Company Overview:
Once
upon a time (what better way to start a review
of Disney Cruise Lines?) there was a small but
mightily innovative cruise line called Premier
that came up with a very good idea. Painting a
small, former ocean liner red and calling it the
"Big Red Boat," Premier Cruises added the magic
ingredient to its cruise line in the form of the
"Magic Kingdom."
Positioning this little
Big Red Boat at Port Canaveral, as close to
Disney World in Orlando as possible, Premier
packaged 3 & 4-day cruises on the Big Red Boat
with 4 & 3-day stays in Disney World. Their
ships catered to children, with lots of
life-size cartoon figures (actually people in
costumes, but don't tell...) walking around.
Although Premier ran the Big Red Boat quite
successfully for several years, eventually
Disney Corp. saw something good there,
especially as the cruise business went from
being a tiny portion of the vacation market to
something the majority of Americans said they
wanted to try someday. And so Disney entered the
cruise business with the 1998 launching of the
Art Deco-themed Disney Magic, a sleekly
beautiful vessel reminiscent of the
transatlantic steamship era. Needless to say,
they didn't ask permission from the Big Red Boat
to do this, and also needless to say, Premier
Cruises (even with four other fairly popular
small ships) was bankrupt within a few years.
At first, the reaction to Disney entering the
market from established cruise lines was fear,
after all, Disney is an entertainment
juggernaut. However, as the Disney plans became
more visible, a modest two ships, both of them
sailing short 3 or 4-day cruises out of Port
Canaveral, the other cruise lines came to see
the entrance of Disney to the market as a good
thing - legitimizing the cruise vacation for
families and bringing lots of attention to the
idea of cruising as a vacation alternative. As
it turns out, the established cruise lines were
very smart and accurate in their predictions, as
today Disney Cruise Lines hardly competes with
the older cruise lines at all. Disney draws the
vast majority of its passengers from the ranks
of Disney lovers, not from other cruise lines.
In fact, the vast majority of Disney cruisers
have never been on any other cruise ship before.
At the same time, people who started out with
Disney for researching a cruise, soon found that
other cruise lines actually rate higher for
kids, and definitely the adults who bring them,
as a cruise experience, and often at a much
lower price.
Nevertheless, Disney Cruise
Lines has thrived, even though their cruise
fares range 1/3 higher than comparable ships,
because of people who love all things Disney.
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Disney Cruise Line
Experience:
Art
nouveau-themed sister ship Disney Wonder entered
service in August, 1999, taking over the Disney
Magic 3 & 4-day itinerary schedule. Disney Magic
switched first to seven-night cruises and now
does alternating seven-night Eastern and Western
Caribbean itineraries. Disney Magic now sails
seven-night Caribbean trips (alternating Eastern
and Western) for most of the year, while Disney
Wonder handles three- and four-day trips, mostly
to the Bahamas; What the two floating theme
parks do best is demonstrate that "elegant" and
"family friendly" can co-exist quite
harmoniously. Both ships visit Nassau and spend
a day docked at Disney's private Bahamian
fantasy island Castaway Cay.
Disney Magic
has actually scheduled 10 and 11-night
Mediterranean cruises in Europe in 2007. Would a
Disney cruise be a good way for an American to
see Europe? Probably not, as this ship is a
destination unto itself, while what one desires
in a ship for a European cruise is a comfortable
conveyance between port stops. Most likely, the
ship will be marketed more to Europeans while in
Europe than to U.S. cruisers looking for a
European vacation. But with Disney fanatics who
knows? They just might combine a European cruise
on Disney Magic with a trip to Euro-Disney.
While families with children generally rave
about the experience, childless adults are often
disgruntled about the absence of casinos,
discos, and, to a much lesser extent, libraries.
The grumbling began to subside somewhat when the
company lowered its price for a one-week package
combining a three- or four-day cruise with a
stay at a Disney Orlando hotel and theme park
entrance fees, though Disney remains pricier
than those of competitor Carnival, whose (Port
Canaveral)-based ships cater to the same
prospective passengers.
