Live From (maybe) Wonder 1/13-1/20

I feel your pain and you have some valid points. One thing you didn't mention was room service. Have you tried that or did the options not suit your needs?

Our day at sea continued with relaxation and various activities and trivia. We decided to do lunch in Cabanas and was pleasantly surprised. I feel the offerings on DCL are much better than any other line. We generally see a wide selection of curries, and exotic dishes in most of our cruise buffets. Here we found an excellent fajita offering with a lot of flavor, 2 meat carving stations with a turkey and ribeye, and various other traditional items (soups salads etc). The food had great flavor but was at best Luke warm which is disappointing but expected from buffets.

 

We went and watched Moana in the Disney Theater and thought it was a cute movie. We havent seen one if the movie theater yet but the Disney Theater worked well even for movie watching.

 

So here is the funniest moment of the cruise thus far, let me set the stage for you.

 

We are cruising out of Texas, thus a large number of Texas residents on board. Now the Packers are playing the Cowboys tonight in the playoffs. They are showing the game in the Crown and Fin bar, which by the way is an excellent place to watch football as they have a ton of TV's. The bar is PACKED, the game is tied and its the 4th quarter. This lady's wave phone rings, its the kids club. The first question out of this ladies mouth is "Are you really sure he wants to be picked up, well let me talk to him." She walked off and came back a few minutes later to tell her husband that it was ok he wanted to know when they would come and pick him up, they could keep watching the game.

 

Dinner tonight was in Trident. It is the quietest MDR of the 3 and was nicely decorated. They had escargot tonight on the menu, which is a personal favorite of mine. Filet was on the menu tonight and at our table the 3 cuts of meat all came out at the requested medium temperature. I think DCL does the best job I have seen in an MDR at cooking steaks to the requested temperature.

 

I was off to watch the Steelers game and DW and DSIL called it an early night.. We were told that at Castaway Cay we would be arriving late, disembark at about 10:45, but leave late with an all aboard at about 6pm.

 

 

 

Castaway Cay

 

We ended docking about 9:30am, due to the late departure from Galveston, but they got everything set up in record pace, and they were letting passengers off the ship by 10am, great job!

 

Castaway Cay is a great little island. We headed right for Serenity Bay. If I had 1 complaint it is that there is very limited signage. We had to ask how to get the tram to Serenity Bay as there was nothing listed on any of the signs. So we boarded the tram, 2 stops later got off and boarded another tram for the trip down the runway to Serenity Bay. We got off early and had out pick of loungers by the entrance to the beach. This is a perfect area for adults, quiet beautiful beach with wade in depth of water, a bar and restaurant right by the main entrance, everything you need! They also had a gentlemen play the guitar and sing live music at the bar which we could hear from our seats, it was awesome!

 

After a few hours we ventured to the family beach and I proceeded to ride the water slide, which was a lot of fun. We looked around the little shops and walk around for a while and called it a day around 3pm. The boat stayed at Castaway until 6pm which was a nice solid day.

 

We came back aboard and got ready for dinner in our Pirate garb as it was Pirate Night! So DSIL and I booked the mojito tasting at 9pm, whoever decided these times needs to reevaluate the target audience as it is right in the middle of the second seating of dinner. So we went to Cabanas instead. Instead of a sit down service it was a buffet as it was Pirate Night as well. I am going to take this time to air my grievances on Cabanas and late night dining.

 

/begin rant

 

I really dislike this buffet as compared to any other cruise line. Whoever thought it would be great to have a buffet only open for like 6 hours a day is an idiot. And not only is the buffet not open during long periods of time but you cannot even access it when its not open, they lock that thing down tight. So if you want to eat lunch at 2pm, you out of luck. Dinner before 6:30? Sorry no can do. And dinner from 6:30-8:30, really? I mean we typically eat in the MDR but there are times where you would like to go grab a quick bite and thus your selections are limited. I would like to see this space accessible throughout the day as a place to sit and read for example. And I really think they should have extended hours for food service as these hours really are very limiting.

 

Also, are you a late night snacker or want a quick bite to eat, well all the food service areas on the top deck shut down by 9:30pm, thus the ONLY place up there to get anything is the pizza place, and trust me thats not a great option at all. Oh there are small snack locations down in the ship, but the chips and salsa only go so far.

 

So sorry Disney, you fail not he buffet and the late night (and I struggle to even call it late night, 9:30, since when is that late night?!?!) food options.

