NCL Bliss vs Disney Magic

[MrsJones02]

Hi! We put a deposit down on a Disney Cruise for January. We love NCL and have always really enjoyed our time on their ships but we figured our 3 year old may have more fun on a Disney Cruise. I started looking at some reviews and I’m just not sure if WE will enjoy it. I love NCL for its anytime dining, great entertainment and overall laid back attitude on cruising. I did a mock booking for the new Bliss in January and it’s only about $400 cheaper for 2 inside staterooms than Disney Magic. So here are a couple questions that may help me decide.

 

1) did you as an adult find that their were activities geared towards you on Magic?

 

2) did your kids enjoy the Disney ship more than NCL kids club (esp if they weren’t into Disney characters before the cruise)

 

Any other experiences would be greatly appreciated as well!

 

 

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[RD29P5]

You may get faster and more answer's over at the Disney sub-forum.

[Pens fan]

We have been on five Disney cruises - two on the Magic. We've only sailed once on NCL and it was on the Sun this past summer in Alaska. Our son was about 10 or 11 when we started with Disney, was 17 the last time we sailed with them, and 19 when we sailed on NCL. So keep that in mind as I give you our comparison. We definitely are Disney fans, but I wouldn't say we are as Disney obsessed as a lot of the folks that sail on their ships. We stuck with Disney until our son was older and I while I don't regret that a bit, I'll admit I was definitely ready to branch out and look for a more adult atmosphere (but boy did we have fun on our Disney trips!!).

 

Kids clubs / activities - This is where Disney excels for most families. I will say that our son didn't particularly care for the kids clubs until he was old enough to go to the teen clubs. He found the younger clubs to be too chaotic and crowded for his comfort zone. But I really don't think that's the norm, as obviously thousands of kids sail on Disney and love the clubs, so it's hard to predict how yours will react. One thing I will point out as your child is three. Ages three through eleven (I think) are all together. While there are two sides to the club and one is more oriented to younger children, there is nothing stopping the kids from going back and forth between the two sides.

 

Food - This is so subjective, but we thought the food on NCL was much better than Disney. I think Disney does a great job at catering to their target audience - families with young kids and the food to match. It's not the most flavorful or imaginative outside of the up-charge restaurants. On the Magic there is only one up-charge option - Palo, their Italian eatery. We never ate there, but most people love it. Disney has set dining times and rotations which gets a bit confining after awhile. You can request a private table but it's not guaranteed and you could end up eating with another family for the duration of the cruise. I'll admit that we prefer the NCL Freestyle model, but there is a lot to love about the Disney MDR experience. You keep the same waitstaff throughout the cruise and they are (usually) pretty phenomenal. They will basically bend over backwards to make you happy. They also make dining more of an experience instead of just a meal with shows in several of the restaurants - tons of fun, especially for kids, though great fun for adults as well.

 

Service - Well, it's Disney so yes the service is stellar - pretty much what you'd expect. We were pleasantly surprised to find the service on the Sun to pretty much be equal to Disney though.

 

Entertainment - Disney excels in family friendly entertainment, much more so than NCL. Their musical shows while definitely geared towards children, are just wonderfully done. I'll admit to getting bored with them after five cruises, but for a first cruise, I'd guess most adults love them as well. They do offer some adult oriented options, but they were kind of laughable - PG themed shows. If you are looking for late night options on Disney, you are going to be disappointed. The bars shut down by midnight (there may be one that's open later than that), and honestly they are pretty dead by 10 or 11 anyway unless there is show going on. Where Disney does a great job for adults, though, is they often have some really interesting guest lecturers, either pertaining to the areas you are visiting or behind the scenes Disney stuff. But for kids? Well, it's pretty much nonstop. They have terrific deck parties, fireworks, it goes on and on. Kids love it, for sure!

 

This is pretty long, and I understand it's not be a definitive answer to your questions. I don't think there really is one. It just depends on what your family is looking for. I do think, as the price difference isn't all that great, it wouldn't hurt to give Disney a try. We loved each and every one of our Disney cruises, but we are now looking forward to our upcoming NCL cruises.

 

One last thing and I'll shut up. There is a wonderful Disney resource http://disneycruiselineblog.com (hope it's ok to post that link!). If you click on Cruise Planning and then on Personal Navigators you can pull up lots and lots of Navigators (similar to the NCL Daily) showing the types of activities on board.

[gambit57]

It's a little hard to say as no one has been on the Bliss yet.

 

What do you like to do?

 

1) Yes, there are adult stuff. The adult comedian on my last Disney cruise, for example, was the funniest comedian I'd seen on a cruise ship. The adult bars were ok from what I saw, but the nightclub was pretty dead (probably because most passengers were parents with their little kids).

 

As a whole, the adult oriented activities were fine, but definitely in the minority. Most stuff was family oriented (not necessarily kid oriented). Like the baby racing. That was pretty funny. I didn't check the adults only areas during the day because, well, like everyone else, I was with my kids.

