The Seas are full of WONDER and waves! Our first Disney Cruise - 7-night Eastern Caribbean; Feb 2018

Glad you guys had fun! I'm doing a 4-night on the Wonder this February and can't wait! It was going to be solo, but my mom eventually decided to come! Hoping to get a Palo reservation!
 
Awesome report Phil!

I definitely get your thoughts on cruising with 5. My family is also a family of 5 and we have looked at Disney cruises several times but haven't justified the cost yet and being a family of five that limits the options.
 
Thanks for the report Phil!
It gave me some good insight into first time cruising. I myself would like to do a cruise but my wife is not that fussy. I don’t know if it will ever happen for us, but it’s fun to read about it.
 
Glad the last morning and getting off the ship went smoothly! I'm sure it was a long day of travel for you all.

Thanks for the wrap up, I enjoyed hearing your opinions on doing the Disney cruise! It really does stink that the ones out of NYC are so limited!

I look forward to the start of your next TR!!
 


Congratulations on completing the TR, can't wait for the next one. I honestly thought the last post I commented on was your last post, so no questions for you this time.

Oh I think your idea of doing a Universal/cruise split is a good idea, but maybe wait till your youngest is a bit older for the rides. Don't know if you have been before but it is quiet different from WDW.

Hope someday to see our trips sync up, I would enjoy to have a beer with you and talk rumors/history of Disney.
 
Great TR! It gave me a lot of good info for our upcoming cruise, so thanks for all that you shared.

Look forward to reading about your WDW trip!
 


Just finished up - I soooo want to go on another cruise! We loved the Wonder as well and booked the same exact cabin for our Alaskan cruise next summer. But looking at your Castaway Cay day really makes me wish we could get back on another warm-weather cruise too. I agree - a Disney cruise is super $$$ and we only have three people, but for this time in our lives (with a young kid), I can kind-of justify it. Not sure how much we'd stick to Disney for cruises when she's older, as there are so many other good options too. Anyway, can't wait to hear about your WDW trip last month!
 
Enjoyed your wrap up! My kids actually preferred the cruise to WDW this time around, but it's just so pricey with a family of 5! Looking forward to hearing about your recent travels!
 
I really enjoyed reading your report, especially since we just booked our first Disney Cruise on the Wonder. Lots of stuff from your report is going in my mental files for later!

Awesome!

Obviously I have limited experience but if you think of any specific questions I will do my best to answer
 
Thanks for the trip report! My family has been considering a Disney Cruise vacation for several years but haven't gone yet due to the price. I loved the opportunity to "hear" about your experience!
 
Hi Phil, found this trip report after interacting with you on the rise of the resistance thread. Sounds like you had an amazing journey for your first cruise. My wife and I did a 4 day RC cruise about 12 years ago that I really enjoyed. Felt like cruising was one of the most relaxing vacations you could do. We haven’t been on another since though, unfortunately.

However, with my 40th coming up next year, I’m trying to convince her that it’s a great time to take another and introduce our 6yo to cruising. I appreciate all the kids club references in that regard. Sounds like they have plenty to keep kids occupied for hours. We’re probably going to do a short cruise though, so not sure how much time she’ll have in the club and will probably be sad to not have more time there.

Have you guys looked at booking another cruise yet? I know RC has terrific deals at the beginning of the year. I would love to take advantage of a deal like that, but going Disney just seems too exciting right now with the younger child, so want to do that at least once.
 
Hi Phil, found this trip report after interacting with you on the rise of the resistance thread. Sounds like you had an amazing journey for your first cruise. My wife and I did a 4 day RC cruise about 12 years ago that I really enjoyed. Felt like cruising was one of the most relaxing vacations you could do. We haven’t been on another since though, unfortunately.

However, with my 40th coming up next year, I’m trying to convince her that it’s a great time to take another and introduce our 6yo to cruising. I appreciate all the kids club references in that regard. Sounds like they have plenty to keep kids occupied for hours. We’re probably going to do a short cruise though, so not sure how much time she’ll have in the club and will probably be sad to not have more time there.

