Among the experiences the Lepperts and Valovcins would recognize from the parks are giant smoked turkey legs, served on Pirates in the Caribbean night. The show after dinner would ring a bell, too: a lively deck party comes with fireworks and an appearance by Jack Sparrow and Captain Hook. While kids may don hats and eye patches, some adult passengers go in full pirate regalia. “It’s fun to watch,” Heidi said.
Unsinkable Ratings
Even among premium cruise lines, Disney claims some of the industry’s highest ratings. It’s consistently lauded for quality and attention to detail, said Colleen McDaniel, senior executive editor of Cruise Critic. In February, the website’s 2017 Cruisers’ Choice Awards honored Disney with eight first-place honors—outranking traditionally high-end brands such as Celebrity and Princess cruises in the mid-sized and large ships categories, and taking top nods for its shore excursions, service, and cabins, among other things.
Innovative adult programming, McDaniel noted, takes place both on the Disney ships and off, but conceded that Disney fans are likely to have the most fun among passengers on the ships: “You can’t escape the Disney elements onboard—Mickey, the princesses, the movie-themed entertainment—but why would you want to?”
As they ready for their 100th voyage, the Gerritys certainly have no desire to sidestep the Disney magic. After one particularly memorable cruise, when the high school sweethearts celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary, John had a tattoo inked on his upper right arm featuring the cruise line’s red, white, and blue logo, complete with Mickey Mouse head.
“I said to Joanne, ‘What can we do to thank the crew?’ There’s just so many of them you can’t give them anything. Then I was watching a TV show about the military guys getting tattoos for their units and I thought, ‘There you go.’ ”
With an admitted aversion to needles, John said he’s nonetheless happy he got the tattoo. “Everybody wants to take a picture with it,” he said. “It’s a big hit.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.