Thread: Second cruise....

Hey,

I got off my first cruise 4 months ago, and just booked yesterday on our second cruise, which is on Disney.

Has anyone here been on Disney, and if so, what was it like? Any negative things?

Thanks,
Curtis

Curtis, almost everybody on this section of CLF has been on a DCL cruise.

You'd probably do best to just browse through the posts to discover the pros and cons.

Like any other cruise line, DCL has many features that delight some passengers and turn others off. One example would be the absence of casinos on DCL ships; some people love that fact, while others hate it.

I don't think Curtis will mind the absence of casinos...will ya Curtis?

We love DCL! We find the typical age group is a bit younger, with many families aboard, and less of a "party" atmosphere than some of the shorter cruises. Less smoking and drinking, although you do find some of that. DCL does a good job of providing activities for kids on board, so they aren't "under foot" all the time.

A "don't miss" for us is their added-charge restaurant, Palo, for a dinner. Best food I have had on a cruise ship (which isn't saying much, as I'm pretty critical of food on cruise ships, but Palo's is definitely edible!) Last time we were on Disney, we stepped out after our meal to the fireworks show. Very nice.

The private island in the Bahamas, Castaway Cay, is very nice. They have a family beach, a teen beach and an adults-only beach, and a pretty nice BBQ lunch.

The dining is a bit different, as you change dining rooms every night, and your wait staff follows you. If they are on the ball, by the second night they know your likes and dislikes. We have always had great experiences with their staff (although, to be honest, we have never had a horrible experience on any cruise line! We must not have very high expectations!)

We also have found the cabins a bit cleaner, with the windows clean upon boarding, etc. We've had to ask that they be cleaned on both Princess and NCL. But that's a marginal difference.

On the "con" side for me is the higher cost DCL charges; are they 40% better for us than NCL? Not usually. Sometimes it is. We have friends that really love Disney, and we are going with them on a 7 day Alaska cruise in September 2011. The cost was much more than NCL or Princess, but I'm interested to see what kind of "value add" the line does for the Alaska itinerary.

The comedians use less profanity and scatological humor, so that can be a plus or a minus for you depending on your outlook. The stage shows are very, very "Disney", so if you like that, you'll love it. And, they have a nice movie theater, with "stadium seating", that shows first run Disney movies (they are released on the cruise ship at the same time they are released into the theaters).

So what ship, itinerary and when?

Frank, thanks for the first hand report.

Curtis is 14 years old, so the drinking and adult humor are not on his horizon any time soon.

You must have signatures blocked.
From his signature, this is the plan!

Curtis McCrea
Disney Dream on 09/08/2011

I don't have the signatures blocked, but perhaps I need my eyes UNBLOCKED!

HOWEVER, now knowing that Curtis is 14, I can relate that he will have a blast! When my daughter was 13 she spent most of the time in the Teen Club that was modeled at the time on a coffee house (called "Common Grounds", if I recall). The counselors were absolutely great. I'm sure things have changed since then, but one of the activities they had was a video project, where small groups were given video cameras and their charge was to come back with recordings of things that didn't fit the Disney image (there were several rules designed to curb the more enthusiastic, but the kids rose to the occasion and had a great time.)

Originally Posted by fshagan

I don't have the signatures blocked, but perhaps I need my eyes UNBLOCKED!

HOWEVER, now knowing that Curtis is 14, I can relate that he will have a blast! When my daughter was 13 she spent most of the time in the Teen Club that was modeled at the time on a coffee house (called "Common Grounds", if I recall). The counselors were absolutely great. I'm sure things have changed since then, but one of the activities they had was a video project, where small groups were given video cameras and their charge was to come back with recordings of things that didn't fit the Disney image (there were several rules designed to curb the more enthusiastic, but the kids rose to the occasion and had a great time.)

Sometimes we don't see the hand in front of our face!

Curtis would love that video project, I'm sure! I hope they still so something like that when he is aboard.

Thanks for sharing...Curtis has been so impatient to "get the show on the road!"

We were impressed with how the Counselors adapted to the group of kids they had. Some were musicians, so there was an ad hoc band formed, several of the kids got together on excursions for group activities (the teen "party boat"; I"m sure the crew of that boat was never the same!)

The only problem was that we hardly ever saw our daughter. She certainly enjoyed the freedom, but we had to insist on at least one dinner at our table during the cruise!