I had read good things here in the forum about AXA, but when I compared prices of the cancel-for-any-reason insurance between their offer and Disneyās own, the latter was slightly cheaper so I just took that one instead. I wanted the peace of mind for a multi-generational trip I was taking with my mom and auntie (who are around 80 and had some health issues in the months leading up to our departure) - thankfully we didnāt need it.
4 Likes
I never buy for my Disney trips but I always buy for my cruises. Last year we were scheduled to go in February. My father in law got very sick and passed right before our travel day. We had purchased the cancel for any reason and got all of our money back. It was incredibly easy and I was glad I had it. This would have been our 10th cruise and the first time we had used it.
5 Likes
The price of travel insurance can be a bitter pill to swallow, but we pay for it. The point of insurance is you hope you do NOT need itā¦but in the off chance you do, you have, wellā¦insurance!
This became all too real for us when a friend of ours from church experienced a freak accident (life-threatening) that required him to be airlifted from Puerto Rico to Florida for emergency care. We are talking what could have been tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands of dollars of expensesā¦covered by travel insurance. (He made a years-long, but full recovery.)
No one thinks they will be āthat personā where the unthinkable happens. But it sure is nice to know that my $150 (or whatever) is going to help either MYSELF, or SOMEONE ELSE who experiences such emergencies.
3 Likes
ok ok, thanks everyoneā¦. I got extra insurance for $130. I hope I donāt have to use it b/c I donāt want to deal w/ Tricare arguing about who is primary 
2 Likes
after 22 cruises we decided to get an annual plan from Allianz . The basic one but I had planned to move up to the next level for our two big cruises. We did it mostly for medical as we have reached a certain age. The claim was so simple. It was for an er visit to the ships med ctr. And the paid us back immediately. We werenāt as worried about the cancellation part.
4 Likes
I never buy insurance for land trips, even those with flights as we choose to pick flexible options that will allow us to at least change dates/flights as close as possible (usually 2-5 days, but now 8 for WDW).
I always buy insurance for the cruise because itās one you have to PIF so far in advance of the dates.
I shop for insurance using squaremouth.com. They have a fantastic layout that allows you to browse hundreds of plans and compare I think up to 5 directly against each other. You can also filter for the kinds of coverage you want (i.e. flight delay, medical, medical evacuation, etc.)
The site also allows has those who purchase plans through it, to rate the plans, including any experience with claims if they had them. So thatās something you can get a sense of up front. Also, the site itself comes with a concierge service that if the broker is not servicing your claim to your satisfaction, they will intervene and if the broker doesnāt end up holding up their end, then they get dropped from being searchable on the site.
Iāve compared it to a couple of other site brokers and to the Allianz yearly plan, but I always end up finding the best deal for us on Squaremouth. I think most of the plans Iāve selected have been specifically through Berkshire Hathaway or some other company with a generic name like Travel Group Insurance. And I look for the cheapest coverage possible that gives us coverage for weather or airline related delays for both flights & the ship. And then sometimes drill down to looking at a couple of other details like how much medical insurance they cover, if they cover needing to cancel for a work related reason, or loss of employment (we usually donāt pay for cancel for any reason because then you have to pay within a couple of weeks of booking & weāre not usually that committed at that point & want to hang onto our funds longer before we do commit).
4 Likes
What you said aligns with what I do.
3 Likes
Iām figuring my cruise which departs Monday will not be very crowded. There are still 2 family cabanas available for the day at Lookout Cay, which I have never seen. And of course they are available - last year when I booked concierge just to get the cabanas when traveling with the full family, I didnāt get one. And this year, itās just my husband and I and I canāt justify the cost of a family cabana.
Also, I havenāt had any luck pre-paying gratuities. Every time I click on the link, it doesnāt work. Tried on the desktop, ipad and app on my phone.
4 Likes
My experience last time going from Port Canaveral back to Disney World was pretty seamless. My coach left at 9 AM, and as I kept my luggage with me, was able to enjoy a nice breakfast, then walked right off the ship to customs, then write to the coach in plenty of time
3 Likes
Weāre back from our cruise, and I wanted to see if our experience was just a one off or if this is the direction the DCL cruise experience is headed. We have now completed 10 cruises, the first being 24 years ago. Itās been about 2 years since our last. We enjoyed the entertainment, although we did a couple of the ālearn to drawā experiences and I remember actual people on board leading the drawing and this time they simply put on a video for you to follow along with.
The biggest difference we saw was in the main dining rooms. Our server and assistant server were very polite as always. But we hardly saw them. It was nearly impossible to flag them down for a drink refill. And what we loved historically is that they quickly learn our preferences - we would arrive to our drink of choice on the table, for dessert, I always love to have a cup of tea. I asked for it each night, except for the last night when I never go the opportunity as we didnāt see anyone after they quickly dropped off the dessert. And the quality of food seemed to drop off. At one point, DH ordered a main entree, and it was awful. The server saw all the uneaten food and told him that most people dislike the entree so he also ordered him something different just in case. There were less than a handful of items we would say were worth it.
Both of these things were very different from our previous experiences. Has the quality and service declined or was this just bad luck on our part?
