How do we know if we're "cruise people?"

[lilsonicfan]

I wouldn't necessarily pick a shorter cruise. I feel like what I would prefer is a longer cruise in a lower season. On a 7 day cruise with 4 ports you will still find plenty to do on port days - you can look into activities that are more 'active'. Check out the "Port Adventures" for each port on the DCL website to give you an idea of what there is to do in each port (you can always book excursions on your own, they don't have to be through Disney). I would look for a 7 day eastern (southern is sort of rare) and go from there.

 

[SDJEL]

I really wanted to see Alaska. As my kids were 3,8 and 10 at the time, I figured a Disney Cruise was the way to go. I wouldn’t see as much of Alaska as I wanted to, but the kids would be happy, so I would be too. (A vacation with 3 bored, miserable children makes everyone miserable). Turns out we LOVED the cruise aspect and I that never even had occurred to me. We have done 10 cruises since then with 2 more booked.

Disney is different than the other cruise lines. Their level of customer service really is what makes them special and RCL and NCL just can’t compare. Also, I agree with several of the other posters who recommended a 7 day. We just did 4 days on the Dream and it was way too short.

I agree that it does seem like a lot of money up front, but aside from transportation, you know all your expenses up front. We rarely spend more than $100 on the ship. And, I’m a pretty picky eater (and a vegetarian) and I have no trouble finding foods to enjoy.

 

[StarSeven7]

I agree that it does seem like a lot of money up front, but aside from transportation, you know all your expenses up front. We rarely spend more than $100 on the ship. And, I’m a pretty picky eater (and a vegetarian) and I have no trouble finding foods to enjoy.

Do you find port excursions really add up though? Or do you typically arrange your own? I'm more concerned about that than spending any money onboard the ship.

 

[Carrie in AZ]

No, I would NOT recommend a shorter cruise to see if you like it. In my opinion, 3 nights is hardly worth it. Our first cruise was 7 nights. Our second cruise was 4 nights and it was way too short. It is a ton of work packing and getting there, 4 nights was too short.

I think you are going to be surprised by how much you like cruising! Hopefully your kids will enjoy the clubs and will spend time there, freeing you and DH up to spend time alone as a couple. We find cruises to be super relaxing. Good luck with your decision, hopefully you will try it and love it!!

 

[lklgoodman]

I would also recommend a 7 night cruise. We've done 5 with another booked for next year, all 7 night cruises. There will be some activities that are only offered on cruises that are 7 or more nights long. I love the Wonder, but for a first timer I would recommend the Fantasy because it has mini-golf, the Aquaduck, and the mid-ship detective agency. Growing up my family always did active vacations. I never thought I'd be able to enjoy myself unless I was constantly going, going, going. I surprised myself when I realized just how enjoyable it is to stop and look out at the ocean waves, so beautiful. I'm still not one to lay out by the pool while on the ship, however there is so many other fun things to do if you don't care about that.

 

[SDJEL]

Do you find port excursions really add up though? Or do you typically arrange your own? I'm more concerned about that than spending any money onboard the ship.

On our first few cruises, we booked excursions through Disney. Then I discovered that it was just as easy to book them on my own, directly through the vendor, or just plan the day on our own, and it is much cheaper. Also, we far prefer to go out on our own so we can see what we want at our own speed. The Alaska excursions were expensive and we did spend a lot on excursions last year in Hawaii, but those cruises really were about the destination. In the Caribbean, we either stay on the ship or do simple beach days. I find that the islands are pretty much all the same.

We didn’t even bother to get off the boat in Nassau. I’ve been there before and I don’t ever feel the need to go back. At this point, the cruise ship is the destination, not the ports so much. Also, we don’t get the internet package at all and unplugging completely is probably the most relaxing part of the trip.

We convinced friends of ours to join us last year. They had never been on a cruise before and said that it was one of the best vacations of their life. They joined us this February on the Dream and we all rebooked for next April on the Fantasy again.

