1st Disney Cruise for our 20th anniversary - need help please

[pooh2001]

We'll we may be early planners. Looking for suggestions
to help us plan our 20th wedding anniversary.

From the boards, I think we'll do 2/3 nights on our own at
WDW and then take the DCL bus from a WDW resort
to a 7 day Disney Cruise. That will give us a
day or two to 'rest' on land without lack of sleep
from flying into WDW.

Our time to vacation - Wed/Thur/ Fri before Easter
in WDW. Then Fri or Sat (when it cruises) to the boat.
Spend Easter week on a cruise.

We will be bringing our DS who will be 13 and
our DD who will be 10.

We would like a veranda - catageory 4 ?

Better to do Eastern or Western Cruise ?

Is there a laundry facility on the Magic and Wonder ?

Even though it'll be our first cruise - I think we can do the
7 day - what do you think ?


are there any good guide books on the Disney Cruises ?

Thanks for all you help

 

[GenieDana]

The best advice I can give you is buy the Passporter!

It's $10.67 at buy.com, with FREE shipping. Mine took 5 days to get here in Florida from California.

Here's a link:

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=31092281

 

[FantasticDisFamily]

The suggestion to purchase the Passporter is a good one - do that.

However, here is my 2 cents worth on your questions.

Great way to celebrate by the way - we'll be celebrating our 20th on our cruise in June, celebrated 15th back in 1998. Make sure you let DCL or your TA know when you make reservations.

Stateroom - with 4 of you a Cat. 6 will give you the verandah and easily accomodate the group. The sleeping arrangements will be the large bed, the sofa that converts into a twin bed - plenty big enough for the 13 yo, and a bunk that the room steward will drop from the ceiling each evening and stow away each morning. Cat. 4 doesn't take you up to concierge level, so you can save some money by going with the Cat. 6 also.

When we were deciding on our 7 day we printed out everything from the DCL site on both itineraries and had everyone read through it, marking those places/excursions, etc. that were most appealing. Then we went with the itinerary that had the most "stuff" people were interested in. We ended up on the Western because of the variety of places and excursions that fit what all wanted to do. The 3 sea days on the Eastern would be nice, but since you've never cruised before 2 might be enough.

There are laundry facilties on the Magic and the Wonder - both self-serve (although I've never used those, I REFUSE to do laundry of any sort on vacation!) and done for you. There is a thread running that links to some price lists.

Whatever you decide have fun!

Deb

 

[strawberryblonde]

Congratulations on your 20th (early)! I think you have a great idea to go for the 7 day right off. We are booked for our 10th next spring, it will be our first cruise and it is a 7 day. I've read so many posts of first timers saying the 3 or 4 day was not long enough. I like the idea of unpacking once for an entire week as well

You mentioned Easter week. Easter 2004 or 2005? If it is 2004, hop to it and book right away. That cruise gets filled up and pricey. There are already some great trip reports posted by folks who just got back from their Easter cruises this year. Sounds as though there are a few nice Easter touches added to the cruise. If it is 2005, most likely your dates will be available for booking this June (I'm only going on when spring dates were available last year, I'm no expert). The sooner you book, the lower your cost.

Try and book a cat. 6. The cat. 4 has the extra bed that folds out right in front of the verandah doors, not handy for "sneaking out" at night. That bed space is about the only extra room in the 4 compared to the 6 so I've read it doesn't make it feel roomier for the price. Cat. 6 tends to fill up first compared to cat. 5 and cat. 4.

Laundry is on deck 6 with the cat. 6's. I would avoid booking right across the hall from it because I've read it radiates heat and tends to have people noise most hours. Choose a cabin 10 doors down or so for convienence.

I have the Passporter and enjoyed reading it. I write down extra info on post it notes and put them in my book. Nice to have everything in one place.

When the search feature is working, look up eastern vs. western. You should get quite a few threads with great reasons and things you might not have thought of. We are going with Eastern as our children are younger (western tends to have "older" excursions), we wanted the extra at sea day, I wanted the more tropical feel and weather. Can't really go wrong whichever you chose.

Happy planning.