WWYD...?

[Bree]

But, it's not just winter. It's from end of January till the middle of April for SWDAS on virtually every 7 day cruise.

It's Halloween, all of September, October fleetwide.

Then you have Merrytime in November and December, fleetwide.

Now you have Marvel on the Magic for October, November, Jan., Feb., March, April

It might be one day, but there are decorations on the ship, fellow cruisers are talking about it and then one day, you lose out on some areas of the ship if you wish to avoid it.

I feel like it's intrusive and detracts from my enjoyment of my cruise, especially since I've already experienced it.

Just one more example of Disney having no respect or consideration of their repeat cruisers. I dare say, these old repeat cruisers, that they built their successful business on! If they had started out this way, there is no way I would still be cruising with them.

I completely agree. I would rather see a few special sailings for Star Wars with the theme celebrated all week and not just one day. The same goes for Marvel. I'd like to see the Halloween and Christmas sailings trimmed back down to a few select dates. I don't see that happening though.

 

[Dug720]

And as a very successful business concern, they know their marketing and how to best capitalize on all of their properties.

But they also need to hear from ALL their guests - so those of us who are not fans of this have the right to - and should - make our voices heard.

With legit Disney (i.e.: not Marvel or Star Wars which I will never accept as Disney), I adore the line. It fits me and my cruising style. I am not into the mega-ships of RCCL or the "freestyle" whatever of NCL, I don't find Carnival "fun", I like my lungs so I avoid HAL. I have considered Celebrity, but TBH the vibes I get from people on the X forums on Cruise Critic is snob central. I prefer to cruise for vacations as a rule. So the more niche DCL gets with these things, the fewer options I have, and that is sad IMHO.

 

[wombat_5606]

@Dug720,

I've cruised HAL and am allergic to smoking. Never had a problem with the 2 ships I sailed.
I've cruised Celebrity a couple of times and absolutely loved it. Food was excellent. I love the aft outside deck with the real grass and never had a problem with my fellow cruisers. I haven't read through the boards over there, though. There are some people on this board that are not my cup of tea either.
I've cruised Princess and had no problem what so ever.
I've cruised RCCL and the staff was great, the fellow cruisers not so much. But I attribute that to the time of year we sailed. I'm sure if we had gone when school was in, it would have been an entirely different cruise. I do agree that the new ships are not for me.

DCL suited me because I sailed solo and I felt comfortable. But a large number of changes have made me realize that this cruise line is not worth the cruise fare, nor worth the feeling that I get less for my vacation than I once did.

I have 2 more cruises with DCL in 2017. After that, my cruising will be with someone else.

I say try something else and don't make comparisons. Enjoy a cruise for what it is. It's not a competition. It's a vacation and thankfully, there are choices.

 

[allears]

How many is plenty to you, @allears?

I hazard a guess that you are traveling on unique itineraries or long cruises.

When I attend the Gold/Platinum reception on my cruises, there isn't 50 people there, except for the long itineraries.

Sure, I know there are repeat cruisers. I just think they are in the minority.

To be significant, I would need to see several hundred. The Classic ships can sail with 2700 passengers, the Dream/Fantasy, with 4000. A nightclub full of people isn't a significant number of repeat cruisers. Even if another nightclub full of people failed to show up to the reception, it still wouldn't be significant.

Last reply before I check out of this thread. We sail 7 nights and on each sailing close to half the guest were repeat guests, according to several officers on each voyage. I call that significant.

And if you're done with DCL and recomomending it to friends, why are you on here? Just to grow the dark side?

May the force be with you!

17 day so till we sail again!

 

[wombat_5606]

Because @allears as I said in my post....

I have 2 more cruises with DCL in 2017. After that, my cruising will be with someone else.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

OP I get what you are saying. Some of my friends would never cruise DCL because it is too "Disney" but I am happy to pay a premium for the "Disney" feel but not for "Star Wars". While I certainly feel that the "Disney" themeing is subtle they get a more "Fantasyland" over the top feeling looking at my picture and yearly Christmas cards. I'm sure we've all the the "Disney again?!" response.