 

[elle21]

I was very, very hesitant about a cruise, but we just booked our first one for next May. (Western Caribbean- 7 night.) I never thought I would enjoy cruising...the whole thing didn’t appeal to me...until I started looking at the Disney ships. They don’t look like a floating Vegas (I love the classic nautical look), there are no casinos, they get high reviews for service and cleanliness, the kids clubs look great...plus Disney characters! We often have active vacations but we also love beach vacations, and I love laying on a beach or by a pool reading a book. Not something I have been able to do much since kids, and this seems like a great way to have a family vacation while also having some alone time to actually relax. I think that’s what is most appealing to me. A good combination of fun and complete relaxation. We have two sea days and I will absolutely send my kids to the clubs for a chunk of time on those days so my husband and I can enjoy Palo, rainforest room and the adult pool areas. I know my kids are going to be thrilled about going to different islands, going to CC (they have been asking if we can go since they saw commercials on Disney Jr. a couple years ago) and just being on a Disney ship. I’m super excited now and I think we’ll all love it.

 

[tinkerjo]

We started out on a 3 day cruise. We weren’t sure we would enjoy it and were terrified of getting seasick. I feel it’s too risky to go 7 nights with a severely sick kid (or me!!) would be awful. DH refuses to go so all my trips (3 all on DCL) have been with extended family. We absolutely loved cruising but all have a different reason why. DD loves castaway Cay, DS loves to eat, youngest DS loves the pools and the abundance of character interactions, and I love the relaxation. One general consensus though.... all my kids refused to do the kids clubs. We have always done trips together as a family and they had no desire to do their own thing. We never did any expensive excursions and really enjoyed at sea days. I don’t drink alcohol so that helps save money too. I haven’t cruised in a few years ( Disney prices me out and not willing to cruise another line yet) so we really miss it.

 

[PendingPeril]

We're doing a 4-night as our first cruise and it feels like the perfect amount. If we don't like it, we're not stuck on the ship longer. If we end up feeling like it was too short, that means we liked it. To hedge our bets we're spending a few days at Disney World before departure.

It was also in the sweet spot for us cost-wise. For something we don't know if we're going to like yet, the longer Disney cruises cost a ridiculous amount of money, at least for us. That's about as much money as we put down on our first house. If we do end up liking it I'd honestly look outside of DCL for a longer cruise, but keep doing the shorter ones with DCL while the kids are young.

 

[pixiedustedme]

I recommending sailing on a Dream class ship (Dream or Fantasy), as your kids are the right age to be into the Midship Detective Agency, magical artwork, virtual portholes in inside staterooms, virtual sports, miniature golf and the Aqua Duck, all of which are only found on the Dream class ships. The Dream class ships and the Magic all have on-demand Disney programming in the staterooms, while the Wonder does not. That's a significant amenity to keep in mind on a cruise with kids.

The ideal cruise for you would probably be a Southern Caribbean Fantasy cruise, as it's Dream class and would have a good itinerary, but those are quite expensive. A Fantasy Eastern cruise would still be nice but a bit less pricey than the Southern. If budget is the top priority, sail on the Dream, but I think its lack of interesting ports will be a drawback for you. A few Dream cruises sail only to Castaway Cay and not to Nassau- those are good cruises for people who just want to enjoy the ship and private island.

One thing to consider about cruising on a budget: doing a short cruise just to "see if you like it", then following that up with another cruise, is more expensive than just taking the plunge and sailing on a 7-night cruise to begin with.

 

[Mrs. W]

My husband and I had the exact same conversation before we were married. We liked the idea of cruising but were wary of actually getting on a "boat" (as we saw it) and visiting different destinations. So my husband had the idea of a "practice" cruise. He booked a super cheap, 3 day Carnival cruise to Mexico. We found out that we LOVED the idea of cruising even though, funny enough, we did not love our experience with Carnival. We booked Disney out of the Caribbean next, on the Fantasy, and holy smokes that was awesome! We're not Disney Cruise loyalists though; in fact, we'll only cruise with Disney on the Fantasy. The other ships are not for us.

Based on your original post (budget conscious and likely to be 1 and done), I would think a 7 day cruise with the most interesting itinerary/on board activities would be a good choice. It will be pricey, especially if you go with a verandah stateroom, but the Disney Fantasy is a great choice if you are determined to sail with Disney Cruise Line. They've got characters, great kids' clubs (from what friends say, my husband and I are kid free), fabulous food, AMAZING customer service, and a variety of adult, and family friendly on-board entertainment options. In the end, my opinion is, it's a vacation; an experience with your family. I don't think you'll hate it, even if you only cruise once, but at least you can check "cruise" off the vacation "to try" list. We've done that a few times before with other destinations/experiences; it's oddly satisfying. One less option next time vacation is discussed.

