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First Time Disney, Great Cabins

I love Disney and I love cruises, so I thought I was going to love this.  We have a 10 year old who also loves Disney and cruises.  But something about the combination left me cold.  I should state that we got off to a very bad start and I found it difficult to recover.  There was a two-hour line at the port, extending  into the parking garage, because it was the first trip for them out of their new Ft. Lauderdale terminal and they couldn’t seem to get the process down.  (I don’t really understand why the process was so different because the building had changed, but apparently they were unprepared).  We had a 1:30 boarding time and didn’t get to our cabin until a little after 3.  We were starving, so we didn’t unpack and left to go to the buffet.  On our way there, they announced that all food outlets would now close for the safety drill which was to start at 4:00.    We were directed to the fast food outlets by the pool, and we managed to grab the very last plate of chicken fingers before it closed. (We were told that many people were late for the safety drill because of the boarding issues ). After the drill was over, we went to the room to unpack, because we had not had time to do so earlier.  We then rushed to the pool deck to watch the Sail Away show and party.  But by the time we got there the show, which is apparently only a half-hour long, was over.  That’s was it.  There was no fun afternoon sailaway atmosphere with music like on other ships, just tons of kids splashing in the pool.    By this time, I was considerably disillusioned with the whole thing.

I think it is exceptionally poor hospitality to cause a two hour delay and then provide little or no food for people once they are finally able to board.  I believe the safety drill and the Sail-Away party should have been delayed, and the food outlets should have been kept open until everyone was onboard.   As it was, the ship didn’t end up departing until after 8:00 p.m. because of difficulties with the new port.    (Also, I think guests should be advised that no food will be available between 3:30 p.m. and dinner time on the first day because of the safety drill).  

Late that night,  there was a medical emergency which required the ship to go back to Fort Lauderdale.  In the morning, they announced that because of this unexpected turn of events we would not arrive at our first port, Castaway Cay (Disney’s private island) until after lunch.   I understand that these things can happen, and I am glad the cruise line was able to help the ill passenger and get them to safety.  But by the time we finally got to Castaway Cay, after waiting in a huge line full of passengers determined to make the most of their limited time on the island, we had only about 2 hours there.  The only accommodation made to the delay was to extend the time in port by 45 minutes.  There was no food on offer, as Castaway Cay only serves a specific barbecue lunch scheduled for a certain specific hour, and the cruise line made no effort to alter this rigid schedule even under the extenuating circumstances presented.  So, we sat on a beach for two hours and went back to the ship.   

I know unexpected delays do happen.  But we were not compensated in any way for either the delay in boarding, the missed embarkation lunch, or the severely truncated Castaway Cay visit, nor was any effort made to adjust the schedule to reflect these unforeseen circumstances.  This itinerary offered only two ports, and one was essentially scrapped.  We have been on a prior cruise with NCL which had a similar delay with the boarding process and also a missed port.  NCL gave us shipboard credit and a letter acknowledging their mistake and our disappointment.  Disney did absolutely nothing, other than to give us a special photo “commemorating” the first departure from the new Ft Lauderdale terminal.  The irony that this “first departure” and ensuing delay caused a tremendous inconvenience to the passengers was apparently lost on them.  

As for the cruise itself, it was just OK.  The character experiences and children’s programming are amazing, though there are long lines for everything, including taking a photo with a character.  The youth staff is fantastic, better than other lines by a thousand percent.  You do not have to worry about your kid for one minute.  Our kid made friends and enjoyed all of the various events, formal and informal, including decorating the cabin door and finding rubber ducks hidden by other passengers.  (Disney has devoted enthusiasts who do all of this stuff and who would never consider another line).  

Still, I did not care for the rigid schedule.  Disney still has set dining times, and those are either 5:15 or 8:15, no exceptions.  The buffet is not open for dinner, so your only other option for dinner is a limited selection of kid-friendly food (pizza, chicken fingers, burgers) offered by the pool, though even that closes at 6:00.  ( I imagine the first dinner seating is so early because there are so many young children.)  The shows are only offered at 6:00 or 8:00.  If you have the late seating, as we did,  and you want to see the show, you must do so at 6:00 p.m.  There is a sense, overall, of moving from managed experience to managed experience, and always being a half an hour late for whatever just happened.  There are a lot of lines.  It is very much like a Disney park, which is fine for that type of vacation, but not what I want in a leisurely relaxing Caribbean cruise.  

