Disney Cruise with no children etc...

We are looking at trying Disney as we have been on the other major lines now and are looking for something new. That being said, we have some concerns. While I have nothing against children (have a few myself,) we often cruise in the fall months when there are less children on board. Is this also the case with Disney...or are there always an abundance of children?

As active, fun loving adults, we like to have few drinks and partake of the evening activities. Is there an active night life on Disney...or do things shut down early since many of the passengers are in their cabins with their children?

I've heard good things about the dining and food on Disney, but is it more geared towards children...or are there more sophisticated choices to be had?

Thanks for anyone that can help answer....

Disney has PLENTY of "adult only" places and spaces! No casino, tho....

You can be sure that folks will NOT be "in their cabins with their kids" at night....

We have been cruising with Disney for over 10 years now. When we first started cruising our youngest was 9. He is now away at college and we are empty nesters who have done three Disney cruises without children this last year (and one with our now adult children a few weeks ago). We have thoroughly enjoyed cruising on Disney as adults without children. These cruises have been a bit more leisurely. The biggest change is we partake of the adult venues of the ship more actively, playing team trivia with newfound friends on a longer voyage, attending the mixology class with our adult kids, etc. There is quite a bit of programming just for adults and Disney does their best to have something for everyone. And we made lots of new friends - table mates, theatre mates and trivia mates. I will say that most of the adult activity ends around midnight, which is just fine by us. You will see children and characters around the ship (and, honestly, it has taken me years to warm up to the characters). The number of children on the ships may be less during off season, but you never know. We did an eastern Caribbean cruise last January and there were a large number of Canadian families on the ship. You will see children in many public areas but it has never been a factor where it was just overwhelming, at least to us. Paulo and Remy provide extraordinary dining experiences and we have never seen children in the upscale specialty restaurants. We did celebrate our youngest being able to go to Paulo and Remy on our latest cruise! There are some upscale cruise lines that cater mostly to adults without children; we may try one of these one day, but the great experiences we have had with Disney and our familiarity with their ships keep us coming back cruise after cruise.

My wife and I have taken 3 Disney cruises with a fourth on the way (booked just 1 hour ago). We have no kids. We live close to Port Canaveral. We got addicted to them on the 1st cruise. With the main dining room tricks done, and changing to different dining rooms nightly, makes eating enjoyable. I will not give away the main dining room tricks...you will have to see and enjoy all by yourself.

Only time I have seen a ton of kids is around the pools and at dinners.. But I expect that, so it has never been an issue for me. I go find the adult pool. You will see kids all in lines walking the passageways from the kid center. All have been well behaved for the ones I have seen.

Night life does exist. You just have to go find your own poison per say. There will be plenty night life.

We really enjoy their private beach (Castaway Cay) in the Bahamas. That has been the reason we took 3 of the 4 cruises. They have a dock, which my wife likes due to riding a scooter to get around.

The adult beach is a trek away, but well worth it, and sooooooo relaxing...A train ride away from the dock area, but well worth it. They have all the bells and whistles at all the different beaches, so you will not miss out on any food or drinks at the adult beach.

My husband and I have no kids, by choice. We are in our 30s and 40s, just fyi. We have been on Celebrity, Royal, and Carnival, all before we went on the Disney Dream a couple of months after it came to Florida. We have not gone back to any other lines. We actually have considered going on Allure/Oasis and we have a fear (which many travel agents we have talked to agree) that we will be disappointed with the service if we leave Disney. We always book concierge - and they treat us like royalty (or as close as we can get to it). It is just amazing. We are leaving on the Fantasy on the 19th - and we can not wait!

As far as the kids are concerned, it is a non-issue, especially if you book concierge. If you do book concierge, you will have your own private sun deck (above the concierge lounge) and there have never been any kids there on any of the 7 cruises we have been on. So you can relax and get sun and have your fruity drinks and listen to music and not worry about any little kids crying in the pool or screaming or splashing water, etc.

But, honestly, the Disney crew does such a great job of making sure the kids are happy all the time! I do not recall ever hearing a screaming/crying child on any of the cruises. The kids are all entertained with the characters, movies, pools, games, water slides, shows etc. that I don't think they get to the point of being upset.

Anyways, I HIGHLY recommend Disney cruises to everyone. Unless you hate Disney, of course. =0)

Happy cruising!!!

Disney is a lot of fun at sea just as it is for all ages on land.

Keith

You will be surprised at the number of adults sailing without kids!

AKK

Thank you all for your thoughts and perspectives. From everything I have heard (and you all have confirmed it,) Disney is a quality cruise that adults w/o children can enjoy.

