Why HAVEN'T you taken a Disney cruise?

I've often thought about taking a cruise, but it's just too expensive to cruise solo. Even with all the seemingly great deals out there right now, as soon as I plug in the fact that there's just one of me, the price doubles or triples. Grr. It's so annoying.

If I did have the money, though, honestly, I wouldn't go on a Disney ship. I'd try to find a cruise line that was more geared to grownups, but still with a lot of shipboard activity options. NCL or RCI maybe.

Mousetraveler,

I'm here because I love Disney World. I just don't necessarily love the fact that I'm surrounded by kids the whole time I'm there. It's one of those things I tolerate because I have to in order to enjoy Disney World. There's only one WDW and it just so happens to come with kids. (Believe me, if there were an "adults only week" at WDW, that's the week I'd be going.) I can handle kids one-on-one and in small chunks of time. But en masse, they really sap my energy.

You asked a question, and I answered honestly. Obviously, you're more familiar with the Disney cruise lines than I am. Like so many others, I have preconceived notions of cruise lines based on their reputations. (Carnival's "party ship" rep also turns me off because I can just imagine being the only sober 40+ year old in a sea of drunken 20 year olds. And that may not be true, either. But do I want to gamble a $2K+ vacation on the hope that it isn't? Not really.) I have been trying to find a cruise line that is likely to have the largest demographic of people like me: single, childless, 40+. Is that Disney? You tell me. If it is, I'll look more closely.

On another note, what's your take on all these people "falling" off cruise ships lately? It's starting to freak me out. They all seem to have different situations going on, but the fact that it's been happening so frequently makes me a little leery.

I'd say I share the same reservations as Solo Friendly about Disney Cruises. In a perfect world, they wouldn't be there at WDW either.

On another note, I'm quite curious to hear people's experiences on cruises in general. I was tempted to take a European cruise once, but the more I thought about it, the more skeptical I was. I really like to get to know a place and moving around that much doesn't seem my speed. On the other hand, an Alaskan cruise sounds more interesting. Something where it's nice to just sit on the deck and watch the natural wonder go by.

I think my biggest fear about cruises though, is that once you're on it...you're kind of trapped. If you don't like a hotel, you can go someplace else. If you don't like you ship...too bad.

Good morning!

Where are all these stories about people falling off ships? I oversit (i.e., do not understand). Like MT stated, you're probably jumping or being pushed overboard.

I think the Samantha Brown series is the one in which she's on the Freedom of the Seas, billed as the world's largest cruise ship.

Jim

LeCellierBuff, there just have been a lot of stories in the news in the past couple of months about people "falling" (or jumping, being pushed, whatever) off cruise ships. First a woman who was traveling with her family, then a cruise ship employee, then a couple (both of them!). These incidents all occurred within what seems to be a very short period of time. You could probably find the articles if you googled some key words.

It's probably like shark attacks where they happen every once in a while, but when a couple happen in a close proximity (which statistics says will happen every once in a while), you notice and think the frequency has increased. That summer where there were so many shark attacks a few years ago didn't really indicate anything other than just an anomaly as far as I can tell.

Either that or maybe people are getting stupider and falling off ships more. Or else more depressed (very likely.)

That is an interesting question. Are the cruise operators at all liable for what happens on the ships? I'm guessing you have to sign a waiver, but that just seems like an invitation for trouble to indemnify them from any responsibility for running a safe ship.

Who IS in charge of prosecuting a pickpocket in international water? Doesn't maritime law say they can make them walk the plank or something?

This is another one of those threads I just got around to reading. I would like to add my two cents for what it's worth.

I have been on 3 cruises...2 Disney and one Princess Line (are they still in business?) The Princess Cruise was me and 130 of my closest friends from work and we had a ball! But we all knew each other and pretty much had the run of the ship for 3 days.

DCL...I went on the 4th cruise they had...and it was TERRIBLE! Kids did have the run of the ship. They were everywhere...even in the bars. I swore I would never do DCL again.

