Final Thoughts
Overall for me, the premium price of Disney and cruising as a solo adult it was worth the money.
When I originally booked a
Disney cruise, the world was very different. I booked in July 2019 to sail in September 2020.
I never thought it would actually take me 3 years to get on a Disney Ship.
In a way it was good that I had so much time between booking and the cruise.
I was able to research so much, I spent most of lockdown watching cruise Vlogs on YouTube and reading cruise trip reports on here Disboards. Some of you may remember all the questions I asked as I did my planning and research, thank you to all who helped me
As a result I feel I was far more prepared than a normal first time cruiser.
I knew about many things before the cruise that most people only find out actually on the cruise.
Over the 3 years of cruise planning I made so many notes and I had a check list of things to do during the cruise.
I think part of my brain didn't actually believe it was really happening until the taxi pulled up at Dover cruise terminal and I saw the ship close up for the first time.
My overall thought of cruising with Disney is that I loved
- the ship
- the Disney experience
- being on the water
- being able to visit different ports and having a stable base where I didnt have to worry about transport and packing and unpacking
- all inclusive food and soft drinks
- the entertainment
What I didnt like were the some of the passengers. While most passengers I interacted with were friendly I did experience some not some pleasant. I find the American passengers who have cruised multiple times with Disney are very insular and when they find out you are a first time cruiser, they make sure to drop that they have been on x amount of cruises into the conversation multiple times. When I think of the American passengers I just think fat Americans who can't walk , who just literally got off the ship, stood for 10 minutes on the pier to say they were in Norway and got back on the ship and went to bingo and sat in the bars all day.
Ive overheard the American passengers complaining about the lack of the ships horn when we left ports, hello, we were in rural Norway surrounded by mountains I really don't think the locals would appreciate When You Wish Upon A Star blasting through the area , um noise pollution anyone!
At one of the ports I was sitting by the water at an outdoor seating area. There were people all around me, but all I could hear was an American man loudly complaining about the cost and bang for the buck of the helicopter ride
DCL excursion he had just been on, he wasn't too impressed. I just thought, wow, I bet you have no idea that all the local people sitting around you are actually bilingual and listening to every word you say and talking about you in Norwegian!
I overheard American passengers talking about how clean and quiet the ports were, yep they are when you are not here.
On embarkation day when I went to the area to speak to the dining team, the general vibe I got from the passengers in the area, was what are YOU doing here, first timer, you shouldnt even know about this extra availability at Palo.
On the other side of things, when I went into shops, I was quiet pleased to find that I didnt look like a cruise ship passenger as the shop assistants started talking to me in Norwegian, not English, like they did people ahead of me in the queues. I didnt wear Disney branded clothing, I didnt have the cruise passenger uniform of backpack and waterproof jacket, with the cruise lanyard swinging from my neck.
A good few people on my cruise have Vlogs on YouTube about the cruise and its interesting to see that I had a very different cruise experience. The big crowds were out to see the Northern Lights, where as there were very few people out for the sunrises. I did Palo Brunch and The Rainforest Room, which have not been mentioned on the Vlogs and I seem to have explored more of the ports and gone to places that the cattle herds didnt.
I am used to solo travel so being solo on the cruise didnt bother me. But if someone who wasnt used to solo travel went solo on a cruise, I could see how they might find it a bit lonely. Cruise people were a bit more insular overall compared to park people.
So overall I loved the idea of a floating Disney resort where I can visit multiple places. I just don't like the Disney Cruise Community.
