Why do YOU cruise with Disney?

[CamColt]

Hey gang, this is a great thread, so lets keep it on topic and so we can continue posting why we all cruise DCL. Let's not have side discussions that could escalate into issues.

 

[Sytrace]

Why do you choose Disney?

I don't need convincing, we are die-hard Disney and DCL fanatics, just wondering what keeps you going back, even though other cruises are cheaper, different, some say better, better for adults, better for kids...you know you have heard it all!!


We choose it, because it truly feels *magical* there seems to just be a different feel on a Disney cruise, just like when you enter WDW, it's as though you have entered a bubble and nothing but good things can come of it!!

If you were to ask my husband though, he would say the food! LOL!

I remembered another situation in which a CM went out of their way to let us know they remembered us.
On our very first Disney cruise in November 2013 we had a great serving team who just spent time talking to the kids (they would have been 11 and 12 at the time) it turns out they both had kids close in that age range at home and really wanted to talk to ours.
Flash forward a couple of cruises ( so September 2014) and as we are getting back on the ship after an excursion, we run into Jocelyn (from a year ago) she was just getting back on the ship from having the day off as well and called my daughters name. And then my son's name. After the "how are you" questions and the "oh, you have both grown so tall!" comments, we just smiled from ear to ear the rest of the day. The kids loved being acknowledged first by someone they hadn't seen in almost a year.

I really love this thread!

 

[redsonja76]

I dont think Im better then the people getting off other ships.

Not once did I ever say I was "better" than anyone else. I said the other line out of another port was a direction I didn't want to go in again. When you want to bully someone, reading comprehension is a must.


Back to the topic at hand: Every crew member treats you like you matter, and every crew member acts as if the ship is their personal pride and joy. From the captain to the entertainment staff, to the maintenance members painting the railings. They ALL want to be sure at the exact moment they are interacting with you, that it is a magical moment for you. That's the disney difference. Man I love it!

 

[McGovMama]

We are looking forward to begin planning our first Disney Cruise! We are a family for 5 (kids-6,3,1). What are some recommendations from past cruisers with little ones?

 

[Ofinn]

Not once did I ever say I was "better" than anyone else. I said the other line out of another port was a direction I didn't want to go in again. When you want to bully someone, reading comprehension is a must.


Back to the topic at hand: Every crew member treats you like you matter, and every crew member acts as if the ship is their personal pride and joy. From the captain to the entertainment staff, to the maintenance members painting the railings. They ALL want to be sure at the exact moment they are interacting with you, that it is a magical moment for you. That's the disney difference. Man I love it!

I dont recall that response was to you.nor did I ever say that you said that ??? I certainly dont bully people on these threads never have and never will. Sorry you took it that way. Maybe i misinterpreted your post. Its very vague, and like with texting the interpretation is left up to the reader.

 

[Ofinn]

I remembered another situation in which a CM went out of their way to let us know they remembered us.
On our very first Disney cruise in November 2013 we had a great serving team who just spent time talking to the kids (they would have been 11 and 12 at the time) it turns out they both had kids close in that age range at home and really wanted to talk to ours.
Flash forward a couple of cruises ( so September 2014) and as we are getting back on the ship after an excursion, we run into Jocelyn (from a year ago) she was just getting back on the ship from having the day off as well and called my daughters name. And then my son's name. After the "how are you" questions and the "oh, you have both grown so tall!" comments, we just smiled from ear to ear the rest of the day. The kids loved being acknowledged first by someone they hadn't seen in almost a year.

I really love this thread!

We have experienced that too. We cruise a lot...too much. I havent given them a chance to forget us. Lol[/QUOTE]

 

[Sytrace]

Ofinn... I think that is great. I would love to cruise as much as you do AND to experience other lines. Right now, it is just not in the cards for us to go on longer cruises, but we will get there eventually and with other lines.

 

[xlxo]

To ensure the kids get their pixie dust high

 

[nearlyfallinstar]

We wanted our girls to experience the "Disney magic" while they still love the princesses and characters. My parents also wanted to come, but I was worried about my dad being able to handle multiple days at the parks. A Disney cruise was the perfect solution. It gave the girls a chance to meet some of their favorite characters in an easy relaxed way and my folks a chance to see it without killing themselves. So we went with DCL for the Disney of it, but we were hooked by the awesome service, the food, the shows, and the cleanliness of everything. Really the staff just rocked it in every aspect.

On a side note, when the girls are more into parties than princesses, we may try an RCCL cruise. The RCCL pictures say "family water park" to me. I like DCL's classic warm feel, but teenagers may enjoy a little more action. I don't care for Carnival's cruise ship designs. They look like cheap Las Vegas casinos to me. When DH and I are old and cruising as a couple, we will be DCL all the way.

 

[Ofinn]

Ofinn... I think that is great. I would love to cruise as much as you do AND to experience other lines. Right now, it is just not in the cards for us to go on longer cruises, but we will get there eventually and with other lines.

I think the TA's and Panama cruises offer the best bang for the buck on DCL. The WBTA is such a great price. I have come close to booking it, but keep changing my mind. The longer European cruises are so out of my budget it's ridiculous. We were lucky to get a discount on the Iceland cruise because I could never pay that much for a cruise.