 

[AnnaS]

You won't know until you try it/cruise

We have done 8 DCL cruises - only one was a 4 nighter Double Dip. I would not travel all the way to Florida for a 4 nighter unless I added a stay at WDW/Vero, etc. which I did. Now if you are within a few hour drive, go for it.

We love to cruise. If you do a short one - stay on the ship for Nassau, make it a "sea day".

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

I would only consider us "sort of" cruise people. I've found we love port days on cruises (get off the ship and do an activity, then return for fun Disney themed dining and shows in the evening.)

However, sea days are less our thing. There were three at-sea days + the departure at-sea day on our first Disney cruise. We were cruising with family friends so we had fun playing trivia together and just hanging out, but if it had been just our family I would've felt a little stir-crazy. (We usually tend toward very active vacations.)

We are doing a Disney beach cruise with my in-laws in May 2020 and purposely chose a 4-night with only one sea day based on our experience and preferences.

This is us. Me anyway, DH is firmly in the "Not a cruise person" category, but he'll go along with it. We did a 4 night, and said never again. Yes, we were bored, the kids didn't want to stay in the clubs much and then complained, and we gained about 5 pounds in the short time. We like to be much more active than we got from the cruise - for instance one of our best vacations was 11 nights in Iceland, traveling the entire ring road staying a night or two in about 7 different locations, lots of hiking, etc - all planned on our own without guided tours. Fast forward 3 years, the kids begged and begged to do another cruise, and I started remembering the fun parts more. Also I think having had the experience once now, I have a better idea of what I'm doing differently to make it more enjoyable. So we booked a 7 night Western, and we have fairly active excursions booked at each of our port days. The 4 night that stopped in Nassau, we didn't plan anything, and just got off the ship for an hour to walk around ... we really should have done something there I think.

 

[StarSeven7]

Thank you everyone for some really great responses! This gives me a lot to think about! I think I'm leaning more towards doing a longer cruise with a more interesting (to me!) itinerary. Reading your responses and really thinking about it, it seems like a shorter cruise would almost be a "waste" for us - since I'm not sure that we'll ever do it again and I'd really like to go to some new and interesting places!

A lot of people are recommending the bigger ships but I was more interested in the smaller ships for the main reason that there's less people! I also read a few times that the staterooms on the smaller ships are slightly bigger/better laid out? And my DD loves Tiana so I thought Tiana's Place on the Wonder would be amazing for her! But maybe it's just best to pick an itinerary we like rather than a ship?

And just how amazing is Castaway Cay? Should we absolutely make sure to go there? I was looking at a one-way 6 night cruise from Galveston to San Juan that looked interesting (then we could spend a few days in San Juan aftewards) but it doesn't stop at Castaway Cay - nor do any of the Southern Caribbean cruises!

 

[StarSeven7]

This is us. Me anyway, DH is firmly in the "Not a cruise person" category, but he'll go along with it. We did a 4 night, and said never again. Yes, we were bored, the kids didn't want to stay in the clubs much and then complained, and we gained about 5 pounds in the short time. We like to be much more active than we got from the cruise - for instance one of our best vacations was 11 nights in Iceland, traveling the entire ring road staying a night or two in about 7 different locations, lots of hiking, etc - all planned on our own without guided tours. Fast forward 3 years, the kids begged and begged to do another cruise, and I started remembering the fun parts more. Also I think having had the experience once now, I have a better idea of what I'm doing differently to make it more enjoyable. So we booked a 7 night Western, and we have fairly active excursions booked at each of our port days. The 4 night that stopped in Nassau, we didn't plan anything, and just got off the ship for an hour to walk around ... we really should have done something there I think.

Your Iceland trip sounds amazing! How old are your kids? Those are definitely the types of vacations we like to do (although we haven't done anything too exotic with the kids yet). My dream cruise would be in the Galapagos so I'm just waiting for my kids to be old enough for trips like that!