 

The shows though, they were pretty impressive. I like how they have like 3 or 4 of them, instead of 1 or 2.

 

2) My kids didn't enjoy the Disney kids club on the ship (they much preferred the one at Aulani; as a parent though, their procedures and stuff is fantastic). But, they had a blast with the rest of the ship. They're gonna be more bored on the Bliss (only one is really big enough and into go karts and laser tag).

 

One final note, for your situation specifically. Your kid is so young, she honestly isn't gonna remember anything. So, don't worry about her needs. She won't remember if it is the best cruise in the world or the worst. Just see if there's anything of interest to you guys. Go on the Disney section and look for scans of the dailies.

 

And the Magic is the smaller ship. The restaurants are just more impressive on the bigger ships. The biggest example is Animator's Palate. It's fun seeing how everything turns from black and white to rainbow colored on the Magic. It's WAY more impressive to see Crush interacting with everyone and your drawings come to life on the Fantasy/Dream. The little things too, like the tiny cabin door with that Muppet that talks. I'd stick to Norwegian for now and do Disney when she's at least 5 or 6. Just wait for the new Disney ships to come online and take her then. She'll appreciate Bibbity Bobbity Boutique more too and might be big enough for the Aqua Duck.

 

Oh, and before I forget, the food on Disney is fantastic. No need to pay for specialty dining. And service, of course, is famous. It's the little things. Like crowd control. Only line I've seen that manages the crowds leaving shows/dining perfectly. And your daughter can get Princess sheets, which not only look great, but are really soft.

[megansdad1]

From the adult side, I can give my view. I loved my Disney cruise. The dining experience was my favorite of any cruise. The animators palate is so much fun. I really loved the production shows. I also liked that the wait staff were with us for the entire cruise. The service was top notch The only downsides were:

 

1. The adults only areas were really nice but the night life was often quiet.

 

2. No casino

 

 

 

 

 

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[dexddd]

You may get faster and more answer's over at the Disney sub-forum.

 

The DCL forum is pretty much run by a couple people.

[dexddd]

Trying to compare is difficult IMO. They are different.

 

We've sailed many NCL and been on all the DCL ships, some more than once.

 

I never wanted to go on DCL and only went because friends were going and our kids also have their kids as friends.

 

It was great. DCL really knows how to take care of you.

 

Kids clubs are different and we've had times kids didn't want to go on NCL and DCL and other times they don't want to leave.

 

Go on the Magic to try it out. Shows are great. Food is good. Yes, set time.

 

There are adult activities but not super busy as most are families.

[LrgPizza]

One is very small, the other is very large. It depends on what you want to do. We found that the Disney Magic had basically NO nightlife whatsoever. Assuming Bliss is like it's sister ships, there should be a ton of options for night time activities. Our son loved the Magic when he was little. From age 11 into his teens, the bigger NCL ships offer much more for him to do and are a better fit for older kids like him.

[richg35]

I have been on Princess 1x, Carnival 1x, DCL 1x and NCL 2x.

 

DCL has been my favorite cruise line so far. We did the Magic out of NYC in 2012.

The Magic is the smallest ship we have cruised so there is "less stuff" than on some of the newer megaships, but I enjoyed the size of the boat.

 

It's definitely more family oriented (so for example there's not going to be any "sexy guy/girl" dancing contests at the pool on sea days) and you may find that things are quieter in the evenings, but we had a really great time, and it's super great for kids.

[MrsJones02]

Thank you all for your opinions! Still deciding but we may decide to do a Bliss or Getaway cruise as they are longer and have better ports for a little bit less money. Will probably plan a land Disney vacation for when she’s a little bit older. It is hard for me to sway from NCL because we’ve had such incredible experiences on their ships!

 

 

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[mzio]

We did the Magic last year with a 7 year old and a 10 year old. We had a great time, but our kids are more interested in things like water parks and laser tag on board which is why we went with Bliss next year. Also, there wasn't that much for adults during the day. We missed Castaway Cay due to wind so we had four sea days which was a bit much for us.

[gambit57]

I totally forgot to say it, but my point about your kid being so young was to say go on the Bliss since you like NCL. Don't worry about her. She's too young to fully appreciate all the Disney stuff anyways. She may conk out by the time the shows come around for example. I had to watch one show on the TV in our cabin (I like that there is this option) because my daughter fell asleep right after early dinner.

[notafanofthecold]

We are in the opposite boat. We have cruised all the disney ships and love the experience. The service is exceptional. The rooms are bigger than average and they really do go above and beyond. We are booked on the Bliss this Jan because our kids are 6 and 8 and are a little over disney although they love the "mickey boat. In my opinion 3-6is the best age for the disney as they are into all of those characters and there is something relaxing as a parent having lots of other children around, so your child isn't the only one crying at the dinner table. The kids clubs are great.

The ship is small so it isn't as crowded and we really enjoyed that.

The entertainment is amazing, we saw tangled on the magic last year and it was awesome for children and adults alike. We enjoyed the comedians and the piano bar as well.

Hope this helps.