Considering a Disney Dream Cruise? Read This First!

A very useful guide. Thanks for sharing.

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Fair review in some ways. The one area of debate is in the realm of cost comparisons to other cruise lines. I find Disney to be 30% to 50% higher to other cruise lines on a comparable basis. What do I mean by "comparable basis"? We typically book a veranda on DCL, a category 4 or 5. These staterooms, as is the case with most of the DCL staterooms, have the bath room divided into two rooms (one with a sink and shower, the other with a sink and toilet). That configuration is hard to find on other cruise lines, unless you book a large suite. Further, the DCL stateroom is typically larger. For example, a DCL stateroom is comparable to a mini-suite on Princess. So, yes, a DCL stateroom may be 2X the cost of a stateroom on Princess (as one example) but 30% to 40% higher than the mini-suite.

Yet, we continue to sail with DCL, even a empty nesters. Why? The crew is terrific and engaging with their guests. The entertainment is fantastic. The food (after a bit of a slump in recent years) is very good. And, the ship is immaculate and clean. We have also found that DCL is more savvy in appealing to empty nesters such as ourselves, and the adult areas and programs hold our continuing interest. Our kids (now grown) cruise with us occasionally and they still enjoy the Disney experiences (but head to the adult areas now vs. the kids clubs).

Much of this is subjective. There is less science in the price comparisons, and much of the comparison becomes a willingness to spend the extra bucks for the Disney cruise experience which we really like! We recently did back-to-back cruise on the Magic (10 night Northern Europe followed by the 11 night Norwegian/Icelandic cruise). There were lots of kids and families but plenty of people like us and we had a great experience. I did see a Viking Ocean ship in one port that looked very nice, researched it and it looks very elegant inside. We may try that one year for a different experience - but when you compare to Viking, Crystal, Oceania, etc. they don't seem to be any less pricey than Disney. They often have great air fair deals, free excursions and other factors that will at some point be compelling points for our decision. In the meantime, we will cruise DCL for many years to come.

Footnote: I never check "excellent" on the value question on the end-of-cruise survey. I don't necessarily like the price of DCL and that is my feeble attempt to send that message.

The cost comparison is the most difficult to make "accurate." On one particular cruise, after booking an inside on DCL due to cost, we found that a balcony on Princess was half of an inside on DCL. An inside on Princess would have been 1/4 the cost of the same cruise on DCL. We were delighted with the balcony, so didn't research a mini-suite. On the other hand, we now need an HA cabin and have found that there is little difference between the HA on DCL compared to the HA on Princess other than the decor and location. HAs of any category on Princess are located as the closest cabins possible to the elevators while on DCL they are the farthest forward and aft. The aft location gives you large balconies, but the location near the elevator makes transportation much easier. Normal cabins on Princess are really not suitable for more than 2 people, even though some supposedly can hold 4.

Otherwise, I basically agree with your comments. The only thing I've found is more adult oriented activities on other lines. DCL is fine for adults in the evenings, but there is relatively little during the day. Also, depending on your interests...DCL has characters around the ship for entertainment during the day, and an occasional band by the pool. Other lines have special entertainers who do "around the ship" venues during the day. We've found these to be generally excellent, which the main stage entertainment has been rather lacking.

I generally agree as well. DCL had an archeologist on the Magic this summer that lectured on the history of the ports we were visiting, but this was unique programming for European cruises. Entertainment in the lobby atrium on Princess was enjoyable and a good differentiator. DCL had the Gothard Sisters performing before dinners outside of Lumiere's during our cruise and they were very good. The other something new we noticed was that many of the ships executive and other officers were greeting passengers in the Magic lobby almost every evening. I enjoyed getting to know our Hotel Operations officer a bit better - we had met him during a previous cruise as well.

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