 

[Sytrace]

Ofinn...I was just telling my husband today that a Panama cruise would be wonderful to take at some point. And a TA is definitely on my mind as well. I am always on the lookout for a deal and they can be so hard to find...you got really lucky with your Iceland cruise.

 

[Ofinn]

Ofinn...I was just telling my husband today that a Panama cruise would be wonderful to take at some point. And a TA is definitely on my mind as well. I am always on the lookout for a deal and they can be so hard to find...you got really lucky with your Iceland cruise.

Yes we did.
As far as other cruiselines I don't know if you ever visit cruise critic but you will find people on those boards to be just as passionate and defensive about their favorite cruiseline as they are over here. A lot of them make fun of what Disney cruisers pay for a cruise. I find the most defensive people on the disboards to be the ones with the least cruise experience or they are just really in love with everything Disney. I take those opinions with a grain of salt.

I try to find review from people that have cruised a lot on a various cruiselines and are objective...not necessarily loyal to a certain brand. There's a lot of places we want to go so I have to take price and itinerary into consideration. If we just wanted to sail to the Bahamas every time I would choose DCL without a doubt. If you ever decide to branch out make sure you really like the itinerary. If your disappointed with the cruise it won't all be for nothing.

 

[Bear3412]

Admit I read only a few initial posts on the first page. My bad.

Preface; We have only sailed the Fantasy. That may make a difference fwiw.

We initially sailed DCL due to the G rated material throughout the vessel.
That was a major important factor to us as a family of young ones.
It gave us comfort, and a relaxed environment without worrying about what our children may see depending deck choice.

I read a lot here and elsewhere trying to decide on a cruise line. Why DCL? Why NCL, RCCL, etc.

What grabbed me is; the kids are young once. Sail DCL while the kids are young. So book it. We did.

After our first sailing experiencing the unparalleled customer service didn't hurt, and perhaps locked us in.

The kids seemed to enjoy their respective clubs too. Especially the tween/teen spaces, obviously.

We have sailed other lines. After the initial DCL experience we were pleasantly surprised with the other pax aboard. Everyone aboard seemed pleasant, happy, cooperative, polite, etc. unlike other lines.
I always said DCL's clientele is ....... Of course I got flamed for that , but I still can't help feel it plays a role fwiw. They are mostly all families , covering each others back when necessary, etc. IOW they are like type. Family groups. All trying to have a good time. In the same situation as you are. This helps IMO.

On the Fantasy we have never encountered entitled, annoying, obnoxious, etc passengers.
Elevators have always flowed well. Everyone aboard, including children, were polite and cooperative, as we were, except only a select few. Which you would learn quickly during 7 days, if you were about often. So you could avoid, or alert the security and Coast Guard. JK.

DCL ships are the prettiest at sea. Sorry but this plays a role for us, unless on a NCL EPIC Med sailing. lol.
The best engineered above and below decks, where it really counts. They have the best trained crew. Some of the best built ships at sea. Did I mention the new builds are out of Germany and can handle a Force 12 storm?

These are some of the reasons we sail DCL with our young children.

HTH

ETA; Our kids are now older so we are not sailing DCL as much. We are sailing other lines more now.
But I would never give up, or regret our time aboard DCL. DCL provided some of the best, and most memorable moments at sea.

DCL is the cornerstone of our commitment to sailing with family, regardless of line.

I thank DCL, and these boards for that, and our children's love of the seas, learned on DCL.
That they were always comfortable and happy aboard DCL, allows/allowed further cruise line exploration, IMO.

DCL's sea link to the world for my kids fwiw, IMO.

May all families enjoy every sailing as much as we have, regardless of line.

 

[Bear3412]

.... if you ever visit cruise critic ... you will find people on those boards to be just as passionate and defensive about their favorite cruiseline as they are over here. A lot of them make fun of what Disney cruisers pay for a cruise. I find the most defensive people on the disboards to be the ones with the least cruise experience or they are just really in love with everything Disney. I take those opinions with a grain of salt..

Well said.

And agree.

 

[Sytrace]

Yes we did.
As far as other cruiselines I don't know if you ever visit cruise critic but you will find people on those boards to be just as passionate and defensive about their favorite cruiseline as they are over here. A lot of them make fun of what Disney cruisers pay for a cruise. I find the most defensive people on the disboards to be the ones with the least cruise experience or they are just really in love with everything Disney. I take those opinions with a grain of salt.

I try to find review from people that have cruised a lot on a various cruiselines and are objective...not necessarily loyal to a certain brand. There's a lot of places we want to go so I have to take price and itinerary into consideration. If we just wanted to sail to the Bahamas every time I would choose DCL without a doubt. If you ever decide to branch out make sure you really like the itinerary. If your disappointed with the cruise it won't all be for nothing.

