2018 Disney dates messed up "plans"

[amberwc]

We were planning a big trip for June 2018 - we wanted to do the N. Europe Baltic Cruise. Now that the itinerary is out - so are those plans. In 2018, one turns 40, another turns 50, my dad turns 75, it's my parents 40th anniversary, and (we hope) a celebration that 2017 was cancer free.
We have 2 kids that will be 9 and 7 (almost 8) in 2018...
So what would you pick?

 

[Chirple]

If your goal is to take a northern European Baltics cruise, then you should stick with that plan, albeit with another cruise line. We did this with DCL in 2015, and it was great.

 

[jdb in AZ]

We cruised the Baltics with Celebrity instead of DCL and saved enough to pay for several great shore excursions. The cruise was so port-intensive that we didn't spend much time doing onboard activities. The ship was more of a floating hotel, which was great, since the food was better than DCL anyway.

We've also cruised Australia, and the 16-hr flight to get there seemed endless. If we ever go there again it will be on a cruise ship from Hawaii -- cheaper than business class, and more comfortable.

 

[amberwc]

We cruised the Baltics with Celebrity instead of DCL that it paid for several great excursions. The cruise was so port-intensive that we didn't spend much time doing onboard activities. The ship was more of a floating hotel, which was great, since the food was better than DCL anyway.

Did they have anything for kids?

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I think it really depends on what type of trip you are looking for. The Baltic itinerary is very port heavy with a big focus on cities, which typically means a lot of sightseeing, history, walking, etc. We did the DCL Magic Norway/Iceland/Scotland cruise in 2015 and it was absolutely amazing, but there were some port days that were far too intense for DS who was 7 1/2 at the time. We also did the Adventures by Disney Central Europe tour when DS was 6 1/2 and, again, even with the kid-centric actvities, he really needed some down days. I think of the ones you mention, I would go for the cruise because, if your kids are anything like mine, they might really enjoy having a kids-club and a central location (the ship) to unwind at the end of the day. On our cruise, my DS really liked sea days the best! We actually looked at taking a Celebrity Baltics cruise and, although we had to cancel due to some scheduling difficulties, I would definitely consider trying them in the future. Might be worth looking in to if you need to book with another cruise line? Their kids club gets nice reviews. Adventures by Disney also does some European River cruises that look lovely - perhaps something to look in to?

 

[jdb in AZ]

Did they have anything for kids?

We saw only a handful of kids onboard, and we didn't check out the kids' clubs.

 

[kaseyC]

If you are truly interested in the Baltic itinerary, I would look into another cruise line. With the savings you could book some fantastic private tours that can be tailored to appeal to the broad age range of your traveling party. I know NCL will have the Getaway doing a 9 night Baltic itinerary in 2018. I don't think RCCL has released their 2018 European cruises yet. Both of those cruise lines are pretty family friendly even though their youth program may not have the extensive hours of DCL. We did a 9 night Baltic sailing on NCL a few summers ago, it's such a port intensive cruise that the ship is literally a floating hotel.