Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Club Reports: Disney Dream

The new cruise ship Disney Dream steamed into Port Canaveral early yesterday morning, fresh from the factory in Germany. She soon will begin sailing her Bahamian itineraries. Disney Cruise Lines is arguably the most profitable division of the Disney empire. DCL is able to charge (and get) double and triple the per diems compared to what Royal Caribbean and Carnival can charge (and get) on similar itineraries. I've not been onboard Disney Dream so this report is based solely on media articles and their website. The biggest question I have for Disney is how can you justify putting such awesome adult-only lounge and night club venues on your ships yet not offer the same thing for adults at Walt Disney World?

First, check out this short video: http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/ships-activities/ships/dream/

As you see, The District is an adult-only area at night and is sort of like a mini-Pleasure Island with multiple choices. Evolution is the main dance club on this ship and the place looks incredible. DJ's from around the world, a lighted dance floor, wow! Skyline, wow!  6-8-7, wow. They've hit a home run with this ship and it's certainly family-friendly yet gives adults a place to call their own every night. Don't guests deserve something similar at WDW? Don't we deserve better than just more gift shops and restaurants at Hyperion Wharf?

 

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

but Disney doesn't want the adults to have a place to party! that's not family friendly!

Munchies said...

İ am at Pİ now, Motions is pretty much halfway gone. Bulldozers have gone bonkers on the front. Verysad sight to see. Heart about dropped. İ took pics too

Anonymous said...

We are booked for a September cruise..can't wait. Bob, you are right! What are they thinking??? They are the best at adult night clubs... Why not a Pleasure Island?? Maybe they are just going to surprise us and reopen two or three of the clubs on Hyphrian Warf... Here's to wishful thinking! ~ Damn Mouse

Anonymous said...

We Do Deserve Better!! Universal just raised their annual pass prices (by $60) and I'm still going to renew it because of City Walk. Sorry Disney... Have not and will not purchase a pass or stay on property until you give us some evening entertainment. We Do Deserve Better!

zulemara said...

I might be on the cast preview cruise Jan 21st and will bring back a full report if I do. Otherwise I will be on it the first week of March!

Anonymous said...

Anon @ 11:52 AM
don't forget they have 6 more weeks of blackout dates!

Anonymous said...

No black out dates for the Premier Pass....
That's $ 60 more...

KingBob said...

The additional blackout weeks added to Universal's Power and Preferred Passes are for the month of July and first half of August, times when it's steamy hot and lines are long. Most local passholders avoid that time anyway. And the additional blackout dates are only for IOA, not for the Studios. Only their Premier Pass includes CityWalk admission. Unfortunately they really jacked up the price on that one!

Would LOVE club reports from anyone sailing on the new Disney Dream!

Anonymous said...

disney cruise line thinks they cater to adults but they dont THEY SAY THEY DO BUT THE CLUBS ARE ALWAYS EMPTY AND BORING

KingBob said...

When I was on the Disney Wonder several years ago, the night club Wavebands was packed all 3-nights. I think they cater to adults quite well and from what we see about their new ship, quite incredible.

71 said...

Topic drift here (tho clubs look awesome, looking forward to my cruise in march)...

Uni's "Preferred" pass has blackout dates now? Because I bought mine a decade ago, been paying monthly since, so technically we still have a contract that says I get 365 access.

Dj Smooth said...

My only comment relates to the Dj. I go on a lot of cruises. I usually see the same thing over and over again. The "Dj" they have in their little club is usually very young (less than 30) and isn't qualified to work in a regular club on dry land. They usually have no clue how to beat mix and do nothing more than train wreck tracks together. Granted my experience is with Royal Caribbean so I'm not sure about other lines but I'm sure they're all the same.

This is a generalization of what I've seen over the years. If they're advertising Djs from around the world or something similar, don't expect much. ;)

zulemara said...

I have to back that up and warn that the current DJ on the wonder is AWFUL! he was mixing songs with cold ending/cold start, then doing hard starts on songs with long outro/intros, it was a mess! I'm not expecting a non stop beat of music on a Disney ship(I can only DREAM right?) but seriously, DJing 101 would be a good fit! I woulda gone up to the DJ and asked to go behind the booth and TEACH him how to mix, but then I'd look like an A-hole LOL.

Here's hoping the DJ on the Dream is better. I still have to write a letter about the Wonder's entertainment....

Anonymous said...

OMG...the Dj on the Wonder was awful. Wavebands was great and the MC was great but the DJ was horrible.... Here's to much better DJS on the Dream!!! But, no matter how bad they are, they are still better than no Djs now on the Island!! LOL...

Joe said...

Yeah, Disney Cruise Lines typically has a younger DJ, recruited as part of the cruise staff (who are mostly in their 20's).
They usually play mostly Top 40 stuff anyway; nothing too impressive.

KingBob said...

I agree with the sentiment here that cruise DJ's are generally horrible. The worst of them are like wedding reception DJ's who try to please everyone by playing all requests in no certain pattern and end up pissing everyone off. My worst DJ experiences are on Princess Cruise Lines.

I do want to mention two favorites. One was a DJ from Italy on Costa Mediterranea. After listening to the typical Hip Hop crap for too long, I asked him if he could play some Techno. I knew things were going to be good when his response was, techno with words or techno without words? I mentioned "with words" and he then went on to play nearly an hour of Vocal House classics!

Then, this past summer DJ Delite from the Philippines on board Norwegian Gem in that ship's Bliss Ultra Lounge. See my May 7th article. With few exceptions, it was close to 100% Top 40/Dance/House & 70's Disco....every night. Awesome!