To be quite honest, the "major" cruise lines I've sailed on in recent years were a 4-night Carnival cruise in 2012 and a 14-night Holland America cruise in 2013. My other recent cruisesOriginally Posted by seemoreroyals
weren't on major cruise lines. I'll try and break it down for you:
Entertainment -
I rarely attend the shows in the main show rooms. I did attend one on the Holland America cruise as it was a tribute to Broadway shows and none on the Carnival cruise.
I spend my evenings in the Piano Lounge on pretty much all my cruises. I did the same on the Disney Cruise (Keys) too with Lita.
The Disney ships have an "Adults-Only" entertainment area (18 and over) from 9pm which consists of the Keys Piano lounge, an Irish Pub and a show room called "Fathoms" (a comedy show).
The main family show room - had a production show each evening and I did attend one with my daughter. Disney has beautiful sets, effects, costumes etc..but the particular show we saw wasn't very good - story was silly and far too loud (children around us were covering their ears). There was a duo (singer and a guitarist)that performed in the Atrium and the family Promenade Lounge at
different times during the day and evening.
Where Disney shines - the evening Pirate Party out on deck (which takes place one evening, only on Caribbean cruises) with the fireworks showWe all had a blast!
They also have a proper movie theatre which is absolutely beautiful. Lita, my daughter and I watched the film "Cinderella" there, one afternoon. They showed trailers of upcoming
Disney Co. films including "Tomorrowland". Few cruise ships have dedicated movie theaters (Crystal does!).
Activities-
Trivia, family group games such as Pictionary etc..., Arts & Crafts (I think completely gone from the major cruise lines now), baby crawling races (really!!), Bingo, "port shopping" talks etc...
I went to the last Bingo session with Lita. She played, I kept her company. It was loud, and the cast members were annoying (hyper!). The prize amounts were lousy $100-$250 approx. per set (there were
four sets) and I think she paid $40 for the basic set of paper cards.
Pretty much one deck of the ship is devoted to the Children's Programs (I didn't like that they had very large screens promoting their new films in every room though). My grandson hung out with us.
Characters - You didn't ask but it goes with the territory - the photo sessions are listed on the app or the paper daily program and there were long lines. If you were lucky, you might
see one "unscheduled" - I spotted "Belle" in her blue dress sitting alone, reading a book on the steps in front of Lumiere's Restaurant and there was no one around lol Mickey Mouse
wandered by while I was reading in the Promenade Lounge and said hello to the surprised Arts and Crafts group
on shore in Nassau and Castaway Cay (Disney's private island and fabulous).
Dining -
There is an adults-only restaurant "Palo" on the DISNEY MAGIC for an additional charge. We didn't eat there. There are three family restaurants, which you eat at a different one, each evening,
and your waitstaff follows you and you sit at the same numbered table. The food was very good and quite a few choices. We had the early dining due to my grandson and the noise level
was loud (toddler melt-downs and crying babies) but I'm sure the later dining time would have fewer young children. Again, Disney has a nice surprise during one of those dinners
buffet had basic offerings except for the crab claws and peel and eat shrimp at lunch every day. Around the pool area, self-serve ice cream cones, pizza, hamburgers etc...and a nice little
sandwich/wrap/salad place that served pastries, smoothies and fruit/yoghurt parfaits in the mornings. One 24-hour self-serve beverage station which offered soda, juice, coffee and hot chocolate.
The included coffee was the syrup stuff so I bought coffee every day from the Cove Cafe place (in my photos). Worth it to me especially as it was "Illy" coffee like at Palazzo in Las Vegas.
Sorry, perhaps too much info!
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