We're a little "off," we know, but...

[AlexandNessa]

Ok, ok. We know we're a little off. You don't have to tell us that.

We're the type that don't go to malls around Christmas, we don't go to movies on opening night (well, with the exception of "8 Mile," but that's another story for another thread ), and we always try to cruise while most kids are in school. What we don't especially enjoy are huge crowds because that's not our ultimate idea of a relaxing vacation, as in scrunch-in-your-shoulders-you've got-to-manuever-350-people-to-go-25-feet, stranger-touching-stranger/skin-on-skin-contact types of crowds. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

So, that being said, I am getting just a tiny bit nervous to cruise DCL, although just a **bit** nervous since we're cruising at the end of October.

Here's why: from what I'm reading, the Wonder is 83K gross tonnage (GRT), with anywhere from a low of 1,750 passengers (which would be fine) to an average of about 2,900 passengers, to a full sailing of over 3,400 passengers. Wow.

One of the first HAL ships we sailed was 85K GRT, with a maximum capacity of 1,848 passengers, which was quite pleasant and never over-crowded. So, if what I'm reading is an average of 2900 passengers for a DCL ship, where do the extra 1k passengers in 2K less GRT space go? Gulp.

I guess what I'm asking is, how well does Disney handle crowd management?

Do you ever feel claustrophobic in a public area?

I'm guessing we should avoid the buffet upon boarding and sail-away at the family pool. Anything else for those who aren't comfortable in a terribly crowded room or area?

Or, please, if anyone has more reliable passenger numbers, please say so. We do realize that we're the ones with the problem, and we do things to mitigate it like sailing while most kids are in school to help avoid full sailings and booking the largest category cabin we can swing (although we don't want to spend the entire time in our cabin).

Can anyone comfort a slightly claustrophobic couple?

 

[mmouse37]

I have sailed DCL 13 times and never felt claustrophic in any public areas....in the atrium on formal nights crowds do form for picture taking but that can be avoided by walking on an upper deck and not through the atrium.

The embarkation buffet is held in two spots and the more relaxed place would be Parrot Cay...much more civilized...you are seated at a table and then can go up to the buffet at your leisure....where at Topsiders it is much harder to find a seat and can be hot if you can only find a seat outside.

The sailaway party can be seen from Deck 10 which is not as crowded as Deck 9. If you stay more forward or aft you will have less crowds during sailaway.

don't worry....even with a full ship DCL handles crowds very well.

MJ

 

[clh2]

Yes, Disney handles the crowds very well. We sailed on the 4-nt wonder 2 years ago at the end of October. The ship was about 2/3 full. The 3-nt, following us was going to be full.

The worst thing you'll have to do is the safety drill about 4:00 before you embark. Not only is it crowded, you'll have your life jacket on too.

The rest, you'll be able to pick and choose which activities you want to do - or not. Watching the SailAway party on Deck 10 might be perfect for you. You get to see everyone else, but your pretty safe from people-people contact.

You didn't mention if you had any children sailing with you, or which cruise you are on. If you are on the 3nt or 4 nt Wonder, many people get off the ship in Nassau, and those that stay on the ship find it quite spacious.

If you do have kids, you may want them to do their swimming earlier in the morning, when the pools aren't as crowded. I would strongly encourage you to do dinner at Palo, and maybe check out the wine tasting. Very nice, just adults, and never felt crowded.

I would avoid the character farewell on the last night. And throughout the cruise, you may want to use the stairs instead of the elevators. Find the secret decks too.

 

[AlexandNessa]

Thanks! We are on are on the 4-day Wonder (as a trial run) to see whether we want to book a 7-day Magic in 2007. See, the idea is that I actually get to back! Little does DF (by then DH) know that we are already on the waitlist for a fall 2007 Western Cruise. (Shh! Don't tell him, but from these boards, I found the fax number for inventory control and already received confirmation that they have my request on file for the cabin we want. Who did that before going on their first DCL cruise? Moi?) I will never be able to sell him on a second cruise (or even me, I guess) if there are lots of areas of skin-on-skin contact.

