cmph
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2016
- Messages
- 1,619
I found scattered bits of information about NYE on DCL and heard so many rumors of what would happen, so I figured I would recount our experience last week for those considering sailing over 12/31/17 or other future NYE sailings! We sailed on the Wonder, 7 night, so some things are likely different than the shorter cruises or larger ships. Unbelievably, this is somehow the only Navigator I didn't keep. Also, I'm an atrocious and forgetful photographer. 
Be forewarned.
For our cruise, NYE was the first full day, and we were at sea. It was scheduled to be formal night, and we were notified over and over again that fireworks would be that night in lieu of Pirate night. That seemed to escape some folks, but honestly, the cruise director announced it quite a lot - at shows, on the little updates broadcasted throughout the ship, etc. So Pirate Night was a bit abbreviated, which perhaps is good for a lot of you who skip it completely or only pop in for the fireworks. The pre-dinner/show part of the day was pretty normal for an at-sea day. Most people seemed to get dressed up prior to the first show and dinner seating, although a lot of us went back to casual after dinner, for the on-deck party. The show was the Golden Mickeys that night, which fit well. Dinner rotation was thrown off, so for us, we ate at Triton's two nights in a row, including NYE. Photo ops took place in the atrium, pretty standard formal night stuff with the captain's reception. Also during the course of the evening, there were 2 different faux midnight celebrations in Azure lounge, intended for families with kids who could not make it to actual midnight - basically little dance parties with a countdown. We caught part of one around 7:30pm, in between our show and dinner seating, and I think the other was 9:30ish.
When we arrived at dinner, there were plastic top hats for the guys and tiaras for the ladies at our place settings. The tiaras were the standard metallic NYE ones you could buy at any party store, and the top hats had a 2017 NYE ship sticker on them, but they were both so lightweight that few people wore them after dinner. They just blew off your heads outside.
We had late seating, so we needed a pretty quick turnaround to change back into casual clothes and head up to deck 9 after dinner. We found presents in our stateroom when we went to change - chocolates and a lithograph. Blowers were not in our rooms, but they could be found close to the party. We got ours off a table full of them outside of the deck 10 elevators.
The dance party was already underway when we got upstairs. 9 wasn't packed to capacity, but you definitely weren't going to be near the stage at that point. We headed up to 10 and grabbed some railing view spots. There wasn't a stage show with a vague plot or anything (such as the Pirate night vague storyline) - it was generic dancing, some times to line dances people already know, sometimes CMs and characters attempting to teach new dances. Characters popped in and out onstage, through the crowd on 9, and even up on 10. The photo of Mickey was taken right near our railing spot on 10, and yes, he's line dancing with guests. As the evening progressed, countdowns would pop up on-screen too.
What's going on with that empty space and orange cone above? Yeah, someone partied too hard... a poor CM literally rang in the new year cleaning up puke.
As we got closer to midnight, CMs started to walk around with trays of canapes. We were still stuffed from dinner, it was dark, and it was just about impossible to hear anything at this point, so I don't think many actually took them. Certainly no one picky or with food allergies took anything. I took exactly one, just to say I did, and I found it was beets with a mustardy vinaigrette. I have no clue what anything else was, not that I knew what that was when I took it, either! A short time later, they started walking around with trays of little sweet treats. Again, no clue what any of them were! My 11yo took a couple, but she'll eat anything sweet! At just about midnight, they started to pass through with sparkling cider in souvenir plastic flutes. It was so busy and loud that not everyone got one, or even noticed it being passed out. Unless they passed out something on deck 9 that we didn't get up on 10 - no alcoholic drinks were passed out. Probably wise, b/c it was just too hectic for that to be well-controlled. We only ended up with 3 flutes.
We counted down to midnight, and then the fireworks immediately began!
A round of Auld Lang Syne was sung, and dancing/music continued, but we headed back to our rooms only 15min or so after the fireworks ended so I can't say for how long.
The verdict from our family? The adults (me, DH, and my parents) all thought it was an enjoyable way to spend NYE - safe (no crazy drunk drivers!), fun, festive. My kids? Well, mixed reviews. Most of the kids on deck 9 close to the stage seemed to be having a great time dancing and watching the action up close. That would have made my kids nuts. DS8, who hates crowds and might be the only person on earth who consequently prefers California Adventure to Disneyland park, only enjoyed the festivities rather briefly - 11:45-12:15 or so. He thought the music/dancing/countdown was boring, not enough to compensate for the crowd. If your (older, probably male) child doesn't like music/dancing/characters - they might similarly find it not their "thing". DD11 loves all the Broadway-style stage shows, and she loved Pirate night this cruise, but she found NYE to be too crowded and loud. She has sensory issues (has always hated fireworks) but can muster through it now that she's older; if you have a child with sensory issues - you may want to proceed with caution, as I can see it being just too much. If your only deck party experience is Pirate night, which so many people outright skip - then you may be surprised how crowded NYE is. The crowds for each were vastly different.
