SHOULD Cruising return in its current form?

yah, great thread - and this a very nice contribution.
I LOVE your idea about CC, it makes total sense during these times.
Keep the ship docked on CC for a couple of nights even. Being able to get off the ship at sunrise for a walk on the beach is my idea of paradise. I do that every time we go to a Mexican resort or any place by the ocean. I love early morning walks on the beach.
Your idea of having a restaurant setting at CC is also great.. How cool would it be to have a Palo-like experience on the beach.
Expanding activities at CC while they figure out how to do things before going back to normal is the way DCL should re-start their sailings, imo.
Though how much you wanna bet if they do overnight at CC that some guests try to hide and stay ashore all night in one of the cabanas? I know they wouldn't get away with it because their cards get scanned and the ship knows but I imagine we'd here lots of ship announcements at night for the "missing" person.
 
I think it has run it's course. Time for something new. Plus the dinner menu is easily the worst menu of any night.

We do enjoy Pirate Night as well (mostly for the dressing up as pirates...) but I have to agree, that menu needs an overhaul.

Not to derail the thread, but since we're on the topic of food... While DCL does a pretty darned good job of food, several of the menus need some updates and changes. I dread going to Tiana's A) because I hate live music while eating and B) because DCL's take on New Orlean's cuisine just ain't. It was pretty hilarious when we sailed out of New Orleans on the WBPC this past March and they tried to do New Orleans night in Tiana's a couple of days later.... Not the best call! Sorry. Thread hijack over.
 
We do enjoy Pirate Night as well (mostly for the dressing up as pirates...) but I have to agree, that menu needs an overhaul.

Not to derail the thread, but since we're on the topic of food... While DCL does a pretty darned good job of food, several of the menus need some updates and changes. I dread going to Tiana's A) because I hate live music while eating and B) because DCL's take on New Orlean's cuisine just ain't. It was pretty hilarious when we sailed out of New Orleans on the WBPC this past March and they tried to do New Orleans night in Tiana's a couple of days later.... Not the best call! Sorry. Thread hijack over.

I LOVE the food in Main Dining but you're right, I'd also love to see a change up. We haven't had the Pirate Night menu but looking at it online, we're not like, counting down the seconds till we're seated at the table ordering, haha.
As a New Englander, I'd love to see some sort of lobster bake on board or even....dare I say, a beach front early evening/late afternoon option on Castaway, lol.
 
I LOVE the food in Main Dining but you're right, I'd also love to see a change up. We haven't had the Pirate Night menu but looking at it online, we're not like, counting down the seconds till we're seated at the table ordering, haha.
As a New Englander, I'd love to see some sort of lobster bake on board or even....dare I say, a beach front early evening/late afternoon option on Castaway, lol.
For pirate night, definitely go with the jerk chicken! On the Fantasy Western, pirate night was on the day we ported in Jamaica, and maybe that put us in the mood for jerk chicken but it was really good! On that note: I actually wish that kind of alignment of menu and location happened more often--I know they do "regional inspirations" menus on some of the longer cruises/unusual itineraries, but on the "standard" routes I would still appreciate seeing one or two local specialties on the cruise ship on port days. I know most people who go are a disney cruise view the ship as their destination rather than the ports, but I love trying new foods when I travel.
 


For pirate night, definitely go with the jerk chicken! On the Fantasy Western, pirate night was on the day we ported in Jamaica, and maybe that put us in the mood for jerk chicken but it was really good!

Oooo, thank you so much! Our first actual Pirate Night (our first 4 night instead of 3 night) is next September. We'll try it for sure.
 
Lots of good posts here! I agree that CC should be an overnight stop and have a restaurant. How wonderful it would be to walk on the beach at sunrise/sunset. There won't be self-serve anything on the ship, which will help stop the spread of any virus. There has to be entertainment, so they need to figure out how to spread people out more. They certainly have time to figure these things out. One of the biggest changes will be more sanitation, probably UV as there was an article in the Miami Herald stating there is a UV robot that can kill 99% of germs in 3 minutes and it is being used by hotels.
 