Good advice and thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts. I have been to Cruise Critic before, just not that much. I do like that all cruiselines are represented over there and it is true, they are a passionate bunch.
I like to read the reviews and just back reports here because I am curious about others journeys and I have found a couple of things in those reports that I didn't know. For example, a few cruises ago I had never even realized there was a Rainforest, and now I make it a point to go. It is my happy place where I can actually be alone for a little while. I homeschool and help with the family business (and have a neurotic Doberman who is like Velcro) so quiet moments alone are few and far between. Lol
I tend to believe that everyone has their own point of view and that their experiences are totally subjective and might be good, bad or somewhere in between. I can only take what I read and apply it to my own experiences and expectations. But I am not going to take someone else's opinion as gospel and I should hope they would not take my opinion that way either.

I look forward to reading about your next cruise. You are always helpful to me.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

We cruised with DCL the first time because I trusted the Disney name. We had been going to WDW for years - staying in deluxe hotels, having the dining plan (or deluxe dining plan) and I expected that cruising on DCL would be the same - and for our first cruise it was. We had an assistant server who was - bar none - the best server we've ever had in any restaurant at sea or on land.

Unfortunately, we did back to back cruises (4/3) on the Dream which were a let down. MDR service was terrible (in 20+ cruises, the 3 day was the only time I've ever removed tips), the room steward was okay (she was very personable but put folded up a dirty floor towel and put it back like it was clean and fished out our empty shampoo and conditioner bottles from the garbage can and put them back in the shower). Food was lackluster, entertainment (other than the main shows which we rarely see) was lacking and the other passengers were grouchy because we missed castaway cay on the 3 day and it was as though it put the entire ship in a terrible mood.

This caused us to look elsewhere. And what we found was great - Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity. All meet certain needs and for different reasons, we enjoy each of them.

We still cruise on DCL but it's not the go to line for us.

DCL has redeemed itself on service on subsequent cruises and we've never experienced anything as bad as on our Dream B2B. Though honestly, I don't find that our servers get to know us any better on DCL than other lines. Maybe we're just low key, low maintenance people?

I think every cruise has the opportunity for great, okay, and poor service - on any cruise line.

 

[JenMarie82]

For us, it comes down to having young kids and the nice atmosphere provided by Disney for them. A Disney World vacation is much more stressful in our opinions, so we are able to bless them with a little of the Disney magic without feeling like we need a vacation from our running around like at the parks. They like the kids spaces and the character interactions on boards. Dinner is meant to be fun for them and they try to keep them from getting bored. We also appreciate that it isn't such a party atmosphere as our times on Carnival as a couple when we are sailing as a family. However, we are also fine continuing to sail with Carnival when it's just my husband and I since we are mainly there to relax, lay out and enjoy some drinks sans kids. We tend to make our own fun and aren't too fussy so for us it all depends on what the trip is for.

 

[Chinglan]

We cruised quite a few. Heard excellent reviews about Disney cruise. Would like try at least one Disney cruise before kids are getting too old.

 

[Ofinn]

Good advice and thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts. I have been to Cruise Critic before, just not that much. I do like that all cruiselines are represented over there and it is true, they are a passionate bunch.
I like to read the reviews and just back reports here because I am curious about others journeys and I have found a couple of things in those reports that I didn't know. For example, a few cruises ago I had never even realized there was a Rainforest, and now I make it a point to go. It is my happy place where I can actually be alone for a little while. I homeschool and help with the family business (and have a neurotic Doberman who is like Velcro) so quiet moments alone are few and far between. Lol
I tend to believe that everyone has their own point of view and that their experiences are totally subjective and might be good, bad or somewhere in between. I can only take what I read and apply it to my own experiences and expectations. But I am not going to take someone else's opinion as gospel and I should hope they would not take my opinion that way either.

I look forward to reading about your next cruise. You are always helpful to me.

Passionate might be an understatement. At least with DCL there's always the elephant in the room......COST. If someone says they "didn't think it was worth the price" or they have "been priced out" or the want a "less expensive cruise". Everyone "get's it".We all get money and not having enough of it. Since price differences aren't that huge between the other big three you better have a darn good reason to like another cruise line over their favorite. It can make for some entertaining reading.

 

[Dug720]

Passionate might be an understatement. At least with DCL there's always the elephant in the room......COST. If someone says they "didn't think it was worth the price" or they have "been priced out" or the want a "less expensive cruise". Everyone "get's it".We all get money and not having enough of it. Since price differences aren't that huge between the other big three you better have a darn good reason to like another cruise line over their favorite. It can make for some entertaining reading.

Oh tell me about it!! And no matter how good you say the rest of the stuff is, ALL some of them see is that you didn't like [insert thing] on THEIR line of choice and it's like you told them their first-born was stupid and ugly.

I remember sharing my experience on the Radiance in Alaska two summers ago. Everything was positive except I DARED to state that I did not like the one production show I went to (even the cruise director - oh wait, I didn't like her either but most seem to think she walked on water - introduced it by flat-out saying "If you've been drinking, the storyline might make sense to you..." so that should have been my cue to bolt), and for a couple of people over there that was ALL they saw in my review - that I hated the show. They didn't even notice that I said I BOOKED ANOTHER CRUISE WHILE ON THAT ONE! LOL.