Cruising Without Kids

[tellmelies]

We're going on a Carnival cruise as a family in August, but my husband and I are looking for something different for our 10th anniversary in October. We LOVE Disney and have done both theme parks. We feel like we need to check the box and sail on Disney. Questions are: Will we be out of place without our kids?

 

Is there plenty to do as far as adult only activities?

 

What makes a Disney cruise worth the extra $$$?

 

Thank you all!!

 

 

 

 

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[moki'smommy]

The number of adult activities depend on the length of the cruise/number of sea days. There are always "tastings,"--martini, wine, tequila, etc. The night club area is adult only after 9 pm with variety entertainers doing shows on longer cruises, dances, game shows starring you and your fellow guests, etc. There are cooking demonstrations, and occasionally special CMs/guests do programs for adults.

 

The forward section of the pool deck is supposed to be adult only, as is the Cove Cafe in that area. Enforcement varies, so don't be surprised to see kids walking thru, coming into the area to chat with mom, etc. They will be fished out of the pool by CMs if they try to enter. Most of the time they walk thru quietly, but there are those instances where they run, skate, yell, fight with the brother, etc. There is adult dining--brunch and dinner in Paly/Remy for an upcharge.

 

We do DCL as 2 adults on a fairly regular basis...but it is what you make it!

 

What is worth the money--for us it is the service aspect and the fact that we know so many of the "long term" CMs. It does cost double what some other lines do. And the food is not as good as some less costly lines (OK, food preferences are personal, but...one other line has better munchies in an area similar to Cove Cafe, a fresh cooked healthy options area, candies as ice cream toppings, etc, as well as what we perceive as better). But DCL service beats all we've found.

 

We regularly talk about doing another line again...and seem to come back to "but we'll miss that it isn't DCL.

[Shmoo here]

We're going on a Carnival cruise as a family in August, but my husband and I are looking for something different for our 10th anniversary in October. We LOVE Disney and have done both theme parks. We feel like we need to check the box and sail on Disney. Questions are: Will we be out of place without our kids?

 

Is there plenty to do as far as adult only activities?

 

What makes a Disney cruise worth the extra $$$?

 

Thank you all!!

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

 

We took 3 DCL cruises without kids. Then, the next two we took the "kids" (in reality also adults - no one under 18). Our last DCL cruise was DH & I, DHs mother and her husband, DHs sister and her husband.

 

We've yet to do everything available to do onboard. If you limit yourselves to the adult-only activities, there may be less to do. But the family activities are quite fun, also.

 

There are adult-only areas onboard and at Castaway Cay. In our experience, DCL is quite good about policing and keeping the adult-only venues just that - adult only.

[MizDaisy]

It REALLY depends on what you like to do. If you like the casino, or a lot of activity in the nightclubs, or a lot of the adult trivia-type games that they have on the other lines, then you might not feel as though there is as much to do on DCL.

But, if you really just want to kick back, enjoy a cruise, the spa, the shows, etc....know in advance that the shows are all Disney-themed....but you'll still have a really nice time.

 

It's just different, that's all.

 

As far as worth it for the money, that is really a personal decision. To me, now, with the kids grown, it isn't worth the extra that Disney charges, regardless of the fact that they have a soda fountain and you can bring on your own alcohol. I *might* have a couple of alcoholic drinks on one cruise, so that's not a deal breaker for me. And even now that soda is included at dinner (it didn't used to be) it still isn't enough of a savings. But everyone is different.

[moki'smommy]

And even now that soda is included at dinner (it didn't used to be) it still isn't enough of a savings. But everyone is different.

 

Soda has been included with dinner since 1998. There did not used to be a beverage station with included sodas upstairs or at bars--there was a plan where you bought a mug and got a sticker on you KTTW card. You could then get sodas at bars. Top McAlpin said that it cost them $1 million per year in "lost" revenue to put the beverage stations on the Magic and Wonder, but was worth the good press it gave them.