I don't think the food is bad on Disney ships... It is just underwhelming if you are expecting gourmet food like you would find on a cruise line like Celebrity. On my 4 night dream cruise... I ordered the Prime Rib, New York Strip, and one other 'steak' that was advertised on the menu. The EXACT same piece of meat came out every night. It wasn't bad, but it was not a gourmet steak or prime rib!
I've shifted my thinking on this knowing that there is Remy and Palo - so if I want gourmet on a disney ship - I should just look there. You go on Disney cruises for the kids programming that you can find no place else.
we go on disney cruises because we think it's an excellent product.
on this cruise it was DH and me, both 62, and our daughter and son-in-law, both 30 (with no kids).
we all had a fantastic time.
DCL has added a lot of adult programming that it didn't have in the past and we really enjoyed it.
We also cruise Royal when there is a specific itinerary that isn't available on DCL, but for pure cruise enjoyment, for us DCL is the top.
I've been wanting to take a cruise sometime, but can't afford to always take a big nice long vacation, due to money and PTO. I'm surprised to hear that you could enjoy a cruise that short! Makes me want to try it myself sometime! I'm glad you had such a good time!
we were surprised at how much we enjoyed it...
but i won't lie - leaving that ship after such a short time was very painful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
here's what i remember of what we did:
we had the earliest port arrival time, but were late getting out of our resort at WDW.
we ended up arriving just as boarding started (at 11:30)...
since we had the first port arrival time, as soon as we checked in we walked onto the ship..
we headed straight to the Enchanted Garden for a nice leisurely sit down lunch..
we could have gone up to the buffet at cabanas, but since the rooms weren't going to be ready until 1:30 anyway, we decided to take a nice leisurely lunch in a relatively calm atmosphere of the enchanted garden...
lunch was excellent and the servers were wonderful - and that's even though they weren't our regular dinner servers....they still were wonderful and friendly etc...
that's one of the things that we find is different on DCL than on royal....everyone had that extra disney smile....at least that's our experience..
after lunch, we went to guest services to get the instructions regarding an internet package (DH has to be connected 24/7 for work, so it was imperative that he get a package)...
by then the rooms were open, so we made our way to our staterooms on deck 9 midship (great location, right near the midship elevators)...
the rooms were lovely.....though DH definitely felt the height of the ceiling on the ship....he's 6'7" tall, so he had to duck a lot....and had to bend completely down to fit under the shower head....but he didn't mind and it didn't affect his enjoyment of the ship...
ok....so after we got to our rooms, where DH's suitcase had already arrived, we left our carryons etc and headed for the ship tour run by 3 members of the entertainment staff...
we were a big group on the tour, but it was run really well as they took us around to the main points of interest in the ship (to help us get a lay of the land so to speak)..
after the tour we headed to the childrens clubs which have open houses on boarding day...
we don't have any young kids, but anyone can go in during an open house...
those kids clubs are amazing!!! so many activities and totally cool technology..
we all joined in on some of the games that involved the interactive floor....so much fun...
it was then time for the lifeboat drill...not really lifeboats - you go to your assigned assembly station - in our case, the buena vista theater - where they check you in and tell you what you'll need to do in an emergency...
we then headed for the midship detective game, so that we could play at our liesure...
then it was time for the first night theater show...
since we were in second seating for dinner, we had the early theater show at 6:15 (but we got there at 5:45 to get good seats)..
the first night is golden mickeys, which i was surprised to see had been updated since the last time i saw it..
i LOVED it.....the performers are sooooooooooo talented...
my daughter is a professional singer and she couldn't believe the singing quality of two of the singers in particular....she said they belong on broadway they're so good...
but all the performers were great and we really enjoyed the show...
after that we headed to our first game of adult trivia....we're trivia-holics.....there isn't a trivia game that we won't go to....usually we do terribly, but sometimes pretty well (we won the disney music trivia game on this cruise)..
the dream has a member of the entertainment team who is specifically assigned to run entertainment for adults - on our cruise, this was Chris..
