Celebrity vs Disney

[Bridge Maven]

A while back there were a few posters who wondered if Disney was worth the price when cruising with children. I just came back from my first Disney cruise with my husband, daughter, son in law and three grandchildren. If anyone has any questions I will be glad to answer them.

[miched]

One question. Answer the question to the subject you posted. What is the difference?

[Bridge Maven]

One question. Answer the question to the subject you posted. What is the difference?

 

Miched - Disney has more impressive staff at every level, including reservations, check in reps.

 

Disney does not have select dining - assigned seating is the only option. However, the ship has three different main dining rooms so you have the same wait staff, table number but rotate among the three dining rooms with them. Quality of beef, lamb, and veal was excellent and comparable to what it was on Celebrity ten years ago.

 

Cabin steward was so good that I gave her additional cash.

 

I only went to one production show, which I didn't like that much, but I don't like production shows on Celebrity either.

 

One of the best waiters we had in years!

 

Excellent kids programs.

 

Many of the activities were family oriented, such as family dancing which included both children and adults on dance floor.

 

My husband and I spent a significant amount of time in adult area only sections of the ship - adult pool, adult lounges, etc - and in these areas you don't feel as if you are on a Disney cruise. They, also, appeared to be very strict about enforcing "adults only"

 

Their private island was the nicest private island we have been to, and the ship actually docks at the private island.

 

My daughter and son in law just booked their 4th Disney cruise so they obviously feel it is worth the money. My husband and I would pay the premium for a Disney cruise again if we were sailing with our grandchildren, but for the price of a Disney cruise we plan to try a luxury cruise line, such as Regent, the next time we cruise by ourselves.

 

We had their largest non suite cabin, which was significantly larger than any non suite cabin on Celebrity. Our daughter had two connecting regular sized cabins for her family, and each cabin had a bathtub.

 

They have two mobile phones in each for passengers to use during the cruise.

 

Disney Dream is 130,000 tons and only has 1,250 cabins, while Celebrity Solstice is only 122,00 tons and has 1, 279 cabins. So Disney Dream has more space devoted to public areas.

[USVI-4-me]

I'm replying to this thread with a general conversation.

 

Thank you for the information about Disney cruising with grandchildren.

The two year old down our street found it less fun than staying home. He was limited in the water activities because he wears a diaper. At home, he can play in the pools and eat when he's hungry.

 

The seven year old girl on our street loves the Disney ships and refuses to get off in ports. She thinks Disney cruise is her answer to the perfect vacation. I wonder if she misses her bike when cruising.....

 

Is there a large playground for the little ones on Disney ships? Did you get saturated with Disney movies in the pool area? Or Disney characters?

 

We're considering a Disney cruise with our grandchildren ages 4 and 6 because the Port Canaveral is closeby. The only reason we will cruise Disney is to babysit.

 

Since Royal Caribbean also has cruises from Port Canaveral, we may urge the children to book on RCI so we will have more entertainment options and more flexible dining. Flexible dining in the buffet seems more important than the grandchildren dining in different dining rooms.

 

I don't care for Celebrity S-Class ships but do enjoy M-Class. Still I would not consider taking my grandchildren on a Celebrity ship. Just my opinion. I haven't seen many stollers with tired children on Celebrity.

 

The other consideration about Disney Cruising from Port Canaveral is a question:

 

At what age do you think a child would enjoy the cruise experience over the water parks, attractions, and fun dining options at the Orlando Theme Parks?

 

In our experience the children and parents at the Theme Parks are usually exhausted by early afternoon, but there is still lots to do in the area and more flexibility that isn't available on a cruise.

 

Frankly, when our children were growing up, they would visit Florida to take a cruise but said no to visiting Orlando Theme Parks. They'd say cruise Yes, but as for the Theme Parks, they'd been there and were through with that. As adolescents they'd rather cruise or go to the beach.

 

Marisa

[Bridge Maven]

I'm replying to this thread with a general conversation.

 

Thank you for the information about Disney cruising with grandchildren.

The two year old down our street found it less fun than staying home. He was limited in the water activities because he wears a diaper. At home, he can play in the pools and eat when he's hungry.

