1st time on DCL...opinions please

[stinkerbell628]

Hi all...going to book our first Disney Cruise and debating between 2 itineraries. Which one should we choose? 5 night Bahamian cruise on the Magic?? Or 7 night western Caribbean on the Fantasy?? Thanks

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hi all...going to book our first Disney Cruise and debating between 2 itineraries. Which one should we choose? 5 night Bahamian cruise on the Magic?? Or 7 night western Caribbean on the Fantasy?? Thanks

As many here know - I'm firmly in the "longer is better" camp.

So my vote would be 7 night Fantasy.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Hi all...going to book our first Disney Cruise and debating between 2 itineraries. Which one should we choose? 5 night Bahamian cruise on the Magic?? Or 7 night western Caribbean on the Fantasy?? Thanks

7 nights on the Fantasy for sure, no brained for me.

 

[stinkerbell628]

7 nights on the Fantasy for sure, no brained for me.

Because of the length of the cruise? Or the ship?

 

[stinkerbell628]

As many here know - I'm firmly in the "longer is better" camp.

So my vote would be 7 night Fantasy.

Haha! Yes! I’m always looking for ways to extend any Disney trip! 7 days is a plus for sure

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Because of the length of the cruise? Or the ship?

Both, I love the Fantasy, she’s my favorite DCL ship, but the Magic is my second favorite. But even if I liked the Magic better, I’d still take the 7 night on Fantasy, longer is definitely better.

 

[o&smom]

More nights the better!

 

[Pixarfans]

I say start small. Smaller ship and less time. It is a huge investment of both time and money on a 7-night for the 1st time. Too much pressure to love the vacation and have it be perfect on a first time cruise, at least for me. Then, book a placeholder and do the longer one on the bigger ship.

 

[buzzrelly]

Another vote for the 7-night on the Fantasy. I've been on all four ship and the Fantasy is definitely my favorite. Plus, the Caribbean beats the Bahamas any day of the week

 

[DIS_MIKE]

Nothing wrong with a 7-night on the Fantasy but for a first-time cruiser, I would recommend a shorter cruise.

 

[Milky]

7 nights. This shouldn't be a debate.

 

[Giraffe Lounge]

Are you a first time cruiser or just first time on DCL?

If you’ve cruised before definitely 7 night Fantasy. If you haven’t cruised at all yet I’d still lean 7 but would depend a lot on you and how comfortable you are.

 

[stinkerbell628]

Are you a first time cruiser or just first time on DCL?

If you’ve cruised before definitely 7 night Fantasy. If you haven’t cruised at all yet I’d still lean 7 but would depend a lot on you and how comfortable you are.

I’ve been on several cruises before...it’s my first DCL cruise though

 

[MomOTwins]

7 nights. This shouldn't be a debate.

You're right it shouldn't be a debate, because you can't debate personal preferences. But you are wrong if you are suggesting that everyone agrees 7 nights are better than 5 nights. We did two 3-night Disney cruises and loved them, then (largely based on all the pressure here) went with a 7 night, and really wished we had done another shorter cruise. It was too much repetition, we didn't like any of the ports, were frustrated at how much stuff was pre-booked at the gold/platinum level, felt the ship was much more crowded than the shorter cruises, and my motion sickness was much worse will at the at sea time. And it was frustrating to have spent so much money to do it when it just wasn't for us. We are going back to 4 nights.

I also had a coworker who did the 7 night as her first cruise, and had a miserable time (the first half of the cruise, her kids never wanted to use the kids club, and the second half, her daughter got noro so they were quarantined in the room all day), and now never wants to cruise DCL again.

I recognize we are in the minority on these boards, but I speak up every time this question is asked because the 7 nights really are a lot more money and don't always add value. Now a 7-night in Europe or Alaska I might consider because those have interesting ports (though the prices are just nuts), but if you are just choosing between Caribbean cruises, 7 nights is not necessarily better than 5.

 

[goingtoexpo!!]

I would pick Fantasy but don't get an aft room. There are vibration issues.

 

[DIS_MIKE]

I’ve been on several cruises before...it’s my first DCL cruise though

Well if that's the case then I totally recommend 7 nights on the Fantasy.

 

[lovingeire]

7 nights for sure!

 

[stinkerbell628]

I would pick Fantasy but don't get an aft room. There are vibration issues.

Thanks for the tip! I’ll remember that

 

[KashasMom]

I like the Fantasy better than the Magic and love the Western Carib itinerary. So that would be my choice!

 

[anjuan]

I prefer the Caribbean over the Bahamas plus I'm in the longer is better camp. With the shorter cruise you may feel like you have to cram a lot of activities in and be busy all of the time on the cruise rather than having more time to relax and do what you want over the 7 days.