The food itself at dinner was very good, though not particularly creative or imaginative.  Meat, fish, vegetables, well-prepared.  You have the same waitstaff each night, but you rotate through each dining room.  The dining rooms are extremely crowded and noisy, and the staff, though friendly, appears overworked and rushes you through.  The food at the breakfast and lunch buffet was not very good, and there was a much smaller selection than offered on other ships.  As for those fast-food kiddie outlets by the pool, the less said, the better.  There are two adults-only specialty restaurants which do allow you to eat on your own schedule.  We ate at the Italian one, and both the food and service were excellent. 

Because we had the late seating and preferred to use the time beforehand to get ready, we only managed to see one show before dinner.    The show we saw was excellent.  We were told the other shows were as well.  We did participate in Pirate Night, which was really great fun!  Everyone dressed up in pirate costumes, and there was a great deck show and fireworks.  The ship also offers a constant stream of movies by the pool and first-run movies in the theater on some sailings.  

There is no nightlife on this ship.  There is a section called “the District” with multiple bars open only to 18 and up after 8:00 pm.  These bars and clubs were all beautifully decorated and atmospheric, but there was never anyone there.  The live music offered in these bars and lounges consisted of either a subdued piano player, a mellow acoustic guitar, or a violinist.  No bands.  One place did have a d.j. but we never saw anyone in there either.  I understand there are a lot of parents of young kids, but I don’t understand why they would not want to go out and enjoy themselves at night, especially when Disney offers free group childcare until late.  This “District” is just wasted space.  

During the day,  the ship has two large family pool areas.  These were simply too loud and crowded for anyone without kids to really consider sitting there.  Unlike on other lines, there is no tropical poolside music, just loud movies playing constantly.  There was only one hot tub which quickly became a “toddler soup.”  At least once, everyone had to be ordered out of one of these pools for some sort of hygiene “accident.”  Thankfully, the ship did offer two small adult pools with bars and one hot tub, and a lovely café with snacks and coffees.  These were relaxing and generally you could find a spot at one or the other.  However, again there was no musical entertainment by these pools, just piped-in instrumentals.  On pirate day, this switched to nonstop sea shanties from 2:00 p.m. on.   There are other daytime activities, mostly trivia and games.  We do not usually do those, but they did look fun if you like that.  We got the Rainforest Room Pass for the week.  This is a small area of the spa just for those 18 and older, with relaxing showers, saunas, steam rooms, heated loungers, and two jacuzzis.  It was quiet, calm, and never crowded, if a bit small.   There is a pretty decent gym as well.

The customer service is excellent, the staff is friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable about the ship, which is sometimes not the case on other lines.  There is twice-daily cabin service with towel animals and chocolates on the pillow.  The cabins are not huge, but there great family-friendly features such as a split bath with one room for the shower and one for the toilet, and a curtain which separates the parents’ bed from the children’s.  There is plenty of space for clothes and toiletries, and the WiFi, if you buy the package, works great.  All of these are things the other lines could learn from.  Still, the overall experience is not worth the trade off for these features.  This cruise experience was just not for us.  I will stick with keeping my cruise vacations and my Disney vacations separate.  They are simply too disparate to mix well.  I will say that for parents of small children who want a vacation that is geared only toward the children, and who don’t like to stay out late or listen to music or dance, this is probably perfect.

Boring, overpriced, rigid, not for adults

Riga

Disney has gone so far downhill. Our first two cruises on the Magic were magical. Everything you think to expect from a Disney cruise.

This one? Disney Dream to Bermuda in October 2023 was a hot mess.

Ship's Appearance

Disney was always the standard in cleanliness. Not now. The entire ship had the stink of sweat. One section, The District, added in the aromas of urine, vomit and poop. It smelled like the bathroom alleyway there had backed up and seeped into the carpeting. It was disgusting.

The tables at Cabanas were routinely dirty - chunks of food left over from previous diners, on the table, on the floor. 

I took a photo of one of the elevator button panels that had some substance smeared on it one day. The next day it remained there, just crustier. It may still be there.

Bedding that was clearly soiled was tucked in and remained throughout the trip.

On the deck by the pool my spouse pointed out a massive hairball right by the pool's entrance. It remained there throughout the voyage.

