How are the Disney cruises?

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TINKERTOY ..... the 1 & only

I have never been on a Disney cruise but I know this about Disney cruise line. They have two ships that do a very limited set of itineraries in the Caribbean, Bahamas, and through the Panama Canal to California and the Mexico ports. That is versus other cruise lines like Norwegian, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess and others who have 15 to 20 ships each and do cruises all over the East and West coast( Alaska, Hawaii, and Mexico) the Caribbean, Europe, South America, and Europe. So with Disney your options for dates and times for a cruise to Mexico will be very limited (remember, just 2 ships).

From reading and the travel channel shows I have seen that Disney has great ships, but really no better than any that the other lines I have mentioned. While Disney has all of the Disney characters on ship and great programs for kids, it is NOT the only ship for kids.

Royal Caribbean has Kids programs called Adventure Ocean where they will have kids in the same age range participate in daily supervised activities in special areas on ships. On some ships the teens even have their own disco area. Carnival also has kids programs, called Camp Carnival for ages 2 to 11, and Circle C for ages 12 to 14, and Club 02 for 15 to 17 year olds. Princess has Youth and Teen programs for kids ages 3 to 17. Norwegian has Kids Crew programs for kids ages 2 to 17. So do not pick Disney because you think it is the only cruise line that has something for your son.

My favorite line is Royal Caribbean and it is a very family friendly line. Its new ships, Freedom of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas, and soon to be launches Independence of the Seas, have something for everyone. Disney has adults only areas on its ships and on its private island. So do many of the other cruise lines have adults only pool and hot tub areas.

I suggest that you search the cruise line web sites for cruises going where you want to go (or have a travel agent do it for you ...... agents get paid by the cruise line and thus do not charge a fee, except maybe for booking airline tickets). Then after you look at your options decide whether Disney or some other line is best for your cruise.

Tivogal

disneycruise.disney.go.com

they are really nice. they treat guests well. Entertainment is what you would expect of Disney(Very nice) . good luck

Chloe

Disney Cruises are great - especially if you're a disney fan. EVERYTHING is disneyfied. They have great ships, great shows, food, pools, etc. But if you are looking to save money I'd recomend just going on a Royal Caribbean 7 day cruise because its about half the price of a Disney 4 day Cruise.

Either way, any cruise is a blast! Have fun =)

thor

Disney cruises are great for younger kids. I don't know how old your step son is but most younger kids love it. Adults have fun on them to but tend to get tired of the millions of kids running around. It's definitely a family friend cruise line. The Mexico cruises are usually 3-5 days with 2 or 3 ports.

Life is Sweet

I love the Disney Cruise line, they are so much fun. We took my dgter for her 9th birthday and she still talks about it 2 years later.
The best thing about it was that we did not have to get all dressed up for the formal dinner. It was very nice.
The disney private Island was the best.
Loved it, we are going again for her 13th birthday..
4 of us went for under $2000, with a oceanview (portal window).
You cannot find a cruise line that will cater to you the way Disney will...
Food was good also, and your stepson will love you for it

Duane T

We were just on the Disney Cruise Ship Magic. It was by far the best vacation we ever had. Disney is very well organized from the moment you land at the airport (we bought ground transfers) to the boarding process, shore excursions, dining experiences in different theme restaurants, shows every night, daily activities for adults, families, kids only, couples and singles/single parents.

The Disney cruise website has really good information and alot of details to research. You can also order their DVD, but their book at the local bookstore, and see good/critical reviews on www.cruisecritic.com. The good and bad reviews that are available on each cruise line and each cruise ship helps prepare before your trip.

Good Luck and have fun.

My daughter and I took my grandson on a Disney cruise when he was 8 - after 6 frenzied days at DisneyWorld. The ships are beautiful, the food really good and everything is well-organized. My grandson had a BLAST and we hardly ever saw him. The ships are geared to families and children and they do it right.

I, personally, wouldn't ever go on one of their ships again. Neither would my daughter...for the following reasons:

1. It is WAY expensive. There are so many other cruiselines that are a lot more reasonably priced with wonderful children's programs. I take my grandson once a year (he's 16 now but has been going with me since he was 9). We go Carnival. He always loved Camp Carnival and had the best time. Now he is a teener and takes part in the Club 02 teen program which is sensational. They have their own disco, meeting rooms, activities and shore excursions...He loves it.

