anyone doing Disney channel summr at sea?

[Narnia_girl]

Hello! We also just returned from the July 9 cruise.

Other DIS people on my cruise, who were not in suites, but in regular rooms had quite a bit of talk time and interaction with the stars, it had nothing to do with room category or DCL or being "chosen ones", and that whole "chosen one" is in my opinion not at accurate.

I agree with this. Personally, seeing the Summer at Sea stars was not all that important to us. And yet, we bumped into them quite frequently. My husband said several times throughout the cruise, "there's that dude again". It took about three times before I realized he was referring to Corbin Bleu.
I thought they were highly visible. While lunching with Absy she pointed out Tiffany Thornton nearby.

I personally would hope that everyone's own experience would be unique and memorable. While there is an expectation, and certainly there are standards for DCL to meet with providing service, no two cruisers can have an identical experience.

I agree with this also. We went expecting a great Disney vacation and that's exactly what we got. We did not get a "magical moment" certificate, my kids were not called on stage (and would have refused anyway), I did not win anything, and yet it was completely wonderful!!
The 'star' stuff was a bonus. For us the real stars were Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Cinderella, Snow White, Mulan, etc...

And truthfully I thought having the TV stars onboard caused some inconveniences, mostly with the Goofy pool. They closed it early on Nassau day to get ready for the 4 p.m. show. So in the heat of the afternoon, when all the kids wanted to swim there was just the Mickey pool open. It was packed. My son and daughter were in it and DS refused to put his head underwater because he was afraid he'd get kicked. I told him it was just as well as he'd probably get e.coli from so many kids in a such a small pool.

 

[grlzmom]

And truthfully I thought having the TV stars onboard caused some inconveniences, mostly with the Goofy pool. They closed it early on Nassau day to get ready for the 4 p.m. show. So in the heat of the afternoon, when all the kids wanted to swim there was just the Mickey pool open. It was packed. My son and daughter were in it and DS refused to put his head underwater because he was afraid he'd get kicked. I told him it was just as well as he'd probably get e.coli from so many kids in a such a small pool.

And I agree with this! While it wasn't such a big deal to my kids having cruised a lot before I can see how it did cause some inconvenience. Sorry you lost pool time, we always count on it on hot port days too! I guess on a 3 night there isn't any convenient time but I understand completely your point. My ds6 wanted nothing to do with the Disney Channel Stuff and went to the Club during the concert since he couldn't be in the Goofy Pool. He only likes the Mickey Pool when it's clean and mostly empty.

One we noticed was amount of kids in Quiet Cove adult area. I think kids were looking for Disney Channel Stars (who were using the adult pool/quiet cove area). Every time I checked on my dd18 (enjoying her first adult pool trip) she would update me on how many times the wait staff and CMs had to boot the kids out of quiet cove and how key cards were checked repeatedly for age. I saw a family, of parents and kids get booted from adult hot tub TWICE within a half hour. Bunches of kids on stairs by quiet cove area and on deck 10 just kind of watching over railing. I imagine that some cruisers weren't too fond of it since term Quiet Cove didn't seem to apply.

 

[BroadwayGirl]

ok, no flames here, but this cannot possibly be a "typical" Summer at Sea experience and I hate to see anyone getting their hopes up for such interaction with the little stars given this report.

This is one thing that truly bugs me about DCL -- there always seem to be a few "chosen ones" -- the families that get the secret tours, the kids that get to go in the bridge, the kids "pulled onstage" to be the dwarves with Snow White. These kids, repeatedly, get preferential treatment with goodie packages sent to their rooms, full room service meals, you name it. People post about it here - being Family of the Cruise or getting a "Magical Moment" certificate and (I won't speak for everyone else but me) I feel like, "whoa, I had a nice cruise but how the heck was theirs SO GREAT?" Mine now feels very so-so. My kid didn't dance onstage, and we didn't have anything sent to our stateroom, and certainly no star came to my stateroom for dinner.... It's like the Cat 12 guarantee game when everyone gets crazy because the first time cruisers get upgraded to Cat 9's and multiple repeats stay in 12s. Some may call this "magic" or "pixie dust" but such inequities really make me not want to cruise DCL ever again

Wow...talk about a half-empty POV.

Honestly, I was on the same cruise - (Hi ladies sorry we didn't get to see you more, but Luke didn't want anything to do with girls, lol) - and we saw the DC stars everywhere without being in a suite or a "chosen few" or anything. Now maybe it was just this group, but the actors were all very normal and except for the times they were committed to a scheduled activity they were just hanging out on the ship like everyone else. We rode the elevator with the kid from Camp Rock and I had no idea who he was but we were all chatting and joking around together. Friday morning my nephew went to the sports deck after breakfast and ended up shooting hoops with a couple of the actors. They're just normal people, enjoying a working vacation. It was funny, we even started joking that Corbin Bleu was stalking us because it seemed that every time we turned around, he was there. Even going out on our verandah - we looked up and there he was.

 

[grlzmom]

Wow...talk about a half-empty POV.