The hallways of our cabin floor (deck 8) smelled of sweat (like the ship) but added the aroma of turpentine while being cleaned. It was so intense my spouse was physically ill smelling it.

It didn't help that we had terrible weather and people were puking all around. And staff members did not know how to handle it and could not keep up with the clean up. I watched multiple kids just throw up all over the carpet in main areas and they'd put a cloth napkin over it and wait for someone to show up.

Friendliness of the Staff

We are so used to the happiest place on earth that it was a dramatic change to have "cast members" who had so clearly given up. So many told us excitedly that this was their last sail and they were leaving.

I witnessed staff members ignore requests for help, push into passengers as they went from place to place, and generally be unhelpful. 

We did the virtual sports simulator. A crew member would occasionally check in to make sure things were fine. Otherwise, they'd just disappear. A family in the other simulator had a glitch and wasted 10 minutes of their 30 minute session waiting for someone to return. Other people would come in and ask how they could get reservations. But no one was there to help.

We paid the high prices for the tastings. On the Magic, you could show up at 1.50 pm for a 2 pm tasting and you would find the door open to the space and be welcomed warmly in. On the Dream, the doors were locked until 2 pm and then they acted put out that people were trying to get in.

The Food Was Awful

I can't think of a single meal I really enjoyed on the cruise.

My spouse ordered a rare steak. It came out grey.

The mashed potatoes were used as wallpaper paste prior to being served. They were disgusting. I think they broke my daughter's addiction to mashed potatoes.

The scrambled eggs at Cabanas were raw. I have no idea how they expected anyone to eat those. The bacon was tasteless. The hash browns were the best thing they served. And that's sad.

Entertainment - What Entertainment?

Trying to find live music was hard. Unless you wanted someone standing in midship singing. But trying to find a place to sit, have a drink and listen to live music ... good luck. We found one guy who was awesome. They thought they should preserve his voice and only let him perform a total of 2 hours a day.

The character interactions were so brief. They would spend 15 minutes at a location. The lines were much longer. People would be standing there for a long time and then a random crew member would walk up and announce that they were out of luck.

Service Was Awful

We went to the pub and watched as three crew members were unable to handle the load of 7 guests. After being ignored for 20 minutes, they took our order. We saw it get filled, put on a tray, our server saw it and arranged it on the tray. Then walked away from it to go talk to a group who had come in. He later went back to the tray and brought us our drinks. 

Another server at the same pub was clearly lonely. She glommed on to us and talked for almost 20 minutes, in a monologue, about other people she had met. I don't mind friendliness and I like learning about different people, places, but this was not working.

Our waiters who traveled with us were sweet, but they were overworked. They couldn't keep up, our food delivery was always slow, and don't order wine. You'll watch it come to a station and the bottle sit there. After awhile, it will travel to your table, unopened. Then glasses will need to be found. And finally, someone will open the bottle. This is a tortuous process and one you will pay a lot for.

By the way, don't ever ask to sit by a window at lunch. You would think we made the most incredible demand that they had never heard of. The restaurant captain looked put out by it, the waiter couldn't find the table number assigned, and we were made to feel like we were wrong to want to see the ocean.

Also, don't prop your book up on a plate in Cabanas. I was sitting, reading, enjoying myself having finished what I was eating. I was using the plate to keep the book propped up for my ease. Suddenly a waiter wanted that plate. He grabbed it out from under my book and walked away. It was clear that I was using it still; just he wanted it more.

At the ship's stores we waited in long lines to buy seriously overpriced merchandise. I watched clerks walk away from long lines to go do - something? - and leave us waiting and waiting.

We Thought Embarkation Was Bad, but Debarkation Was Worse

Embarkation was almost two hours past our scheduled time. Why did we schedule a boarding time when it clearly didn't matter?

But nothing prepared us for leaving. Pandemonium. You would think they had never let passengers off the ship before. Lines snaking everywhere, no one knowing where to stand. Crew members yelling at people, being super unhelpful. People angry, shoving. I felt unsafe there with my kids, and I wanted off desperately. For a company that should know something or two about crowd control, it was out of control.

So was anything good?

Our wait staff were very nice, just overworked.

The team in kids club made it nice for our kids. Although there were a lot more "open house" hours this cruise. Basically, this means that half of the space is now come and go as you want and the other half is for kids who are there under supervision. I think they did that because they didn't have enough club counselors and "open houses" give them a break.

