Bars are 'dead' at night???

[OKgirl]

We had the same experience one our one and only Disney Cruise. My husband and I love to bar hop on cruises while the kids do their thing in the kids clubs. On Carnival Cruises, the bars are HOPPING and BUSY until 2:00 am or later. On DCL there would be 2-6 people in the bars (including us). Many nights we were the only ones in the bar so we would go to another bar and find we were the only ones in that bar too. We were terribly bored on our Disney Cruise both during the sea days and during the evening hours so we've decided it just isn't for us. I think we missed our window for DCL. Our kids are now 8, 14, and 16 and they also prefer Royal Caribbean or Carnival Cruises. If they had been under the age of 5, I think they would have loved it. Since I love to dance when we cruise, we'll probably stick to other cruise lines from now on. My husband loves the comedy shows on other cruise lines and really missed this as well on the Disney Cruise. I think DCL is probably wonderful for young families and stay at home parents who may need a break from their kids for a bit - the kids clubs will definitely keep them entertained for several hours a day! But the nightlife on DCL ranks with the one Celebrity cruise we tried.....nonexistent (at least on the one Disney cruise we tried)

 

[tvguy]

I was on a New Year's cruise on the Magic, and other than New Year's Eve, everything was dead after 10 pm. First cruise I had ever been on that I experienced that. But I have been cruising 41 years. The first cruise I went in 1980, the night club didn't even open until 1:30 am. And it was PACKED.

 

[mlayton14]

I think the obvious point here isn’t that the ships are not lacking due to poor adult spaces , the fact is the large majority of Disney cruisers do not want nightclubs and bars as a large part of their vacation. I know for my family , we are exhausted at 930 and are happy to retire and be ready to go the next morning. Those who want that definitely are better served to do Carnival or Royal. I recently read somewhere that Royal basically breaks even on cruise fares, they make their money on selling drinks and gambling , nuff said

 

[mcd2745]

I think the obvious point here isn’t that the ships are not lacking due to poor adult spaces , the fact is the large majority of Disney cruisers do not want nightclubs and bars as a large part of their vacation. I know for my family , we are exhausted at 930 and are happy to retire and be ready to go the next morning. Those who want that definitely are better served to do Carnival or Royal. I recently read somewhere that Royal basically breaks even on cruise fares, they make their money on selling drinks and gambling , nuff said

I mostly will agree with your point, that DCL (adult) cruisers may not be the biggest partiers who are looking for a wild nightclub scene. And the venues they have are perfectly fine. However, that said, I think there is definitely a happy medium that could be achieved between that and what is offered presently. There can be entertainment and activities offered after 10:30pm (I've listed suggestions previously in this thread), that would keep people out and engaged.

 

[Chrissy-Mickey]

We're part of the "we're exhausted from all the fun by 10 pm" crowd. Though that's true whether it's a cruise, road trip, foreign vacation, or a WDW trip. I love sleeping; it's part of my vacation (afternoon naps on deck are also a highlight of my cruises).

 

[yowcruiser]

I have been on 7 Disney Cruises... some long, some short, some early dining, some late dining. My personal experience is that I am barely starting to have time to discover "adult venues". We did go to a few more spots on a 10-night on the Magic with a few days at sea... and this is the year where they were repeating shows in the WDW Theatre, with alternate acts in lounges. But for the most part, I have found the so-called "adult areas" to be fairly quiet. Yes, now that we have seen most of the shows, and have had pictures with every single characters, this is something we would entertain - but this was definitely not top of mind before. Other than the Star Wars lounge, DCL did not release munch information about adult venues on the Wish. There is one spot on the ship that could have 2 or 3 adult venues in a much more open space than what you have right now - so baring any major future announcements, DCL may have realized that less is more when it comes to adult options...