Fast forward 10 years and a travel agent that specializes in all things Disney. She assured me Disney had corrected the 'kid problem'. And, I gotta tell ya, they have. When we got off the first cruise they handed us questionaires about I cruise and I complained bitterly about the kids.

Disney listened to us early cruiserss. Now DCL has areas specifically for adults...bars...pool...Palos...and believe me when I tell you...they ENFORCE the 'no kids in this area' policy. It was a much better cruise that we enjoyed to the max.

A couple of observations. Having been on a couple different cruises, one thing that stood out to me is fellow passengers. Those on DCL tend to be much more relaxed, laid back and easy to get along with. I noticed a lot of the parents with kids on DCL tend to keep their kiddies in check, i.e. no running wild, no loud noises, etc.

Not sure if this adds to the overall feeling on the ship, but because there is no gambling on DCL if that makes a difference in the mood onboard.

Castaway Cay is wonderful! They do have areas just for adults and I understand they are going to expand not only that area of the island but the whole thing in general.

Would I do DCL again? Without a doubt...and I would once again make it a land/sea deal.

Disney people are just nicer people. I think that's what you're trying to say, right Mike?

Thats it! Nicer people! I think that people that are Disney fans, no matter what their age, have certain attitude about them that makes them so much nicer to be around!

We've talked about this before, and I really do think it's true. People who are willing to believe in Magic are willing to believe that being kind and considerate are probably the right things to do. (Line cutting, however...that's something we still have to deal with...)

Mike, what made you decide to give them a second chance?

A couple things cdub...the first being my travel agent who said Disney had made significant strides towards making the cruises more 'adult-friendly'. And they certainly have done that. And making the cruise part of the package, it was a lot cheaper than doing just a cruise.

The second reason is...I'm am not much of a 'partier'. While the 'fun ships' look like fun...I am more laid back. I don't gamble...dont drink like a fish...and go to bed at a 'normal hour'...like 9pm. Altho I will admit, we did stay up way late one the cruise...like 11:30 or some such ungodly hour...lol

It's amazing to me how alcohol/gaming focused the other lines are. Is Disney the only "big ship" cruiseline that doesn't assume everyone wants to party/dance/drink/gamble?

I can guarantee we won't do a Disney cruise until we have kids old enough to enjoy it. Part of it is the kid factor and everything being "family friendly". The best part of our cruise was the adult-only activities. They were things like adult comedy shows, variety shows, a scavenger hunt, and things like that. Most of the time, it was whoever was performing on the ship's main stage, but later and Rated R. And the PG versions were not funny.

Other than that, we wouldn't do it because there is no gambling. We made a bunch of friends at the last cruise and we met them all at the electronic poker table they had. I think that type of table would be a "must have" on our cruises. We still talk to those people a month later most days...and are talking about doing another cruise with them. We also just love playing poker, especially at night. We were up until 2 or 3 in morning playing poker most nights.

I knew you guys were hellions! I got my love of gambling from my mom, I admit it! I always have my limit, though...no interventions please

I've only been on one cruise and it was a Carnival cruise to Cozumel (six days maybe). I took my girlfriend at the time, and my mom - because she'd never been on a cruise and she deserves it (that and she's super fun to be around). It was great, we all had a wonderful time. The all-inclusive nature of most cruises is a real good time. We'd order brownies at two in the morning from room service...just because we could The food was generally very good, the activities were real fun (we particularly enjoyed playing bingo), and the shore excursions were a treat. We all used seasick patches and did not get seasick. I did get uncomfortably queasy one night. I figure that might have had something to do with the 0300 pizza craving I sated though. I don't drink or "party" and though there was a lot of that going on, we still have a great time with lots to do at all times. I would recommend a cruise (DCL or otherwise) to most anyone. Far as cruising with like-minded people, there are cruises designed specifically for that. There are cruises for singles (not all of which are meat markets), cruises for specific age groups, even cruises chartered for special interest groups.

p.s. I do want to take a Disney cruise.

[quote poster=LifeIsForLiving date=1254277871
We'd order brownies at two in the morning from room service...just because we could