The photographers did work with us and our kids to take some really cute photographs.

The cabin was okay. You can tell it needs to be refurbished - peeling paint on the verandah (literally chunks were on the deck each day), stains on the walls, the carpet looked like a good shampoo had been long overdue. 

I can no longer say, well it's expensive but at least I get the Disney experience.

Wish I Could Give A Negative Rating

I didn't choose this cruise, my wife did. Our kids are more Spongebob and Peppa Pig fans due to Paramount+ being free for the last three years, so this wasn't for them. My wife admitted that she wanted to pay 3x what Norwegian and 2x Royal Caribbean to get that "Disney Magical Experience."

It was anything but.

We are seasoned cruisers, as sad as that is to admit for a couple in their 30's, but we know what value is. Value is Norwegian when they first offered the unlimited drink package... without tips, as part of their "Get 4 Perks" promotion! Value is a 7 day cruise for two priced at $800. Value is MSC trying to get a foothold in America and pricing cruises at $39 a day. Disney was anything but value, and it was the $800 Carnival experience all over again, 15 years later. 

Listen, I didn't go into this wanting to dislike it; it has all the basic amenities. Nice room, pleasant workers... but that's it. The food was mediocre: the steak was tough, most of the food was bland, and everything tasted like a buffet. Even cruises with overall bad food had one signature standout; for MSC, it was their pizza. Disney's buffet was on par with a land-based Chinese buffet that's been open for 7 years; not even trying. Their gimmick of rotating the dinner rooms was also more of a pain than anything; the food quality was the same. Nothing stood out, and half the desserts were grainy and inedible.

But who goes to Disney for the food? It was all about the entertainment! Sadly... it was no better than the food.

Disney is supposed to be this multimedia conglomerate of vertical and horizontal integration, right? Unfortunately, you're getting just old school Disney here. No Marvel night. No Star Wars night. There is a huge auditorium/movie theater that no one uses playing movies no one watched even on land; we didn't get the "new premiere" film that would have come out in November 2023, either The Marvels or Wish. They didn't even offer a connection to Disney+ onboard, which blew my mind; they had a Disney+ preview channel on the TV.

All we got was Disney's old standbys in costume: Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and a few princesses. None of the controversial ones like Snow White though. There was a pirate night with a Jack Sparrow that didn't even try to channel Johnny Depp's performance. You can wait in ridiculously long lines to take photos... and that's all. It was very focused on the female/girls aspect of Disney, but noticeably missing anything Frozen and Elsa. This is not a ship catered for boys, even with Pirate Night.

Speaking of Pirate Night, there was a big fuss about the fireworks show that ended up being less impressive than a backyard show in South Carolina. The pirate show itself couldn't compare with the old free Vegas show that ran every 30 minutes; zero fighting, just a weird dance-off. That may have worked in Guardians of the Galaxy, but here... it was just lame.

They also ran a couple of resort-level shows on the nights Disney didn't do anything from their library. We had two guys banging on buckets like they were auditioning for Stomp... and failed. The other was a "magician" that seemed so disinterested he may as well be Bob Iger watching the Disney stock prices falling. Resort-level is not a compliment.

On the actual Disney nights, the shows were well-produced, but short and rushed. Performances were good, and the rest of the crowd seemed to enjoy it. It's good for people that have never seen Broadway shows, and considering how many kids there were on the boat and the tired looks of the parents, this may have been the first theater show they've seen in years. This would be the only thing I would place above MSC, which had the same guy singing tunes for 7 nights. But only 3 out of 6 nights was Disney.

For the remaining entertainment, there is a lot of trivia; good luck winning considering there are childless people on-board that were willing to pay a premium to be on this ship over one that's not catered to children. They will answer every question about Disney like Stephen Hawking at a Physics trivia bowl and take those plastic winner medallions. If you're into Karaoke, there's that as well.

Otherwise, you can go to the tiny, crowded pools full of kids. The adult pools are equally small, but at least there's depth. This is as standard as it gets. They're pools. There's also two slides if you're into that.

If your kid is over 3 and potty-trained, you can put them into an onboard club. Unfortunately, the other parents also got the memo, and you have 3-4 counselors handling 100+ kids. My kid wanted to leave the club after 20 minutes; on MSC, he stayed the entire time. Anything younger required a fee. You'd think this would be dominated by Disney, but it was the opposite.