On the other hand, did anyone else order the DCL cruise planning DVD and notice that many of their adults-only areas seemed very quiet , almost ghost town (w/the exception of Palo)? We most certainly don't enjoy heavy crowds, but we're not exactly wall flowers either! And, while I'm on the cruise planning DVD, me thinks I want to hang out at the Stack (or whatever the Teens Area is) on the Wonder. How cool does that look? Oh, to be 17 again ...

 

[poconoboatniks]

Nessa,

I'm curious about your '07 reservation. While onboard the Magic in May, we asked about '07 and were told that she couldn't tell us anything. At the NEast DisMeet last Saturday, no one had any guesses about the schedule changes. There seems to be some thinking that '07 will have some changes to the itineries and those changes are being kept top secret. When are you planning on traveling? Edited I didn't see fall '07

Hmmm! Maybe the changes will only affect the summer sailings. We're really hoping for Hawaii or California again.

Makes ya think, doesn't it!

Don't worry about the crowds. My very claustrophobic sister had a great time on the May cruise. Disney is very good at crowd management. The adult areas are the least crowded areas onboard. We never felt like we were skin to skin onboard.

Enjoy your trip and congrats on the upcoming wedding.

Poconoboatniks

 

[pppiglet]

We didn't do Palo dinner, but brunch and high tea were pretty empty. We also thought there weren't too many crowds except in the Atrium party area. I would avoid that if I were you. Even the safety drill wasn't that bad.

 

[AlexandNessa]

Thanks, again!

Poconoboatniks (I don't live too far from there (Poconos, PA I am assuming?); we go to The Crossings all the time ), I have been wanting to do a port stop at Key West for a while, and I simply faxed in a request saying that I wanted a certain range of cabins for an October 2007 cruise that stopped there. Just a few days later, I received a post card from DCL saying they were looking forward to having us aboard and would get in contact with us when the dates were released. Who can say for sure if they will continue their Western Itinerary?

I'll admit that I was a bit worried that there would be (on average) an extra thousand people on board than what we're used to, but it seems that with a little planning, we should be able to avoid the skin-on-skin contact that we both dread. Any other tips on avoiding high traffic or really crowded areas are most welcome.

 

[Eeyorefan12]

I'll admit that I was a bit worried that there would be (on average) an extra thousand people on board than what we're used to, but it seems that with a little planning, we should be able to avoid the skin-on-skin contact that we both dread. Any other tips on avoiding high traffic or really crowded areas are most welcome. [/QUOTE]

The ONLY time on the ship I felt crowded was maneuvering around on Deck 9 because that's where most of the action (and the kids) are. The pools are in the center of the deck, surrounded by the deck chairs, and there are more tables and deck chairs, not to mention active ping-pong tables, lining the sides of the deck. The walkways in between can get jammed up a bit at peak times--not to mention the danger of flying ping-pong balls! To avoid this, it would be easy to use a lower deck to get to the general vicinity of where you're going (i.e. Topsiders, the spa) and then come up the elevator or stairs. As others have mentioned, deck 10 is usually empty and you could go up and over, too.

CB

 

[tvguy]

It was crowded just 3 times in the week.

1) The safety drill
2) The New Years Eve party in the Atrium
3) The line getting off the ship the last day

The other times I just wondered where everyone was.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

So, that being said, I am getting just a tiny bit nervous to cruise DCL, although just a **bit** nervous since we're cruising at the end of October.

Here's why: from what I'm reading, the Wonder is 83K gross tonnage (GRT), with anywhere from a low of 1,750 passengers (which would be fine) to an average of about 2,900 passengers, to a full sailing of over 3,400 passengers.

Allow me to provide some more reliable numbers. Here's a comparison of one of HAL's Vista Class ships to the Disney Wonder. (The same numbers would apply to other HAL Vista Class ships and to the Disney Magic.)

