madisonsmom
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2005
- Messages
- 172
First I know that I will probably get some flack for not being totally enthralled with our cruise experience as I know there are ALOT of DCL fanatics out there. But everyone has diffierent experiences, expectations and ideas about what they want from their vacation. And I will back this up by saying I was born and raised in Orlando, grew up with Disney in my back yard and LOVE everything Disney. I have also been in the hospitality/restaurant industry for over 12 years and know what it means to eat at fine(5 *)restaurants and have incredible service.
We were VERY excited to take our 12/18/05 - 4 night cruise. It was our 1 cruise ever and we knew we wanted it to be Disney incase we weren't "cruisers" at least we would find out by doing it the fun way; I mean how can anything Disney not be fun? Well, we found out we are not "cruisers" and atleast we now know. My DH and I have stayed at all-inclusive resorts(AIR) and are not strangers to paying a good dollar for a good vacation to be catered too. We would rather save our $$ for a year or 2 and go on a great vacation then on several not so exciting ones, and have no problem paying for great food and great service while we are at home. We had heard from so many friends, family, and websites/message boards how incredible cruises are, but to us they do not compare(all around) to being at a resort.
The Cast Members were all very friendly and did a good job(well except one, a room service attendant, wish I could remember his name but he was from a slavic/east. european country, tall, short blondish hair and very rude) . I can't say that any went above and beyond what you would expect for basic good service, except for our assistant server Evandro who was excellent at keeping the kids entertained during lengthy(2hrs.+) dinners. Other than that we didn't have anyone stick out as doing a GREAT job.
The Food was ok, nothing above a basic restaurant, seafood is better than Red Lobster(as I would expect it to be) but definitely NOT 4 or 5 star food. Maybe a 3 at best, and that is pushing it, we had 2 good nights(AP and PC) and 2 not so good nights(T and AP){Yes we had 2 nights at AP but different experiences on each night which we thought was bizarre). We did make it to Palo's for brunch, of course you have to pay extra for and that is the type of food we were expecting for at least dinner every night if not at every meal. I would recm'd that you eat there as much as possible if you want EXCELLENT food. This is the type of food that we were expecting at our regular meals since it was most comparable to the food you would get at an AIR(and it definitely would not cost extra at one). For the walk up restaurants by the pool the veggie burgers were horrible but the fries were great! We had breakfast in the room every morning and that was enjoyable, so can't comment on breakfast in the restaurants. Lunch was ok, not much variety and food was pretty bland. We ate at Parrot Cay 1st day, BBB one day and by the pool 2 days.
We do not regret taking the cruise, our DD5 had the most incredible time with her 3 other friends that were on the boat too and we made some good memories, but we will not go on another cruise. The weather was crappy, our 1 day at CC it rained, so our only day at a beach was ruined, roll of the dice, but when you are on a cruise you are at the mercy of the schedule and don't have a second chance, per se, for another beach day. We did have one nice day at port in Nassau, we opted to stay on the boat and utilze the empty pool which was relaxing, but if we would have had access/knowledge to the upcoming weather we would have gone to a beach there instead of waiting until we went to CC. Unfotunately no weather channel on the TV in the room for the days ahead. With the crappy weather brought rough seas, so 2 of the nights we sat there and watched the curtains swaying during the shows , the shutters during dinner clinking around, and walking into walls when I hadn't had any cocktails yet, LOL!!!
Another reason why I didn't think it was worth the $$. Guess I am just not a good gambler and would rather keep my feet on a sandy beach where if I wake up feeling like I have a hangover I atleast had the cocktails and good times to back it up and not a rocking boat that made me that way 
!! Even some experienced cruisers that travelled with us had problems with seasickness and said it was the worst they have ever had it, and they have been on over 4+ cruises. Although none of us vomitted, 
I definitely kept a headache and upset stomach for much of the time(except when we were docked in port of course!) Oh well, too bad we can't predict the weather when it comes to vacations, heehee!
