How does DCL compare to other cruise lines with illness outbreaks

[EvilQueen-T]

With all the news the past few months with mechanical problems (engine problems, fire, the infamous poop cruise) and/or norovirus outbreaks onboard cruise ships I was wondering how does DCL compare? My daughter is considering a disney cruise for her honeymoon this fall and I've never done a cruise so I don't have any personal insight.

 

[Tom]

DCL has an excellent track record. But they also take care of their ships and reinvest in them, so they don't just die in the middle of the ocean.

As for viral outbreaks, DCL works extremely hard to prevent them, but it comes down to guests doing their part. If someone is infected, and contagious, and they decide to board the ship anyway (or they don't know they're infected), there's not much DCL can do about it except take all the preventive measures they already take.

I've taken one Disney cruise, and will be embarking on our second one this Thursday. I don't give it a second thought, while I WOULD give a second thought to some of the other lines.

 

[Andrew C]

With all the news the past few months with mechanical problems (engine problems, fire, the infamous poop cruise) and/or norovirus outbreaks onboard cruise ships I was wondering how does DCL compare? My daughter is considering a disney cruise for her honeymoon this fall and I've never done a cruise so I don't have any personal insight.

Tom has got it right in regards to how DCL takes care of their ships from top to bottom but can only prevent illness will the help of guests on the ship as well. Like Tom, I have a DCL cruise booked in April and those issue you mentioned have not even crossed my mind.

A DCL cruise is a great honeymoon, as this is actually where I honeymooned in 2012. I would recommend doing the same to anyone.

 

[Kingdom Konsultant]

I've been on the DCL ships for part of our training and we are on those ships in between when the guests are off the ship and they are getting it ready for the next group of guests and let me tell you, they clean EVERYTHING!. Every single thing is wiped down and disinfected from top to bottom. Disney also has the antibacterial wipes for your hands at the entrance to every restaurant and when you board the ship while in ports of call. I have also noticed them in the public bathrooms on-board.

Pam

 

[tahqa]

If you look at the CDC statistics you'll see that there has only been one recorded outbreak of noro on a DCL ship (Disney Magic, 2002). However, this does not mean that noro isn't on the DCL ships, just that they only once hit the 3% of passengers and crew reporting criteria (less than 3% of the passengers and crew reported noro symptons).

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I've been on both DCL & Royal Caribbean in the last 6 months. Both have beautiful ships, well cared for and very clean. Cleanliness difference that stood out to me was the dining room entry point procedure: DCL has the crew member standing at the door physically handing wipes to each person entering whereas Royal has the touch-free Purell dispensers at the door for cruisers to utilize. It's a difference in optional vs not optional. Staterooms are a bit better laid out on DCL for the split bath and better storage. Loved the prepaid alcohol package on Royal so so so much. It's actually one of my favorite things when thinking about future cruises on Royal. Disney will obviously hold more appeal to Disney fans. Royal's ships have more diverse outside activities like rock climbing, zip lining, & flow riders. I thought Royal had more diverse types of shows all on the same ship (ie. high dive show, off-broadway, cirque-like, ice-skating, etc). Royal also has more ships and sails to a LOT more places than Disney can. This also lends to much more availability for discounts and a larger margin of lower prices for cruise fares. I found the boarding process way more streamlined on Royal. Food was better on Disney but there were so many more options and choices on Royal. Lots more upcharge options on Royal but that's the trade-off to have so many more options available to you. I like more choice so I'm good to pay for what I want so long as I have the options available to me. Not sure about all Royal ships but the 1 we sailed (Allure of the Seas) could've really used a dedicated movie theater. Disney has that. My teens both prefer Disney's teen club to Royal's. Service on both cruise lines is pretty much evenly matched. Overall, I don't think of either one as better than the other. Again, as a Disney fan we always look to the mouse first but both are a fantastic, high-quality vacation. I'd recommend both without hesitation to anyone.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

If you look at the CDC statistics you'll see that there has only been one recorded outbreak of noro on a DCL ship (Disney Magic, 2002). However, this does not mean that noro isn't on the DCL ships, just that they only once hit the 3% of passengers and crew reporting criteria (less than 3% of the passengers and crew reported noro symptons).

