Mid Oc tober OR End Nov. - suggestions?

[treloarf]

I have another thread about whether to take the Eastern or Western. The Western would be Oct. 9 (which would be over Columbus Day - kids have off) & the other the week after Thanksgiving (they have that Mon. off).

Any ideas on which would be a better cruise time i.e., better cruising weather, crowds, etc.

Thanks, everyone here has so much experience with these cruises its amazing. Thanks for all the info.

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

I've cruised both in early October and the week after Thanksgiving. Both are great times. The post-Thanksgiving cruise was a bit more crowded, but not noticably so (I always ask the passenger count). While the weather is fine both times of year, I prefer the October time, because it's a bit warmer, but mostly because the days are longer.

One thing to consider is that if you leave the Saturday after Thanksgiving, air travel is going to be a pain getting to the port.

I didn't reply to your east vs. west thread, but I'll throw my 2 cents in here. I've been on 6 eastern and 3 western, and like them both, but I prefer the eastern. I like the extra day at sea. I like St. Thomas better than any of the western ports. I especially like having the first full day on the ship at sea. It's hard to get up for Key West after a full day of travel on Friday, and opening night of the cruise on Saturday. I think either is good choice, though. I like Key West and really like Grand Cayman. I can take or leave Cozumel.

 

[imgoingtodisney]

Personally I will NEVER book another cruise the wk after Thanksgiving - I learned the hard way

 

[alexandrew]

If cost is an issue, and I'm not sure if it is, I would opt for October, as I think you might be able to get a better deal...Also, if kids are off from school, definitely do Oct...

 

[Dreamer04]

Ok..here comes my two cents. If I had to choose between the two, I would first consult my childrens' teachers. Find out about any scheduled tests, ie; state exams, midterms, just to name a few. I think, not sure at all, that early October is better. Also, it depends on what grade they are in, how many days would be missed, etc.

I rescheduled a cruise from Jan ' 04 to April '04 to Feb '04
(BIG thank you to Allseastravel.com) because of differences in my kids' vacations. One is in public high school, the other in parochial elementary school.

Good luck,
Ursula

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

Originally posted by imgoingtodisney
Personally I will NEVER book another cruise the wk after Thanksgiving - I learned the hard way

While your experience last year is well-documented, I'll just interject that I've saild the week after Thanksgiving 4 times (my birthday is that week), twice on DCL, and have never had a problem.

 

[gassmandy]

Have to agree w/ Lloyd there--it's not that certain week that caused the cancellation. This next cruise is our 2nd one that we have planned for the week after Tgiving. One thing to note---the ship will be all decked out for Christmas...........it was so beautiful. Huge tree in the atrium, BIG gingerbread house to take photos in front of, etc. Plus-as far as weather goes--perfect!

 

[treloarf]

Just curious, our 1st cruise on DCL was then & it was great because of the decorations & since the kids had Thurs (Thanksgiving day, Fri. & Mon (day after Thanks.) off, it was great because we left Fri. stayed at the Raddison all day & got on the ship early Sat. They only missed 4 days of school.

The reason I'm thinking Oct. 9 is they will only miss 4 days of school & it's not so close to Christmas. I really felt rushed getting ready for the holiday coming back from the cruise in Dec.

Thanks for all the input.

 

[thegales]

Join us October 9!

We chose October due to price and the kids would only be missing four days of school (we don't get the Monday after Thanksgiving). We also wanted to do the Western, as we were currently on the Eastern.

What ages are the kids?

 

[Surfergirl]

Treloarf We are also sailing Oct. 9. We have done 2 other Disney cruises at the same time of year since our Anniversary is then. We have always had great weather and the ship is not usually full.
We have two girls who will be 13 and 10 1/2 when we sail.

Thegales, Nice to find someone else on our cruise. How old will your kids be?.

 

[thegales]

DD's will be 8 and 6 at the time of cruise. BTW, our anniversary is October 23. We thought about taking the western that week, but didn't want to board on our anniversary. The bonus is the girls only have to miss four days of school. Our school district has fairly strict rules on missing school, so we would prefer to minimize the effect.

To bring this post back on topic, I am glad to hear your experience of having less people on board in October. We may have a better chance of winning Bingo!

BTW, we both need to look at our count down timers. You're cruising two days before us.

 

[Surfergirl]

Thegales, we are going down on the friday and thats the date I plugged in. Don't know why it is 2 days off.
Our anniversary is Oct. 7 but we wanted to do the Western route this time so we will celebrate once we are on board.

 

[dcgrumpy]

Originally posted by imgoingtodisney
Personally I will NEVER book another cruise the wk after Thanksgiving - I learned the hard way

Your cruise was cancelled because of the Norwalk virus. I really don't think the fact that it was the week after Thanksgiving had anything to do with it.

 

[Eeyore2U]

Originally posted by imgoingtodisney
Personally I will NEVER book another cruise the wk after Thanksgiving - I learned the hard way

What does that week have to do with it?

What did you learn? That you have a gray cloud the follows you? If that's true I feel for your ship mates. Well I feel for them anyway!!

 

[treloarf]

I think we're heading for the Oct. 9 cruise especially when I looked at the calendar & my DH's b-day is Oct. 14. Do they do anything special for birthdays? Our kids are DD-8 ad DS-12. We want to get a cruise in before the big "13" age group - it looks like they start charging more for the 13+ group.