OK. Coming out with anything but A++++ reviews of anything Disney can subject you to a backlash that makes coming out as a Trump supporter pale in comparison. We have many friends who are Disney addicts and have been on numerous DCL cruises as well as numerous annual trips to the parks. Yeah, we aren't "those" people. Don't get me wrong, we LOVE Disney, but it isn't like air and water is to life with us.

Taking a DCL cruise was a bucket list item for us and with the kids getting older, now was the time. Found a good rate (for a Disney cruise "good rate" is kinda subjective) over 2 school holidays and we went ahead and booked it. Arrived the night before and stayed at the Hampton Inn Brickell in downtown Miami and it was awesome. Perfect pre or post cruise hotel. 15 min drive to the port and 35 minutes later we were on the boat. Now is Disney can just figure out a way to get the park lines to move that fast!

Once on the boat, we immediately went to the pool decks to let the kids start swimming and once we saw the pools, our hearts sunk. We knew the kids swim areas were small on the ship, but we didn't realize they were THIS small. Kiddie pool was maybe 15 ft across and at any given time there would be 20-30 kids running around screaming, splashing, fall on eachother, elbowing each other, etc. It was like a kiddie Thunderdome and watching my 7 year old autistic son try to survive that environment was more stressful than Id have liked. The main pool wasn't much better. VERY small and at any given time packed with tons of kids to the point where you could hardly see the water for all the kids and life jackets. This is what I don't understand. Disney has more money than most small countries and can afford to build whatever they want. They build a boat to hold 2700 people, of which an easy 1500 will be kids, and make the pools smaller than what you'd find in a run down apartment complex. On the "at sea" day, it was truly a nightmare with every child on the boat in and around the small pools. Im sure Disney has some sort of reasoning behind this, and Id love to know what it was. The 2 water slides were ok but always packed too. Ultimately, we were VERY disappointed in that. Read more