Disney Magic vs NCL Bliss

Hi! We put a deposit down on a Disney Cruise for January. We love NCL and have always really enjoyed our time on their ships but we figured our 3 year old may have more fun on a Disney Cruise. I started looking at some reviews and I’m just not sure if WE will enjoy it. I love NCL for its anytime dining, great entertainment and overall laid back attitude on cruising. I did a mock booking for the new Bliss in January and it’s only about $400 cheaper for 2 inside staterooms than Disney Magic. So here are a couple questions that may help me decide.

1) did you as an adult find that their were activities geared towards you on Magic?

2) did your kids enjoy the Disney ship more than NCL kids club (esp if they weren’t into Disney characters before the cruise)

Any other experiences would be greatly appreciated as well!

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In my opinion, three is a little young. SOME kids at 3 are totally comfortable in the programming while others are just too young to be comfortable there. It can be a little overwhelming with lots of 6 year old kids running around! Similarly for the characters...some kids love them from minute 1, others are ok with "face characters" but frightened of furries, while others hate all characters. If your child is uncomfortable in the programming, you can still go in with her to play during "open house" hours. In fact, I strongly recommend that you do an "open house" visit before the first drop off. Unless things have changed, the whole embarkation afternoon is "open house."

There are some adult and family activities, but not nearly as many as I've seen on some other lines. There are lots of trivia games. But I'm happy with my book by the adult pool. Family activities are just that--all ages are welcome. There are some activities especially geared to toddlers and preschoolers with their parents--the character breakfast (Disney, Jr. characters) and the morning dance/exercise party, in particular.

You won't have anytime dining on DCL, so if that is an interest, you'll want to look elsewhere. You will find less nickel and dime expenses on DCL than on NCL.

All that said, the Magic is my favorite of the Disney ships. My daughter saw her first Disney movie in a theatre when she was 18 months old and was totally entranced from that moment on; I didn't think she'd sit still till the end! I really can't address how a child who isn't familiar with the characters would act.

If you are looking at DCL as a "one time" thing, I'd wait till the child is 4. There is a lot of maturing in that year and I think you will all enjoy it more. Others will totally disagree with that, but....well you want a variety of opinions.

THe other thing you will notice--DCL cabins are MUCH larger than NCL. The NCL web site lists an inside cabin on the Epic at 114 sq. ft. That is tiny. DCL cat 11C are 184 sq. ft. and 11 A and B are 214 sq. ft. That's a huge difference. If there are just the 3 of you, there will be no need for 2 cabins on DCL.

Hi! We put a deposit down on a Disney Cruise for January. We love NCL and have always really enjoyed our time on their ships but we figured our 3 year old may have more fun on a Disney Cruise. I started looking at some reviews and I’m just not sure if WE will enjoy it. I love NCL for its anytime dining, great entertainment and overall laid back attitude on cruising. I did a mock booking for the new Bliss in January and it’s only about $400 cheaper for 2 inside staterooms than Disney Magic. So here are a couple questions that may help me decide.

 

1) did you as an adult find that their were activities geared towards you on Magic?

 

2) did your kids enjoy the Disney ship more than NCL kids club (esp if they weren’t into Disney characters before the cruise)

 

Any other experiences would be greatly appreciated as well!

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Well, We have only done NCL once and that was in the Haven on the Epic last year in the Med. DCL we are about to go on our 9th cruise. We did a 7 night on the Fantasy in December and didn't get off the ship!!

My kids are older now but my 10 year old didn't like the kids club at all on NCL. Loves Disney. Our first cruise was on the Magic, still my favorite ship, he was 3 and didn't want to leave the kids club, but it was on a transatlantic and the clubs weren't too crowded.

DCL clubs also don't close every couple hours like other lines. They are open all day, 9am to midnight. Not that you should leave your child in there all day, but you don't have to worry about when it will be closed and try and fit your schedule. Other cruise lines tend to close every couple hours, very annoying.

Hopefully your child will love the kids club and you can go out and enjoy adult things at night, but every child is different. At that age it is hard to tell. One thing I love about DCL is there are always things you can do as a family. There is Disney Junior event every morning, there are things in the D lounge which is an entertainment venue for the whole family. Arts and crafts, character meet and greets, movies. Don't miss Jack Jack's diaper dash! And as another poster said, you can just go to the kids club with your kids during open house. They really are amazing. You can make flubber, cook, do the Marvel Academy.

The shows at night are awesome and very kid friendly. On the Magic the best show is the Tangled show. LOVE IT! Can't imagine any 3 year old wouldn't too, especially Max the horse and the lanterns. Don't miss the Animator's Palate restaurant nights because it is a lot of fun. The pirate show is a bit too crowded for me, but kids seem to love to get by the stage and dance, and I love the fireworks.

I will say that we love trivia and my experience on NCL with the trivia was the worst of any cruise. Maybe just because it was a port intensive cruise, but the trivia and the people who ran them were horrible. We actually complained on our comment card. Trivia on DCL is fun, but be warned it is mostly Disney trivia (especially the ones you can bring your kids too- the general trivia tends to be in bars and off limits to kids.

No casinos on DCL, which I personally love. Adult activities on the Magic happen in Fathoms and O'gills and Keys. I find them enjoyable. I'm not really into dancing or anything, I like "Match your Mate" and when they have other adult game show type activities or magicians.