What's your experience on the Disney Cruise Line

[Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Bo]

I will def let you know! According to everyones comments it seems like they have the adults and children pretty well seperated in their own areas of the boat. It's Disney though, so children are expected.... If I were you I would just go once and see how it is, seems like everyone whose been on one has loved it!

Originally Posted by SCUBAbe

The one thing that stops me from going on a Disney cruise is the kids. I know there are adult only areas on the ship, but I don't think that will be enough.

I will be interested to hear how your cruise goes. I hope you have a blast!

[Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Bo]

nightlife shuts down at midnight?

Originally Posted by MarkTwain

And yep... in regards to the nightlife, the ship basically shuts down at midnight. Sorry about that.

Anyway, I also hope you have a great cruise! The Western Caribbean was almost definitely my favorite.

[Gino USMC]

I read that there is atleast one club that is open till 0200!

[Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Bo]

Yay- MY FIRST CLUB EXPERIENCE on the Disney Cruise, it better be a GOOOOOOD!

Originally Posted by Gino USMC

I read that there is atleast one club that is open till 0200!

[Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Bo]

It's gettin' closer! October is almost here, and I am extremely excited about it! You mentioned the Western Cruise was your favorite, what stood out the most over all on that cruise? What was your favorite restaurant on the ship? Did you do any excursions? (I've purchased a book and there a TON of excursions, if you did some on different ports which did you like the most?)

Originally Posted by MarkTwain

7-day Disney cruises are the best kind! The food is outstanding, and you'll get to eat dinner at each restaurant multiple times.... as a hint, whatever the chef recommends is probably excellent. I also prefer the later seating, for it allows you to go the stage show, mingle in the atrium for a bit and then go to dinner. Typically in a day at sea I'll do activities around the ship, maybe go the pool, get food or play shuffleboard on the decks, go the show, get dinner, and then back to the decks for a movie or a nightcap. Activities can tend to be kid/family-oriented, but you'll have no problem finding something for you. I would check out larger excursions before you board so you can research them a bit, but what you do is up to you. I'm sure you'll have a great vacation!

[Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Bo]

Which Disney Cruise did you go on?

Originally Posted by steamboatpete

Food: very good
Excursions: comparable to other lines
Shows: superior to all other lines
Kids' activities: superior to all other lines
Nightlife: fairly dead

[MarkTwain]

Originally Posted by Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Bo

It's gettin' closer! October is almost here, and I am extremely excited about it! You mentioned the Western Cruise was your favorite, what stood out the most over all on that cruise? What was your favorite restaurant on the ship? Did you do any excursions? (I've purchased a book and there a TON of excursions, if you did some on different ports which did you like the most?)

Heh, sorry, been away from the DCL forums for a while. For me, what made the Western Caribbean magical were the ports of call. We went to Costa Maya, and saw real Mayan ruins. They were very impressive... the site was called Kohunlich. If you are stopping in Costa Maya, I would highly recommend going on a similar excursion, especially if you enjoy history or exotic places, like I do. We also stopped at Cozumel, where I got to test out my Spanish for the first time, which was exciting. And our cruise was special in that we got to stop at Castaway Cay twice in the same cruise, which may have been the best part of the whole trip.

Now as for excursions, that's all up to you. My family, who I travel with, usually balance between paying for excursions and just getting off the ships for free and walking around. If you stop at someplace without much to do, like Costa Maya, it's probably a good idea to book an excursion that you like. At a larger city, like Cozumel, it's easy to find something to do spontaneously, just walking off the boat. And of course, there's always the nice option of not leaving the ship, and sitting by the pool. So I would recommend taking the time and checking out the available excursions for each port of call, and see what works for you.

And for restaurants, they're all so different, in a great way. The most amazing is Animator's Palate, which I'm sure you've heard, turns from black-and-white to color throughout the course of the meal. What you might not have heard about is the music, which corresponds to the whole show, and for me makes the experience the most impressive. It starts very lightly, and becomes much more dramatic as the colors change. The only drawbacks to this restaurant are, the show only plays the first time you eat there, so make sure you're there for that meal. The other problem is, sometimes the show is so amazing, it's hard to focus on eating. The other restaurants are also very enjoyable, in different ways. Parrot Cay is more casual and colorful, with a fun and tropical atmosphere. They sometimes entertain you with salsa dancing or a conga line, if I remember correctly... it's fun. And then there's Lumiere's, which is very elegant, and IMO has the most exquisite food. I love eating in Lumiere's, because I always know I'm in for a treat. It's also a bit more formal than the rest. Finally, if you want to eat at Palo, you should book it almost as soon as you get on board, as it fills up quick. I haven't eaten there personally, but I've heard good things about it. Just remember not to book it on the same night of your first meal at Animator's Palate

Wow, that was long.

[Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Bo]

Costa Maya sounds very interesting. I'll have to read more about that one, I have to be honest I might of passed that one when looking at all the ports for the Western Cruise. As for the spanish yikes! So many years of spanish and I still can't get by! (Yup that's BAD I know!) I've heard so much about Castaway Cay, I am super excited about that port in particular! (Perhaps because thats Disneys private island) I've been reading a lot about each stop, this way we are better prepared and not too overwhelmed when we arrive.

The book I just purchased was really helpful in providing the information for the excurisions, but I wanted to see what others liked and didnt liked on their excurisions just to get a better idea of what to expect.

Palo is def on my list of where to eat! MMMmmm.... I've been reading really great reviews on that! Parrot Cay was really low on the voting poll though.

