Adult couple, no kids - how do I convince DW it's okay?

[etoile]

Hello! My DW and I are avid cruisers. She has been to both WDW and DLR in the past, but I just went to DLR for the first time. I was SO impressed. Since we usually cruise for vacations, I want to try a DCL vacation now. But I just know DW is going to think it's just for families with kids. How can I convince her that two adults can have an enjoyable experience too?

[poncho1973]

I haven't been here that long... but it seems like this comes up fairly often.

 

My wife and I just recently went our on the Wonder for the first time after having vacationed on Royal Caribbean and we DO NOT have kids...

 

More kids? Yes

More families? Yes

Less teenagers? Yes

Less retirees? Yes

 

The median age is lower and there were a lot fewer couples. The adults only area seemed aggressively "patroled" and swept of kids. We were only with other adults for our dinner seating. There are certain places (*COUGH* DECK FIVE *COUGH* except for the Buena Vista Theatre which shows real movies) that you will probably want to avoid like the plague if you don't want to see kids.

 

Personally... our biggest complaints on the RCCL ship were: a lot of rowdy teens and the bluehairs taking every single chair on the pool decks before sunrise. For US the increase in the number of "precious little adorable snowflakes" (read: screaming brats who you *think* can do no wrong! hahaha) wasn't a big deal. You learn quickly that things like the late dinner seating are a blessing. The early shows have fewer kids as they are at the first seating of dinner and as such, are not at your late seating of dinner. Then they are in bed if you do something after dinner. Adults can go roughly 6 hours each day (6pm to midnight... more if you stay up later) where you see a very tiny amount of children.

 

The private island has an adults only area. Thanks to it being WAY at the end of the island... there is zero chance that kids "accidentally" find their way there. It is an entire airplane landing strip away.

 

My wife and I aren't kid haters, but we don't have any and aren't planning on having any. As such, the things that most parents find "cute" or "precious" usually don't present themselves to us that way. We found it easy to be adults.

 

We also love Disney. Not in that scary way... just a healthy love. We appreciated the cleanliness and the orderly manner onboard. There were several times that we *did* enjoy watching kids having a good time. We're not scrooges.

[Muushka]

Wow Poncho, you feel the same way about children that we do! And I would not change a word of your great description of childless adults on DCL. Good job!:)

[anaslile]

Poncho--

 

I'm a teacher of children and I feel much the same way. Love them, just don't want to have them. I'm looking forward to my DCL cruise because of the adult areas!

 

Previously cruised CCL and will be doing another in April, however I'm fully expecting to be a DCL convert!

[mom x4,grandma x4]

We do DCL all the time without kids.

we love all the adult areas and events on the ship.

 

we also will go to family events if its something that soulds like fun and have never felt out of place just because we dont have kids with us.

 

There are lots of childless couples on board,, on our last cruise in November I know at least 6 couples myself with NO kids, just from one roll call thread. So it is more common than you think.

 

mom x4,grandma x4

[Druke I]

Wife and I did cruise on Disney Magic, by ourselves, way back Dec 98, and had a great time. We did the 3 night park stay, and 4 night cruise combination.

 

We were particularly impressed with the available separation between adults and children.

 

My only complaint, certainly minor, was that they would not allow adults to use the slide into the swimming pool!

 

Disney has perhaps the best "meet and greet" that we have experienced, along with almost seamless transition park to ship.

[DisneyJosh]

DCL is for people of all ages - there is no age requirement to feel and take part in the "Magic" at any of the Disney resorts or ships. If she enjoyed DLR, or for that matter any Disney park, she will enjoy DCL.

 

I would just explain to her that magic is not just for younger people, it is for everyone. The magical experiences that you have in places like DLR are just like the ones you'll have on DCL.

[KY Transplant]

I sure hope you guys are right.

 

The last Carnival cruise I went on had a bunch of those "precious" & "darling" children take over the hot tub ..diving & splashing the hot water on everybody. When I pointed out the sign that read "No diving or splashing" I was informed by the little cutsies that this was "for the kids" and basically looked on as an interloper.

 

Made me want to have those kids keelhauled.:D

 

I booked a Disney cruise after being assured that adult only areas & policies were vigourosly enforced. Besides the lure of a 5 star ship such as the Wonder sounded good too.

