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

[Geomom]

DH and I are typically "fresh air" people - we love having the windows open, being outside, eating outside, sitting outside in the evenings, and we very rarely run the AC at home (usually only if we get several days in a row of 90+ degree weather) so the thought of being able to sit outside on a verandah or leave the door open all night and get a warm breeze in and listen to the waves sounds amazing! But the 2 cruises I'm most interested in they're just not available and if/when they are, they're $2000 more!

So for roughly around $5000 (give or take a few hundred dollars) - we could do a verandah room on a 6 night from Galveston to San Juan or a 7 night Southern Caribbean (either itinerary) in an oceanview room 9C. DH and I both agreed that around $5000 is an amount we feel comfortable with. What would you guys do??

It looks like the OBC would be $200-250 for booking with DU. That seems worth it probably? Even if I'm totally comfortable booking myself? Can you use that towards drinks onboard?

Edited to add: sorry, I warned you I was super indecisive!

I think the OBC is worth it. Remember that there are also automatic gratuities of $13.50/person/day to pay at the end of the cruise--the OBC will help pay for those. The OBC is a credit to your shipboard account--so the OBC can be used on anything charged to the account--drinks/port adventures/bingo/souvenirs/gratuities, etc. While all deposits and room changes need to go through the TA, you book your own port adventures/online checking/PAT time/other tix--so you retain most of the control.

6 nt vs. 7 nt. The 7 nt cruise will have a free character breakfast (that needs to be booked during online checkin), the 6 nt will not. Which ports do you prefer--I'd go with that one. I haven't yet had a verandah, but I believe you're not supposed to leave the door to the room open--it can mess with the A/C systems in other rooms as well as there's an air pressure thing going on--people have been stuck in their rooms because they had their verandah open AND they're trying to get out into the hallway--as soon as they shut the verandah door, they can get back out into the hallway. We weren't in our rooms much--sleeping, showering, getting ready in the morning. Whenever we were awake on the ship, we were out and about. I would not pay an extra $2,000 for a verandah over an oceanview.

 

[StarSeven7]

I think the OBC is worth it. Remember that there are also automatic gratuities of $13.50/person/day to pay at the end of the cruise--the OBC will help pay for those. The OBC is a credit to your shipboard account--so the OBC can be used on anything charged to the account--drinks/port adventures/bingo/souvenirs/gratuities, etc. While all deposits and room changes need to go through the TA, you book your own port adventures/online checking/PAT time/other tix--so you retain most of the control.

6 nt vs. 7 nt. The 7 nt cruise will have a free character breakfast (that needs to be booked during online checkin), the 6 nt will not. Which ports do you prefer--I'd go with that one. I haven't yet had a verandah, but I believe you're not supposed to leave the door to the room open--it can mess with the A/C systems in other rooms as well as there's an air pressure thing going on--people have been stuck in their rooms because they had their verandah open AND they're trying to get out into the hallway--as soon as they shut the verandah door, they can get back out into the hallway. We weren't in our rooms much--sleeping, showering, getting ready in the morning. Whenever we were awake on the ship, we were out and about. I would not pay an extra $2,000 for a verandah over an oceanview.

Thank you sooo much! That was all super helpful! I knew there were tips but I didn’t know how much. And I did t realize about the character breakfast! It sounds like the 7 night is probably best for us despite not getting a verandah room! (And I’m not super surprised that they don’t want you to leave it open!)

 

[DietCokeMommy]

OP here. So I made DH sit down last night and discuss with me and he agreed to give a cruise a try!!! Eeek! So now I just need to narrow it down and pick a cruise! We both agreed that this was most likely a one-and-done for us so we'd like to pick an itinerary that is interesting to us. I'm really interested in visiting Puerto Rico, so I think we're going to choose between the 6 night Galveston-San Juan in a verandah or one of the 7 night Southern Caribbean cruises, probably in an ocean view room because that's a bit more budget friendly, although I really have my heart set on a verandah.... Then we will add on a few nights in San Juan either before or after the cruise. Any advice or suggestions are greatly appreciated!!!

We did a repo on the Wonder last year from SJ to PC, next year we're doing the 1/19 Southern out of Puerto Rico. We're very excited. We loved the repo cruise (4 days) and we really loved Puerto Rico too. Old San Juan is beautiful and we had tons of fun visiting El Morro and flying kites. We also went on an awesome catamaran trip out of Fajardo. Our next trip we're going to spend several days in PR afterwards .

On our first cruise, I was kind of joking with DH before we got on the boat, asking him if he thought we'd turn into "cruise people" and he was like probably not. Then the next morning we woke up in St. Thomas and we went out on our verandah and we were both like, "THIS IS AMAZING". LOL.

 

[cadien]

The character breakfast is Disney Junior characters, like Jake and Sophia. In case your kids are too old to care.

