DreamWorks Replacement Quality?

[DairyCreamer]

Hi all,

 

We'll be on Anthem here in a month.  We were highly disappointed when we saw RC terminate the relationship with DreamWorks (especially after we booked the cruise).

 

Since it's past April 1 now, we were curious if anyone has experience yet with their replacement product (if any) for the kids areas.  Not that we bought the trip solely based on DreamWorks, but we felt confident that would help hold the kids' interest.  Just wondering if their own replacement stuff is decent.

 

Thanks for any insights!

Edited April 4, 2019 by DairyCreamer

[ucfpirate]

Boo, I did not know they dumped DreamWorks.  I really hope there is some sort of replacement for the kids.

[Clarea]

I've not seen any reports of a replacement for Dreamworks.

[Btank]

I think I've seen it mentioned in some of the more recent reviews - maybe from recent Symphony sailings.  The impression I got was generally favorable.

 

     --bruce T.

 

[LuCruise]

It was fun seeing the characters around  and with the extra shows and meals, and such on Allure.  However, I have to say that on our recent cruise on Symphony, our kids didn't ask once about the missing characters.  Not sure about Anthem, but there was a pirate parade in its place on Symphony.  Royal has so much to do that they didn't miss them.

Edited April 4, 2019 by LuCruise

[nanowerx]

They aren't replacing it with anything. Essentially just saving the money they were spending to use the characters. You might get a couple of extra lame parades, but don't expect any new kid-friendly characters or events.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Dreamworks were fun photo ops, and the breakfast was nice for the kids.  It really didn't take up that much of the cruise time. 

 

I cannot recall Dreamworks events in the kids areas or program (Adventure Ocean) ever.  So really Dreamworks was a small component to the cruises compared the rest of the activities offered onboard. 

 

I think your kids will still enjoy their trip.

[cparkerkite]

Do they still have the parades on the Promenade and the kids carnival on the Boardwalk?  Not so concerned about Dreamworks in particular, but just want to be sure that they still have fun "extras" for the kids. We loved the parades.  We sail on the Allure 5/12.

 

Thanks!

Carla

 

[bostonfred]

I sent an email over a month ago about this to Royal a couple of months ago concerning our upcoming Harmony cruise....did not even get the courtesy of a reply....

[rimmit]

On 4/4/2019 at 5:36 PM, Sunkissed Mommy said:

Dreamworks were fun photo ops, and the breakfast was nice for the kids.  It really didn't take up that much of the cruise time. 

 

I cannot recall Dreamworks events in the kids areas or program (Adventure Ocean) ever.  So really Dreamworks was a small component to the cruises compared the rest of the activities offered onboard. 

 

I think your kids will still enjoy their trip.

 

Shrek and other characters would randomly stop by the kids program from time to time.  My kids enjoyed the visits.

[Clarea]

43 minutes ago, cparkerkite said:

Do they still have the parades on the Promenade and the kids carnival on the Boardwalk?  Not so concerned about Dreamworks in particular, but just want to be sure that they still have fun "extras" for the kids. We loved the parades.  We sail on the Allure 5/12.

 

Thanks!

Carla

 

 

There are still parades.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

On 4/8/2019 at 9:34 AM, cparkerkite said:

Do they still have the parades on the Promenade and the kids carnival on the Boardwalk?  Not so concerned about Dreamworks in particular, but just want to be sure that they still have fun "extras" for the kids. We loved the parades.  We sail on the Allure 5/12.

 

Thanks!

Carla

 

Allure just had the very last Dreamworks parade on our cruise last week. My 8 yo didn't care all that much either way. He didn't want to meet or high five any characters.

[madiaka]

On 4/4/2019 at 5:36 PM, Sunkissed Mommy said:

Dreamworks were fun photo ops, and the breakfast was nice for the kids.  It really didn't take up that much of the cruise time. 

 

I cannot recall Dreamworks events in the kids areas or program (Adventure Ocean) ever.  So really Dreamworks was a small component to the cruises compared the rest of the activities offered onboard. 

 

I think your kids will still enjoy their trip.

When we were on Allure in June 2017 they had a show at the Aqua Theater that our son loved. It had most of the DreamWorks characters and was a nice break that kept his attention. 

[Sunkissed Mommy]

25 minutes ago, madiaka said:

When we were on Allure in June 2017 they had a show at the Aqua Theater that our son loved. It had most of the DreamWorks characters and was a nice break that kept his attention. 

 

You are right, I remember that one now.  I sailed on Allure before kids.

[cruisegirl1]

This is not a replacement for DreamWorks, but I wanted to remind those with younger children that usually on the last  sea day there is  a big party for everyone, but mostly for kids, held on the boardwalk. I don’t know what it’s called, but it will be listed on the compass held somewhere around 1130 am 

 

 They have popcorn, cupcakes,  face painting, a big cake, carnival type games and lots more. 

Enjoy

 

M

[John&LaLa]

Revenue officer on Oasis told me the DreamWorks contract was over 2 million a year, and Royal was upset there haven't been many new characters in years.  Just Trolls, and that's been a while.

[madiaka]

Will they still have a channel with DreamWorks movies?  That was nice for down time as well. We sail on Harmony in August and since its sailing from Orlando, it seems that it would have some additional activities for smaller kids that the other Oasis class ships might not - just to compete with Disney Fantasy.  

 

I guess we’ll see compases soon that show what is available since DreamWorks is discontinued. 

