7 night dcl western cruise

[gemmybear83]

We are already booked on a 4 night cruise as part of our honeymoon on the wonder leaving 12/12/2010 but were thinking of swapping our booking to the 7 night western cruise leaving 11/12/2010. We are so excited about the cruise (it's our first Disney cruise!) and think it would be more relaxing to have a longer cruise and shorter wdw trip? Any thoughts?

I was also wondering how easy it is to do your own thing at the ports of call, instead of having to do organised trips? We will probably do a couple but were usually quite independent when we travel?

Any comments would be welcome

 

[wayneg]

How long you going for?
If its 3 weeks+ I would highly recommend the 7 night cruise, if only a 2 week trip then 4 nights could be enough for you but everyone is different.

4 nights are better than nothing but they are soon over, you really only get 3 days as you can't board until the afternoon and you disembark 8-9am on your last day. 7 night cruises are far more relaxing IMO.

We have only ever done a fishing trip with Disney (at Castaway Cay) we like to just get off the ship for 1-2 hours have a stroll around then back aboard th enjoy the quiet ship. You can arrange your own shore excursions either online or in port, easy enough with internet these days but compare with Disney there might not be much difference in price. We did the fishing because we could just book the 2 of us with them and share a boat, most on the net were charters for 4-8 people.

 

[gemmybear83]

Cheers wayne, were planning 2.5 weeks with 1 week staying at the swan and dolphin before the cruise (got a rate for $177 Inc tax per night) with our family for the wedding. Then hopefully the 7 night cruise and and then a few nights renting dvc points to avoid the high Christmas rates!

I think were in the same mindset as you about excursions, we do like the sound of the tulum excursion at Cozumel though!

 

[Laurafoster]

The 7 night western cruise is amazing! Although i didnt go to Mexico on mine (Swine Flu had just started and we went to Nassau instead).

Im usually the same as you and like to do my own thing when i get places, however this time we booked a few things.

Key West - Really easy to get around! We got off and did the trolley bus tour - its a hop on hop off thing that goes around the whole island which was great. We then had the flexibility to spend as much or as little time as we wanted on each stop.

Grand Cayman - we booked an Island Tour here and im glad i did. It was about 4 hours i think and we had this really funny local taking us around the island and telling us about some of the local things which was really good. We got to visit "hell" and the turtle farm which were both really enjoyable. We then had several hours to do what we wanted. Grand Cayman is quite a small island and we noticed a lot of people offering different types of trips but the Disney prices were very competitive(not often i say that lol).

Castaway Cay - i just enjoy walking around and enjoying the island so have never booked anything here. Just a lovely place to relax.

 

[natalielongstaff]

ive only done a 3 night cruise, it was over far to quickly for my liking

 

[CustardTart]

...we do like the sound of the tulum excursion at Cozumel though!

Hi. DH and I did the DCL Western Caribbean cruise a couple of years ago and loved it! The only excursion we booked was the Tulum ruins one and it was fantastic - I heartily recommend it...

It's really easy to just get off the ship and do your own thing. In Key West, the Magic docks just a few minutes walk from all the action - we ended up mooching around and visiting Hemingway's house.

You're tendered in at Grand Cayman - the Magic anchors out in the bay and small boats ferry you into the port. It's straightforward tho' we weren't very organised once we got there - we went looking for a beach but ended walking for ages in the wrong direction! We did find a nice bar for some lunch and a couple of cocktails, but more research would definitely have been useful...

I'd say definitely go for the 7 night cruise - you will love it!!!

 

[Becx N Gav]

I've never done a 7 night cruise (I've only been on one 4 night ) but I've heard if you are on a non-Disney excursion and you are running late the ship will not wait - if you are on a Disney excursion and it's late they will wait. It may not matter if you're close to the port but I'd bear it in mind

 

[disneyholic family]

We are already booked on a 4 night cruise as part of our honeymoon on the wonder leaving 12/12/2010 but were thinking of swapping our booking to the 7 night western cruise leaving 11/12/2010. We are so excited about the cruise (it's our first Disney cruise!) and think it would be more relaxing to have a longer cruise and shorter wdw trip? Any thoughts?

I was also wondering how easy it is to do your own thing at the ports of call, instead of having to do organised trips? We will probably do a couple but were usually quite independent when we travel?

Any comments would be welcome

is the 12/12/2010 the podcast cruise?
if it is, i'm booked on that cruise!!

 

[gemmybear83]

It is the podcast cruise! We booked before it was announced though, and aren't able to join in the activities as we didn't book directly with dreams unlimited at the time :-(

thanks for all the advice everyone were going to swap our booking today!

 

[amystevekai&bump]

I would also book the 7 night cruise, but just because I think the longer the cruise the better!!- we are on the western on 23/12/10, so we will just miss you guys.

Either way it will be great - the only one I don't really recommend is the three day as we did that one recently and it really did feel short (it may sound weird but it actually felt half as long as the 4 night!!)

 

[gemmybear83]

We have swapped the cruise - so excited! Had to swap cabin, as the same one from the Wonder was already taken but were just a couple of cabins down!