Does Disney Dream Set The Bar High?

[bigque]

Our first cruise was on the Disney Fantasy and the second cruise was on the Disney Dream. When I first started I thought that no cruiseline would be able to compare. We then sailed Allure of the Seas last summer and all 4 of my children said they would rather sail RCCL over DCL. I I have since sailed on Celebrity and our next cruise is on the Oasis. I loved DCL but I doubt I will return. The cost is just too high to justify it and the other lines have shown to me to give you more for your money.

 

 

 

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I have a co-worker who always sails Disney about every other year and cruise on The Dream on July 6th this year, so when I saw this thread I thought I would look into the price of Disney Dream 4 Night (Nassau, Castawaty Cay, Sea Day) vs. Enchantment 4 night (Nassau, Coco Cay, Sea Day). The Disney Bahamas cruise is the only one she ever takes.

If I was to book today for the Disney July 6th Dream cuise with a balcony it would be:

$1,200.00 per person and with tax and fess $2,347.52

A comparable balcony on Enchantment July 7th cruise would be:

$725.00 per person and with taxes and fees and there is a $40.00 residency discount for my state on there - $1504.56

RCI is 842.96 cheaper.

I have not sailed Disney and it could be the best cruise ever, but I am like you and some others, I couldn't justify that price difference for basaically the same cruise

 

I paid less than the Disney price for my balcony cabin on 7 day cruise on Freedom Last Year!

 

Edited June 13, 2014 by bigque

[AlexanderBeetle]

Outdoor areas: FAR superior on Allure. One of the most frequent complaints about Disney - that is very legitimate in my view - is that the pools and deck area are ridiculously inadequate for the size of the ship. The tiny pools (only 2 of them) were like human soup on sea days. And there were no other outdoor meeting places really. Unlike Allure with Boardwalk and Central Park

 

Yep, that is a frequent complaint. I thought they seemed poorly planned when we were on the ship. However, the lounge areas outside were nice. I remember coming back and looking up reviews for the Dream and the prime complaints the pools. Even Nemo's splash pad looks like it's half the size of the one on the Freedom class ships.

 

As you said their prices have gotten completely out of hand.

 

There was nothing wrong with it, it just fell short for us, especially with what we spent for the trip.

 

I'm so glad many others have mentioned the cost. When they adjusted the open-ended onboard booking credits to have to be used within 18 months, I thought they had lost it. Even with those discounts & credits they are more than everything else I've looked at.

 

If you're the kind of person that looks for things to get mad about you'll find some I'm sure, but you don't sound like that type.

 

Definitely not that type! At least I don't think we're picky. The cruise we went on was fantastic and that's what set us up to plan the cruise as the family vacation for us every 18-24 months. I understand that people have bad days (the crew and the cruisers). Just wanted to know that most weren't thinking the Liberty was slipping :)

[AlexanderBeetle]

If I was to book today for the Disney July 6th Dream cuise with a balcony it would be:

$1,200.00 per person and with tax and fess $2,347.52

A comparable balcony on Enchantment July 7th cruise would be:

$725.00 per person and with taxes and fees and there is a $40.00 residency discount for my state on there - $1504.56

RCI is 842.96 cheaper.

 

That sounds about right! Our 7-night on Liberty with a family ocean view room is costing us only $130 more than what our 4-night on the Dream was going to cost us and that cruise on the Dream included a 10% discount for booking it when we were on board last.

[BamaGuy44]

That sounds about right! Our 7-night on Liberty with a family ocean view room is costing us only $130 more than what our 4-night on the Dream was going to cost us and that cruise on the Dream included a 10% discount for booking it when we were on board last.

 

Just for fun, our 7 night Western on the Freedom 5/24/2015 for 3 adults in a D1 balcony ended up being $2,900 after the price dropped when the BOGOHO sale started.

 

Cheapest balcony room on Fantasy for the same week: $5,200 :eek:

 

So yeah, Royal here we come :D

[furloughedagain]

First of all, thank you Alexander for directing me to this thread. I appreciate it.

 

We are in the same boat (pun intended!)

 

My family and I (wife and 8 year old son) have been on Disney Dream twice. Once for our 10th anniversary vacation and paired with a few days at Portofino Bay resort at Universal Orlando where we were engaged. The second was last year and paired with a few days at Disney's Animal Kingdom lodge.

 

Both were terrific vacations and our son truly loved the kids club on Dream. I think it is important to mention though, that I rarely saw him playing with other kids when we went to pick him up there. More often, he was playing video games or working on one of the computers.