Honestly, I was on the same cruise - (Hi ladies sorry we didn't get to see you more, but Luke didn't want anything to do with girls, lol)

.

Glad you and Luke had a good time together! My ds6 didn't want to be with the girls either

 

[IrenicMom]

One we noticed was amount of kids in Quiet Cove adult area. I think kids were looking for Disney Channel Stars (who were using the adult pool/quiet cove area). Every time I checked on my dd18 (enjoying her first adult pool trip) she would update me on how many times the wait staff and CMs had to boot the kids out of quiet cove and how key cards were checked repeatedly for age. I saw a family, of parents and kids get booted from adult hot tub TWICE within a half hour. Bunches of kids on stairs by quiet cove area and on deck 10 just kind of watching over railing. I imagine that some cruisers weren't too fond of it since term Quiet Cove didn't seem to apply.

Thanks for the report on this - I was wondering if it would have any affect on the adult areas.

I think the summer at sea concept is great, and I'm glad that it's providing some interaction for the guests.

I won't lie, though. I'm hoping the CMs have a better handle on this situation in Quiet Cove in the next week. I really really really am looking forward to some down time/quiet time/adult time.

 

[Beck's mom]

I won't lie, though. I'm hoping the CMs have a better handle on this situation in Quiet Cove in the next week. I really really really am looking forward to some down time/quiet time/adult time.

I am right there with you on this. I agree it's a neat idea and fun for the kids, but I won't have any kids with me this cruise so am hoping for the same as you. But I will totally understand if it isn't the case. At least I know now what to expect! We'll work around it.

 

[DisneyTrek]

My DW and I will be on the July 26th 4-night sailing. Since we have no kids, we are hoping to avoid the Summer at Sea events.

We are going on this sailing because we got a deal that made it impossible to say no.

 

[grlzmom]

Thanks for the report on this - I was wondering if it would have any affect on the adult areas.

I think the summer at sea concept is great, and I'm glad that it's providing some interaction for the guests.

I won't lie, though. I'm hoping the CMs have a better handle on this situation in Quiet Cove in the next week. I really really really am looking forward to some down time/quiet time/adult time.

I am in total agreement. For what it's worth, the CMs were pretty much on constant patrol and told me THEY would get in trouble if it kept up so I doubt they will slack off. They had kids that looked underage get out of the pool to get their key cards to show (the group I saw looked young but were in fact all old enough to be there).

Nothing they can do about them hanging out from deck 10 though.

The Disney Channel Stars who are under 18 were in the Quiet Cove area and had permission to be there (most are over 18). They also were in the Spa for massages and stuff.

The Quiet Cove was very quiet at night

Hoping all of you enjoy wonderful cruises and that everyone is respectful of the adult areas!

 

[BethA]

I am not that interested in meeting them, but my son is-so I hope we are lucky enough to have some interaction. I guess we'll see. Those on our cruise are younger, so I wonder if they will be at the adult pool or not

 

[Narnia_girl]

I am not that interested in meeting them, but my son is-so I hope we are lucky enough to have some interaction. I guess we'll see. Those on our cruise are younger, so I wonder if they will be at the adult pool or not

That's how we felt, so it was nice to bump into them a bit but even at Corbin's concert my daughter was only willing to wait in the hot sun so long before she said "nuts with this, I'm going swimming".

For those wanting peace in the Adult pool, our only chance in there was Nassau afternoon. They had a local trio playing and singing at that time. They were very talented, but loud. The Quiet Cove pool was NOT quiet. We left after a while to give our ears a break.

 

[BethA]

That's how we felt, so it was nice to bump into them a bit but even at Corbin's concert my daughter was only willing to wait in the hot sun so long before she said "nuts with this, I'm going swimming".

For those wanting peace in the Adult pool, our only chance in there was Nassau afternoon. They had a local trio playing and singing at that time. They were very talented, but loud. The Quiet Cove pool was NOT quiet. We left after a while to give our ears a break.

A band isn't bad, but I'd prefer the quiet.
does anyone have the navigators from these cruises

 

[IrenicMom]

For those wanting peace in the Adult pool, our only chance in there was Nassau afternoon.

This is exactly my plan - I'm doing the Segway excursion in Nassau (I'll admit it - I'm totally addicted to Segways!!) and then planning on heading back on board. I'm not interested in braving much else in Nassau alone.

All this, though, really makes me glad I opted for a verandah. If things get too much, I'll just head back to my room and read on the verandah. I'll get less sun, but somehow, I'm thinking that might be a good thing anyway

 

[Beck's mom]

All this, though, really makes me glad I opted for a verandah. If things get too much, I'll just head back to my room and read on the verandah. I'll get less sun, but somehow, I'm thinking that might be a good thing anyway

Me too! I just found out our room assignment and we were upgraded into one of the secret verandah rooms! Actually it isn't an upgrade since these are classified Cat 7, but nicer in my opinion! And we are on the starboard side, so we will have views of CC and the Pirate Night fireworks! This is turning out to be a great little getaway for dh & I!

 

[BethA]

all the upgrades-DCL must hate me.

Bumping up for anyone just back