 

The seven year old girl on our street loves the Disney ships and refuses to get off in ports. She thinks Disney cruise is her answer to the perfect vacation. I wonder if she misses her bike when cruising.....

 

Is there a large playground for the little ones on Disney ships? Did you get saturated with Disney movies in the pool area? Or Disney characters?

 

We're considering a Disney cruise with our grandchildren ages 4 and 6 because the Port Canaveral is closeby. The only reason we will cruise Disney is to babysit.

 

Since Royal Caribbean also has cruises from Port Canaveral, we may urge the children to book on RCI so we will have more entertainment options and more flexible dining. Flexible dining in the buffet seems more important than the grandchildren dining in different dining rooms.

 

I don't care for Celebrity S-Class ships but do enjoy M-Class. Still I would not consider taking my grandchildren on a Celebrity ship. Just my opinion. I haven't seen many stollers with tired children on Celebrity.

 

The other consideration about Disney Cruising from Port Canaveral is a question:

 

At what age do you think a child would enjoy the cruise experience over the water parks, attractions, and fun dining options at the Orlando Theme Parks?

 

In our experience the children and parents at the Theme Parks are usually exhausted by early afternoon, but there is still lots to do in the area and more flexibility that isn't available on a cruise.

 

Marisa

 

My grandchildren are 5, 3, and 8 months. We stayed at a resort in the Disney area for a few days before the cruise, so I have that basis of comparison. At the Disney Parks there were long lines for everything and very few places to escape for the sun, so they were relatively limited in how much they could actually do. My grandkids seemed to enjoy the cruise much more.

 

One thing the young kids seem to love is buying an autograph book and finding Disney characters throughout the cruise to sign them.

 

There wasn't a playground per se, but Mickey's Pool has a water slide and an Aqua Duck that goes around the pool, which the five year old loved. When I picked the older two up from kids club I noticed that there were so many different activities taking place that everyone in the 3-8 year old section was very engrossed in what they were doing. I was amazed at how quiet the area was for the amount of kids it had.

 

On a few nights the grand kids were at the kids club while we ate dinner, which was great for all concerned. They loved eating dinner in the kids zone and it was nice to have a few nights where only adults were at the dinner table.

 

The Disney characters were scattered around the ship at scheduled times, so you knew when and where they would be.

 

Even though there was a screen with Disney movies by the children's pool, I was so busy with my daughter's family that I barely noticed it.

[USVI-4-me]

Bridge Maven,

We also have an 8 month old. The biggest reason we need to go along and babysit. It is good to know of the fun your grandchildren had on the cruise.

 

Yes, we do see many parents & children at the Parks who are overcome by the crowds, sun, heat, rain and lines. Just yesterday we saw those who were awake were enjoying the rain and fountains. For many, the Disney experience is a once in a lifetime adventure. I am happy to hear the children were having good times staying busy on the ship. Your description makes it seem less stressful than visiting the parks.

 

Your thread offers encouragement for us to take the adventure. We probably will wait another year or two but a cruise is already in the planning stage.

 

Thank you for taking time to give me important information.

 

Marisa

[miched]

Thanks for some of the comparisons.

 

What is the smoking policy on Disney?

 

I have heard that you can bring alcohol on board the Disney ships, is that true or has it changed?

 

Do they constantly play "It is a Small World" over the PA?

[dkjretired]

Someone needs to address the price, generally you can do two weeks on Celebrity for the price of a week on Disney...

 

Disney still allows smoking on verandas which is shocking...

 

The big knock on Disney since they started was their food...Things have changed over the years...

 

No casino which to many is important...

[boogs]

Deleted.

[megfla]

Deleted.

 

 

I think you are comparing apples and oranges with respect to the itineraries. The Celebrity saling gives you Antigue, St. Lucia, Barbados and St. Marteen in lieu of Disney's private island. No comparison!:confused:

[Bridge Maven]

Thanks for some of the comparisons.

 

What is the smoking policy on Disney?

 

I have heard that you can bring alcohol on board the Disney ships, is that true or has it changed?

 

Do they constantly play "It is a Small World" over the PA?

 

Miched - My daughter and son in law brought wine on the ship and it appears that they allow you to bring more than Celebrity does.

 

Never heard "It is a small world" played on the PA.