 

So here we are today. During our last cruise we booked a 7 day on Magic to get the 10% discount. Unfortunately (?) my work schedule is only going to permit a Spring Break vacation for 2015. When I looked at rescheduling our trip on Disney it was going to be $6000+! That is way out of the realm of possibility, especially when you add the cost of airfare.

 

So, after admittedly very little research, I booked Liberty of the Seas for the same week. It's a 5 day cruise from FLL including Labadee and Ocho Rios. I have to admit though, I am concerned about a few things.

 

First, I am concerned about crowds, cigarette smoking, and heavy drinking aboard the ship. Disney, with no casino, just didn't seem to have a problem with folks smoking in public spaces or even on their verandas. And since it was a family geared ship, I never saw anyone sloppy drunk... drinking, yes. But not out of control. So I am concerned about college kids (who we wouldn't be as likely to see on Disney) getting out of hand on RCCL. I really don't want my son to be exposed to that kind of behavior.

 

More importantly though, I am concerned about kids activities onboard. He is only 8 and I doubt will be interested in Flowrider or rock climbing. The pictures I have seen of Liberty's kids club show basically a big empty room. So what will he have to do if he chooses not to participate in the group activities?!

 

Do they show kids movies on the outdoor movie screen? I've read that it's mostly sporting events and films geared towards adults. Is there another movie theater onboard with Dreamworks films or similar?

 

I realize I sound like a pretty high maintenance parent, but before we invest in this vacation I want to make sure we are doing what is best for our family. If not, we could save for another few years and try Disney again.

 

Thank you for your contributions to Alexander's thread. They're very helpful.

[furloughedagain]

I chickened out and booked Disney Wonder out of Miami for the same week, about $500 more. I'm sure Liberty is amazing but while the little guy is still young Disney is a trusted brand and a known quantity.

[tinkerme1]

Comparing Disney Dream to any RCCL ship just isn't comparing apples to apples.

 

If you have young children in your family, I do believe that Disney has much to offer providing that you are "into Disney!" Are you traveling with young kids or teenagers? Have they outgrown Disney and all that it has to offer?

 

We just came off of the Disney Dream and we had a very nice cruise. Was it over the top? NO! Was it better than any RCCL ship? NO! Were there things that I liked better on Disney Dream? YES! The real question is, "was it so much better that I would book it over RCCL?" Not really.

 

I felt the adult activities were okay but the adult pool on Dream was a joke. We loved REMY and can't wait to experience that again some day! Real fine dining at its best.:D The bars were very nice and the lounges had great comedians and magicians. Disney ships provide the BEST shows at sea.

 

Now, we don't have kids at home and it is just my husband and me that cruise.

 

I'm sure, whatever you decide to do, it will be great! BTW, we did LOVE the AquaDuck! It was amazing!:D

[rolloman]

We booked a cruise on Liberty for fall next year and are really looking forward to it, but now I'm reading more of the reviews and am wondering what to expect. We've only cruised Disney Dream before but the Disney prices are just too high for our family to be able to cruise every 18-24 months even with the 10% discount from onboard booking (which, now you have to cruise within 18 months to retain) so we opted to try RCCL and are canceling our current Disney reservation.

 

There seems to be some consistency in the reviews for Liberty in particular when looking at the last 2 years:

-- Customer Service: Particularly the staff being rude or not necessarily engaged in their job?

 

-- Food: Mediocre at best? Is the Windjammer food really that bad or is it what you'd expect for an included buffet?

 

-- Dining: Very long wait times or food not being delivered at all?

 

-- Liquor being removed from bags so they couldn't take it on board? Is there a limit? Is it strictly wine?

 

At any rate, we had only a few minor complaints regarding our cruise on Disney and it was our first. I don't think we are really picky and maybe these reviews are more the exception. The food on Disney wasn't necessarily outstanding unless you went to Palo or Remy, which we did one night (Palo). The service, we felt, was incredible for the most part. Dinner was slow one night but it wasn't bad. As far as bringing alcohol aboard, I only brought a small bottle of bourbon to keep in the room.

 

Perhaps I'm over analyzing. I know more people are apt to leave reviews when they are frustrated... Is that probably the case? Any experiences along these lines?

 

I have been on both ships (liberty and Dream) many times and enjoy them both. In a nutshell, Disney Dream wins for food (landslide) ability to bring any alcohol/soda on board , service pool deck, cabins.

Liberty wins with shows, casino and nightlife in general and pricing.

Now if somebody could create a cruiseline which highlighted both sides, it would be one hell of a cruiseline!

 

P.S. Allure and Oasis do tighten the gap considerably to a near draw.

Edited September 3, 2014 by rolloman