10N Southern Caribbean (incl. New Years Eve) vs 10N Med?

[tinknsnow]

So I'm conflicted and I have a deadline.

I'm the habitual Cat 3 cruiser who posted about missing out on the Baltic cruise <kicking self again-- how did I miss them?>. I have a Cat 3 reserved on the 10N Southern. I wanted the Christmas 11N (Guadeloupe, Barbados, Martinique) but I can also get a suite on a 10 N Med.

Not including airfare to Spain, pricing is comparable.

My kids will be 11, 9, 7. I would love to get them started on Europe with a cruise, since it's quick touring rather than "immerse yourself for a week" stuff.

We've only done a 3N, a 7N Western, and the Mexican Riviera. We're outdoorsy but we all burn fast, so we're not the types to soak up the rays on a beach. I love sea days.

Can anyone advise on the 10N Special Itinerary and what it might be like over New Year's? (There are no suites left for the Christmas 11N-- or my decision would be simple...) How do kids fare on the Med? Is it rushed at the ports?

I'm sorry this is long. I have until tomorrow evening to decide, or I lose my reserved Cat 3s! Thanks so much-- I love the DIS.

 

[cats mom]

Hmmm, I don't know that I'll be much help, but I can tell you that I've cruised DCL at both Christmas and NYE and just taking into account the atmosphere and extras onboard (not considering the ports since they'd be different for you) I actually preferred the NYE cruise.

Would you be spending any time in Europe either before or after the cruise? Personally I'd have a hard time suffering through that long flight and dealing with the jet lag just for a scratch the surface cruise... but I'm definitely more of an immerse yourself gal when it comes to Europe.


Good Luck with your decision... I bet a lot of folks would love to be in a position to have that choice to make.

 

[tinknsnow]

Catsmom, that was actually very helpful. Thanks! I'm getting more excited about the idea of NYE onboard. You may be right about the "scratch the surface" thing. Is it a lot of travel to get started and back.

Anyone else?

 

[NancyIL]

Being a frugal traveler, I think both Disney's holiday cruises and Europe cruises are overpriced - with the exception of the Transatlantic cruises. However, if you're going to pay that much money for a cruise, I'd go somewhere special - and it sure isn't the Caribbean!

ETA - looking at the itinerary of the 10-night cruise, there isn't much "southern" Caribbean in it! It's basically a Bahamas cruise plus an eastern Caribbean cruise, with one new island - Antigua. The 11-night Christmas cruise has the better itinerary.

 

[crzy4magic]

One problem is that the two cruises you are comparing have very different focuses (sp?).

The Caribbean ports are more laid back, oriented towards outdoor activities like beaches, boating, golf etc.

The Med ports are commercial ports and the excursions are oriented towards history, sights and only some relaxing stuff.

The other problem is the distance between most of the ports and the actual stuff you want to see - distance from the port to Rome, distance from Naples to Pompeii, etc. Excursions on the Med trip were longer (I remember that there were some that were 14 hours!) and significantly more expensive (Like you, we are a family of 5. A $150 to $200 per person excursion adds up fast!) than in the Mediterranean two years ago - which is why we dropped our Magic reservation and just flew to London and Paris for a 10 day vacation and saved over $5000.

If you children's tollerance is only for short excursions you will get frustrated in the Med.

If you and your children can tolerate very long days at some ports - then go for it.

See if any of the Med trip reports are still available on the trip report page. I know may cruisers wrote some marvelous Blogs that were available at the time to get a feel for what the Med cruises were like.

But - no matter which you chose you will be on the Magic - enjoying the pixie dust and great service!

 

[mindelmouse]

One problem is that the two cruises you are comparing have very different focuses (sp?).

The Caribbean ports are more laid back, oriented towards outdoor activities like beaches, boating, golf etc.

The Med ports are commercial ports and the excursions are oriented towards history, sights and only some relaxing stuff.

The other problem is the distance between most of the ports and the actual stuff you want to see - distance from the port to Rome, distance from Naples to Pompeii, etc. Excursions on the Med trip were longer (I remember that there were some that were 14 hours!) and significantly more expensive (Like you, we are a family of 5. A $150 to $200 per person excursion adds up fast!) than in the Mediterranean two years ago - which is why we dropped our Magic reservation and just flew to London and Paris for a 10 day vacation and saved over $5000.

If you children's tollerance is only for short excursions you will get frustrated in the Med.

If you and your children can tolerate very long days at some ports - then go for it.

See if any of the Med trip reports are still available on the trip report page. I know may cruisers wrote some marvelous Blogs that were available at the time to get a feel for what the Med cruises were like.

But - no matter which you chose you will be on the Magic - enjoying the pixie dust and great service!

in a cat 3 with 2 9 year olds....my kids actually asked to go on this cruise. We enjoy sightseeing more than laying on a beach...so the med was the way to go for us...it's going to be very expensive, but I think it will be worth it.