 

[StarSeven7]

Based on your original post (budget conscious and likely to be 1 and done), I would think a 7 day cruise with the most interesting itinerary/on board activities would be a good choice. It will be pricey, especially if you go with a verandah stateroom, but the Disney Fantasy is a great choice if you are determined to sail with Disney Cruise Line. They've got characters, great kids' clubs (from what friends say, my husband and I are kid free), fabulous food, AMAZING customer service, and a variety of adult, and family friendly on-board entertainment options. In the end, my opinion is, it's a vacation; an experience with your family. I don't think you'll hate it, even if you only cruise once, but at least you can check "cruise" off the vacation "to try" list. We've done that a few times before with other destinations/experiences; it's oddly satisfying. One less option next time vacation is discussed.

You're right, I think I'd like to check a "cruise" off the vacation list so doing a longer cruise definitely makes more sense! And I DEFINITELY need less options to consider when we're discussing vacations - I'm super indecisive and there's SO MUCH I want to do! lol!

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Your Iceland trip sounds amazing! How old are your kids? Those are definitely the types of vacations we like to do (although we haven't done anything too exotic with the kids yet). My dream cruise would be in the Galapagos so I'm just waiting for my kids to be old enough for trips like that!

They were 9 and 7 when we did the trip to Iceland. It was really incredible. We even lucked out with a few clear sky days, and managed to see some Northern Lights even though it was a little early in the season for it.

For your question on Castaway Cay ... it was nice, and I am looking forward to it again on our upcoming cruise, but in my opinion, it is still just a beach. Sure, a nice beach with a water slide platform, and a nice BBQ lunch, and a 5K race you can run in, but I would give that up in a second if I was able to do the Southern Itinerary. Even if you book a cruise that includes Castaway Cay, there is always a chance weather could interfere and you end up not docking there anyway ... so I definitely wouldn't plan a cruise specifically trying to get to Castaway Cay.

 

[StarSeven7]

They were 9 and 7 when we did the trip to Iceland. It was really incredible. We even lucked out with a few clear sky days, and managed to see some Northern Lights even though it was a little early in the season for it.

For your question on Castaway Cay ... it was nice, and I am looking forward to it again on our upcoming cruise, but in my opinion, it is still just a beach. Sure, a nice beach with a water slide platform, and a nice BBQ lunch, and a 5K race you can run in, but I would give that up in a second if I was able to do the Southern Itinerary. Even if you book a cruise that includes Castaway Cay, there is always a chance weather could interfere and you end up not docking there anyway ... so I definitely wouldn't plan a cruise specifically trying to get to Castaway Cay.

I was thinking about that too - realizing that the ship can't always dock if the seas are too rough and hoping I wouldn't be too horribly disappointed if that happened!!

 

[Budzooka]

We didn’t know if we were cruise people and decided to give DCL a shot in 2016. Our DDs were 14 and 6 at the time. We booked the 7 night Eastern Caribbean on the Fantasy and viewed it as a “once in a lifetime” type trip. Boy, were we wrong!

We absolutely loved it. Our 6 year old had a fantastic time meeting characters, spending time in the kids club, and the family entertainment on the ship. Our 14 year old had a great time in the teen club and made a friend she still keeps in touch with today. We enjoyed not only seeing the kids have fun, but the shows were very entertaining and the food was really good.

I enjoyed the sea days more than the port days, although it was good to get off the ship to break it up a little. Castaway Cay is incredible and highly recommend if it makes sense. I was a little worried about 7 nights, but it was just right for us. I wouldn’t worry about the crowds, as we really only felt it after a show was over.

We booked a placeholder while on the ship and just me and DW went on a 3 night cruise and we may have enjoyed it more than the first one! We spent all of our time in the adults area and hardly noticed all the kids because we just stayed away from them. The worst part of this cruise is that it wasn’t long enough!

DD8 and I are going on a 7 night Halloween cruise this year and I will book another placeholder for a European cruise as a graduation present for my oldest daughter in 2021.

As much as I thought we would be one and done, we were not! Has definitely become our favorite vacation.

 

[RedSox68]

We had never cruised until our first one in 2000 -- on Disney -- and we only booked a 4-night "just in case" we didn't like it. As soon as we got off the ship we booked another!

As you can see from my history below, we've done 10 Disney cruises since and a total of 18.

All you can do is give it a try and if you don't like it, at least you will have done it once.