Thoughts from a 1st time Disney cruiser

[kcmo74]

My wife, my 6 year old daughter, and myself just completed our 1st DCL cruise on a Fantasy 4-night HotHS sailing over the last weekend. We are experienced cruisers with other lines but this was our 1st sailing with Disney. Overall we had a great trip and my daughter said it was the best vacation she's been on yet. This post is meant to list out the many positives and a couple of negatives of our trip and to compare what we've experienced with other lines. We stayed at the Doubletree by Hilton Orlando Airport for 1 night pre and post trip. For transportation to and from the port I booked a round trip fare with Cruise Control Transportation for $25 per person each way, their communication was great and they were prompt and friendly on both trips. Our embarkation process went smoothly with little wait time, I was thrilled that port arrival times were not being strictly enforced because we were about an hour early, but they told us as long as everybody was there and ready to go right in. The in person muster drill was a bit annoying after not having to do it on other lines anymore, but it also wasn't that big of an inconvenience. Our rooms were ready right at 1 and I had purchased the Halloween room decorations which added a nice touch to our initial entry.
STATEROOM and ATTENDANT
We had an Ocean View Verandah Stateroom on deck 7 just off of the mid-ship elevators, which was a great location. We liked the stateroom a lot and found it to be enough space for the 3 of us. We really liked the toilet and shower/bath being in 2 separate rooms. My wife loved the bed, as many of you here do, and wanted to take it home with her. My wife and I sleep in a King at home and I don't like being touched when I sleep so she took the bed, I slept on the couch bed, and our daughter slept in the Pullman bunk bed. Our room attendant was very good and the only time he seemed mildly perturbed was when we asked for both the couch and Pullman beds to be made up the 1st day, but we just left them made down/up the whole trip as we didn't need the couch for lounging since we were hardly in our room. Our one negative was our sound machine was confiscated from our luggage so my 1st night of sleep was less than stellar, but I downloaded a sound machine app while we were in Nassau and was good to go for the remainder of the trip. I Putu was great and we did tip him extra beyond the standard for his great service.
FOOD
Cabanas and Flo's were both good and contained similar fare to other ship buffets. Cabanas is a bit tight and I think the idea of having Flo's separate with the pizza, burgers, paninis, etc. is a good idea. The flow in Cabanas was definitely tough and didn't work nearly as well as other lines that have their buffets on "islands" rather than one long line. Our daughter is a picky eater and can be picky about her mac n' cheese, but she loved Disney's, and also loved the fish nuggets. I thought the desserts were better than most cruise ship buffet desserts I've had with other lines. Crab every day was a nice touch, the Mickey churro waffles were plentiful on morning 4, and we aren't sushi people but I'm sure others really appreciate it. The treats at Vista Café were a nice addition, especially when standing in line for character meets on Deck 4. Our MDR dinner experience was fantastic with one night in Animator's, 2 nights in Enchanted Garden, and the final night in Royal Court. Our serving team of Koco and Yogi was one of the best we've had on a cruise ship and Koco was terrific interacting with my daughter. We had 2nd seating and asked for a private table which was accommodated. The food was really good every night, I can't think of one dish we complained about, and they made every request we had happen with no issue. I would put the MDR food on par with Celebrity and better than Royal for us. The one thing that annoyed my wife some was after having an amazingly fun service in Animator's with Crush and the whole show, that neither of the other 2 restaurants had any kind of a show or production value to go along with dinner. The food at Lookout Cay was also good and I liked the options available. I know some have talked about the food being cold but I think that's just a product of long line, walking back to table, big fans, etc. and is unavoidable in some aspects. The organization of lunch service on LC needs major work, but I'll get to that at the end. Overall the food on this trip was very good and met all of our expectations.
ENTERTAINMENT
This is where Disney really shines for me. I thought all 3 production shows were fantastic and I love the way they have 2 each night opposite the dining times so you never have to miss one. The other events like Sail Away, Pumpkin Tree lighting, Mouse-qerade, Pirates, etc. were all a treat as well, but the crowds could be quite overwhelming (especially when things were moved indoors because of weather). The Atrium just isn't quite big enough for some of these events. The character opportunities are plentiful and well communicated and we enjoyed the meets that we did. All-in-all this is the stuff you're paying for with Disney and it didn't disappoint for this 1st timer.
2 NEGATIVES
The first negative may be more personal preference and not apply to every kid for sure, but we weren't overly impressed with the Kid's Club offerings on the Fantasy. While our daughter still wanted to go, and went several times, there didn't seem to be a lot of structure and the kids were just left to do what they wanted. She told us she didn't really make any friends and would mostly just draw or do a craft on her own besides the occasional game they would play. On Royal she has always made friends in kid's club and has wanted to go every chance she gets, and they always seem to have structured group activities that she enjoys. She wasn't jumping up and down with excitement to go like she has on other ships, but we are glad it is offered and she did utilize it a few time on the trip.

