CWH66

Allure is a great ship and a phenomenal cruise experience. It's really only something that, only those who have actually been on board that ship, can actually understand how great it really is. The entertainment is the best at sea and the ship itself is amazing.

 

Enjoy your cruise. Coming from Disney, I think you made the perfect choice.

We're already very much looking forward to it. I was able to book a junior suite with a $200 onboard credit and gratuities included for about $800 less than a standard DCL stateroom with a verandah, and with over 100 sq ft. more space. DCL pricing just no longer makes any sense especially since we don't have kids. Now if we could just figure out how to get our border collies on board......

After looking at all of the suggested options, we decided on a RCI Allure cruise in September. That one met our length and timeline requirements. Thanks for all the comments, I'm sure we'll have a blast.

Thanks to everyone who has chimed in with opinions. I should have included in my original message that we were also considering Oceania. We have stayed in contact with a couple from Canada who we met on our second DCL cruise who was in our dining group. They were hardcore DCL fans and cruise 3-4 times a year, but have now mostly switched over to Oceania.

I also wanted to clarify one thing in my original post as well. When I said "price has become a huge factor" I didn't mean that I was looking for a cheap bargain. I have always believed you get what you pay for. But DCL's pricing has jumped over 30% since we started cruising with them in 2009 - for nearly the exact same itineraries. DCL's pricing has reached the point where we're interested in seeing what's available for the same or less $$. We're willing to pay appropriately for a nice relaxing cruise, but what we're not willing to do is pay 30% more for services that aren't 30% better than the competition.

I am clearly going to ask a question that may garner a lot of different opinions. My wife and I have been on four DCL cruises on four different itineraries, and once on all four ships. We do not have children nor are we huge Disney fans. We liked our past cruises for a number of reasons: cleanliness, attentiveness of staff (on the older ships), adults-only areas, good food, and good shows. And we especially enjoy the stop at the private island with the adults only beach, and great food there to boot.

We thought about booking another DCL cruise this fall, but we're hesitating because of a number of factors. All the itineraries are pretty much the same and we want to see something different, price has become a huge factor, and frankly, service on the Dream and Fantasy in our opinion is simply not as good as the smaller ships Magic and Wonder and does not consistently meet Disney's standards especially for the price we pay for it.

I usually do all the cruise bookings myself. One thing I like about Disney is that main dining, soft drinks, water, coffee, and most of the eating areas are all included. Only a few of the high end eating experiences on the ships are extra (and we've done those from time to time). It's kind of easy to understand what you get for what you pay. What we want most from a cruise is: 1) great food and clean eating areas 2) fun adult activities and shows 3) relaxation/spa 4) private island element or something close to it 5) reasonable cost. We do not rate our cruises on quality of excursions (which we generally consider tourist traps) or shopping but rather the variety of ports of call.

We have done a lot of reading and research and we're leaning toward a RCCL or Celebrity cruise to branch out a little - although we do love the Caribbean and want to limit our scope there for now. Would anyone who's tried both DCL and one of these two lines like to offer their opinion and preference? If possible, I'd also like to understand the "nickel and diming" aspects of DCL as compared to other lines as well, what's included generally and what isn't. On past cruises, we talk to a lot of people in casual conversation. Everyone we've asked - 100% - who has cruised another line says DCL is the best. But I'm not sure that's true any longer and recent DCL reviews seems to be catching up to that hype. They are not as stellar as they once were.

Anyway, sorry for the long message, thought I'd better be detailed about our experiences and what I'm looking for so I could get relevant responses. Thanks in advance for your opinions.