What Can We Expect?

[Ash1217]

My family and I have been on several cruises in the past, all of them were on Carnival Cruise Lines. This will be the first Disney Cruise that we have taken, as well as the first Alaskan cruise in June. Disney is quite a bit more expensive and I was wondering if anyone who has been on multiple cruise lines could tell be if there are any differences. What can I expect for the added cost, if anything. Thanks in advance.

[moki'smommy]

We've been on 4 different lines with 30 cruises on DCL. In fairness, Carnival is not one of those lines. Based on Carnival's status as the lowest end of the Carnival Corp. family of lines and several of its policies which do not occur on its more costly cousins, we had no interest in Carnival.

 

What surprised us is that there is more alike than different among the various lines. What stood out on DCL was that the service was more "friendly" in the sense of more interaction between crew and guests and the fact that all CMs speak English in guest areas (unless dealing with a non-English speaking guest). That may sound silly, cut on Celebrity we were often in elevators with crew speaking their native language...which my paranoia wondered "are they talking about us?" And on DCL, crew won't be on guest elevators with rare exception...like escorting a character.

 

THe second big DCL difference is that they had the best main stage entertainment of any line we've experienced. Other lines had good "around the ship" entertainment, but Disney starred on the main stage. And then, of course there are the characters. The kid program on DCL runs without cost from 9am till midnight but has good and bad reports. Indeed, on different cruises, my daughter sometimes loved the programming and other times really wasn't interested in going. In fairness, this often had more to do with the other kids and making friends than with the programming itself. If you read on line reports, you'll find people who love and don't like the programming. Other lines have more limited hours for their kid programming, but in general also have good reports. DCL also has fewer "cost extras" and more "included" stuff than most other lines. You'll have complimentary access to the beverage station (fountain serve soft drinks, milk, tea, coffee) and juice is complimentary 24/7. You will not have any "all inclusive alcohol" packages which never interested us anyhow. But as a result, DCL has less alcohol consumption than some other lines. And of course there is no casino.

 

All that said, DCL was not our choice for Alaska. My logic is that DCL did not apply for permits that would have allowed it to go places that other lines can go--thus, you can see more on other lines. Alaska is a port and scenery intensive cruise--we were there less for the ship and more for the place. And finally, we are now cruising as two adults so I saw no point in subsidizing a very costly child's program.

 

We have chosen DCL for adult only cruises on a selective basis. But when the issue is a port intensive cruise, we choose another, less costly line and save the money for excursions or "on our own" time in those locations. When doing a cruise where the point is to "enjoy the ship" like a trans-Atlantic, we choose DCL.

Edited January 12, 2017 by moki'smommy

[ArthurUSCG]

My family and I have been on several cruises in the past, all of them were on Carnival Cruise Lines. This will be the first Disney Cruise that we have taken, as well as the first Alaskan cruise in June. Disney is quite a bit more expensive and I was wondering if anyone who has been on multiple cruise lines could tell be if there are any differences. What can I expect for the added cost, if anything. Thanks in advance.

 

DCL will ruin your ability to ever go on CCL again. Just like going to WDW ruined my families ability to go to Six Flags.

[xlxo]

Thoughts.... after cruising with HAL and Princess...

• compare costs with HAL/Princess for the same week. On my trip... DCL was 2.5 times more
  
• most are 7 day cruises.... there's a 9 day and 5 day variation in late July.
  
• lots of drinks like sodas are included, others have me paying for drink packages
  
• photo package availability
  
• fast 24Mbps Internet for a fee
  
• first run movies
  
• Disney and Marvel character pictures.
  
• hot Disney princesses!
  
• no casinos..... yay!
  
• ability for children to be children. Kid's may not realize they are in Alaska
  
• only weakness with DCL Alaska.... no Glacier Bay
  

[YOUTUBE]CZzl0LOjRvY[/YOUTUBE]

Edited January 12, 2017 by xlxo

[JennG1983]

DCL will ruin your ability to ever go on CCL again. Just like going to WDW ruined my families ability to go to Six Flags.

 

Yes! Disneyland ruined any other theme park for us.

[bcakes]

I can't compare to Carnival since I've never cruised with them. Prior to trying DCL, I sailed with NCL a few times and that is my primary point of comparison.