 

[Girl of the South]

I don't have kids, and am not a party person - but wouldn't mind someplace to go for a glass of wine and a bowl of pretzels (do they still make the little Mickey pretzels? Those were great!) before bed. We walked past several bars in the "adult area" and all were dead. If they are not being utilized, you'd think Disney would be smart enough to turn them into something else. One could be another coffee place, one could be a library or just a quiet place to read, maybe some board games, get some work done, and make one into a cozy bar/wine lounge - if there was just ONE (or two) the 4 people in each of the other bars would now be 16 people? As I recall, none of them were interesting enough to go into with no one else in there. Not a deal breaker for me but just wondered if it was just an 'off' night or if it was more the norm. Thanks for everyone's responses . . . .

 

[Jillpie]

I think Disney is trying to keep a standard too, if a ton of adults were up drinking late into the night, they may wander around the ship, well, drunk. They purposely shut things down, to keep it "clean" and family friendly. By shutting things down, you have very few stragglers, and everyone heads back to their rooms.

 

[tvguy]

I think Disney is trying to keep a standard too, if a ton of adults were up drinking late into the night, they may wander around the ship, well, drunk. They purposely shut things down, to keep it "clean" and family friendly. By shutting things down, you have very few stragglers, and everyone heads back to their rooms.

LOL. Only drunk I have seen in 40 years of cruising was on the Disney Magic.

 

[mcd2745]

I think Disney is trying to keep a standard too, if a ton of adults were up drinking late into the night, they may wander around the ship, well, drunk. They purposely shut things down, to keep it "clean" and family friendly. By shutting things down, you have very few stragglers, and everyone heads back to their rooms.

I don't think that's it. I'm sure they would love to have the adults out late and spending money purchasing lots of drinks.

And can't believe I never thought about this before...wouldn't it be a good idea to have the Mixology and/or the various tastings at midnight? Come to think of it, that is the absolute best time for them. They get continued revenue in the bars past the time they normally do, and guests don't have to sacrifice precious time during the day to do them.

 

[CamColt]

Our experience has been the "main event" of the night in the adult club such as Match Your Mate, or a Ventriloquist, etc.. which usually starts at 10:30, is packed. Then when it ends at 11:00 the crowd just pours out and things quiet down. We have even seen Silent DJ with a huge crowd, people dancing and having a great time...then they stopped and everyone left. Disney needs to keep things going.

We had 1 experience when the singer who usually performs out in La Piazza was moved into Oh La La and everyone went there after the main event in the Tube. It was packed, the guy was great, he was doing all sing along type songs and the crowd loved him. I've never seen that bar (or Pink) that crowded. He kept saying he had to call it a night but the crowd was chanting"1 more song! 1 more song!". He did keep it going a little later than he was scheduled for and later in the cruise he told us he was spoken to about that and told no more. From a business standpoint its hard to see why DCL would be shutting things down when 1, people are are enjoying themselves, and 2, they are spending money on drinks, but I guess there has to be a reason.

 

[Dug720]

I don't think that's it. I'm sure they would love to have the adults out late and spending money purchasing lots of drinks.

And can't believe I never thought about this before...wouldn't it be a good idea to have the Mixology and/or the various tastings at midnight? Come to think of it, that is the absolute best time for them. They get continued revenue in the bars past the time they normally do, and guests don't have to sacrifice precious time during the day to do them.

They usually do have some tastings like Cognag, etc. later like at 10:30.

And from earlier when movies were mentioned - usually there's a movie in the movie theater that starts sometime between 10:30 and 11:30. They don't do funnelvision because the sound can carry into the staterooms the deck below.

But honestly? If you're looking for a party ship, DCL is not really it.

 

[mcd2745]

They usually do have some tastings like Cognag, etc. later like at 10:30.

I know they sometimes to some tastings - usually only Cognac or bourbon/whiskey and never any of the others, especially Mixology - in the 9-10:30pm timeframe. But the idea was to have something to do after the show in the main lounge, which always starts at 10:30pm and usually ends around 11:15pm. Unfortunately, they make it an either/or (the show or the tasting) proposition.

