ohioNCLcruiser

This was my 66th cruise and my 7th cruise line with Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line, Holland America, Celebrity, MSC and Royal Caribbean sailed previously. I am not a Disney person so read this with that in mind. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the cruise. Like I said I am not a Disney person, but you couldn’t help feeding off the excitement of those who were and the excitement that the kids onboard had for it. The ship was not “in your face” Disney and was tastefully done in the artwork, ship design etc. Everyday they had areas for people to meet and take photos with the various Disney characters, but it was certainly not the focus. The ship was incredibly clean and in great condition. They do not allow paint to peel or rusty areas around the public areas and open decks. Spotless ship and they still do cabin service twice a day. This was a great way to get a Disney fix in without dealing with the parks. Food: The only area that surprised me in a negative way was the main dining food quality. For some reason I thought DCL food was elevated compared to the other cruise lines, but I did not find that to be the case. I would say their included food quality in the main dining room was a step down from Holland America and Celebrity, on par with NCL and a half step up from the new Carnival menus. The 24-7 free room service was great, the buffet included crab legs daily and Mickey ice cream bars are available for free anytime you want. I loved that each night we rotated between the three themed dining rooms (Secret Garden, Royal Palace, Animators Palate where the dining room goes from black and white to a rainbow of colors as the meal progresses) but kept the same waiters each night. Another food department area I loved was that the main dining room is open for lunch every single day and the lunch menus changed daily. Palo brunch was A+. Wonderful food and an even elevated level of service. Highly suggest going! Shows: Disney wins out of all my other cruise lines when it comes to production shows, hands down. Broadway quality with great effects, music, sets, costumes etc. Norwegian’s Pricilla Queen of the Desert was my previous favorite show at sea but that has been bumped down to second place. The deck parties were great too. They didn’t just have performers on stage, but they would come down from the smoke stack, shoot across the pool deck etc. Pirates of the Caribbean was a pirate themed night where everyone dressed up and was finished with fireworks at sea. Overall great time for people of all ages. Service: Some of the best at sea from the moment your cab pulls up to the pier to leaving. Everyone was very friendly, helpful, and accommodating. Our waiters were rockstars and they are so good to the kids. They make personal connections with them, make them feel special and even when carrying a tray of 12 dishes they will still pause and answer a kid asking them something. My 5 year old cousin told our waiter that he loved Goofy and that he liked corn bread so for the rest of the cruise our waiter would say, “Benji guess what Mr. Goofy is in the kitchen baking you up some cornbread. He asked me to tell him when you arrive so I will go get it!” Just really made a great connection with the kids. Cleanliness: As I mentioned earlier the ship was spotless in both public areas and our cabin. We loved that cabin service was done twice a day and workers were always around the ship cleaning. Ship condition: As expected the ship was in almost perfect condition. The cabins showed their age with some design and décor items, wear and tear but for a ship of this age overall it was in great condition. I’m always impressed that companies like Disney, Holland America and Cunard can keep dark painted ship hulls in such prime condition. Drinks: We were surprised by the price of drinks and in a good way. Drink prices were similar to other cruise lines but the adults only bars had happy hours for a few hours a day. Drinks were 50% off so a 16oz beer was around $5, a glass of wine was $6, cocktails around $6 as well. Disney does not offer a beverage package but with the cheap happy hour prices we definitely did not need one. Everyday they have a “cocktail of the day” for $5 as well. Soda is included in the price of the cruise so we packed airline mini booze bottles to make our own drinks from time to time. Disney also allows all adults to bring on two bottles of wine or a bottle of wine and a six pack of beer each. We loved the adults only coffee shop Cove Café. The café was relaxing, tastefully done and had many of the same treats that Starbucks has (Cranberry Bliss Bars etc.) which were included. Private Island: Their private island was wonderful. The ship is able to dock so you don’t have to deal with tender boats, multiple beaches for all ages and the best tasting beach BBQ we have ever had on a cruise. Usually the private island buffets are a miss in taste and quality but this was wonderful. In addition to beach time, we rented bikes and enjoyed some nature trails around the island. Service on the island matched the elevated levels that we found on the ship. Pools: This might have been because of spring break but the main pools were quite small, so they were incredibly busy and packed and the lines for the water slides were very long. The adults only area pools were quiet which was nice. Even my seven-year-old cousin said he hated the pools because they were so crowded you couldn’t go in without being constantly kicked or hit by people. The pool deck was overall very hectic. Premium price: So, is the premium price worth it? This was the perfect ship to try with kids and while we had a wonderful time and will be back on Disney with them in the future, I think the premium price just depends on the specific itinerary if it is worth it. We had to go during spring break so that meant peak pricing. This five day Disney cruise was more expensive than 14 day Asian cruises we have done in a balcony cabin. The ship does not have a casino so I save some money there. If you love Disney I say give it a try and if you don’t like Disney then don’t necessarily write it off either. Like I mentioned at the start, we enjoyed it a lot more than we thought we would and we will be back to Disney but for the price it certainly won’t become a main cruise line choice for us but I can see us doing them from time to time. Will be sailing on the Disney Fantasy next April. Thanks for reading!