I am very glad we did both Palo brunch and dinner - the food and service here were excellent. I am still dreaming about some of the things I had at Paloā¦and we had the same server both times! She was fabulous! And I know itās a small thing, but she immediately brought over tea just before dessert! If we go back, we will definitely do Palo twice again. Completely worth it. The sad part is, I got roasted chicken in Palo and it just showed how it was supposed to be done (sooo good!) instead of the dry sawdust roasted chicken from main dining.
5 Likes
Iām sorry your trip was a little less magical than you were expecting. I hope it was a one-off. Which ship was it?
3 Likes
First half of 2025 - Completed
JANUARY 2025 
1/15 @combatjulie DCL Magic- ā¢ 5-night Western Caribbean from GAL
FEBRUARY 2025 
2/5 @CharleneTX DCL Fantasy ā¢ 5-night Bahamian (2 nights POFQ prior) from PC
2/8 @cynergy DCL Treasure ā¢ 7-night Western Caribbean (1 night at POFQ before & 6 nights at AKL after) from PC
2/12 @lolabear_la [DCL Fantasy ā¢ 4-night Bahamian from PC] (A Not Live Trip Report- Itās a February of Fantasy)
2/12 @kara_nc DCL Fantasy ā¢ 4 night Bahamian (3 nights pre-cruise at Pop) from PC
2/16 @FindMeAFishingSpot DCL Fantasy ā¢ 5-night Bahamian from PC
MARCH 2025 
3/1 @FOMOm_VA DCL Treasure ā¢ 7-night Eastern Caribbean (2 nights WDW) from PC
3/31 @thekents DCL Wish ā¢ 4-night Bahamian from PC (1 night WDW after)
APRIL 2025 
4/7 @lolabear_la DCL Wonder ā¢ 4-night Baja from San Diego (SD)
4/20 @melcort10 RCCL Odyssey of the Seas ā¢ 7-night Bahamian w/Perfect Day from Cape Liberty
4/21 @JennTobi DCL Magic ā¢ 4-night Bahamian from FLL
4/24 @princessLiv DCL Fantasy ā¢ 4-night Bahamian (1 night WDW prior) from PC
MAY 2025 
5/11 @QwertySC Carnival Vista ā¢ 6-night Eastern Caribbean from PC
JUNE 2025 
6/6 @rememberwhen DCL Dream ā¢ 5-night Bahamian from FLL
6/7 @lolabear_la DCL Treasure ā¢ 7-night Eastern Caribbean from PC
6/14 @timtjarks DCL Treasure ā¢ 7-night Western Caribbean from PC FIRST CRUISE!
6/15 @mkmuzzy RCCL Wonder of the Seas ā¢ 7-night Western Caribbean from PC
4 Likes
It was the Magic. The hard part is we know how good it used to be! Iām hoping this was just a one off.
5 Likes
That was our ship in 2014 and I love the size of that ship class. Was it a themed cruise? Like Halloween?
2 Likes
Makes me wonder if, with the addition of new ships, they are moving more experienced crew from the older ships to the newer ships. It takes a lot of workers to man each ship, so perhaps they are being stretched thin?
2 Likes
Yep, Halloween on the High Seas. I love the smaller ships and would much rather sail on the Wonder and Magic.
The Halloween stuff was lots of fun.
2 Likes
Perhaps. Our main server had only 1 month left on his contract and he was very much looking forward to heading home.
2 Likes
Sorry your trip was not quite as magical as youād hoped, but glad to hear that you still enjoyed the entertainment.
We sailed on the Magic this summer (5 nights Bahamian) and loved it! It was our first Disney cruise.
We only ate in the rotational dining rooms and thought the quality of the food was fine, but not memorable. I would definitely agree that if thereās one area where Disney could step up its game, itās food quality.
The service on our cruise was excellent, in restaurants as well as across the rest of the ship. The servers were very busy, but they did come and check in on us regularly, and they did have our drinks out waiting for us each night (I actually disliked this practice, which I understand is typical on DCL, as we generally donāt have the same drinks each night and it felt wasteful to ask for something else in addition to the drink that had been served in advance). Our head server had just come back to the Magic from the Fantasy, literally on the day our trip started - he had started working with DCL on the Magic when he was first hired, so he already knew the ship, but had just finished several years on the Fantasy he kept saying āRoyal Courtā instead of āLumiereāsā.
I would absolutely sail on the Magic again, though Iām also looking forward to experiencing other Disney ships.
We didnāt do any animation experience, but the live shows were definitely among the highlights of our trip.
5 Likes
I always like to remind myself even with lackluster food, itās much better than what I would have made at home. And I donāt do dishes. (But yes - IME, food is better on other lines.)
3 Likes
I think each ship has their pros and cons. The variety of stuff on the bigger ships is fabulous. Before this one, we did the Wish to experience a new ship. And when DS was little, the midship detective agency on the Dream was a huge hit. But the crowds are definitely felt on the private islands more with the bigger ships than the smaller ones. That is one of the reasons I prefer the smaller ships. So far, we have done the Wonder, Magic, Dream and Wish. And we have way more on the Dream than the others because when DS was younger, they had the 4 night Bahamian route we usually went for during school vacation weeks.
3 Likes