Are you a fan of Cruising or of Disney Cruising?

[tvguy]

We are fans of cruising.
We are fans of Disney.
So a Disney cruise was the best of both worlds, but a non-Disney cruise is just as satisfying for us.

 

[auntlynne]

Cruising.

I started with Disney and have been aboard 118 nights.

Princess 24 nights; NCL, Royal Caribbean, MSC and Carnival - each one cruise.

Love Disney for
.Great Broadway style shows
.Dedicated movie theater with current Disney movies
.Castaway Cay (#1 reason, especially Serenity Bay)
.Port Canaveral Terminal
.I have reached Platinum level
.Clean comedians
.Limited smoking areas
.Free soft drinks
.The Atrium

But it has its drawbacks
.$$$
.I’ve done the itineraries that are affordable
.Bed doesn’t split, so sharing a room means someone has to sleep on sofa - which limits us to 2 passengers to a cabin. (we don’t travel with children or people who can use upper berth
.We’ve eaten from the same menus for years

There’s a whole lot of different ships, destinations, menus available to explore on different lines.

NCL Encore (or it’s twin, Bliss) are purpose-built for AK with a wonderful, large observation lounge. And the MDR offered nice options for lunch and dinner. Their specialty restaurants were superior to Palo.

Carnival is my least favorite so far; but it was on a ship that was scrapped a few months after I sailed. The design allowed smoke from the casino to waft far from that area. Great soups and a nice afternoon tea. But the port was only 6 hours away, in Mobile, AL.

As far as vacations go, I could probably give up cruising for Hawaii and Hilton Head Island. And there are lots of National Parks left to visit. (I have 2 continents left to visit - I have enjoyed seeing parts of the world.)

 

[CarolynU]

I only ever cruised DCL until a couple of years ago where I just couldn’t find a single itinerary that I was interested in that I hadn’t done before, but I did find one on Princess and it was fabulous.
I found visiting the places was exciting. The food was just as good, if not better. I enjoyed anytime dining and the multiple choice of up charge restaurants. I much preferred their formal nights as they were formal. There was fabulous entertainment in most of the multiple bars, and their pools blew me away.
Yet for some reason I’ve gone back to DCL. DCL is a special experience because it’s Disney I guess, but right now I have reservations.
I’ve taken two DCL cruises since the pandemic and in certain aspects been disappointed. For me those cruises did have the main stage shows, but apart from that the activities were uninspiring. All day either craft or trivia. Nothing else. In the evening no outside entertainers or perhaps one. We had a violinist scheduled for the Promenade Lounge and she failed to show up night after night. No warning but even worse no one to even tell the audience who just sat there bewildered. The bar staff were frantically calling various numbers who also didn’t have a clue. Guest services had no idea either. This was very unprofessional. Darren the crew director was nowhere to be seen, and no one knew a thing. This happened two days running. Guest services became totally overwhelmed with complaints. If you run a ship with no outside entertainers you must at least know what’s going on. We did get to the bottom of it and the violinist duly reappeared the following day. I still mourn the loss of the role of club hosts who can make a simple quiz a memorable fun event as they are trained entertainers in their own right.
I found the evenings boring. I was travelling with family with two young kiddies who went to bed so I like all other times was on my own, and so had nothing to do. One night I was back in my room by 9::30pm.
I was told first hand that budgets had been cut and I understand that as cruising has taken a huge financial hit so will cut them some slack, but if this continues and DCL is still one of the most expensive cruise lines I might either switch brands or just take land based vacations.
I’ve just spent 10 days in Antigua and it was phenomenal. Different beaches every day and different restaurants every evening. Which do I prefer? I’m on the fence.

 

[diablodancer]

DCL only - did a NCL cruise as a teen and hated it. I’m not a drinker and don’t like being around drunk people/casinos/smoking etc so the DCL approach suits me well. Also like having things to do on board all day (I’ll sit in the sun for an hour or so reading but get bored sunbathing) so the crafts and other activities are great and am a big Disney/Disney parks fan and really appreciate the better character interactions on DCL (pre-covid although during the pandemic has also been good).

 

[ladyofthetramp]

Cruising. With a preference to DCL. I love being on the water. My little kayak on a pond or river or out in the big ocean. Something about the water and the sound... Peace. DCL has the theming and the quiet we enjoy. We have made many family memories on those cruises. I just wish my little kayak had cabanas and a concierge bar cart!

 

[bakerworld]

We've only cruised DCL. Every cruise DH says it's the last one. And then I book another cruise. My sisters and daughter have cruised different cruise vendors and none of them cared for the experience. I would love to get one of them to go on a cruise with DCL to see if they don't like cruising or if it was their experience.

