Disney Cruise Adult only party-Worth the premium over other lines?

[kathy884]

My 23 year old son has always wanted to do a Disney cruise, but I'm not convinced. We like balconies, and Disney is really expensive compared to other mainstream lines. What are your thoughts about a Disney cruise for an adult only party? Worth it or not? Why or why not? I'd love to hear your opinion.

 

[mousefan73]

Having an interest in characters or meeting characters I think would be a strong argument for a Disney cruise. Not that it’s a requirement but that is one of the reasons that one does pay more for Disney. It could be , for example, RCI oasis class ships might be more interesting as there’s more activity for adults such as surfing or wall climbingOr zip line etc.

 

[justme0729]

I think so! The food and adult areas are very nice on Disney. I cruise mostly to go to Castaway Cay though!

 

[Dug720]

Solo adult here and I have zero issues paying DCL prices. Especially after the food situation (I'm gluten-free because of an allergy - not by choice) I had on RCCL's Jewel of the Seas this summer. Others may disagree, but all things considered, Disney is the cruise line for me.

 

[southerngirl528]

My 23 year old son has always wanted to do a Disney cruise, but I'm not convinced. We like balconies, and Disney is really expensive compared to other mainstream lines. What are your thoughts about a Disney cruise for an adult only party? Worth it or not? Why or why not? I'd love to hear your opinion.

My kids have sailed DCL since they were teens and young adults. My 2 youngest are pretty umm.... discriminating (can you say persnickety?) customers, and since that very first cruise, all our family, now ALL adults, love, LOVE Disney Cruise Lines! DH and I just got back from a 7 night Fantasy sailing. It was my 11th Disney cruise and DH's 6th. The vast majority of the time, we have no little people with us. Just grown-ups.

We love how gorgeous Disney's ships are, the great service and what we consider outstanding adults only options. The food options are good and we really love the adults only restaurants, Palo being our personal fave. We are not gamblers nor smokers so we are happy there is no casino, and we know all that space that other ships might use for a casino, DCL uses for the kids' programming areas, so the kids are happy, which makes the parents happy! We love the shows, we love that DCL is not a "party barge" type of cruise, and DH said several times on our cruise last month, what a sucker he is for the Disney stage shows!

 

[OATS09]

People often view Disney as a kids' cruise which is only partially true. More accurately, Disney is a family cruise line. My first cruise was at age 26 with my wife and I'm completely hooked. It is more expensive than other cruise lines but you get what you pay for. Granted, I go off-peak and I book the cheapest room I can find since the room for us only happens to be the place we sleep and store our stuff. We did book a navigator's verandah for our honeymoon and it was really nice, but I'd rather pay less and go more often. Everything comes down to your personal preference. once you start narrowing in on what you want, you'll be able to come to a conclusion faster (are you locked in to a certain time of year, do you want a private balcony or is an inside room fine, do you drink lots of alcohol, what itinerary are you looking for, would you do lots of excursions...).

 

[Pooh2]

We never cruised until we were empty nesters and have now done 3 DCL sailings.
The quality and service are out standing, great entertainment, I've never seen kids in the adult areas (my daughter says that is a constant issue for them on other cruise lines). I would rather be on a ship with a family atmosphere than a party boat or one that feels like a floating nursing home.
We sail at off season times to get a better rate.
Try a shorter disney sailing in the off season. Good way to decided if it's for you and your family!

 

[Cruising Engineer]

We love DCL and we have no kids. The adult areas and entertainment is amazing. A veranda is a must for my DH. He loves just sitting there reading his Nook and watching other ships in the area, BRING BINOCULARS . Go for it. He's only "young" once.

 

[kathy884]

Thanks for all of your replies. I'm overwhelmed by your enthusiasm for the Disney Cruise experience, and you've given me a lot to think about / look into.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Although I haven't done DCL as adults-only, I wouldn't hesitate to! The adult club areas are really fun and unique and the adult restaurants (Palo and Remy) are outstanding. If you don't mind being immersed in Disney for the entire cruise, it's great! DCL service is outstanding and the cruises are so much fun!

 

[AngelDisney]

We have actually enjoyed Disney cruises more since DD turned 18. Now we can enjoy the adult areas together. I waited for DD to turn 18 to experience Palo. We will be doing our first champagne tasting and mixology on the upcoming cruise in January as DD just turned 21. If you love Disney, you would be willing to pay the premium for the Disney magic!

 

[OrcaPotter]

If you are Disney fans, then absolutely it’s worth the money -off season-. If you enjoy amazing service and ships that blend a balance of sea views, relaxation, and great entertainment, then DCL is great line worth considering -off season-.

My family was unable to afford DCL until after I graduated college. Now we have deliberately vacationed less in order to sail DCL every other year or so. Now, fares have risen steadily since we first tried the Dream in 2012. We have done 2 RCI sailings, one since getting hooked on DCL on the Oasis. We prefer ships not much bigger than the Dream/Fantasy and overall found ourselves doing a lot of comparisons, preferring DCL. We still enjoyed ourselves and after the extras added (dining,drinks, etc) it was about $1k less for the same itinerary in June on the Fantasy.

