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I just discovered this thread, but happy to see some other Disney Cruise Line travelers on here. I just got back from my 8th one (posted a trip report in the Disney for first-timers thread earlier), and already pre-booked No. 9 for January 2021 on the Dream. The only reason I don't mind budgeting aggressively to afford DCL cruises is because you see that DCL spares no expense on maintenance and upkeep overall, and the food and amenities are deluxe, and what I'd expect for the price. Plus, even it one DCL cruise could be 2 or 3 on another line, my wife and I will never have the time to actually do that second or third cruise, so we just treat ourselves.
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Feb 16, 2020 05:36
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I'm also among the ones stalking cruise rates to see if we can get our Platinum status on Disney faster than originally planned. We were notified over the weekend that we could book a 4-night on the Dream in May for a little under $800/person in a deluxe stateroom. We were gauging about a $200-$400 savings just on that. And I'm late to Carnival chat, but if you're going to sail Carnival it's all about managing your expectations. If you take one their 3 or 4-night cruises at a bargain price from one of the smaller ports like NOLA, Galveston, Tampa or Mobile, you're going to have a lot of folks who wear college sports fan gear as their "fancy clothes" everywhere you go. It's definitely a lower common denominator. If you're sailing one of those, you're also probably going to be on a 25 to 30-year old ship. The Carnival ship that sails out of Mobile, the Carnival Fantasy, is literally the oldest one in their fleet at 30. My mom saw it from the highway and thought it was in for drydock, then I reminded her "no, that's the terminal. They're about to set sail." She couldn't believe how lovely it looked. The Liberty that I've seen out of Canaveral also looks fit to become an artificial reef soon than later. I did some research over the weekend to figure out what ever became of the Carnival Holiday, because that used to be the Mobile, Ala., ship before Carnival left town for a while in the late 00's. Apparently it's somehow still limping along in the south Pacific for some private cruise line, which is shocking. That ship was a piece of poo poo in 2004 when I sailed it. I can't imagine what it's like now. Coronavirus notwithstanding, I'd be happy to sail Carnival again on a 7-night sail, especially if I could leave my daughter with her grandparents and just spend a week poolside drinking the days away. Sometimes that's all I really want to do anyway. Although when it comes to white trash and/or loud drunks, you're going to encounter them on any cruise line.
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Mar 9, 2020 17:18
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You had that experience on the Valor? drat. It's not even *that* old (03-04?). Makes me wonder how much worse off the Conquest is from the last time I was on that class of Carnival ship in 2008. Back in the 90s my aunt and uncle went on cruises constantly. They would never sail a ship more than 8 years old because they swore they went to poo poo suddenly at about that point. But they also only sailed Carnival and RCL. Maybe they had the right idea? Vista is only 5 years old. So better get on it soon by their rationale.
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Mar 9, 2020 17:56
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poolside toaster posted:Everyone I know who's traveled a bunch out of the Gulf on one of these itinerary types refers to these as "Bubba cruises." Haha, I'll have to remember that. Perfect descriptor.
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Mar 11, 2020 01:27
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Going on my first cruise since Feb. 7, 2020 in just 16 days!  Boarding the Disney Wonder in San Diego for a 4-nighter. It was originally a 5-night sailing, but Disney suddenly shortened all the itineraries. My inlaws boarded the Fantasy a couple of days ago, and it was slashed from 7 to 4 nights. Anyhow, they threw a ton of incentives at us to stay on the sailing, including a 25% discount on a future sailing, a few hundred in stateroom credit and some other stuff I can't quite recall off hand. After this cruise, I'll be one away from Platinum status on DCL.
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Oct 4, 2021 18:49
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WhiteHowler posted:What's with the shortened itineraries? Is it just that most ports of call aren't letting cruise ships in yet, so there's nowhere for them to go? I've been wondering that for a while. We originally booked a cruise from NYC to Bermuda that would have been this week, but it was canceled outright. So we landed on the cruise happening next week, but it was shortened by one day. My inlaws had Caribbean sailing recently that was shortened from 7 to 4 nights. I'm sure there are myriad reasons for it, but I'm sure there is some financial calculus going on about fewer nights = more sailings = more guest fares. That would be my guess.
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Oct 12, 2021 21:36
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couldcareless posted:February Key West/Castaway Cay disney cruise from nola just got modified for us. Dropped both destinations, replaced with Cozumel and Costa Maya. drat, that's a bummer on the ports. I've been to Costa Maya and Cozumel way too many times, but at least Cozumel is a great place to get absolutely shitfaced on the cheap. Which DCL ship are you on for that one?
