NHdisneylover
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2007
- Messages
- 18,122
Pretty much just agreeing with everyone else here--but I am going to throw my own spin in anyway:
- serious risk of bed bugs and we need to ensure we dont bring our luggage in the house after the cruise
The risk is NOT serious. It is there, just as it would be at a hotel, summer camp, etc. In the great big long bed bug thread of a few weeks ago only one person had any experience with bed bugs on DCL (the OP), and that was uncomfirmed (and as many pointed out, as nothing happened to the other persone sleeping in the same room really probably wasn't even bed bugs at all). Some people take lots of bed bug precautions, which is fine if that is what worries them (and Bed Bugs can happen), but I got the impression they take those exact same precautions at all hotels, etc.
- food is not all that great - best food seems to be with room service (and Palo which I cant take my kids to)
Honestly, other than the soufle I am not all that fond of the food in Palo (too picky I guess--I can't imagine most KIDS wanting to eat anythign there), though I love the atmosphere. The other food is not top of the line gourmet, but I think for most tastes it is very good. We always enjoy it. It is at least as good as a CHili's. Applebees, etc (where most of us with kdis usauly end up) and generally much better.
- a real mixed bag on the quality of the servers - probably will need to wait for wine, etc
Most servers are EXCELLENT. If you truly get someone bad, don't wait to complain until you are back at your keyboard after the vacation. Talk the head server and get someone new (unlikely you'll need to).
- excursions through Disney are over priced
Excursions through any cruise line are over priced. You can read up on them plenty ahead of time and determine of they are worth the cost to you or not. We have been on 8 crusies (4 DCL) and only ever taken one excrusion (which was worth it by the way--to Kohunlich in Cosat Maya) as we enjoy doing our own thing in port (and yes we do have little ones).
- pool is very crowded and you can only really use the one with the water slide at off-peak times
You're cruising in October so pools will not be as crowded as they are in summer (check the travel dates of those who complain about this stuff).
- my dinner is the late time slot so my kids will probably sleep through most meals
We MUCH prefer late dining. This lets the kids be awake and alert for the shows (which they care about a lot more than the meal). Also, we find they adjust times quickly and easliy (and you can start pushing dinner back 15-20 minutes each day for a couple of weeks before you go to ease them into it if needed)
- the really good kid activities are difficult to get into - there can be long line ups with 30-45 minute waits to do them
NOT IN OCTOBER! You are not going during summer, spring break, holidays, etc. We sail in the lower seasons and there is never a very long wait.
- lots of photo ops with characters but again - 45 minute waits to do each one and the Disney photos are very expensive (people say they spend $500-1,000 on pictures)
Lines can be long (we just skip them if this is the case--it's up to you if these are worth a wait or not). But again, they shouldn't be as long in October. Sometimes we walk past characters (even big names like Cinderella) standing alone just waiting for someone to show up and take a photo with them. Photos from shutters are high (but no higher than any other crusie line). Take your own camera!!! We usually end up buying one 8x10 and Christmas cards IF they get a really good shot of the four of us. We take tons of pictrues on our digital camera and have many, many fabulous shots.
If you go with a positive attitude you should have a great time.
- serious risk of bed bugs and we need to ensure we dont bring our luggage in the house after the cruise
The risk is NOT serious. It is there, just as it would be at a hotel, summer camp, etc. In the great big long bed bug thread of a few weeks ago only one person had any experience with bed bugs on DCL (the OP), and that was uncomfirmed (and as many pointed out, as nothing happened to the other persone sleeping in the same room really probably wasn't even bed bugs at all). Some people take lots of bed bug precautions, which is fine if that is what worries them (and Bed Bugs can happen), but I got the impression they take those exact same precautions at all hotels, etc.
- food is not all that great - best food seems to be with room service (and Palo which I cant take my kids to)
Honestly, other than the soufle I am not all that fond of the food in Palo (too picky I guess--I can't imagine most KIDS wanting to eat anythign there), though I love the atmosphere. The other food is not top of the line gourmet, but I think for most tastes it is very good. We always enjoy it. It is at least as good as a CHili's. Applebees, etc (where most of us with kdis usauly end up) and generally much better.
- a real mixed bag on the quality of the servers - probably will need to wait for wine, etc
Most servers are EXCELLENT. If you truly get someone bad, don't wait to complain until you are back at your keyboard after the vacation. Talk the head server and get someone new (unlikely you'll need to).
- excursions through Disney are over priced
Excursions through any cruise line are over priced. You can read up on them plenty ahead of time and determine of they are worth the cost to you or not. We have been on 8 crusies (4 DCL) and only ever taken one excrusion (which was worth it by the way--to Kohunlich in Cosat Maya) as we enjoy doing our own thing in port (and yes we do have little ones).
- pool is very crowded and you can only really use the one with the water slide at off-peak times
You're cruising in October so pools will not be as crowded as they are in summer (check the travel dates of those who complain about this stuff).
- my dinner is the late time slot so my kids will probably sleep through most meals
We MUCH prefer late dining. This lets the kids be awake and alert for the shows (which they care about a lot more than the meal). Also, we find they adjust times quickly and easliy (and you can start pushing dinner back 15-20 minutes each day for a couple of weeks before you go to ease them into it if needed)
- the really good kid activities are difficult to get into - there can be long line ups with 30-45 minute waits to do them
NOT IN OCTOBER! You are not going during summer, spring break, holidays, etc. We sail in the lower seasons and there is never a very long wait.
- lots of photo ops with characters but again - 45 minute waits to do each one and the Disney photos are very expensive (people say they spend $500-1,000 on pictures)
Lines can be long (we just skip them if this is the case--it's up to you if these are worth a wait or not). But again, they shouldn't be as long in October. Sometimes we walk past characters (even big names like Cinderella) standing alone just waiting for someone to show up and take a photo with them. Photos from shutters are high (but no higher than any other crusie line). Take your own camera!!! We usually end up buying one 8x10 and Christmas cards IF they get a really good shot of the four of us. We take tons of pictrues on our digital camera and have many, many fabulous shots.
If you go with a positive attitude you should have a great time.
The only thing wrong with these forums is the FEW nay sayers and fashion police that try their darndest to impose their ways and general unhappiness on the rest of us! Your concerns are the result of these FEW! Disney is... Disney! If you love Disney as much as we do, you can't help but have a Magic-al time and the trip of a lifetime
) But seriously, if you read too much you'll overthink things. Just go and plan on having fun! That's what we're going to do. I am a planner by nature but I finally realized that if I overthink this then we're not going to have as much fun. So I've scaled back on my reading and research and am going to go with an open mind. You'll have a great time as long as you don't expect perfection!
I have only been on 1 disney cruise and it was the 7 day cruise. I found the food to be great, not 5 star, but better than chain restaurants. Definetly better than McD's 
. One thing I really liked and was convenient was the fruit bar by the pool in the middle of the day. We ate from there for lunch everyday! 
. They were two lovely people (which is why I don't want to give their names), but good service is not the same thing as having kind people trying to serve you. My DH and I enjoy wine with dinner (and a few other times as well 
) and we found ourselves frustrated with the wine service. After awhile we simply gave up and accepted that it was not going to arrive with our food the way we expected
.
. Actually, I'm surprised I've kept that receipt since my DH and I had a real brouhaha over the amount. 