So maybe another thread asking specifically about how immersive is "Star Wars" at sea day might give you a better feel if you can do the things you enjoy on the cruise and avoid the things you do not.

 

[Dug720]

OP I get what you are saying. Some of my friends would never cruise DCL because it is too "Disney" but I am happy to pay a premium for the "Disney" feel but not for "Star Wars". While I certainly feel that the "Disney" themeing is subtle they get a more "Fantasyland" over the top feeling looking at my picture and yearly Christmas cards. I'm sure we've all the the "Disney again?!" response.

So maybe another thread asking specifically about how immersive is "Star Wars" at sea day might give you a better feel if you can do the things you enjoy on the cruise and avoid the things you do not.

There have been those, and the overwhelming response was "Not enough and we told them so." Meaning that it will likely only increase each year until it DOES turn into months of nothing but total Star Wars themed (or Marvel themed) cruises.

 

[party-of-five]

OP, you should take whatever cruise you feel you will be most comfortable taking. Whatever you decide, I hope it's a great vacation.

I understand how many can feel disheartened with DCL offering so many SW, Marvel, etc days at sea. Especially given that they are announced months after opening day booking. Maybe my family is in the minority, but we're excited that our next cruise will have a Christmas and Marvel theme. We are blessed to be able to take one vacation a year, and we make it a family vacation. We just recently discovered the joy of cruising and love that DCL is so family friendly! We have three boys (and a girl) who love SW and Marvel - so I really appreciate that DCL has incorporated the two into their sailings. Maybe a different approach DCL could take is to offer meet and greets with SW or Marvel or maybe even male Disney movie characters like they do for Frozen or the Princesses rather than make it a ship-wide, one day celebration.

 

[mevelandry]

And if you're done with DCL and recomomending it to friends, why are you on here? Just to grow the dark side?

I'm not concerned by this comment but I kinda fit the description (done with DCL soon & would not recommend it to friends... because it's really expensive and a lot of families can't afford it)... I think it's an interesting point of view to discuss:

DISboards is a nice forum. I enjoy the time I spend on it (nice people, fun conversations). And although we've decided to jump ship in the future, I know I can count on DISers for reliable "comparison reviews" about other cruise lines, because if they liked it, there's a strong chance I might like it too.

I also plan on staying on DISboards just to try to help people planning great vacations with DCL (I love reading reviews as well).

I will always love DCL, no matter how expensive they become and whether I sail with them again or not.

 

[cruiser21]

Most Fantasy cruises are not Star Wars themed. Just pick a different week if a Star Wars event is going to ruin your cruise.
Theming is what Disney does. It's what makes them unique. Some of it I like some I don't. None of it will keep me off a ship. If I want something different I cruise NCL or Carnival.

 

[Dug720]

Most Fantasy cruises are not Star Wars themed. Just pick a different week if a Star Wars event is going to ruin your cruise.
Theming is what Disney does. It's what makes them unique. Some of it I like some I don't. None of it will keep me off a ship. If I want something different I cruise NCL or Carnival.

When one can choose their vacation time, that logic *can* work. But when one hasn't their vacation dictated by their job (unlike students whose parents feel they should be allowed to pull them out whenever, the vast majority of teachers cannot take a week off for their own personal vacation).

However, as all of the themed cruises get announced AFTER the schedule is released, there is no way to know that you won't be stuck with one you never signed up for.

 

[MustLoveDisney]

We were on the last SWDAS cruise of last year, so it could be different going forward, but here's my two cents. We are Star Wars fans and participated in the festivities, however, we met another couple that was not. They scheduled Palo brunch and dinner (possibly way too much food though) for that day and did a tasting in between. They still definitely enjoyed the day while avoiding the majority of the Star Wars hoopla. There were a few things going on during the day on deck, but it was all around the family pool. Any of the adult areas should be "safe". Even dinner in the MDRs wasn't too in your face. We saw a few adults that wore their costumes to dinner and all the food was just given Star Wars names. We did late seating, not sure if that made a difference or not. I hope that you have a great cruise, no matter which you choose. We love the Fantasy as well!

