anjuan

As someone who is Platinum on DCL and has sailed all of their ships I would recommend going on the Fantasy. It is my favorite ship and more nights is always better in my book. The two ships are very different. The only thing that I liked better on the Wish was their deck food. Also, the ports are going to be a lot better on the 7 night cruise. But either way, you should have an amazing time!

This is my first time sailing NCL. I also had a price drop but I'm not sure if we will want to cruise NCL again so instead of the FCC I was able to get a room upgrade from a basic balcony to one of the Spa balcony rooms. We're on an Iceland cruise and I had thought about getting a pass to the thermal spa so I was happy with this upgrade.

2 hours ago, CaptainBazz said:

If your family and friends are with you on the ship and the iMessage doesn't work then you use the messaging part of the app. It costs $10 each for a week. Not the best as it doesn't give you a notification (sound or banner) when you get a message. You have to continually check for messages.

iMessages have always worked for me on NCL but not always on other cruise lines.

I've been on Disney Cruise Line and this has worked on multiple ships for me and my family.

We're frequent DCL cruisers. I hope that you don't get too disheartened because even if you can't get those activities, there are so many fun things that you don't have to book ahead of time on the ship. For example, there are a ton of other meet and greets and other activities. Also, the shows are great and you don't have to book those ahead of time like a lot of other cruise lines. It is first come first served. Like someone else said, if you tell us what ship you're on we can help you out with ideas. I recommend watching some You Tube videos of your ship to see what is onboard. I hope you enjoy your cruise!

This is great to hear!

We will be going on a 10 day Iceland cruise at the end of May and this will be our first NCL cruise. I chose it for the itinerary and because it was a new ship. We are platinum on DCL. It really seems like based on what has been described on these boards that there has been a pattern of taking things away since I booked the cruise. I also have an upcoming DCL cruise, and while there may have been a couple of changes since I booked, I have not seen this pattern described here on the DCL board.

My daughter is really disappointed in the change to the side items. There were some really interesting sides like the sweet potato fries. This can get really boring over 10 days. I know I have the option of booking more specialty restaurants, but I really didn't want to have to pay more upcharges. I'll reserve my final judgement until after the cruise, but all of these changes aren't encouraging me to book more on NCL at the moment.

We're doing this itinerary at the end of May 2023 on the Prima as well for my daughter's high school graduation. We are using NCL's flights. I know that some people have complained about them but I priced flights out and we'll be saving about $1,800 from Chicago. We're flying in a few days before the cruise and staying a few days after as well. Really looking forward to it!

I just wanted to let you know that I've always found that Disney does an amazing job of matching up families to share tables. We've been on DCL 4 times so far and we've always had a great time with our table mates. They've always had something in common with us. I've heard the same from others on another message board. We're looking forward to seeing who our table mates will be on our next cruise in March. So you may want to give having a table with others a chance.

FYI' date=' if anyone chooses to cruise from Ft. Lauderdale (DCL doesn't use this port except under emergency situations). we found a hotel that offered day rooms for $69 for up to 4 people AND provided a complimentary shuttle to the hotel and then to the airport. For three of us, the cost of the shuttle alone almost covered the cost of the room...as airport shuttle was $20 each. Yes, we could have gotten Uber or taxi transportation for less than cruise ship transfers, but...

 

And they stored our big bags in a luggage room so that we didn't have to drag them to the room. Obviously, we could have taken them if we'd wished. The only downside was that nothing was within walking distance, so the only food option was the $12 hamburger at the hotel restaurant.

 

Probably irrelevant on the DCL thread, but it was a pleasant surprise.[/quote']

 

Would you mind letting me know the name of the hotel? I'm taking an RCI cruise and our flight isn't until later in the day so this sounds great.

I guess I'm a little different than others. I bought a day pass for a couple of my cruises. I have back problems and absolutely loved laying on the heated loungers on both the Dream and Fantasy while looking out at the ocean. I thought it was so peaceful!! Definitely one of my best memories from the cruises.

When I was on my Mediterranean cruise on the Magic I didn't go because the cruise was so busy and the loungers aren't located in an area with windows on the older ships.

I tried looking up Hotel Europark for my trip in Aug of 2019. While the calendar was open for that time frame so far off, it said nothing was available. Do you think that is the case (no vacancy) or just too far off to book? It did offer alternatives (like Hotel Granvia).

I'm honestly not sure. You could try e-mailing the hotel and ask. It may be too far off to book. We didn't book it that early.

Yes, I found taxis very easy to come by in Barcelona everywhere I went.

I was just in Barcelona and stayed at Hotel Europark which I definitely recommend. It was about 15 minutes from Las Ramblas so it was a little more reasonably priced than some more central hotels but still within walking distance. It's a very modern hotel with a good size bathroom, nice rooftop deck with a pool on one side and seating on the other, a really nice breakfast buffet and friendly staff. It was also about 10 minutes from Sangrada Familia (we could actually see one of the towers from our room) and 10 minutes from Casa Batillo. I would stay there again.

We used them at the end of our cruise and had a great experience as well! I booked it online. They actually had a stand right at our Disney port so I just had to take our bags a few feet after I picked them up off of the ship. We went and toured the Picassco museum and walked down Las Ramblas one last time time before heading to the airport. We then met them by the doors of the lower level in terminal T1 where they had our bags.

While I honestly don't know how close it is to the port, we had amazing Paella at Xiringuto Escriba which is located right on the beach at the end of May. Their website is http://www.xiringuitoescriba.com if you are interested. My daughter and I were just commenting tonight how we wish we could go back for more!

