[brumcg]

Lvbug,

I noticed in your introduction that you said you'd been on 2 Disney Cruises and they both stunk... I'd love hearing about it!

We're planning a cruise within the next couple of years. My wife is convinced that she'll love it, but I'm not so sure she will. I'd love to hear from someone who didn't have such a good time.

Thanks!

Bruce

[mickey]

Yah, I would like to hear as well. We have a cruise planned this fall, but it is going to be on Celebrity, just because we are leaving our kids at home (Yea!!!). We are looking at going on a Disney cruise (7 day) next spring with all our kids, and my extended family as well (7 siblings, plus kids and spouses, we may take the entire ship!)

I think we would like to hear your view on the Disney Cruise Line, since I have never been. I have some friends and neighbors who have loved it, so it would be interesting to hear a "negative" point of view.

[lvbug]

Okay -- This is long winded -- be prepared.

Let me start by saying I've been on 6 cruises in my life (2 disney) but the ones I enjoyed most were Celebrity and the Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas (largest cruise ship on the water). This is a disney board so let me just say the Voyager was INCREDIBLE -- GREAT VACATION (there was everything for everyone) Check it out at rccl.com If you were going to ask my reco for a family cruise -- the voyager class ships from RC would be it.

Anyway, what happened on my Disney Cruise. Okay the first time I went was on the Oceania -- Big Red Boat. The second was DCL/ The 1st time, the boat was very small -- the 2nd time it was medium size. There were tons of little kids everywhere. Constantly over the pager was "Mr. So & So you left your kid behind here..." "Mrs. So & So please pick your kid up at daycare..." Alot of the great, traditional cruise elements (that really make a cruise fun) were missing or modified to accommodate children (which is nice but sometimes overwhelming.)For example, there was no dress up night, the food was always standard cuisine (to accommodate the child's taste), there weren't alot of wines to choose from, bingo was a total nightmare... The kids deck was just over run with children. Kids are just not that patient -- they get very grouchy waiting to get into a pool or if your kids aren't that aggressive they will get lost in the shuffle of things. Also, in order to accommodate the Kids deck and teens deck on the ship alot of the grown up ammenities/activities you expect on a cruise were gone.

Lastly, the first time we hit bad weather which is not a-typical on a caribbean cruise. Well, the staff was not equipped to handle this at all -- the number of inside activities didn't increase to balance out. Now all of the outside decks were unusable so the kids were literally playing in the 2 foot wide hallways. It just made for a miserable time. Worst part is that we were only on the cruise for 3 days -- so 1 day we spent inside the other two I felt were spent in travel to and from Disney.

To me it was like being at Cinderella's Character Buffet 24 hours a day. Too many people -- shoved in too small of a space but not for just one meal.

[brumcg]

Thanks lvbug!

Question... Did you go with kids?

Bruce

[mickey]

To me it was like being at Cinderella's Character Buffet 24 hours a day. Too many people -- shoved in too small of a space but not for just one meal.

Sounds like something I definitely don't want to do. In a way, it sounds like our house, without the characters that is. I don't think I would do a Disney Cruise without the kids, and we were thinking of doing a seven day cruise, so that might be better.

lvbug, when did you go on that cruise, was it during the summer, or another time when kids would be out of school?

[lvbug]

I did go on the cruise with kids and the entire family (as usual). The first cruise I went on the kids were 2, 2,3,6,8 and 10. (not all mine) The second time the kids were 6, 10, 12 and 14.

I am not sure that a 7 day cruise would be any better -- but I see how it could be.

The first time we went over thanksgiving. The second time we went in first week of may.

I have talked to people who have had a great time -- my group (there were 18 in our group) didn't -- and we gave it two chances!

[jfmoe]

hey lvbug maby you can write a review on the Cruse in the review section of Disney Central.

A friend of mine went on a 7 day with his kids and loved it. The kids were 3 and 5.

[mickey]

hey lvbug maby you can write a review on the Cruse in the review section of Disney Central.

Yah! I am finally getting people trained! lvbug, I will even provide the link for you to the review page for the Wonder, so you can post the review.

Thanks jfmoe.

[lvbug]

I don't know. I'd hate to have a negative review of Disney on the history books. I'd have to get someone who had a positive experience work with me so that I could give both sides.

[mickey]

lvbub

If you had a bad time, then let people know about it. What good are reviews if we only post possitive ones? I have posted many negative reviews, and I hope other people will do so as well so that we can easily determine what people like about Disney, and what they don't like. I am sure that there will be plenty of people that come along and love it, and they will post their review as well.

[brumcg]

It seems like I start all my replies like this, but I couldn't agree more with Mickey. A good review will list the pros and cons of the subject - exactly like Lvbug did, and let the readers decide if those same things will be pros and cons for themselves.

As an example, most of the cons listed for Lvbug are either not a big deal for us - and one of her cons "no dress up night" is actually a BIG pro for us! IMO, that's a perfect review!

Bruce

[mickey]

Originally posted by brumcg
It seems like I start all my replies like this, but I couldn't agree more with Mickey.

Hey, it's my job to right all the time, just ask my wife!