A couple (sans children!) on DCL?

[mikeynla]

Hi there everyone...

 

I've read through quite a few pages here, and most of the posts seem to be from folks travelling with children.

 

I love Disney, as does my boyfriend. We're thinking of taking a Disney Cruise for our FIRST cruise experience. I dunno, something about it just really calls to me!

 

Obviously, we could take a different cruise line, but still, there will be plenty of children. So, my question is - does it really make *that* much a difference?

 

I don't dislike children at all, but I just want to be able to relax. A LOT. :) We do plan on getting a cabin with a balcony, so at least we'll have that escape, but I'd like to know a little more.

 

OH, and I think I've read that DCL does NOT have gambling on the ship... is that correct? That may be a deal breaker, but we'll see... :)

 

Thanks for any input!

 

-Michael

[Druke I]

My wife and I went on Disney without grandkids, and had a very good time.

 

There is amazing separation between adult and children.

 

No gambling on the current Disney ships.

[DVC_Chris]

Disney does a far better job than the other lines of keeping children out of the 'Adults' area. I also cruise often on RCCL, and I have seen tons of children in the adults pool on one cruise, and others to get to the snack bar, children have to walk through the adult only pool area. Kind of takes some of the tranquility away from it. I have to admit to getting a certain twisted pleasure at watching a DCL cast member booting a family with kids from the adult pool. :)

 

As for other adult activities, there is Palo's, the adult only restaurant, the bars are all adult only after 10pm, and the Quiet Cove Cafe is a great place for adults to relax. Oh, and of course, you cannot forget Serenity Beach on Castaway Cay, a huge beach where children 16 and under cannot gain access.

 

It is fun to walk past either the hugely crowded Mickey Pool, or the wall to wall people at the Family Beach on Castaway Cay to get to the adult only areas.

[mymollysue]

My DH (32) and I (31) just got off the Disney Wonder yesterday. We do not have kids yet and we enjoyed ourselves immensely. They do have separate pools, clubs, separate activities and even a beach on Castaway Cay for adults. The Vista Spa is also only for adults. Palo, which we went to on our first night, was also adults only. For dinner we were seated with a young couple on their honeymoon. In fact, there were a lot of honeymoon couples. Now I am not going to lie.....there are A LOT of children on the ship. There were children crying during the shows, there were lots of children at dinner (less if you did late seating like we did), tons of children in line to meet the characters (obviously) that it was sometimes hard for adults to do so. That was the only thing Disney could have done better.....have a separate character greeting for the adults. But overall, we loved our time on the Disney Wonder. It is a very high energy ship. So if you are looking for pure relaxation, this probably isn't the best ship. Yes we did relax a bit, but the Disney Wonder is all about having lots of fun!

[lucyddr]

We found the cruise VERY relaxing and hardly even noticed the kids on our September 2005 cruise! Disney does a great job with their adult-only areas, whereas Carnival (our only other comparison) fails! (Carnival has their icecream machine in the adult area, so go figure!) We loved the adult pool, Serenity bay at CC, and all of the adult activities and have not found Carnival to offer nearly as much. On Disney, we couldn't get to every activity we wanted to try whereas on Carnival, we were often bored! (We lived in Vegas last year, gaming isn't part of a vacation for us.)

 

Our first cruise was on Disney a few months before we got engaged. We used it as a "trial" to see if we would enjoy being around each other for 7 days. (I was working 80-120 hours per week at that time, so we didn't have much time together at home.) Obviously, it worked because we've been married for 2 years now!

 

Good luck with whatever you choose. You'll likely enjoy any cruise, since it's your first and you don't have anything to compare it to. Disney sets the standard pretty high, and we loved our experience. (We went to Carnival because we needed Sunday sailings for our last 2 vacations.) I certainly think Disney does a great job for childless adults, but that's just my opinion!

[mikeynla]

Thanks everyone, for so much great reassurance!

 

I do think I'd like my first cruise experience to be on DCL, as they are consistantly ranked so high, and offer a ton of ammenities.

 

So, I'm convinced! Now, to begin the planning... :)

 

Thanks again, everyone; I'll keep you posted as we figure things out...

 

Cheers!

 

-Michael

[Host Mick]

I like kids and I seem to be the only person ever that does not want to relax on vacation. Really, if I wanted to relax, I'd stay home and watch TV.

So DCL is fine with me.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

my wife and i just booked our 3rd DCL tonight. Second without kids.

 

We are 52 and ??? (I don't want to die before the cruise)

 

We found DCL to be great. Plenty of places to go without the kiddies if that's what you are looking for.

 

Bill

[mikeynla]

Thanks again for all the info! I've done a lot more research online today (who knew that Fodor's online site had SO MUCH info on cruise ships?!?!?) and really do think that DCL may be the way to go for what we're looking for. I'll of course continue to follow this, and all the other, DCL threads for tips and ideas... Really, a great site with a weath of real information!

[nuthut]

My wife and I spent our 30th anniversary on DCL in January and had a wonderful time. No kids!! Super!!

[JeanfromBNA]

Are you aware of the buy a four night cruise, get a three night cruise for $99/pp promotion? It ends December 15, so look into it right away.

 

We just booked our first cruise, and will be sailing on DCL for four nights on February 8.