The big negative of the trip, especially for my wife, was the rampant line cutting and general disarray of many of the lineup situations onboard. Cabanas was the #1 offender in this category, and I think a lot of it has to do with the one long buffet setup and the plates being placed at different points along the line, the cast members seemed aloof to issues as well which didn't help. But it's frustrating when you get in the already long line at the beginning of the buffet and then the line moves at a crawl because people are constantly cutting in for one thing here or there when you've been patiently waiting. It's a mixture of the buffet setup, the crew allowing it, and people just being rude; but it was definitely frustrating. We also encountered people ignoring the long line at the theatre for the shows (lined up on the side of the hall the crew asked us too) and just going and standing at the front on the other side waiting until doors were open then trying to cut in with the flow. Same thing when getting in line to get off in port, people getting off the elevator and just joining the flow rather than waiting for the end and getting in line where they should be, some people just aren't respectful but it seemed heightened on this ship with lines. The other big issue in this category was the organization of the lines at the buffet on LC. The stations for trays were setup way too close to the food and there is no clear signage where lines should start for each window so you had people coming in from both ends of the buffet lines causing chaos and long waits. Hopefully, they work this one out over time as they are still adjusting on the new island.

Overall we had a great trip and we are definitely interested in sailing with DCL again in the future. The cost is higher but you're paying for the Disney difference in certain areas and I do think you get your money's worth for the most part. We will continue to sail primarily on Royal because my wife is an avid gambler and we get comped cruises through the casino regularly, but Disney definitely did not disappoint!

 

[Dug720]

Cabanas is not one long line cafeteria style. It's line per area - if you just want bacon and eggs, you get in line at that area. You don't have to get in line where there is bread and stuff if you don't want that. That's why there are plates at the beginning of every station.

 

[Lynes88]

Yes, and I see how this could be confusing for a 1st time experience. Our family has sailed on the Fantasy 11 times and by now I can see the value and logic in letting people move around and go where they need to for what they want in Cabanas. It really does work better for flow and efficiency and keeps the initial line shorter. The food stations often have repeat items to help with this. The veterans on the Fantasy generally follow this so it could look line line cutting. There will always be line cutters for shows and disembarkation. It sucks but to me has been fairly minimal, but I do give a good "stare" when I get the chance....

 

[kcmo74]

Yes, and I see how this could be confusing for a 1st time experience. Our family has sailed on the Fantasy 11 times and by now I can see the value and logic in letting people move around and go where they need to for what they want in Cabanas. It really does work better for flow and efficiency and keeps the initial line shorter. The food stations often have repeat items to help with this. The veterans on the Fantasy generally follow this so it could look line line cutting. There will always be line cutters for shows and disembarkation. It sucks but to me has been fairly minimal, but I do give a good "stare" when I get the chance....

That's probably my biggest issue is there is no communication or signage advising on how it should work. Everybody jokes about the "washy, washy" person that stands at the front of Royal's buffet making sure you wash your hands, but the cast member standing at the front of Cabanas could be saying "each station is individual so enter where the plates are" or something to that effect rather than saying nothing. With the number of people that lined up at the very first station every meal it was obvious that many people assumed it was one long line because it looks like one long line, the plate jut outs aren't enough of a break-up to make it obvious. Cabanas also doesn't have enough room in my opinion to have multiple lines sticking out all down it, then there's also the aspect of I waited for this station now I have to get in this line for the next one and your constantly joining lines instead of moving down the line. I can understand that's how it is supposed to work and they may be doing the best they can with the space they have, there were just a couple times it got extremely frustrating. I agree with the rest you just can't help some people having no manners.