 

Most of the ship is a smoke free zone. They allow smoking in one of the lounges and on verandah's, but I never smelled smoke from our verandah.

[Bridge Maven]

Someone needs to address the price, generally you can do two weeks on Celebrity for the price of a week on Disney...

 

Disney still allows smoking on verandas which is shocking...

 

The big knock on Disney since they started was their food...Things have changed over the years...

 

No casino which to many is important...

 

dkjretired - We paid $300 a night/per person for a balcony cabin by booking over a year in advance. The prices for our cruise increased substantially after we booked it, so many people paid a lot more than $300 per night for a balcony cabin. So, you can probably take three Celebrity cruises for the price of a Disney Cruise. Their concierge class cabins (Disney's name for suites) were so expensive that we didn't consider booking one. However, I heard that they were awesome. It appears that Disney charges a lot because they can fill their ships at these rates.

 

Maybe food was an issue at one time, but it wasn't on our Disney cruise. The food was so good that we felt there was no reason to try one of their specialty restaurants. I was extremely impressed by the quality of their lamb, beef, veal, and fish.

 

In spite of the price difference, I think it is worth it for people traveling with children. There were many three generation groups on our cruise who cruise frequently on Disney.

[dkjretired]

dkjretired - We paid $300 a night/per person for a balcony cabin by booking over a year in advance. The prices for our cruise increased substantially after we booked it, so many people paid a lot more than $300 per night for a balcony cabin. So, you can probably take three Celebrity cruises for the price of a Disney Cruise. Their concierge class cabins (Disney's name for suites) were so expensive that we didn't consider booking one. However, I heard that they were awesome. It appears that Disney charges a lot because they can fill their ships at these rates.

 

Maybe food was an issue at one time, but it wasn't on our Disney cruise. The food was so good that we felt there was no reason to try one of their specialty restaurants. I was extremely impressed by the quality of their lamb, beef, veal, and fish.

 

In spite of the price difference, I think it is worth it for people traveling with children. There were many three generation groups on our cruise who cruise frequently on Disney.

 

I think the price difference is a big issue, for many it is just not attainable if you have a couple of kids. When my kids were of the age and wife and I were both working, we would never think of spending the money they required to sail on the ship and also when they first came out there were so many complaints on the food. At the time people compared it to the parks food which is generally awful for what you pay.

 

Ironically, I just got home from three weeks in Disney on Sunday, still avoid the food in the parks..

[BKFlowerMound]

We did an 11-day Med cruise out of Barcelona last year on the Disney Magic. We were able to get a big discount so that it was actually substantially cheaper than the Celebrity Solstice cruise that we had planned, booked, and cancelled.

 

We had always wanted to try Disney but had been unwilling to pay the substantial premium that you pay for their Florida cruises.

 

There was a lot to like.

 

- Rotational Dining -- we enjoyed it and the food was pretty good. In my opinion it was not as good as the MDR food on X, but it was good.

- Upkeep/Cleanliness/Decor -- Magic is 15 years old. It looks brand new. Their ships are either art deco or art nouveau. That style is pleasing to me.

- Production Shows -- They're Disney shows and you have to like Disney but they're very high quality. You don't feel like you're on a cruise ship.

- Castmembers -- They don't have staff. They have castmembers. They're quite good.

- Palo -- The specialty dining was great.

- Alcohol -- You can bring any amount of alcohol on at any port. If you bring a bottle of wine to the dining room, you are supposed to be charged a corkage fee. Your asst. waiter is the one who is supposed to make a notation so you get charged. But you tip your asst. waiter. Do you think most asst. waiters are going to charge you? Ours never did.

- Kid's programs -- Not surprisingly, they're second to none. They have a lot of space and 4 different rooms for 4 different age groups. We couldn't get our 9 and 12 year olds out of there.

- Split Bathroom -- They have a room with a toilet and sink. Next door is another room with a bathtub and sink. We preferred the shower on S-class to the too small to be useable tub, but the two separate rooms were nice.

 

What we didn't like.

 

- Topsiders Buffet -- this is where the age of the ship showed. Based on what I recall reading on Disboards, it appears, however, that they didn't improve it much on the Fantasy or the Dream. It was a tranditional tray on the metal sliders two sided buffet. Long lines, not enough seats, not much variety. On the positive side, they did have different things available day to day. But, M-Class is better and S-Class is way, way better.