It seems this is an overly negative review, but it's honestly a warning. This isn't Disney magic; it's Carnival with a Disney skin. Sure, there's no casino, but the amount of kids and the overall lousy quality all scream Carnival. And you're paying 5x more for the experience. 

For that kind of money, just pay for the flight to Orlando and go to Disney Proper. Leave cruising to cruising companies.

Ask yourself this question: If Royal Caribbean/Carnival/Norwegian opened a theme park, would you go? So why go on a cruise run by a land-based company?

Overpriced Carnival-level Experience, but with Disney Price Gouging

This is definitely a cruise for family with little kids. They are just running around, noisy and messy. 

First the pros. The crew is very friendly and very professional. We were very grateful for their services. The shows were exceptional and very entertaining, catering for not only for kids. The stateroom that we were in (Veranda) is very nice. One particular good point is they have a separate cubicle for toilet and for the bath tub. So actually two person can use them separately. 

Now the cons.  The embarkment and disembarkation areas in New York is pretty chaotic. The dinner rooms are jam- packed that it looked like a school canteen. This is especially true for the Animator's Palate restaurant.  The Cabanas is okay but small and crowded. Other cruises have food served throughout the day in the buffet area. Not this one. When we got back from shore excursion around 2:30 pm, we have to rush to get some food. They shutdown everything by 2:40 pm. Even the soda and coffee machine were shutdown!  

Most of the activities centered around kids. So for adults, mainly getting a drink in one of the bars or spending time in the deck or in the pool. One thing about the Gym. The treadmills are arranged not along the ship but parallel. So when you run on it, it feels so weird as the ship is rocking forward when the ship is a bit rough and you feel you are slipping on it.

Noisy and messy and definitely not a dream.

Terrible- would not recommend and would not go again. Had plenty of great experiences before Covid on the magic, the dream, however was a nightmare. Day 1 - not a day only a couple of hours - waiting outside the terminal. When my time was set for 1:15-1:30, I expected to be boarding the boat, not waiting outside in the street. There was not enough parking and my husband had to walk 1/2 to park the car. We didn’t get on the boat until after 2:30-3pm. I expected to be enjoying the day on the boat but instead my kids were starving and cranky because they hadn’t eaten lunch. Highway robbery for internet that my husband paid for that didn’t even work - $42/day.

Dinner at animators palate was terrible, food was awful and there was no performance or visit from Mickey. Our reservation was not linked with my sister and we had to be moved to a different table and were rushed through dinner. My mothers birthday was not celebrated and we were charged for the smoothies and shakes but we’re never advised that there was a charge. Kids didn’t drink them because they were disgusting.

No slide open which was a big selling point for going on the cruise.

Day 2 - more terrible food, dinner was disgusting and was now being supplemented with Indian food. Was being charged for all the drink at our table even though we were in 3 different cabins. 

Got out of dinner late because it takes so long to prepare our horrible food. Pirate party on deck was a zoo, no where to view the party for my 4, 6 & 12 year old. For some reason grown adults were in the priority dance area. My children couldn’t fit. Still no slide.

Day 3 - thankfully in Bermuda. Couldn’t have been more happy to be off the boat. Because there was no cork screw provided, my husband cut his hand on a bottle of wine while trying to open it for my mother and had to go to the infirmary. He received 2 stitches and we were charged $464 immediately and not given a break down of the bill. We missed our excursion and thankfully dinner since it’s just horrible.

Day 4 - decided to try the sit down restaurant for breakfast. Was told because my daughter has allergies it would take a bit longer to get our food. We didn’t get half of what we ordered and the staff ghosted us to preform a safety drill - in the middle of a dining time! Why would a drill be performed in the middle of dining? Was back on the boat after being in Bermuda but found a kiddie pool for my nephew and daughter to play in so sat there until our next terrible meal. Tried to get seats for beauty and the beast (which was previously cancelled due to technical difficulties) but was told by a cast member the seats were held per Anthony (assistant to the cruise director). So my family was split up and I sat in a seat all the way right of the stage and could barely see the show.

