Considering a Disney Cruise for my Wife and Adult Children

[Sthrngary]

I am 66, my wife is 64, Daughter is 32 and her partner is 30.  I went on Disney when my children were very young.  When you get to 66, you can't remember that far back.  My cruise history is 44 years, 30+ cruises mostly on NCL in the Haven Area, Celebrity in the Retreat and Oceania in a Suite.  I share this because I would prefer to book the "Concierge Level" on a Disney Ship.  

 

I do an enormous amount of due diligence prior to making any decisions especially one that would be as expensive as the "Concierge Level" on a Disney Ship. In my attempt to look up the "Concierge Level", all I could find is 3-4 days cruises and I prefer a 7 day cruise.  I would like to go out of a port in the United States. Any support or assistance to help me find "Concierge Level" accommodations would be very much appreciate. 

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

[Shmoo here]

12 minutes ago, Sthrngary said:

I am 66, my wife is 64, Daughter is 32 and her partner is 30.  I went on Disney when my children were very young.  When you get to 66, you can't remember that far back.  My cruise history is 44 years, 30+ cruises mostly on NCL in the Haven Area, Celebrity in the Retreat and Oceania in a Suite.  I share this because I would prefer to book the "Concierge Level" on a Disney Ship.  

 

I do an enormous amount of due diligence prior to making any decisions especially one that would be as expensive as the "Concierge Level" on a Disney Ship. In my attempt to look up the "Concierge Level", all I could find is 3-4 days cruises and I prefer a 7 day cruise.  I would like to go out of a port in the United States. Any support or assistance to help me find "Concierge Level" accommodations would be very much appreciate. 

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

If you go to the DCL website and do a search for 7 night cruises, you'll find some, out of San Diego, Port Canaveral, and Galveston.

Edited February 7 by Shmoo here

[Sthrngary]

2 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

If you go to the DCL website and do a search for  night cruises, you'll find some, out of San Diego, Port Canaveral, and Galveston.

@Shmoo here Thank you, doing it right now.  Thanks again.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[Shmoo here]

oops

Edited February 7 by Shmoo here

[Sthrngary]

Thank you to everyone on this stream.  I took the advice, and did my due diligence. For me and others, Disney is a odd choose.  I love to cruise but tend to attempt to find a true value proposition.  Usually in a VIP area of a ship like the NCL Haven or Celebrity Retreat.  

 

Disney simply does not compare favorably price and amenities wise to those other choices. As my Travel Agent says, Disney is the Gucci of Cruising.  You might think that is a put down. It is the opposite. It makes me want to book it that much more.  To see why other want to cruise the brand as adults so much.  The Disney Magic (not the ship) if you will. 

 

So the question is, pay more for a Concierge Level Suite on Disney for four days for four adults or 10 days in on one of the other brands VIP areas.  Is it worth the difference?  My gut and research is telling me at age 66, this might be my last chance.  So, after writing this comment on this post, I will be booking our Disney Cruise on the Wish in the Concierge Level.  

 

CruiseCritic.com for me is a place I can go, ask questions, learn from others and book a different cruise than what I am used too.  Thanks for the help everyone.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

[Sthrngary]

A little story.  It makes me upset that some products do not make it easy to clearly know the value of their upper level offerings.  This first came to my attention, 7 years ago when I had just retired.  I wanted to spend my summer at music festivals.  The first one was, a four day festival called, "The Hangout Music Festival".  It was on the beach off the coast of Mexico.  The young folks get the least expensive entry and stayed on the beach all day and night.  The 40 somethings has a VIP entrance which gave them beer and wine, a pool and some shelter. Now 60 plus folks had something called, Super VIP.  Pool, hot tubs, full complementary bar, catered food by real chefs, golf carts to the different venues and a lot more.

 

The problem was, the folks that went to Super VIP were not the kind of folks that do reviews.  So it was extremely hard to really get the to know what was part of the program especially because it was so expensive.  I took the chance then wrote the very detailed review.  I then did the same for the Bonnaroo Music Festival followed by the SeaBreeze Jazz Festival.  I did the same detailed review of the top entry options.  I was hooked and started to do it for high-end consumer products.  Now I do it for my cruises.  

 

I know I am on a Disney CruiseCritic.com board.  However, I wrote one of the most popular OP-ED's on CruiseCritic.com called, "The Secrets of the NCL Haven Luxury Experience.".  Now, I will be going on a Disney Cruise on the Wish.  We will be in a Concierge Stateroom. I will do a real time review and compare the NCL Haven, Celebrity Retreat and the Disney Concierge Level.  I also promise to do a very detailed review.  Just like every single cruise and product, not to many really detailed overviews of the Disney Concierge that I could find.  

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[Cruisemonty]

I have been on five Disney cruises (four on the Magic and Wonder when my children were young, and most recently, on the Dream with my daughter when she was 16). It's a great product, but the Disney experience is heavily targeted to children, and you are paying a premium for the kid-focused entertainment and kids clubs/child care. If you really love Disney, you may enjoy tea with Alice or photos with the characters, but if you are not using those amenities, you may be overpaying for your cruise.

 

That said, I would have enjoyed the last cruise more if my daughter had been 18, as we could have visited the adults only bars and the adults only restaurants Palo and Remy, which are excellent. I decided not to book a suite on Disney as I didn't see the value for the increased price (we did have a suite on our first cruise before pricing went sky high). I don't think they have a separate dining room for concierge guests. On Disney, I'd be more inclined to book the adults only specialties and stay in a regular cabin.

