Now what?

[goofydad99]

After 3 years I have convinced goofydad to go on a cruise. I have no problems planning a vacation to Disney World. I am feeling overwhelmed and I don't know where to start. Since it took so long to convince him to go on a cruise, we are only going on a 3 day. Thank you in advance for your help! I see many questions ahead.

By the way we don't sail until June of 2009.

[CruisinEars]

Welcome to cruising! You will have a blast. I really don't think 3 days will be enough though.

I would suggest you start with the FAQ sticky and then get a Passporter book, then just keep checking in on this board and you will know plenty by the time you cruise. Enjoy the planning!

[Toddymae]

Right! Get the Passporter. AND go to the DCL web site and order the DVD for planning a cruise vacation. I ordered one for my sisters and now there counting the days until are cruise.

[arabians207]

I also agree that 3 days isn't enough. Our first cruise was a 4 day. With the 4 day you get an entire day at sea, which is really nice since it gives you time to explore the entire ship! And IMO the sea days are the best part, but either way you will still have a blast!

[goofydad99]

That is what I was thinking too! Goofydad does not like the beach. It doesn't matter which beach it is, he doesn't like it. I was looking at it and thinking a 4 day would be better but I am lucky to get him on this cruise! The other concern which may be his real reluctance is that we are a family of five and well............you all understand right? Thank you for the input so far. I did ask for the Disney Passporter for my birthday. That will help. I need to get the planning video as well. Thank you for reminding me!

We are keeping the cruise a secret from our children. Here is hoping that we actually manage it!!!

[MrsJobba1]

Congratulations -you will have a great time.

Dont panic about planning -read the threads on the top of this board. They have some really great info.

A passporter book is also really good.

3 nights will allow you to dip your feet in so to speak.

Although be warned DCL can become addictive

[pixieprincessmom]

We did out first 4-day in Feb.--We are now patiently waiting until we can put a deposit on the 7-day. It really is addictive!! We are also a family of 5 and the cost is the only thing thats holding me back right now. My DH said he's going to up the amount going into his Chrismas Club to help with the down payment (guess the bug bit him too).

[HoosierFrog]

Just to let you know, a 4 day really isn't that much more. We were booked for a 3 day on 9/25/08. At this time the 9/28 had been either booked or reserved/saved. We had booked a cat 8 room for the natural light. I noticed the 9/28 opened up about two weeks after we booked the 3 day, so I switched everything (including online ship credits) to a cat 9 (same port hole view, just a little lower on the ship) on the 4 day cruise. For two people, it cost $76 total.

A 3 day was nice, but the 4th day to recoup is what I really wanted.

[goofydad99]

The difference between the 2 for us is $2500. That may be a drop in the bucket to some.......but we will do a land and sea vacation as well. We will get the best of both worlds.

[dismom73]

We are a family of 5 also...just a heads up, it is less expensive to get two cabins than one cat 4 (which sleeps 5) cabin. It is also nice to have twice the space rather than a little bit bigger cabin.

[Narnian_Princess]

My family of 5 started out with a 3-day cruise. We all agree it's not quite long enough, but we can't quite afford a longer trip yet, so we're going for our third 3-day in August. It's just enough time to relax and feel pampered, but we'd LOVE to do a 7-day sometime in the future. It's addicting!

And as for hating beaches... I hate the beach. I mean hate it with a passion. But I love Castaway Cay. To me, it's not just a beach. I don't know what it is, but even though I hate sand and beaches I just love that place.

About what dismom73 said, believe me, it is way cheaper to book 2 rooms; the difference was over $1000 for this upcoming cruise. We've been doing this for each one of our cruises and it's been great.

[HoosierFrog]

Originally Posted by goofydad99

The difference between the 2 for us is $2500. That may be a drop in the bucket to some.......but we will do a land and sea vacation as well. We will get the best of both worlds.

Okay, one more day wouldn't be worth $2,500.

[aurorafan65]

we did the land & sea with the 3 day cruise - that was our first cruise & OMGosh we were hooked. I agree, it doesn't seem long enough, but it's a GREAT start!!! The reason we did land & sea was the same as you - my dh wasn't too sure about the 'being on a boat' thing. He probably had more fun than the rest of us

We did that back in 04 & finally, we're booked for a 7 day in April & we can't wait

I have to ask a question though, what is a passporter?

[DLW8]

The Passporter is a great book about DCL (they also have versions about WDW). You can find them on Amazon or at the Passporter website (www.passporter.com).

I have had the Birnbaum books before, and just got the DCL and WDW passporters and LOVE them! They are well laid out, have planning/spreadsheets within the book for you to fill out and have ratings/tips from others.

Well worth the money for the books!

[goofydad99]

I just talked to dh. He is willing to consider a four day. I need to contact our travel agent and see what kind of changes can be made without issues...........Thank you for your input!!

The one advantage I did see in the 3 day cruise was we were going to be able to save points on the weekend........Oh well. Can't have it both ways right?