what to do?

[spedtcr]

:confused: 7 years ago I went on the Disney Magic with my 11 DD. We had a great time. Now I'm planning a June 2008 trip leaving from Port Canaveral with my soon to be 19 yr old DD, DH, DS who will be 6 and 4, and my mother. Disney is twice as much as everyone else, so we are considering another cruise line. We are nervous, though, because we are imagining casinos, people walking around drunk, etc.- less of a family atmosphere. Are we being ridiculous, or would it be better to save up for Disney and just play it safe? Also, what is the best way to find discounts? I read that it's always better to go through an agent and to book as far ahead as possible. Does anyone agree/disagree? Thanks for your insight!

[Keith1010]

You can find other cruise lines that have many families on board and where people aren't walking around drunk. So, I wouldn' worry about that.

 

But each cruise line is different and in terms of what Disney does on a cruise it is unique and is not matched by other cruise lines. Again, others are nice for families too but Disney is unique so if you pick another cruise line just be sure not to get on the cruise and start comaring each and everything to Disney.

 

Also, if you look at other lines other than Disney you might want to consider to expand your list of options by also considering ships out of other ports such as Fort Lauderdale or Miami.

 

Finally. sometimes there is no difference in a product when one item costs more than another. Sometimes there is. So, if you really enjoyed Disney and it cost more there might be a reason for that and you might want to stick with Disney.

 

In term of discounts your best bet is to contact multiple agents. Try to first figure out which cruise you want and what the price is and then talk with different agents to see what they will do for you with price and other amenities. Some will be more aggessive than others. You might want to ask others who you know who go on cruises if they have a particular agent they are please with.

 

Keith

[BettyBoopX]

I have been on Carnival, Disney, Celebrity, and Royal Caribbean for 7 day cruises.

 

I am not sure if it has changed but everyone I talked with still says the same thing about Carnival... if you don't like drunk people stay clear of them, atleast in the Caribbean. Those are are more young adult party boats. Though I have heard good things about the kids club the rest of the atmosphere was not the nest for younger kids. (My DH and I were actually a bit uncomfortable sometimes too. We did enjoy it for the most part though)

 

Celebrity was fun but the crowd was more towards the older age group and a little on the snooty side. I was always dressed appropriatly and followed proper edique and manners so I have not problems with them. However, it was dissapointing to hear some of the nasty comments.

 

Disney was great for what it was. The one really unique thing was the dining experiance and no one comes close to the experiance. Which I can tell you so far I just loved the one that lights up as you are eating... the animation one. However, the food I got there was no better then RCI. The other unique thing about Dinsney was the Movie Theater which had teh big screen and theater seating. Oh course they also have the characters if you are a Disney faniatic.... living in Orlando since I was in 5th grade, working for Disney while in HS, and now working for a small company who works on Disney Property I can say that is not such a big deal for me.

 

Royal Caribbean has become one of my favorites now. It is slightly older and more muture then the Carnival crowd so no drunken parting, atleast none I have seen, and it is slightly younger and more relaxed then the Celebrity crowd. I have found that the majority of people on RCI tend to be with familes on the cruise. I have heard a few not so nice comments under the breath when it comes to dining when people show up in shorts/jeans or on formal night not dressed up but it is done more out of disbeilef that some people are that disrespectful. I could careless about other people my DS will still dress appropriatly and follow all the rules. They have a great ice show and my sister who is 11, has been on 1 -2 cruises a year and RCI is her absolute favorite. She spends most of her time in the kids club.... in fact it is like pulling teeth to get her out of there but it's great becuase she is a shy girl so if she is having fun they are doing something right.

 

What you need to do is weight what you really like about Disney and then see if there are things you can find on other cruises. As far as kids clubs go I think if you will find that RCI is just as fun or so I have been told. The only excpetion is the youngest room which is the 3 year olds I think or whatnot which I was told that is the one room Disney is better at. If you have any specific querstions I would be more then happy to help out.