 

One final tip: My favorite dessert in any of the main dining rooms is the Mickey bar (similar to a Dove bar). It's not on the adult menu, but you can order it anyway. Enjoy!

[Sthrngary]

Thank you to everyone.  I was about to book two staterooms on the Disney Wish for four day in the Concierge Suites.  Then we changed course and book flights to Europe.  We will not go to Disneyland Paris at the end of April.  Thank you to everyone for your help. 

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[Wordyways12]

On 2/18/2024 at 5:23 PM, Sthrngary said:

Thank you to everyone.  I was about to book two staterooms on the Disney Wish for four day in the Concierge Suites.  Then we changed course and book flights to Europe.  We will not go to Disneyland Paris at the end of April.  Thank you to everyone for your help. 

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

I couldn’t resist following up on your post here because we have learned so much from your posts about cruising the Haven on NCL.  Our family has bounced between DCL Concierge and Haven for several years -  the break from Covid was unwanted and unexpected - and still find we enjoy both for different reasons.  Our only cruise under 7 nights was the Disney Wish ‘22  in the Inaugural season (again thanks to Covid delay from a 2019 booking).  Since then we did a family 9 night in the Haven Rome to Venice and with extra days in each it was a 2 week celebration trip for my husbands “retirement”.  Next year we are doing a Tauck river cruise with a large group of friends - with the mentality of wanting to carpe diem.

 

I just decided to take my older teen daughter on the Wish again - she has a summer internship that will make a family vacation difficult.  Not a fan of short cruises and been there done that on the itinerary - but we can still explore new activities and enjoy ourselves on the beautiful ship.

 

Your trip sounds amazing - enjoy every aspect of it!

[Sthrngary]

44 minutes ago, Wordyways12 said:

I couldn’t resist following up on your post here because we have learned so much from your posts about cruising the Haven on NCL.  Our family has bounced between DCL Concierge and Haven for several years -  the break from Covid was unwanted and unexpected - and still find we enjoy both for different reasons.  Our only cruise under 7 nights was the Disney Wish ‘22  in the Inaugural season (again thanks to Covid delay from a 2019 booking).  Since then we did a family 9 night in the Haven Rome to Venice and with extra days in each it was a 2 week celebration trip for my husbands “retirement”.  Next year we are doing a Tauck river cruise with a large group of friends - with the mentality of wanting to carpe diem.

 

I just decided to take my older teen daughter on the Wish again - she has a summer internship that will make a family vacation difficult.  Not a fan of short cruises and been there done that on the itinerary - but we can still explore new activities and enjoy ourselves on the beautiful ship.

 

Your trip sounds amazing - enjoy every aspect of it!

@Wordyways12 Thank you for reaching out.  My adult daughter and I depart on Monday, April 22, 2024 which is this upcoming Monday.  I read my post that you replied to and need to make a correction.  We will be ending our trip in Paris, France.  We will be in Paris for three days.  One of those days we "WILL" be going to Disney Paris.  

 

Relating to your post above, in November 2023, my wife and I did an Oceania Cruise on the Riviera for 10-days in the Mediterranean. We went from Athens to Barcelona. Rome was part of that trip and we loved it. So much so, I am going to Rome next week for another two days.  Venice will be the end port of our Cruise again on Oceania this time the Vista in October 2025.  Add to that, my daughter and I will be spending 2 days in Venice next week as well. Fun stuff.  Thanks for reading.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

[Wordyways12]

My husband (Bob) and I have done one Oceania and it was amazing - a 7 night Cuba with three stops including overnight Havana!  Unforgettable trip and great amenities on that smaller ship. I will look for more details on your father daughter trip on the boards after you return from your adventure.  Our girls loved Rome and Pompeii, they were lukewarm on Venice - but I think they just need to work on their travel stamina.  
 

Bon voyage!

[Sthrngary]

2 hours ago, Wordyways12 said:

My husband (Bob) and I have done one Oceania and it was amazing - a 7 night Cuba with three stops including overnight Havana!  Unforgettable trip and great amenities on that smaller ship. I will look for more details on your father daughter trip on the boards after you return from your adventure.  Our girls loved Rome and Pompeii, they were lukewarm on Venice - but I think they just need to work on their travel stamina.  
 

Bon voyage!

@Wordyways12 Where in Ohio are you from.  I lived for three years in Ohio City across the street from the Market in a lovely town home. We saw the bottles going on the assembly line in the brewery across the street.  Lovely but cold place.  

 

Venice is all about location.  We are right next to the most famous bridge. We will take a gondola ride, water taxi to the hotel and we both love street food. It does not take much to entertain us both.  the other thing is, most of this "Daddy" is paying for so we are on a different budget then when my daughter went to Europe at 18 years old. 

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[Wordyways12]

We are very familiar with the West Side Market and the Great Lakes Brewery.  My husband grew up in a Westside suburb and went to an all boys high school just down the street!  He recently sold his business in the nearby Detroit Shoreway.  I am a Southern Ohio girl who moved North after college.  
 

Venice was so fun to explore - I of course had done some research while planning our excursions. We rallied and found some interesting things on our own after the pre planned tours of the Doge’s Palace (the Prison tour ) and St. Mark’s Basilica - we would escort the girls to the hotel with snacks and drinks - then meet at a Cafe right off  the Academia Bridge to plan a museum or shop the vendors.  I would stay in a different area next time - just to get a feel for some of the places I took note of  - Peggy Guggenheim museum etc.  I noticed that Venice is not a city of early risers so that gave some excellent opportunities to walk and explore in the coolest part of the day without crowds.

 

it is a great thing to continue to make awesome travel memories with your loved ones!