4 night double dip vs. 7 night?

[justme0729]

We did a 5 night double dip cruise in June for our honeymoon and absolutely loved it. So we have two options for our next cruise...

Option 1: $4700
2 nights at AKL pre-cruise
4 night Double Dip Cruise on Disney Dream
2 nights GF Main Building post-cruise

Option 2: $6200
1 night AKL pre-cruise
7 night Carribean Cruise (not sure if eastern or western yet)

Which one do you recommend? We are leaning towards option 1 not only because it is cheaper, but because we absolutely love Castaway Cay so that would give us 2 days there. Also, we could splurge on staying in the Grand Floridian honeymoon rooms at the main building afterwards. What are the benefits of the 7 night cruise?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We did a 5 night double dip cruise in June for our honeymoon and absolutely loved it. So we have two options for our next cruise...

Option 1: $4700
2 nights at AKL pre-cruise
4 night Double Dip Cruise on Disney Dream
2 nights GF Main Building post-cruise

Option 2: $6200
1 night AKL pre-cruise
7 night Carribean Cruise (not sure if eastern or western yet)

Which one do you recommend? We are leaning towards option 1 not only because it is cheaper, but because we absolutely love Castaway Cay so that would give us 2 days there. Also, we could splurge on staying in the Grand Floridian honeymoon rooms at the main building afterwards. What are the benefits of the 7 night cruise?

Well, you'll get a couple of different shows in the Walt Disney Theater. And, for many of us, a longer cruise is always better than a short one.

But it's your call. Whatever seems to fit you best, is best for you.

 

[apathetic]

We've done eastern and western, as well as a double dipper. The Caribbean cruises are great, but I would do the double dipper. If you've never done an eastern or western it is a tougher call. We did find that we spent less on the double dipper because we didn't pay excursions you get on the Caribbean cruises. This left more money for other stuff on the ship. And CC is a great day, but even better twice.

 

[mmmears]

If it was just 4nts vs. 7 I'd say take the longer cruise, but you're adding in some days at WDW (and also RPC at the GF...) We've done trips that combined a few park days with a shorter cruise (either 3nts or 4nts) and really enjoyed ourselves. So I guess, based on my past trips, I'd vote for the 4night plus a few days at AKL and the GF (love them both). We live far from WDW, though. If you get to go there often, unlike me, then I might lean towards the longer cruise. I like the pacing of the longer ones - people aren't in such a rush all the time.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

What time of the year? From mid-November to mid-March both Florida and Bahamas can be cool, especially the water temp. Several times now we've had (outside temps) of just 55 in Florida in January to maybe 71 on Castaway Cay.
Ocean was freezing. The temps would be ok for touring the parks, but not super great for a beach getaway.
The Dream won't go too far, whereas the Eastern or Western will be much warmer for at least 3/4 of the cruise.
I guess if it was me, I would choose the double dipper on the Dream if you are cruising from April to early November.
Otherwise I would choose the Fantasy.

 

[Carrie in AZ]

In my opinion, there is no comparison between a 4nt and 7nt cruise. We did a 4nt Double Dip and, although we loved two days at CC, four nights is wayyyy to short. You get on and then it is time to leave the ship. I much prefer 7nts. Having said that, AKL and GF are high on my list of resorts at which to stay so that is appealing. Yet again, REPEATED packing and unpacking is no joy either.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[Shanti]

We did a 5 night double dip cruise in June for our honeymoon and absolutely loved it. So we have two options for our next cruise...

Option 1: $4700
2 nights at AKL pre-cruise
4 night Double Dip Cruise on Disney Dream
2 nights GF Main Building post-cruise

Option 2: $6200
1 night AKL pre-cruise
7 night Carribean Cruise (not sure if eastern or western yet)

Which one do you recommend? We are leaning towards option 1 not only because it is cheaper, but because we absolutely love Castaway Cay so that would give us 2 days there. Also, we could splurge on staying in the Grand Floridian honeymoon rooms at the main building afterwards. What are the benefits of the 7 night cruise?

Option 1, assuming that you'll actually visit the parks during your pre and post cruise days.

That perfect combination of cruise (especially a double dip on the Dream), Disney parks, and two of WDW's best deluxe resorts can't be beat.

 

[cvjw]

7 night cruise for sure. 4 nights would be too short. Just as you are getting everything figured out on the ship, it would be time to get off. We just did a 7 night on the fantasy followed by a couple nights at Disney. We missed the ship terribly. The parks and resorts were so crowded, with people everywhere. We missed the relaxation of the ship!

 

[jdb in AZ]

Are you budgeting for meals in your WDW cost? That's an expense that adds up in a hurry, but on a cruise the meals are included (except specialty restaurants and a few things like alcohol and theatre snacks.)

We've stayed at AKL and the Grand Floridian and while they're nice, we much prefer the ships because they're so relaxing, food is available most any time, and you can eat all you want without worrying about the extra cost. It's also fun to explore new countries without unpacking/repacking your bags at each port.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

We did a 5 night double dip cruise in June for our honeymoon and absolutely loved it. So we have two options for our next cruise...

Option 1: $4700
2 nights at AKL pre-cruise
4 night Double Dip Cruise on Disney Dream
2 nights GF Main Building post-cruise

Option 2: $6200
1 night AKL pre-cruise
7 night Carribean Cruise (not sure if eastern or western yet)

Which one do you recommend? We are leaning towards option 1 not only because it is cheaper, but because we absolutely love Castaway Cay so that would give us 2 days there. Also, we could splurge on staying in the Grand Floridian honeymoon rooms at the main building afterwards. What are the benefits of the 7 night cruise?

I would choose the 7 night for 2 reasons. We love to unplug on vacation and that's really easy to do on the ship because we never get an Internet package so I have zero contact with the outside world.

The second reason is option 1 has way too much packing and unpacking for me.

 

[xQuizx]

Longer in my opinion is better.

Our first Disney cruise was a 3 night and we realized it was a mistake on the first night.

Our second Disney cruise was a 4 night with my cousin and we realized it was a mistake on the second night.

Our last cruise (last week) was a 7 night and now we know we can't go any shorter then 7 (maybe 6 depending on price).

It takes a day or two to get into the cruising flow.

We were planning on doing a 4 night with my wife's family next year, since they had never cruised before.

The whole cruise I told my wife as soon as we get off the ship I'm telling her sister we can't let them go less then 7 days because it would be a mistake, but if they insist then my family would do a B2B.

Well I called her last night and they agreed to a 7 night immediately when I told them it would be a mistake, that was before I gave the reasons.

But in the end being on a Disney cruise is better then not being on one.

Best of luck!

Cheers!

 

[ladyofthetramp]

How can you go wrong? Both sound great! I would do the 7 nights, only because we just did a 4 night double dip. But if you aim to relax, longer is better. WDW can be fun, but sort of frantic, in good way LOL