 

[Flossbolna]

I'm guessing 99,999% of people are not going to cancel because of a themed day,

Well, I see that you have not been a member of the DIS for long. But I can tell you there were plenty of people seriously upset about their cruises being turned into Christmas or Halloween themed cruises. I cannot verify how many of them cancelled. But people feel strongly about their cruise experience and it is their right to do so, especially with the prices DCL charges.

Also, part of the DISboards fun is discussing what ever concerns, opinions, hopes and fear one has in connection with everyones planned vacation. While a lot of what is important to other people is not understandable to me, the multitude of opinions is what makes these boards thrive. Yes, also those who do not agree with decisions DCL makes.

 

[cruiser21]

Well, I see that you have not been a member of the DIS for long. But I can tell you there were plenty of people seriously upset about their cruises being turned into Christmas or Halloween themed cruises. I cannot verify how many of them cancelled. But people feel strongly about their cruise experience and it is their right to do so, especially with the prices DCL charges.

Also, part of the DISboards fun is discussing what ever concerns, opinions, hopes and fear one has in connection with everyones planned vacation. While a lot of what is important to other people is not understandable to me, the multitude of opinions is what makes these boards thrive. Yes, also those who do not agree with decisions DCL makes.

I understand that. It's better to speak with your pocket book though. Like I said if a themed cruise is upsetting then cancel theres so many options out there. I'm actually more put off by Disney pricing then anything else, but that's a whole different subject. I would assume the theme cruises bring in sales or they wouldn't do them. I have posted on cruise critic for years so I'm not naive about message boards or about cruising. I think op has gotten some good advice on how to avoid Star Wars and enjoy her cruise.

 

[cruiser21]

She works in education. I don't know anyone that works in education that can just take time off whenever they want. The school dictates their vacation time. I like SW, but wasn't overly thrilled to have my cruise turned into a SWDAS months after I booked it. And no, I just couldn't just change it to a different week to avoid it. Many of us have other things going on in our lives that affect when we can vacation.

A lot of people can't just get time off whenever they want. I'm one of those people. That's not exclusive to teachers.

 

[bcwife76]

We just got off the first Eastern Carib Star Wars cruise for 2017; I'm not much of a SW fan, DH is a 'moderate' fan. I'm sure there are ways of avoiding most of the SW stuff but there was two shows up on the pool deck at 11am and 2pm (I think). Not nearly as many people were dressed up in full costumes as I figured. At the end of the day the only thing that really 'bugged' me was the music. All. Day. Long.

I hear that damn Vader death march (or whatever it's called) in my head all the flippin' time now. By about 6pm even my hubby was annoyed by the music, it was depressing

 

[PrincessShmoo]

All. Day. Long.

That's what I worry about.

 

[Bree]

A lot of people can't just get time off whenever they want. I'm one of those people. That's not exclusive to teachers.

Then why were you being so snarky telling her to have DCL accommodate her job or to go find another one? Seems like you would be a little more understanding considering you can't just take time off whenever you want.

 

[mevelandry]

Hey, while we are on the subject... Unless there is something related to the sea in SW that I'm not aware of... I just don't get the SW theme on the cruiseships.

Princesses and a few characters like Mickey and Minnie could go on vacation... Ok. But Darth Vader? I don't know. Marvel Superheroes? To me it's a mismatch.

I respect those who like it. Just not my cup of tea either.

(Still, better than no cruise at all.)

 

[mevelandry]

I do understand Disney prices are astronomical during the peak season. There are other cruise lines. If you would like some suggestions I have them.

Could you PM me? I, for one, would interested in your suggestions!