he was outstanding....and there were lots of games to keep those of us silly adults very happy...
after trivia it was time for dinner - our rotation began in animators palate....
our server, assistant server and head server were outstanding!!!
they, together with Chris, made our cruise for us...
after dinner, we headed to the adult club area of the ship for the game where 3 married couples play-...called the match game maybe? anyway, again this was run by chris and it was extremely entertaining!!!
so that was friday....pretty jam packed with activities even though it's boarding day..
we went to sleep on the MOST comfortable bed i've ever slept on (they told us that the mattresses had just been replaced...i WANT that bed)..
we all slept late as we were exhausted...
we headed for breakfast up to cabanas (the buffet restaurant on the ship)...
after breakfast, we put on our swim suits and got in line for the aquaduck - the big slide (on a raft in that big tube that goes around the ship)..
the sign said it was a 45 minute wait, but really it only took 25 minutes...
it was fantastic!!!
so we got in line again, this time the sign said 30 minutes, but it only took 20...
i think we rode it 4 times that morning...
then we went back to the room to shower and dress and headed up for lunch...
but cabanas had just closed, so we ate at the quick service locations on the swim deck...
turns out the food is very good...
i was even able to order a gluten free pizza that was amazingly good!! best i've ever had..
after lunch it was time for another game....more adult trivia....i think there were 2 or 3 different games in a row...(on various subjects)..
a fun time was had by all....
then more midship detective agency...
then it was time for the evening show - ventriloquist taylor mason who had me crying from laughing so hard...
then more adult trivia..
then dinner in the enchanted garden which we again enjoyed (with the same servers since they stay with you each night in each new rotation restaurant)..
after dinner were more adult games....no longer remember what...
and then to bed...
i forgot to say we were in nassau that day, but we stayed on the ship....as did many people..
the next day (sunday) was castaway cay day (disney's private island)..
we got up at about 9 and headed to cabanas for breakfast (this time wearing our bathing suits to be ready for the opening of the aquaduck at 10:00)
breakfast was yummy, then on to the aquaduck....we got in line at about 10:05.....a very short line....so we were at the top within a few minutes...
we managed to ride about 6 times when we'd had enough....
DH and DSIL decided to shower and change before heading off the ship..
DH and i stayed in our swimsuits, since i only wear a swim suit when i'm at a sandy beach (we live 10 minutes from one, so i often go - as i am going again tomorrow morning with the grandkids)..
we all put on sunscreen and headed down to deck one..
i think it was about 11:00 when we got off the ship...
we took the tram to the second family beach (pelican point?) where we rented bikes to ride on the bike trail and to head over to the adult beach for lunch...
after riding the bike path to the lookout, we parked our bikes at the adult beach and headed for the very serene and relaxing adult barbecue..
after sitting there a while, we rode our bikes back to the family beach, then boarded the tram to take us back to the ship...
after showering and changing we made our way to yet more adult trivia games (yeah, we're addicted)...
a fun time was had by all (Chris is hysterical)...
then at 5:45 to the theater for the 6:15 show - Disney Dreams that night...
another amazing performance by the very talented singers...
then another game and then dinner, this time in the royal palace (but again with our same servers)...
after dinner was the fun adult game quest....which was followed by an adult version of the ventriloquists show...
and that was it....the time was almost midnight and the party was just about over...
we headed to the pool deck for yet another round of ice cream (i forgot to mention that we ate our weight in ice cream over the course of the 3 days)..
we woke the next morning at 7, left the room at 8 (when you have to leave your room), headed for breakfast in the royal palace, ate, said goodbye to our wonderful servers and headed off the ship...our luggage was very easy to find (they give your coded baggage tags and everything is organized reallywell)..
then to the parking garage to our rental car and off to the airport..
as i already mentioned...as we left the ship i broke down crying..
i really enjoyed our time on the ship and was very sorry to be leaving..
next time, at least 7 days.....though my bucket list cruise is a transatlantic....hopefully one day!!..
.
wouldn't have liked longer , but was happy with 3.