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Oct 13, 2021 22:02
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Trip Report! I'm back home from my ninth Disney Cruise, and first since the pandemic. Ship: Disney Wonder Sail Dates: Oct. 22 - 25 Sailed From: San Diego Port of Call: Cabo San Lucas, Mexico So for the purposes of this report and reviewing things, I'm mostly comparing our experiences to previous Disney cruises aboard each of the four ships. However, this was my third time on the Wonder, so I'll have plenty of ship-specific insights that I will try and make clear. If there is anything you'd like to know more about, just let me know! One other bit of background; this was originally booked as a 5-night cruise, but we were informed that it was reduced to a four-nighter about 6 weeks earlier. To stay on our sailing, we were given a generous stateroom credit for the current cruise, a 25% discount on a future sailing (we booked Alaska in 2022), and a future stateroom credit. Another couple of background notes... - This sailing was booked to approximately 52% capacity (out of 2500 max.). - A huge percentage of the crew had been pulled from other ships within the past 1-2 weeks. One cast member told us roughly 40% of the staff wasn't actually supposed to be on contract for the Wonder. Most of them, largely in the shops and dining, had been pulled from the Disney Dream (based in Port Canaveral). This led to a pretty weird vibe with the staff, but I'll get to that later. - There weren't that many kids on our sailing, which meant the family pool area was less than half full the entire trip. - This was a "Halloween on the High Seas" themed sailing, meaning the Halloween decorations were all out and a included a special deck party and night to dress in costumes for passengers. I'll detail some more of this in Events. ------------ Checking In, Boarding Process: In spite of COVID and new protocols, including a self-administered test, I never expected that I would be coming back to say that this was by far the easiest and fastest process we've ever encountered to get checked in and on the ship. The online check-in process eliminated a ton of time at the port and the only hiccup that we encountered was that our headshot photos wouldn't load on the handheld devices the staff was using. This wasn't a big deal, we just had to show our photo ID for a moment and all was well. After arriving, we grabbed our self-tests and were escorted to a booth to take them. It took less than 10 minutes, and we were told it could take between 45-minutes to an hour to get the test result. We actually ended up getting the result MUCH faster (approx. 30 min.) and got our result via email. I have to admit, that half hour was pretty stressful while we waited, tracing every step we had taken the previous few days in case it came back positive. Nevertheless, we were allowed to board and after arriving at the port terminal at 11:45, we were on board the ship in a little under an hour. For reference, we've never boarded in less than 90 minutes. ------------ Entertainment Shows: Apparently this is true across all the DCL ships right now, but we only had two shows onboard which were repeated. Frozen on nights 1 and 2, then Dreams on nights 3 and 4. We're not sure why this was, because there is usually a different show all four nights. We did not make it to Frozen, because I saw it on the Fantasy in Feb. 2020 and wasn't too interested, but we did watch Dreams for the first time in quite a long time, and it was the best rendition of the show we had experienced. It has definitely had a few updates with story, songs and props, but all for the better. Activities: This was, for me, the most surprising and disappointing aspect of the cruise. On every Disney sailing, we've done to this point, there have always been tons of activities to choose from. It was never uncommon to have too much to choose from and not getting to everything we wanted to do. But this time we could choose from trivia (Disney, Disney Tunes, Pixar), wine/beer/spirits tastings, or on the family end of the spectrum, a "learn to draw" or origami session. Basically, we just did a ton of trivia because I don't usually enjoy the arts and crafts stuff. Beyond that, there were the typical movie showings in the onboard Buena Vista theater, but we didn't take advantage of that because we already saw all the movies available, and usually only visit the theater on longer sailings (5+ days). But on our final day, at sea, we spent most of the afternoon just sort of wandering around aimlessly because there were so few planned activities. In the past, we've had days with bad weather where a port was canceled, and the activities crew would throw together an itinerary for the passengers that kept everything moving and lively as if it were planned all along. That wasn't the case this time, however. It was highly unusual, but I hope it is attributable to some staffing issues I mentioned earlier. ------------ Events Sailaway Party: I'm only noting this for past DCL cruisers, but there isn't one right now. So if you look forward to this party, it ain't there. Instead, Mickey and Minnie hang out in the lobby and do a little show for everyone as they board in groups. The Legend of the Pumpkin Tree (Halloween specific): This was our third time on a Halloween cruise, and the Legend of the Halloween Pumpkin Tree debuted in 2016. It's basically a giant tree with a face that occupies the lobby atrium and is the centerpiece for the whole theme and accompanying story. In the past, the tree would have no pumpkins in the branches at the start of the cruise, then by the end, it would be full and there was a special show with lighting effects and would be preceded by a spooky storyime about the Headless Horseman or something (I can't quite remember)... except none of that stuff is happening. The tree is fully loaded with pumpkins when you board, and it's just a photo opp spot for the time being. This is sad, because it is usually one of the better events on board when it's offered. Which means there is also no trick-or-treating for the kids at the moment. Halloween Deck Party: This used to be a really elaborate dance party on Deck 9 where the characters would come out, dance, interact with the kids, had an A/V element using the giant Funnel Vision screen... now it's just a brief show where the characters dance a bit, and that's it. The kids still had a blast, but if you're coming in expecting the old show, it's been reduced quite a bit. Pirate Night: A mainstay of DCL, Pirate Night is on EVERY Disney Cruise going all the way to the Big Red Boat days of the 80s and early 90s. If you've sensed a theme brewing on the other events, then you probably guessed this is massively scaled back. Basically, our experience was we went to dinner and some "pirates" invaded the meal in the middle "looking for recruits." They made some noise, and uh, just left. It was more awkward than anything. I'm also willing to bet that because we were in Animator's for dinner that we had a better experience because the pictures on the wall scrolled through decades of concept art from the Pirates of the Caribbean (ride AND movies), Treasure Planet, and every other pirate-themed Disney IP. We did get our usual Pirate NIght bandana in our room, but didn't use it. As you also probably guessed, the accompanying deck party that night didn't happen either. I assume COVID reasons, but I was surprised since they still had that little Halloween dance thing with the characters the night before. In past sailings, Pirate Night almost always led into the fireworks at sea, but it didn't, I guess, since there was no party. Fireworks at Sea: I wasn't actually sure whether to include this in Pirate Night or not, because that's usually what the fireworks are attached to. However, on this sailing the fireworks were not publicized at all for some