First Disney Cruise w/ CV restrictions - Worth it?

[Ariel 2021]

I’m also curious why so many long time cruisers say not to go now, especially if someone says it’s not a “once in a lifetime vacation” financially. Why is that? It seems that new cruisers would be less disappointed than long time experienced cruisers seem to be.

 

[Jacq7414]

I’m also curious why so many long time cruisers say not to go now, especially if someone says it’s not a “once in a lifetime vacation” financially. Why is that? It seems that new cruisers would be less disappointed than long time experienced cruisers seem to be.

I think because if it’s once in a lifetime you’re paying a premium for a watered down experience. The long term cruisers have been before and probably will go again. If it’s once in a lifetime it’s possibly their only time and to spend the money with all of the restrictions, it’s not worth it

 

[Ariel 2021]

I think because if it’s once in a lifetime you’re paying a premium for a watered down experience. The long term cruisers have been before and probably will go again. If it’s once in a lifetime it’s possibly their only time and to spend the money with all of the restrictions, it’s not worth it

Even with people saying that it’s NOT a once in a lifetime opportunity others are saying they don’t recommend that first time cruisers go. I understand if it’s a once in a lifetime vacation, just not if it’s not.

 

[Jacq7414]

I don’t know. I didn’t want to go as our first Disney cruise because I thought it was a lot of money for what it was. I could stay in a better room on a different cruise line for 1/2 the price of DCL. Why pay that amount for the DCL?

I guess the others have seen the cruise before and want to do it again? I don’t know. I just personally don’t want to pay 6k+ for a watered down experience

 

[insureman]

I’m also curious why so many long time cruisers say not to go now, especially if someone says it’s not a “once in a lifetime vacation” financially. Why is that? It seems that new cruisers would be less disappointed than long time experienced cruisers seem to be.

My take is as first time cruisers you would want to take advantage of the kids clubs which are not the same at all as pre-covid. Character meets are not the same. Our two daughters are grown now so we are traveling by ourselves. As long a the service remains topnotch its worth it for us but I feel families will be missing out on all the little things that make DCL special so I don't think the value is there.

 

[Disneyland_emily]

My take is as first time cruisers you would want to take advantage of the kids clubs which are not the same at all as pre-covid. Character meets are not the same. Our two daughters are grown now so we are traveling by ourselves. As long a the service remains topnotch its worth it for us but I feel families will be missing out on all the little things that make DCL special so I don't think the value is there.

but if you don’t know you-don’t know…

my kiddo is 4 almost 5 and has no memory of ‘before 2020’ and yet she adores the kids club in their current format & to her characters have never hugged or signed and she’s ok with that because that’s all SHE knows.

I do know the difference and I realized that if I continue to ‘wait till things return to normal’ we may not get this time back- yes things are different to really different but it’s all not awful.
I guarantee the kid will miss not being able to keep riding the yellow Mickey slide without a line for hours on end more than being able to have more kids club time when things go ‘normal’ or being able to have a long conversation with Rapunzel (albeit from a distance) than the normal ‘hug, sign and shove’

cruising right now isn’t for everyone but in its own way it can be the right thing.

 

[insureman]

but if you don’t know you-don’t know…

my kiddo is 4 almost 5 and has no memory of ‘before 2020’ and yet she adores the kids club in their current format & to her characters have never hugged or signed and she’s ok with that because that’s all SHE knows.

I do know the difference and I realized that if I continue to ‘wait till things return to normal’ we may not get this time back- yes things are different to really different but it’s all not awful.
I guarantee the kid will miss not being able to keep riding the yellow Mickey slide without a line for hours on end more than being able to have more kids club time when things go ‘normal’ or being able to have a long conversation with Rapunzel (albeit from a distance) than the normal ‘hug, sign and shove’

cruising right now isn’t for everyone but in its own way it can be the right thing.

On the flip side there are other recent threads where the teens and pre-teens are complaining because of limited activities for them with the clubs having limited hours or closed completely.

 

[gotomu212]

I’m also curious why so many long time cruisers say not to go now, especially if someone says it’s not a “once in a lifetime vacation” financially. Why is that? It seems that new cruisers would be less disappointed than long time experienced cruisers seem to be.

It‘s just my opinion, but as watered down as the current cruise experience is, without anything to compare it with, I’d walk away disappointed in the experience and thinking cruising had been overhyped. It’s just a very bad first impression, even when you know it’s not normal. For people with a lot of experience they know what’s important to them and can better judge if the experience will still be valuable (and you can see some of us say no and the others say yes).