 

[StarSeven7]

The character breakfast is Disney Junior characters, like Jake and Sophia. In case your kids are too old to care.

Good to know....yes, they are a bit old for the Disney Jr. characters! So it's always just Disney Jr. - never any other characters?

 

[Geomom]

Good to know....yes, they are a bit old for the Disney Jr. characters! So it's always just Disney Jr. - never any other characters?

Sorry...my 2 cruises had the VIP characters as we cruised Alaska and Northern Europe. Caribbean cruises have the Disney Jr. characters. It is 'free' though, so you could check with your kids before deciding not to do it. The funny thing is that my 19 yr old would probably love it, lol.

Here's the info from the disney cruise line site:

• A Character Breakfast is featured on one morning of select 7-plus night cruises with a minimum of 2 days at sea.
• The Disney Junior Character Breakfast is presented on 7-plus night cruises departing from U.S. domestic ports with a minimum of 2 days at sea. While appearances may vary per cruise, Jake, Sophia and Doc McStuffins are typically the featured Characters.
• VIP Characters appear on 7-plus night cruises departing from non-domestic ports (including our Alaskan itineraries) with a minimum of 2 days at sea. Though appearances may vary per cruise, most sailings will include Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Pluto.
• Character Breakfasts with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Pluto are featured on 14-night transatlantic and Panama Canal cruises.
• Character Breakfasts are not currently offered on any 2-, 3-, 4-, 5- or 6-night cruises.

 

[StarSeven7]

You guys are so helpful! Thank you!!!

 

[StarSeven7]

OP here, just wanted to come back and give an update. Thanks to all of your help, we're booked on our first Disney cruise!!! We booked the 7 night Southern Caribbean (stops at Antigua, St. Maarten, Martinique, Barbados, St. Lucia) departing on January 26, 2020. We went for an oceanview room in category 9C GTY. Can't wait and the kids are crazy excited!!! Now I have lots of questions but I'll post those all on a new thread!

 

[RedSox68]

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!

After 10 Disney cruises and 8 stops at CC, I tell everyone that CC is worth the whole trip. And I can shout that even louder now after stopping at NCL's island last year (our first non-Disney island) for which you had to tender in! It was the most dismal and boring place we've ever been. Twenty years in their possession and you can tell they have put very little back into it -- very little landscaping, no effort to make the sitting areas nice, hardly any shady places and the lunch buffet was served in a tin building with no air flow and it was like moving through an oven to get your food. We couldn't get off that island fast enough. Counterpoint -- RCL's island was next door and it looked lush and nice like CC.

So yes, walking off the ship at CC and immediately feeling like you are in paradise is no exaggeration. We love that island -- it's lush and comfortable and the food is great.

As for your previous comment about loving sea days -- it does seem counter productive to love being on the ship for days at a time at sea, but it is a lovely experience. And if your pre-cruise itinerary was hectic and required a lot of flying, it's a nice way to unwind and catch up with your thoughts. We are all about the ports -- we don't cruise to just cruise, we want to go to places that we haven't been yet, but 2-3 days at sea in-between ports is a great way to chill out, watch movies, sleep in and actually be able to eat all there meals

 

[mab2012]

OP here, just wanted to come back and give an update. Thanks to all of your help, we're booked on our first Disney cruise!!! We booked the 7 night Southern Caribbean (stops at Antigua, St. Maarten, Martinique, Barbados, St. Lucia) departing on January 26, 2020. We went for an oceanview room in category 9C GTY. Can't wait and the kids are crazy excited!!! Now I have lots of questions but I'll post those all on a new thread!

That sounds like a great itinerary, especially if you're not sure you'll care for sea days.

FWIW, we also tend towards activity while on vacation. When we go to WDW I usually try to plan for some downtime, but we never seem to end up actually having any, and we all come home exhausted. This year we went skiing. We skiied open to close for five days, and on our "break" day we went cross-country skiing. Then we spent 2.5 days walking and biking around Vancouver. So we're really not sit-around-and-do-nothing types. Or I'm not, anyway, and I'm the planner, so the rest of my family gets dragged along.

Having said that, we love cruising, including the sea days. I can't tell you where the time goes on a sea day, but it goes. Fast. In port we almost always do our own thing, and it frequently involves a lot of walking (much to the chagrin of my youngest). The nice thing is that if my husband and I want to do something that we know the kids won't enjoy, we can just leave them on the ship for a few hours. I wouldn't go far without them, but we're comfortable leaving them to walk around the local town (for example), and it's far more pleasant than dragging along a reluctant kid. They are 10 and 13, so old enough to handle themselves for a short time. And I love, love, LOVE not having to worry about feeding anyone or how much it costs. Of course you can get that at a land based all-inclusive resort too, but IME there's much more to do on a cruise than a typical all-inclusive.