reason. There was a lot of chatter and speculation about whether they would happen or not and what time, but it wasn't on the Navigator. Once we did get up to Deck 10 to watch it, they social distanced everyone, which seemed a little inconsistent with the rest of the handling of protocols outdoors, but whatever. Then the Funnel Vision screen just had "Ever After" on it with some music playing. No real show. Then at 10:30 or so, the fireworks show started, and 3 minutes and 20 seconds later, it was over. It was the shortest and most humble fireworks we've ever seen on a DCL cruise. There just wasn't much to it this time. ------------ Dinig - For this, I'm breaking it down by each different restaurant separately, and quick-service as a catch-all. But for quickie TLDR version: The food was great overall! If you've been a DCL cruiser before or considering your first one, you won't be disappointed at all. Quick Service: The new build-a-bowl option at Daisy's was really good, even if it didn't have a ton of options. It was also a pleasant surprise to see that the shawarma you can find on the Magic is now on the Wonder, too. Overall, the quick service has only gotten better since the last time I was on this ship in Jan. 2016. Triton's: The centrally located "royal" dining option at the heart of the ship, Triton's was... Triton's, and that's a good thing! If you've sailed DCL before, you can expect the same as always here. That said, there was an error on the Navigator Onboard app that had the incorrect dinner times listed, so since this was our first-night dinner, it was a bit of a mess in terms of timing and we were in there much later than we planned to be. But it was all good because it's not like there was much to do afterward anyway. Animator's Palet: We ended up with Animator's for back-to-back nights in the middle of the cruise. I was initially disappointed with this because I was hoping for a double-dip at Tianna's, but we enjoyed the updated animations on the video boards quite a lot. Typically, Animator's is our least favorite option and a night we had usually scheduled Palo, but this time it was significantly better overall, and the food, particularly the vegetarian and steak dishes, were outstanding. My wife had her favorite dish of the cruise, a vegetarian pasta dish, on the first night in Animator's. On the second night, we were treated to a test menu they're breaking in ahead of the 2-week Panama Canal cruise coming up. I don't recall everything we had, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Technically, that second round at Animator's was our "Pirate Night" dinner, but it was not the typical boring Pirate Night food I've learned to avoid. So Animator's earned high marks with us on this trip! Tianna's Place: Based on the Princess and the Frog movie, this was an excellent overall experience. My wife is from Baton Rouge, La., and I'm from Mobile, Ala. (about 130 miles from New Orelans), but both of us have very deep south Louisiana roots. For us, we appreciated that the food wasn't Disney trying to carbon copy Gulf Coast/Louisiana food, and instead, they provided interesting interpretations of old favorites like Shrimp and Grits. I had an amazing prime rib for dinner, and all the desserts were sensational -- especially the bananas foster one. The only real miss they had was the "Pork Sausage Boudin fritters." I've eaten a hell of a lot of boudin in my life, and that wasn't boudin. The flavor and texture inside the fritters were actually much, much closer to a blood sausage, which is something I swear you had to live through the Great Depression to actually enjoy. But the earthy taste and mealy texture (again, I'm 90% sure it was blood sausage) were not enjoyable. Other than that, the entire rest of the menu was stellar, and the dining entertainment with a jazz band and appearances by Tianna and Louis the Alligator were awesome. I cannot wait to eat here again in 2022. Palo: This is the up-charge, upscale dining option aboard all the Disney ships. It's an Italian restaurant inspired heavily by the cuisine of Venice, Italy. As many know, DCL changed the pricing for dinner, so for this cruise we only had brunch. We did the math, and it would have cost a drat fortune to get what I normally order for Palo dinner (rack of lamb, chocolate souffle, white bean soup, calamari). Sooo, no dinner for me. Brunch, however, was solid. I think it was a smidgen over-priced at $45/person, but nearly everything we had was very, very good. The service was stellar because my wife always wanted to try the grape pizza; something they discontinued a very long time ago. Nevertheless, they fired one up and she loved it! I wasn't crazy about it, but it was an objectively drat good pizza. They also made a chili oil for her, which isn't readily available anymore. The only miss here was the sirloin steak entree, because it was way too thin and overworked. The steaks I had at the regular, included dining options, were actually much better. Moving forward, I really hope brunch goes back to the old format I was accustomed to, and they put the dinner menu back the way it was. Until then, with the price increases and format changes, I don't believe the food is quite exceptional enough to warrant paying so much extra compared to what you already have included in your fare. Misc.: Beyond these dining options, I was excited to see that they haven't started charging for room service (yet). Room service was exceptional, and we had some of the best chicken wings I've had in a long time from room service. However, on the topic of upcharges, I was shocked to see that ordering pub-grub and other light bites at the bar areas had an added cost. Previously, we had *never* paid extra for food on the ship outside of Palo, or Quite Cove cafe for specialty coffee. So I wasn't too keen to see regular on-land restaurant prices for things like beer cheese pretzels at the Crown and Fin pub, or Beignets at French Quarter bar. Speaking of French Quarter bar, this is a very new addition to the ship, and it rules. They had, by far, the best specialty cocktails, and even though I've spent waaaay too much time in actual New Orleans, their take on a a hurricane or an old fashioned was fantastic. They also had a cocktail that incorporated satsumas (a regional variety of oranges we have), and I absolutely loved it. The theming at French Quarter is also some of the best themeing for dining you'll find within Disney (sea or land). ------------ Cabin: We had a basic interior stateroom on Deck 6, and it was good. The couch in our room could use a replacement (cushions were pretty worn in and hardened), but the bed was comfortable and everything in the room was in perfect working order. The only oddity was the noise in the cabin from the motion of the ship. The one and only other time we heard creaking like we did in our cabin was aboard the Magic in 2017 during a Canadian Coast cruise, but we were hit by a noreaster at sea. This time, even in calmer seas, the room just made a fair amount of noise. I've watched some cruise vlogs from the two earlier sailings on the Wonder from San Diego, and I'm thinking it may have just been our specific cabin. Nobody else seemed to complain about that. If we were on a longer sailing, we might have considered asking for a room move, but it wasn't bad enough to warrant a move for just a 4-night sailing. Our room steward was also an ace, and kept our lodging immaculate from start to finish. ------------ Crew, Staff, Customer Service: So I referenced this earlier, but roughly 40% of our crew was pulled from other ships in the fleet. A large portion of them from the Disney Dream, which for now, is permanently based out of Port Canaveral, Florida. With a ton of inexperience on staff, there was a lot of training going on while we on board. To be honest, the quality of their work was great, and if you weren't paying attention, you