooms were so loud! We only did them 4 of the 7 nights. We ended up at Topsiders on lobster night (DS had a meltdown, we did not plan to go to Topsiders) and it was QUIET! And wonderful!

Palo, of course, was not noisy.

At Topsiders the last morning, there were no Mickey waffles and lox, that was a bummer!

The service didn't live up to the hype, it seemed much less friendly than our DCL cruise 5 years ago. But, we have cruised Celebrity since then, and their service is unbelievable.

Everything else was great, vacation is definitely what you make it!
We had a fabulous time!

 

[LisaBi]

Food, food, and food.

 

[Diznyfan68]

Nothing - I didn't expect haute cuisine, it's a family cruise hence kids in the dining room and all of the DCL staff we encountered seemed to go out of their way to make it a wonderful experience.

 

[GreatDaneMom]

1. The mix of people at our dinner table - sadly DD(12) was the only kid at the table in spite of doing early seating and we saw other tables with the same issue (but the adults we ate with were super nice to her )

2. The smoke in our cabin - it was pretty obvious that the people in the cabin next to us were heavily smoking and it constantly permeated our cabin; believe me, it isn't true that the smoke detectors prevent people from smoking in the cabins!! It was so bad in our cabin that we woke up in the mornings with irritated throats. Thank goodness for that nice fresh air on the open decks.

3. Secret deck on aft 7 - the birds took it over in Orlando and left their mark on all of the lounge chairs; they were never cleaned off for the duration of our cruise so we weren't able to take advantage of this lovely deck.

All issues that wouldn't stop me from cruising Disney again. But they do make me realize that no trip is perfect and you have to be able to roll with the punches.

Cheryl

 

[flexsmom]

1) The cheese platter from room service - it was fine and a nice snack while getting ready for dinner, but nothing "special" that I'd rave about!

2) Cookies BBQ - again, it was good, but by reading some reviews I was expecting something far different the first time we cruised. Now we know what to expect, and we enjoy it, but it's nothing I'd hype.

3) OK - don't shoot me. The sail-away party. I LOVE the first 20-30 minutes as the ship pulls away from the dock and heads down the channel, and the music really sets a great tone, but I've just never been one to stand and watch a bunch of people do "line"-type dances and/or do that myself! I think next time I'll scoot up to the deck to get some "sail-away drinks" and then we'll watch us head out on our own veranda.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

3) OK - don't shoot me. The sail-away party. I LOVE the first 20-30 minutes as the ship pulls away from the dock and heads down the channel, and the music really sets a great tone, but I've just never been one to stand and watch a bunch of people do "line"-type dances and/or do that myself! I think next time I'll scoot up to the deck to get some "sail-away drinks" and then we'll watch us head out on our own veranda.

Totally agree with this one.....please DCL, enough with the line dancing!!!! Time for a change.

 

[goin2disneyagain]

1. The food
2. The desert buffet
3. Shopping onboard was too limited

After everything I read on here about how great the food was I was quite surprised because it really wasn't good at all. Reading this thread, apparently I wasn't the only one that discovered that.

 

[mmouse37]

I agree with the Character Breakfast post....we found them much lacking compared to the WDW ones....felt very rushed....although this last cruise was better than the two before that.

But...I honestly don't understand what kind of food people are expecting when they sail Disney.....true I am not a fussy person....but I have to say that in the 16 DCL cruises we have taken that I have only had about 1 or 2 meals that I truly thought were "bad". The food is just fine. It is just as good or better than our Princess, RCCL or Carnival cruise food....

If I am not shopping for it, preparing it, cooking it, serving it and cleaning up after it......it is a good meal.

 

[jodifla]

The limited shopping
The poor design of the ship; it feels packed at night around the kids club area
The kids clubs, which were mini-zoos many of the nights DS was there.

 

[scm]

Ditto re food. I was particularly disappointed in Palo's although it was a blessing to have a quiet meal. I must say the kids were completely happy with their clubs and food and they were the reason for sailing Disney. I wouldn't sail Disney again except to please the grandkids.

 

[MickeyD]

1. Palo - it was nice and all, but certainly not the "to-die-for" experience some have had.

2. the Pirate party - ok, the fireworks are cool, but the rest is just a dance party, and those songs get a little wearing.

3. In five DCL cruises, they have YET to sit us at a table with another child. I mean, how hard is it to match us up with another family with a child? Especially now that ds is a teen, it would be nice to have him be able to converse with someone his age, not an adult all the time. So the hype that Disney matches tablemates so well is false. That said, we have ALWAYS had great tablemates, but they have always been adults.

Lisa

 

[kaseyC]

2. the Pirate party - ok, the fireworks are cool, but the rest is just a dance party, and those songs get a little wearing.

Lisa

I have to agree about the Pirate Party. To us it was just a repeat of the Sail Away party with CMs in Pirate Costume. The fireworks were cool though.
We won't bother with it on our next cruise.

 

[Poconos to Disney]

The only thing I found disappointing were the pictures! The pictures turned out great.....the ones I could find???!!!! I only found 1/2 the pictures taken. They should do the photo pass like they do in the parks. Everyone else's pictures looked nice, I just couldn't find many of ours!!

This was our first cruise, so the food was fine for us!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

1. The food
2. The noise in the restaurants. It sounds like a cafeteria, silverware clinky galore.
3. The last night, everything closes up.

ITA!!!
Esp. #3! We stayed to the last possible minute on CC and decided to hit the buffet instead going to the dining room. (Don't worry, we planned this & tipped our dining rm. staff the previous night and told them we probably will not be there the last night.) We got to Topsider's and it was closed. Went to Pinocchio's and they were closed. Went to Pluto's and got chicken tenders and burgers. What a let down. I felt like they were giving us the bum's rush and ending the cruise long before it was really done.

I'd also like to add: No room service the morning of debarkation. Not even a pot of coffee!
If Carnival can manage it, why not DCL?