The Dish on Disney... cruises
August 14, 2010 1:21 PM
Some specific questions about a Disney cruise... crowds? noise? motion? 11 year old fun?
We're considering a Disney cruise from LA to the "Mexican Riviera". I have a couple questions that have not been addressed in previous posts about the topic...
1. How crowded is it on the ship? We're not big "crowd" lovers, and wonder if we'll feel cramped with no where to go.
1a. Is it noisy? Can you hear thru the walls, neighbors etc?
2. Mrs. Corrocio is not big water/boat person. She gets motion sick easily. How un-boatlike is the ship? I hear it has stabilizers.
3. Our daughter is 11, and it will be us and her. She's a reasonably sociable kid, but I'm wondering if she'll find kid fun as a "lone" kid onboard? (ie. is there age appropriate stuff for 11 year olds -- she's not into Disney characters, and do you need a "pal" along -- other than ol' mom and dad?)
Thanks for any help!
We're considering a Disney cruise from LA to the "Mexican Riviera". I have a couple questions that have not been addressed in previous posts about the topic...
1. How crowded is it on the ship? We're not big "crowd" lovers, and wonder if we'll feel cramped with no where to go.
1a. Is it noisy? Can you hear thru the walls, neighbors etc?
2. Mrs. Corrocio is not big water/boat person. She gets motion sick easily. How un-boatlike is the ship? I hear it has stabilizers.
3. Our daughter is 11, and it will be us and her. She's a reasonably sociable kid, but I'm wondering if she'll find kid fun as a "lone" kid onboard? (ie. is there age appropriate stuff for 11 year olds -- she's not into Disney characters, and do you need a "pal" along -- other than ol' mom and dad?)
Thanks for any help!
And with the kids club for most ships it seems that the kid has tons of stuff to do and communicates via walkie talkie.
posted by k8t at 1:58 PM on August 14, 2010
posted by k8t at 1:58 PM on August 14, 2010
I can only speak to number 3--I went on a Disney cruise through the Gulf with my mom when I WAS a 10 or 11 year old girl. It was one of my most treasured vacations ever. I remember when I got back, I spent several nights falling asleep recreating the layout of the ship, because I thought it was SO amazing.
I have a hard time remembering the specifics, but they divided the kids into different age-groups and had very age-appropriate games and activities... even if your daughter DIDN'T make any friends on board, there's enough "magic" atmosphere she definitely won't be bored. I don't know what it would be like on other ships but you really gotta trust that Disney's got it down.
posted by ista at 2:48 PM on August 14, 2010
I have a hard time remembering the specifics, but they divided the kids into different age-groups and had very age-appropriate games and activities... even if your daughter DIDN'T make any friends on board, there's enough "magic" atmosphere she definitely won't be bored. I don't know what it would be like on other ships but you really gotta trust that Disney's got it down.
posted by ista at 2:48 PM on August 14, 2010
Regarding number 2: we took a cruise a few years back and while the motion at sea is very slightly noticeable, the stabilizers really do cut down on the boat-like motions. I was just a bit queasy for about the first half of the first day; after that no issues. Dramamine and/or the acupressure bracelets seem to do the trick for most folks. Our cabin was right at the waterline, so we got to hear the stabilizers retracting whenever the ship came into port (which was usually in the very wee hours of the morning).
I don't recall much in the way of cabin-to-cabin noise, though in fairness we weren't in it too much*. I suspect you won't be either. FWIW, my folks have taken various groupings of our kids on Disney cruises in the past and all concerned have had a fabulous, awesome, lifetime-memory sort of time. From what I hear, they pretty much pull out all the stops.
The ships have plenty of quiet areas, or at least ours did. I never recall feeling like we were in the midst of too large a group, even when we hit shore with everyone else.
* Our cruise was on Carnival, or as I like to refer to it now, the Six Flags of the Sea. Which is to say that the tend to skew towards the younger, wilder crowd.
posted by jquinby at 4:06 PM on August 14, 2010
I don't recall much in the way of cabin-to-cabin noise, though in fairness we weren't in it too much*. I suspect you won't be either. FWIW, my folks have taken various groupings of our kids on Disney cruises in the past and all concerned have had a fabulous, awesome, lifetime-memory sort of time. From what I hear, they pretty much pull out all the stops.
The ships have plenty of quiet areas, or at least ours did. I never recall feeling like we were in the midst of too large a group, even when we hit shore with everyone else.