wouldn't have noticed that anything wasn't quite normal. But there was definitely a weird vibe overall. From talking to crew as we always do, we discovered that due to COVID, most crew aren't allowed to get off at any port besides Castaway Cay, which is obviously in the Bahamas. So all those crew members who contracted for the Dream, Fantasy and Magic expecting to have warmer weather and an occasional day to stretch their legs on land were not very happy to suddenly be on the Wonder. The Wonder has a couple of more sailings out of San Diego before repositioning via the Panama Canal to Galveston, then New Orleans. So there was a ton of frustration among the staff. It also didn't help that some guests were being total assholes about the protocols and procedures and yelled at staffers over stupid things they should have been aware of before committing to cruising during a pandemic. But anyway, all this to say that if you're cruising, be extra kind to the staff. On Disney, at least, there is no lack of sensational service, but give them the benefit of the doubt if there is something you aren't 1000% satisfied with. ------------ The Navigator (Onboard App): The app has been improved pretty substantially since our last sailing in February 2020. The messaging works a little better, and it's a little easier to add friends who aren't in your immediate party to communicate with you, if you want. The biggest improvements of all, however, was being able to book a placeholder cruise from the app ($250 deposit, automatically routs to your email or travel agent), and being able to chat with customer service on the app. You get in the virtual queue, and you're able to clarify stateroom charges, modify dining reservations, or book at the spa right in the chat window. I also like that you actually get notifications for upcoming activities you bookmarked, which is something that used to cause me to miss things in the past. The new muster drill when you board is also SUPERIOR to the past. We boarded the ship, quickly got to our station, scanned a sign with our camera and we were done. The end. We also watched the short video about the muster drill while we were drinking by the pool, so hell yeah. I hope this never, ever changes now. Sidenote -- the onboard WiFi access was not great. This isn't the app's fault, but something to be aware of if you're boarding the Wonder soon. The intranet WiFi (DCL_Guest) was ok, but if you actually needed data to check email, messages, etc... you were probably poo poo out of luck, or wasting data waiting on things to load endlessly. We overheard tons of complaints about the WiFi all four days. ------------ Port of Call: Cabo San Lucas: Admittedly, I did not do a ton of research before leaving on this cruise. But we opted for the "Luxury Sail and Snorkel" adventure through Cabo Adventures. This consisted of a 1-2 hour sail to a cove off the beach of a resort, and a 2-ish hour sail back afterward, that included food and alcohol for the entirety of the excursion. At $100/person, this was a steal and I would do this excursion again in a heartbeat! The guides were super friendly and helpful, and made sure we had an incredible time. The snorkeling location was also well above average for cruise excursion snorkel excursions. The only odd bit was when we got off the ship, we were collected by one attendant, kept grouped together, then escorted to another attendant who walked us to the sailboat we were getting on. After we returned, I wanted to walk across the street to buy some flip flops real quick, but wasn't allowed to. Apparently, if I wanted to do that, I need to tender back to the Wonder, check in, then check back out and tender back to the port. I didn't think that made a ton of sense, but with an early all-aboard of 3:15 PM, I said screw it and went back to the ship and drank by the pool. I'm pretty sure that was a government requirement, but was odd nonetheless. ------------ FINAL THOUGHTS Yes, the vibe was weird (compared to other cruises) and there were some oddball things to work through at times on this cruise. But it was still a very good cruise and did nothing to deter my wife and I from booking more DCL cruises. In fact, we're already booked for Alaska in 2022 on the same ship, and have a placeholder for another cruise (likely, 2023). We spoke to a lot of other passengers, including some first-timers, and they were having the time of their life. Was there anything I missed? Something you'd like more specifics on? Just let me know.
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Oct 28, 2021 21:19
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couldcareless posted:Thanks for the thoughts! We have a Wonder cruise coming up in Feb. We go on this ship a lot, and it making home base in Nola is only going to make that happen more often (both of our cruises next year are on the Wonder). Nice! I remember you mentioning in the Disney thread that you're on the Wonder for Alaska the week before me. It's my favorite ship of the bunch, honestly. I've also been wanting to do the NOLA sailing pretty badly, but the timing is never right for us. One day we'll do it! And good question on DVC, but they're not doing the cocktail hours for the moment. Apparently, there hadn't been any onboard DVC reps for any sailings starting out, but our cruise had three of them on the ship. You can still stop by the desk, ask questions, get your daily gift and/or book an appointment to discuss adding points. So, everything besides the cocktails. According to the main guy on our sailing, they expect to resume that sometime in the next few months in some capacity. So you might be in luck by February. The crew on board were excited about NOLA in general, thinking they might be allowed to get on and off the ship a little bit while they're there. The gifts on our sailing were the black adjustable baseball cap, luggage tags (not nearly as nice as the Castaway ones you get with status), door magnet and I think there might have been a Disney print you could pick up. The DVC reps on our sailing were awesome, and one of them is actually my new point of contact since apparently both of my old ones were laid off.  Speaking of DVC, they do have some amazing promos right now if you can put 20% down. Doronin fucked around with this message at 22:01 on Oct 28, 2021 |
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Oct 28, 2021 21:58
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slidebite posted:Thanks for that trip report. How did they do serving at buffets? Sorry if I missed it, I didn't see it mentioned. Anything different? The buffets, to me, were an improvement. On the Disney ships they put a piece of glass up where you would have reached through to serve yourself. Now you go to the station you want food from and tell an attendant how much you want and they hand it to you. From past cruises, I couldn't pay my wife to go to the buffet after watching both adults and children just be total idiots with serving themselves (just like any other buffet, ever, land or sea). Disney also had attendants at the stations where you get your free, unlimited sodas and ice cream. I can't speak to how much more I like or dislike them serving the soda because I didn't get any, but not having a puddle of melted ice cream overflowing from the ice cream machine was great. The ice cream machines were always a drat mess in our past cruises because other passengers would forget they could come back for seconds and would try and pile up the soft serve as high as possible, often resulting in a spill. Also, this is probably useless for European ports, but the CDC has some useful resources for cruising: https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/index.html The ship color status is handy. It has most ships operating out of the U.S. listed, but you can find out quickly if the ship you're sailing has had any outbreaks recently.