And to the person who said they'd recommend Disney, unless you hate Disney...in all honesty, I'm not a Disneyworld/land fan at all. That being said, it sounds like with the cruises I can get the Disney hospitality and service, without all the other things that turn me off about Disney....thanks again.

Do you know if you can book in CDN dollars, booking a Disney cruise in US dollars doesn't seem like a good idea

Do you know if you can book in CDN dollars, booking a Disney cruise in US dollars doesn't seem like a good idea

Prices quoted are US dollars.

That's a bummer, might have to look elsewhere

Disney has PLENTY of "adult only" places and spaces! No casino, tho....

 

You can be sure that folks will NOT be "in their cabins with their kids" at night....

oddly, while we WERE in our cabins with kid at night on RCL and CCL, we weren't on DCL. :eek: IDK why that is?! But we typically were out after dinner. I remember a dance party (donald duck and daisy showed up!!!! and fireworks). We cruised disney the week before Christmas, and while there were kids, it wasn't crazy like CCL the week of Thanksgiving.

There are the adult only areas, and at least the two time we sailed, DCL DID keep kids out. I know because I was turned away (very nicely) and I saw others. The coffee is held hostage (joke) in the adult area...:( I had kid with me. NEVER FEAR, a wonderful worker placed my order and brought my requested drink. AND when dh had kid, he was even able to get his coffee via room service. (we tipped, of course!)

There is coffee at the beverage station and room service 24/7. Specialty coffees are available at the Cove Cafe (adult only) and the Vista Cafe (family area, Dream and Fantasy only). NICE that they didn't allow your child into the adult area, but I've seen otherwise on the Fantasy and Wonder. Fantasy especially bothered me because they do have the Vista Cafe!

When's the best time to go with little or no kids, do you find the price is worth the service and quality?

We are looking at trying Disney as we have been on the other major lines now and are looking for something new. That being said, we have some concerns. While I have nothing against children (have a few myself,) we often cruise in the fall months when there are less children on board. Is this also the case with Disney...or are there always an abundance of children?

 

- There are always more children on Disney than other lines. There are quieter times to sail and any time when the kids have just gone back to school (so mid-late September and mid-late January) are generally good times to sail to avoid children. AVOID SPRING BREAK AT ALL COSTS. I can't say this enough.

 

As active, fun loving adults, we like to have few drinks and partake of the evening activities. Is there an active night life on Disney...or do things shut down early since many of the passengers are in their cabins with their children?

 

- Depends on the cruise. Generally people will stay up to see the adult entertainment in the evening and then go to bed. You really do have to find your own fun if you want more than that. In December last year I sailed NCL Epic and was out until the early hours and it was still busy. Even on Princess there was more nightlife than on Disney.

 

I've heard good things about the dining and food on Disney, but is it more geared towards children...or are there more sophisticated choices to be had?

 

- The food is good. Princess had better food and Royal and NCL had very similar food. I find the buffet on Disney (Cabanas/Beach Blanket Buffet) to be dismal and I would avoid that if you can.

 

Thanks for anyone that can help answer....

My responses above. If you don't LOVE Disney then I'm not sure you would enjoy sailing Disney. We LOVE Disney and got married on a Disney cruise and it does have a magic the other cruise lines cannot replicate. But if you don't love Disney then I'm not sure you would feel the same way and if you want to avoid kids then it's probably not the cruise line for you.

My husband and I are taking our first cruise Aug 2016, after we take our youngest child to college. :(:( I will definitely be having empty nest syndrome so I figure what better way to deal with it - why not a Disney Cruise! Am I right!

My husband and I are taking our first cruise Aug 2016, after we take our youngest child to college. :(:( I will definitely be having empty nest syndrome so I figure what better way to deal with it - why not a Disney Cruise! Am I right!

Really? With your :( :( statement, you want to be around a bunch of kids walking in the hallway? Eating meals with their parents? Swimming in the pool?

I find that to be hard If I was trying to feel good after my child was sent off to school trying to rid myself of the empty nest syndrome....:p

Really? With your :( :( statement, you want to be around a bunch of kids walking in the hallway? Eating meals with their parents? Swimming in the pool?

 

I find that to be hard If I was trying to feel good after my child was sent off to school trying to rid myself of the empty nest syndrome....:p

Well, he will be 20 and going to be a college transfer in another state. I think taking a Disney Cruise to start a new chapter in our life (no children in the home) will be fun. Been to D'Word and D'Land 30+ times. Time to do something different.

Well, he will be 20 and going to be a college transfer in another state. I think taking a Disney Cruise to start a new chapter in our life (no children in the home) will be fun. Been to D'Word and D'Land 30+ times. Time to do something different.

Any cruise on Disney line would be a treat.....I love their private island.