 

[gotomu212]

The dealbreaker for me would probably be if they cancelled live performances (in the restaurants and theater). At that point I would probably consider cancelling.

Just something to keep in mind- on other cruise lines, some ships are having to cancel entertainment abruptly because of sick performers. In seems like crew outbreaks run through departments which makes sense since they are together more. With DCL shows, the performers play multiple roles in the different shows and are also the characters for the distanced photos. So, there is a possibility that the ship would have to cancel the broadway shows and characters with no notice (people on the Breakaway found out once they boarded with a letter).

(Don’t mean to be a Debbie Downer in this thread)

 

[sethschroeder]

It was good and we even took 1 kid who was in 2 so could only do open house.

 

[CastawayCayLover]

We've done 26 cruises, 24 pre-pandemic, 2 post-pandemic. The 4 night Dream cruise we did in September was very good, I would recommend a cruise like that to anyone, first-timer or repeat cruiser. The 5 night Fantasy we did in November not so much.

The biggest problems on the 5 night was limited entertainment and for the first time it seemed that the Fantasy performers were inferior to the Dream performers. Historically it's been the other way around. Also, the fact that there was limited entertainment meant you had to get to venues early to make sure you got a seat because they were limiting capacity. This led to a large crowd of people waiting in the hallway (I called it Covid corridor) shoulder to shoulder for half an hour to get inside and be seated at tables slightly further apart. Didn't make sense.

 

[DCLDVC1]

Rebook. You'll be glad you did.

 

[pearljammer]

Hi all,

We (me, wife, and 3yr old son) are booked for our first Disney cruise in early May (my first cruise ever). Without the ability to see into the future to know if anything will change regarding the covid cruise restrictions (no sail away, kids club reservations, meet and greet changes, etc), I'm going to assume it'll be the same as it is today. That being said, do you think this being our first cruise will do it justice? We're big Disney fans and have heard so many great things about DCL, and now that we're finally able to go I'm worried the experience will be less than. And this wouldn't be a once-in-a-lifetime thing or a money thing. We're fortunate enough that we can cruise again (if we think it's worth it). I just want to know I'm still going to get some of that magic every always talks about with DCL.

So for those that have cruised before and now, thoughts? And if you have little ones, how was their experience different? Thanks!

Hey there, so obviously this decision has to be yours and yours alone and of course, also dependent on costs but I don’t recall May being the cheapest. Now, with all that said, based on what little of I’ve read of all the things closed, etc. there is no way I’d sail right now. We have cancelled 2 cruises, even as much as we love them, due to the all the restrictions. If you can cancel with a full refund, it may be worth it to wait and ride this out and bank the money for another time. You can always cruise but personally I would hate for a cruise with restrictions and masks to be your first. We always found these to be special to us and I think it will be special for you to but for the price, and while you don’t realize it, you also won’t be experiencing the cruise at it’s potential. Good luck with your decision. If you have any doubt right now, there’s likely a reason. Personally, when I cancelled our cruises, I didn’t regret it at all.

 

[Flip flops in winter]

We've only cruised with Disney and just left our 3rd (first post covid) cruise and the shortest we've ever booked (4 nights). It was wonderful and our 3 kids had a blast. Our 6 year old didn't want to leave Oceaneer's and luckily they had a spot for him whenever he wanted. It was not a reduced experience for him at all. My 2 oldest went to Edge as much as they wanted as well. Since the last time we cruised was 3 years ago, they only remembered having a ton of fun. And this time they had a ton of fun too!

The Dream only had something like 1500 passengers this time and we've sailed the Fantasy when it had 3 x that so we actually preferred the quieter cruise. And at the end of the day, there is still plenty of entertainment and stuff to do. Even when things were rescheduled and shuffled around this week, there wasn't a moment of boredom.

Time is rapidly getting away from all of us as parents. We can't get the time back and we will never feel 100% certain of making the right decision when spending this much money on something. I had rescheduled this multiple times trying to wait for things to be "normal". I had completely talked myself out of going in the last month and was super pessimistic trying to prepare us all for the worst. It wasn't until my husband said to "try to see this through their eyes" that I realized I needed to stop comparing the experiences. I'm SO glad we went!