 

Katie

(P.S. - I love Port Canaveral as I only live 30 - 40 minutes away)

[greatdanemom]

Oh my goodness, I've never seen people walking around drunk on any of the non-Disney cruises I've been on. I'm not saying that it doesn't happen but I think you can choose your cruise line, cruise length, etc to minimize the chance you'd deal with this. If you're looking at a 3 or 4 day cruise Disney may actually be your best option to guarantee a family atmosphere. However, if you're looking at a 7 day the sky is the limit!

 

I understand your concerns because our first cruise was also Disney. I was so paranoid about booking the second cruise thinking some of the same things you've mentioned. It's a big wide world of cruising out there and you have many other options that will suit a family. I still love Disney and cruise with the mouse periodically. But I'm happy to assure you that you can be comfortable on other ships as well.

 

The casino is just a room on the ship. You don't have to go in there if you don't want to. From what I've seen it's mostly just a bunch of middle aged people sitting in there quietly in front of the slot machines. Not at all the ominous den of horror that I once imagined! :D

 

If you're thinking about Port Canaveral, I'd highly recommend the Mariner of the Seas. She's a beautiful ship with varied activities for all ages. We've gotten our best prices with RCCL by booking early and directly with them. Then we monitor the prices until we sail. If we see a price drop, we call them and they drop our price. I understand that a good TA will do this for you. But we kind of enjoy the "game" so we do it ourselves.

 

Cheryl

[crusinmama06]

I've been on Royal, Carnival, Disney and Norwegian...my top pick is Royal Carribean. My next choice would be Carnival. I wasn't impressed with the Disney Magic. We have a better time at Walt Disney World. So we like to add a few days at Disney before a cruise on a NON Disney ship.

 

And in every cruise we've taken, I have never see drunk people falling down all over the ship.

 

Stay with the NEWER and 7 day cruise ships. The shorter cruises (3 days) and the older ships seem to have a different type of passenger. Not to say I've ever seen some REALLY bad behavior on the shorter cruises but cheaper cruises DO attract young college types.

 

The best cruise we have ever been on was RCCL Freedom of the Seas.

[Workmom2]

We were on the NCL ship in March- we did not run into any problems. We did visit Dinsey Land pre-cruise for 3 days and honestly, for what we paid, we will not be visiting Disney any time soon. Disney land was very expensive and over-rated. I found that the consistant shopping and disney merchandise was really unappealing and very pricey. With that said, my family would not consider a Disney cruise.

We are going on Princess in October and are looking forward to it! We have also gone on Celebrity- very fun and RCLL, excellent!

In my opinion, unless you are a real die hard Disney fan, I cannot justify the higher cost with all the other options that are out there for families. If you are a Disney fan, then I am sure the cruise would be great- I have read some really good reviews of the ship on the review section of CC.

[rebeccalouise]

Yeah- I have never met falling down drunks on any ship. I am sure that if you hang out all night in the Casino or in the disco- you might run into some rowdy folks but you and your kids won't be there anyway.

 

Relax- try something new. I did Disney. It was what I expected and I had a nice time but I think you and your family will have just as much fun on Royal Carribbean. My son still talks about Adventure Ocean and the "talent show"- where he burped his A,B,C's (much to my dismay!). Interestingly enough- the crowd loved it

[crusinmama06]

My son still talks about Adventure Ocean and the "talent show"- where he burped his A,B,C's (much to my dismay!). Interestingly enough- the crowd loved it

 

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

 

Yeah I thought it was bad that my 7 year old who has been in dance for FIVE years decided that her "talent" would be plate spinning on a stick. :rolleyes:

 

Of course I didn't learn that until I got to the talent show. There went 5 years of dance lessons down the drain...lol. :p

[Cruisin' Chick]

Most of the cruiselines have a kids' program. If you go on a cruise while school is out, your child is bound to meet many his or her age and be kept busy.

 

As for drunks, the only cruise that I've seen passengers wasted was on a weekend spring break cruise. College kids. Beer. Ensenada. Enuf said. I wouldn't worry about the casinos corrupting your kids as they will not be allowed in there, at least when the casinos are open. We don't bother with them, because we find them pretty smokey.