Disney Cruise Line

[Firemouse]

We just returned from a Princess cruise over the holidays. After going on three previous Disney Cruises we were very impressed at how great if not superior the DCL service is. Dinning, entertainment, guest services, and not to mention the kids activities. Anyone else have any comparables?

[angryrubberduck]

Princess Cruise? Do tell PLease!?

Duck!

[Firemouse]

We had originally planned on booking the Disney Cruise Line transition cruise from Florida to LA. The May trip would have caused our kids to miss too much school, so we booked the holiday cruise on Princess cruises from Florida to LA. We new our fellow passengers would be older then DCL but we were supprised at the amount of "super"
seniors (above 75) that were cruising. No problem, but princess catered most of the entertainment towards the seniors. The closest thing to pop or rock was the Jimmy Buffet cover band. My oldest daughter found the "disco" but stated "the DJ doesn't know that disco is in because it's retro, He thinks it's still in!" Everthing was as a cruise should be, Lots of food, good friends, and happy kids. We just missed the Disney touch and magic. The dinng servers, cabin stewards, and entertainment staff at DCL were funner, more professional and would always go the extra mile or two. Matt Ouimet did a great job at DCL, Disneyland is very lucky to have him to put the pieces back together.

[Alchimedes]

Any other Experiences With DCL?

I want to go the extra mile and do a Disney Cruise and WDW Combined.


Has anyone done this trip? any tips? Iwouldlike first hand Experiences, Anyone?

[ImaginEAR]

Well, TicTocDragon, there are two choices you can do....

Choice #1- Book a land and sea package for 4 nights WDW/3 nights Disney Wonder or 3 nights WDW/4 nights Disney Wonder. The hotel you stay at depends on your cabin onboard the ship. Example, if you booked the Walt Disney Suite, you'd stay at the Grand Floridian. I'll give you some more info once I look it up.
Pros-
No check in at the port terminal (except at the Swan and Dolphin)
Disney Cruise Line Transfers to Port Canaveral
You get a free 7 day Magic Your Way ticket, but I'm not sure about the extras
Cons-
Limited amount of hotels
Short cruises, stays at WDW
DCL Transfers get to terminal around 12
Some say that this is more expensive than booking by yourself than through Disney.


Choice #2 (and my favorite)- Say you want a 7 night cruise on the Magic and WDW. Book the Magic, any itinarary (sp) and seperately book WDW at any resort you want. This is alot more flexible, because you can choose your hotel, instead of having to choose from a limited amount of hotels.
Pros-
Choice, choices, choices in WDW, and cruise line.
Longer cruise, stay at WDW
With your own form of transport, you can get to the terminal earlier (you can also book the transfers, if you'd like)
Cons-
7 nights + WDW could be very expensive, including food, accomodations, extras at WDW and on the ships.
You must check in at the Terminal, no check in at the hotels unless you book the Land and Sea package through Disney.
You must book your transport to Port Canaveral

************************************

We have done Choice #2 one year (our first Disney Cruise) and it worked out very well. Good luck, and I hope I helped!

[Firemouse]

TicTocDragon, ImaginEAR gives you two very good choices. I agree that choice #1 is two little time at each the cruise and wdw. There is plenty to do for seven days at WDW but cost may become a factor. Sometimes it's equitable to buy an annual pass to get the discounts at the resorts. The seven day cruise will fly by. I would do the cruise second. WDW can be overwhelming and very busy. It would be good to unwind with a cruise afterward. Good luck. What ever choice you make, you'll still want more!

[Alchimedes]

TicTocDragon, ImaginEAR gives you two very good choices. I agree that choice #1 is two little time at each the cruise and wdw. There is plenty to do for seven days at WDW but cost may become a factor. Sometimes it's equitable to buy an annual pass to get the discounts at the resorts. The seven day cruise will fly by. I would do the cruise second. WDW can be overwhelming and very busy. It would be good to unwind with a cruise afterward. Good luck. What ever choice you make, you'll still want more!

Both have made great suggestions I want to go in October, is that a slower time of year in Orlando? I'm beginning to like the idea of unwinding on the ship. By the way cost is not my concern, My concern is WILL I HAVE ENOUGH TIME AT WDW TO SEE everything?

[CaptainCM]

i've been on my fair share of cruises and one thing i can say is that while the food quality IMHO on DCL is better than average (not stellar, although the lobster on the 7 night eastern that we took was stellar [i had 4 tails in 1 sitting!!]!) the entertainment quality is truly top notch. I can't wait to hit my next cruise on DCL. I am hoping against all hope that they do a CM discount for the west coast cruises!