Ship ................................... ms Zuiderdam .......... Disney Wonder
Line ................................... Holland America Line .. Disney Cruise Line
Ship's Registry ........................ The Netherlands ....... The Bahamas
Year of delivery ....................... 2002 .................. 1999
Staterooms ............................. 924 ................... 875
Passenger capacity at double occupancy . 1,848 ................. 1,750
Maximum passenger capacity ............. not published ......... 2,400
Crew members ........................... 800 ................... 945
Gross tonnage .......................... 85,000 grt ............ 83,000 grt
Length ................................. 951 feet .............. 964 feet
Beam ................................... 105.8 feet ............ 106 feet
Maximum speed .......................... 24 knots .............. 24 knots

The HAL Vista Class ships actually have more staterooms and a higher double-occuppancy capacity than the Disney ships.

I don't know where you read that the Disney Wonder carries an "average of about 2,900 passengers, to a full sailing of over 3,400 passengers." There would need to be an average of 4 passengers in each stateroom to achieve the 3,400 number!

In reality, each of the Disney ships carry a maximum of 2,400 passengers according to DCL's published numbers.

Now, because DCL caters to families more than HAL, it's likely that a typical Disney sailing will carry more children (and more total passengers) than a typical HAL Vista Class sailing. I understand that it's not unusual for DCL sailings to be at or near the maximum of 2,400 during school vacation periods. For a cruise at the end of October, it's less likely.

I think you'll find the crowds to be about the same on a DCL ship and a HAL Vista Class ship, when either is at typical occupancy.

 

[kcashner]

The only time we felt crowded was the safety drill. We also typically sail in the fall (usually Sept. for us). The profile of the kids changed from summer sailing. In the fall, there are loads of toddlers and preschoolers. The older the kids get, the fewer of them there are. On our last cruise, there were fewer than 20 teens (at least participating in The Stack), and DD was amazed that there were several other kids being educated outside of the standard school systems (duh!)

For adult activities, we never felt crowded or cramped. Maybe all the parents of little people were on their verandahs while their little ones were sleeping (they can also sleep in Flounders or the Club)....got all the ressies I wanted, etc.

We were on 2 other cruises before DCL existed. I guess our 12 DCL cruises tells you which we prefer!

 

[lbgraves]

We have been on 2 7 day cruises so far. On the first one we were shocked to hear that there were 750 kids on the 11/15 sailing just ages 3-12. That didn't include babies, toddlers, or teens. It NEVER felt like that many kids even with all the time we spent at the Mickey pool. The largest groups that we saw were at the deck parties & in the atrium before dinner.

 

[AlexandNessa]

Thanks, everyone. Horace, your numbers made me feel a lot better. I think I read the numbers that I found on some TA's site (something I googled); obviously they were wrong.

 

[goofymama]

I don't know how many passengers were on my cruise ... and I don't particularly like crowds either ... but the only time that I was uncomfortable was in Shutters (where you look at and buy pictures taken on the cruise) before and after dinner. I would suggest that you only go to Shutters at off-peak times. Other than that, Palo is small and not at all crowded and I would recommend brunch, High Tea and dinner. The adult pool was certainly quiet and not crowded but was not dead either. The clubs after dinner weren't at all crowded either.

For sale away and Pirates party - I didn't find either to be overly crowded, but we spent alot of time on Deck 10 looking down at the party on Deck 9.

It'll be great - go for it!

 

[Eeyorefan12]

.In reality, each of the Disney ships carry a maximum of 2,400 passengers according to DCL's published numbers. /QUOTE]

Several times on board the Magic (and during the bridge tour), we were told that we were carrying 2700 passengers on the 6/25 cruise to Mexico. The ship's total capacity was named as 3700, including crew. According to our guide, the ship will accept a total of 2900 passengers but that would be only if the configurations were perfect (i.e. the maxiumum number in each cabin) which I can't imagine would ever quite happen. Also, they said the number of crewmembers was adjusted for the number of passengers. Supposedly, we had about 1000 cast and crewmembers aboard that sailing.

I believe it about the crew because there was ALWAYS someone around when you needed something. However, I'm STILL wondering where all those other people were because I would never have imagined those numbers based on our experience. There were even times late in the evening (I liked to wander sometimes just for the quiet) that I felt I had the ship to myself! Unless there's an "event" (i.e. character signings), you just don't see your fellow passengers in huge numbers. Even the dining experience never feels crowded because the restaurants are set up so well. One of the first comments I made to my DH about the cruise was how uncrowded it was.