We were expecting it to be a little more relaxing than it turned out to be. We didn't expect the character greetings to be so time restrained and structured. On the DVD and brochures it shows them strolling around the boat, which definitely didn't happen, and when they were they were going to a destination and didn't stop to say hi, you would get a quick wave. There was alot going on, almost too much, especially in the evening. It would have been nice to have some afternoon dance parties or family karoake so the younger kids could enjoy that and the parents would have more down time in the evening after the late seating for dinner. It was rushed going from the show, to dinner and then going to dance, pirate night, etc for a little while before getting our DD in bed which was usually around 11ish because we wouldn't get out of dinner till 10 every night, our service was slow at dinner. Don't know if it had to do with our group size(14 all together), but being a server, I know I can get a group that size out in under 2 hours without them feeling rushed. Especially when there are four 5yr olds and an 18 mo old at the table. We had alot of lag time at the table where empty plates sat in front of us for quite awhile. Our only down time was in the morning and that was because we had breakfast sent to the room. Otherwise it was hard to find a "quiet" place on the boat. I was surprised at the location of the adult only pool because there were constantly kids being loud running by to goto the Goofy and Mickey pools. Not all that relaxing...only went there once because of that.
Things that we loved and enjoyed was being able to come in so much contact with the characters, which would never happen at any of the parks. The family activities, such as family karoake, dance parties, pirate night, sail away party at Goofy pool and the shows. My DD5 still talks about doing all those things and would not have that experience anywhere else, not even at WDW. So that I will always hold dear to my heart. But is it worth $3,000.00 again? For us who can only do a big trip like that every 2 to 3 years, not really. If we had a large wealth of cash to dole into at anytime, then yeah, of course! I would rather give her a new and different memory to put in her dreams at night.
When all is said and done and with what you pay for to go on the DCL cruise PLUS what you spend on board and you are paying $3000.00 for 4 nights; I was expecting that INCREDIBLE service and food and have several people stick out and be memorable like we have had when we have paid MUCH LESS for MORE nights at all-inclusive resorts and had food and service that we still talk about(even from different and multiple trips) and now dream about because we haven't been able to find anything as good. We think you definitely get more for your money at an AIR, especially if you are a drinker, which we are and enjoy excursions and sports, which we do.
Overall, am I glad that we went, yes. Is there a little bit of me that is disappointed? definitely. Do I regret it, no. Will I do it again? not unless someone else is paying, lol! Did I make good family memories? definitely. But I think from now on we will keep our feet on land, in the sand, placed on the ever so slightly moving earth and off of the rocky boat that leaves you feeling yucky on a vacation that we worked really hard to save up for and relied on being able to have a feel good, fun time with some RnR time too.
Looks like next time we see the mouse it will be at WDW... Hopefully sooner than later!
We were VERY excited to take our 12/18/05 - 4 night cruise. It was our 1 cruise ever and we knew we wanted it to be Disney incase we weren't "cruisers" at least we would find out by doing it the fun way; I mean how can anything Disney not be fun? Well, we found out we are not "cruisers" and atleast we now know. My DH and I have stayed at all-inclusive resorts(AIR) and are not strangers to paying a good dollar for a good vacation to be catered too. We would rather save our $$ for a year or 2 and go on a great vacation then on several not so exciting ones, and have no problem paying for great food and great service while we are at home. We had heard from so many friends, family, and websites/message boards how incredible cruises are, but to us they do not compare(all around) to being at a resort.
The Cast Members were all very friendly and did a good job(well except one, a room service attendant, wish I could remember his name but he was from a slavic/east. european country, tall, short blondish hair and very rude) . I can't say that any went above and beyond what you would expect for basic good service, except for our assistant server Evandro who was excellent at keeping the kids entertained during lengthy(2hrs.+) dinners. Other than that we didn't have anyone stick out as doing a GREAT job.
The Food was ok, nothing above a basic restaurant, seafood is better than Red Lobster(as I would expect it to be) but definitely NOT 4 or 5 star food. Maybe a 3 at best, and that is pushing it, we had 2 good nights(AP and PC) and 2 not so good nights(T and AP){Yes we had 2 nights at AP but different experiences on each night which we thought was bizarre). We did make it to Palo's for brunch, of course you have to pay extra for and that is the type of food we were expecting for at least dinner every night if not at every meal. I would recm'd that you eat there as much as possible if you want EXCELLENT food. This is the type of food that we were expecting at our regular meals since it was most comparable to the food you would get at an AIR(and it definitely would not cost extra at one). For the walk up restaurants by the pool the veggie burgers were horrible but the fries were great! We had breakfast in the room every morning and that was enjoyable, so can't comment on breakfast in the restaurants. Lunch was ok, not much variety and food was pretty bland. We ate at Parrot Cay 1st day, BBB one day and by the pool 2 days.
