Adult focused Disney cruise, not great for kids
Disney Dream Cruise Review to Transatlantic
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 20
13 Night Eastbound Transatlantic (Miami To Barcelona)
Sail date: May 07, 2023
Ship: Disney Dream
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 10508
Traveled as: Family (older children)
Reviewed: 1 year ago
Review summary
I wouldn’t recommended the Transatlantic for families with kids. The crowd seems to be primarily older adults and it is not a typical Disney cruise in the way entertainment etc. is structured because they are catering instead to the adult crowd. For example the kid friendly dining options close early and you can’t do those or cabanas for dinner. We had also planned to work during the cruise on the sea days, but the internet connection was so terrible that we were unable to work so that was extremely stressful. Even in the highest speed package ($36 a day) you couldn’t open a spreadsheet. Video calls were totally out of the question. The fitness center is in disrepair. On a 13 day cruise you would obviously like to work out or at least stretch, but there isn’t even space for that and even if you squeeze a mat in between machines, all of the yoga mats are falling apart. Having only until 4 or 4:30 didn’t feel like enough time to enjoy the various cities and you really have to plan to be back even earlier because you will be stressed about missing the ship. I won’t do another transatlantic and wouldn’t recommend it.Embarkation
Pure chaos. The line was longer than I had ever seen in any of our previous 5 cruises. It was intense!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
I was disappointed that the dining hours and such on this cruise were much more focused on the older adult crowd that was on this cruise. On my previous cruises we had been able to feed kids early in Cabanas and fast food areas but on this cruise cabanas was not open for dinner and most of the fast serve options (pizza etc) closed at 6 on the transatlantic. The quality of the food also seems to be in a decline.
Onboard Activities
The pool was great, kids enjoyed the slides and watching movies by the pool. Lots of chances to see characters, but lines are very long.
Entertainment
Again, very adult focused on the transatlantic, not many musicals like our previous cruises had. Our fireworks were cut short on the 25th anniversary night for unknown reason. On pirate night we ended up standing in an area that obstructed the view of the fireworks which was disappointing. Make sure you’re not standing under the slides!
Children's Programs
The kids club / daycare area was great. Kids really enjoyed their time there. Communication is not great though. The app they rely on to message parents has a significant delay of hours and sometimes even a full day which often caused confusion and stress. For example, when we were dining at Remy, we got multiple messages that our kids needed to be picked up, but when we called the kids club each time, we were informed these messages had been delayed from the day before.
Service and Staff
Our dining team was absolutely incredible, the staff on Disney cruises is always a highlight. However, the communication between various departments (I.e. between kids club and guest services) was extremely poor. For example, we got a message while in port in the Disney app that there was an incident in kids club and we should call using a ship phone, which of course we had no way of doing from off the ship so ended up hailing to call the 1800 Disney cruise number to try to get through which took an extremely long time, then when we finally got through to guest services on the ship they didn’t have any information. The kids club knew we were in port and were given our cell phone numbers at drop off and reportedly told guest services to contact us, but this never happened. Instead we ended up in an extremely stressful situation, wasting a day in port trying to get ahold of the kids club and then cutting our excursion short and racing back to the ship because we couldn’t get any information on what was going on with our kids.
Ship Quality
Most areas of the ship were well-maintained, however the fitness center was a disaster. Not only is there no dedicated area for stretching, every single yoga mat is completely falling apart - little pieces of foam all over clothes and floor and I tried nearly every mat. There are no foam rollers or anything like that. Several machines broken.
Cabin / Stateroom
We combined 10508 & 10510 - it was a tight squeeze for our family of 8 but overall fine.
Ports of call
Loved this port! We did a lava cave tour with the kids and it was fascinating. Then a park / garden area. Also enjoyed the flower festival we were lucky to be there during a very famous festival in the Azores! Only wish we had more time in port.
Thumbs Up
0
This was our least favorite port stop. Not much for kids. Lots of walking straight uphill.
We did a non-Disney tapas tour after our Disney hiking tour was cancelled due to weather and everything else was full. The tapas tour was great… Great way to learn about the city while eating! Not enough time to really enjoy the city though.
This was a short stop. 7-12:30. We went into town and had churros and chocolate at a cafe. Hard to enjoy a place in such a short time.
Disembarkation
Long lines, not well organized