CB

 

[MousseauMob]

We also avoid crowds like the plague and vacation in the off-season. So I totally understand your perspective. Disneyland in January, February, and early October is a dream!

Before our June 4th West Coast Cruise I was quite nervous about the crowds, but amazingly enough even though the ship was full we never felt crowded. Well except for the sail-away party but that was because we got right in the midst of the crowd. We could have easily avoided it and still watched the proceedings by going up to deck 10. Small crowds do congregate in some areas, but it is relatively easy to avoid them or come back at another time. Even standing in line for character pictures never really felt "crowded" because they put the characters on a time schedule and they cut off the line when the character needs to go on break, so it never was very large. Actually, the safety drill did feel a bit crowded, but it was a necessary evil and didn't last long! I think you'll be fine. We also went to matinee's for Twice Charmed and Disney Dreams, which I'm sure was less crowded then the evening shows. Palo's brunch and tea were both empty.

 

[jrabbit]

Remember since this is DISNEY it attracts a lot of families. They have spaces for kids from age 3 to 17. The 3 - 12 group (Club and Lab) mostly stay together.

Most children love the club/lab (and there goes 700 out of 2400 passengers - down to 1700). The teens sleep until noon and some spend a lot of time in the Stack or Aloft or small groups of them just hang out and now you're down to 1200 people to contend with. Thats a lot fewer than you're used to dealing with on other ships.

DCL provides lots of activities so everyone does what they want and are spread throughout the ship.

Dinners will get to be a little more crowded ... there are 3 restaurants that can hold about 475 guests each and there are two seatings.

The Walt Disney Theater holds somewhere between 950 and 1000 people. The chairs are roomy so you are not squished in.

Since there are families with younger children it seems like a lot of families head toward bed between 9 and 10pm so that reduces the "crowds" in the evenings.

There is a lot less body to body squished up against one another than at WDW or DL.

Go and have a great time - it's a great vacation!!!

 

[MBFergie]

I get extremely claustrophobic in public places. With that being said, we have sailed 2 times on sold out ships. Never did I get antsy and stressed out. I avoid the elevators unless I am dressed up in high heels because that was the one place it seemed to be crowded. The plus side is using the stairs 90% of the time allowed me to eat a tad extra..being on deck 2 I was up and down those stairs alot!

For the muster drill just tell the person taking the cabin numbers you are clautrophobic and they will allow you to be in the front. Also, we didn't rush to get there the last cruise because I started to "stress" about the waiting.

Shutters would be crowded around dinner time, I always went late in the evening and never had a problem.

As far as the boarding, I would highly recommend the pools as soon as you get on. It is my kids favorite time to hit the mickey slide, there is hardly anybody there for the first 1-2 hours after boarding starts.

It's amazing how many people are on board that you will never see.

Have an AWESOME time!

 

[bbowers]

One more number to throw out - the special DVC cruise, which sold out in HOURS, is listed as having approximately 2100 people. I would think no other cruise during the school year would exceed that (except for major holidays).

 

[Vanvmom]

We just got back from one of DCLs 7 night Mexico cruises on the Magic. It was a sold out cruise (yes, they told us close to 3000 people on board, with a max of 1000 in the 3-12 year old age range). We know that the Walt Suite which can occupy 7 people had only 2 people in it (except for that 4th of July Dis Party we went to in it - MANY people in it that day) Most of the other people we met onboard had maxed out their room occupancy, but it was not cramped by any means. We had 4 people in a Cat 9 room on deck 2 and had plenty of room (DCL cabins are larger by category than many other cruise lines).

As for crowds on board, only the character meet on the final night and the special balloon drop in the Atrium on the 4th of July seemed too crowded for me. Both areas are crowded on deck 3, but can be enjoyed from deck 4 and 5 as well with minimal crowds. The pirate party and sail away can be seen well on Deck 10 (as someone earlier mentioned) and avoid the crowds there as well. I don't think you'll have any problems with crowd control on DCL.