Worried we wont enjoy it

[susieh]

I have been reading loads about DCL because we are going on our first cruise with Disney next June (3 day cruise on Disney Wonder).

We are a couple in our 40s whose boys have now grown up. We have cruised with P&O in the past and loved it. There were nearly as many crew as passengers, the food was wonderful, there was so much room around the ship, the waiters were so attentive, our cabin was georgous and we really felt pampered and special.

I have read reports of long queues for buffets where the food isnt very good, waiters who aren't bothered about attending to the adults (who are paying and are on holiday too), and crowded pools with kids running wild and parents leaving them to do as they wish. It has got me worried.

Are we likely to feel we can only spend our time in the adults only parts of the ship or are the reports I have read making it out to sound worse than it is? I like children (I am a cub scout leader so I am used to groups of children aged between 8 and 11), so long as the kids behave and respect other people.

[wdwgrandma]

And yet we have adults here on the site who repeatedly do Disney cruises - some without children - and they keep going back! And they have inspired my DH and me (in our 50's) to do our first cruise - in 28 days, may I add - and we won't be taking along children. Oh, and we are being accompanied by another couple about our age!

Since it will be my very first cruise, I'm more worried about getting sea sick or falling overboard than anything else! After all, what if I discover that I simply don't like being on a ship? I haven't even given consideration to kids, food, etc.

You are going to get different reviews/comments based on the person, their expectations, experiences, etc. What I may love you may hate... You won't know until you give it a try!!!

[susieh]

And yet we have adults here on the site who repeatedly do Disney cruises - some without children - and they keep going back! And they have inspired my DH and me (in our 50's) to do our first cruise - in 28 days, may I add - and we won't be taking along children. Oh, and we are being accompanied by another couple about our age!

Since it will be my very first cruise, I'm more worried about getting sea sick or falling overboard than anything else! After all, what if I discover that I simply don't like being on a ship? I haven't even given consideration to kids, food, etc.

I will be very interested to hear how it went, what you did and didnt like and whether you would do it again

[Mickeymac]

Susie,

My first thoughts were of Donna (who responded) and Bev (who has not yet, but I'm positive will) who booked and will be going in the near future. We have other couples who go, who are mature, and go repeatedly, as if they had a slight addiction of some sort (SorcererMickey and Slowhand, and their spouses.) I book for a number of couples who go and just want to have a quality time, without facing a cruise loaded wth smoking, gambling, and drinking, which so many are. Disney answers that need, and personally, I think they do a stellar job.

You can always read negative opinions in a myriad of forums. The happy news gets locked into trip reports, and it's by my experience, tends to get drowned out by the negative. Disney has done an amazing job cultivating 'adult only' experiences, such as Palo, the spa, the nightclubs, the mixers, and most importantly, the Adult-Only beach.

I think you are going to have an amazing time. If you want to read some optimistic reports, definately take a look at Slowhand's or SorcererMickey's trip reports, or SM's pictures (also amazing) and you can see first hand, from a couple of always-positive travelers, what the Disney Cruise experience from an adult perspective is like. And all-too-soon, you will be able to read first-hand, both Donna's and Bev's first cruise experience.

I know you will have a wonderful time, and will be looking to go back real soon. That 3-nighter is a sheer tease, and should be outlawed! :D

[tajainaz]

And check out Slowhand's recent Trip Report. He and his DW are DCL veterans and recently took friends on a three-day cruise. Not a child in the group! :)

A lot of his report is on Casa Clapton, which is the villa he and his DW purchased last year and visited for the first time last month. But he included a great deal of detail on the cruise portion, as well! :)

I'm almost tempted... :D

[Slowhand]

And check out Slowhand's recent Trip Report. He and his DW are DCL veterans and recently took friends on a three-day cruise.

Did someone say veterans?. Now that does make me feel old!:lol:

Seriously though, as Mickeymac said, you will read positive and negative things about most things in life. You have to experience these things yourself before you can pass judgement.
As far as the DCL is concerned, yes there are bound to be loads of children on board, no matter what time of the year you sail. Many of the smaller children are well looked after by the CM`s in the Oceaneers Club, and you rarely see them throughout the cruise.
The pools can get a bit crowded and noisy, but there is also an adult`s only pool if you want to get away from it all. Even in the other pool areas, you will still find loads of places to laze around, or even go up to the top deck [deck 10] where you can still see what is going on without actually being in the thick of it.
Because there are set dining times, there are bound to be queues at the entrance to the restaurants, although Disney are now trying to ease this by staggering the dining times even more. Whereas before there were only 2 set dining times, they now staggerred our late dining option to either 8.00pm, 8.15pm or 8.30pm which seems to have made things a bit better.
The service you get from your servers can vary. We have had absolutely fantastic service, and also "middle of the range" situations, but you can get this anywhere, not just with the DCL.
For what it`s worth, after one of our DCL cruises, we went to Vero Beach where we got talking to one of the CM`s [from Nottingham], who told us that her parents had just been on a DCL cruise, having previously sailed on the QE2. After their cruise, they told her that the service they received on the DCL was almost on a par with the much more expensive cruise on the QE2, which to me spoke volumes.
Give DCL a go, I`m sure that you will enjoy it.

[susieh]

The service you get from your servers can vary. We have had absolutely fantastic service, and also "middle of the range" situations, but you can get this anywhere, not just with the DCL.
For what it`s worth, after one of our DCL cruises, we went to Vero Beach where we got talking to one of the CM`s [from Nottingham], who told us that her parents had just been on a DCL cruise, having previously sailed on the QE2. After their cruise, they told her that the service they received on the DCL was almost on a par with the much more expensive cruise on the QE2, which to me spoke volumes.
Give DCL a go, I`m sure that you will enjoy it.

Thanks for your posting - it's put my mind at rest a lot. One of the reasons I have persuaded DH to do the cruise is that I want to do a Caribbean Cruise and he doesnt. I am hoping that the DCL cruise (which while not being to the Caribbean is still in that part of the world) convinces him that he would like to do a cruise that isn't around Europe.

[Keith]

I feel the same way... I want a typical cruise really. I want dress up for dinner, pampered, nothing too much trouble kinda service and preferably more adult than kid themed.

I'm still reading mixed reports on DCL not on the service front which sounds excellent, but more on the being less adult oriented than other cruises. HOWEVER, for every so so report there's another three really enthusiastic trip reports so that's promising!

Still don't know if it's DCL or a more traditional one for us next year... few more trip reports needed I think :)

[wdwgrandma]

....
My first thoughts were of Donna (who responded) and Bev (who has not yet, but I'm positive will) who booked and will be going in the near future. ....
Bev, poor girl, is sort of out of the loop right now with no internet connectivity. We chat on the phone every couple of days to keep the excitement level high! my poor eardrums are still recovering from a recent phone conversation where she expressed her excitement at the decreasing number of days remaining until we leave...

She will be moving from Texas to her new home in Colorado at the end of the month - giving her just enough time to dig through all the boxes she's packed looking for her cruise clothes!