Cruising DCL without kids: Would/have you?

[Lisa Lisa]

DH and I will be celebrating our 15th anniversary in September and are planning to take a 4-5 night trip to celebrate. We've talked about lots of different destinations, but all of them involve warm weather and lots of time in lounge chairs. Taking a Disney cruise hadn’t even crossed my mind until I read the post about the special rates for late August through September. With the promotion, we could take a 4-night cruise on the Dream for substantially less than any of the land-based trips we’ve discussed. I know that there are plenty of adults-only places and activities on the ship and on CC, but I’m just not sure how it would feel to be on a Disney cruise without DD (not to mention how she would take the news!). I’d love some input from those of you who have done this or considered it and decided against it.

 

[Meghatron]

We did 7nights on the Wonder without DD for our honeymoon. It was AMAZING. Dining staff will seat you with other child-free couples and if you get a room at the adult end of the ship, you can take one bank of elevators to all the adult areas.

 

[meajuly5]

Personally I would do the cruise with my dd and do something else with husband. I know many adults love the cruise on their own but seeing other kids enjoying it do much would make me want dd there.

 

[lbgraves]

I have thought about doing this, but we really don't have anyone to leave the kids with so they can stay in school. Once they are both in college that will hopefully happen though! If you have someone to watch DD, then I don't see the problem with going. You weren't going to take her with you anywhere else, right?

 

[geffric]

I have been on many Disney cruises without either one of our DS.

If you like great food, great entertainment, wonderful places, lots to do for adults only around the ship, even some excursions are adults only..i HIGHLY recommend it..

 

[Maleficent73]

DH and I are going on a 7 night Disney Med cruise this summer without our kids. We have done two previous Disney Cruises and think we will enjoy it just as much without the kids. The kids are a bit upset about being left behind, but one of life's greatest lessons is learning to deal with disappointment

 

[Luv2Diz]

We did an adults only DCL cruise (my kids ARE now adults!) and had such a great time on our August Alaska cruise that we did a second DCL cruise in December. I can't wait to book a third DCL cruise! It is truly a great experience that offers something for everyone.

 

[stsomewhere]

I went by myself on a 14 night DCl Transatlantic.

My mom and I went on a 7 night California coast.

Both time my husband and kids stayed home, they could not get time off of work or school.

I had a great time.
My kids were upset but I told them that for all the dance lessons, summer camps, scouts, etc. It was my turn for a vacation.

My mom and I are talking about a 14 night Panama Canal in Sept.

My kids are not Disney deprived. We did a family vacation at WDW in August and are going on the Magic over Easter.

My husband took me to WDW for my 40th birthday. The kids stayed with grandma. We had a wonderful time. It was completely different since we could do what wee wanted. Long dinners, drink flights at the bars, etc.

 

[ajmercedes59]

DH and I spent our 10th wedding anniversary on a Disney Cruise without DD9 and DD4. We had a great time!

 

[AquaDame]

We have done two cruises sans kids and have two more booked and LOVE it. The adult areas are great and there is a ton to do - we have barely scratched the surface it feels. That said, we don't have kids so I can't speak to that. It seems like it shouldn't be any worse than not taking them in the first place wherever you go though?

 

[Maryrn11168]

My husband and I did a 2 night weekend getaway cruise this past summer on the Magic. When the day to begin making reservations for the DVC members only cruise in September came up, I mentioned it to my husband and said, "It will be like the 2 night one just a little longer." and he said "let's do it!"

Our kids have been on 3 Disney Cruises, they have been to Disney too many times to count and we are booked for another cruise in 2014, so I do not feel bad.
We will be doing a Double Dip at Castaway Cay, so when I was looking at things to do, I asked my husband if he wanted to rent Waverunners and my oldest son was really funny, he said "your leaving us home and your going to have fun too!!" Yep!!! It's much cheaper to do some of these things for 2!