Day 5 - stuck back on the ship with terrible food, unable to get to meet characters, having more terrible food. Told by cast members that I needed to make a reservation or that the family in front of us was the last family to meet a character. So incredibly gross considering I had small children that looked forward to meeting characters and didn’t get to have that experience. My daughter saw the princesses and wanted to meet them - there was no one in line to meet them and she turned her away - a 4yo girl turned away from meeting princesses.l because you have to have a reservation. Pools were all closed except for the adult only pool.

Day 6 - is not a day, it’s getting off the boat. Which was as much of a nightmare as it was to board, lines wrapped around the 3rd deck, no seating and stuck carrying bags for hours. 

The summary of my vacation - I’ve done so many cruises with Disney and they’ve all been so wonderful. My last cruise before Covid was magical and this was nothing like that. The Disney app didn’t deliver messages so I missed texts between my family. 

I complained daily maybe more about all the problems we were having and was told by several cast members that there wasn’t enough time to prepare for this cruise, that they really needed another day in port to prepare for this cruise, to fix the broken slide which we never had the opportunity to use. 

The food was worse than the food on Norwegian cruise line but a least Norwegian has free style with many pay for restaurants that are actually good. You serve terrible coffee to us and then charge for the good coffee. And over charge at that. You serve powdered eggs that are watery and watered down orange juice. You serve terrible meals and don’t accommodate requests. I cannot emphasize enough now horrible this cruise was for me and my family. I spent so much time working late to be in a place where I could take a vacation and spent so much money to come and have a Disney experience and a much needed vacation and was stuck on this terrible ship, unable to leave, have good food or swim. The pools were closed constantly. My husband and I used our vacation time, pulled our kids out of school and paid a ton of money to get on this boat. Disney did not hold up their part of the agreement. We want a refund for our cruise.

Disney Dream is a nightmare

Kusadasi

First of all, I'll admit that my review will be a bit incomplete as my wife and I got covid on the ship and had to get isolated for half of the cruise. With that said, I think five nights is plenty enough time to judge the ship. I've been on the Magic for four cruises, and it's been a bit of my "home ship", in a way, so I was eager to see what the Dream had to offer. 

Unfortunately, I think it's a worse ship than the magic in pretty much every way possible. Let's start with the things it does better, though : the inside cabins with the virtual porthole do feel a bit more spacious and less claustrophobic, there's more space to swim in the pools, the AquaDuck is better than the AquaDunk, and the Walt Disney Theater is arguably the best theater at see I've seen.

But it's a harder ship to navigate than the Magic in my opinion, like the fact that you have to go through Cabanas to get to the pools and the drink station when you have an aft cabin is weird or the long corridor from the atrium to Animator's Palate that seems a bit claustrophobic without the Promenade Lounge. Speaking of Animator's Palate, I think that this version is (way) worse that the one on the Magic and Wonder, an opinion apparently shared by former Imagineer Bob Holland, who was on the cruise to give us some very interesting presentations (definitely one of the highlights of the cruise). Also the District bars seem to small for their own good, I would have loved to hang out more in 687 but it was pretty much always crowded except for late at night. Finally, the Golden Mickeys is one of the worst "jukebox" Disney shows there is, relying on a weak storyline and some overplayed songs (fortunately Disney's Believe is much better).

With that said, I still had a great time on board, the service and the food is still above every other cruise line I've sailed with, everyone is so accommodating, there is so much to do, and the other passengers are so nice, it really feels like a community aboard. When we were in covid isolation other passengers went our of their way to bring us candies, snacks or drinks and it was very moving. Speaking of that, Disney moved us for a verandah cabin for isolation, which was appreciated, but I gotta say that the medical staff was a bit rude and not understanding when we were visibly sad, even though I totally understand why we had to be isolated.

While I still prefer the Magic, it was a great experience being on the Dream and it made me want to do another Transatlantic crossing on it.

Loved the ship – just less than the Magic

We were a family group of 16: 8 kids, 8 adults, ages 4 to 75. For some of us, previous cruises include Disney, Royal Caribbean and Princess. Second cruise after COVID. In general, we were favourably impressed. Check-in felt organized. Nice spacious staterooms, everything worked. Sailing was not at capacity so it did not felt crowded. No trouble finding table at Cabanas, even for a big group like us. Breakfast buffet was ok. Lunch buffet was very good with the shrimp and crab legs, but also great roast duck and Indian and asian offerings. Dinner at the MDR was excellent considering they are serving 300+ people. Did not try speciality restaurants. Pool offerings (hot dogs, hamburgers, fries, ice cream, wraps) were ok. Pizza was subpar. Ship is nicely kept, saw maintenance crew painting and repairing. Only two negatives: a) some soda stations were not working properly. It was very hard to find certain offerings like diet coke, and b) some laundry and drying machines were also not working. 