Lots of good posts here! I agree that CC should be an overnight stop and have a restaurant. How wonderful it would be to walk on the beach at sunrise/sunset. There won't be self-serve anything on the ship, which will help stop the spread of any virus. There has to be entertainment, so they need to figure out how to spread people out more. They certainly have time to figure these things out. One of the biggest changes will be more sanitation, probably UV as there was an article in the Miami Herald stating there is a UV robot that can kill 99% of germs in 3 minutes and it is being used by hotels.

yah, great thread - and this a very nice contribution.

I LOVE your idea about CC, it makes total sense during these times.
Keep the ship docked on CC for a couple of nights even. Being able to get off the ship at sunrise for a walk on the beach is my idea of paradise. I do that every time we go to a Mexican resort or any place by the ocean. I love early morning walks on the beach.
Your idea of having a restaurant setting at CC is also great.. How cool would it be to have a Palo-like experience on the beach.


Expanding activities at CC while they figure out how to do things before going back to normal is the way DCL should re-start their sailings, imo.


MSC offers a lot of this at Ocean Cay. I have to believe DCL will up their game at Lighthouse Point.

https://www.mscoceancay.com/en-us/what-to-do
 
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yah, great thread - and this a very nice contribution.
I LOVE your idea about CC, it makes total sense during these times.
Keep the ship docked on CC for a couple of nights even. Being able to get off the ship at sunrise for a walk on the beach is my idea of paradise. I do that every time we go to a Mexican resort or any place by the ocean. I love early morning walks on the beach.
Your idea of having a restaurant setting at CC is also great.. How cool would it be to have a Palo-like experience on the beach.

Expanding activities at CC
while they figure out how to do things before going back to normal is the way DCL should re-start their sailings, imo.

1st bold -- same as MSC's overnight but extended ? yes

2nd bold -- similar to Royal's CocoCay ? yes x 2
 
Though how much you wanna bet if they do overnight at CC that some guests try to hide and stay ashore all night in one of the cabanas? I know they wouldn't get away with it because their cards get scanned and the ship knows but I imagine we'd here lots of ship announcements at night for the "missing" person.

As I understand it (but I am not speaking from anything but rumor) CC is overrun by bugs horribly at night. If that is true, it may be better not to stay parked there overnight. Or at least put a bug barrier around the ship. :-) That is one of the reasons (so I am told) that the Bahamanian people who work there do not sleep there.
 
As I understand it (but I am not speaking from anything but rumor) CC is overrun by bugs horribly at night. If that is true, it may be better not to stay parked there overnight. Or at least put a bug barrier around the ship. :-) That is one of the reasons (so I am told) that the Bahamanian people who work there do not sleep there.

r.e. bold
The ULTIMATE BUG BARRIER
>>> pixiedust:
 
I feel like OP's question was really more about what we would WANT to change about cruising that what will likely happen with Covid-19.

Well, yes. That was a part of it. I was also interested in what we would do differently that might be good for the environment.

The first cruise ship built for purpose was the Prinzessin Victoria Luise built in 1900. She was 4,409 tons and took 241 passengers. Since then, the trend has been bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger. The symphony of the seas comes in at over 228 thousand tons and up to over 6800 passengers + another 2200 crew. And I will give her credit - she is amazing - she is a zero landfill ship (all waste is incinerated onboard). She expels bubbles under the ship to help her glide over the water more efficiently and reduce noise and water disruption. Even so, she burns 2,700 gallons of fuel AN HOUR just for the power (I think that's separate from her propulsion).

I guess part of what I was asking is: is this the best way to do it? Should be keep building bigger, stronger, more amenities, etc? How big is too big? Where do we stop? NOT from a company standpoint - the company will do whatever sells. This goes back to what you said MomOTwins. Is this what WE want? Do we want bigger?

Or do we want smaller? More tight knitted, efficient, dedicated ships with smaller communities?

Or do we want something else? What would that look like? Are cruise ships the way to do it? If cruise ships ARE the way to do it, what kinds of changes might we want (and this is where you answered the question). Do we want efficient ships? Clean power? Good for the environment? Zero Landfill? Or do we want behemoths that are small cities in their own rights? Do we want more and more food options (which are wasteful generally) or simplified menus? What are we willing to sacrifice for the environment and what are we not willing to give up no matter the cost?

