5 night?

[Jhondy]

We just got back from an 8 night on the fantasy and it was awesome! I was hoping to book another 8 night next fall but it doesn’t look like it’s offered. I’m stuck between a 7 night and a 5 night (and then convincing DH to just let me book it and stop arguing about price). The 5 night would have two stops at castaway cay and be on the Magic (I was on that ship 15 years ago but it’s changed so much so it’d be like a new ship) or a 7 night on the fantasy. I like the more nights but I am also wanting to try a new ship. Is 5 nights gonna feel way to short after having done an 8 night?

 

[Cheburashka]

If you really value a longer cruise, it will feel short to you. Personally, I've fully enjoyed cruises from 3 nights to 7 nights long, but I'm a person who can unwind quickly and am able to relax on even a short cruise. Some people can't. It's all a matter of disposition.

 

[AgentMama]

Some people really value the double dip as well. Our family prefers the longer cruise and more variety. We think 5 nights generally feels like its better than the 3 or 4 nights when you're looking for a longer cruise, but we'd prefer the 7 night.

 

[scrappinginontario]

We did a 5 night after doing 7 and I was surprised how much we enjoyed it and how 'long' it felt. We would do a 5 night again.

 

[greensombrero]

I’ve done a 3,4,5 and 7 night. I think a 5 night is the sweet spot to be long enough while still being easier to do. I’d love a 7 night again but our next will be a 5 and I’m not worried. Itinerary wise I’d love a double dip too and I love the Magic, done all of the original 4. I personally prefer her water slide the Aquadunk.

Unfortunately our next time to sail her with kids school schedule means we are opting for a 4 night on her next fall. While I don’t know that I’d do a 3 night again I didn’t dislike our 4 night. Any cruise is better than no cruise in my book.

 

[bigAWL]

What I look for in a cruise (in order of priority):

1. New (to me) itinerary
2. Longer cruise
3. Ship I haven't sailed in a while
4. Castaway Cay days
5. Value (cost per night)

In your situation (and not knowing the price of each booking), the 7-night Fantasy only wins out if the ports are new ones (or ones I haven't been to in a while). You can lay out your own priority list and do a similar comparison.

We booked a 5-night for next March. I'm bummed about not having a full week, but it was all we could fit into our schedule. And we haven't sailed in four years, so we weren't going to let that stop us.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

I love a double dip....

 

[Jhondy]

What I look for in a cruise (in order of priority):

1. New (to me) itinerary
2. Longer cruise
3. Ship I haven't sailed in a while
4. Castaway Cay days
5. Value (cost per night)

In your situation (and not knowing the price of each booking), the 7-night Fantasy only wins out if the ports are new ones (or ones I haven't been to in a while). You can lay out your own priority list and do a similar comparison.

We booked a 5-night for next March. I'm bummed about not having a full week, but it was all we could fit into our schedule. And we haven't sailed in four years, so we weren't going to let that stop us.

The fantasy would have a new port of Puerto Rico for us and the repeat of St. Marteen (which was my favorite port this last cruise because it was so easy to get to the beach and town without an excursion), and repeat of Castaway Cay.

The Magic would be Naussa (which I went when I was a teenager but don’t remember and I hear such bad things about this port) and double dip at Castaway Cay. We had a blast at Castaway Cay last week but my kid had met a friend on the ship and she played with her all day on the beach and in the ocean. She didn’t make that friend until like day 5 on the cruise and I’m afraid if she doesn’t make a friend, 2 castaway cay days may be too much for her. She got bored at the beach at St. Maarten when she didn’t have a friend there but didn’t want to leave castaway cay and we were there the entire day. But we will be planning to cruise during hurricane season (September) so I picked cruises that I thought ports were interesting or ones I wanted to do but I realize that if there is a hurricane or tropical storm that those ports could be change

