Why do you prefer Disney after trying other cruise lines?

[Incharge]

This is my first time traveling with Disney. Why do you like Disney better? I am so looking forward to this trip. I just need to hear what differs about DCL from other lines. I see where many posters have started with DCL, gone to other cruise lines, only to return to Disney. This is interesting to me. Why do you prefer Disney? Obviously it must be better, but how?
Thanks

 

[pjcl58]

I have been on other cruises and Disney twice. The quality of the entertainment and crew members, as well as the general atmosphere itself is far superior with Disney. We love cruising on Disney and can't wait to go again!

 

[Wishing on a star]

I have never cruised DCL... But, after reading the boards for a while now, and doing a lot of research comparing different cruises... The difference seems to keep coming back to a lot of the little things that are sometimes hard to really put your finger on.

One Summer we traveled twice, both trips only weeks apart. Both times to the same general area. One event was a well planned family kind of thing at a self contained Inn... The other was your average stay at a Hotel near the city. The differences were very black and white!!! Family atmosphere with personalized service -VS- a non family atmosphere with a lot of smoking drinking, etc.... and nowhere near the personalized service.

I am imagining that the differences mentioned by DCL cruisers are similar to this?

I too would love to hear more!

 

[Incharge]

Also the fact that there is no casino is refreshing to me. That makes more room for other things to do, especially for the kids. Since my grandson is alone, I know he will enjoy all the other kids. This will be a surprise to him because we are not telling him

 

[Roxie A]

I have only the Carnival Pride to compare to the 7 day that we did on the Magic. I kept comparing the 2 to myself the whole week. We were traveling with small children and that made all the difference. The rooms were comparable on both ships, except for what we paid on Disney for an inside we were able to get a balcony on Carnival. The childrens pool area was very disappointing - just a small ring on the highest deck near the stairs - the first day we only stayed an hour because my little boy kept coming out the open spaces in the wall around the pool and the wind was so strong up there that I was afraid he was going to get blown down the stairs! The last 2 sea days there wasn't but about 3" of water in there and no one seemed to know what was wrong with it. No kind of bar service, you had to go down 2 flights of stairs, no music up there either. The kids club was nice but not as nice as Disney, they did change diapers so that was a plus. The club was at the very front tip of the ship, my daughter almost fell down from the rocking while in the bathroom one night. We were on the 6th floor and the club was on the 5th, you had to go down a floor mid ship to get to the club or if you were in the front of the ship on one of the lower floors you had to go to the fourth floor and walk up the stairs - CRAZY!! the arcade was very dark and $1+ a game. All of the kids areas seemed like after thoughts. No were else on that ship did I feel comfortable with my 3 year old. At dinner we had to ask for kids menus and that they PLEASE remove all the extra forks and glassware. We chose to eat in the grill most nights and besides pizza they didn't offer anything for kids. On Carnivals private island you had tender in - that meant standing in line for tickets then going to a waiting area to be called then taking the boat over, just not as child friendly as Disney where you just walk off the boat and they hand you towels. My 8 year old had a great time, if I were taking only her I think any line would be fine but with little ones Disney is definately better.

 

[lsmac]

We have cruised twice with Disney and about five times on different lines so let me see if I can pin this down.
Why we came back to try a 7 day Disney:
1. Easy, fast, embarkation and disembarkation.
2. A feeling of "family" with the crewmembers.
3. Outstanding service across the board.
4. Lack of "drunken-party, going-cigarette smoking-gambling" types.
5. Cabin with split bath.
6. Castaway Cay has to be the BEST private island experience.

Why we chose the other lines: (Princess, RCCL, BRB, Celebrity, Carnival)
1. Different itineraries.
2. More choice in food. (and in some cases, better food)
3. More choice in activities on board.
4. Different shows etc. (I mean...really...I love Dreams and Hercules, but they do get OLD)

We really enjoyed Disney and felt like the service was beyond compare (except maybe to Celebrity's)...will we go back again? Not sure...if AnnMorin has her way we will be in December (LOL), but we really like to try different things. Disney has a good product and I think that is why cruisers continue to go back, especially with small children. Our last cruise with them in December 2002 had 997 repeat cruisers! They must be doing something right!

Lisa

 

[mareka]

We have cruised Princess. While the ship was larger the cabins were smaller.
We had a balcony on both Princess and Disney.
We are going on our 2nd Disney cruise at the end of the month. Just a short hop. and again for a week in 2004.
I don't cruise to climb a wall or ice skate. I want to relax and feel pampered. The staff on Disney is wonderful. Hope we can get the same server we had before.

Try it, You'll like it.

 

[SusanU]

We cruised Princess to Alaska this fall and while I thought overall the ship was comparable, the difference in lower end staterooms was a big difference to me. While we were not the lowest category we were about 6 categories up, but still an inside stateroom. There was a desk, bed, refrigerator/TV unit, closet & ample bath but no sofa or chair to sit on like all Disney rooms. That made a big difference to me. While Disney does charge more for there lowest categories the rooms are definitely larger & the split bathroom is very nice.