What DEFINES cruising to us (what makes it a cruise) that it MUST have and what are things that we may not care about that would make the ships more efficient?
 
As I understand it (but I am not speaking from anything but rumor) CC is overrun by bugs horribly at night. If that is true, it may be better not to stay parked there overnight. Or at least put a bug barrier around the ship. :-) That is one of the reasons (so I am told) that the Bahamanian people who work there do not sleep there.
Not to mention the sole dock. If one ship is hogging the dock for two days and your ships are sailing out on the weekends, you can't really accommodate all four ships (plus the Wish) in the winter during the weekdays. They need a second dock.
 
Not to mention the sole dock. If one ship is hogging the dock for two days and your ships are sailing out on the weekends, you can't really accommodate all four ships (plus the Wish) in the winter during the weekdays. They need a second dock.

I NEVER understood why they didn't dredge out the other side of that dock and park 2 ships there at once. I guess the island is not big enough (ar at least the island amenities are not).

In any event, they also have Lighthouse Point now - although I have not heard any recent news about how development is coming along there.
 
As I understand it (but I am not speaking from anything but rumor) CC is overrun by bugs horribly at night. If that is true, it may be better not to stay parked there overnight. Or at least put a bug barrier around the ship. :-) That is one of the reasons (so I am told) that the Bahamanian people who work there do not sleep there.

Found the reference. It was Sand Fleas. They generally only come out at Dusk, which is why the ships have an all aboard before nightfall. But the beaches get overrun with them.
 
Here's what I would (personally) change:

- Less passengers. I find most main pools/theaters way too crowded for my taste.

- I would either change the buffet to make sure that guests don't serve themselves... or put all portions in separate dishes to make sure everyone doesn't touch the same utensils. EDIT: A cast member serving ice cream as well!

- Add one more dinner service per night to make the dining room less crowded and tables less cramped. I hate feeling like I'm seated at the same table as my neighbours. I like a little bit more privacy. (As you can imagine, I love Palo and Remy...)

- Reservations for Aquaduck just like they do with the Fast Pass system in WDW.

- More Aquaducks/waterslides on each ship. Someone mentioned a lazy river: I'm in!

- Less entertainment/party near the main pools. I find that it draws too much of a crowd.

- Bigger pools.

- Reenforce "max capacity" at the pool/pool section. No more "children soup".

- No more chair hogs! Create a walk-in reservation system for chairs around the pool where people have to check-in/check out. 2 hours max per person per time slot (3 time slots - am, pm, evening). If you forget to check-out, they put all your stuff in a locker.

-Why do they feel the need to sell so much luxury items (like jewelry, perfumes, expensive beauty products, etc.) ... ? Pretty sure people want to buy souvenirs and if they were a little bit cheaper, people would probably buy more of them.

-Over the counter medication and sanitary products are essentials. They should sell them at "on land" prices.
 
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- No more chair hogs! Create a walk-in reservation system for chairs around the pool where people have to check-in/check out. 2 hours max per person per time slot (3 time slots - am, pm, evening). If you forget to check-out, they put all your stuff in a locker.

That is an interesting idea. They could number the chairs and you can go up to a desk and checkout enough open chairs for your party. They would give you up to 2 hours and ask that you let them know if you are leaving earlier. At the end of 2 hours, you could checkout for another hour at a time if chairs aren't full. I am not sure I support this, since it might complicate things and the best part of cruising is lack of complication, but it is an option worth considering. What I fear is it would turn into is a reservation system versus first-come-first-served, meaning even one less thing you can do spontaneously and have access to as a newer cruiser.
 
That is an interesting idea. They could number the chairs and you can go up to a desk and checkout enough open chairs for your party. They would give you up to 2 hours and ask that you let them know if you are leaving earlier. At the end of 2 hours, you could checkout for another hour at a time if chairs aren't full. I am not sure I support this, since it might complicate things and the best part of cruising is lack of complication, but it is an option worth considering. What I fear is it would turn into is a reservation system versus first-come-first-served, meaning even one less thing you can do spontaneously and have access to as a newer cruiser.

I do think your solution might improve on @mevelandry proposal, but I'd still vote as Not A Fan.