We have sailed 9C GTY on Magic twice, and it was fine. I prefer the aft balconies on Fantasy, but the 9C on Magic/Wonder is usually a much better value. Magic and Wonder only have teeny tiny side balconies anyway, so IMO you're not missing out on much. If you want to sit out, there's plenty of space on the public decks.

Have fun!

 

[elaine amj]

Enjoy! We are a super active family and we ended up loving cruising (we have done 3 so far). It was nice to be able to split up and do things each of us enjoy and join up again easily later. And we LOVED watching a Broadway-quality show every night. I have only done big ships though (the latest was RCCL's Allure of the Seas) and found the bigger you go, the more activity choices there are. Afternoons tend to be quieter - which works for my nap (my friends would hang by the pool/watch movies).

I did the 3 night Dream and didn't get off at Nassau (but spent every possible minute on Castaway Cay) and ran out of time to do all the things we wanted to do.

I am also a budget-minded cheapskate and liked the all-inclusive feel of a cruise. We typically don't spend a penny other than our tips and a souvenir magnet unless I need to spend a small amount at the ports. I do try to choose ports that don't cost too much to enjoy and I never do ship excursions.

Out of the ports you are visiting, I have been to two:
- San Juan; this was just okay. My DH and teens stayed on the ship to rest and recover while my mother and I wandered the streets. Very pretty town and the fort area was cool to walk through (we didn't pay to go in though). All in all, not our favorite stop but I think that's because there are no beaches near port lol. On reflection, this stop might have been worth splurging on an activity but since our budget was tight, I am happy with our choices.

- St Maarten; one of my favorite ports. So LOVELY! We decided to walk an extra 15 mins to the (pretty) town to take a public bus (just $4pp round trip vs $16pp roundtrip for a taxi). We took the public bus to Mullet Bay Beach - which ranks amongst my all-time favorite beaches. There are chairs and umbrellas to rent or a patch of shady trees in the corner to spread out towels to lay on. There is reasonably fun snorkeling from shore (its not a coral reef but some pretty colored fish were there) and a large bay with soft white sand (although not quite as powdery sand as I have seen before) and crystal clear water that wasn't that salty (i.e. no sticky feeling after u get out). There are people but not too many and it was gebegener a relaxing, quiet vibe.

We were planning to leave after a couple of hours and stayed an extra hour because we enjoyed it so much. Around 1pm, we walked 10-15 mins to the famous Maho Beach where we experienced the thrill of airplanes landing right above our head.

Then we took a bus back to town where we had fun walking around and shopping for a bit before walking back to the ship. We had brought some pizza and fruit off the ship with us so didn't spend on anything other than bus fare.

 

[CruiseTraveler7]

We love cruising mainly because you get to see so many places at such a short time. You don't get bored, you get to meet a lot of people, there are activities and parties all the time and plenty of food! We have later on spent time on some places that we discovered whilst on a cruise. It is not for everyone, but I can easily see myself cruising and exploring for many more years.

 

[Mom24Princesses]

We had never cruised and didn’t know if we’d like it. We had to book 2 cabins because of four kids. We booked two connecting inside state rooms. 7 nights- if we were going to all that trouble !! Girls were 6, 8, 12 &14. Everyone thought it was amazing and we were determined to do it again. After ‘08 it was out of our budget.

We have sailed Carnival a number of times and enjoyed them all. I like CCL’s food better.

 

[GatorMomInNC]

CONGRATULATIONS!! I hope you love cruising DCL as much as those us here on the DCL forums do.

The reason your 7 night cruise is so much more expensive than the 6 night repositioning, besides the extra night, is also because it is a very interesting itinerary; also, repositioning cruises tend to come with higher airfare (2 one ways vs. a round trip) so aren't as popular.

Our first DCL cruise was in a 9c guaranteed on the Magic - the sister ship to the Wonder and same size and general layout - for a 14 night Westbound Transatlantic. Still my favorite cruise!!! I'm not gonna lie, I prefer a verandah, but I wouldn't pay $2k more for it.

As a mom, I like that when I cruise I don't have to plan out where we are going to eat every night, or what we are going to eat. No driving. Someone cleans my room 2x per day. Plenty of things to do WITH the kids or WITHOUT the kids. Family time and me time and relax relax relax.

We are annual passholders for WDW and that is fun, but exhausting. My kids prefer cruising - we have done 2 this year so far and 2 more scheduled before the end of the year -- if my husband doesn't stage an intervention .

Unfortunately, the last few cruises we have done or have scheduled have had to be short cruises of 3-5 nights, now that my older son has started high school, and also because 2 of them were planned around seeing a PremEar on board - Captain Marvel in March and the Star Wars movie in December. I much prefer longer cruises - we have done three 14 night cruises on DCL and they are so relaxing.