[Alchimedes]

Lobster Yumm!!! Wolfy999 told me the Westcoast cruises are sold out for this year. I really look forward to going to either.

[ImaginEAR]

Lobster Yumm!!! Wolfy999 told me the Westcoast cruises are sold out for this year. I really look forward to going to either.

There have been rumors of Disney sending the Magic out to the west coast again. My guess would be in 2007... but again, it's just rumor...

[Disneymom62]

I was curious about other lines myself, as we were kicking around going on a different line for a few days. My fear after going on one cruise (DCL) was that we'd get one or two days into it, and not be happy. Not much you can do with a few more days left on the ship. Glad to see the info. BTW, we opted for another DCL cruise!

[seenoevil]

i've been on my fair share of cruises and one thing i can say is that while the food quality IMHO on DCL is better than average (not stellar, although the lobster on the 7 night eastern that we took was stellar [i had 4 tails in 1 sitting!!]!) the entertainment quality is truly top notch. I can't wait to hit my next cruise on DCL. I am hoping against all hope that they do a CM discount for the west coast cruises!

Do you mean the cruises this summer? I heard it was about $700 for CMs.

[Firemouse]

TicTocdragon, Yes October is a slower month for WDW and DCL. We are going The week of the 23 and then the Oct 29 cruise. We have heard from many people that the halloween cruise is a real treat (or trick). The kids get to trick or treat the cabins and they have a costume contest and ball. We thought we would give it a go. So much to do at WDW besides the parks, just not enough time. We have been going every year since 2000 and still find new fun stuff to do. good luck again!

[Alchimedes]

Well I hope I can make the best of it and jut enjoy what I can see.

[Mrs.Newseditor44]

I want to go the extra mile and do a Disney Cruise and WDW Combined.


Has anyone done this trip? any tips? Iwouldlike first hand Experiences, Anyone?

My husband (Newseditor44) and I have done DCL +WDW (The Magic) and Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) West Coast Repositioning cruise. I preferred NCL over Disney Cruise because the food and crew was MUCH better. The fact that we did not have to pick a seating time for dinner suited us as we did not have to rush to dinner or wait. We also got to pick whatever restaurant that suited our taste buds and if we got hungry in the middle of the night...they had food! DCL did not have food available 24/7 on our cruise but maybe that has changed.

Anyway, despite my average review of DCL, I do have a few pointers. First there are many websites that caters to cruisers (past, present, or future). They offer tips on excursions, tipping, and other things to make your cruise experience worthwhile and affordable. For instance..pack your own water!!!! My husband and I found several sites and that's what led us to try out NCL and that is why we'd sail with them again. As for DCL, they are extremely overpriced for what little you get or are offered- even with children.

But from our experience, we went through AAA travel and bought an extra day at WDW. We were flying in from California and were going to lose one of our days due to traveling. Also, don't sail during hurricane season as we got caught in Hurricane Floyd's aftermath and they closed WDW the day Floyd was supposed to hit, no food was available and the resort did nothing to help guests prepare for a possible hurricane (Floyd was supposed to directly hit Orlando). Luckily Floyd veered north but we still got rain bands as it hit Port Canaveral. Getting that extra day will also allow you to visit other places in Orlando such as Sea World, Universal, or even Cape Canaveral which is 30 minutes or so. We decided to ditch WDW and drive over to Cape Canaveral and had so much fun. Oh, almost forgot, the times they pick you up from your WDW resort and bring you to Port Canaveral depends on what type of accommodations you have. So if you are at the Grand Floridian, they pick you up first and we stayed at the Carribean Beach so they picked us up at 2pm.

On the cruise, if you want reservations at Palo or for the spa, I suggest that is the first thing you should do before going to your cabin. Also, for dinner pick the 2nd seating unless you like having early dinners.

I'm tyring to remember what else to tell you but I think if you are able to find those cruise websites many recent cruisers, will be able to offer you more insight and other tips.

[stampinshauna]

If you want to do both WDW and DCL, my suggestion is to do the cruise last! The cruise is so nice & relaxing, wonderful food, etc. I love WDW, but it was almost a let down last year after such a wonderful cruise. We went on the Magic, and I highly recommend a 7 night cruise. We loved it and will be going on the Magic again over Halloween.