Have you guys looked at booking another cruise yet? I know RC has terrific deals at the beginning of the year. I would love to take advantage of a deal like that, but going Disney just seems too exciting right now with the younger child, so want to do that at least once.

thanks for coming over and checking out this trip report. We did really enjoy our cruise (I think the 2nd part after the waters calmed a bit and I adapted to "cruise life" a bit more moreso than the first part)

We haven't booked another cruise yet and to be honest the main reason is cost. Not that Disney cruises aren't worth what they charge - it's just still a lot of $ ... and the fact we would need one of a somewhat limited # of rooms that fit 5, it just seemed too expensive the few times we did explore it. Also, felt a bit like "planes, trains, and automobiles" to get to the cruise port - we did look into cruises out of NYC as that would be easier, but as those are limited in the # they do they are also more expensive, so back to the first concern :)

The kids clubs are absolutely amazing and my kids really loved them - they are the main reason that if we were to do another cruise right now it would most likely be a Disney cruise - So I think we are in a similar spot to you in age-wise of kids, Disney still seems like the best option, but cost wise, RCL seems enticing. My kids (particularly the older two) seem really intrigued but what they see in commercials for Royal Caribbean cruises so I could actually see us doing one of those in a few years when the kids (especially the youngest) is a little older.

Other thing I could see doing is adding on a short cruise to a larger Florida trip - doing one of those 4 day Disney cruises that does 2 days at Castaway Cay after a shorter trip to WDW (or even *gasp* to Universal) sounds pretty good to me ;)
 
thanks for coming over and checking out this trip report. We did really enjoy our cruise (I think the 2nd part after the waters calmed a bit and I adapted to "cruise life" a bit more moreso than the first part)

We haven't booked another cruise yet and to be honest the main reason is cost. Not that Disney cruises aren't worth what they charge - it's just still a lot of $ ... and the fact we would need one of a somewhat limited # of rooms that fit 5, it just seemed too expensive the few times we did explore it. Also, felt a bit like "planes, trains, and automobiles" to get to the cruise port - we did look into cruises out of NYC as that would be easier, but as those are limited in the # they do they are also more expensive, so back to the first concern :)

The kids clubs are absolutely amazing and my kids really loved them - they are the main reason that if we were to do another cruise right now it would most likely be a Disney cruise - So I think we are in a similar spot to you in age-wise of kids, Disney still seems like the best option, but cost wise, RCL seems enticing. My kids (particularly the older two) seem really intrigued but what they see in commercials for Royal Caribbean cruises so I could actually see us doing one of those in a few years when the kids (especially the youngest) is a little older.

Other thing I could see doing is adding on a short cruise to a larger Florida trip - doing one of those 4 day Disney cruises that does 2 days at Castaway Cay after a shorter trip to WDW (or even *gasp* to Universal) sounds pretty good to me ;)
For you, it's be awesome to sail out of new york...saving on airfare. I've looked at doing one out of NYC that goes up the coast into Canada in the fall, but at the times the leaves are sure to be changing, the $$s go way up. Haha, maybe in the future. The shorter cruises are nice when looking at DCL vs RCL as the price difference is more manageable, but even so, it feels like you're spending as much on a 4 day cruise as a 6 or 7 night stay at WDW. However, you only spend airfare once doing that, so that's a bonus.

And then, there's always the Star Wars cruiser hotel, coming soon. Forget the motion sickness with that one! Lol.
 
For you, it's be awesome to sail out of new york...saving on airfare. I've looked at doing one out of NYC that goes up the coast into Canada in the fall, but at the times the leaves are sure to be changing, the $$s go way up. Haha, maybe in the future. The shorter cruises are nice when looking at DCL vs RCL as the price difference is more manageable, but even so, it feels like you're spending as much on a 4 day cruise as a 6 or 7 night stay at WDW. However, you only spend airfare once doing that, so that's a bonus.

And then, there's always the Star Wars cruiser hotel, coming soon. Forget the motion sickness with that one! Lol.

to the bolded part - that is really where we are at/see it ... we know how to do WDW on a bit of a budget - and we are ok staying off property. So we could practically do 2 WDW vacations for the price of one Disney Cruise and at least for now, that option is winning out for us. We will see how things evovle

And I do want to be clear, I 100% get why the DIsney cruise costs what it does - the crew to guest ratio is super high, you can see the quality in the construction materials, the quality of the shows, the quality of the food (which in the main dining room is comparable to the specialty restaurants on other cruise lines), etc. ... so isn't a "value" question just an absolute $ issue

(and not saying you were thinking differently, more just for everyone who reads this :D)
 

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