2. I will never again be on a ship with 1000 (more or less) children. Disney is a great experience for the kids - but for adults? That's a whole 'nother story. There is NO casino, the main pools are over run with children - mostly screaming, yelling and being disruptive. Parents loose their ability to parent aboard ship, it seems. I love kids and raised 4 of my own....but I don't want to cruise with hordes of them anymore.

3. The are way too many "no, you can't do that" on Disney ships. Too many rules. I understand that they must be cautious and careful when transporting kids, but some of their rules are beyond my ability to understand.

4. I prefer a more relaxing, adult cruise experience. I don't want moving "stuffed animals" in my face all the time. I don't want smiling, young "cruise attendants" telling me that the bars don't open until noon or that you can't take drinks away from the bar. I don't want to be told when to eat, when to sleep, when to go ashore.

If your son is young enough, he will love it. You will certainly pay for the experience. Unless you have some reason to want the Disney experience, I suggest you try another cruise line.. Royal Caribbean has a great kids program, Carnival has too. Your son with have a GREAT time - and your adult vacation dreams can be realized too.

phillipa_gordon

We literally just got off of a 7-day Disney cruise on the Western Carribean itinerary (Key West, Grand Cayman, Cozumel Mexico, & their Bahamian island Castaway Cay). We have a 4-year-old son. The kids programs are really great, but you need to take a lot of advantage of them & then go do the adult-only activities (pools, bars, dining) in order to feel like you've had any vacation at all. There are children everywhere and a thousand things going on (perfect if you have ADHD kids!), but if you want any relaxation at all on vacation, please choose another line. Disney's restaurants serve some very good food (but I thought the food on Princess was better). The rooms are nice & you can curtain off the "kids" part of the room from the "parents" part of the room, and they have tubs with showers, which no other line has. If your child is past taking baths, you won't care about this feature. The shows are of excellant quality, maybe the best we've seen at sea, but they are very kid-orientated and are taken from the familiar Disney stories -- Beauty & the Beast, Little Mermaid, Cinderella, etc. The Disney characters are periodically around the ship for pictures -- Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, etc. Again, I can't imagine a child older than about 12 liking any of this.

Finally, price -- Disney is an expensive cruise. Regardless of the prices they shoe per cabin, there are literally thousands of ways that Disney gets more $$ from you. Here's the complete truth: we booked a Category 5 Deluxe Stateroom w/ Veranda (Balcony) with airfare, transfers, & insurance. This cost $5500. You can save $$ by getting a lower class stateroom, but I've cruise in both inside, outside, & balcony cabins, and a balcony in the Caribbean is so-o nice! Also, you can get better airfare prices & try to arrange your own transfer between Orlando Airport & Port Canaveral, but the latter is a 45-minute trip, so it's an expensive taxi ride. We got the airfare, transfer, & insurance through Disney so that if their arrangements goofed up, they were responsible for getting us to the ship or reimbursing us.

More price stuff-- okay, so we paid for the cruise, food, kids clubs (we didn't use babysitting, which is for 0-3 only). Next, unlike other cruise lines, soft drinks from a machine are free, but you have to pay for ones in cans(??). All alcoholic dirnks are extra. And shore excursions, if you want to do extra stuff at ports, are extra, and you pay plenty for them. Probably Disney has the most expensive short excursions I've seen (as opposed to Princess & Celebrity, the other lines we've travelled). Tips are extra,as well, unlike Holland America. For shore excursions, alcohol, tips (room service, dining room waitstaff, & cabin steward), photos, souvenirs, & 1 massage, we spent $1300. So, our 7-day Western Caribbean cruise cost $6800.

Compare this to our 7-day Western Caribbean on Princess in a cheap inside cabin (for 2 people, no child then!) was (for all those things including airfare, transfers, souvenirs, etc.) $3800. Big difference.

Don't get me wrong -- we had a great time! But Disney is NOT a cheap cruise, it's a fun, entertaining cruise that the kids will love & the parents will enjoy enough to only grumble about the bills later, as opposed to during the trip. Would we do it again? I guess if I had a spare $7000 hanging around! But that takes us 5 years to save for (this was our 1st vacation in 5 years), so I'd be hard pressed to wait 5 more years for my next vacation!!!

Hope this helps!

