No kids why do you stay with Disney?

Repeat cruisers here- this summer will be our 13th Cruise. We took our girls when the Magic first came out (they were just 4 and 6years old) We were hooked! We have sailed on all four ships- Mexican Riviera, Eastern and Western Caribbean, 12 night European and 14 day Panama Canal. We are not Disney fanatics- But enjoy the relaxation, service and clientele on Disney Cruise Line.
 
Doing my 12th DCL cruise in January - this will be the 7th (?) without my kids (who are now 17 and 19 and experienced DCL cruisers since a young age). I love my kids dearly, but honestly prefer cruising DCL adults-only! :tongue: Classy ships, comfortable staterooms, quality entertainment, great theme restaurants, excellent dining and housekeeping services, adults-only areas on ships and Castaway Cay, etc, etc, etc. My husband and I know that every time we sail, we can count on consistent high quality in every way, and if there are issues they will be addressed. I only wish the pricing was more accessible for us so we could try the longer trips, but I'd rather do 3 and 4 night itineraries than not cruise DCL at all. I know I should look at other lines for more affordable options, but I just keep coming back to DCL because I love it and I'm convinced that I'd miss it if I sailed another line.
 


Doing my 12th DCL cruise in January - this will be the 7th (?) without my kids (who are now 17 and 19 and experienced DCL cruisers since a young age). I love my kids dearly, but honestly prefer cruising DCL adults-only! :tongue: Classy ships, comfortable staterooms, quality entertainment, great theme restaurants, excellent dining and housekeeping services, adults-only areas on ships and Castaway Cay, etc, etc, etc. My husband and I know that every time we sail, we can count on consistent high quality in every way, and if there are issues they will be addressed. I only wish the pricing was more accessible for us so we could try the longer trips, but I'd rather do 3 and 4 night itineraries than not cruise DCL at all. I know I should look at other lines for more affordable options, but I just keep coming back to DCL because I love it and I'm convinced that I'd miss it if I sailed another line.

I am not opposed to an RCCL Radiance Class or lower...at this point, we shall see what this summer does to that as there are some not great reports about how they are dealing with allergies now.

But I refuse to look at anything out of PC that is not Disney because I would be too sad.
 
We began sailing Disney when our children were young (4th Magic sailing) and saw no reason not to continue. We did try another cruise line a few years back because it debarked from near our home and the itinerary was new to us. It was ok, worst part was learning how to traverse ship without going through casino (noisy and smoking allowed) and food not as good. I will say the spa was cheaper! We have also cruised smaller vessels -luxury class yachts ~100 cabins - and they are wonderful, all the special touches and they can get into smaller off-the-beaten-path ports. But, we booked 3 Disney cruises this year just because it's Disney.
 
We both enjoy the service, cleanliness, rotational dining and personal attention to detail. We've also sailed on Princess and enjoy our DCL cruises more. After being on all 4 ships it's almost like coming home when you step on board. Now that the parks are so crowded we seem to be cruising more and doing less of the Disney Parks.
 


Much like a WDW vacation, DCL has something for everyone but we can all agree DCL is super relaxing with impeccable hospitality and service. As cruisers, we know how jam-packed that Personal Navigator is on a given day and it's hard to fit everything in. Adults pretty much have the whole front section of the ship to themselves with the adult pool area and satellite falls. Senses Spa is great with the Rainforest room and I always purchase a pass for the length of my cruise. The nightlife is also so diverse with its many clubs within The District. Add in Castaway Cay, fireworks at sea, the best fitness center on the ocean, along with Remy & Palo and you're in for a real treat. You also can't go wrong with a verandah view.
 
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We don't have kids. We did a Disney Cruise in 2014 then our 3rd Carnival in 2015
We are returning to Disney over Carnival for these reasons.
1. No Casino
2. There are so many up charges on Carnival. I felt like 10 times a day I would say "no thank you".
3. The customer service is much better on Disney, in my experience.
4. The shows are amazing on Disney
5. Food/Dietary concerns are better with Disney and include soda with out extra fee.
6. Disney still has the adult areas. I read recently Carnival was beginning to eliminate these are ships to make more family areas.
7. Disney has a theater on board.
8. Disney excursions, very organized and structured. Carnival off the ship and find the person holding a sign, was a mad house.
9. The disembark process, walk off Disney you have a tag to find your luggage, go right to it. Carnival, another madhouse to find your stuff.
10. Disney offers a wine package. Carnival makes you buy a Alcohol package and both adults have to purchase it.
11. I love the way Disney does pictures find your book with your pics, same location each time. Carnival you have to look at hundreds of photos on a wall.

These are just our thoughts when considering another cruise line.
 