 

/end rant

 

So we come to the Pirate Deck party, what an awesome experience, great music, good hosts/dancers, it was amazing! We had a blast and the fireworks, I mean come on now, fireworks at sea on a cruise ship was just awesome.

 

After a really cool deck party we headed to the Signals bar for our Mojito testing. We met Sean the head bartender and it was just DSIL and I that had signed up for the testing so it was like a private event! This was the best deal on the ship, and Sean, the best bartender! It cost $20 and we had a total of 5, regular sized drinks, this was awesome. He took the time to explain the history behind the different rums as well as the other components of the cocktails we were drinking. We had a blast and. Sean was a lot of fun to hang out with.

 

So it was 10pm, we had just drink 5 drinks in an hour, so we wanted food of course! We headed to the pizza place and begrudgingly ate a couple slices of pizza. We walked around the ship for a bit and called it a night.

 

 

Nassau

 

We got to Nassau early this morning and found 3 other ships here with us! Thankfully a lot of people headed out early and breakfast was nice and deserted. We dont have anything planned for today so we are headed into town for a but of walking around and shopping since this is our first, and really only official port stop (sorry I didnt count Castaway Cay as a port stop).

Completely agree 100% about the food situation on dcl. Hate the way buffet access is incredibly limited. We also hate having the same waiter every night (I know a lot of people like this). We were also incredibly disappointed when they stopped serving pretzels on deck regularly if at all because that was the one thing we liked up there. The last time we were on the dream it seemed like most stuff was closed on deck any time we wanted something. So you are stuck with their very limited room service menu. Ugh.

I feel your pain and you have some valid points. One thing you didn't mention was room service. Have you tried that or did the options not suit your needs?

We did on several occasions and found the service to be timely and the food to be hot when it should be. I ordered chicken wings one day and they were delicious. I also ordered the All Hands on Deck and it was delicious, although I thought that they could have brought more grapes ;)

Completely agree 100% about the food situation on dcl. Hate the way buffet access is incredibly limited. We also hate having the same waiter every night (I know a lot of people like this). We were also incredibly disappointed when they stopped serving pretzels on deck regularly if at all because that was the one thing we liked up there. The last time we were on the dream it seemed like most stuff was closed on deck any time we wanted something. So you are stuck with their very limited room service menu. Ugh.

The pretzels were alive and well (on sea days only) on the Wonder. That cinnamon pretzel stuffed with cream cheese will haunt me for a while after I get off the ship!

Well there ended up being 5 ships in port, 2 carnival, 2 royal Caribbean and us. That being said, the shopping part of town next to the port didnt feel crowded at all. We walked around, popped in and out of shops and picked up the typical cheap local shirt and other trinkets marking on vacation.

I can only imagine how crazy Atlantis was given the number of ships in port that day.

We made our way back on board the ship about 1:30 ready for lunch and headed to the buffet close to 2. Now I thought it said it was open til 2:30 but no, it closes at 2. We got our food and sat down and then the screens came dropping down blocking access to the food and the doors closed. Again, I just think this is ridiculous and really dislike the way they handle the buffet on this cruise line, but I have said my peace on this before and will move on.

I want to take a minute to give a shout to a few folks on board. Sean at the Signals Bar has given us the best service on board thus far. He is a lot of fun to talk to, is always engaging and friendly and is just a genuinely nice guy, A+ to Sean. We also have a solo guitarist, Tom Sartori, on board. He was in Serenity Bay, plays by the Adult Pool, as well as a couple of lounges onboard. He is fantastic and made the experience that much more enjoyable.

I headed to see Star Wars in the movie theater and DW and DSIL headed to the pool deck to chill and listen to Tom play. The onboard theater is setup nicely and its awesome to be able to see movies in 3D on board.

We met up after the movie and attended a few activities before dinner. Dinner tonight is Marni Gras in Tiana's.

I love the way the restaurant is decorated, and I had even read reports from people before cruising the Wonder warning that the restaurant was loud, but I dismissed them as just a personal preference. Unfortunately I have to confirm them, this place really is loud. And while I want to enjoy the live music it just makes a loud space even louder and makes dinner uncomfortable. Maybe if they played music only during the last half of dinner it may help? The dinner was good, no real standout entrees between us, but the bread course had this delicious onion dip!