Cruisefreak

There ALOT of fun we have been on 5 of them. Worth the money but like the other guy said very limited. we have done all there cruises except Cali and the Med. Last time we Cruised With them was in 2004 so things might have changed.
There is free soda which more cruises make u pay. tons of stuff for the kids. We feel alot safer with the. stuff for adults to do. better shows instead of those boring shows other cruise lines put on. Kept Neat and clean. Kids Food is great.food in general is great (ALOT BETTER THAN DISNEY PARKS) Second Seating we think is alot better than 1 seating. the Split bathrooms are very convienent

Anthony

Check with your travel Agency

Nikkiâ™¥

Well basically going on a Disney ship and not spending five zillion$$ is extremely rare...disney is one of the most expenisive popular cruise lines...they have a very limited itenary and sailing dates...it is worth the money with all of the service that you get, but there are so many better cruise lines that give you the same cruising experience, but way less than the price...i did a little research to show you what im talking about....

With double occupancy, on the Disney cruise line, the cheapest inside cabin would be $899 - $2,099

On Royal Carribean cruise line, the cheapest inside cabin would be $664.00 based on double occupancy

these are both cruises to the eastern carribean

Royal Carribean goes to San Juan, Puerto Rico; Oranjestad, Aruba; Willemstad, Curacao; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas; San Juan, Puerto Rico

and Disney goes to St. Maarten, St. Thomas, St. John and Disney's Castaway Cay

These dates are early Janauary for both cruises

Don't believe me?

Disney-

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/dcl/en_US/cruises/rates?name=7NightEasternCaribbeanCruiseRatesPage

Royal Carribean-

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/cruiseDetails/itineraryAndPricing.do;jsessionid=0000cdekbpFPZmp3KTEZddf8vUE:12hdhu87a?packageCode=AD7SCSJ3&sailDate=1080106&date=ANY&selectedCurrencyCode=USD&promoType=

Do you see what I mean?

Disney is a great cruise line for kids, but I think that Royal Carribean is so much better....there is so much more to do on Royal Carribean, for so much less money...

More about Disney:

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/dcl/en_US/onboard/overview?name=OnboardOverviewPage

and Royal Carribean:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/ships/home.do;jsessionid=0000cdekbpFPZmp3KTEZddf8vUE:12hdhu87a?cS=NAVBAR

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/cabinclass/home.do;jsessionid=0000cdekbpFPZmp3KTEZddf8vUE:12hdhu87a?cS=NAVBAR

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/experiencetypes/home.do;jsessionid=0000cdekbpFPZmp3KTEZddf8vUE:12hdhu87a?cS=NAVBAR

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/ports/home.do;jsessionid=0000cdekbpFPZmp3KTEZddf8vUE:12hdhu87a?cS=NAVBAR

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/destinations/home.do;jsessionid=0000cdekbpFPZmp3KTEZddf8vUE:12hdhu87a?cS=NAVBAR

Now with reviews, I found a lot of reviews for each cruise line...I'll give you a link for both and you read people's experiences....like I told you, Disney is a great cruise line, if you want to spend a fortune...here are some reviews that i found:

Disney cruise line:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/cruiseline.cfm?CruiseLineID=16

Disney Magic:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=33

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=33

Disney Wonder:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=149

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=149

Royal Carribean cruise line:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/cruiseline.cfm?CruiseLineID=32

Adventure of the Seas:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=192

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=192

Brilliance of the Seas:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=261

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=261

Empress of the Seas:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=78

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=78

Enchament of the Seas:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=73

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=73

Explorer of the Seas:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=186

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=186

Grandeur of the Seas:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=74

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=74

Jewel of the Seas:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=307

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=307

Legend of the Seas:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=75

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=75

Liberty of the Seas:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=389

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=389

Majesty of the Seas:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=76

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=76

Mariner of the Seas:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=274

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=274

Monarch of the Seas:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=77

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=77

Navigator of the Seas:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=264

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=264

Radiance of the Seas:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=170

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=170

Rhapsody of the Seas:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=79

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=79

Serenade of the Seas:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=282

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=282

Sovereign of the Seas:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=80

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=80

Splendour of the Seas:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=81

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=81

Vision of the Seas:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=83

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=83

Voyager of the Seas:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=105

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=105

I hope that I helped you make a decision, and if you have any further questions, I will be more than happy to help you- just send me a message!!

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