Well there is a first time for everything Thank you for all your help!

Originally Posted by MarkTwain

Heh, sorry, been away from the DCL forums for a while. For me, what made the Western Caribbean magical were the ports of call. We went to Costa Maya, and saw real Mayan ruins. They were very impressive... the site was called Kohunlich. If you are stopping in Costa Maya, I would highly recommend going on a similar excursion, especially if you enjoy history or exotic places, like I do. We also stopped at Cozumel, where I got to test out my Spanish for the first time, which was exciting. And our cruise was special in that we got to stop at Castaway Cay twice in the same cruise, which may have been the best part of the whole trip.

Now as for excursions, that's all up to you. My family, who I travel with, usually balance between paying for excursions and just getting off the ships for free and walking around. If you stop at someplace without much to do, like Costa Maya, it's probably a good idea to book an excursion that you like. At a larger city, like Cozumel, it's easy to find something to do spontaneously, just walking off the boat. And of course, there's always the nice option of not leaving the ship, and sitting by the pool. So I would recommend taking the time and checking out the available excursions for each port of call, and see what works for you.

And for restaurants, they're all so different, in a great way. The most amazing is Animator's Palate, which I'm sure you've heard, turns from black-and-white to color throughout the course of the meal. What you might not have heard about is the music, which corresponds to the whole show, and for me makes the experience the most impressive. It starts very lightly, and becomes much more dramatic as the colors change. The only drawbacks to this restaurant are, the show only plays the first time you eat there, so make sure you're there for that meal. The other problem is, sometimes the show is so amazing, it's hard to focus on eating. The other restaurants are also very enjoyable, in different ways. Parrot Cay is more casual and colorful, with a fun and tropical atmosphere. They sometimes entertain you with salsa dancing or a conga line, if I remember correctly... it's fun. And then there's Lumiere's, which is very elegant, and IMO has the most exquisite food. I love eating in Lumiere's, because I always know I'm in for a treat. It's also a bit more formal than the rest. Finally, if you want to eat at Palo, you should book it almost as soon as you get on board, as it fills up quick. I haven't eaten there personally, but I've heard good things about it. Just remember not to book it on the same night of your first meal at Animator's Palate

Wow, that was long.

[Gino USMC]

I expect to be getting a balcony room dude!

[Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Bo]

Hey MarkTwain!

So my next question is which stateroom did ya stay in? Did you enjoy the rooms?

Originally Posted by MarkTwain

7-day Disney cruises are the best kind! The food is outstanding, and you'll get to eat dinner at each restaurant multiple times.... as a hint, whatever the chef recommends is probably excellent. I also prefer the later seating, for it allows you to go the stage show, mingle in the atrium for a bit and then go to dinner. Typically in a day at sea I'll do activities around the ship, maybe go the pool, get food or play shuffleboard on the decks, go the show, get dinner, and then back to the decks for a movie or a nightcap. Activities can tend to be kid/family-oriented, but you'll have no problem finding something for you. I would check out larger excursions before you board so you can research them a bit, but what you do is up to you. I'm sure you'll have a great vacation!

[Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Bo]

Of course, I'm expecting it too... Noob.

Originally Posted by Gino USMC

I expect to be getting a balcony room dude!

[Dustysage]

Originally Posted by MarkTwain

And yep... in regards to the nightlife, the ship basically shuts down at midnight.

That doesn't really bother me (I more or less shut down at midnight as well ). If the food and shows are good and the ship is clean and well appointed, that is the most important thing to me. That they try to keep the kids occupied with their own activities is wonderful (keep them busy and tired).

I'm desperate to try a Disney cruise. Thinking about using my Disney Vacation Club points for either a cruise or an Adventure by Disney next year. Either way, I'm sure it will be wonderful.

[Gino USMC]

Originally Posted by Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Bo

Of course, I'm expecting it too... Noob.

Your the noob dude. Your supposed to post your response after the quote, duh!

[Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Bo]

I like to be different. Thanks for telling me 100 posts later! ppppfffffffppppppppppppp

Originally Posted by Gino USMC

Your the noob dude. Your supposed to post your response after the quote, duh!

[alphabassetgrrl]

I've only been on one, but it was fantastic. We took the 15-day reposition cruise that went through the Panama canal.

Palo- awesome. Fantastic. I ate myself stupid (a rarity; I intended to keep from gaining any weight on the cruise and I made my goal). It was worth it.

Excursions: We had excursions in 4 of the 5 ports. Kind of hit and miss whether they were good or not; no real way to know ahead of time. Pick something that looks interesting, or decide you want to see the city.

Food in the dining rooms: I agree, I liked Lumiere's a lot. Animator's Palette was nice, too. Parrot Cay - the food was fine, but the atmosphere wasn't on a par with the other two.

Kids- had their own floor to hang out on, and their own pool. I'm not a huge fan of kids, and I was not really prepared for a zillion of them on the cruise, but they were kind of invisible. I think most of the time they stayed in the kid area, with things to play on, movies, and a mad-scientist lab. I almost never saw kids. Then again, the reposition cruise, which was May, didn't have a lot of kids on board. I think most of them were still in school.

Activities on board- I frequently wanted to clone myself. They had wine tastings, tequila tastings, cheese seminar and tasting, talks, movies... I forget all the things they had, but you could stay busy if you wanted to. Or you can spend the time on deck getting some sun.

I really want to go again.