 

[ChicosWife]

DCL only for us. My DH and I cruised with RC for our honeymoon and was so unimpressed with the experience that we never thought of another cruise for over ten years, when I just happen to be surfing the web and came across DCL's website. We took our first Disney Cruise and were immediately hooked! It's about the quality, the extra touches and the overall magic we all feel while on board. Yes, it may cost more, but at the end of the day, you really get what you pay for with Disney. I don't see us every going to another cruise line anytime soon.

 

[tvguy]

We've only cruised DCL. Every cruise DH says it's the last one. And then I book another cruise. My sisters and daughter have cruised different cruise vendors and none of them cared for the experience. I would love to get one of them to go on a cruise with DCL to see if they don't like cruising or if it was their experience.

I can't say I won't ever do a Disney cruise again. We might take our grandkids when they get older. They are great cruises but the prices are greater than the added features you get. But now that our kids are grown, as adults I can see us looking a different direction if we are going to spend that much money, like maybe doing a Viking Cruise.
But, it is all an individual choice. I've been going to Disneyland since 1965 and have been to Disneyworld once. We found Disneyworld a huge disappointment and a lot less "Disney" than Disneyland. The parks open later, and closer earlier and we are park hoppers so travel time eats into my park time. We usually have early admission and are in Disneyland by 630 am, and when the park was still open until 1 am, that was usually when he headed out.

 

[sabrecmc]

We have only cruised DCL, except for an ABD river cruise (and one Carnival booze cruise I took back in college that we don't need to talk about). I keep thinking about trying something else, but then think about being onboard and wishing I was on a Disney cruise. My daughter loves it, and she's 16 now. Maybe it's gotten comfortable at this point, I don't know. Some would say repetitive, but I never feel like it's been there/done that. Each time, I'm excited to do trivia, draw characters, fold towels, name that tune, watch the baby race, see the shows, etc. It always feels different because my daughter is at a different point in her life, so our experience changes. Eventually, I'll get to experience those things with grandkids, I hope. And there is just nothing to compare to sitting on CC with a drink in my hand, watching the waves come in. I'm sure other cruise lines are fantastic in their own ways, but we are always so happy with DCL, I just don't feel any need to change something that makes us all so happy each time.

 

[tidefan]

Both. We love DCL and all things being equal, love to cruise with them... but...

We love other lines as well. We did a Virgin Voyages cruise this past November and it was amazing. The food is incredible (no MDR, all "specialty" restaurants and they are all included) and that hammock on the balcony is heavenly! Outside of that, I think that Princess is our favorite, as we don't feel the need to do anything outside of what you've already paid for in the cruise fare. Also, the Alfredo's pizza is amazing...

We actually had a great cruise on our one Carnival sailing (Sunshine) a few years back and are trying the Mardi Gras in a month or so. We went into that first cruise with really low expectations (more on that in a minute) but had a really great time. Carnival is what it is, but they do have fun. Also, the "comfort food", like Guy's Burger, is infinitely better than say RCCL.

So, RCCL. If you just look through all of the forums, this is the one that everyone seems to hype up, but I don't get all of the hype. We've done Serenade OTS, and more recently, Oasis OTS. We did love the Aqua Show on Oasis OTS, but there are just a bunch of things that just don't make me jump to book another RCCL. The included food options, even on Oasis, are limited. On either ship, there was not a poolside grill option, for instance, and the soft serve ice cream ended at 5:30. There was an included Tex-Mex style place (like Blue Iguana on Carnival), which was good, but to get a burger, etc, you had to go to the buffet. Now there WERE a lot of food places, like a BBQ place, a Sports Bar, a Candy Store, a Johnny Rockets, etc, but they are all additional charge. Just not my thing. Also, don't know why, but it bugs me to have to "check out" towels. Don't have to do that on DCL, Virgin, or Princess... And don't get me started on "Cats"...

Would I go on another RCCL cruise? Sure, but I'd put Virgin and Princess above it, but that is just us. If you are looking for the waterslides and rock walls and all that, then I can see where people like that. As to Carnival, I will be interested to see how the Mardi Gras stacks up, especially being on it so soon after cruising on the Oasis...

 

[loislane]

We've only cruised once and it was on the Dream. We're booked this summer for the Wish. We are Disney people and weren't sure prior to cruising if we were cruise people, so we did a 3-nighter. I think we learned on that cruise that we are Disney cruise people. We aren't really drinkers or gamblers, so we have no desire to be on a "party" ship. For us, it was like all the exception customer service and level of/attention to detail that we love at WDW was amplified on our Disney cruise - and it makes us less interested in exploring other cruise lines. At least at this point in time. That could change I suppose.

 

[tink1970]

Cruising but especially non-casio cruising. I despise Carnival (and yes have given it more than one chance) but rank Viking>DCL and am open to other, smaller lines once cruising returns to a vacation and not a series of hoops through which to jump.

