comparison with other cruise lines

[janebanks]

I've been telling people that Disney does it different. But I don't really know. I've never been on any cruise, ever. My brother just got back from a 7 night cruise out of Galveston that was, obviously, not on a Disney boat. Everything he described sounded like something I would hate. He didn't have as good a time as he thought he would. Here is what he mentioned:
Service that was adequate, but hard to find, not personal, not special.
Not much to do on ship, but the shows were staffed by people with talent, but nothing felt very special.
Claustrophobic, closet sized staterooms.
Out of control young kids and tweens running around everywhere unsupervised and shrieking.
People who were there just to eat and play bingo among themselves, not friendly or outgoing.
All the other people there to get drunk and party.
Too much walking on board to get to anything to do.
Hard to find any place to relax without kids bumping into him and shrieking.

Now, my brother is not some old cranky guy from Up! He's young, enthusiastic, and fun loving. But he said by the 6th day he was done and felt trapped.

How does this description compare to a Disney cruise? I'm trying desperately to convince a relative to choose a Disney cruise with me because I trust Disney and I'm sure in my heart that a Disney cruise is not what my brother has described above!

Thanks in advance for your input.

[RobWreck]

My wife and I have been on 2 DCL cruises and neither time did we ever run into a significant amount of kids. DCL does an amazing job of keeping the kids busy (and I mean kids ranging from very young to teenagers). It's got a whole deck of the ship dedicated to kids in different age ranges (basically all pre-teens) and then the teenagers have their own area in one of the ship's smoke stacks. Then there are the adults-only parts of the ship - the adults only pool, the adults only cofee shop, all the clubs and bars after 9 pm, etc... The segregation continues onto Castaway Cay, with an adults-only beach, play areas for the kids and a dedicated family beach.
So generally, my experience has been that there's absolutely no problems with kids if you don't want to deal with them.
Enjoy!
Rob

[Imalismom]

I have been on 2 cruises in my lifetime. One was DCL, and the other was a 7 day cruise out of Galveston. I totally agree that the Cruise was AWFUL! In fact, had that cruise been my first cruise, I'd NEVER get close to a cruise ship ever again.

Does that mean that DCL is the end all to everything? No, but it does mean that the DCL cruise was enough to make us want to go back to DCL.

Will we ever try another cruise ship? Probably.

I am glad that DCL was my first cruise. I will NEVER cruise with the cruise ship that I did out of Galveston again, without a ton of changes to the way their criuses are handled - even if it does take about 45 minutes to get to that cruise ship.

[wendy*darling]

I think there's a huge difference for a couple of reasons:

DCL does not have any casinos. That rules out a big segment of the population that want a floating party ship.
They do play Bingo- but it is family friendly, doesn't take much time and is fun!

There are no midnight buffets. I don't feel like it is a 24/7 food fest. So that portion of the population is not there either. (But believe me, the food is fantastic and plentiful!)

There are bars and adult only areas, and you could drink your way through the cruise, if that's what you wanted.

But aside from what we all know as "the Disney Difference" I really think the people who choose Disney Cruise Line are just expecting something different. They are "kids at heart" and choose to have fun and relax.

I'd say pick a 4 night cruise on the Wonder with your brother- and enjoy showing him what a cruise can really be!

[crazypoohbear]

We just sailed on NCL and did disney in 05.
THere is a BIG difference in the service we recieved on Disney. Much better, friendlier more helpful staff.
for instance, on NCL my friend asked for a substitute food, she was allergic to something and asked for bread instead of corn chips. the server told her NO. no explaination, no reason no apology just a flat NO.
The elevators had dirty dishes of ice cream, and empty drink glasses, crew members would get on the elevator look at the mess and then get off and leave it. on Disney everyone seemed to "pitch in" you never got the feeling that it was "someone else's job"
My kids were on both cruises and even now at 15 and 20 they wanted DISNEY.
We never saw people falling down drunk on disney either.
The food was better and there were more choices in the dining rooms on disney.

[DeniseMB]

It sounds like your brother went on an older Carnival ship. You can't judge an entire fleet by one ship. The age, tonnage, itinerary, stateroom and port of embarkation have to be taken into account.

DCL is elegant. Yes, the magic is definetly there. The entertainment is only as Disney can do it. The staterooms are slightly larger than average. Most have a bathroom and a half. You can see a Disney movie when it first opens in theaters at home. No other cruiseline has a fireworks display. I love the rotation dining.
I was last onboard during a Christmas holiday sailing. Yes, it did snow inside the atrium.