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Nov 8, 2021 18:36
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Atricks posted:Disney's really been the only one to cut cruises short, the rest of the lines are doing mostly normal schedules. Yeah, I was wondering if Disney was the only one. I've seen vloggers posting about their 6+ night sailings on nearly every other cruise line. Yet our October sailing (Disney Wonder) and my inlaws' September sailing (Disney Fantasy) were both reduced to four nights. I mean, they made it worth our while (several hundred in-stateroom credit and a 25% future cruise discount + stateroom credit). Since our Wonder cruise was also the result of at least 5 reschedulings I can recall, I was just glad to get on the drat ship at that point and wasn't about to cancel.
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Nov 8, 2021 21:12
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Nanigans posted:It's less the ships and more the crowds on Carnival ships that suck. But the ships and food do suck comparatively, too. Agree 100% here. Three sailings on Carnival and the older I got, the less appealing it got. I was 26 the last time I sailed on that line and almost swore off cruising again.
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Dec 7, 2021 02:17
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It's cool how the CDC is so quick to dissuade the public from cruising but doesn't have much to say about 60,000 people cramming into stadiums and concerts. On the other hand, those venues are probably making their local "economic impact" and generating tax revenue, whereas cruise lines are registered in other countries and generate very little tax revenue.
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Jan 12, 2022 22:15
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Fame Douglas posted:The CDC regulates the cruising industry, whereas those stadiums and concerts are down to local laws and ordinances. I was about to argue with you, but this prompted me down a rabbit hole of federal regulations on the cruising industry and I found this very interesting blog from Royal: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2020/07/21/why-does-the-cdc-regulate-the-cruise-lines I always thought cruise lines fell mostly under Federal Maritime Commission, but I was mistaken, I guess.
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Jan 12, 2022 22:45
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My booking window for excursions on our Disney Wonder cruise to Alaska opens in about 4ish weeks, but I'm struggling to pick stuff out. I want to get in early because I want to make sure we get the top picks. Sooo... anyone have recommendations for port excursions? Or a good resource I could look at for insight? Our ports, in order of where we stop are: Dawe's Glacier, Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan. I am 99% sure our option for Dawe's Glacier is to either get on the $250 boat tour that day, or stay on the ship. So that one is take it or leave it. When we get to Ketchikan, I *think* my plan right now is to not book through DCL. We might Uber over to Herring Cove and the Alaska Raptor Center, see if we can spot some wildlife, the hit the Saxman Totem park on the way back. Ideally, if we have time we'd also aim for a lumberjack show and walking down Creek Street for a bit, but that's going to be really pushing it on time I think. On Skagway, that's where we'd either want to pan for gold (we have a three-year old who would LOVE it) and ride the train. However, is it even possible to do both? Or would that be asking to get left behind? Then at Juneau, we have no idea what we want to do there because of the wealth of options. Lastly, when we return and disembark the ship, we are flying out the following day. So we will have an entire day to kill in Vancouver if there are any must-dos there. So if you have any pro-tips or thoughts, I'm open to anything. Thank you!
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Apr 27, 2022 22:09
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LCdr. Jebus posted:That said I've heard that they are really having labor issues up in Alaska right now with all the excursion companies because like 90% of the workers are seasonal and very few of them have returned after the two year pause, so your choices maybe more limited than usual. I never thought about that, so we really better stay on our toes and have a backup plan. But great insights! That's also great to know about Dawe's Glacier. So you didn't get off the ship for it and still felt like you saw everything you wanted to see? If so, I'd be more than happy to not spend more than $250 x 3 on it. Chainclaw posted:We did Alaska on Norwegian in 2019 so our choices may have been different. Here's what we picked for our three: Nice. The train is definitely in our top-two things to do in Skagway. As of right now, it sounds like we're going to pan for gold with Donald Duck to guarantee our daughter will have fun, but hopefully there will be time for both because she'd love the train, too.
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Apr 29, 2022 19:55
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Silly Burrito posted:I hate formal night. I completely understand those who want to dress up, but leave me out of it and let me get my normal dinner please.  Same. I'd be lying if I said that Disney Cruise Line's totally optional formal night wasn't one of my favorite aspects of the whole deal.
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Apr 21, 2023 20:45
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slidebite posted:Scammers gotta scam Seconding this. Sometimes his advice can sound a little curmudgeonly since he's older, but he knows his poo poo and all his videos are pretty tightly edited. If he's ever gone over 15 minutes, I haven't seen that video. For anyone wanting to check it out, it's Tips for Travelers: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_qE-Obs2ocdmPXY0TIU-cw I've actually used a good bit of his advice when it comes to booking excursions. I also appreciate that he talks to other passengers so he's giving more objective points of view.
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May 17, 2023 19:06
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Has anyone ever spent any time at port in Tortola? Besides The Baths (where apparently two people have died lately), is there anything else worthwhile? Or would be good with a 5-year old in tow? The one and only time I was ever aboard a ship stopping at Tortola, I was so sick that I walked off the ship for about 35 minutes. Looked around, said "Ok I guess technically I've been here now" and went back on board to sleep. This was in February 2020, a week or two before all cruises shut down.