How is the Magic for toddlers? I really, really want to try a new ship (was hoping for Dream) but I’m concerned Magic isn’t a good choice for toddlers after being on the Fantasy. My kid loved the.m nemo splash pad, the Mickey pool, and the little splash pool that was on the side of the ship by the Mickey pool. She was not big enough for the slide (although she tried twice to sneak by the lifeguard to go down the yellow slide and was stopped both times lol). We spent most our time between those three pool areas. I also felt comfortable letting her run to the nemo splash pad from the Mickey pool by herself because there was only one way in and out of the nemo splash pad so I could watch her go in and watch for her to come out. The splash area on the Magic seems more like the one on fantasy on the deck above the pool deck and my daughter didn’t care much for that one.

So, I’m worried my kid won’t have as much to do on the Magic (oh and I need the cruise to be amazingly fun because this will be my husbands first Disney cruise and he is already complaining about price so I need to show him it is worth it and way better for our daughter than RCCL…which at this age, I believe to be true (I’ve done both)).

On the flip side, I didn’t care for any of the dinner venues on the Fantasy and it sounds like the ones on the Magic have more of a “show” to them then the Fantasy so that sounds neat. We also saw all three shows on the Fantasy and I’m assuming those three shows likely will be the same ones again next year. I also didn’t care for the kids club area on Fantasy. I wasn’t wowed by it and DD didn’t care for it so she only went a couple times for about an hour each time. I was hoping for Dream cause it looks like on the Dream their Andy’s room has a slide and I know DD would love a slide cause she loves playgrounds. Andy’s room on Fantasy just seemed lame with very little for kids to do but look at the statues of the characters (which were cool just not interactive).

After 8 nights on the fantasy, DD cried getting off saying she didn’t want to leave and wanted to stay forever. So that also makes me lean to the 7 night just to give her more days.

 

[Geomom]

After reading your last post, I'd do the Magic. 3 new (to you) shows--Twice Charmed, Tangled, Dreams. MDRs--Rapunzels Royal Table has a dinner show, Animator's Palate should have the Sorcerer Mickey night (the drawing is usually only on 6+ nt cruises.). With a smaller ship, the kids club should be smaller, and might be better for your daughter, and she'll be a little older by the time you go and possibly more interested in going. (No personal experience though as my kids were 14/18 on our Magic cruise, so my youngest was in Vibe.) I personally like the adult areas better on the Magic/Wonder than the Fantasy.

And if you want to save a little money, look at Oceanview rooms on deck 2 on the Magic. Verandahs tend to be much more expensive on the Magic/Wonder as there are fewer of them.

 

[mlayton14]

No contest , 7 nights

 

[nancipants]

We are going on the Magic next fall for the Panama Canal cruise. I have been researching it (haven't been on it since 2014) for things for my son to do (he will be 3 years, 10 months when we sail). The Magic has the AquaLab play area with a slide, small pool, and a separate splash pad. My son LOVED Nemo's reef and Mickey's pool on the Fantasy, so I think he's going to be obsessed with the AquaLab and the slide especially.

There is also a slide in the Andy's room section of the kids club.

 

[cvjw]

If you loved the 8 night on the fantasy, then a 5 night on the magic will be a letdown. I would stick with a 7 night on the fantasy.

We were also on the 8 night on the fantasy. We have done the 8 night cruise for several years and are also sad it isn’t offered next year.

 

[Girl of the South]

I really loved our port stop at San Juan quite a few years ago . . .

 

[Jhondy]

Thanks everyone for the input. I have convinced DH to let me put the deposit down on the 7 night fantasy cruise at the end of September! We are not telling DD because we may end up needing to move it. We are waiting to adopt and more than likely will be placed with a baby in the next year so if no baby has been placed with us by end of March, we will have to move the cruise to spring 2024 when baby will likely be 6 months. Waiting to adopt makes it hard to plan things!

I do wish we were going on a new ship for us but the length and ports were more important. And we did love the fantasy (not so much the dining but with DH to help me with kid(s) that might change). And the Fantasy will be first DCL ship for DH and I think he will be blown away by it. He has only done one other cruise and it was RCCL so this will be very different for him.