 

[DCLMP]

I’m also curious why so many long time cruisers say not to go now, especially if someone says it’s not a “once in a lifetime vacation” financially. Why is that? It seems that new cruisers would be less disappointed than long time experienced cruisers seem to be.

Probably because we know what cruising was like pre-Covid. For me it would be a complete waste of money if the teen clubs were closed. Spending a week with a bored teenager would be torture. That possibility hadn’t even crossed my mind until someone posted that was happening. We cruised in August it wasn’t bad. There were some positives to lower capacity, but there wasn’t a shortage of crew due to illness.
Im getting accustomed to staffing shortages everywhereI go, but really don’t want to experience that on a cruise. I was at Disneyland hotel two weeks ago and that was pretty bad.

 

[edmartin]

As one of the multi-time cruisers that chimed in on "postpone", I'm happy to explain why I feel that way. Milage may vary for others... this is just my perspective...

The reason my family is/are multi-time cruisers is because the experience was so great the first time (and the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 10th, etc). But 100%, if we went in the current watered-down state the first time, we would not have gone 18 more times since. So as someone who has done a lot of DCL cruises, I don't feel good about recommending it to others right now. To be fair, the flip side of this is that along the last 15 years, we have recommended DCL A LOT to others (I wish we got paid bounties!).

Fair enough, first-timers don't have the frame of reference for what it used to be like. But isn't that kind of the purpose of the thread? The question was asked to "experts" (those of us that hang out in this forum). The question was a relative one on whether the value and experience is there now. So in the context of how it used to be, the understanding that this isn't "once in a lifetime", and the fact that things are going to continue to evolve and change (think of today vs March 2020), I feel very comfortable recommending a wait. And money where my mouth is, we have a pending reservation that we have kept moving over the last 2 years. I don't want to go on DCL like it is now. So why would I recommend it to others? #TheMagicWillReturn

 

[GoofEeyore26]

Thank you all for the detailed input and food-for-thought. Just as an FYI, it is a 4 day Dream cruise and we actually already booked another one for next year just in case we fell in love with the product (and knowing best rates are at initial booking window). So I'm going into this one knowing it wouldn't likely be a one and done (unless it was an unmitigated disaster).

Candidly my biggest fear is with the new Dis leadership, cruising will go the way of the parks with nickel and diming, and more for less . Id like to experience before that happens.

Either way, we have 2 months before our 60day refund window. Lots to consider.

 

[DCLMP]

Thank you all for the detailed input and food-for-thought. Just as an FYI, it is a 4 day Dream cruise and we actually already booked another one for next year just in case we fell in love with the product (and knowing best rates are at initial booking window). So I'm going into this one knowing it wouldn't likely be a one and done (unless it was an unmitigated disaster).

Candidly my biggest fear is with the new Dis leadership, cruising will go the way of the parks with nickel and diming, and more for less . Id like to experience before that happens.

Either way, we have 2 months before our 60day refund window. Lots to consider.

If that's your biggest fear and it's not a financial stretch then give it a try. Honestly, I don't think DCL will go to the nickel and diming that we're seeing at WDW. If cruising recovers they'll just go back to raising prices. I wouldn't assume you're getting the best price at the initial booking window especially in this environment. Cruising is going to take a few years to rebound that's if they ever do rebound. You'll probably see lots of last-minute discounts until then.

 

[DianaMB333]

Yes, I had a very nice time during my October cruise (and I've cruised 6 pre-Covid DCL cruises, so I know what they used to be like). The main attractions are still there: beautiful ship, great service, characters (from a distance), Castaway Cay, themed restaurants, great shows, etc. The kids clubs are more limited, but at age 3 your son might have been too clingy to be deposited for hours at the club, anyway.

There is also no way to know what May will be like: it may well be more back to normal at that time, but who knows? There is a welcome aboard experience in the atrium that is actually more close-up with the characters than the sail away party was, as only a small number of passengers are there at the time. Your 3 year-old will probably like that a lot, as he'll get good views of the characters there & probably personal waves from Mickey, etc.

What time is the "welcome aboard show"? If we are arriving with disney bus and not concierge.. first timers as well.. do we have a chance to see it? Tks

 

[Cheburashka]

What time is the "welcome aboard show"? If we are arriving with disney bus and not concierge.. first timers as well.. do we have a chance to see it? Tks

Since reopening they've been doing a mini welcome show immediately when you embark the ship and enter the atrium. Each group of 20 or so passengers gets its own show. There is no big welcome show on the pool deck right now.