Itinerary was great, Brugges, Copenhagen, Oslo and Stavenger. Personally felt time offshore was very short. I wish we stayed more time in each city. Took independent excursiones in Oslo (walking tour) and Stavenger (fiords). Cabin attendant Cadek was super kind and  efficient. Dining room server Christel was fabulous.

Youth clubs for the kids were spectacular! Shout out for all the fantastic personnel there.

Adult entertainment is not a Disney strong point but in this cruise we had a great musical duo of husband and wife which kept us entertained.

De-embarkation: Fortunately, they did not woke up us with that dreaded alarm. Last breakfast was on a MDR (a bit of a line to get there) and did not felt pressured to leave ASAP.

All in all, a great cruise!

Great Northern Sea Cruise

As US citizens, we chose this cruise to introduce our kids to international destinations.  We chose the Norway/Denmark/Belgium, departing from the UK.

I always state the excellent items first.  The crew/staff is excellent. They work tirelessly and always have a smile on their faces.  The ship was very well kept.  Common areas are always being cleaned.  The plays are beyond comparison to any other line.  Kids clubs were amazing for the younger crowd.  The staff work hard with kids from all over the world.  That is the end of the upside.  

The food was acceptable, but not like other DCL cruises we took prior to pandemic.    

On our first port of call, we visited Bruges on our own. This was the highlight of the cruise.  The town is basically stuck in the medieval times and well maintained.  Climb the Belfry for a good view and visit the Our Lady Savior church for the Michelangelo statue.  And don't forget to taste one of the many Belgian ales.  They take pride in the ales and chocolates.  

The next two ports started the downward slide.  Port Adventures in Copenhagen & Oslo were very hurried and chaotic. Guides were shuffling large groups and had to keep chasing the group and we lost time waiting for the group to come back together.  Guides on other tours got lost altogether.   Our bus driver in Copenhagen missed a turn, ran a red light, and came unbelievably close to hitting bikers and pedestrians.   

Our final port of call was Stavanger.  Specifically, we took this cruise mainly to enjoy a specific hike (Pulpit Rock) in Stavanger.  Spent thousand on airfare and thousands on cruise fare to get to this location.  How could you go wrong with Disney, right?  We arrived at the meeting time for our excursion and had to wait in the theater.  Many groups were waiting for transportation.  We docked 30 minutes outside Stavanger.  The only way into town was a shuttle.  The issue was the buses were not available.  They made all guests wait hours for everything, even the shuttle to downtown.  We waited for close to 4 hours only to be told the excursion was cancelled after they told us numerous times we would be going and the ship was going to be held pending our return.  At one point, they took two groups off the ship and placed us on buses.  These were the downtown shuttles and Disney was trying to redirect these shuttles.  The drivers were refusing to leave the port and left us sitting in the buses for 1.5 hours while everyone outside as arguing with each other or on the phones arguing with the vendor/local authorities.  When the finally cancelled the tour, they said no buses were available and no other tours were available.  Chat boards continued to list the excursions that were being cancelled.  

What came to light was this was the second time this season the Dream had ported in Stavanger.  They encountered the same transportation issues during the first port visit.  When questioned, Disney said they did take steps to correct the issue only to blame the current situation on "Disney politics" with local companies and governments.  Ideally not what passengers want to hear with the amount of money spent.  For the Cruise Director to publicly state on her daily TV broadcast that Disney can't please/make everyone happy demonstrates how many individuals had expressed their disapproval of the events in Stavanger and Disney's excuses.  

When I expressed my concerns and asked questions, Disney did reach out and have a discussion with me.  They refunded the port adventure charge and added $100 to our stateroom for our inconvenience. 

This is just a brief overview of all the events that took place in Stavanger.  We tried many different approaches to resolve the issue while in Stavanger, but nothing was able to redeem the day.  I asked if we took a private car if they would hold the ship and they said no.  

Disney understood the situation was so bad, that when we received the post cruise survey, Stavanger was left off the survey to certain cruisers.  When I spoke with customer service shore side upon our return, they had no additional incentives to attract us to cruise again with Disney.  Just in 2023, we sailed twice.  