 

[happiest in Disney]

DIsney just does everything better....
I have cruised on almost every other cruiseline and DISNEY by far
has it down!!!
Their customer service cannot be touched by any other....they just have the magic!
Their kids clubs are so much more kid friendly than any other that i've seen. My son would not leave until closing each night on Disney on some of the other lines he wouldn't stay in them ....they were boring....nothing fun to do! Hated them.
THe personel is just faboulus on Disney as expected.
The entertainment is wonderful to say the least....But it is Disney I would expect nothing less!
THe play makers make sure EVERYONE is having fun.
Serice in the restaurants is impecable, cabin stewards are unbelievable just going that extra mile...the whole crew in general is THE BEST on the high seas.....!!!!!

I am a travel agent and have experienced many different ships and from my personal as well as professional experience I feel DISNEY truly is the best!

 

[AnnMorin]

For us it is the bigger cabins, the bigger verandas, the split bath. The absence of a casino and totally drunken fools running down the hall at all hours. The feeling of "comming home" where the cast members go so out of their way for you. A place where my husband and I can have alone time but our DS -9 feels safe and comfortable doing his own thing. It is to us the perfect getaway that you can do as much or as little as you want. And with each voyage we feel more and more "at home" with no rush to explore and see or do it all-just pure relaxation!

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

I've only sailed with Disney, on the Wonder. We had a great time, and can't see it getting much better. We are considering another cruise, either on the Wonder or Magic, or on Celebrity's Constellation or Holland America's Zuiderdam. I'm sure Celebrity & Holland America would be very nice, but I don't know if we'd miss the "Disney" aspect of the Wonder.

 

[atigeg]

We have sailed on Disney 28 times (with 7 more booked) and 4 on RCCL, so you can tell which cruise line we prefer
That's not to say RCCL is bad (food and service are excellent, and the ice show on Voyager was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen...the parades on the "street" were great too), but there are certain special little things that we prefer about Disney. Here are a few:
-Larger staterooms. RCCL's feel like a broom closet in comparison, especially on the older/smaller ships.
-Adults only areas. We don't have children, and while we enjoy being around the little ones, it is nice to be able to escape to the "big kids" areas.
-Limited smoking areas. I love that fact that smoking is not allowed in the staterooms, as I am very sensitive to smoke. I think Disney does a great job of balancing the needs of smokers and non-smokers. Granted, the nightclubs can get smoky, but on Sovereign the smoking was so bad almost everywhere that it triggered a massive respiratory attack.
-Great maintenance. Sovereign was definitely show its age, but Disney does a great job keeping things ship-shape (pun intended). We might notice things in need of repair on one cruise, but by the time we return, they're usually fixed.
-No casino. I hate how other cruise lines have a big casino and then force you to walk through it to get anywhere. I have nothing against casinos in general, but I can gamble at home...I don't want to waste my time doing it on a ship.
-More activities. Sometimes I think RCCL WANTS you to spend all your time gambling, as their other adult activities seem very limited. On Disney, we still haven't done everything that we want to try.
-Castaway Cay. Need I say more?!
-Excellent crew. This is not a knock on RCCL, as their crew was very friendly too. But Disney seems to have that extra measure of friendliness.
-Disney Dreams. After 29 times, we're still not tired of it.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[tecdavidt]

I have been on 12 cruises since 1997. Four of those on DCL and two on Celebrity the rest on Carnival. Now in all of those cruises I never once saw people who would fall into the category "drunken fools" at least not any more than what I have seen on our DCL cruises. I did not like the people smoking inside, outside is fine but I am use to more and more places forbidding indoor smoking. The casinos are OK but what I did notice on the other lines: parents are in the casinos or bars and the children's programming doesn't accommodate late hours. The problem: children running the halls at all hours of the night. That was annoying. Even on this last Celebrity cruise my husband and I talked how this cruise reminded us of Disney with the large number of children except on Disney the children are kept busy!!! Just my opinion in the last 12 cruises I have been on. Now I am sure on some DCL cruises the children can be unruly buy not on the ones I have been on. Kathy

 

[sandee]

really enjoyed the different choices for meals on RCCL. I love Disney Dreams but I enjoyed seeing something different on RCCL last week. I too worried about smoking, drinking and casino crowd, but we had an almost sell out size crowd and I never heard a peep in the hallways at night. I don't like cigarette smoke so I stayed off the side where people smoke. You can only smoke on one side of the ship. I only smelled cig. smoke in the casino and I was only in there for a half hour at most. I live 15 mins. from a casino and seldom go there so I thought I'd never go to the one on the ship either. Stepped in one day, no crowd like I expected so I decided I'd wasted $20 on the slots. I won $900 and left. It's there if you want it, but if you're not interested you'd never know it was there. I am sailing with Disney again in March, but our summer cruise will be with Royal Carribean. I want a verandah and one on RCCL is much cheaper. The main reason I make sure at least every other cruise is with
Disney is because I love the ship itself. Really beautiful.

 

[Minnie's Guy]

We LOVE Disney cruises - booked again in 8/04.
I think the reason I wanted to book another cruise line
is because I'm getting tired of the same menus and the
same nightly shows. We are booked on the Navigator
for 6/03 and I know I'll constantly be comparing Disney
to RCCL. We have sailed RCCL many, many years ago and
loved the cruise line, but now with kids, Disney has become
a priority for us. I'm anxious to hear my kids' reactions to
the different cruise line. I'm hoping they definitely change
the menus and some of the shows (please keep Hercules!)
till next year.