Sailing Childfree on Disney!
May 19th, 2009, 05:27 AM
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Sailing Childfree on Disney!
Are we craZiE to sail with Disney without kids?!!? Well, we booked anyways since I'm a Disnut and some of our friends were doing this same cruise. Turned out to be a wonderful cruise with lots of opportunities to get away from the kids onboard.
It was fun to watch kids enjoy the magic of the Mickey and Goofy onboard, especially during the 2 deck parties. Our friends had a hard time getting their kids to leave the Kids' Club activities, and of course the kid and family pools looked crowded whenever we passed by.
The 18+ yr old areas are well-signed and monitored. In the front of the ship the adult-only pool & hot tubs are surrounded by an enclosed cappuccino cafe (additional cost for the specialty coffees but the pastries and hor d'oeuvres are included) and a regular bar that faces the pool. Lots of lounge chairs around on either side. The niteclubs (lounge, dance club, piano bar) are adults only after 9pm.
As anticipated there are fewer children at the second dining time, 8:15pm. There are 3 main dining rooms and guests rotate thru a dining room each nite with their serving team so that was unique. Our servers were good.
Overall, the food was good, not excellent. We thought dinner at 2 of the 3 restaurants were excellent, and in the other restaurant (Parrot Cay), where we ate twice, some elements were hit or miss so it actually felt like we were eating mass produced food. The breakfast buffet was good but the breakfast and lunch in the restaurants were much better than the buffet.
Always lots of food options available if one did not want to go to the main dining rooms. The buffet did not have a dress code. And paninis, wraps, sandwiches, fresh fruit, pizza, burgers, hot dogs, chicken fingers, ice cream were available from 7am to quite late from counter service locales. A hot and cold beverage station and room service were available 24hr. It was fab to have this all included in the price and not feeling like being nickel and dimed to death (on a Princess cruise years ago, I remember having to pay for ice cream & pizza). Outside the niteclubs at about 11pm, a small buffet of desserts and appetizers were set up each nite. After the Pirates of the Carribean deck party, where there's lots of stage entertainment, group dancing and even fireworks (Disney is the only cruise line that is allowed to shoot off fireworks), there was a large dessert buffet set up.
For adult entertainment, there is no casino onboard, and the only downside to the cruise was the lacking nite life. Apart from one nite where our group closed down karaoke at 2am, not much was going on in the open clubs.
Our cabin felt quite large with a separate area between the bed and verandah that had a fold out couch in it. Our rooms steward was exceptional, leaving towel animals (gorilla hanging from a hanger, etc.) to greet us upon our return. Also loved the H2O Spa toiletries.
Disney knows how to add magic thru special touches throughout the cruise and the cruise staff seemed sincere in their interactions to provide a memorable cruise experience. They do all the things you'd expect (e.g., being polite and helpful when answering questions) but they also go out of their way to make you feel unique. For example, one of our port days was spent at Castaway Cay (Disney's private island - a paradise for sure, complete with great snorkelling right at the adult-only beach!). The Capt's assistant led a 5K run first thing that morning. And 2 days later on the last nite of the cruise when the staff were in their dress uniforms, the Capt.'s assistant came up to me to ask me how the rest of my run was. I would not have recognized her out of her running clothes and I was dressed up as well so I was surprised she recognized me too, let alone 2 days later out of the 2000+ passengers!
There's a lot of scheduled activities on the ship well organized by age group so it's easy to scan and decide what to do. Some of the evening shows are Broadway quality.
Disney definitely knows how to manage queues and the check-in and debarkation processes are hassle-free and quick.
We had a wonderful time and our 4 day Bahama cruise went too fast!
It was fun to watch kids enjoy the magic of the Mickey and Goofy onboard, especially during the 2 deck parties. Our friends had a hard time getting their kids to leave the Kids' Club activities, and of course the kid and family pools looked crowded whenever we passed by.
The 18+ yr old areas are well-signed and monitored. In the front of the ship the adult-only pool & hot tubs are surrounded by an enclosed cappuccino cafe (additional cost for the specialty coffees but the pastries and hor d'oeuvres are included) and a regular bar that faces the pool. Lots of lounge chairs around on either side. The niteclubs (lounge, dance club, piano bar) are adults only after 9pm.
As anticipated there are fewer children at the second dining time, 8:15pm. There are 3 main dining rooms and guests rotate thru a dining room each nite with their serving team so that was unique. Our servers were good.
Overall, the food was good, not excellent. We thought dinner at 2 of the 3 restaurants were excellent, and in the other restaurant (Parrot Cay), where we ate twice, some elements were hit or miss so it actually felt like we were eating mass produced food. The breakfast buffet was good but the breakfast and lunch in the restaurants were much better than the buffet.
Always lots of food options available if one did not want to go to the main dining rooms. The buffet did not have a dress code. And paninis, wraps, sandwiches, fresh fruit, pizza, burgers, hot dogs, chicken fingers, ice cream were available from 7am to quite late from counter service locales. A hot and cold beverage station and room service were available 24hr. It was fab to have this all included in the price and not feeling like being nickel and dimed to death (on a Princess cruise years ago, I remember having to pay for ice cream & pizza). Outside the niteclubs at about 11pm, a small buffet of desserts and appetizers were set up each nite. After the Pirates of the Carribean deck party, where there's lots of stage entertainment, group dancing and even fireworks (Disney is the only cruise line that is allowed to shoot off fireworks), there was a large dessert buffet set up.