- Crowds. Bridgemaven makes a point that there are fewer cabins on the Fantasy than the Solstice class and yet the Fantasy is about 6% larger. While true, that doesn't tell the whole story. More cabins have a third or a fourth on Disney than on Celebrity (or I would bet) any other cruise line. There are more people on Disney sharing the space with you.

- Kids, Kids, and More Kids -- We love kids and we take ours with us on our vacations. By and large the kids on the Magic were well-behaved. So it wasn't the fact that there was a lot of kids that was a negative, it was that the Disney experience is all about the kids. Yes, there are adult areas, but really, this is a vacation experience for families and that's how they design it. This aspect of DCL is both a positive and negative. Our kids just loved it and we loved that they loved it. We thought, however, that it just got a bit much after 11 days.

 

Things that we thought might be negatives that weren't:

 

- Smoking -- I can't honestly recall anytime I smelled smoke. We didn't have a balcony and maybe all the smokers were on their balconies, but it just wasn't an issue. I expected it to be bad as we were in Europe and we'd had bad experiences on both Princess and HAL with regard to smoking.

- Casino -- We're not big gamblers. I usually throw down a dollar or two, however. We didn't miss it at all.

 

Something that we didn't see:

 

- Castaway Key -- We were in the Med so didn't get to stop at Castaway Key. For the DCL regulars on board the Magic (and it's a cult, so there were a lot of them), Castaway Key is their favorite "port". If you look into, it looks like a wonderful beach day. My guess is that we're unlikely to get there as DCL charges a premium for their Florida cruises.

 

Bottom Line. We're back on Celebrity this year. If we found the right price, we would do DCL again. It was a very nice experience. It wasn't worth a premium to us (but we didn't pay a premium either). It is our Kid's favorite cruise line (and they've been on 5 of them). Ours is still X.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Apples and grapes ....:)

[Bridge Maven]

Apples and grapes ....:)

 

Just curious - we were discussing the comparison based on cruising with children. With that in mind, why do you think it is apples and grapes?

[NewSalt]

Apples and grapes ....:)

 

Sometimes I like apples; sometimes I want grapes.

[Friend100]

Bridge Maven, thanks for the comparison. Sounds like you have a nice time.

 

Apples and grapes ....:)

 

Both are fruits. :)

[beckntom]

This has been such a great discussion! I've always been curious about Disney cruises and now have a good idea of how they operate. What a fabulous adventure to share with one's family!

[CruisingGoddess]

I just wanted to give my 2 cents and say that Disney is not just for those with kids or grandkids!

 

I'm a DINK (double income no kids) and, while I haven't sailed with Celebrity yet as our first will be in August, I've done 2 Disney, 2 NCL, 2 Princess, and 1 RCL. Disney is still my favorite line for many of the reasons that BKFlowerMound mentioned, such as the high level of service, atmosphere, rotational dining, split bathrooms, and...omg...Castaway Cay, my personal "happy place". In full disclosure, I've always loved Disney as a brand.

 

I feel like the passengers are also different. They seem extremely grateful to be on the cruise since most of them are families, who have saved years to take this vacation. They seem to be friendlier and more excited. We even do "fish extender" gift exchanges on the roll call!

 

That said, I started cruising on Disney and I've obviously branched out to other lines because Disney is significantly more expensive and their itineraries are certainly limited. For me, going on a Disney cruise is more about the experience than traveling. We'll be sailing the newest ship in February and solely going on that cruise for the experience and the ship itself. I don't ever see myself sailing Disney exclusively but it's certainly nice to take one of their cruises very few years.

[Bridge Maven]

Not sure if Disney is more selective in who they hire or if they have a more extensive training program, but their land based employees are in a completely different league than most cruise lines.

 

When I called to book my reservation, the person I spoke with gave me a detailed description of variances in their cabins. She had been on many different cruise lines and advised me about what is different aboard a Disney ship.

 

Similar situation when I called to make final payment. That rep brought up the topic of online registration with detailed instructions about their website.

[Friend100]

My experience is that for Disney, from top to bottom, it is operated as a media & entertainment company that is delivering its product on a cruise ship. For all other cruiselines, they are operated as, well, cruise companies.

