3-Day Cruisers - Do you feel rushed?

[bynum66]

Thinking of taking a 3 Day Cruise (starting off small because some in party have never cruised) w/2 kids (5 and 4) and 5 adults before our week's stay in Disney the week of October 4-8th. For those of you who have done this, did you feel that 3 days was enough. TIA

 

[RagamuffinMom]

Yes, we did feel rushed.
No, three days was not enough.

We went to WDW for a 4 day trip and a 3 day cruise last year. Our children were 5 and 3. If I had it to do over I would skip WDW and just do a 7 day cruise.

The cruise was very relaxing. The kids had a ball in the pool and in the kids clubs. They loved the shows and meeting the characters in the atrium.

Honestly - three days just goes so fast. We didn't get off the ship at Nassau so that helped but you leave the port on Wednesday late afternoon, spend Thursday in Nassau, Friday in Castaway Cay, and then are back in port first thing Saturday morning. It's really three nights, not three days.

Still - three nights is better than no nights but if there is any way to squeeze in a 4 night or a 7 day trip then I'd say for sure do that.

 

[TootyJane]

No, we didn't feel rushed but all of us agreed that 3 days just wasn't enough time to enjoy the ship and all it has to offer. HTH

 

[manchurianbrownbear]

We just did a 3-day November 6-9 after spending 10/31 - 11/6 at WDW.

I would strongly encourage you to go ahead with the 3-day. Our days were very full. There were some things, maybe a lot of things, that we didn't have time to do, but it was definitely three days well spent!

If you have the option of taking a 3-day cruise or a longer cruise, I'd take the longer cruise. But, I think the reason a lot of people take the 3-day cruise is because of time or money limitations.

I've seen posts in this forum in the past where people have suggested that if you can only go for three days, its not even worth going. That's NOT true!

 

[Cruisin]

We have been on 1- 4 day cruise and 3, soon to be 4 - 3 day cruises. I guess you can tell that we do not think the 3 day cruises are too rushed.
Yes, you will probably be busy, but the choice is really yours. If you want to be busy you can be or if you want to relax you can do that too.
I say go on the 3 day, have fun!!!!!!

 

[DisneyGator01]

Of course longer is better.. but...

Any cruise is better then no cruise at all!

Just don't try to do everything, enjoy what you can do thoroughly, and save others for the next cruise!

3 days is a good way to see if cruising is for you and your family. I say if it's the only cruise option, the go for it! Beware though, cause you will probably get addicted to cruising like most of us are

I know I am addicted.. Cruising the only way I vacation.

 

[ericnj]

WE also took the nov 6-9 trip. THe three day was the perfect length to wet our appetite for the 7 day which we have already signed up for. Not too rushed, just not enough time to do everything we wanted. Always good to leave wanting more.

 

[manchurianbrownbear]

ericnj, we missed you at our mini-DIS meet!

I'm trying to get day 3 three of a trip report posted by tomorrow. Feel free to check it out and add anything I missed!

 

[KelNottAt]

We didn't feel the least bit rushed on our 3-day last May. The pace of everything was calm and relaxing. However, having said that, we definitely will do longer cruises in the future. It's just so much fun we want it to last longer. (At the time 3 days fit our budget, schedule and DH's Disney apprehension. Since then, he's a total convert.)

Regarding your trip, I'd suggest going to WDW first, then cruise. IMO the park portion of a land/sea adventure is not to be missed. But it's full of rushing, crowds, queues, etc. Get that over first, then spend your last 3 days full of R&R at sea.

Kelley

 

[christinou]

We also took a 3 day this past august, for the same reason you are mentionning, we LOVED it..... and are going on a 7 day in February.
We did not feel rush, we just felt that it was a good way to experience our first cruise, we got to the terminal as soon as it opened to maximize our time there, and just really enjoyed the experience, we did not do any excursions in Nassau, just went off the ship for an hour to take pictures.
We really did enjoy it, and felt that it was a great to see if you liked cruising, now we are completely addicted......