We do not regret taking the cruise, our DD5 had the most incredible time with her 3 other friends that were on the boat too and we made some good memories, but we will not go on another cruise. The weather was crappy, our 1 day at CC it rained, so our only day at a beach was ruined, roll of the dice, but when you are on a cruise you are at the mercy of the schedule and don't have a second chance, per se, for another beach day. We did have one nice day at port in Nassau, we opted to stay on the boat and utilze the empty pool which was relaxing, but if we would have had access/knowledge to the upcoming weather we would have gone to a beach there instead of waiting until we went to CC. Unfotunately no weather channel on the TV in the room for the days ahead. With the crappy weather brought rough seas, so 2 of the nights we sat there and watched the curtains swaying during the shows , the shutters during dinner clinking around, and walking into walls when I hadn't had any cocktails yet, LOL!!!
Another reason why I didn't think it was worth the $$. Guess I am just not a good gambler and would rather keep my feet on a sandy beach where if I wake up feeling like I have a hangover I atleast had the cocktails and good times to back it up and not a rocking boat that made me that way !! Even some experienced cruisers that travelled with us had problems with seasickness and said it was the worst they have ever had it, and they have been on over 4+ cruises. Although none of us vomitted, I definitely kept a headache and upset stomach for much of the time(except when we were docked in port of course!) Oh well, too bad we can't predict the weather when it comes to vacations, heehee!We were expecting it to be a little more relaxing than it turned out to be. We didn't expect the character greetings to be so time restrained and structured. On the DVD and brochures it shows them strolling around the boat, which definitely didn't happen, and when they were they were going to a destination and didn't stop to say hi, you would get a quick wave. There was alot going on, almost too much, especially in the evening. It would have been nice to have some afternoon dance parties or family karoake so the younger kids could enjoy that and the parents would have more down time in the evening after the late seating for dinner. It was rushed going from the show, to dinner and then going to dance, pirate night, etc for a little while before getting our DD in bed which was usually around 11ish because we wouldn't get out of dinner till 10 every night, our service was slow at dinner. Don't know if it had to do with our group size(14 all together), but being a server, I know I can get a group that size out in under 2 hours without them feeling rushed. Especially when there are four 5yr olds and an 18 mo old at the table. We had alot of lag time at the table where empty plates sat in front of us for quite awhile. Our only down time was in the morning and that was because we had breakfast sent to the room. Otherwise it was hard to find a "quiet" place on the boat. I was surprised at the location of the adult only pool because there were constantly kids being loud running by to goto the Goofy and Mickey pools. Not all that relaxing...only went there once because of that.
Things that we loved and enjoyed was being able to come in so much contact with the characters, which would never happen at any of the parks. The family activities, such as family karoake, dance parties, pirate night, sail away party at Goofy pool and the shows. My DD5 still talks about doing all those things and would not have that experience anywhere else, not even at WDW. So that I will always hold dear to my heart. But is it worth $3,000.00 again? For us who can only do a big trip like that every 2 to 3 years, not really. If we had a large wealth of cash to dole into at anytime, then yeah, of course! I would rather give her a new and different memory to put in her dreams at night.
When all is said and done and with what you pay for to go on the DCL cruise PLUS what you spend on board and you are paying $3000.00 for 4 nights; I was expecting that INCREDIBLE service and food and have several people stick out and be memorable like we have had when we have paid MUCH LESS for MORE nights at all-inclusive resorts and had food and service that we still talk about(even from different and multiple trips) and now dream about because we haven't been able to find anything as good. We think you definitely get more for your money at an AIR, especially if you are a drinker, which we are and enjoy excursions and sports, which we do.
Overall, am I glad that we went, yes. Is there a little bit of me that is disappointed? definitely. Do I regret it, no. Will I do it again? not unless someone else is paying, lol! Did I make good family memories? definitely. But I think from now on we will keep our feet on land, in the sand, placed on the ever so slightly moving earth and off of the rocky boat that leaves you feeling yucky on a vacation that we worked really hard to save up for and relied on being able to have a feel good, fun time with some RnR time too.
Looks like next time we see the mouse it will be at WDW... Hopefully sooner than later!
Think she was still moving but the ground wasn't, lol! 
