I've cruised before, but this is my first
Disney cruise. I'm actually not a huge fan of cruising in general. I'd rather fly in somewhere and stay awhile. But there are certain bucket list cruises like Alaska, Panama Canal and European River...there are other great cruises obviously but these are the top for me. HUGE Disney fan. Live in SoCal and was a pass holder for years up till 2020. I would go 3 times a week and I miss it so much. Job and life changes make it not as easy to just drop by. ;( I've wanted to do a Disney Cruise for years, but it seemed like a "waste" to be in port when I was paying the premium for the ship and experience, so this PC is perfect. I'm more excited about sea days than anything.
Most of my cruising has been on Carnival since it's dirt cheap and I live near Long Beach. I've done the 7 day Carnival 2x - Cabo, PV, and Mazatlan. Were doing a quick 3 day to Ensenada for hubby's birthday this December. I've also done carnival in the Caribbean for our honeymoon 15 years ago. Carnival gets a bad wrap, but I always had a decent experience. It is what it is I guess.
We did Alaska on Norwegian and loved it. Our son was young then and the freestyle thing really worked for us.
I also did a "Jesus Freak" cruise with the band dcTalk on MSC. I loved the trip because I went with my mom and it was her fave band. One of our last trips together before she died. But the food was HORRENDOUS. I actually lost weight on the cruise, I didn't think it was even possible. I think I lived off of French fries the whole time. I am not a picky eater, it was just bad. Everyone complained. Also the service wasn't great. I would never ever ever use them again.
I didn't think I'd do Palo when I was first researching this cruise, but everyone is raving about it, so I get we have to go!!