After dinner we headed down to Azure to watch a lackluster magician perform and then we participated in Snippets a game where you yell out the name of the TV Show, Movie or sound effect of various clips that were played, it was a lot of fun.

After that we called it a night, I mean we had Palo Brunch the next morning and had to set an alarm for 9am!

Day at Sea

This morning was met with a lot of anticipation, we had done our research and were looking forward to our Palo Brunch at 10:30. We were hopeful that the hype and $30 price tag held up to all the reviews and expectations. Spoiler alert, it did!

We headed up to Palo and the space has a beautiful wrapping view of the back of the ship with windows overlooking the aft. The space is subdued but elegant and was a delight to sit up there. The only downside was that our side of the space had the sun and the pizza ovens and was very warm, so much so DW who is always cold was saying how warm it was. But, despite the warmth we had a wonderful experience. Our waiter delivered wonderful, personalized service, explaining the menu to us, walking us through the buffet and offering each of us a complimentary drink for the first round. Unlike other reports I had read he was VERY clear that the drinks did come with a charge but that the first one was free.

The buffet offered a variety of seafood (shrimp, king crab legs, caviar etc), cheeses and breads, sweet rolls and breads, vegetables, and desserts. This in and of itself would have been wonderful, but then we get to the Chicken Parm. Oh my, this is the dish legends are made of. The tomato sauce is light on the bottom, a wonderful risotto is in the middle with the chicken breast and melted cheese on top. It was the most delicious thing I have had on board. I would probably have paid $30 just for that dish (alright, probably not, but it was that good).

We wrapped up brunch by attacking the dessert table topped with tiramisu, canoles, chocolate covered strawberries amongst other goodies.

All in all the brunch at Palo's is totally worth the $30pp cost.

After brunch we headed for the pool deck as the weather was amazing! Sunny, warm, slight breeze, it was a perfect day

Well there ended up being 5 ships in port, 2 carnival, 2 royal Caribbean and us. That being said, the shopping part of town next to the port didnt feel crowded at all. We walked around, popped in and out of shops and picked up the typical cheap local shirt and other trinkets marking on vacation.

 

I can only imagine how crazy Atlantis was given the number of ships in port that day.

 

We made our way back on board the ship about 1:30 ready for lunch and headed to the buffet close to 2. Now I thought it said it was open til 2:30 but no, it closes at 2. We got our food and sat down and then the screens came dropping down blocking access to the food and the doors closed. Again, I just think this is ridiculous and really dislike the way they handle the buffet on this cruise line, but I have said my peace on this before and will move on.

 

I want to take a minute to give a shout to a few folks on board. Sean at the Signals Bar has given us the best service on board thus far. He is a lot of fun to talk to, is always engaging and friendly and is just a genuinely nice guy, A+ to Sean. We also have a solo guitarist, Tom Sartori, on board. He was in Serenity Bay, plays by the Adult Pool, as well as a couple of lounges onboard. He is fantastic and made the experience that much more enjoyable.

 

I headed to see Star Wars in the movie theater and DW and DSIL headed to the pool deck to chill and listen to Tom play. The onboard theater is setup nicely and its awesome to be able to see movies in 3D on board.

 

We met up after the movie and attended a few activities before dinner. Dinner tonight is Marni Gras in Tiana's.

 

I love the way the restaurant is decorated, and I had even read reports from people before cruising the Wonder warning that the restaurant was loud, but I dismissed them as just a personal preference. Unfortunately I have to confirm them, this place really is loud. And while I want to enjoy the live music it just makes a loud space even louder and makes dinner uncomfortable. Maybe if they played music only during the last half of dinner it may help? The dinner was good, no real standout entrees between us, but the bread course had this delicious onion dip!

 

After dinner we headed down to Azure to watch a lackluster magician perform and then we participated in Snippets a game where you yell out the name of the TV Show, Movie or sound effect of various clips that were played, it was a lot of fun.

 

After that we called it a night, I mean we had Palo Brunch the next morning and had to set an alarm for 9am!

 

 

Day at Sea

 

This morning was met with a lot of anticipation, we had done our research and were looking forward to our Palo Brunch at 10:30. We were hopeful that the hype and $30 price tag held up to all the reviews and expectations. Spoiler alert, it did!