One also needs to consider Disney has 4 ships. Most other cruiselines are operating a whoooole lot more than that. So if you see more occurrences on other cruise lines one should consider that.

 

[disney4life2008]

I have been on 5 different Carnival ships (large and midclass) and they were all stunning and clean.

 

[tahqa]

One also needs to consider Disney has 4 ships. Most other cruiselines are operating a whoooole lot more than that. So if you see more occurrences on other cruise lines one should consider that.

Yes, but if you look at it as a percentage of passengers carried over X years then Disney still comes out well compared to the mass market lines. Can DCL continue this as they grow larger? Well, that might be a different story. But as of now I would consider DCL to be better in regards to outbreaks.

Even if you compare taking into account the size of the fleets, DCL still comes out well.

Cunard is a comparable sized line (3 ships vs DCL's 4) and they have way more outbreaks. Cunard had 11 over 16 years vs DCL's 2.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Yes, but if you look at it as a percentage of passengers carried over X years then Disney still comes out well compared to the mass market lines. Can DCL continue this as they grow larger? Well, that might be a different story. But as of now I would consider DCL to be better in regards to outbreaks.

Even if you compare taking into account the size of the fleets, DCL still comes out well.

Cunard is a comparable sized line (3 ships vs DCL's 4) and they have way more outbreaks. Cunard had 11 over 16 years vs DCL's 2.

No argument. As I said, something to consider.

 

[ScoutN]

I've been on both DCL & Royal Caribbean in the last 6 months. Both have beautiful ships, well cared for and very clean. Cleanliness difference that stood out to me was the dining room entry point procedure: DCL has the crew member standing at the door physically handing wipes to each person entering whereas Royal has the touch-free Purell dispensers at the door for cruisers to utilize. It's a difference in optional vs not optional. Staterooms are a bit better laid out on DCL for the split bath and better storage. Loved the prepaid alcohol package on Royal so so so much. It's actually one of my favorite things when thinking about future cruises on Royal. Disney will obviously hold more appeal to Disney fans. Royal's ships have more diverse outside activities like rock climbing, zip lining, & flow riders. I thought Royal had more diverse types of shows all on the same ship (ie. high dive show, off-broadway, cirque-like, ice-skating, etc). Royal also has more ships and sails to a LOT more places than Disney can. This also lends to much more availability for discounts and a larger margin of lower prices for cruise fares. I found the boarding process way more streamlined on Royal. Food was better on Disney but there were so many more options and choices on Royal. Lots more upcharge options on Royal but that's the trade-off to have so many more options available to you. I like more choice so I'm good to pay for what I want so long as I have the options available to me. Not sure about all Royal ships but the 1 we sailed (Allure of the Seas) could've really used a dedicated movie theater. Disney has that. My teens both prefer Disney's teen club to Royal's. Service on both cruise lines is pretty much evenly matched. Overall, I don't think of either one as better than the other. Again, as a Disney fan we always look to the mouse first but both are a fantastic, high-quality vacation. I'd recommend both without hesitation to anyone.

I found Disney to have the better boarding process over Royal in PC. DCL was such a breath of fresh air over how RCL's was there. I found the opposite of food choices. RCL was nearly ALL sugar free on desserts which I did not like at all. The buffet as a whole was very blah too. But that can also go with what one guy said to my girlfriend and I on an elevator the second night on RCL "There is nothing but OLD PEOPLE MAN I WANNA PARTY." Enchantment I am guessing has a more...mature clientele. Enchantment also has employees funneling people to the purel stands before going into WIndjammer.

 

[Andrew C]

I found Disney to have the better boarding process over Royal in PC. DCL was such a breath of fresh air over how RCL's was there. I found the opposite of food choices. RCL was nearly ALL sugar free on desserts which I did not like at all. The buffet as a whole was very blah too. But that can also go with what one guy said to my girlfriend and I on an elevator the second night on RCL "There is nothing but OLD PEOPLE *** MAN I WANNA PARTY." Enchantment I am guessing has a more...mature clientele. Enchantment also has employees funneling people to the purel stands before going into WIndjammer.

He thinks RC is old, he should try Princess where the average age is 65, haha. I have done a couple of those. My in-laws paid so I wasn't going to say no.