Thing is, “will we enjoy it” type questions are so subjective. If your concern is a ship overrun with children, don’t be concerned. There are no more children on Disney than Carnival or RCI. In fact, there is so much to do for kids we find that they are less underfoot than other lines. We also find the children a bit more well-behaved and parents a bit more attentive. Now, my family and I are huge Disney fans; we really appreciate the familiarity and atmosphere. We are starting to be priced out, though. If you are “take it or leave it” with Disney or don’t care at all, then you may find that DCL is overpriced.

 

[mmmears]

We just sailed on the Magic in Europe, and our "child" is now in college. It was so much fun, even more now that she is old enough to go to the adult activities, hang out at the adult pool, and go with us to Palo. I keep looking at Celebrity since it has some great itineraries that DCL doesn't sail, but the "dailies" look kind of blah to us, the activities look boring (to us), etc. and I just can't seem to book it even when the itinerary itself looks good. I guess we are just kids at heart and really love the Disney shows and the vibe on DCL.

 

[mmmears]

https://www.wdwinfo.com/disneycruis...vqDevWFvnlQB4s42YDu4CHCNlw4o6abC3d1mnMBCOv2lI


An article on the DIS about adults choosing to sail on DCL.

 

[OATS09]

I keep looking at Celebrity since it has some great itineraries that DCL doesn't sail, but the "dailies" look kind of blah to us, the activities look boring (to us), etc. and I just can't seem to book it even when the itinerary itself looks good. I guess we are just kids at heart and really love the Disney shows and the vibe on DCL.

We just did the Great Barrier Reef on Celebrity and I was completely disappointed. Out of 12 nights there were two scheduled activities that I was interested in. I flat out walked out of one of the evening shows and felt like I completely wasted an hour of my life in another. We're going with them again only because we signed up while we were on the boat (free cancelation up to PIF date) and now looking at Royal Caribbean and others, we have an oceanview and the drinks package for the same price that an inside room by itself would be. For what it's worth, we're doing 12 night New Zealand. I can't wait to get back to the US and get in the Disney cycle again.

 

[branv]

My husband and I sailed DCL 3 times in our 30s, all before we had our DS. I cannot say enough about how great it was.

DH and I are not partiers. Do we enjoy drinks? Yep. Nightlife? Sure. But we want to relax. We always steered far away from loud, crazy, and over-bearing. For one, DCL does such a phenomenal job of protecting adult only areas. When they say no-kids, they really mean it. But what we liked best is that we only sometimes encountered adults who treated the Cove Pool or Serenity Beach like their own frat party (and one of these was bc we shared a cruise with a large travel agency group who had to send one of their own agents home bc of such inappropriate behavior ). And pretty quickly you could tell the people who were expecting a party scene -- after a night or two they seemed pretty unhappy to be there. So I guess that is an answer: if you're looking for a raucous adult time, DCL is probably not going to be for you. If you want to enjoy a relaxing time with a fun but usually tame evenings, then I absolutely recommend DCL.
We are sailing DCL for our first time as parents next year. It is going to be very interesting seeing it from the other side. But I'm really going to miss Serenity Beach.

 

[mevelandry]

The first time is always special. The Quiet Cove, Serenity Bay (Castaway Cay), alcohol tastings and specialty dining are nice. Overall, we prefer other cruise lines for shows (DCL shows are well done but are more for kids: I liked some of them very much but my DH despises them).

The 4 nights is the best value because the premium doesn't bite as much as it would do for longer cruises.

DH and I enjoyed our two first DCL a lot. The third one felt like a repetition.

I would say it's worth a try. I think you'll have a great time.

 

[Cruise Diva]

We will be on our 14th Disney Cruise in February 2019. We will be sailing on The Wonder. DH husband and I really enjoy the ships. We have sailed on the Magic, the Wonder, and the Fantasy and prefer the smaller ships. We especially enjoy the adult pool area, Palo, and the Cabanas on Serenity Bay. There are many activities to choose from each day so you can be as active as you like. It is fun meeting and talking to the crew members and catching up with them each year. We want to relax and get away when we cruise. We enjoy watching the children interact with the characters. The ship provides a comfortable family atmosphere and the crew always welcomes us home.

 

[cruiser21]

My 23 year old son has always wanted to do a Disney cruise, but I'm not convinced. We like balconies, and Disney is really expensive compared to other mainstream lines. What are your thoughts about a Disney cruise for an adult only party? Worth it or not? Why or why not? I'd love to hear your opinion.

I think it would depend on how much he's into Disney at age 23. It's only worth it if he's a huge Disney fan. If he just likes to cruise there's cheaper and better options for less money.

 

[Sunshine2U]

We sailed NCL Escape with 6 adults and loved anytime dining and the comedy/piano bar clubs. I'm not so sure we would love as much if it had just been DH and me. We did MSC Yacht Club experience and it was fabulous. We intend to repeat. The DCL ships are our favorites for atmosphere/decor/happiness. We've only sailed DCL with children who didn't love the kids clubs. So we are looking forward to our next cruise when we plan to hit the different adults areas. I expect when our grands are a bit older we will try out RCCL.

DCL is worth experiencing - at least once. If cost is a factor, take a 4-day cruise.