 

We headed up to Palo and the space has a beautiful wrapping view of the back of the ship with windows overlooking the aft. The space is subdued but elegant and was a delight to sit up there. The only downside was that our side of the space had the sun and the pizza ovens and was very warm, so much so DW who is always cold was saying how warm it was. But, despite the warmth we had a wonderful experience. Our waiter delivered wonderful, personalized service, explaining the menu to us, walking us through the buffet and offering each of us a complimentary drink for the first round. Unlike other reports I had read he was VERY clear that the drinks did come with a charge but that the first one was free.

 

The buffet offered a variety of seafood (shrimp, king crab legs, caviar etc), cheeses and breads, sweet rolls and breads, vegetables, and desserts. This in and of itself would have been wonderful, but then we get to the Chicken Parm. Oh my, this is the dish legends are made of. The tomato sauce is light on the bottom, a wonderful risotto is in the middle with the chicken breast and melted cheese on top. It was the most delicious thing I have had on board. I would probably have paid $30 just for that dish (alright, probably not, but it was that good).

 

We wrapped up brunch by attacking the dessert table topped with tiramisu, canoles, chocolate covered strawberries amongst other goodies.

 

All in all the brunch at Palo's is totally worth the $30pp cost.

 

After brunch we headed for the pool deck as the weather was amazing! Sunny, warm, slight breeze, it was a perfect day

Make sure you put on the comment card that dinner was too loud. The only way DCL will fix it is of enough complain.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

I love the Wonder. I agree with you about the food not being plentiful. Whenever I post that there is no food when I am hungry, people jump in and post that I can get good food like pizza and hamburgers just about anytime. Sorry, that is not even close to being good food and only barely passes as food at all. Same with those "late night" snacks of chips and hot dogs and things.

I've only cruised DCL so far. I'll be on Princess soon. If there is good food out all the time on Princess, I will probably ditch DCL for Princess in the future. I guess I get hungry at the off times and I don't like to schedule my days around meal times when I am on vacation.

I am enjoying your report. Look forward to reading more.

I love the Wonder. I agree with you about the food not being plentiful. Whenever I post that there is no food when I am hungry, people jump in and post that I can get good food like pizza and hamburgers just about anytime. Sorry, that is not even close to being good food and only barely passes as food at all. Same with those "late night" snacks of chips and hot dogs and things.

 

I've only cruised DCL so far. I'll be on Princess soon. If there is good food out all the time on Princess, I will probably ditch DCL for Princess in the future. I guess I get hungry at the off times and I don't like to schedule my days around meal times when I am on vacation.

 

I am enjoying your report. Look forward to reading more.

I found it odd that both sides of Cabana's/Beach Blankets were closed at night time and did not alternate sides for cleaning.

On the Dream, there was finger food and desserts down in the adult areas. Some of them were very good.

Cabanas is open in the evening as a sit down, casual restaurant. It is not a buffet after lunch hours.

I'm surprised to read about the 9:30 closure of the fast food outlets--that's earlier than we have experienced.

On the Magic and Wonder, there are 11pm snacks served in the Promenade Lounge (for families) and in the nightclub area for adults. As noted, this often includes finger foods, desserts, and some hot items as well. We found that there can be a difference in the offerings between the two locations so it may be worth checking both!

On the Fantasy, the only location we found for this was in the adult area where a family of children regularly paraded thru to partake.

The Cove Cafe has munchies which change throughout the day. They put out cheeses, anitpasta, etc. about 6pm. Sorry, don't know what time they close. With late dinner, we don't go food exploring much in the evenings.

I love the Wonder. I agree with you about the food not being plentiful. Whenever I post that there is no food when I am hungry, people jump in and post that I can get good food like pizza and hamburgers just about anytime. Sorry, that is not even close to being good food and only barely passes as food at all. Same with those "late night" snacks of chips and hot dogs and things.

 

 

 

I've only cruised DCL so far. I'll be on Princess soon. If there is good food out all the time on Princess, I will probably ditch DCL for Princess in the future. I guess I get hungry at the off times and I don't like to schedule my days around meal times when I am on vacation.

 

 

 

I am enjoying your report. Look forward to reading more.

After I get home I have been working on a thread for the Princess forum to compare the 2 lines, I will make sure to post a link to it here for you to take a look at. Princess has been our favorite line to cruise on.

We headed to the Frozen show which was really well done. No one does a performance like Disney and they didn't disappoint here. They utilized the entire theater as the backdrop, and I dont want to give anything away here, but if you have younger ones and want to be a little more in the action make sure to sit in the lower level of the theater.