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Jun 14, 2023 17:32
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Ah, I know exactly what you mean by how you felt on that walk. I was feeling awful the one time I was there but walked far enough to definitely notice a change in temperature when it came to how welcome we were. Unfortunately, you really do have to keep your head on a swivel in most Caribbean ports. I had a similar experience in Montego Bay back in 2008 when I decided to go exploring, except I paid a guide to go with me. I've also heard Antigua is getting pretty bad in its own right, which is a real shame. Anyhow, that's a solid suggestion on the Botanical Gardens! I know my daughter would probably like that quite a lot. Ever since we got back from Alaska, she clearly didn't care about seeing humpback whales. All she could talk about was the walk we paid to take through some woods in Ketchikan. So I'm definitely marking this down as an option for her sake. Doronin fucked around with this message at 17:09 on Jun 16, 2023 |
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Jun 16, 2023 16:24
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I don't get off the ship anymore at Nassau. The last time I did was around 2018-19ish, because I was absolutely hell-bent on going to the Atlantis Water Park to hit up the slides. The Abyss and the Leap of Faith, particularly. That lazy river is also really great. Anyway, now the admission is so high to go there I won't pay it. Last I remember it had gone up to drat near $200 for a single adult daypass. gently caress that, I'll just stay on the ship and drink by a pool.
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Jun 16, 2023 19:19
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WithoutTheFezOn posted:Man you’re not kidding. A day pass is $250. Jesus loving Christ. So my family of three could go to the Disney Parks for a couple of days for what it would cost to go to Atlantis for 5 or 6 hours, tops. Or we could drive to wherever Dollywood is and get a 3-day pass for everyone with a couple of hundred to spare.
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Jun 16, 2023 19:49
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WhiteHowler posted:Do that, Dollywood is rad. Oh hell yeah, sold! If I didn't already have our Disney Fantasy cruise booked for October, I'd just do that instead. That sounds awesome. I also imagine there is a better than 0% chance Dolly herself makes an appearance, which is worth the ticket anyway.
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Jun 23, 2023 15:41
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EL BROMANCE posted:Ha I knew it would be his channel, he’s ok but I get ya. I haven’t watched that video yet. They really are the best of the best for cruise insights. I can't remember when I picked up on their videos, but it's been since well before the pandemic. They give you all the practical info, but I also really appreciate that they aren't shy to point out when a cruise totally sucks rear end, but will somehow parse out anything redeeming they can to keep it level (ie: their Margaritaville vlog). Basically, even a bad cruise is usually better than not going on one at all if cruising is your thing. Besides them, I think I talked about him before in this thread, but Tips for Travelers is fantastic. Never goes over 15-minute and everything he mentions is very useful and practical, although he does have some curmudgeonly gripes here and there. Then again, he's probably older than all of us on this forum. I also really like Emma Cruises. It took me a while to warm up to her, but I've really grown to enjoy her content. Now one other guy, The Shiplife, he gets really annoying and preachy. Him and, La Lido Loca (I think) have good info, but also 75% of the time it's clickbait nonsense like, "cruise passenger PISSED himself! Crabs outbreak on Carnival!" and doesn't actually make cruising seem appealing. From their perspective, I'd swear I'm going to get assaulted by redneck children smoking weed or something if I ever travel Carnival, MSC or Costa.
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Jun 27, 2023 22:09
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SePtCfrzo7g Watched this yesterday and thought it would be interesting to bring up here. Going through them one-by-one... -- I was very surprised to learn is that any lines are still doing crew talent shows. I assumed those went extinct 20+ years ago. -- I sincerely do not like formal nights or dress codes for the main dining room. That's just me, but my wife is actually the opposite on this one. -- Do people really have problems with towel animals? This was literally the first time I've heard anyone mentioning that. -- The ever-expanding premium ship-within-a-ship areas are awful. I'm already paying the fare, yet as years go by, less and less of new ships are available to all passengers. Since I'm mostly a DCL person, the Wish was the first time I felt that way because there's only one hot tub available to everyone. Otherwise, your options are pay 4x higher fare to get access to the Concierge sun-deck and its two large hot tubs, or buy the Rainforest room spa pass to get to its pair of hot tubs. This practice really is resurrecting the old class systems. -- Does the in-person muster make things marginally safer? Maybe. But the video version we got from Covid was so much simpler and easier to understand. I got way more from watching the video on my own time while I'm having a drink, as opposed to melting to death outside with my life jacket on, not listening because all I can think about is the other stuff I want to do.
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Aug 18, 2023 19:19
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Omne posted:Mental health is in the crapper, so wife and I decided to book a 7-night eastern Caribbean cruise on the Disney Fantasy Nice! When is your embarkation date? We're sailing on the Fantasy again coming up on Oct. 14. Speaking of my own DCL sailing coming up, we booked the Disney bus for the first time ever from the resort to the port. I didn't want to spend the money, but it ended up being ever so slightly less expensive than rideshare AND we get the benefit of our earliest boarding group ever! We've never done better than about Group 7 or 8, but this time, we're Group 4 so we'll be able to breeze through check-in and walk onto the ship earlier than normal (hopefully). Plus, apparently once they take our luggage at the resort, that's the last time we will handle it before it's at our cabin door. Now I'm super happy we paid for the service. Doronin fucked around with this message at 19:36 on Sep 18, 2023 |
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Sep 18, 2023 19:31
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Omne posted:Stops in Tortola, St. Thomas, and Castaway. Plenty of at-sea days to relax. Nice. You have the exact same itinerary I have, too. I think this is only the second time we will get to go to Castaway (weather permitting) where it should actually be warm. We almost always end up there in January when it's either super nice or impossibly cold wind chill.
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Sep 19, 2023 19:07
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Goreld posted:Booked a Carnival cruise recently and was curious about Disney even though they’re double. Was seeing about getting one big room for more than 4 people (rather than side by sides ) and the agent said they actually have that on Disney…. For the low low price of 50,000$ ! I don't think that's accurate about DCL rooms. None of the deluxe family staterooms run that high. Even if you bump up to Concierge class, those rooms start at about $10-11k for a seven-night sailing, with the Walter E. Disney Suite coming in, usually, in the $24-28k range depending on the length of the cruise. The 'Tower Suites' aboard the Wish three and four night sailings, however, go for about $30k, and I imagine on the Treasure (debuted late 2024) will go for closer to $50k since its sailings will be almost entirely seven nights. Granted, this is all still wildly expensive, but pretty far off from the $50k you were cited.