 

[madiaka]

3 minutes ago, madiaka said:

Will they still have a channel with DreamWorks movies?  That was nice for down time as well. We sail on Harmony in August and since its sailing from Orlando, it seems that it would have some additional activities for smaller kids that the other Oasis class ships might not - just to compete with Disney Fantasy.  

 

I guess we’ll see compases soon that show what is available since DreamWorks is discontinued. 

 

I know it sails from Port Canaveral. 

[The Fun Researcher]

On 4/4/2019 at 4:32 PM, nanowerx said:

They aren't replacing it with anything. Essentially just saving the money they were spending to use the characters. You might get a couple of extra lame parades, but don't expect any new kid-friendly characters or events.

 

 I think you just have to look a little harder,  or consider how Royal is now spending their money on the kids . For instance, the Navigator just got two waterslides added, laser tag, and an escape room,  all of which my kids vastly enjoyed more than DreamWorks material.

 

 Royal has tons of activities for kids. To me, DreamWorks felt like  an afterthought anyway versus everything else that was already available. 

 

Dan

[Gatordad815]

For what it’s worth, we just spent a week on Allure with our children ages 3 and 5.  It was the 3/31 sailing, so it was the last sailing with the Dreamworks characters. We bumped into a penguin once and it was a cute 5 minute distraction, but beyond that, my kids never saw or asked about a Dreamworks character and they absolutely LOVED the cruise. 

 

Off the top of my head, some activities they they really enjoyed onboard were:

 

1) Adventure Ocean which is always a fun time (especially pirate night when they got to put on a pirate show for the parents);

 

2) The pool areas;

 

3) The carousel/boardwalk (we did the carousel no fewer than 10 times-never gets old);

 

4) The Aquatheater show;

 

5) Wandering the ship and exploring Central Park and the Promenade (they brought their pirate maps from Adventure Ocean and pretended they were leading us on a treasure hunt!);

 

6) The boardwalk family party that has been alluded to in prior posts. It was a pirate theme on our sailing and it was super fun for our kids. Like we spent 3 hours there fun. Don’t miss this!

 

7) The family dance party;

 

8- Mini Golf;

 

9) The headliner juggling act.

 

I’m sure there was more, but that’s just what I can easily remember. They were never bored and I know we missed a LOT of activities because we just didn’t have the time between everything else we did and port days. There are MANY family activities planned around the ship on sea days, so look at your cruise compasses. 

 

If your kids are anything like mine, they won’t even notice the lack of characters and have a blast! Hope you have a nice cruise!

 

 

 

[ONECRUISER]

Parades been going on 20yrs now, before they even had Dreamworks...

[Ourusualbeach]

I can’t recall one complaint about Symphony not having the Dreamworks on board and she’s sailed without them since her launch a year ago.  

[Sanz]

On 4/4/2019 at 10:41 AM, DairyCreamer said:

Hi all,

 

We'll be on Anthem here in a month.  We were highly disappointed when we saw RC terminate the relationship with DreamWorks (especially after we booked the cruise).

 

Since it's past April 1 now, we were curious if anyone has experience yet with their replacement product (if any) for the kids areas.  Not that we bought the trip solely based on DreamWorks, but we felt confident that would help hold the kids' interest.  Just wondering if their own replacement stuff is decent.

 

Thanks for any insights!

Sadly, I have read that there is no replacement product for DreamWorks.  We will be on the Anthem for the fourth time next month.  There are no parades on the Anthem. They did have 3-D movies (well kind of 3-D) when we were on board the ship. Hopefully the DreamWorks movies will be replaced with other family oriented 3-D movies. The Anthem does not have mini golf, but it does have a wave pool for young children, and a wading pool for very young passengers.

Edited April 10, 2019 by Sanz

[Itchy&Scratchy]

4 hours ago, cruisegirl1 said:

This is not a replacement for DreamWorks, but I wanted to remind those with younger children that usually on the last  sea day there is  a big party for everyone, but mostly for kids, held on the boardwalk. I don’t know what it’s called, but it will be listed on the compass held somewhere around 1130 am 

 

 They have popcorn, cupcakes,  face painting, a big cake, carnival type games and lots more. 

Enjoy

 

M

yes, they had that on the last day (this past Saturday) and it was called Family Carnival. DH went with DS (8 yo), and DS enjoyed it very much. But it was at 2:30 pm, sandwiched by an ice show at 1:30 pm and 3:30 pm. I went to pack, and the boys enjoyed themselves.

 

DS doesn't do kid's club, but he discovered ice skating thanks to the Allure and kept asking to go every single minute. He loved this cruise! He didn't even use the pool or a hot tub once (which is what he does on Princess cruises, because there is nothing else to do). And free chips at the Park cafe during lunch!!!! He was in heaven! He loved all the shows as well, and the carousel. He wanted to do the zipline, but it has a 75# min. He was just tall enough to do boogie boarding on the Flowrider, but there was a long line in the sun at all times, and we can't do sun that much. Plus, DH was concerned about injuries (lol, DS fell down so many times while ice skating, his legs and butt are one big bruise!)

Edited April 10, 2019 by Itchy&Scratchy

[TTraub1250]

Disney bought "Dream Works" and of course does not want a competing company to use their product to bring customers away from their ships.  So the question is who dumped who ?  Did Disney cancel the contract or raised the price so high it did not make sense or did RCCL dump Dream Works ?  My guess is Disney was the deal breaker !