* Our cruise was on Carnival, or as I like to refer to it now, the Six Flags of the Sea. Which is to say that the tend to skew towards the younger, wilder crowd.
posted by jquinby at 4:06 PM on August 14, 2010
Hi. I don't know anything about the ship, especially since you haven't told us its name. I do know something about at least one ship with stabilisers, having spent quite a lot of time on it, including time in very bad weather. The ship I was on was probably a bit smaller than the cruise ship you're considering.
Stabilisers are brilliant. On small ships, in bad weather - or even moderate weather, really - you can't do things like leave a bottle of water standing on your bedside table - in fact, there's likely not to be a table as such at all, but maybe a shelf with a really high lip around the edge. If you leave a bottle of water standing on any flat surface, at some point it will fall off and roll around the floor, waking you up. On a nice big ship with stabilisers, you can happily leave the bottle of water standing up in conditions up to gale force winds. I get motion sick. I hate buses, dislike cars and have been seasick a slightly embarrassing number of times, but never on the ship with stabilisers. I can probably answer other specific questions about how unboatlike it might be, if you like. One thing that sometimes makes me feel ill on boats is the smell - of fuel, of general damp boatness, etc. A cruise ship is not likely to smell bad in that kind of way, it should smell like a hotel, although of course there is a risk of cleaners spraying cheap air freshener everywhere, which is not exactly good either.
Cruise ships usually arrange their schedules to avoid the worst seasonal weather, but their routes do sometimes take them through bad weather; I don't know when you're planning to take this cruise, but hopefully the weather is usually good at that time of year. In the case of someone who's concerned that they might feel seasick, I'd recommend taking some kind of non-drowsy motion sickness pills for the first day or two, and tapering them off after that if they feel ok. If there's any kind of bad weather forecast, start taking the pills again before the sea gets rough.
posted by Lebannen at 6:35 PM on August 14, 2010
Stabilisers are brilliant. On small ships, in bad weather - or even moderate weather, really - you can't do things like leave a bottle of water standing on your bedside table - in fact, there's likely not to be a table as such at all, but maybe a shelf with a really high lip around the edge. If you leave a bottle of water standing on any flat surface, at some point it will fall off and roll around the floor, waking you up. On a nice big ship with stabilisers, you can happily leave the bottle of water standing up in conditions up to gale force winds. I get motion sick. I hate buses, dislike cars and have been seasick a slightly embarrassing number of times, but never on the ship with stabilisers. I can probably answer other specific questions about how unboatlike it might be, if you like. One thing that sometimes makes me feel ill on boats is the smell - of fuel, of general damp boatness, etc. A cruise ship is not likely to smell bad in that kind of way, it should smell like a hotel, although of course there is a risk of cleaners spraying cheap air freshener everywhere, which is not exactly good either.
Cruise ships usually arrange their schedules to avoid the worst seasonal weather, but their routes do sometimes take them through bad weather; I don't know when you're planning to take this cruise, but hopefully the weather is usually good at that time of year. In the case of someone who's concerned that they might feel seasick, I'd recommend taking some kind of non-drowsy motion sickness pills for the first day or two, and tapering them off after that if they feel ok. If there's any kind of bad weather forecast, start taking the pills again before the sea gets rough.
posted by Lebannen at 6:35 PM on August 14, 2010
I've been on two cruises - Disney and Carnival. The Disney cruise far surpassed the Carnival cruise. The first night on Disney, the sea was a little rough and we could definitely feel it. I was fine, but my sister-in-law got a little sick. I had Sea Bands with me which she used with great results. So definitely get those for your wife just in case. For the most part, though, you probably won't really feel it at all.
As far as noise, I don't remember it being awful. The kids are kept so busy during the day that you barely ever see them...seriously. I was really concerned that the Disney cruise would be kid crazy, kids everywhere, general kid madness, but it really wasn't. Your daughter will have a great time.
The rooms are really nice for a cruise ship. Get a balcony if you can. Even though you're not in your room a lot, it's so nice to be able to open a door and get some air. We were actually upgraded before we boarded. Be really nice to the check-in person and you might get lucky!!
Have fun!
posted by fresh-rn at 7:07 PM on August 14, 2010
As far as noise, I don't remember it being awful. The kids are kept so busy during the day that you barely ever see them...seriously. I was really concerned that the Disney cruise would be kid crazy, kids everywhere, general kid madness, but it really wasn't. Your daughter will have a great time.
The rooms are really nice for a cruise ship. Get a balcony if you can. Even though you're not in your room a lot, it's so nice to be able to open a door and get some air. We were actually upgraded before we boarded. Be really nice to the check-in person and you might get lucky!!
