GoBlue99
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2018
- Messages
- 38
This was our second sailing with DCL. Our first was 5 yrs ago, which was a 7 night on the Fantasy. This time, we brought 4 other families with us, who were all brand new to DCL. Our kids are 10 and 7, and the rest of the kids in our group were younger (ages 2-4).
PRE-CRUISE: We stayed at the Hyatt MCO for the first time. We were very happy with how convenient that was. The shuttle process was very easy also.
ROOM: As last time, we stayed in a Deluxe Family Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah (6142). The rest of our group stayed a few doors down. We were happy with the room and the space. I really like the dual bathroom situation, and there was plenty of storage for everything. As soon as I smelled the hand soap, it brought me back to our last cruise! I wish they sold the soap online.
We also liked the location of the room, and felt it was easy access to mostly everything.
DINING: As usual, dining is a hit with some dishes, and a miss with others. We enjoyed the breakfast and lunch buffets the most. Overall, we were happy with the food. I was sad that Animator's Palate didn't do the fun thing where kids get to draw something that ends up on the screen. We had hyped that up to our friends. We asked waitstaff, and they said they only do that on the 7 night cruises.
The alcoholic drinks were good, and my friends were surprised how affordable they were. They don't price gouge you.
ACTIVITIES: The only paid one we did was Royal Tea for my wife and kids. Obviously, it's very expensive, but they loved it. My wife said it was quite fancy, and she thought it was worth the splurge. The kids enjoyed it, and they love getting gifts.
PORTS: Castaway Cay was fun again, and this time my kids got to do the water slide. They really enjoyed that.
Lighthouse Point was amazing! I'm a big ocean guy, and it was stellar here. Clear blue water with no rocks or seaweed, and fun waves that aren't too big for the kids. We had glorious weather too. Our group walked to the beach area near the kids' club, and it wasn't crowded there at all. Our group agreed that was one of the best moments on the trip (and my favorite). We were all just hanging on the beach, having some good drinks, and playing in the beautiful water.
CHARACTERS: One of my favorite things about DCL for kids is that it's so easy to see characters. They are everywhere, and the lines are so short. Obviously, it is much harder to see this many if you are at the parks.
SERVICE: Customer service was amazing, as usual. Our waitstaff and room attendant were so friendly and helpful. They all deserved the extra tips we gave.
Overall, the cruise was an awesome time, and it was a lot of fun to go with our big group. Our friends all loved their first experience with DCL, and I believe they all put down deposits for a future cruise.
As for our family- we would definitely like to come back in the future, but don't have a specific timeline. As the kids get older, we will see if they still want to do DCL or try other lines. We would definitely like to try one of the new DCL ships at some point.
PRE-CRUISE: We stayed at the Hyatt MCO for the first time. We were very happy with how convenient that was. The shuttle process was very easy also.
ROOM: As last time, we stayed in a Deluxe Family Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah (6142). The rest of our group stayed a few doors down. We were happy with the room and the space. I really like the dual bathroom situation, and there was plenty of storage for everything. As soon as I smelled the hand soap, it brought me back to our last cruise! I wish they sold the soap online.
We also liked the location of the room, and felt it was easy access to mostly everything.
DINING: As usual, dining is a hit with some dishes, and a miss with others. We enjoyed the breakfast and lunch buffets the most. Overall, we were happy with the food. I was sad that Animator's Palate didn't do the fun thing where kids get to draw something that ends up on the screen. We had hyped that up to our friends. We asked waitstaff, and they said they only do that on the 7 night cruises.
The alcoholic drinks were good, and my friends were surprised how affordable they were. They don't price gouge you.
ACTIVITIES: The only paid one we did was Royal Tea for my wife and kids. Obviously, it's very expensive, but they loved it. My wife said it was quite fancy, and she thought it was worth the splurge. The kids enjoyed it, and they love getting gifts.
PORTS: Castaway Cay was fun again, and this time my kids got to do the water slide. They really enjoyed that.
Lighthouse Point was amazing! I'm a big ocean guy, and it was stellar here. Clear blue water with no rocks or seaweed, and fun waves that aren't too big for the kids. We had glorious weather too. Our group walked to the beach area near the kids' club, and it wasn't crowded there at all. Our group agreed that was one of the best moments on the trip (and my favorite). We were all just hanging on the beach, having some good drinks, and playing in the beautiful water.
CHARACTERS: One of my favorite things about DCL for kids is that it's so easy to see characters. They are everywhere, and the lines are so short. Obviously, it is much harder to see this many if you are at the parks.
SERVICE: Customer service was amazing, as usual. Our waitstaff and room attendant were so friendly and helpful. They all deserved the extra tips we gave.
Overall, the cruise was an awesome time, and it was a lot of fun to go with our big group. Our friends all loved their first experience with DCL, and I believe they all put down deposits for a future cruise.
As for our family- we would definitely like to come back in the future, but don't have a specific timeline. As the kids get older, we will see if they still want to do DCL or try other lines. We would definitely like to try one of the new DCL ships at some point.