We don't have kids. We did a Disney Cruise in 2014 then our 3rd Carnival in 2015
We are returning to Disney over Carnival for these reasons.
1. No Casino
2. There are so many up charges on Carnival. I felt like 10 times a day I would say "no thank you".
3. The customer service is much better on Disney, in my experience.
4. The shows are amazing on Disney
5. Food/Dietary concerns are better with Disney and include soda with out extra fee.
6. Disney still has the adult areas. I read recently Carnival was beginning to eliminate these are ships to make more family areas.
7. Disney has a theater on board.
8. Disney excursions, very organized and structured. Carnival off the ship and find the person holding a sign, was a mad house.
9. The disembark process, walk off Disney you have a tag to find your luggage, go right to it. Carnival, another madhouse to find your stuff.
10. Disney offers a wine package. Carnival makes you buy a Alcohol package and both adults have to purchase it.
11. I love the way Disney does pictures find your book with your pics, same location each time. Carnival you have to look at hundreds of photos on a wall.

These are just our thoughts when considering another cruise line.

I'd like to comment on certain of your points and correct some of them if you don't mind...

1. You don't have to go if you don't like it. (Although I would agree that the smoke & smell is annoying.) I'm not a fan so I avoid it.
2. It wasn't my experience at all and I am sorry you experienced that.
3. I find them equal. I was very satisfied with both cruise lines.
4. I agree.
5. My husband is allergic to coconut. Can't say we saw a difference from one cruise line to another on this matter.
9. We've never had any problem disembarking with Carnival. Both times were a breeze.

Now the corrections/nuances:

6. Carnival still has the Serenity Area that is adult only and they will remain "adult only".

However, "aft pools" --which are generally adult only-- on certain ships (7 ships: Carnival Conquest, Glory, Valor, Liberty, Freedom, Splendor & Victory) are now made "kid friendly" on certain cruises when the amount of kids is higher (like during Spring Break). The rest of the time, they remain adult only.


7. You mean a movie theater? Carnival Vista & Carnival Horizon have movie theaters. Yes, there is a fee for it. However, the movies shown are the same as "on land" theaters. With Disney, it can vary. Some are "premières", some are older. Some ships also have the "Thrill theater" (very small fee) that presents a 4-D programmation, most of them being virtual rides. They are a lot of fun. I went twice on my Carnival Vista cruise and recommend it.

8. Carnival has wine packages as well. It's called "Cruise the wineyards". You have to call to order it or take care of it when you are on board.

11. Carnival now work with "Pixels" and you can see all your pictures in your tv, in your cabin.


P.s.: I cruised with Carnival in 2016 and 2017. Next cruise coming very soon. :)
 
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I haven't read any other responses but here are my reasons. Please keep in mind that I have only ever cruised as a couple.

  1. No casino
    • Not a large area of smoke that you have walk through to get across the ship. Which is the biggest reason why I don't like casinos.
  2. All costs upfront, no hidden fees
  3. No heckling/pushing sales on EVERYTHING (not counting the spa, I don't go there on any cruise line)
  4. Disney magic
  5. Disney understands that not ALL adults want bar/club options for entertainment
  6. Not a huge floating city
  7. Classic look/design
  8. Quality over quantity
  9. FE and Disney themed magnets (I like to craft)
Ultimately, Disney makes me happy because I am an extreme realist, which makes life depressing (I'm diagnosed) but I can with Disney. I mean I'm not under the impression that the CMs are always smiling and the characters are real. I am just so grateful the extent of hard work that they put forth to make our vacation magical.

Edit to add: I have sailed 3 times on Disney with two more future cruises booked.
 
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I agree with most of what you said, expect the getting bored part, but I haven't cruised as often as you have. I hope it never comes to that.

In any case, there are a lot of reasons to want better WiFi on board. You mention many of them. What I'd like to point out is that there are many different ways to feel relaxed and really enjoy a vacation. Being able to use the Internet is, for a lot of people, part of what they enjoy. It's not always about social media, but it could be. That's not really for me to judge.

Personally, I like to disconnect from the world and escape. But I'm the curious type and would love to be able to google things when I want to know more. More about a port we're visiting. More about something that came up at dinner with our tablemates. More about a performer that's on board. More about something we've seen in the distance. More about the prices for some merchandise I'm considering buying.

I also leave one e-mail account that I check, in case of urgent needs. I can be alerted by family if something happens they want me to know about. My manager and my direct reports (nobody else) have that e-mail address in case there is an unusually urgent matter at the office I need to check into. That way I won't feel compelled to check work e-mail. I don't need great Internet for that, but it would be nice.