 

[o&smom]

Thanks everyone for the input. I have convinced DH to let me put the deposit down on the 7 night fantasy cruise at the end of September! We are not telling DD because we may end up needing to move it. We are waiting to adopt and more than likely will be placed with a baby in the next year so if no baby has been placed with us by end of March, we will have to move the cruise to spring 2024 when baby will likely be 6 months. Waiting to adopt makes it hard to plan things!

I do wish we were going on a new ship for us but the length and ports were more important. And we did love the fantasy (not so much the dining but with DH to help me with kid(s) that might change). And the Fantasy will be first DCL ship for DH and I think he will be blown away by it. He has only done one other cruise and it was RCCL so this will be very different for him.

We booked a cruise around our adoption. We booked a cruise for 4 with the belief that our DD would be part of it. We had not been matched. Our clinician was telling us to cancel the cruise, and I held out that there was still time. She did arrive 3 weeks before the cutoff! We all enjoyed our very first Disney cruise.

 

[Jhondy]

We booked a cruise around our adoption. We booked a cruise for 4 with the belief that our DD would be part of it. We had not been matched. Our clinician was telling us to cancel the cruise, and I held out that there was still time. She did arrive 3 weeks before the cutoff! We all enjoyed our very first Disney cruise.

That’s our hope! We booked for four. I figured if baby had is not here by end of March, we know baby won’t be 6 months before cruise and we will be able to move the cruise to a later date. Based on timeframes given by the adoption agency and the amount of time we have waited, we are thinking by summer next year we will be matched or have placement. So, we may have to move the cruise and pivot to a different vacation for September but I’m holding hope that baby will be here in time and we we will get to have our first family vacation on a Disney cruise!

 

[Flossbolna]

Btw, September is a time when there are usually very good last minute deals to be had. So, even if you move the cruise, but then things would have worked out for September, you could always keep an eye open for those deals.

But I hope you will be able to cruise as planned as a family of four!

 

[LosAngelesRunner]

We just got off a 5 day on the Dream and it felt like a great amount of time. I’ve done 7, 4, and 3 nights before - I do have to say with a busy work schedule and not being from Florida the 5 night works great given the extra travel buffer days we need. It didn’t feel rushed at all and I felt like we had time to really relax, while getting to know our servers and not feeling guilty about going to the adult dining some nights. Really don’t think you’ll ever regret being onboard no matter the length, too!

 

[RedHead0186]

Thanks everyone for the input. I have convinced DH to let me put the deposit down on the 7 night fantasy cruise at the end of September! We are not telling DD because we may end up needing to move it. We are waiting to adopt and more than likely will be placed with a baby in the next year so if no baby has been placed with us by end of March, we will have to move the cruise to spring 2024 when baby will likely be 6 months. Waiting to adopt makes it hard to plan things!

I do wish we were going on a new ship for us but the length and ports were more important. And we did love the fantasy (not so much the dining but with DH to help me with kid(s) that might change). And the Fantasy will be first DCL ship for DH and I think he will be blown away by it. He has only done one other cruise and it was RCCL so this will be very different for him.

Keep in mind, September is hurricane season. There is a chance your cruise may get rerouted or even cancelled (as we've seen in the past few months), so just be prepared for that. Also be prepared for potentially rougher seas-if that doesn't bother you, that's great. I was on the 7-night Fantasy itinerary at the end of September this year that sailed between Fiona and Ian. Rough seas leaving Port Canaveral (enough that crew members commented on it, and my mom couldn't make dinner), and really rough seas coming back into Port Canaveral (which was very shortly after Ian had passed through. The last night felt a bit like a roller coaster, some of the dips had some force to them.

Now, that's a pretty extreme case, yes, so I don't say that to totally scare you off, but to make you aware. Sailing in September does have its advantages (including last minute discounts, as others have stated), but there is also a risk.