 

[DisneyConvert]

Fantastic discussion, and a question that both DW and I are open to pondering. Two tries on RCCL were disappointing. But I am aware that Princess & Virgin may offer the combination of service, culture, decor and most especially, new itineraries we seek.

We love DCL for
1. the great CM's (or at least as we remember)
2. the diligence around ensuring my wife doesn't get allergic reactions even as we both still enjoy the (yes, a bit familiar) food.
3. the family oriented (kid-friendly; less partying; no casino) atmosphere.
4. the great shows & performers
5. the opportunity to do a la carte exercise classes
6. the size of and decor of the M&W "original" ships.
7. the "promise of the brand" and how it has largely been fulfilled for us cruise-after-cruise.

This Fall from NYC => Caribbean to SanJuan should be an interesting test.
Now also realizing, we are increasingly attracted to cruise departures we can drive or train to (NYC/NJ and possibly Baltimore?).

 

[squirk]

Curious: how many of you would consider yourselves fans of cruising in general, vs. how many enjoy cruising on DCL exclusively? If one or the other, can you tell us why?

We have never sailed on another cruise line besides DCL. That’s not because we were shunning the other lines, but because when we first decided to try cruising, all three of our kids were young and they are all about four years apart, so the different “tiers” of kids clubs for different ages really worked well for us as a family.

Now, they are 20, 16 & 12. I can see us making the transition in a few years to RCCL, once the Middle ages out of Vibe. By that time, all three of them may have far more interest in sky-diving tunnels, surfing simulators, rock walls and obstacle courses.

Not that we would give up DCL entirely, but we will very likely broaden our horizons at some point in the not-so-distant future.

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

My wife and I did a honeymoon cruise on carnival, and came away not terribly impressed. Admittedly, it was on one of their older ships (Inspiration, which has since been retired), but the ship and crew didn't impress us. It wasn't bad, just wasn't great either.

Then I did a DCL cruise with some friends (just me, it had been arranged long before even the wedding date), and I came back and told my wife we needed to try DCL. We did, and now we are completely hooked.

Our son is 1, so we haven't had experiences with the kids clubs yet, but that will probably keep us with DCL for a while. Eventually, we may try RCCL or NCL, and maybe Celebrity or Virgin if we do a cruise without him, but DCL is something we know we'll be doing

 

[scroogie]

Fan of cruising, but DCL would tend to be my preference.

I had already done 4 DCL cruises prior to my first non-DCL, which was with Princess in 2016. It was on Sea Princess, I would say an older ship but the fact is she's the exact same age as the Disney Magic. It wasn't terrible, but it didn't make me want to sail with Princess again.

Did a few more DCL cruises in the interim, and then sailed on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas in late 2018. Now, that was a fun cruise and I wouldn't hesitate to sail on that class of ship again.

I do have my heart set on trying out RCCL's Oasis class, the new Celebrity Edge class, Carnival's new Mardi Gras and the Vista class, maybe the MSC SeaSide. But I will always compare how well the other lines do compared to Disney.

 

[Lillebelle]

I suppose I'd have to say specifically DCL for us. We've never tried anything else. I'm not necessarily opposed to it, but right now we're really happy with our Disney cruises so haven't felt compelled to seek out anything else.

 

[tidefan]

Fan of cruising, but DCL would tend to be my preference.

I had already done 4 DCL cruises prior to my first non-DCL, which was with Princess in 2016. It was on Sea Princess, I would say an older ship but the fact is she's the exact same age as the Disney Magic. It wasn't terrible, but it didn't make me want to sail with Princess again.

Did a few more DCL cruises in the interim, and then sailed on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas in late 2018. Now, that was a fun cruise and I wouldn't hesitate to sail on that class of ship again.

I do have my heart set on trying out RCCL's Oasis class, the new Celebrity Edge class, Carnival's new Mardi Gras and the Vista class, maybe the MSC SeaSide. But I will always compare how well the other lines do compared to Disney.

Try a Royal Class ship of Princess. Going from Sea Princess to that is comparable on RCCL of going from say Grandeur of the Seas to Oasis...

 

[Ladyfish77]

I've only been on three cruises. One about 30 years ago, one 10 years ago (Royal Caribbean) and a DCL cruise last week. The only time I've wanted to jump on another cruise was last week (which shows since I've only done two other cruises in 30 years). I even booked a placeholder and have been eyeing the military discounted cruises for DCL already! It could be partially due to smaller amount of people due to covid restrictions. I won't know until I do a "full" DCL cruise. For now, I'm in the DCL cruise crowd (and we were an all adult group)

 

[RedHead0186]

I'm a fan of cruising in general, though I've sailed the most on DCL and do prefer it. I've cruised once on Carnival and hated it (not my choice, it was for a friend's bachelorette). I also did a Princess cruise last November and was plesantly surprised. DCL is my first choice, but I wouldn't say no to a cruise on pretty much any other line if it was an option!