I don't go on cruises for the activities the ships provide. I use the ship as transportation to sun and fun in the Caribbean and as a means to get a taste of international cities around the world, without having to devote weeks and many hassles to experience them.

Therefore, my onboard activity consists of relaxing beside the pool reading for the day. Is it really nice that I'm expected to give up my pool time (which is my favorite thing to do) to give you a chance at pool time whenever you like, which might only be used to fill a gap in your otherwise busy schedule?

I see adults come out at 6am and put things on chairs and then they don't show up until their excursion returns to the ship in the late afternoon. My idea to stop that, is that you get a timed/different colored card for each hour or two the pool is open. Then pool attendants could come by the chair where the previous color card is and anyone who is not present in the pool area for that upcoming hour, gets their things removed. If you are there, the attendant swaps your card for the new time block.

I think another way to control the pool situation is to have more cubbies for people who only want to swim for a little while. Does a family of 5 people really need 5 chairs? Yet, I see this over and over again, especially on DCL. I get that the kids don't want to share a chair sometimes, but surely it can be explained that sometimes it's necessary. Most of the times, the kids never are out of the pool long enough to even need a chair, much less one per person.

When the pools are busy, my husband and I will often share a lounger. I go to sit in the pool and he lounges. When I get out, he either goes to the pool, sits on the end of the lounger or goes off to do something else. Even if there are plenty of chairs, we often do this and will get one chair in the shade somewhere and swap off.
 
Here's what I would (personally) change:

- Less passengers. I find most main pools/theaters way too crowded for my taste.

- I would either change the buffet to make sure that guests don't serve themselves... or put all portions in separate dishes to make sure everyone doesn't touch the same utensils. EDIT: A cast member serving ice cream as well!

- Add one more dinner service per night to make the dining room less crowded and tables less cramped. I hate feeling like I'm seated at the same table as my neighbours. I like a little bit more privacy. (As you can imagine, I love Palo and Remy...)

- Reservations for Aquaduck just like they do with the Fast Pass system in WDW.

- More Aquaducks/waterslides on each ship. Someone mentioned a lazy river: I'm in!

- Less entertainment/party near the main pools. I find that it draws too much of a crowd.

- Bigger pools.

- Reenforce "max capacity" at the pool/pool section. No more "children soup".

- No more chair hogs! Create a walk-in reservation system for chairs around the pool where people have to check-in/check out. 2 hours max per person per time slot (3 time slots - am, pm, evening). If you forget to check-out, they put all your stuff in a locker.

-Why do they feel the need to sell so much luxury items (like jewelry, perfumes, expensive beauty products, etc.) ... ? Pretty sure people want to buy souvenirs and if they were a little bit cheaper, people would probably buy more of them.

-Over the counter medication and sanitary products are essentials. They should sell them at "on land" prices.

I feel like cruising is a vacation that has many different perspectives. Some choose it to go to international destinations and get a taste of different places and cultures. Some use the ship as a destination. Some are a mix. I feel like they should not limit pool chair time.

I do think the pools need to be bigger.

I agree that things like Tylenol are essential, but 1. This is Disney and 2. You are essentially "trapped" so you have to get it there. I totally get it why they are expensive. It would nice for them to sell them cheaper but they would never.

The idea of a 3rd dinner seating is interesting, but I am not sure exactly where DCL would put it. These DCL dinners in the MDR aren't exactly "quick" and the DCL schedule as it is rn is one that works very well with the show and dinner and then you flip flop.

The buffet will change no doubt due to COVID. I have no problem if the CMs serve you. I remember reading something about some other line (maybe RCCL) that was considering giving everyone disposable tongs to use. That is incredibly wasteful but a way to keep it self serve. Ice cream and soda wouldnt be a bad idea, but I hope that the soda machine isnt non self serve forever, pouring drinks into paper cups every time is so wasteful and I have seen other places with their soda machines open. No one should touch anything they do not need to touch, but this is a respiratory virus still.
 
What will most likely happen post Covid over in Europe is that many port cities will reduce the number of cruise pax. Venice and Dubrovnik have stated they will welcome ships back but are reviewing under what new conditions. When Venice saw native marine life return back to the city many govt/city officials’ thoughts have changed. Pre-Covid there was no balance between tourism money and conservation for locals.
 

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