We passed some more time by doing 90's music trivia in the Crown and Fin. Brett, shout out to him, he does a great job with the adult entertainment and is always lively, easy to understand and full of fun and energy. He really makes it a joy to participate in the various activities. We had a blast trying to figure out the artist name and song title from short clips of music.

Dinner tonight was in Tritons, which is quickly becoming my favorite restaurant (although we have the animation show in Animators Palate tomorrow night so stay tuned) because its quiet and elegantly decorated. I had literally the biggest lobster tail I have ever had on a cruise ship and it was expertly cooked. The chocolate lava cake also hit the spot for dessert.

After dinner we headed down to After Hours where we have spent most of our after dinner time. Azure continues to be a great place to hang out and enjoy the various acts. Tonight was John Charles who is an amazing guitarist/comedian and has a music knowledge that is so impressive. He takes requests from the audience and plays while walking around the venue, all the while cracking jokes and engaging with the audience. One of the best performers I have seen at sea.

Day at Sea (our last day :()

It was an earlier morning for me as I try and adjust back to the real world that is headed right for us tomorrow. I got up and ran around the promenade deck as it was a beautiful morning followed by some lifting in the gym.

We headed out on deck early as we knew it would be crowded due to the great weather. We secured a few loungers and enjoyed the morning and afternoon in the adult pool area. I have really come to appreciate this area, it is quiet and has the most comfortable loungers to sit in.

After I get home I have been working on a thread for the Princess forum to compare the 2 lines, I will make sure to post a link to it here for you to take a look at. Princess has been our favorite line to cruise on.

I did a lengthy comparison of DCL and Princess about a year ago--it might be interesting to compare our views after you do yours.

One thing that I've found is that there is a lot more variation between Princess ships than DCL. And Princess specifically alters ships for different cruises. For instance, there were many changes made before the Asian cruises last summer.

One thing that I really didn't like on our Japan cruises is that children were allowed to use the fitness center "under parental supervision" and the locker room without supervision. Only the adult pool in the spa area was restricted. I did not enjoy bunches of giggling 10 year olds in the showers and locker room--the area already had far more adults that are common on DCL. The young children were a real nuissance. I don't know if this is a Princess wide policy as our other cruises were when school was in session and we never encountered this.

Cabanas is open in the evening as a sit down' date=' casual restaurant. It is not a buffet after lunch hours.

 

I'm surprised to read about the 9:30 closure of the fast food outlets--that's earlier than we have experienced.

 

On the Magic and Wonder, there are 11pm snacks served in the Promenade Lounge (for families) and in the nightclub area for adults. As noted, this often includes finger foods, desserts, and some hot items as well. We found that there can be a difference in the offerings between the two locations so it may be worth checking both![/quote']

 

While I'm not quite as much into the myth of other cruise ships as nonstop 24/7 snack fridges, I expect that having only so much staff to run food stations (as opposed to a hotel resort, where more employees can change shifts), is going to create some limitations on restaurant serving times.

(I'm more used to the old 30's-movie idea of thinking of a cruise as a 10-day trip across the ocean that provided its guests with board to keep them from starving, and that they're not suddenly going to get a refill of daily-fresh produce in the middle of the Atlantic.)

 

As a family-oriented cruise, they know that the majority of their business is not going to be up at 11pm, unless it's at the adult nightlife lounges, and those already plan to be open for some catered munches.

Hope nobody found the OP's comments as "entitlement" as I did, it's amazing how ugly some of the been-there veteran cruisers' comments can sound to us wide-eyed newbies.

Hope nobody found the OP's comments as "entitlement" as I did, it's amazing how ugly some of the been-there veteran cruisers' comments can sound to us wide-eyed newbies.

Entitled? I'm sorry you took my comments that way, not what I intended at all, I thought I did a pretty good job segregating it as a rant about a specific topic and thus giving it more of a funny take than a serious rebuke.

Just a quick update before I finish the review. We are sitting out at the mouth of the harbor in dense fog. We started moving a few minutes ago but in the wrong direction lol. So I'm not sure if we are just shifting positions for an impending entry into port or if we are moving out of a dense portion of fog. Either way it's very thick at the moment.

