The best and worst of a Disney cruise?
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Oh my gosh you guys are making me excited! What awesome descriptions! You’ve got me wanting to make it happen now! I guess my main concern was feeling like I was sailing on the S.S. Hollywood & Vine
I pictured all of the restaurants having corn and french fries all over the carpet. 
I’m all about the food on a cruise as well, and it sounds like Disney has that covered. Carnival had pretty bad food, and Norwegian was a big step above. I like the idea of your servers following you around. I hate how the other cruise lines add your gratuities per person onto your bill and you have no idea who they are going to. The only person we ever see twice is our cabin steward so we tend to want to leave him cash so that it doesn’t get split up with a bunch of people we may have only ever saw once. What does Disney do about tipping? Can you bring cash or does it all have to go on your card and they TELL you how much you HAVE to leave? I’m going to add Princess to my list of lines to try as well. I’m not a night owl in the least and typically I am back in my room by 8 or 9 when I’m on a cruise. I don’t know why exactly, but it seems like I’m exhausted by then and can’t wait to lay down. Oh yeah, how are the staterooms on Disney? And most importantly, the sound in between the cabins? I’ve never had any problems with noise on a ship but with so many kids I wonder if it’s really easy to hear through the walls? Sorry for all the questions but I just like to have conversations in the threads. lol I’m a discusser and a debater an opinionated to a fault. A lot of times people misunderstand my enjoyment of conversation and differing opinions as “troublemaking” but I promise, my tone is always one of us sitting on a couch with coffee, never angry lol. I just get excited haha.
The staterooms are very comfortable and my understanding is they offer some of the largest staterooms at sea. I don’t recall noise being a problem at all. I’ve been in inside, veranda and concierge suite. I like veranda best – especially for a week long cruise. It gives you yet another quiet kid-free space and in-room dining is free so it’s nice to have a meal or drink on patio. That said, they do a nice job of keeping inside staterooms from feeling claustrophobic with digital windows.
As for tipping, on the last day of the cruise they leave the names of your regular cast members (I believe 3: stateroom host, server and server assistant) and suggested amounts but you can write the amount you want and drop it off in lobby (this may have changed).
Dining rooms (and entire ship) are very clean. No fries or beach towels strewn about. Staff are constantly cleaning up.I like how they do the tips and let you know who is who. I have hated that you have no clue where your money is going on the ships that I’ve been on. I don’t think my cabin steward should have to share with the bartender that I saw once. I’d want to tip accordingly to each area if possible. They don’t make it easy on the regular ships. It’s funny the image you get in your head about something. There was a lone french fry laying on the stairs heading towards our room on this last ship for a couple of days so we dubbed it French Fry Alley.
All that being said, I’m not so sure about another cruise at all. I just got back last Monday, and here I sit with what feels like Bronchitis….again! My first cruise I was already suffering with the tail end of a hacking cough, the second one I came down with the flu that turned into bronchitis on day 3 out of 5 and have never in my life been so sick! Now I get back and 3 days later I’m coughing my head off and wheezing with the same crackle in my chest as before. I tell ya, because of how sick I got last time, I was like a mad woman with the hand sanitizer and letting them squirt my hands at every turn! My hands were peeling by the time we got back. We clorox wiped down the cabin when we arrived. I don’t think I could’ve been any more vigilant.
I’m starting to get paranoid about travel because of this. I’m going back to Paris in November and I seriously would die if I got sick on the plane going over. I know they have those doctors masks but can you imagine trying to breath through that for a 9 hour flight? ugh It’s weird because I don’t feel like being on a ship with sick people would be any different than staying in a hotel or going to the mall with them? Why does it seem like ships breed sickness? There’s so much open space. I go to buffets all the time here at home and don’t end up sick all the time. It’s strange.Disney Cruises far outweigh others. Food it without equal. Cabins are comfortable. The two bathrooms were huge for us. The ship is sectional so you can minimize kids impact if this is a problem. Theater, Movies, Nightclubs, Special Events. Castaway Cay is like the ship. You can be in adult only area, or mixed.
I believe minimum, 4 days. If you can at all afford the time and money, I suggest 6 days at WDW followed by a 4-7 day cruise. The parks exhaust you, the cruise rejuvenates you.I have to disagree with you on cruising last and here is why… disembarkation day… although Disney has this down pretty good, it is still stressful. My wife and I prefer to do the parks after a cruise. As everyone is going home, we are tagging our bags to go to the resorts. To each his/her own
Disney was my first and only cruising experience, and I’m almost afraid to try another cruise line.
That’s a legitimate concern. It didn’t even cross my mind when we tried another cruise line but I was disappointed with the cruise experience. We had an incredible time in port and it was a great means to an end to see a lot of new places, but the cruise itself was very meh and I wouldn’t do it again.
Don’t be afraid of other liners, i’ve sailed with P&O, Celebrity, Costa, Norwegian & Thompsons. with a couple of rare exceptions it was all good
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