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Oct 4, 2023 19:44
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C. Everett Koop posted:Speaking of making GBS threads on Disney, mom has a milestone birthday at the end of the year and wants to take a Disney cruise. Dad gets seasick, so guess who's been voluntold to be her chaperone? -- You won't be. The Wish only sails back and forth between Canaveral and Bahamas where, typically, the seas won't be very rough usually. That said, bring your preferred anti-nausea on board, or just buy some from Mickey's Mainsails gift shop. I forgot which brands they carry, but you'll be covered either way. There's also green apple slices and ginger ale for free on the ship if those help. -- I haven't tried the pullout couch on the Wish yet, but on the other four ships it is surprisingly comfortable. It's not like a full pullout sofa sleeper you usually have at home. The back of the couch flips down and has a very comfortable twin mattress that your room steward will make up for you each morning and evening. -- Castaway in December... depends on your tolerance, but it should still water temps in the high 70s-low 80s if we're talking the first couple of weeks of the month. By the end of the month, probably mid-high 70s (slight chill). There's only been one time I've ever stayed out of the water because it was too chilly, and it was the very end of January the day after some thunderstorms moved through. But I've been at the same time on several other cruises and didn't find it uncomfortable. -- If you've never been to Nassau, I'd actually recommend Atlantis, personally. I really like it. Their water park is wildly overpriced now for entry, even though it has my favorite water slides ever. But the casino, from the times I've been, definitely had options under $10/hand. I played blackjack there for a few hours once doing $5 hands. There's also any and every slot machine you've ever thought existed, if that interests you. The food is also really good that I've had there, albeit pricey. -- Disney Cruises might actually be the most casual of them all. You can wear shorts and t-shirts the entire time if you want. Formal and semi-formal nights on the ship are completely optional. You'll see some folks dress up, but they're almost always doing that because they're also getting family portraits taken while they're at it. So far, I've never actually dressed up for dinner, and I'm about to go on my 12th DCL sailing in barely a week. However! If your folks decide to do the upcharge dining at Palo Steakhouse or Enchante and bring you along, those DO have a dress code. It's fairly relaxed, requiring slacks or "nice jeans" (read: no holes/tears), and a collared shirt for men. But those spaces are the only ones where any sort of dress code is enforced. Are you guys doing the 3 or 4 night sailing on the Wish, or splurging for a back-to-back? Doronin fucked around with this message at 18:28 on Oct 5, 2023 |
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Oct 5, 2023 18:25
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C. Everett Koop posted:Thanks for the feedback. I don't have a preferred anti-nausea, any recommendations? I'd recommend doing some research on the anti-nausea, but the brand standard for that line of products is Dramamine. That's what my mother-in-law uses, and she suffers from vertigo. It seems to keep her in check. Just make sure you grab the non-drowsy formula so you aren't half-asleep all day. Somebody else in this thread may have a more specific suggestion. Yeah, agree on the Atlantis price. I thought it was just the excursion itself, but no, the walk-up rate for a ticket is just outrageously high. Hopefully you'll be able to find a less expensive table and play for a bit.
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Oct 6, 2023 16:45
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Braksgirl posted:I wonder if you speak to your doctor ahead of time they might be able to prescribe something for nausea like zofran. poo poo... I meant to do that this week for my daughter's sake. Thanks for reminding me! Hopefully I can restocked on it in the next 48 hours.
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Oct 11, 2023 20:28
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Cross-post, but I wrote a lengthy trip review in the Theme Parks thread for our latest Disney Cruise Line sailing we just took, if anyone is interested. https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3544789&pagenumber=849#post535458568 That was our 12th Disney Cruise, so if anyone ever has questions about the line, I'm happy to share anything I know.
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Oct 23, 2023 16:07
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poolside toaster, sorry to hear that but glad to hear it's mostly working out and you're on the mend! Hope you're back at 100% soon. EL BROMANCE posted:Sorry to hear that man, I hope you get better soon. Actually, there was an awful story on this exact topic in September. A couple was cruising out of Tampa, rented mopeds at a Mexican port and were badly injured in a hit and run incident. No insurance, and the hospital was basically demanding a ransom in the form of wildly inflated medical bills to discharge them and return home. Link: https://wsvn.com/news/us-world/florida-couple-stranded-in-mexican-hospital-after-cruise-pit-stop-takes-a-horrifying-turn/
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Nov 1, 2023 18:12
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I meant to bring it up a couple of weeks ago, but Disney Cruise Line updated their Castaway Club terms and conditions. Effective as of Dec. 20, to maintain your earned status on DCL you have to have booked or completed a sailing within five years of your most recent completed DCL saildate. I don't know how to feel about it. My wife and I get on a ship roughly every 13-18 months on average, so we probably won't be affected in all honesty. But is it common for cruise lines to prune your status after so many years? Admittedly, the loyalty program for DCL is pretty lacking as it is. It's based on the total number of cruises you've completed instead of days at sea, and the 'perks' don't go very far. You basically get a 10% on-board merchandise discount, earlier excursion booking and check-in windows. If you hit Platinum, you get a $45 credit to Palo Steakhouse, and if you reach Pearl, a complimentary digital photo package. So even if we lost our status, we'd basically just be dealing with perhaps a few less excursions options, and we'll pay a tiny bit more on merch. I also dislike how many cruises you need to achieve higher status. With 1-4 completed cruises, you're Silver. From 5-9, you're gold, then at 10 you become Platinum. Ok, this progression of every five cruises makes sense. Except to hit Pearl, the highest status, you need to have completed an additional 15 sailings for a total of 25. That would be a minimum of 75 days at sea if you just spammed 3-day sailings like a lot of central Florida retirees like to do. Or if you're like me with an average sailing of 6 days, that works out to probably 150 days at sea. I know with Carnival, I haven't sailed with them since late-2008, but my Red status is still in tact (18 says at sea). But it's interesting to see that when I did the math, I'd have about the same status with Carnival, by level, as I do with DCL. At 70 days, I'd be Gold on Carnival, and four days shy of Platinum. But would need to sail an additional 125 days with Carnival to finally hit Diamond. I'm also noticing the perks for Carnival look pretty useless based on what I see on the website. Which line has the best loyalty perks?