 

[cvjw]

Sorry you didn’t understand how the line for cabanas works. It isn’t one long line. It is line per station. If you notice, there are multiple stations with the same food. This makes things flow better because some lines are always shorter than others and makes grabbing food easier.

 

[phinz]

On numerous occasions I have told people who are standing in the line just inside the Cabanas entrance that there are multiple stations with the same food, and I've seen crew members do the same. By the second day most have figured it out, but there will always be those who just want to queue up for some reason. Station buffets are so much more efficient than single-line buffets. I wish more people understood them. We're not at the Luby's. You can go to the food you want.

 

[bbn1122]

You can always tell at Cabana's who is new to DCL. I am always telling folks, get a table first. Look of what is offered, you can go to either side and that they are all seperate stations.

Also, no need to load up one plate. I aways find a spot and leave reading glasses and a glass of water at my spot. If I see a CM, I let them know that I am sitting there and will be back. I then look over the offerings and take a small taste of different things. I probably go up 4-5 times. This is the way you can really relax and enjoy your time at Cabanas.

And finding a table first is the best idea I ever figured out during our first cruise when my boys were little. Who wants to have little kids in a long line holding a plate with way too much food. Just my humble opinion.

Thanks for sharing your experince it will help future first time cruisers.

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

I cant be bothered explaining about Cabanas to people any more. I got shouted at by a very rude UK man in Cabanas when I tried to explain. He was very angry that he had been standing there with a plate for 10 minutes and everyone was queue jumping and he couldnt get food. When I told him thats not how it works, he got angry at me. I just walked away and he was still standing there with his empty plate.

 

[MWW]

Cabanas is not one long line cafeteria style. It's line per area - if you just want bacon and eggs, you get in line at that area. You don't have to get in line where there is bread and stuff if you don't want that. That's why there are plates at the beginning of every station.

Yeah i think this is just a misunderstanding. It's a grab and go. I'm a vegetarian and eat very few things from the buffet, there should be no expectation I wait in the entire line for things I won't be eating and it's not cutting to wait for the tofu station and grab from there bypassing the meat. That's why there are plates at different points.

 

[PAGA2003]

Next time I would suggest don't bother with lines if you can help it. As one CM told me 'some people just really like lines' but you can avoid most all of them (we do). For the theater, unless you are very particular about where you sit, don't bother with waiting for the doors to open. We always enter about 15-20 minutes before the show once the rush is gone from everyone waiting at the door and can always find seats together. The same for the dining rooms. You always see folks waiting for dinner service to start but there is no need. We usually start walking to our dining room at our seating time. Then the initial rush is all clear and we walk on in.

We honestly don't do lines at all. We always look for photo opportunities with hardly anyone waiting (there is always one station that is less crowded). For characters only the Royal Gathering and roaming characters for us usually or if there is one with a short wait. I really hate lines!

For us that is how we enjoy our trips so much more. I really think a lot of the people on our last 3 night sailing spent the majority of the cruise in one line or another!

 

[tvguy]

Whether your kids like the Kids Clubs really depends on your kids. My kids were 12 and 16 and our first Disney cruise. It was their second cruise, the first a year previous on HAL. They did nothing with the kids club on HAL, and our 12 year old was into music so went to a Music Trivia event in the Kids Club on Disney. She was APPALLED that the castmember running the trivia contest did not know Paul McCartney was in a group before Wings! SMH!
So cruises with our kids became a time to be WITH our kids 24/7 for a week, hang out and be our kids friends, not mom and dad. Afterall, during the school year, we might see our kids a few hours a day, so it was nice be with them full time.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

there's also the aspect of I waited for this station now I have to get in this line for the next one and your constantly joining lines instead of moving down the line.