 

I need a good experience this time after having gone thru 5 days of hell on the Carnival Holiday. That ship looked like a Singapore junk and the passengers like a bunch of cutthroats in overalls who had never taught their little darlings about courtesy in their lives.

 

Hope I haven't made a mistake about Disney.

[mom x4,grandma x4]

In the adult hot tubs and pool there will be NO kids.

They are in the the hot tubs by the family pool. Disney does an excellant job of keeping kids away from adult areas.

 

I too was on Carnival and there were kids in every pool and hot tub on the ship, so we never got the chance to enjoy them. CM's did nothing whne adults complained about it.

 

Next week i will be going on ,our 16th DCL cruise and not even once have we had kids in the adult hot tubs and pools.

 

You wont be disappointed

 

mom x4,grandma x4

[Kris1114]

We were very bored on board the Disney Wonder.

This is GREAT for Kids!!!!! We won't be back on board until we have a child.

 

Not much for adults. This is geared toward families with children.

 

No live band, no regae band either, all pre-recorded music, kind of cheesy.

 

Great service, food was on par with Carnival.

 

You can go on Carnival for half the price.

 

Disney was crazy with the Wipes. They shoved them in your face, even after we just washed our hands.

Once again, awesome cruise for children of all ages, we found it boring.

[Muushka]

I can understand this review. If you like to party, I'll bet there are plenty of great (and much less expensive) cruises to be had. We are the more relaxation type (read: boring):rolleyes: and don't hang by the pool or visit clubs. So for us, the lack of bands was not a bad thing. We do miss a library though (I told you we are boring!).:rolleyes:

[anaslile]

We were very bored on board the Disney Wonder.

This is GREAT for Kids!!!!! We won't be back on board until we have a child.

 

Not much for adults. This is geared toward families with children.

 

No live band, no regae band either, all pre-recorded music, kind of cheesy.

 

Great service, food was on par with Carnival.

 

You can go on Carnival for half the price.

 

Disney was crazy with the Wipes. They shoved them in your face, even after we just washed our hands.

Once again, awesome cruise for children of all ages, we found it boring.

 

That's interesting. I found Carnival's on board activities very boring, and cheesy myself. That being said, I will be sailing them again in April and am hoping that with a longer itin that things will be better. I was looking at Disney's activities and personally found myself much more inspired. Then again, I'm not one for listening to live music and don't mind the Disney cheesiness.

[dahuffy]

We were a little fearful of our first DCL cruise as well. We are both 50 now and never had kids(2 legged anyway :D ). We chose the 4 day land/3 day sea for our first trip and let me tell you, we were planning a longer one within hours! We were placed on Deck 5, which is where most of the kids club's are :eek:.... best place to be actually. The staterooms on that deck are on the fore and aft ends of ship,the clubs were in the center, hence, no little darlins runnin' around. That was in '04,our 25th Anniversary. We then went for a 7 Day Eastern in '06,had a Blast! We now are planning for our 15 Day Eastbound Repo Cruise in Aug. Can't hardly wait!!!

[etoile]

I prefer the Celebrity experience to the Carnival experience myself, but I get the meaning. I've never been to WDW so if we did do this, we would probably do the land/sea combo as others in this thread have done. As long as I won't have to defer to young kids at every turn, I am pretty sure I am still a "big kid" enough to enjoy DCL. (What I mean by deferring to young kids is that I have often had to wait for a long time in line for "kiddie" activities, because their parents seem to resent that an adult would want to participate too. I don't mind deferring on occasion but sometimes it can be nonstop.)

[anaslile]

One thing Disney does well is line control, and I'm talking right now about the parks.

 

At least at the parks for character meets you have to wait in a line, no pushing and shoving. You go from one character to the next to the next. I can imagine that the cruise line does it the same. There really is no opportunity for a parent to push their "angel" in front of everybody.

 

that being said, you *will* have to wait in line with the kiddos if you chose to meet the characters. The only way to avoid this would be to arrive to the area early and hang around.

[ewheelock]

I am sure you will have a great time, but remember you too will be a blue hair one day yourself :)