We just got off the Wonder and there were only about 300 children on board. There were lots of seniors and couples traveling without children--and plenty of them were standing in the lines for meeting characters. Our group had 4 adults, and we had a blast. Given a choice, I will always choose Disney over other cruise lines, there is just a level of unexpected thoughtfulness. For example, on our last cruise, we arrived at our first port and it was raining. As we disembarked the ship, there was a cast member handing each guest a Disney rain poncho. On a Caribbean cruise we returned to the ship hot and tired--and they had cold water to greet you and damp towels to freshen with. Most of the crafts and activities on the ship are included in the price, there is no nickle and dimeing you at every turn.

A cast member was talking about being on a Disney ship during one of the hurricanes in Florida. They were supposed to be docking that morning, but couldn't because there was a state of emergency on land, and no dock workers, so they had to spend an additional day at sea. Disney took all of the passengers who were supposed to be embarking that day to Disney World for the day and paid all of their expenses, and then for the passengers who were stuck on the cruise ship, Disney rebooked every one of their flights and paid any fees they were charged. That is a level of service that is not seen very many places, and is one reason I love Disney.

I just booked my fourth Disney Cruise, none with children. (Well, wait. I should say that #4 will be with our friends on the same cruise, and they have three kids. So a new experience for me!)

I'm a huge Disney fan, so I realize I'm biased, but I always think of DCL as the same magic, quality, and service as the parks, but far less "in-your-face Disney" for lack of a better phrase. And it's less crowded simply because the ship has a finite amount of space. I've also sailed NCL and far prefer DCL in almost every category. I think price might be the only exception!

... do you find the price is worth the service and quality?

Yes! We have tried other cruiselines and even though we had had good times on all of them, for several reasons, dh and I wholeheartedly agree that Disney cruises are so superior that we are willing to cruise less often if it's the only way we can afford to cruise with DCL.

By the way, this is coming from someone who does NOT love Disney entertainment. In fact, our kids (20, 18 and 14) have never been to DW, nor have they ever asked us to take them.

I will add that of the child-free cruises dh and I have taken, the best ones were with DCL.

The main problem I encountered on my first DCL cruise, as an adult only party, was the MDR. Four nights only, so no cabanas options on two of those nights. We did Palo one. That still left a couple of unpleasant MDR dinners with parents who didn't parent. (screaming kids who were old enough not to be screaming and lying on the ground, while their parents smiled on.)

In short, you can pretend to be on a serene adults only sailing right up until you have to go to dinner. I suppose you could survive on chicken strips from room service. :)

The main problem I encountered on my first DCL cruise, as an adult only party, was the MDR. Four nights only, so no cabanas options on two of those nights. We did Palo one. That still left a couple of unpleasant MDR dinners with parents who didn't parent. (screaming kids who were old enough not to be screaming and lying on the ground, while their parents smiled on.)

 

In short, you can pretend to be on a serene adults only sailing right up until you have to go to dinner. I suppose you could survive on chicken strips from room service. :)

In the early days, DCL assigned dining rotations based on they youngest person in the group. The exact age cut off was flexible based on the make up of the guests on that cruise, but one rotation was always adults alone and families with only older children. The definition of "older" could be teens or could drop as low as 11 or 12 depending on how many "older" families were on board. It was not a "hard and fast" as requests for a specific server or specific rotation were still honored. However, these requests would normally only involve a few tables.

Bottom line, this was a relatively peaceful rotation as there were few, if any young children in the mix. I don't know why this was eliminated--too much effort for DCL? Too many people making dining requests to the point that it basically undid the system? Bottom line, it is gone.:(

I like kids, and we have had some great families with well behaved children seated near us on various cruises. We've had situations where we made friends with people at the nearby tables including their kids. BUT we've also had those situations of parents allowing screaming toddlers to run around the dining room, getting in the way or servers, etc (and I don't want their nasty hands on me, my food, my table). And we've had situations of unhappy older kids who needed to be parented to the point of removal from the dining room if they couldn't behave. And yes, it certainly does detract from cruise enjoyment for those seated nearby.

The main problem I encountered on my first DCL cruise, as an adult only party, was the MDR. Four nights only, so no cabanas options on two of those nights. We did Palo one. That still left a couple of unpleasant MDR dinners with parents who didn't parent. (screaming kids who were old enough not to be screaming and lying on the ground, while their parents smiled on.)

 

In short, you can pretend to be on a serene adults only sailing right up until you have to go to dinner. I suppose you could survive on chicken strips from room service. :)

You can have diner from one of the mail dining rooms delivered to your room. That way you can sit on your balcony sipping your beverage choice while being alone with your SO.