Well that actually is how it should work IMO. People waiting in line for food they don't want only creates delays for people who do want it. Buffets are meant to have so many options to appeal to enough people, there's not an expectation that any one person would want all of that food so having 1 long continuous line in general isn't going to make as much sense. That said I understand how it might have irked you but to this point it's not a DCL thing.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Cabanas is not one long line cafeteria style. It's line per area - if you just want bacon and eggs, you get in line at that area. You don't have to get in line where there is bread and stuff if you don't want that. That's why there are plates at the beginning of every station.

This isn't even a DCL thing. Obviously Seabourn has much smaller ships than DCL but the quite large buffet for the size of the ship worked this way too there.

TBH I can't say I've even been to many buffets where there's just one long line, sure a mini line for a particular area say the meats area or breakfast breads like muffins, croissants and the like, but buffets of 1 line just aren't what I normally encounter.

I just had a breakfast buffet last week at a Hilton in Japan and yeah no big line either. There's multiple places to pick up plates and multiple mini areas. Specific to that Hilton in Japan you could tell they separated out Western style food, Japanese style food, kids foods (chicken nuggets, etc) and then a spot for breakfast breads.

Where the line comes into play IME is being courteous to those around you so if someone is getting scrambled eggs for example and you want that then you wait behind them, someone cutting you in that case would be going in front of you after the person who was getting the eggs was done.

The only time I can say I've experienced more of a line single file is airport lounges and that's highly dependent on what the lounge has on food offerings. The one in San Jose had limited items on one small area so people did queue up there but we're talking there wasn't room for more than 3 people next to each other where the food was at anyhow.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

we weren't overly impressed with the Kid's Club offerings on the Fantasy.

In the last year I've seen a decent amount of dissatisfaction with the Kids Club from age groups to what goes on in them. Counter-intuitive because DCL is marketed towards families but you're not alone based on all the posts I've seen on here and elsewhere regarding the Kids Club situation with DCL

 

[auntlynne]

I’d like to know what time your PAT was. After a certain point, it becomes All Aboard for Boarding Groups - and I imagine that might be why they weren’t concerned your arrival time. As a first time cruiser, I’m guessing you had 12:30 or later?

Did you bring a car booster seat for your daughter? Or was one offered or provider by Cruise Control Transportation?

That stateroom ready at 1 pm was nice; a little earlier than I have gotten used to.

Was your rain from H/TS Oscar? Did your itinerary have to change?

Nice to hear you enjoyed yourselves - especially the 6 yo’s reaction!

 

[Honeypot]

Reading through this thread, I have a question that those with much more Disney cruise experience can help me with. The last cruise I was on was only my second DCL, and the previous was so long ago I don't have good memories of it. So, when we went for lunch on Castaway, we (tried) to let the main crowds for lunch at Cookies go through and went on the later side. Despite that, the line was super long, and it took forever to get our food. It was one of those lines that just felt like it was not moving. It was one long line, and for some reason people were taking exorbitant amounts of fruit, which was at the beginning of the buffet and it just made the line move impossibly slowly. Once we were past the fruit, we zipped through no problem. But now reading this I'm wondering, is Cookies supposed to be one long line? Or pop up and grab? We just followed everyone else, and because we were in the back we couldn't tell what was happening. Also, do people always take so much fruit? We saw so many people with heaping plates the entire time on the ship as well, which seemed strange to me. Edit: I'm not questioning people taking fruit, I love fruit!, more the sheer amount of it. I'm talking people with overflowing plates, and then we would see them leave with 75% not eaten because it was just so much.

 

[auntlynne]

Reading through this thread, I have a question that those with much more Disney cruise experience can help me with. The last cruise I was on was only my second DCL, and the previous was so long ago I don't have good memories of it. So, when we went for lunch on Castaway, we (tried) to let the main crowds for lunch at Cookies go through and went on the later side. Despite that, the line was super long, and it took forever to get our food. It was one of those lines that just felt like it was not moving. It was one long line, and for some reason people were taking exorbitant amounts of fruit, which was at the beginning of the buffet and it just made the line move impossibly slowly. Once we were past the fruit, we zipped through no problem. But now reading this I'm wondering, is Cookies supposed to be one long line? Or pop up and grab? We just followed everyone else, and because we were in the back we couldn't tell what was happening. Also, do people always take so much fruit? We saw so many people with heaping plates the entire time on the ship as well, which seemed strange to me.

