4-night Baja or 4-night Bahamian?

[Kbmas0n]

Hello! We just returned from our first cruise (ever!) on the Disney Dream and re-booked onboard for next spring break. We are at the mercy of my kiddo's school schedule, as they are at an age that it's just too hard to play catch up after missing a week of school.

We originally re-booked for the 4-night Baja on the Wonder out of San Diego to Cabo, but I'm wondering if we should move it to the 4-night Bahamian on the Dream out of Port Canaveral instead. OR the 5-night out of Miami on the Magic? We LOVED Castaway Cay, but I also love the idea of visiting Baja, and doing a little San Diego trip, too. #firstworldproblems.

Has anyone been on the Baja cruise? Any thoughts? My kiddos will be eight and 13. We had an absolutely blast on the bahamian 3-nighter, and can't wait for the next one!

Would love any thoughts and opinions! Thanks!

 

[dcassetta]

Hello! We just returned from our first cruise (ever!) on the Disney Dream and re-booked onboard for next spring break. We are at the mercy of my kiddo's school schedule, as they are at an age that it's just too hard to play catch up after missing a week of school.

We originally re-booked for the 4-night Baja on the Wonder out of San Diego to Cabo, but I'm wondering if we should move it to the 4-night Bahamian on the Dream out of Port Canaveral instead. OR the 5-night out of Miami on the Magic? We LOVED Castaway Cay, but I also love the idea of visiting Baja, and doing a little San Diego trip, too. #firstworldproblems.

Has anyone been on the Baja cruise? Any thoughts? My kiddos will be eight and 13. We had an absolutely blast on the bahamian 3-nighter, and can't wait for the next one!

Would love any thoughts and opinions! Thanks!

The 5 night Magic will give you a chance to try a new ship and a longer cruise. They either visit Cozumel or Grand Cayman on the 5-night cruises, both of which are great beach ports. Plus, you would get a visit to Castaway Cay. You would also get sea days which are great for activities on the ship. If your family are Marvel fans, some of the Magic 5-night cruises are Marvel Day at Sea.

That being said, San Diego is a great city to visit and I enjoy Cabo as a port.

 

[Quellman]

I think visiting San Diego would be a lot of fun if you can add that to the cruisetime. Great for kids that age. The Wonder is the on'y ship without a aqua duck/dunk. You can't go wrong with Miami either. The magic has some great dining choices. Just be prepared that there isn't quite as much whizz bang on the magic as there is on the dream. The western Caribbean has some exciting excursion optinos if that is your thing too!

 

[AgentMama]

If considering different flight costs to the different ports you mentioned is not an issue, I would pick a trip with ports you haven't been to. My two cents

 

[Kbmas0n]

The 5 night Magic will give you a chance to try a new ship and a longer cruise. They either visit Cozumel or Grand Cayman on the 5-night cruises, both of which are great beach ports. Plus, you would get a visit to Castaway Cay. You would also get sea days which are great for activities on the ship. If your family are Marvel fans, some of the Magic 5-night cruises are Marvel Day at Sea.

That being said, San Diego is a great city to visit and I enjoy Cabo as a port.

Thank you! The itinerary is key west, nassau and castaway cay. We LOVED CC, and love the idea of the five night. But then loved the idea of San Diego and Cabo. Decisions, decisions....

 

[Kbmas0n]

I think visiting San Diego would be a lot of fun if you can add that to the cruisetime. Great for kids that age. The Wonder is the on'y ship without a aqua duck/dunk. You can't go wrong with Miami either. The magic has some great dining choices. Just be prepared that there isn't quite as much whizz bang on the magic as there is on the dream. The western Caribbean has some exciting excursion optinos if that is your thing too!

Thank you! What sort of whizz bang is missing on the Wonder? We did love the dream, but love the idea of a smaller ship, too.

 

[Quellman]

Thank you! What sort of whizz bang is missing on the Wonder? We did love the dream, but love the idea of a smaller ship, too.

Currently the wonder does not have: in room on demand movies, aqua duck / dunk, aqua lab, teens hot tubs space at the front of the ship, mid ship detective agency, sports simulator, minigolf. Those are some of the ones I could think of quickly.

 

[Masonmj84]

Here are my thoughs having recently finished the 5 night Baja cruise on the Wonder (I've never sailed on the Dream but I have sailed both the Eastern and Western Caribbean iteneraries on the Fantasy - I've also done Alaska on the Wonder):

Pros of the Baja cruise:
San Diego is a great city to sail out of
The current nightly entertainment lineup on the Wonder really good (the 3 musical shows are all top notch IMO)
Tianna's Place is currently my favorite MDR for theming (very loud however)
To me, there's a somewhat more relaxed/mellow feel on the Wonder as compared to the Dream class ships
Novelty of visiting new ports of call that we'd never previously experienced

Cons of the Baja cruise:
The Pacific is colder than the Atlantic at a given latitude (even in Cabo, the water is quite a bit colder than it is in the Bahamas at the same time of the year)
For a given date, the air temperature is also likely to be colder (compounded with wind, this can make the pool deck fairly chilly, especially on sea days)
The ports of call, while new to us, were somewhat bland IMO
The Wonder lacks some of the bells and whistles of the Dream class ships, as mentioned by PP
No Castaway Cay

 

[bethy]

I vote the 5 Day cruise with Castaway Cay

We love the smaller ships and Castaway Cay

We did the 5 night Baja cruise last spring and vowed not to again. We are beach people and there are not good beach options. Even the beaches in San Diego are very different and not as relaxing IMO.