I understand we are one family, but Disney negatively impacted many families on this trip.  It does not seem they care about the Disney magic anymore, they even say it outloud on their Cruise Directors morning TV show.  

There were a lot of passengers/crew sick on the voyage.  Some were confined to their cabins, and even put up in hotels in Southampton post cruise due to testing positive for Covid.

Finally,  I want to tell you about the transfer from Southampton to Gatwick.  Traffic was horrible.  The bus broke down 5 minutes from the airport.  We had to wait for a traffic officer to try and get the bus back into traffic.  Stress levels were off the charts.  We got to the airport with 18 minutes to spare before our TransAtlantic flight was closed. This was a 2pm flight!  Nothing like running through Gatwick to get to a gate to close the trip out.

Not worth the premium you pay..............

We’ve cruised with Disney three times before and I think it’s fair to say that things have changed. 

I’ll set the scene first. Two parents and our 25 year old daughter. All of us like Disney and our daughter LOVES Disney. 

The holiday started brilliantly when we were met at the train station by a free bus that took us to the port. There was only three of us on the bus. That was great. We were also allowed to board early and that was even better. 

The cabin was as expected, until you go on the balcony and see all the peeling paint on the handrails. I might be remembering with my rose tinted glasses on, but I do not remember Disney ships having peeling paint before. 

The uncared for appearance was carried on when we got to the adults only pool and hot tub area. I was standing beside the hot tub and I looked down through the Perspex panel. That was good until I looked around it. Hair that looked like it was there for a ,long time; the sealant around the Perspex was rotting and there was green mould in the drains. Again, maybe my rose tinted glasses but I don’t remember the ships looking like that. 

And now the food. The lunchtime food in Cabanas is beige. All of it.  Beige. Breadcrumbs is the order of the day. Breadcrumbs and chips (or fries if you prefer). It seems to be aimed at children’s palates. Beige, unimaginative and “safe”. 

There was a good variety of nice sandwiches available most days, but on the last day there were only mini tuna rolls available. Not to everyone’s taste. 

This brings me to the main dining rooms. I’m not going to knock the staff here. They worked very hard and I thank them for that, but I don’t know if the kitchens have changed or the numbers they had to serve has increased but the service has definitely deteriorated. Wrong food orders and, frankly, poorly cooked food. Our Yorkshire puddings were flat. I mean really flat! 1cm tall - flat. 

Then we had the utter chaos of the last morning. Breakfast and disembarkation were all on the same deck at the same time. You can just imagine the crush. We ended up skipping breakfast and joining the "line" that was the the exit queue. 

Which brings us to one of the biggest disappointments of all - the absence of the DIY animations in Animators Palette. This was something we were really looking forward to but it seems DCL have removed it for cruses less than seven days. No reason. They just have. 

It wasn’t all negative. The shows were stunning and the adults entertainment in the District area, was great fun. Special shout out to Kayleigh (spelling? The Welsh lady). She bossed it. 

I'm not usually one for writing reviews, but I wanted to get this down while it is fresh in my mind

I honestly don’t know if we’ll cruise with Disney again. 

That was .....disappointing

St. John's (Newfoundland)

Second recent cruise on Disney cruise line after the pandemic. We are Diamond Plus members with RCCL (for perspective). Although RCCL ships are beautiful and entertainment is top notch the service and especially the Food has gone down the tube. Only the Specialty Dining is good.

Disney however is the total package! Beautiful ships, amazing entertainment, spectacular service, great tasting food prepared just right! Filet Mignon and Lobster, ( big lobster)  in the Dining room. The variety and the servers are professional, friendly and gave spot on recommendations.

The Cabins are much bigger with more storage space than you will know what to do with. The stage shows are truly Broadway worthy! Alladin and Beauty and the Beast were exceptional. The extra entertainment of the magician, ventriloquist, juggler and an Amazing a violinist/ anger from Iceland were all Top Notch! Two movie theatres playing first run2 new releases movies unheard of but a Disney does it. The deck food and selections are the best I’ve seen between RCCL, NCL, Princess, Carnival and Celebrity. Best free Ice Cream in the Seven Seas.

Highly recommend Disney! They do a great job of creating a spaces for adults and kids. All most like the RCCL neighborhoods.

Disney Does IT oh so right

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