3 Day Add On Thoughts?

[BAIC03]

We are going to WDW 3-10 Dec. I am thinking of adding the 3 day cruise after our Disney stay sailing on the 11th. I’ve sailed 10+ times with DCL but never a 3 day. Is it enough time to relax? Does the cruise feel rushed? How does it feel to go to Castaway and then disembark the next morning (are you just fried?)??
TIA!

 

[AquaDame]

We are going to WDW 3-10 Dec. I am thinking of adding the 3 day cruise after our cruise on the 11th. I’ve sailed 10+ times with DCL but never a 3 day. Is it enough time to relax? Does the cruise feel rushed? How does it feel to go to Castaway and then disembark the next morning (are you just fried?)??
TIA!

We've only done one 3 day and it was indeed far to hectic for us. We don't cruise often, so maybe that is part of it. It also felt like our fellow guests were frantic - everywhere was busy with people trying to do it all, and I encountered more line cutters and elevator issues than on our other cruises. Disembarking the day after CC wasn't horrible, specifically, but we did find ourselves trying to head back a little sooner to try to pack before dinner so we could still go to the show, and the see you real soon... and one last run to the shops... etc etc.

You said add it after your cruise on the 11th though... if you've already cruised it probably would be fine as you've "done" everything?

 

[BAIC03]

You said add it after your cruise on the 11th though... if you've already cruised it probably would be fine as you've "done" everything?

oh I meant after our WDW stay. I’ve changed the original. Thanks for your inputs!!

 

[DWillowBay]

We have a 3-day coming up in November. I went back and looked at the Personal Navigators and have already got a rough draft of what we want to do/ when. We are also going to skip Nassau as we have been there twice before. So, that gives us Castaway as the only port. I'm hoping that cuts down on the hectic aspects of a short cruise. I'm actually looking forward to a short cruise this time. We do the parks after, so we'll pace ourselves so that we're not exhausted by the time that part of the trip begins.

 

[TestingH2O]

We haven’t done a 3 night yet, but I will say that the typical Fantasy 7 night stops at CC the day before debarkation. That is my least favorite part of sailing on the Fantasy to be honest.
However, you’ve been on enough cruises that you can prioritize. You might choose to skip the MDR or shows, etc especially on that last night.

 

[DCLDVC1]

I've done a couple of 3 night cruises and really enjoyed them. You've done 10+ cruises on DCL so I think you'll find it very relaxing since you've already seen and done everything onboard on previous cruises. It didn't feel any different going to Castaway and disembarking the next day on a 3 night than it has on a 7 night.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

We did our first 3-night cruise in January (first part of the B2B 4 day cruise to make Platinum) and didn't feel rushed at all. As PPs have posted, you've done it all and don't need to sign up for every onboard activity like new cruisers do. It was more like 3 nights at a luxury hotel, come and go as we pleased with excellent service and entertainment. Just do it.
Have another B2B set for September.

 

[MomOTwins]

I really like the 3-night cruises. Nassau day is our "activities day"--we stay on the ship and swim, do a spa treatment/rainforest room, palo brunch, bingo/trivia, character meets and pirate night. Castaway Cay is our "relax" day--nothing to do but chill on the beach with a konk cooler and take a dip in the beautiful turquoise waters. You still get to experience all the MDRs and the broadway-style shows.

The one thing we don't do is the movie theater, but for us two hours of our vacation time is more precious than the cost of a $6 movie ticket at home, so we didn't do that on the 7-night either. We also don't feel the need to do every character; just the a few unusual ones like Peter Pan we can't easily see at character meals or with fastpass at the parks (like you, we add the 3-night on to a WDW trip).

 

[03GirlsMom]

We're still in the very beginning stages of planning our WDW vacation for next year, but we are also considering adding a short (possibly 4 day) cruise afterward. We've never been on a DCL cruise before (although the husband & I have cruised on other lines) so I'll be following the replies to this post.

 

[DCLDVC1]

We're still in the very beginning stages of planning our WDW vacation for next year, but we are also considering adding a short (possibly 4 day) cruise afterward. We've never been on a DCL cruise before (although the husband & I have cruised on other lines) so I'll be following the replies to this post.

Our first cruise was a 4 night after a WDW vacation and I thought it was perfect.

 

[Quellman]

We find that the overall atmosphere is more hectic on a 3 night vs a 4 night. We have done a few of each and a Back to Back 3-4 so the comparison was fresh. We noticed that other guests rush around more and serving teams a bit more frantic on the 3 nights. People really try to cram much in. Overall, as we weren't the ones being frantic, I think you too can find peace on a 3 night. You will know from experience how much you'd actually need to unpack for the short trip.

 

[spiders]

Last year we did our first cruise and it was a 3 night combined with a WDW trip. I enjoyed it. It was a good way to see if you want to do a longer one. My oldest said she definitely wanted to do a longer one for 2020 and skip the parks. So we did a 7 night in February and had a great time. We're planning on returning to the parks next year and just alternate year to year from now on.