 

[ScoutN]

He thinks RC is old, he should try Princess where the average age is 65, haha. I have done a couple of those. My in-laws paid so I wasn't going to say no.

Yea we passed on that one as soon as her grandmother raved about calm Princess is. I gotta agree though, enchantment was very much filled with an older crowd. IMO sugar free everywhere kinda backs that up.

 

[Andrew C]

Yea we passed on that one as soon as her grandmother raved about calm Princess is. I gotta agree though, enchantment was very much filled with an older crowd. IMO sugar free everywhere kinda backs that up.

I did a 5 night on the Liberty of the seas in 2012. I do not remember the crowd being old or the sugar free stuff so maybe enchantment attracts a different group of people. Prefer DCL over previous mentioned lines however (obviously).

 

[ScoutN]

I did a 5 night on the Liberty of the seas in 2012. I do not remember the crowd being old or the sugar free stuff so maybe enchantment attracts a different group of people. Prefer DCL over previous mentioned lines however (obviously).

From what I gathered by being onboard... The snowbird FLOCK (no pun intended) to that boat, especially in Fall when we were on it. Several of them ensured to tell us time over how great RC is and no other compares and how they had over 200 nights on RCL. Pretty much told me it wasn't a younger group of folks there. For the price we paid it wouldn't discourage me from doing it again. A large advantage DCL has for me is no Casino. The smoke smell drifted outta there something wild.

 

[Andrew C]

From what I gathered by being onboard... The snowbird FLOCK (no pun intended) to that boat, especially in Fall when we were on it. Several of them ensured to tell us time over how great RC is and no other compares and how they had over 200 nights on RCL. Pretty much told me it wasn't a younger group of folks there. For the price we paid it wouldn't discourage me from doing it again. A large advantage DCL has for me is no Casino. The smoke smell drifted outta there something wild.

Yeah, having no casino bothers some people but not me. When we were on Princess in January this year my wife and I had a date night away from the rest of the family. We ended up having dinner with a group of poeple that I would call "the greatest generation". haha. We were talking about different cruises and we mentioned that we sail with DCL. I tried to convince them it was not just for kids and great for adults as well. But they thought I was nuts.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I found Disney to have the better boarding process over Royal in PC. DCL was such a breath of fresh air over how RCL's was there. I found the opposite of food choices. RCL was nearly ALL sugar free on desserts which I did not like at all. The buffet as a whole was very blah too. But that can also go with what one guy said to my girlfriend and I on an elevator the second night on RCL "There is nothing but OLD PEOPLE *** MAN I WANNA PARTY." Enchantment I am guessing has a more...mature clientele. Enchantment also has employees funneling people to the purel stands before going into WIndjammer.

I have gotten the impression that which ship you sail with Royal makes a difference. We sailed Allure of the Seas, the newest & biggest in the fleet at the time.

The boarding of roughly 6k passengers onto the Allure in the Port Everglades terminal was far more streamlined and orderly than I've ever seen Disney do in Port Canaveral. I've not sailed Royal out of Port Canaveral so I have no idea what their terminal or process is like there. I do think the beauty and detail put into Disney's Port Canaveral terminal is impossible to beat!

 

[Andrew C]

We sailed Allure of the Seas, the newest & biggest in the fleet at the time.

When I read this I thought, "what, there is something bigger now?" Sure enough, they got the Quantum class now. How big can they go? Sky diving simulator and bumper cars???

 

[Bolna]

When I read this I thought, "what, there is something bigger now?" Sure enough, they got the Quantum class now. How big can they go? Sky diving simulator and bumper cars???

Quantum isn't bigger than the Oasis class ships. Just newer. She is being built by the same shipyard as the Dream and Fantasy and there the ships have to travel up a river to the sea. No way something bigger than Allure would be able to make that trip.

 

[Andrew C]

Quantum isn't bigger than the Oasis class ships. Just newer. She is being built by the same shipyard as the Dream and Fantasy and there the ships have to travel up a river to the sea. No way something bigger than Allure would be able to make that trip.

yeah, I see that they are just bigger than the Freedom class but not Oasis. Just some of the stuff they are putting on these ships is crazy.