Lastly, there are a number of apps I like to use that seem to require internet connectivity to really work right. For example, i use Untappd. I'm a craft beer drinker and I like to check out the beer I'm having to see what others have said about it, the origin, the brewer. The app does that for me, but without Internet, it's unusable. I track what I eat to help me manage my weight. These apps (there are a few out there) require Internet to work. I log my exercise to keep track of what I'm doing. Again, Internet. I take photos with my phone and I'd love to have them backed up to the cloud while I"m on vacation. Vacation photos are the BEST. Again, good Internet.

Disney needs to WAKE UP and get into the modern age.

I think these are all really good points to keep in mind. Personally, I'm in the "disconnect!!" camp most of the time when I'm on a trip; on the Disneyland trip I did with my housemate I got online once per day to post a couple photos and a tongue-in-cheek summary of what we'd done that day on Facebook, but other than that I was offline and mentally present. On my cruise in January I didn't even look at any of the data packages; I'd left the contact info for the ship with my housemate and I trusted her to take care of anything short of a genuine emergency that would justify whatever charges we'd incur if she had to contact me that way. And that was great; it was really refreshing to just be totally absent from social media for most of a week.

But...when I got back on land on that solo cruise trip, I turned right around and spent my entire day at WDW posting live updates to social media to poke fun at things I'd seen and things I was doing, because once I left the environment of the ship I was no longer really engaging in regular conversation with the people physically around me and wanted to chat about what was going on around me. And I don't see what's wrong with that, and it's not that I "don't realize" that I'm addicted to social media, or that I'm incapable of switching it off (see accounts of week-long disconnects above). I know I spend a lot of time online; this is not a surprise to me. What is a surprise to me is that people feel the need to criticize anyone who doesn't want to totally disconnect, and to make assumptions about their reasons for choosing not to do so (well, that's a lie; I'm not surprised so much as disappointed). And...well, to use the platform of an internet message board dedicated to a niche interest to criticize people for being too invested in social media. And that's completely leaving aside the question of wanting connectivity for reasons that have nothing to do with social media, which is an enormous thing to set aside. Or people may want to be able to reliably communicate with other people on board using their phones; we've had long discussions on this board about how the text chat in the DCL app only works if it's running in the foreground of your phone, making it seriously unreliable compared to messenger apps that run in the background.

So while I'm not personally affected by the difficulty and expense of connecting at sea with DCL, and wouldn't be any more inclined to buy data packages even if they were actually good, I totally see why others might want that, and I don't get why "that doesn't bother me personally" has to come with a side of "and if it bothers you, you're vacationing incorrectly."
 
Our first cruise was a BLT incentive in '09. I tried to read everything. I'm prone to motion sickness so we chose mid-ship OV. We sailed a 3D Wonder and eh, wondered if we'd ever cruise again. It was just such a different experience we weren't even sure we enjoyed it. The years rolled by, the Dream replaced the Wonder and I talked him into trying one more time. This time we booked a veranda on the aft, per our TA's advice. We brought on our own beer and wine - no sneaking needed - and enjoyed the veranda. What a different experience. The ship felt roomier, the crew seemed friendlier and instead of going all the way to the adult beach we settled under some palms in the shade on the flat family beach section close to the bar and across from the BBQ. We had such a great time.

So I wanted to do the NE/Canada cruise - our only sour note - the ship cruise people wouldn't book it and didn't suggest a placeholder. When we arrived home, I call our TA and told her what a great time we had and how disappointed I was we could re-book on the NE/Canada cruise. Well, she called me to say she could get us a gty if we wanted it in a OV room - and she also mentioned the placeholder, which I'd seen mentioned in the threads but totally forgot about. I tried to talk the BH into Princess which was $1K cheaper but no go, he had a great time on DCL and didn't want to 'rock the boat' :). So we sailed the Magic - not the gty as we found a 5D (I like the shorter cruises) with a veranda. As we'd only been on two 3D's I tossed a 4D in the middle to see how we handled the sea days and it was very relaxing.

I had read about the 2 stop at Castaway and talked him into letting me do a placeholder while we were on the Magic and bibibity boppity boo June 2019 we used our placeholder to book the 2 stop at Castaway. He says its our last cruise cause they're so expensive. We talked to people who told us we're going to be disappointed with any other cruise line after DCL - not sure about that but don't know if we'll ever find out. Both my sisters and daughter have cruised on RCL, Celebrity and Carnival respectively and none cared for the experience so won't cruise again.

I will say that we're drinkers and even with what we carry on board our bar bill usually runs about $250/day ... or more :). We usually turn the cells off but while I'm napping he was texting with our daughter - so I found a $19 international call on our next phone invoice = oh well.
 

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