Preparing plan B for October Sticker Shock

[DisneySisters]

Hi my friends. I am holding placeholders that I will need to use by March 2018, and am biting my nails waiting for the new itineraries. While I wait, I have been looking at other options in case I can't afford the new prices. And, I never thought I would say this, but would really like some new itineraries. I am looking at Princess, HAL, Norwegian and Carnival , we have done Celebrity (which we liked) and RCI (not so much). My kids are young adults now, but we still love the wholesomeness of Disney. Any thoughts or experiences you can share? Thanks!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hi my friends. I am holding placeholders that I will need to use by March 2018, and am biting my nails waiting for the new itineraries. While I wait, I have been looking at other options in case I can't afford the new prices. And, I never thought I would say this, but would really like some new itineraries. I am looking at Princess, HAL, Norwegian and Carnival , we have done Celebrity (which we liked) and RCI (not so much). My kids are young adults now, but we still love the wholesomeness of Disney. Any thoughts or experiences you can share? Thanks!

I like Princess.

Also, Holland America, but the general ship decor and passenger complement on HAL tends toward the more sedate pursuits.

We've only done one Carnival cruise, and I was pleasantly surprised that I rather liked it. Except for some small things. I'd do Carnival (on a longer cruise next time, though). Haven't done Norwegian, as I'm a little leery of the freestyle dining option (I like traditional assigned seating).

 

[PlanoNana]

I did one HAL cruise to Alaska before DCL went. Personally I was very disappointed at the quality (or lack thereof) of the entertainment. I like the Broadway style shows on DCL with the Disney attention to detail. On the HAL Westerdam, one show was more Las Vegas showgirl type with costumes that obviously didn't fit and was was an individual night club type guy with a "put down" type routine that probably was supposed to pass for humor. If I remember correctly, DD27 and I got up and left because we felt he was crude and insulting to the guests. We had a porthole room and the outside of the porthole wasn't cleaned the entire cruise so after the first day we really couldn't see out because of the salt spray. And on the embarkation day, I didn't appreciate having trouble finding a seat at the buffet because there were quite a few ship officers sitting at tables. Probably picky and maybe not common to HAL but it convinced me that DCL was a much better fit for my few cruising dollars. And our oceanview cabin on deck 1 was about half the size of the cat 11 inside stateroom we had on DCL a couple of years earlier.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I did one HAL cruise to Alaska before DCL went. Personally I was very disappointed at the quality (or lack thereof) of the entertainment. I like the Broadway style shows on DCL with the Disney attention to detail. On the HAL Westerdam, one show was more Las Vegas showgirl type with costumes that obviously didn't fit and was was an individual night club type guy with a "put down" type routine that probably was supposed to pass for humor. If I remember correctly, DD27 and I got up and left because we felt he was crude and insulting to the guests. We had a porthole room and the outside of the porthole wasn't cleaned the entire cruise so after the first day we really couldn't see out because of the salt spray. And on the embarkation day, I didn't appreciate having trouble finding a seat at the buffet because there were quite a few ship officers sitting at tables. Probably picky and maybe not common to HAL but it convinced me that DCL was a much better fit for my few cruising dollars. And our oceanview cabin on deck 1 was about half the size of the cat 11 inside stateroom we had on DCL a couple of years earlier.

Well, yes, DCL's rooms are larger than comparable category rooms on other lines. I found both HAL and Princess to have pretty small rooms. And we were in a verandah room on Princess - still smaller than an oceanview on DCL.

The best show I've seen on a cruise ship was on our HAL Panama Canal cruise, but, sadly, it's not on the ships any longer. All the shows we saw on Carnival & Princess were less than spectacular (I'd say less than "good", also).

All those cruise lines farm out their production shows, and they just aren't up to "Disney standards".

None of the comedy shows we saw on Carnival & Princess (even the "family" ones) were anything better than "let's see who we can bad mouth" comedy.

But, if you're looking for different itineraries, and are aware there are going to be differences (a lot) between the cruise line styles, it can be enjoyable going on other lines.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

We tried the new Carnival Vista in June and loved it, (we were pleasantly surprised how much we enjoyed Carnival). We actually have a B2B booked on her next June, an 8 day Southern Caribbean and 6 day Western. Here is a link to my trip report on the Vista:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/thoughts-on-the-new-carnival-vista.3521334/#post-55988256

We went in with a completely open mind knowing it was going to be different than Disney and are so happy we tried them, the really hold true to being the FUN ships. Also, their quick service food available is way better than on the Disney ships, buffet not quite as good, (except desserts are better on CCL), MDR is better on DCL, except desserts once again. We didn't do any of the extra charge restaurants, don't on DCL either.

It's nice to have options now on cruising, looking forward to trying NCL one of these days too!

 

[Ofinn]

Dcl doesn't have the best caribbean itenerarys or maybe they're ok for the first timer, but they just never change them. It is exciting to look at other cruiselines ports and the variety they offer. We did a southern caribbean cruise on the magic 2 years ago. That was a great cruise, and the prices are generally a lot lower than cruising out of Florida. If I was going to do another caribbean cruise on dcl that one would be worth repeating.

 

[Scillycruisers]

We cruised with NCL Getaway in Feb after 5 cruises with DCL partly due to cost, but mainly due to itinerary - we wanted 4 ports. We booked a mini suite which was similar to a standard DCL balcony, and had the dining plan for the whole week (a booking perk). We ate in the specialty restaurants every night except for one as we thought we ought to try the MDR - wish we hadn't bothered! We pre booked all our dining as didn't really want anytime and enjoyed all the different restaurants. The ship was great, our son enjoyed the club and all the other things to do - there were far fewer kids than on DCL. We would sail on her again and would also love to return to DCL if the itineraries improve. In the meantime we are trying the Carnival Magic next Feb as it has some new ports and sails out of PC.