I sent mine in on March 28th for expedited service. They received the application on April 3rd, cashed the check and yesterday the status was changed to approved with estimated shipping arriving on April 15th.

Yes..lets call it aging very very well....yes aging is what made her new look. (I love Gwen but I feel like she didn't need all that work that she, and the pressures of the industry, made her get)

That is LA. That building is the Wilshire Grand Center. People used to say it was the Pepsi building because it had Korean Air's logo on it 😁

Sure is! Technically it was still the Costa Venezia at the time of filming though.

I feel like the ships are always docking here with the stern in (closest to the shore) with the bow pointing out to the ocean with the pier on the port, left side of the ship. I'm writing this from the Freedom currently docked in Bimini and this is the same case today. I think OP would want to pick a cabin on the right side of the ship for the most unobstructed views. OP hope this helps!

The photo that you say is not Carnival is definitely Carnival and that is how all Starlink equipped ships across all cruise lines look. Starlink does not come in a dome. Anyway, the rest of the infrastructure makes a big difference in reliable connections also. That is why the Mardi Gras class is wonderful with its routers literally everywhere.

All what Marriott and Hilton require is for someone to have joined their free loyalty program. Taking 10 seconds to sign up for a free program (which most people are already in to get the points for their stay) which gives you free wifi certainly makes the wifi free. If Carnival said "sign up for our newsletter to get free wifi" people would certainly be arguing that the wifi is free.

While I know satellite ship internet can't be compared to land internet, this list is very outdated. These brands offer free wifi and Starwood hotels has been part of Marriott for over 7 years now.

I don't mind the increase in price (business costs are business costs) but I keep better track now when it's not working and ask for the appropriate amount of a refund at the end of the voyage. I don't mind paying the premium price for when it works but not when it doesn't. This hasn't been an issue with partial refunds recently and guest services seems to be pretty understanding when you say you just want x%. Due to this I am paying more upfront with the new prices but probably paying less overall with some partial refunds from time to time.

I think them allowing notifications to come through at times (error or not) is a great marketing move to get more people to buy the internet. If someone hasn't purchased it but suddenly got emails and messages they might want to reply to then I bet they purchase a package.

Yeah going tonight. The regular food has been good I must say. Great service onboard as well.

I guess its leather just feels like plastic. Hope these pics help!

When I get back to my cabin I'll take a closer look at it. If it was indeed leather it felt very plasticy. I'll post some photos of it this afternoon.

I just got mine on the Venezia yesterday and it is a plastic passport holder and luggage tag. I appreciate the gesture but it is pretty cheap and I will certainly not be taking it with me. The quality seems like 95% of them will just end up as more plastic in a landfill. A robe would have been great or even the whale tail/smokestack luggage tag from the giftshop which I love. Hopefully people don't get the hate going with the "so ungrateful" or "you know how much debt they are in" etc I'm just saying what I feel. I rather have not gotten it then more plastic that will just be tossed. Hope this helps!