The fog has lifted and we are slowly headed to port. Captain estimates we will dock at 9am and walk offs will start around 9:30

After dinner we headed down to After Hours where we have spent most of our after dinner time. Azure continues to be a great place to hang out and enjoy the various acts. Tonight was John Charles who is an amazing guitarist/comedian and has a music knowledge that is so impressive. He takes requests from the audience and plays while walking around the venue, all the while cracking jokes and engaging with the audience. One of the best performers I have seen at sea.

Love John Charles. One of my favorite acts I've seen on DCL along with Buckets n Boards

Love John Charles. One of my favorite acts I've seen on DCL along with Buckets n Boards

Unfortunately Buckets n Boards just got off the cruise when we boarded so we didnt get the chance to see them.

On the Magic and Wonder' date=' there are 11pm snacks served in the Promenade Lounge (for families) and in the nightclub area for adults. As noted, this often includes finger foods, desserts, and some hot items as well. We found that there can be a difference in the offerings between the two locations so it may be worth checking both!

 

The Cove Cafe has munchies which change throughout the day. They put out cheeses, anitpasta, etc. about 6pm. Sorry, don't know what time they close. With late dinner, we don't go food exploring much in the evenings.[/quote']

 

 

 

Yup, Crown and Fin offered chips and salsa as well as carrot and celery with ranch and blue cheese. They also had, if you were lucky to find them filled, small chicken wings which were delicious.

Unfortunately Buckets n Boards just got off the cruise when we boarded so we didnt get the chance to see them.

I got that impression when you were boarding. I was hoping for your sake, I was wrong. If you've never seen them , they're a great act. I heard that their gear never got delivered, so they had to get creative with the help of the DCL crew.

The morning and afternoon were really nice, and then the weather turned. It must have known that we were headed home because the clouds rolled in and the skies opened and it poured rain. DW and I headed to the Art of the Theme tour. I wish I would have taken this towards the beginning of the cruise as they offered a lot of insight on how the ship was laid out. But it didnt fit in our schedules when it was offered. It was a great tour and we learned a lot of info. For example, did you know that the its a small world nursery was originally a galley to service the kids club on board? They didnt think many people would bring babies on board and thus didnt need a nursery on board. They said they realized their mistake when looking at the manifest on the very first cruise and quickly converted it into the nursery that it is today. That is why the door to the space is so small.

After that we got ready and headed to the Disney Dream show, we got there early as we knew it would be busy and we were right, it was packed! What a great show, Disney really has this stuff down and they do an incredible job.

After the show we headed to 2000's music trivia, boy were we terrible! After the show we headed t dinner in Animators Palate, tonight was the animation show. The dinner menu was limited and there was a single appetizer and soup and no salad offering. The food was ok, but I really think they can have a normal menu as the show isnt that long and they can easily serve during it, but I understand why they did it this way. The celebration cake for dessert was delicious, so much so a second ended up landing on our table right after the animation show :).

After the show we headed to Azure to the 80's spectacular show hosted by Brett. Im not sure where this guy gets his energy from, but he is a lot of fun to listen to and he really makes the game shows that much more enjoyable.

We got our cruise comment card and I was sad there was no way to write in comments other than to recognize the star performers.

Disembarkation Day

We woke up at 6:30 to dense fog and a ship at anchor. We were concerned that we were going to be stuck out there for a while, but much to our surprise we started moving and as we made our way into port the skies cleared and when we docked it was sunny and clear.

Disembarkation was obviously delayed due to our late arrival. We are doing the express walk off and they are anticipating that we are leaving the ship at around 9:20am. We headed down to the Cadillac lounge as it was empty to wait the sign to disembark. When they made the announcement we made our way to the atrium area where we were met with unorganized chaos. The few cast members in the atrium were doing what they could but there was a huge line going down the hallway past Tritions to the back of the ship. The line was not well organized and people who were trying to get past the line to get in the back were met with log jams as it weaved from one side of the hallway to the other. I think that if they had one cast member in the hallway directing traffic and having people in the line stay to one side this would have been much smoother. But I also think there were a high number of walk offs since we were in Galveston and this probably wasnt an issue on most cruises.

Once we made it through the line and off the ship it was easy sailing through customs then headed to the alcohol table to pay some crazy Texas state tax on purchased alcohol, despite the fact that I dont even live in that state, seems a little silly to me.