Also a longer cruise is a better cruise.

 

[Kbmas0n]

I vote the 5 Day cruise with Castaway Cay

We love the smaller ships and Castaway Cay

We did the 5 night Baja cruise last spring and vowed not to again. We are beach people and there are not good beach options. Even the beaches in San Diego are very different and not as relaxing IMO.

Also a longer cruise is a better cruise.

I'm thinking you are right. And we are the kind of family where we love familiarity. Being familiar with the ship will help my husband a ton. And longer would most certainly be better in this instance. And we love the beach. This one feels friendlier for the kiddos, too.

 

[SmileEar2Ear]

We’re in almost the same boat as you! We did our first 3 night on the Dream and now DH and I are doing a 5 night on the Magic, but I know we need to book another on board for the family. My kiddos will be 10 & 13 when we sail again. I really thought a new destination would be fun so I was thinking San Diego, but I’m afraid we’ll really miss the beach aspect of Castaway Cay as that was everyone’s favorite part. We are also trying to plan around school and I’m thinking we just may end up doing a longer Bahamian next time even though we’ve done it before. Although we might possibly look into a double dip.

 

[angie7911922]

Between the 2, I'd pick Baja. I'm not a big fan of the Bahamas, but maybe I've just been there too many times.

 

[bethy]

I'm thinking you are right. And we are the kind of family where we love familiarity. Being familiar with the ship will help my husband a ton. And longer would most certainly be better in this instance. And we love the beach. This one feels friendlier for the kiddos, too.

Just to clarify the ship won't feel exactly the same as the Dream. The Magic is smaller which to me is an advantage. However the ships have enough similarities that it will still feel familiar to your husband. There are a lot of consistent things about Disney Cruises, regardless of the actual ship.

 

[bethy]

Also I want to specifically mention that there is ONE swimmable beach in Cabo and it is SUPER crowded and not very nice . . . There are no good beaches in Ensenada and it is an unsightly and industrial port.

 

[Kbmas0n]

Just to clarify the ship won't feel exactly the same as the Dream. The Magic is smaller which to me is an advantage. However the ships have enough similarities that it will still feel familiar to your husband. There are a lot of consistent things about Disney Cruises, regardless of the actual ship.

Oh you are right - I was thinking bahamas = Dream, forgetting that it's out of Miami on the Magic! I will miss some of the whiz bang stuff of the dream, but think my husband would like the smaller ship, too! Thanks for reminding me - I was about to make the hotel reservations for Port Canaveral!

 

[Kbmas0n]

Also I want to specifically mention that there is ONE swimmable beach in Cabo and it is SUPER crowded and not very nice . . . There are no good beaches in Ensenada and it is an unsightly and industrial port.

And we LOVED the beaches on CC. My son is on the autism spectrum and swimming in the ocean was his VERY favorite part of the entire cruise. I think at this point, with their ages, we will need to keep CC on the itinerary for now. It's just set up so beautifully for families.

Thanks again for your responses. This forum has helped me so much over the years with planning Disney and Universal...and now cruises!

 

[peachypie]

I have been on both the Bahama/Castaway on the Dream and the Baja on the Wonder and here are some of my thoughts-
Personally I prefer the Wonder over the Dream because it is seems less overwhelming to me with less people even though the ship is smaller. In regards to Baja, the PP with Pro's and Con's had some great call outs. I am from San Diego and travel to Florida frequently and I am not a huge fan of our beaches. I would much rather go to the beach while I am in Florida and now that I think about it, it is probably the only time I go to a beach. But, I like Cabo and there are some great shore excursions that don't require going to the beach. Ensenada, to me, is somewhat like the Bahama's but in my opinion better. We go downtown or the marina for the food and a margarita and then go back to the ship. I may be more used to the vibe in Mexico being from San Diego and visiting Mexico from time to time but when I am in the Bahama's I just poke around and leave after an hour.
One thing to note, my daughter is older so when it comes to cruising, its not about the kids activities, its more about relaxing and eating so the Baja cruises are fine for her. Missing some of the bells and whistles of the Dream and occasionally missing a Castaway cruise are not too disappointing. Since your kids are young, they may prefer Castaway over Baja. So, if the 5 night Miami on the Magic that you are looking at goes to Castaway, there are probably some good pro's with that one. One is that the Magic is smaller which means less people on Castaway and it makes a bit of a difference. Also, there is an additional night compared to the other 2 itineraries. Hope this helps

 

[pixiedustedme]

We just did the 5-night Bahamian out of Miami and it was wonderful. We took a DCL excursion to see Chichen Itza in Mexico. Castaway Cay is a gem. Rapunzel's restaurant was nice: we got to interact with Rapunzel, Flynn and some thugs. Tangled is a very good show, and the self-guided Spot-A-Thug scavenger hunt they offered the day of the Tangled show was challenging.

 

[Gentry2004]

Thank you! The itinerary is key west, nassau and castaway cay. We LOVED CC, and love the idea of the five night. But then loved the idea of San Diego and Cabo. Decisions, decisions....

We are booked on the 4/6/2020 (I think?) 5 night Magic. It was roughly the same price as the 4 night Dream with another night and another port. We are also limited by school schedule. I’d love to do the Fantasy again but couldn’t swing the price at spring break. Our first Fantasy trip was random week in January.

We are excited! I would have preferred Cozumel/Grand Cayman, but again, our week is our week.