 

As compared to NCL, I thought DCL had more personal service. The example I always give is that on NCL, we had a suite for one cruise, which comes with butler service. On the first day, the butler brought us meat canapes and I explained we were vegetarian and asked that we not get any more canapes. Well the meat kept coming. Because NCL butlers are trained to bring afternoon canapes daily, so, by God, we were going to get them.

 

On DCL, our servers and cabin steward pretty quickly figured out what was important to us personally and adjusted. For example, DCL usually has drinks waiting at dinner when you arrive based upon what everyone in the party ordered the first night. Our server figured out pretty quickly that our son might want milk, or juice or water depending on his whim that night and started waiting for him to arrive and place his order.

 

DCL cabins are also bigger compared to NCL. Though it's personal preference, I also thought DCL had the edge for MDR food.

 

 

The only area where I thought that NCL won was the spa. DCL's spa waiting area is basically the gym locker room -- not the least bit relaxing -- and DCL did a very hard sell on products after our service.

 

One other point that will only be of interest to those who have kids in diapers. DCL has open houses in their kids clubs where parents can attend with kids. It's a nice option if you have a child who is too young to enjoy the clubs on their own.

 

I agree that DCL has pretty much ruined me for other cruise lines. I'd rather pay the extra cost for the higher level of service.

[Laurba99]

In fairness comparing Disney world or land to six flags is like comparing the Ritz Carlton to the motel 6! We have never taken our son to six flags (not good at all in D.C.)

 

 

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[cruisefamilyforever]

DCL will ruin your ability to ever go on CCL again. Just like going to WDW ruined my families ability to go to Six Flags.

 

I would not go that far. My family of four have sailed on Carnival twice, Disney twice and Royal Caribbean once. All on larger ships less than 6 years old for 5 - 8 day cruises.

 

Each line and cruise had highs and lows. My parents have been on 40 cruises on all of the major lines, but they have never sailed Disney. Their advice to me was usually the newer the ship the better chance of a nice cruise. I have found that to work for me so far.

 

Carnival supplied us with the best cruise value for my money. For a similar cruise they were about 40% cheaper than Disney and over 25% less than RCI. The entertainment was good, buffets good, cabins very good, main dining rooms very good and ships were good overall.

 

RCI gave us a good value. All of the entertainment was very good, buffets had the least selection & poorest food quality, main dining room food was just OK, cabins were just adequate. Overall, the ship was very good and it had the most options for activities.

 

Disney was clearly the most expensive by far. Best buffets, best Main dining room experiences, best cabins, best main stage shows, but worst secondary acts, best customer service and the most beautiful ships. Non smoker's paradise and I like the fact they don't have casinos.

 

We will sail all three lines again and we will go on other lines too. They were all good cruises with different experiences and costs. Don't be afraid to try many other lines.

[jennybenny]

My family and I have been on several cruises in the past, all of them were on Carnival Cruise Lines. This will be the first Disney Cruise that we have taken, as well as the first Alaskan cruise in June. Disney is quite a bit more expensive and I was wondering if anyone who has been on multiple cruise lines could tell be if there are any differences. What can I expect for the added cost, if anything. Thanks in advance.

 

 

 

We've cruised Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess and Disney. We did Disney once. We loved it. The service was great, food felt on par with Princess, but their specialty dining was outstanding (better than we've had on the other lines).

I was really impressed with DCL but can not justify the cost for another cruise. The kids enjoyed the Princess kid club just as much and if it wasn't enough for them to beg for it, I'll continue to vacation at a price point that works for us.

The kids area on DCL is much larger than any other line, lots of activities for them to do. There are character photo opportunities but it's not in your face Disney. At least we didn't feel it was. I love the hidden mickeys in their designs.

 

I think it's a great experience. Lots of families. Very clean, and Excellent food. I'm sure you will love it. I found the rooms to be larger and I enjoyed the extra space with my family of 4.

The bathroom was fabulous. Bath tub without the price of a mini suite. We enjoyed the movies inside a theater and the shows were excellent, better than we've seen on other cruise lines.

Of course opinions are subjective, but this was my experience.

 

Enjoy your vacation. Alaska is beautiful.

 

 

 

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[jennybenny]

Ps I'm an avid Disney fan with annual passes even though I live hours away

 

 

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