For adult entertainment, there is no casino onboard, and the only downside to the cruise was the lacking nite life. Apart from one nite where our group closed down karaoke at 2am, not much was going on in the open clubs.
Our cabin felt quite large with a separate area between the bed and verandah that had a fold out couch in it. Our rooms steward was exceptional, leaving towel animals (gorilla hanging from a hanger, etc.) to greet us upon our return. Also loved the H2O Spa toiletries.
Disney knows how to add magic thru special touches throughout the cruise and the cruise staff seemed sincere in their interactions to provide a memorable cruise experience. They do all the things you'd expect (e.g., being polite and helpful when answering questions) but they also go out of their way to make you feel unique. For example, one of our port days was spent at Castaway Cay (Disney's private island - a paradise for sure, complete with great snorkelling right at the adult-only beach!). The Capt's assistant led a 5K run first thing that morning. And 2 days later on the last nite of the cruise when the staff were in their dress uniforms, the Capt.'s assistant came up to me to ask me how the rest of my run was. I would not have recognized her out of her running clothes and I was dressed up as well so I was surprised she recognized me too, let alone 2 days later out of the 2000+ passengers!
There's a lot of scheduled activities on the ship well organized by age group so it's easy to scan and decide what to do. Some of the evening shows are Broadway quality.
Disney definitely knows how to manage queues and the check-in and debarkation processes are hassle-free and quick.
We had a wonderful time and our 4 day Bahama cruise went too fast!
May 19th, 2009, 09:04 AM
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Well, I am back. Sorry, but this is one of the worst cruise websites! It doesn't show the schedule, you cannot see a list of cruises unless you pick out destination AND month!
WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?? I'd really like to see their European cruises, but...
WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?? I'd really like to see their European cruises, but...
May 19th, 2009, 09:35 AM
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YMW - glad someone read it 
Yea, Disney has amazing Imagineers and technology but they have the lousiest websites!! If you go to their cruise website:
http://tinyurl.com/9embq
On the red bar across the top, the first 'tab' 'Cruises' (before Onboard and Ports of Call) has a drop down of the different cruise regions...you can choose your itin from there.
Enjoy-la!
Yea, Disney has amazing Imagineers and technology but they have the lousiest websites!! If you go to their cruise website:
http://tinyurl.com/9embq
On the red bar across the top, the first 'tab' 'Cruises' (before Onboard and Ports of Call) has a drop down of the different cruise regions...you can choose your itin from there.
Enjoy-la!
Jul 10th, 2009, 06:40 PM
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As a fellow Disney Nut and a parent of an 8 year old I have to say that there is plenty to do for adults.
My daughter loves the kids program, we never see her, she is always in there having fun with her new friends. Which gives us some much needed adult time. And let me say that there is plenty to do. Now, yes you have to have a like of Disney to go on the cruise. You do not have to be a Disney Fanatic like me, but a like for Disney is a plus.
Route 66 is the "Adults" only section of the ship and at night no kids are allowed. They have a few bars some with some real cool talent in them.
I say if your a kid at heart and like Disney, go for it, you will have fun.
Now the food was not what I expected. That is the only negative. Everything else about the cruise was awesome. Like the little things, getting on the ship. We walked right on, virtually no wait. This is the best, when you have been on RCL and others where you wait 1-3 hours to get on the ship (We waited 2 hours to get on a RCL ship three years ago)
Pick an itinerary that you will like. I live in Florida so the sun and beaches is boring. The Bahamas, while nice is not what we like. But Disney has so much else to offer.
Next year they will have year round West Coast cruises. Plus they have a new ship coming out in 2010, and the next one coming out 2011.
Do not use the Disney site except for the hard information. If you want to know about the ships, search google, there are plenty of fan sites out there that detail each and every aspect of the cruise.
You will have fun.
My daughter loves the kids program, we never see her, she is always in there having fun with her new friends. Which gives us some much needed adult time. And let me say that there is plenty to do. Now, yes you have to have a like of Disney to go on the cruise. You do not have to be a Disney Fanatic like me, but a like for Disney is a plus.
Route 66 is the "Adults" only section of the ship and at night no kids are allowed. They have a few bars some with some real cool talent in them.
I say if your a kid at heart and like Disney, go for it, you will have fun.
Now the food was not what I expected. That is the only negative. Everything else about the cruise was awesome. Like the little things, getting on the ship. We walked right on, virtually no wait. This is the best, when you have been on RCL and others where you wait 1-3 hours to get on the ship (We waited 2 hours to get on a RCL ship three years ago)
Pick an itinerary that you will like. I live in Florida so the sun and beaches is boring. The Bahamas, while nice is not what we like. But Disney has so much else to offer.
Next year they will have year round West Coast cruises. Plus they have a new ship coming out in 2010, and the next one coming out 2011.
Do not use the Disney site except for the hard information. If you want to know about the ships, search google, there are plenty of fan sites out there that detail each and every aspect of the cruise.
You will have fun.
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