Hope this helps capture what NYE is like on DCL for some curious folks out there!
Be forewarned.For our cruise, NYE was the first full day, and we were at sea. It was scheduled to be formal night, and we were notified over and over again that fireworks would be that night in lieu of Pirate night. That seemed to escape some folks, but honestly, the cruise director announced it quite a lot - at shows, on the little updates broadcasted throughout the ship, etc. So Pirate Night was a bit abbreviated, which perhaps is good for a lot of you who skip it completely or only pop in for the fireworks. The pre-dinner/show part of the day was pretty normal for an at-sea day. Most people seemed to get dressed up prior to the first show and dinner seating, although a lot of us went back to casual after dinner, for the on-deck party. The show was the Golden Mickeys that night, which fit well. Dinner rotation was thrown off, so for us, we ate at Triton's two nights in a row, including NYE. Photo ops took place in the atrium, pretty standard formal night stuff with the captain's reception. Also during the course of the evening, there were 2 different faux midnight celebrations in Azure lounge, intended for families with kids who could not make it to actual midnight - basically little dance parties with a countdown. We caught part of one around 7:30pm, in between our show and dinner seating, and I think the other was 9:30ish.
When we arrived at dinner, there were plastic top hats for the guys and tiaras for the ladies at our place settings. The tiaras were the standard metallic NYE ones you could buy at any party store, and the top hats had a 2017 NYE ship sticker on them, but they were both so lightweight that few people wore them after dinner. They just blew off your heads outside.
We had late seating, so we needed a pretty quick turnaround to change back into casual clothes and head up to deck 9 after dinner. We found presents in our stateroom when we went to change - chocolates and a lithograph. Blowers were not in our rooms, but they could be found close to the party. We got ours off a table full of them outside of the deck 10 elevators.
The dance party was already underway when we got upstairs. 9 wasn't packed to capacity, but you definitely weren't going to be near the stage at that point. We headed up to 10 and grabbed some railing view spots. There wasn't a stage show with a vague plot or anything (such as the Pirate night vague storyline) - it was generic dancing, some times to line dances people already know, sometimes CMs and characters attempting to teach new dances. Characters popped in and out onstage, through the crowd on 9, and even up on 10. The photo of Mickey was taken right near our railing spot on 10, and yes, he's line dancing with guests. As the evening progressed, countdowns would pop up on-screen too.
What's going on with that empty space and orange cone above? Yeah, someone partied too hard... a poor CM literally rang in the new year cleaning up puke.
As we got closer to midnight, CMs started to walk around with trays of canapes. We were still stuffed from dinner, it was dark, and it was just about impossible to hear anything at this point, so I don't think many actually took them. Certainly no one picky or with food allergies took anything. I took exactly one, just to say I did, and I found it was beets with a mustardy vinaigrette. I have no clue what anything else was, not that I knew what that was when I took it, either! A short time later, they started walking around with trays of little sweet treats. Again, no clue what any of them were! My 11yo took a couple, but she'll eat anything sweet! At just about midnight, they started to pass through with sparkling cider in souvenir plastic flutes. It was so busy and loud that not everyone got one, or even noticed it being passed out. Unless they passed out something on deck 9 that we didn't get up on 10 - no alcoholic drinks were passed out. Probably wise, b/c it was just too hectic for that to be well-controlled. We only ended up with 3 flutes.
We counted down to midnight, and then the fireworks immediately began!
A round of Auld Lang Syne was sung, and dancing/music continued, but we headed back to our rooms only 15min or so after the fireworks ended so I can't say for how long.
The verdict from our family? The adults (me, DH, and my parents) all thought it was an enjoyable way to spend NYE - safe (no crazy drunk drivers!), fun, festive. My kids? Well, mixed reviews. Most of the kids on deck 9 close to the stage seemed to be having a great time dancing and watching the action up close. That would have made my kids nuts. DS8, who hates crowds and might be the only person on earth who consequently prefers California Adventure to Disneyland park, only enjoyed the festivities rather briefly - 11:45-12:15 or so. He thought the music/dancing/countdown was boring, not enough to compensate for the crowd. If your (older, probably male) child doesn't like music/dancing/characters - they might similarly find it not their "thing". DD11 loves all the Broadway-style stage shows, and she loved Pirate night this cruise, but she found NYE to be too crowded and loud. She has sensory issues (has always hated fireworks) but can muster through it now that she's older; if you have a child with sensory issues - you may want to proceed with caution, as I can see it being just too much. If your only deck party experience is Pirate night, which so many people outright skip - then you may be surprised how crowded NYE is. The crowds for each were vastly different.
Hope this helps capture what NYE is like on DCL for some curious folks out there!