 

[kasar]

We're getting ready for our 3rd 3-day cruise! We enjoy doing lots of different things when we vacation. The cruise is just long enough that it's relaxing and fun, but short enough to be able to do other things (we're tacking on a WDW stay, too). I'm the type that loves vacation, but doesn't like to be away for too long (I swear, we worry more about our dog than anything else!). Try and get there as early as possible on the 1st day and don't forget to pack swimsuits in a carryon bag so you can get the most out of that 1st day (makes it seem longer!).

I don't know if we'll ever go for the 7 day cruise, the 3-dayers seem to work for our family. Whatever you decide, have fun!

 

[erikthewise]

We did feel rushed, but that was because
-- it was our first cruise
-- we had one child in the Club and one in the Lab; it seemed like half our cruise consisted of dropping them off and picking them up!
-- we went to all three shows and one movie
-- we went to the disembarkation talk and the childrens presentation on the last afternoon.

So yes, it's somewhat rushed and a little too short, but in no way does that ruin the cruise. It's still worth doing! Next year we have a 4-day booked, but after that we may do another 3-day.

 

[manchurianbrownbear]

KelNottAt,

I agree 100% that its great to have the 3-day cruise at the end of a few days at WDW. I wouldn't call the cruise "restful", but definitely a slower pace than WDW!

ericthewise,

I sure don't know how to do it without compromising security, but it would be GREAT if there were some way to speed up the drop off / pick up procedure at the clubs and labs. Our four kids, ages 12, 8, 7 & 4 were all in different groups. Our twelve year old could check himself in and out, but we did spend a lot of time checking the younger three in and out!

 

[minniecarousel]

No, we did not feel rushed and
Yes, three days was enough.

Flying from the West Coast, there is no way I'll go all that way and not "do" WDW!! And we cannot take more than a week at a time for vacation. So, we do the 3-day, relax and enjoy.

 

[musicgirl]

We loved our 3-night. We have been on 2 and will be going on a 7-night in june so be careful, you'll be addicted!!!

The first time is harder because you've got a lot to learn about where and what etc. Also, the first one for us was with a land/sea package. In hindsight, I would have taken a 7-night if I knew that I could have handled the motion. We had done WDW the year before for 5 days. Unfortunately, it rained alot on the land/sea trip at WDW.

Our 2nd trip, we stayed at Cocoa Beach the night before and a night in Orlando after. We had not planned on going to WDW, but my sister and her family had not been and decided to give it a try. This really helped make it seem like a longer vacation.

If you do go on a 3-night, I highly recommend getting there early whether you stay at Cocoa Beach the night before or have your transportation get there early. With the land/sea, we took the DCL buses and did not get there until after 1:30. I know that doesn't seem like a lot of extra time but it really helped on our 2nd cruise. It was easier getting reservations, and we had extra time to unpack and walk around before the drill.

 

[Hunnybee]

I definitely felt rushed -- although it was a wonderful vacation, it was not relaxing at all! And, granted, that was my own fault for trying to do too much. However, it was our first Disney cruise (my DH and I did a 4-day Mexican cruise on Norwegian for our honeymoon).

We did the 3-night Wonder Halloween cruise this year for my DS-I-L's 50th b-day. So, we had a whole crew there! We all had a ball -- but I would have loved to have had a day to just explore the ship, swim more, go to the clubs. Instead, we wanted to see the shows each night and the 2 days were full too -- we got off the ship in Nassau (big mistake!) for a few hours and got back on for the Halloween activities in the mid-afternoon and evening. Then Castaway on Saturday. Then it was over! Way too soon!!! My DS (4 years old) would also have loved to spend more time in the Oceaneer's Club.

We just simply didn't have enough time. I would suggest a 4-day if you can swing it. Although, at least your vacation won't be done after the cruise. That would make a big difference! But, I would definitely do a 3-day over no-day!

 

[Luvdisney]

We took a 3 day cruise just to get our kids feet wet with cruising. My son doesn't like to fly and we were afraid that if he didn't like cruising anything longer would be to much. But he loved it and had a blast. As everone else has said it is really short. Seems just as you are getting settled it time to get off the boat. But now we know how the kids will do and we are going on a 7 day eastern cruise this July. I can't wait!