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Jan 3, 2024 17:56
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I wish I could understand the morbid fascination I have with Margaritaville at Sea. I've watched so many reviews on that thing and I sit through the reviews every single time just marveling and how unbearably terrible it is. I remember Ben and David booked it and it was pretty hilarious watching them just get progressively more upset and bothered by the whole experience. Kind of reminded me of when Emma Cruises took "the cheapest cruise possible" and it just happened to be out of my hometown, Mobile, Alabama, when the Carnival Ecstasy was sailing from there. The ship was about 30-years old and dated as hell (it has since been scrapped). The best part was watching her reaction to locals boarding and using Dollar General plastic bags as their luggage.
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Jan 30, 2024 22:39
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WithoutTheFezOn posted:Isn’t “dated as hell” a large portion of Caribbean cruise ships, especially the short-voyage ones? Pretty much. If they're still on a major line at that point, short Caribbean itineraries seems to be a last leg of service before they're sold to another line to port-hop around south Asia or eastern Meditteranean. Or sent straight to Turkey to get scrapped.
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Feb 8, 2024 18:45
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Schrute Nation posted:I'll be going on my first cruise with Disney later this year. I'm looking forward to it and now I'm in the research nitty gritty details phase. After 12 DCL sailings, I just did my first one with a MagicBand+ in October. Honestly, I was really unsure about it because I've been so accustomed to wearing a lanyard with my Key to the World card for a little over a decade. But by Day 2, I barely touched my actual card unless I was about to get off the ship. It just hung on a hook in the room for the rest of the trip because I just didn't need it. This was aboard the Disney Fantasy. So my preference is 100% a matter of physical comfort compared to the lanyard. However, I will say the other "interactive" elements, whatever they were supposed to be, just didn't work consistently. I know in one of the dining rooms my wife told me to watch it because it would react to the music or something and the lights on the band would pulse. Well, hers did, but mine never did, even after messing with the settings for about a half-hour. I don't know what else it was supposed to do, but honestly I don't think I really cared. I was too engrossed with what was going on around me to pay attention to whether my band was lighting up or not. That said, your wallet will be literally useless aboard the ship. Just lock it in the safe until you need it. If you really don't want to purchase the MagicBand+, your Key to the World card will provide every function you need to pay for things and open your room. As for the phone, you can still acquire copies of the paper version of the Navigator (daily itinerary) to keep up with what's happening, when and where by visiting Guest Services daily and requesting one. But you miss out on things like having Guest Services at your finger tips, checking your room portfolio, looking at dining menus, or, most importantly, chat feature between the other members in your party. You can also adjust most reservations on the app, and it's the easiest way to purchase and access the internet if you really need it for some reason. So long story short, MagicBand+ is cool and I personally prefer it, but it doesn't do anything the card itself won't do. You also still have to have the card for embarkation, getting off/on at ports and disembarkation. If you ever visit Disney Parks & Resorts on land, then you can milk extra value from your MagicBand+ because you have to have one for the parks, and any MagicBand+ will work. Likewise, if you already have a MagicBand+ from a parks visit, you can use it on the ship. But it has to be a +, not one of the old ones. As for the phones, that is a little tougher to get out of using since the Navigator app packs so much functionality. If you have any questions about DCL, you can feel free to DM me. I've been on all five ships and already have the new one, Treasure, booked for January 2025. Braksgirl posted:I'm like 99% sure you charge everything to your room. I've never tried to pay cash on DCL though. You can definitely charge 100% of your purchases on board to your room. If you try to pay any other way besides your room key/MagicBand, it's a huge pain in the rear end that takes way longer than you'd ever believe it should. The only ways I've used cash on my last 7 or 8 cruises was either as tips at the upgraded dining, or I'll go deposit cash at Guest Services to my room portfolio once charges have accumulated. Cash is super inconvenient on board for the most part. Trying to use a credit or prepaid card that isn't tied to your room account is equally as big of a pain, and most points of sale on board can't run the transaction. Omne posted:Also note that with the MagicBand+, if you want to use it to pay for something you still gotta take it off and hand it to the cast member, so other than the interactive elements they're worthless. I really need to invest in a MagSafe. Can you charge your phone with a wireless docking pad if that thing is attached, or do you have to remove the MagSafe to use one? Doronin fucked around with this message at 20:21 on Mar 8, 2024 |
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Mar 8, 2024 20:17
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Hell yeah, I think I'm going to invest in that. Looks like exactly what I need. Thanks!
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Mar 10, 2024 02:21
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Wow. Emma Cruises and Tips for Travellers both had recent MSC vlogs, too. That makes me wonder if they were coordinating with MSC or not. Either way, that's some bullshit for MSC to just ban them from filming like they did.
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Mar 11, 2024 17:10
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nikosoft posted:Best place we visited by far was St Croix, I definitely want to go back there and just chill for a few days. It was low key and sleepy, absolutely perfect. Just chiming in to say that of all the islands in the Caribbean, St. Croix is the main one I wish Disney would go to since that's all we've cruised the past decade. It really is the best. Pristinely beautiful, and everywhere we went everyone was so friendly.
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May 1, 2024 18:16
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