I just got back from several days in Barcelona and a Mediterranean cruise and I would add that the interior is a must do. It was my most favorite architectural feature I saw the whole trip! We were there in the afternoon and the light coming in the stained glass windows was magnificent! I was able to get the most amazing photo. If you are also able I would also recommend doing one of the towers. We had tickets for the Nativity tower. We took an elevator up and then walked down 400 steps. The views were amazing!!

Nice comparison. Hard to compare because of the huge difference in size of the ships, but I think you were fair.

 

Personally really enjoy the ice show and aqua show on RC.

 

My daughter and family are huge Disney fans and cruise with them frequently, but have also cruised the Oasis.

 

A couple of comments. It seems as if some of your "negatives" were actually more the fault of parents/passengers rather than RC. When accompanied by their parents/guardians, there is no curfew for kids; otherwise there is usually a curfew, normally around 1:00 p.m. The fact that there were kids in bars/shows is a parenting decision. Pretty sure they are allowed in bars/shows on Disney, but shows are perhaps not as adult.

 

Would be interested in knowing how your price compared. I usually find Disney to be so much more expensive than RC.

I was just on a Disney Cruise and they don't allow kids in the adult only area of the ship/bars in the evening. My daughter who is a teen was actually in the hallway of the adult area with some friends (when I wasn't there) and told me that staff actually asked them to leave that area so they do enforce the adults only status in this area.

OP, thanks for the comparison. I'm going to be doing my first RC cruise in September and am really excited!

I just returned from a visit to Barcelona and Med cruise. I would recommend staying closer to Las Ramblas. We ended up staying at Hotel Europark after recommendations on the Europe board and really enjoyed it. It was about a 15 minute walk to Las Ramblas, about 10 minutes from Sangrada Familia (could actually see one tower from our room), and less than 10 minutes from a couple of other Gaudi sites. They had a great breakfast buffet. The room was very modern, clean, and had a big bathroom.

You've received good advice so far. I also wanted to note that I had booked a May 27, 2019 Alaska cruise the day it opened up. During my June 2 Mediterranean cruise I thought I likely couldn't get a better price on board for the Alaska cruise because the prices would have gone up since I booked. However, I went ahead and checked and thankfully the price for my date hadn't changed so I was able to re-book the Alaska cruise getting the 10% discount, on board credit, and reduced deposit. I'm also transferring it to my TA for an additional on board credit. I then just canceled my original booking. So it's always worth checking if you're ever in this type of situation.

they can't have matinees on the med cruises - which is where the magic is now..

well they can on sea days, but there are very few of those on the port intensive med cruises...

 

i wonder if this schedule is specifically because the magic is in the med right now..

 

there are issues with the med cruises, the theater shows being one of them..

 

My daughter was on the magic in the med 2 years ago.

More than half of the ship were non-native english speakers, many speaking no english at all.

She said it impacted various aspects of the cruise, including the shows.

She was particularly irritated by the constant talking during the theater shows - both people just talking and people doing a running translation for their children.

(the other problem being the inability of certain cultures to stand in line - but that's another story).

 

so perhaps disney has altered the theater schedule for the med as a result of some of these issues?

 

in the recent navigators on scott's website from before the magic crossed the atlantic, it doesn't seem like they duplicated shows.

 

It seems to have occurred once they reached europe?

 

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When I was on the Med cruise I really didn't notice a difference in the amount of non-English speakers compared to my other Disney cruises in the Caribbean. It didn't impact me at all. Also, on another message board others have confirmed the trend of the duplicate shows for the Wonder as well, so it's not just the Magic where this is occurring.

I was on the June 2nd Med sailing and experienced the repeat shows. Was disappointed and added comments on it to the comment card. Also, after I returned they sent me an additional survey and there were specific questions about the double shows so I expressed my unhappiness again through that vehicle. During the cruise the cruise director kept saying, "we're offering you more choices" and said that they still had the same number of variety acts as on other cruises. But the fact was that the variety act was only offered at the same time as an alternative for one of the times at Fathoms. I did take advantage of this and Fathoms was packed. The other nights that there were dups the variety acts were offered at times that were difficult for me to get to because we either hadn't finished dinner or they were very late at night and I had early port excursions the next day. Then as far as the movie alternative it seemed like it was Avengers Infinity War almost every night (rather than Solo) so that wasn't a good alternative either.

With that being said we had an amazing time on our cruise and I would very much recommend it to others. I'd be happy to answer any questions that anyone has.

I'm really bummed to hear this. I've only cruised Disney before and their sofa beds are very comfortable. I'm booked on my first RC cruise on the Allure in a junior suite with 2 other adults that are older than me so I'm likely to get stuck with the sofa bed. :(

Enjoy your cruise on the Dream! It's a beautiful ship! I'll be going on a Med cruise on the Magic in less than 2 months!

What are the chances for a first-time cruiser to get a Palo brunch reservation?

It may somewhat depend upon how many sea days there are for your cruise which determines how often it is offered. As others are said if it isn't available when you book they do leave some spots for on board booking. If this is the case you'll want to try to book it right away when you board.

I've done Palo brunch twice and really enjoyed it-- so much so that I'm doing it again on my upcoming Med cruise!

We're going to be staying in Barcelona 3 days prior to our upcoming cruise. My daughter and I like modern hotels and I wanted to be centrally located close to Las Ramblas but not actually on the street so I currently have Hotel Jazz booked at a rate where I can cancel. However, I've been looking around a little more and have seen recommendations for Hotel Europark as well. I can book Hotel Europark for about $70 less per night. However, my concern is that it appears to be a little further from Las Ramblas although it's closer to some other sites like Sangrada Familia. Any recommendations for one hotel over another?