We were on the Dream, doing a 4-day cruise through the Bahamas.
And for us who aren't "kids" people, we had a blast! Everyone was right - the staff did a great job of separating the adults/kids areas and the entertainment options were good. The food was excellent - and we had a meet & great with the executive chefs and one was the White House chef under Bill Clinton. (Apparently each day, 4,000 chocolate chip cookies are baked)
Anyway, I took someone's advice, and we went on the AquaDuck on the first day.... and got stuck in the tube. There are sensors in the tubes that monitor how fast each raft goes and either the raft before us sped past the sensor or something because we went around one turn, then the next, then the water shut off. Everyone saw us like little gerbils crawling through the tube after the crewmember, and my in-laws got some good pictures of it, LOL.
One of the things that struck me was how SANITARY everything was. At the entrance of each restaurant, there was a crewmember handing out hand wipes to clean our hands with. Our rooms were cleaned twice daily. Now I don't know if this is standard with all cruises, but it was nice to see.
I also took a chance with the ship's salon and got a haircut (hey, I pay $100 for a haircut here in NYC and that's without tip, paying $56 +tip for a wash, cut, treatment, and styling is a deal!) and asked her if she could come back with me to NYC and work at the salon I go to.
We had discussed with some of the other travelers if they had taken cruises on other lines, and the answer was pretty consistent that the Disney cruises, by far, were the best they've ever taken. In fact, DH and I are now talking about doing one out of NYC (the Nova Scotia and St. John's ports in Canada). Everything with this cruise was so top notch, and the reviews of the other boats exemplary, that the fact that it was full of children is negated by everything else. Highly recommend them!
Re: Just got back from our Disney (Dream) Cruise today...
It is very kid oriented, but you can also avoid the kids if you want. The second day we went to Castaway Cay, Disney's private island, and we just went out to the adult beach after snorkeling. We did take some time to go play with our nieces and nephew, but if we didn't want to be around kids, it was pretty easy.
Now dinner, it was kind of hard to avoid children, but that's because the dining areas are family dinners. You can make reservations at the adults-only restaurants, but why pay for those when you have excellent food included in the cost of your trip? If we do it again, we'll probably still stick with the regular dining rotation - and do the later seating. We had the early seating (5:45pm) and apparently that's the one for families with younger kids. The later seating (8:00pm) is for older diners (read: families with teenagers).
Maui, November 2011
glad you loved it!! i actually thought of you while i was watching the super bowl and was hoping you found a nice spot on the ship to watch!
dh and i felt the same way-while its a great line for kids it's just as good (aside of the lack of casino) for adults. they do an awesome job on there!!
DH and I saw a TON of Patriots fans and were like, "Where the heck are the Giants fans on the boat?" On the Jumbotron on the main deck, they put the game on and it was a little anxiety ridden in the first portion of the second half, but obviously it was a good ending for us :-) As soon as the game ended, the Giants fans stood up and were scattered around the deck - it was pretty cool.
My dad still swears up and down that this is the case. We went on the Disney Magic back when I was about 16. Holland America got the "almost... but not quite!" nod from him.
I think it depends on the locale. We did the 4 night Bahamas cruise, where we departed Sunday, spent Monday in Nassau, Tuesday at Castaway Cay, were at sea on Wednesday, and then got off on Thursday. Being as sea on Wednesday was nice because we got to utilize EVERYTHING on the boat and gave us time to unwind, but if not being on the boat is your thing, you could get away with three.