Final Thoughts

DW and I are big Disney fans and were really excited to try their cruise line as its our ultimate goal to hit all of the properties (we included the cruise line in this goal) around the world one day. We were glad that we took this cruise and really had a good time even without kids. The service was just ok from our perspective. Our Cabin Stewart was excellent and warm and friendly. Our serving staff was equally warm and friendly but the dining room service wasnt what we normally expect. Drinks were often left unfilled and you had to ask the server for a refill, and there was a general lack of attentiveness. Don't get me wrong, it wasnt bad service, but we are used to such spectacular service on our previous cruises that this left us with a little bit of disappointment. The food was on par with other cruises on other lines and there were the usual 1-2 standout dishes during the week. The entertainment surpassed everything we hoped it would be and was a highlight of the DCL experience.

As I mentioned before the one area that is lacking is the deck 9 food experience. Having a buffet with limited hours is disappointing. I loved the Daisy Delights offerings, but again they stop serving breakfast items at 9 and close outright at 6pm. The only thing open after 9:30pm is the pizza place and it just isnt very good pizza.

All in all we are happy with our trip, and are really glad we did this once. Are we going to do it again? For us, probably not. With no kids, despite our love for all things Disney, we found the cruise to be comparable to others we have taken on other lines for about half the price. The highlights of entertainment and "the Disney Magic" just aren't enough to justify another cruise for the price. Should the price drop we would gladly sail on DCL again, but again, for our particular situation it just doesnt make much sense for us. That being said, I would HIGHLY recommend anyone who has a love for Disney and cruising to definitely try DCL atleast once, you wont be disappointed.

I just posted my comparison in the Princess forum, feel free to check it out. And thanks for following along with us on our vacation!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2446633

As a family-oriented cruise, they know that the majority of their business is not going to be up at 11pm, unless it's at the adult nightlife lounges, and those already plan to be open for some catered munches.

Hope nobody found the OP's comments as "entitlement" as I did, it's amazing how ugly some of the been-there veteran cruisers' comments can sound to us wide-eyed newbies.

I didn't read it like that at all. Don't let comments that you disagree with offend you. Everybody has different likes/dislikes and vacations differently.

After growing up watching the LoveBoat, I expected to have lots of choices for yummy healthy food on my first cruise. My first cruise ended up being on the Disney Dream and it mostly kid food (burgers, chicken tenders, fries, pizza) with the scheduled meals of breakfast, lunch and dinner which had the food I was expecting. However, the 3 hour time difference, along with my vacation style of scheduling my day around activities vs. scheduling around meal times left me hungry and eating non healthy food that I prefer not to eat.

I've been on several Disney cruises since and I know what to expect now. I know I will end up eating pizza and chicken tenders. Yes, I can get some carrots, celery and cheese in the afternoon in the Cove Cafe and I do make a meal of it, but isn't exactly what I think of when I think of having a meal. It doesn't steer me away from taking a Disney cruise, but I am happy to read this report and see that there might be a different cruise line for me that will work better for me.

You will enjoy your Disney cruise, as I do. I think the OP enjoyed his cruise, too, but prefers to vacation differently.

I just posted my comparison in the Princess forum, feel free to check it out. And thanks for following along with us on our vacation!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2446633

I really enjoyed your review on here and comparison review on the Princess board.

I think you were fair and balanced, and it was very well written.

ex techie

I didn't read it like that at all. Don't let comments that you disagree with offend you. Everybody has different likes/dislikes and vacations differently.

 

After growing up watching the LoveBoat, I expected to have lots of choices for yummy healthy food on my first cruise. My first cruise ended up being on the Disney Dream and it mostly kid food (burgers, chicken tenders, fries, pizza) with the scheduled meals of breakfast, lunch and dinner which had the food I was expecting. However, the 3 hour time difference, along with my vacation style of scheduling my day around activities vs. scheduling around meal times left me hungry and eating non healthy food that I prefer not to eat.

 

I've been on several Disney cruises since and I know what to expect now. I know I will end up eating pizza and chicken tenders. Yes, I can get some carrots, celery and cheese in the afternoon in the Cove Cafe and I do make a meal of it, but isn't exactly what I think of when I think of having a meal. It doesn't steer me away from taking a Disney cruise, but I am happy to read this report and see that there might be a different cruise line for me that will work better for me.

 

You will enjoy your Disney cruise, as I do. I think the OP enjoyed his cruise, too, but prefers to vacation differently.

Yummy healthy food on the Love Boat?

Weren't they just eating 6 course meals in the dining room?

The Dream has salads and wraps available on the pool deck? What other healthy snacks would you wish to have available?

ex techie