Have fun!
posted by fresh-rn at 7:07 PM on August 14, 2010
My mother hates and fears boats, ships, galleons, dories, rafts, and leaves floating in puddles. She was worried about being seasick or afraid on her cruise, but found it to be no problem at all.
She was unable to convince herself to visit any of the ports of call that required the use of a tender (a small vessel that transfers passengers to shore) so if that is something that concerns you, you might want to check ahead of time whether you'll be mooring at a dock or not.
posted by Sallyfur at 6:41 PM on August 15, 2010
She was unable to convince herself to visit any of the ports of call that required the use of a tender (a small vessel that transfers passengers to shore) so if that is something that concerns you, you might want to check ahead of time whether you'll be mooring at a dock or not.
posted by Sallyfur at 6:41 PM on August 15, 2010
I went on a Disney Cruise once - for two weeks, over Christmas and New Years. A caveat: I was 19 and I went for free as a guest of my then pseudo/maybe-girlfriend who was an actress on the ship. I stayed in her tiny crew cabin and, combined with the relationship drama happening, plus the fact that I hate everything Disney made it a pretty terrible two weeks, considering especially that once you're on the boat, it's pretty tough to just, you know, get off.
1. Yes, they are crowded. I mean, you're with a whole bunch of people all on one ship. The restaurants are crowded, the pools are crowded, even the crappy little tourist towns you stop at are crowded. The only not-so-crowded place was Disney's private little island (though I went on a Caribbean cruise, so ymmv).
1a. Noise. Yes, you can hear through the walls. Though Disney Cruises are family affairs, so there isn't a whole lot of loud fucking or whatever. A lot of families retire early. There are some late night adult activities, but they're pretty quiet and benign, as far as adult activities go.
The worst noise-related part for me was the Disney music. It wasn't just Disney music. It was a lot of popular pop hits covered with Disney lyrics, e.g. 'Livin' La Vida Mickey,' etc.
2. Sure, there are stabilizers, but that doesn't change the fact that you're on a boat. If you get motion sickness easily, then you will get sick on the boat, especially in your room - you feel the relative motion much more.
3. Well, if she doesn't like Disney characters, I hardly see her having much fun on a Disney cruise. The characters are walking about everywhere. There will be lots of other kids - many of them probably younger. You don't need a pal, but the fact is that there just isn't a whole helluva lot to do on a cruise ship. And on a Disney cruise, everything - no, really everything is Disney themed.
The food was pretty good.
Read this before you go (try to find a copy of the whole essay, however)
posted by Lutoslawski at 10:53 AM on August 16, 2010
1. Yes, they are crowded. I mean, you're with a whole bunch of people all on one ship. The restaurants are crowded, the pools are crowded, even the crappy little tourist towns you stop at are crowded. The only not-so-crowded place was Disney's private little island (though I went on a Caribbean cruise, so ymmv).
1a. Noise. Yes, you can hear through the walls. Though Disney Cruises are family affairs, so there isn't a whole lot of loud fucking or whatever. A lot of families retire early. There are some late night adult activities, but they're pretty quiet and benign, as far as adult activities go.
The worst noise-related part for me was the Disney music. It wasn't just Disney music. It was a lot of popular pop hits covered with Disney lyrics, e.g. 'Livin' La Vida Mickey,' etc.
2. Sure, there are stabilizers, but that doesn't change the fact that you're on a boat. If you get motion sickness easily, then you will get sick on the boat, especially in your room - you feel the relative motion much more.
3. Well, if she doesn't like Disney characters, I hardly see her having much fun on a Disney cruise. The characters are walking about everywhere. There will be lots of other kids - many of them probably younger. You don't need a pal, but the fact is that there just isn't a whole helluva lot to do on a cruise ship. And on a Disney cruise, everything - no, really everything is Disney themed.
The food was pretty good.
Read this before you go (try to find a copy of the whole essay, however)
posted by Lutoslawski at 10:53 AM on August 16, 2010
I'm not much of a cruiser, but my mom is, and she spends a lot of time on the forums at Cruise Critic - you can definitely find folks there who have taken this specific cruise before and can advise you on every tiny detail from which cabin to try to book to which table to sit at at which restaurant at which time.
posted by judith at 4:53 PM on August 16, 2010
posted by judith at 4:53 PM on August 16, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
In terms of crowds, yes there are always people around on cruise ships.
Noise? Yeah. You hear people like at a hotel. Cruise ship cabins are less comfy than hotel rooms though. Being in the room isn't super fun.
You usually don't feel the boat move.
posted by k8t at 1:56 PM on August 14, 2010