[nenasmum]

Well here is my 2cents. Our first Celebrity cruise is in Sept so I can't compare but we have sailed Princess, RCL and Carnival and last year took 2 Disney cruises- one on the Dream and one on the Magic. We liked the Dream but found the Magic old and tired as a ship, very old and tired- stained carpets, scuff marks, a horrible corridor like a troop ship and we had one of the big balcony cabins which was spacious.

The staff,overll were great but my 9 year old loathed the kid's club and would rarely go. We had just come off Oasis where we had to prize her out of the kid's club. The big problem was Disney's farily recent policy to open the areas to all kids under 12 with no groupings. Our cruise was dominated by under 5s and they ended up doing all the activites my daughter was interested in. Believe me an activity cannot effectively suit a 3 year old and a 10 year old! Everything ended up being too babyish.

Disney has far, far too many computers in all its kid's clubs and I saw many children glued to computers for their entire vacation. Sure they may have said they were having a great time and always wanted to go but it is not how I want my child to spend her vacation time.

We were OVER the characters by day 3- and adults who queued up tp get their phots taken with Mickey or Cinderella mystified us.

The pools were too small for the kids to really enjoy as they were VERY overcrowded.

I am sure we will like Celebrity more and would go back on Oasis in a heartbeat but Disney is one luxury I can live without. Jennie

[USVI-4-me]

Well here is my 2cents. Our first Celebrity cruise is in Sept so I can't compare but we have sailed Princess, RCL and Carnival and last year took 2 Disney cruises- one on the Dream and one on the Magic. We liked the Dream but found the Magic old and tired as a ship, very old and tired- stained carpets, scuff marks, a horrible corridor like a troop ship and we had one of the big balcony cabins which was spacious.

The staff,overll were great but my 9 year old loathed the kid's club and would rarely go. We had just come off Oasis where we had to prize her out of the kid's club. The big problem was Disney's farily recent policy to open the areas to all kids under 12 with no groupings. Our cruise was dominated by under 5s and they ended up doing all the activites my daughter was interested in. Believe me an activity cannot effectively suit a 3 year old and a 10 year old! Everything ended up being too babyish.

Disney has far, far too many computers in all its kid's clubs and I saw many children glued to computers for their entire vacation. Sure they may have said they were having a great time and always wanted to go but it is not how I want my child to spend her vacation time.

We were OVER the characters by day 3- and adults who queued up tp get their phots taken with Mickey or Cinderella mystified us.

The pools were too small for the kids to really enjoy as they were VERY overcrowded.

I am sure we will like Celebrity more and would go back on Oasis in a heartbeat but Disney is one luxury I can live without. Jennie

 

 

Thank you for posting. I appreciate your observations regarding the computers and lines for character autographs. Considering cost and variety of activities, we have leaned toward a Royal Carib. cruise with our grandchildren as it gives all of us more space and options.

 

As an aside: we were waiting for an air connection recently and realized there were only six of us NOT occupied by computers in the entire waiting area. One family had a child enjoying a book. DH and I felt like we were visiting the Twilight Zone.

 

Marisa

[FunCruiser56]

Thanks for the Comparison. We LOVE Disney parks so we did take a disney cruise and had a wonderful time. Our then 5yr old son just loved the kids program on Disney. We loved the rotational dining. Ships were well laid out and staff was High grade Disney.

 

Except for the high price... We can go to the Disney Theme parks and take a RCI cruise for what the Disney cruise cost us.

 

We have taken the kids on 3 RCI cruises and they really had just as good a time as the Disney cruise, for younger kids I would give the plus to Disney.

 

DH did not like no casino on the Disney cruise and I was not crazy about the overabundance of kids on the cruise either- we went in October- would hate to see what it is like in the Summer (ok RCI would be crowded too)

 

We hoped that when Disney introduced 2 more ships the prices would be more on the line with other Cruiselines. Nope and I can't see paying double what I am paying now.

Our kids are mostly grown up now, so kids programs are not high on our list. Grandkids too young for vacations of this type. It's all about the adult vacations now:D

November we are spending a week at Walt Disney World, next year we will go to Hawaii on Celebrity Solstice. the best of both worlds for us.

 

Bev