Planning a cruise w/o kids!

[Boopuff]

I have never taken a Disney cruise and I'm trying to plan one within the year. I know that the cruise is family friendly and there are places for adults to get away, but from experienced cruisers is the cruise 'fun' without any kids? Our trip will be 3 adults and I don't want my DH to get all fed up and bored. We are considering a cruise on the ship Fantasy.

 

[DISNEYFAN3260]

I have never taken a Disney cruise and I'm trying to plan one within the year. I know that the cruise is family friendly and there are places for adults to get away, but from experienced cruisers is the cruise 'fun' without any kids? Our trip will be 3 adults and I don't want my DH to get all fed up and bored. We are considering a cruise on the ship Fantasy.

I've cruised DCL with my kids since the youngest was 2 - she's now almost 18. As much as I enjoy the family trips we take, I have to be honest (and risk sounding selfish!), but I prefer cruising DCL without them! It's truly much more relaxing to me and a different experience. There are so many adult things to do, from the mixology and tasting classes to adult game shows and entertainment in the night clubs, my husband and I are never bored. I love staying in the adult pool area (and Satellite Falls) since it's quieter and far less busy than the family pool. And the adult beach on Castaway Cay is pure heaven! I'm sure there a varying opinions on this - I think it's just a matter of what you enjoy and what type of experience you're looking for. For me, it's definitely tons of fun - with or without kids.

 

[wombat_5606]

I have never taken a Disney cruise and I'm trying to plan one within the year. I know that the cruise is family friendly and there are places for adults to get away, but from experienced cruisers is the cruise 'fun' without any kids? Our trip will be 3 adults and I don't want my DH to get all fed up and bored. We are considering a cruise on the ship Fantasy.

You just need to enjoy Disney, in my opinion. The adult entertainment is very tame, even at night in the clubs. There is no late night partying and the ship is almost a ghost town by 11pm.

What will your husband find entertaining?

Everyone will have a different opinion on what fun is, so it's better if you tell us what he would find fun. Then we can tell you if he's going to find it.

 

[PlanoNana]

If I remember correctly, I believe about 50% of Disney cruisers are adults WITHOUT kids. Do you enjoy Broadway quality, clean entertainment? Do you like fantastic service? Do you like excellent food? Do you like relaxing without having to worry about cleaning the room, cooking the food or planning the menu? Are you interested in visiting the places the ship goes? Is there a little kid inside of you that enjoys the Mouse and Disney themed shows? If you answered yes to some of those questions, then you will LOVE DCL. We've done two cruises so far, both without kids. The first one was with my 80 something Mom and Aunt and our 25 year old daughter. We all had a great time and LOTS OF FUN>

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I have never taken a Disney cruise and I'm trying to plan one within the year. I know that the cruise is family friendly and there are places for adults to get away, but from experienced cruisers is the cruise 'fun' without any kids? Our trip will be 3 adults and I don't want my DH to get all fed up and bored. We are considering a cruise on the ship Fantasy.

Like many others, we've always cruise "adult-only". 11 DCL cruises and more to come.

I'd suggest you check out some past Navigators (daily activity paper) for an idea of what sorts of things are available to do onboard:
http://disneycruiselineblog.com/personal-navigators/

 

[tink1970]

Checking out Navigators is a great idea so you can decide whether you and DH will enjoy a DCL experience.

My DH and I have gone on a DCL for our past 3 anniversaries as well as our honeymoon, so guess you know where we fall! Neither of us is a big Disney entertainment fan; we just like the lack of casinos, dedicated adult areas both on the ship (and at Castaway Cay) and spend a lot of time just relaxing and doing nothing.

 

[perditax]

I have never taken a Disney cruise and I'm trying to plan one within the year. I know that the cruise is family friendly and there are places for adults to get away, but from experienced cruisers is the cruise 'fun' without any kids? Our trip will be 3 adults and I don't want my DH to get all fed up and bored. We are considering a cruise on the ship Fantasy.

I've done adults-only on DCL, and solo cruises on NCL and X. My trip on the Dream was very kid-intensive even when we tried to keep to the adults only area (no way to get away from the "kid" atmosphere in the main dining rooms). No library, few quiet adults-only areas indoors, etc. Concierge service was fabulous, though.

There is a much livelier atmosphere on lines like NCL.

There is a much older/quieter atmosphere on X.

Depends on what you like.

 

[diznymom]

Our next cruise is w/o kids. We are so looking forward to it.

 

[Boopuff]

Thanks for the input. Castaway Cay sounds like so much fun! I think DH will really like that! Good to know there are plenty of activites for adults.

 

[Sunshine2U]

It looks like you enjoy Disney, based on your signature. We do too. But can you say the same for the others? DH and I cruised with two other couples this year and I ended up selecting NCL for our cruise. For $2200 less per couple I couldn't justify asking them to sail DCL when they are not huge fans. But it was an easy choice for me because we've sailed DCL multiple times with our kids. If you could list some things you want from a cruise/vacation we may be able to help you better. There are reasons why I would steer you towards and away from both cruise experiences, depending on your wishlist. And you don't say whether you have (grand)children you may want to cruise with in the future. We've decided to sail Disney with our grandchildren and experience other cruise lines when we're just adults. It saves us money, which is a factor in our vacation planning.

 

[Savikins]

All of my 5 DCL cruises have been adults only. My parents have also gone on two DCL cruises just the two of them and they're obsessed. I agree with what the others have said. If you like the way a Disney cruise sounds, you will have a wonderful time!

 

[Boopuff]

The only reason we are choosing a DCL is that my kid is a CM and if we can plan a sail date 30 days out we can get a great discount on the trip! I'm also hoping to have grandkids to take one day and maybe if I go with my DH we can "scope the place out"

 

[hanscarlet]

I met a couple on the tender into GC and they noted our kids were cute and they had similar kids of "similar age" (4 and 7) and I asked them, 'where are they?' and they said, "they are with grandma and grandpa back home, we've done many cruises with them before but this time it's just us... and it's a whole different experience!" - I will always remember the expression on their face as the husband said this it would be explained as quelled glee... as if he was trying to contain the guilty joy in the whole experience lol... people seem to really enjoy it!