As you might
anticipate, the accent is on fun, and family
activities to ensure that you're having it, lots
of it, are nonstop. Entertainment is a huge
feature on these ships, and one must credit
Disney for bringing shipboard stage production
to a new level with bigger casts, more extensive
special effects, and those superbly timed and
executed family fun shows that leave all but
crankiest curmudgeon smiling despite himself.
Rotation dining aboard these ships means that
guests sample a different themed restaurant
every night. The ships' staterooms are enormous
and beautifully appointed, all with a
bath-and-a-half, making them especially popular
with families. Forty-four percent of outside
cabins have verandahs. All come with bathtubs, a
television, a mini-bar, a safe and a hair dryer.
Passengers often get to see Disney Studios films
before those ashore. There is a conspicuously
unpopular adult-only entertainment area -- "Beat
Street" on Magic and "Route 66" on Wonder --
neither a casino nor a disco, and an adult-only
Italian gourmet restaurant, Palo, at which it's
predictably hard to secure reservations. The
food elsewhere? Well, you won't starve. The
service is friendly.
New (post-2004)
public areas include Diversions, Cove Cafe and a
new college-dorm-meets-coffee-bar place for
teens. Cove Caf?, an adults-only coffee bar
adjacent to the Quiet Cove pool is a pleasant
place to relax on comfortable couches, watch TV,
check e-mail, or read one of the many magazines
on the shelves. Sports fans, meanwhile flock to
Diversions, which is alleged to resemble an
English sports pub. The swank Walt Disney
Theater resembles a plush venue on the Great
White Way. Studio Sea, which offers G-rated
floor shows, is styled like a television sound
stage
The gyms are scandalously small.
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Fellow Passengers
Disney's primary
market is families with children, although
you'll find more adult couples during school
vacation periods. one thing they all have in
common, they love Disney and have probably been
to the theme parks more than a couple of times.
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Taking Kids:
As you might
anticipate, Disney offers terrific programs and
facilities for little folks. At Disney's private
island, Castaway Cay, kids enjoy a 15-acre
snorkeling course above a living reef,
supervised games for all age groups, bicycling
courses and sailboats, kayaks and rafts for
rent.
Disney Magic and Disney Wonder's
Oceaneer Club span nearly an entire deck, with
supervised programs for children aged 3-5 and
6-8. Children aged 9-12 can enjoy high-tech
interactive programs in the Oceaneer Lab, while
those 11-12 can compete in a marine biology
knowledge quest game show and send digital
postcards to friends. And they'll see more
Disney characters than at the theme parks!
Disney is one of the few lines to offer a
nursery for infants and toddlers; Flounder's
Reef Nursery was recently expanded to include a
new reception area, Little Mermaid murals, and
enhanced lighting to create the illusion of
being under the sea. Teens (13-17) have their
own private club, Common Grounds, a New
York-style coffee house, not to mention
competitive sports and nighttime activities.
Children's facilities are open from 9:00 a.m. to
1:00 a.m. Private babysitting is available on a
first-come, first served basis at $11 per hour.
The kids' soda program entitles kids aged 12 and
under unlimited soda refills; the company is not
responsible for their future dental bills. Sold
by hosts and hostesses at shipboard lounge
areas, the option costs $12 on three-day
sailings and $16 on four-day sailings.
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Shore Excursions:
They're on the
expensive side; for instance, snorkeling is $35
for adults, $25 for children.
Tipping:
At Disney, gratuities
can be charged to your shipboard account. The
recommended tipping guidelines are per person
per cruise: Three-night cruise:
Dining Room
Server $11.00
Dining Room Asst. Server $8.00
Dining Room Head Server $2.75
Stateroom
Host/Hostess $10.75
Four-night cruise:
Dining Room Server $14.75
Dining Room Asst.
Server $10.75
Dining Room Head Server $3.75
Stateroom Host/Hostess $14.50
Seven-night
cruise:
Dining Room Server $25.75
Dining
Room Asst. Server $18.75
Dining Room Head
Server $ 6.50
Stateroom Host/Hostess $25.25
On all cruises Dining Manager and Room Service
tipping is at the passenger's discretion.
A 15 percent gratuity is automatically added to
bar, beverage, wine, and deck service tabs.
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