Clearly I’m not going to succeed in my career as an astrologist! 
And, yes, I’m probably beyond help.
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I just discovered this guy as well. I love his videos.
I also am going on a not-Disney-cruise next May, on Uniworld. Over-the-top like the Symphony but in an entirely different way. For one thing I won’t go on a boat that’s too big for me to jump off of. But this one also had the cabin size and itinerary I wanted so I guess I’ll just pretend I’m rich & famous for a week. There could be worse fates, I suppose. I just have to figure out what to do with a butler.
Yes, that’s why we’re taking this particular trip. It’s partly for DS college graduation. He’s a huge history buff and loves music, the arts, etc. He’ll fit right in with us old folks on a river cruise, hah!
Personally, I wanted to go on the Galactic Starcruiser (it’s kind of a cruise, no?) but he didn’t. Can you imagine? 
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I haven’t read all the responses, but I want to say that my response to seeing the you tube cruise videos was EXACTLY the same as yours! I was really excited about DCL and then I saw what Royal Caribbean has to offer. I ended up booking an Alaska on Princess (originally 2020 now 2022) but that’s a long story. Anyway, one channel I highly recommend is Don’s Family Vacations. Don has been on more than 100 cruises and he really knows his stuff (from what I can tell as a cruise newbie whose cruising was delayed).
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We’re doing our first cruise in 2022, to Alaska on Princess! Originally booked for 2021 (pre-Covid) and bumped to 2022. I’ve been researching excursions the past few weeks and I’m so excited for the trip!!
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Mine was actually booked 2020, then booked 2021, and now 2022. I keep wondering if I should do the airplane to the glacier thing. I tend to think that after being on planes to get to the other side of the country I wouldn’t want to do a plane again, but everyone keeps saying the way to see Alaska is by plane…
Their TA can be pretty creative, IMO. I like when they go up the east coast of US, to Newfoundland, or PEI, and then to Iceland on their way to Dover. They still end up with a lot of sea days, but it included some ports on this side that they rarely get to . The timing is awful though. I’ve seen TA westbound include nothing but a Canary Islands and Castaway Cay stop.
@sanstitre_has_left_the_building I’d actually take a cruise before I’d get too far down the road of deciding you like them. I HATE big cruise ships (I like small ships, like the ones we took in the Amazon and the Galapagos, places where there aren’t good restaurants on shore anyway.) Too many lines, too many schedules, too many people in one place, having to get to the theater way early if you want to watch a show. And my very favorite part of new towns is wandering the streets in the evening, picking out a fabulous place for dinner; drives me nuts to have to be back at the ship at a certain time, just when I’m enjoying myself! I’m a food person, have usually done tons of research to pick out where I am going to eat: I find ship food okay, in general, sometimes pretty good, but the quantity they must prepare is just too huge to be fabulous. (I’ve given them a fair chance; been on four or five, I think, because my parents DO like them, and I like my parents.)
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You sound a lot like my oldest son. The more choices there are, the more overwhelming it becomes.
I don’t normally armchair diagnose, but you’ve always pinged as neurodiverse to me. That’s not a bad thing.
This is where my “I’m a cruise ship person now, you people are dead to me thing” may well come crashing down.
The YouTube video I saw of the Virtuosa was filmed just a few days ago, on a ship with very limited passenger numbers. Of course it looked wonderful!
If anything, that makes me want to sail on it now even more. Honestly, if it weren’t for my childcare needs, I’d book both cruises. This may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But, alas.
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Oh, I’m sure if it.
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I know what you mean. I’ve spent hundreds of hours watching cruise videos on you tube but since I still haven’t been on one I wonder if I’ll totally hate it. Mostly, I’m worried that I’ll get seasick and none of the remedies will work…but, time will tell. I haven’t had trouble with other boats or planes etc. My first cruise was supposed to be June 2020 and now will be a year from now. I’m sure there will be some good times even if I don’t end up liking cruising.
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I’m totally confused.
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Care for the dog?
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Re: the whole discussion of DCL vs other cruise lines, one thing that really surprised me that comes up a lot when people discuss this (I’ve mostly watched a lot of you tube and read cruise critic) is that the food on DCL is not what people expected from Disney. This is in the main restaurants; the specialty restaurants, where you pay extra, got rave reviews. I haven’t been on a DCL cruise but I’ve seen a lot of people online saying they were really shocked the food wasn’t better. Now, the other stuff, like the overall ship and amenities and entertainment etc. was top notch. I still want to go on a DCL cruise someday but if I do I will book at least one meal at a specialty restaurant to see what they’re talking about. I don’t think I’ve read anything negative about a DCL specialty restaurant yet.
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Honestly, I think food is such a convenient place for people to complain because it is almost 100% subjective. Like if you don’t want or can’t afford DCL again, you dis the food??
I have never had a meal so awful I couldn’t eat it, on any line. And, if we have picked at a meal and the server sees us not eating, they usually offer us another option. I suppose if people are paying 200% more for a DCL cruise than another line, they believe the food should be 200% better… but whatever.
If you have a chance to try DCL and want to, please don’t like food complaints discourage you.
I think some of my best food has been on Carnival and Princess. But I also had amazing things everywhere and just so-so stuff as well.
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My guess is that this is common to all cruise ships because there’s a reason for it. The main restaurants are churning out hundreds of meals an hour. It’s hard to do that and have each one be top notch. The upcharge restaurants probably have their own kitchens, or their own part of the main kitchen, and are only serving tens of meals an hour: so they can focus much more on quality.
I’m very pleased that I managed to get a reservation at Palo on the Magic. I booked brunch so that I don’t miss out on the standard three rotational restaurants. Many critics — not least Touring Plans itself — say that brunch is better than dinner.
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Yes, that is what I’ve been reading / watching about how the food is made. However, Disney in particular gets called out for it (possibly b/c they’ve set the bar so high with their good theme park food?). I was actually going to recommend Palo brunch to you! 
If I get to go on a DCL some day–what am I saying, it’s a major bucket list item–ahem, when I go on a DCL one day I will definitely be booking Palo or similar at least once.
This may also be because they’ve set the bar for pricing, too. If you’re going to charge a premium over other lines, people are going to expect a premium product. I know I am!
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I tend to think I’d like the food on DCL, but I am easy to please when it comes to restaurant food. I have, however, heard better things about other cruise lines’ food, such as Princess. (But, I have yet to take my first crusie, so this is all from other sources.) The one big takeaway for me is that I’d want to sample a specialty restaurant just to see the difference. I’m booked on a Princess cruise for a year from now and I plan to do at least one dinner at the steak house, just to see. I agree with mousematt that the experience of going to the DCL main restaurants is not to be missed so I’d probalby also do the Palo brunch or similar if I were with them.
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I still get major sticker shock when I price DCL compared to other cruise lines, but I still really want to do it. The cruise I have booked is solo, so when I add in my family of 5 the price for DCL goes sky high (and I’d like to have my kids along if going DCL). Still, I’d like to do it someday, even if we can only afford a short one.
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