 

[KTills]

DH and I did a 3-night on the Dream in Nov. without our DS (6). To avoid some of the guilt we thought we might feel, we agreed to NOT do a lot of activities that DS enjoyed. We didn't do any shows, no character interaction, no FE, no mid-ship detective agency, no dining in the MDRs, no sail-away party. We got a killer upgrade deal at the port, and upgraded to a one bedroom concierge suite. That experience alone was new for us, so we enjoyed that. We ate at Remy one night, Palo the next and then ordered MDR room service the last night. We did champagne tasting at Pink...spent a lot of time at the Skyline bar...or just lounging on Deck 4 or the adult-only areas. The room was so nice, we spent some time hanging there on our verandah. At CC we went only to the adult beach. It was a blast. We had such a great time. It helped a bit to know we'd be taking our DS on a cruise over Spring Break this year, so we were ok. We were so relaxed...it was great "us" time. I'd do it again in a minute!

 

[LoriV]

DH and I have done WDW twice without the kids and it was awesome! We also cruised without the kids once but we elected to sail on another line. It wasn't because we didn't think we would have fun on Disney without the kids. It was more of a cost decision than anything else. However, we spent the entire time comparing everything to Disney and nothing quite stacked up to what we were used to. In the end, we wished we were on a DCL ship.

 

[BeeTeacher]

Go for it! We did and had a great time. My review is in my siggy.

 

[Donna M]

We're heading out for our 2nd Disney cruise without kids. I can't wait!

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

DH and I have done 3 DCL cruises without the kids! The first one a week on the Magic for his 40th birthday, and the second was a 4n/5n back to back on the Dream for our 20th anniversary. It was heaven! Our kids weren't jealous the first time, but were the second! We spent most of our time in the adult areas. We would sail DCL again kidfree in a heartbeat. I highly recommend it!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

DH and I will be celebrating our 15th anniversary in September and are planning to take a 4-5 night trip to celebrate. We've talked about lots of different destinations, but all of them involve warm weather and lots of time in lounge chairs. Taking a Disney cruise hadn’t even crossed my mind until I read the post about the special rates for late August through September. With the promotion, we could take a 4-night cruise on the Dream for substantially less than any of the land-based trips we’ve discussed. I know that there are plenty of adults-only places and activities on the ship and on CC, but I’m just not sure how it would feel to be on a Disney cruise without DD (not to mention how she would take the news!). I’d love some input from those of you who have done this or considered it and decided against it.

While not quite the same (our kids are older) we took 3 DCL cruises before we brought the kids along.

 

[mmouse37]

We have celebrated our 20th, 25th and 30th anniversaries onboard DCL without the kids and some other non anniversary DCL cruises as well without them.

Love them!!! There is plenty to do onboard for just adults. Just tell your DD mom and dad need some Disney Magic as well!!!

MJ

 

[4boons]

Every few years the two of us (DW and myself) have tried to take what we call a "Rents Retreat". One year when the DDs were at church camp DW and I went to Vegas, the kids still think that was just wrong. However, we never could bring ourselves to go on a DCL cruise without the kids.

This last fall DD#2 started college so DW and I decided to go on one of the DCL Pacific Coast Cruises. We had a wonderful time.

Through the cruise meet we were able to find several couples also traveling without their children. We even arranged to have two other couples traveling without their children as table mates.

While we will continue to travel DCL with our children, we "now" will not hesitate to travel DCL without our children.

The best thing I can do for my kids is to maintain a strong relationship with DW. I love my children and enjoy being with them, but someday when they are off raising their own children and building their own life, it will just be DW and myself and we need to know how to get along without the distraction of the kids.

Go have fun, we did
Bill

 

[Lisa Lisa]

Thanks so much for all of your replies! It doesn't sound as if any of you who have taken an adults-only DCL cruise regret your decision. It's true that we will not be taking DD with us regardless of where we go, but somehow the fact that it would be a DISNEY cruise makes a difference. DD has been on one DCL cruise already and we have another coming up in March, so she has not been Disney deprived. I know that she'll get over any initial disappointment or jealousy she may feel, so that's not really the concern. I'm just not sure how we'll feel being on a ship with a whole bunch of kids having a great time, knowing ours is at home!