I would have said Cookies was a single-entry queue, but I also tend to walk the length to see what’s available.

If there is a hold-up, like the fruit situation - and then a gap, I would not feel bad jumping in and getting food. I am a rule follower, but sometimes logic shows it’s better for all if the situation can be sped up. And, yes, someone may get upset because they can’t bring themselves to do the same.

I usually eat at Serenity Bay in Castaway Cay, though, where a line pretty much never exists.

The fruit? Because it’s the best thing available for many people.

 

[Dug720]

That stateroom ready at 1 pm was nice; a little earlier than I have gotten used to.

That, to me, is going to be the hardest thing going back on DCL. I've gotten so spoiled to Celebrity allowing everyone to go to their cabin to drop off their luggage and grab their seapass card, then head out until the "cabins are ready" announcement. It's so nice to not have to drag your stuff all over the place until cabins are ready. AND people aren't just hanging out in their buffet with their luggage.

(Royal also does the "hang onto your carry-on until we announce cabins are ready" and then on the Anthem in February they were actively moving people who had finished eating along because people were camping out with their stuff and those just trying to find places to eat couldn't sit down. That whole issue can be solved if you trust people to drop off stuff and leave the cabin.)

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

That, to me, is going to be the hardest thing going back on DCL. I've gotten so spoiled to Celebrity allowing everyone to go to their cabin to drop off their luggage and grab their seapass card, then head out until the "cabins are ready" announcement. It's so nice to not have to drag your stuff all over the place until cabins are ready. AND people aren't just hanging out in their buffet with their luggage.

(Royal also does the "hang onto your carry-on until we announce cabins are ready" and then on the Anthem in February they were actively moving people who had finished eating along because people were camping out with their stuff and those just trying to find places to eat couldn't sit down. That whole issue can be solved if you trust people to drop off stuff and leave the cabin.)

Question---with Seabourn you just gave them your luggage at port check in and they delivered it to your room later, you had the choice of giving them what you wanted. We chose to give them our carry ons and our checked luggage keeping with us my purse. Seabourn doesn't do boarding groups any more and they were only used from the time cruising started again in the pandemic until early this year. Most people show up about noon to 12:30pm. without boarding groups and even when they are with them (showing up before that as I understand is is unlikely to be okay). We had boarding groups on our cruise last year but knew they weren't important anyhow really no one was turned away, I believe it was 1:30 which was actually when our boarding group was when we got on the ship but that was also with a 20min shuttle to the port (was in Venice) and went straight to our rooms and I believe at that point everyone's room was ready. But we're talking 600passenger max on that ship so hardly a biggie.

But anyhow my question is you have to schlep your luggage with you on the other cruise lines? The only other cruise besides the one last year I took was with Carnival many years ago and we made it half way through due to missed connections and winter weather so I don't know what they would have done there. That would be annoying to both have to deal with your own luggage trying to eat at what normally is the buffet and dodge other people's luggage too.

 

[Dug720]

Question---with Seabourn you just gave them your luggage at port check in and they delivered it to your room later, you had the choice of giving them what you wanted. We chose to give them our carry ons and our checked luggage keeping with us my purse. Seabourn doesn't do boarding groups any more and they were only used from the time cruising started again in the pandemic until early this year. Most people show up about noon to 12:30pm. without boarding groups and even when they are with them (showing up before that as I understand is is unlikely to be okay). We had boarding groups on our cruise last year but knew they weren't important anyhow really no one was turned away, I believe it was 1:30 which was actually when our boarding group was when we got on the ship but that was also with a 20min shuttle to the port (was in Venice) and went straight to our rooms and I believe at that point everyone's room was ready. But we're talking 600passenger max on that ship so hardly a biggie.

But anyhow my question is you have to schlep your luggage with you on the other cruise lines? The only other cruise besides the one last year I took was with Carnival many years ago and we made it half way through due to missed connections and winter weather so I don't know what they would have done there.

No. I meant you dropped whatever you had as carry-on. Large luggage is checked with porters.