And from earlier when movies were mentioned - usually there's a movie in the movie theater that starts sometime between 10:30 and 11:30. They don't do funnelvision because the sound can carry into the staterooms the deck below.

But honestly? If you're looking for a party ship, DCL is not really it.

The last movie in the BV theater usually starts 10:30-11pm - so unfortunately, again, making an it an either/or thing with the lounge show. They do a late Funnelvision movie (one of the POTC films) on Pirate night. Also, I've gone for a walk up on deck 12-1am a couple of times and caught them rehearsing the sailaway party or the pirate night show with full sound. So I don't really think sound is the issue.

It would seem no one (myself included) is really looking for a wild, "party ship". However, there is a lot that they could offer say from 11:30 pm to about 2am that squarely falls in between a wild party scene and what they currently offer (or more accurately, fail to offer).

 

[Girl of the South]

I guess if you really wanted to get drunk, you could! Alone, in one of the empty bars. The Mixology or even just an informal (but you need to pay for it) wine tasting would be an excellent idea! Perfect! And just the right tone. Not looking for wild party drunk dancing - but a gentle conversation about wine would be awesome. Limit it to 10 or 12 . . . . sign me up! And my point wasn't so much that the "bars (or bras) are dead" but that there's really not much at all going on and I think there could be? Or show, in the bar, an 'adult' Disney movie like Sister Act, Invincible, Free Solo or Hidden Figures. Oh, maybe they can show old episodes of LOVE BOAT!!!!

 

[TikiThunderPirates]

As one of the adults contributing to the "dead bars" issue I can tell you that between 10-11 I am so wiped out from touring all day in a port, knowing I have another port the next day, that I give up and go to sleep. I will say on our WBTA when we gained an hour every night, I did notice that myself, as well as a lot of other people stayed up later!! That was the cruise I learned the free soft serve station actually closes at night. Also I agree that unless your with a large group who wants to hang out, or enjoy a good silent dance party, there wasn't much going on after 11:00pm either. Most of the people I saw that late were off duty crew.

 

[sabrecmc]

I remember things going on in the adult areas (DJs and "dance parties" mostly) until around 12:30/1am or so...but they were not especially well attended on the couple of occasions I was up late enough to check them out. Parents are tired, lol. I'm sure Disney has looked at the cost vs. the benefit of more late-night adult activities and decided it just isn't worth it. I don't know if they are correct, but I suspect if there were a way to make money off of it, Disney would do it. As it is, maybe there just isn't enough revenue generated to justify it. Or maybe they just know they don't have to offer that kind of thing and people will still fill the ships. Admittedly, "what after midnight adult activities are there?" isn't really what motivates me to book a Disney cruise, and I suspect that while it might be nice to have more of those sometimes, that probably isn't a big motivating factor for most people choosing Disney.

 

[princesscinderella]

We have been on DCL cruises where the club/bars were packed in the evenings and ones where there were only about 10 couples for match your mate. I’ve noticed that when there’s a lot of gold and platinum cruisers on board the bars and night life tend to be busier than when the ship is packed with new cruisers.

 

[Robbydj13]

Always felt the same way. Unless there is a good entertainment act in the clubs/lounges/bars, its usually quiet. I don't want a party, but I would like to see other people and chat it up to LOL

DCL tends to be a bit too tame as far as nightlife goes, but I think people know and understand that.

 

[Cheerio]

I'm one of those up in the Tube until the DJ is done My kids are older, I like to dance, we then usually finish off in Meridian. I find it tame but I understand most people cruise with young children, I wish there was a happy medium for those who have teens, cruise without kids or are generally night owls.

 

[JWelch62]

We got a certificate of appreciation from the Cadillac Lounge bar staff at the end of our EBPC. We _may_ have spent a few nights there on the cruise.