Aft or forward, port or starboard

[2clssy]

Hi everyone, this will be our first cruise and disney Cruise. We’re planning on the 3 night from port canaveral from either dream or wonder with a 5 and 6 year old for my son’s birthday in February 2019. I’m ready to book but have a few questions:
* what ship is better for a 5 and 6 year old with no days at sea itinerary dream or wonder
* what side is best port or starboard for the best views of the ports and fireworks from the ocean view or veranda?
* what area is better aft or forward?

 

[Shanti]

Hi everyone, this will be our first cruise and disney Cruise. We’re planning on the 3 night from port canaveral from either dream or wonder with a 5 and 6 year old for my son’s birthday in February 2019. I’m ready to book but have a few questions:
* what ship is better for a 5 and 6 year old with no days at sea itinerary dream or wonder
* what side is best port or starboard for the best views of the ports and fireworks from the ocean view or veranda?
* what area is better aft or forward?

I recommend the Dream for a small child, because it has the Midship Detective Agency, the Aqua Duck (if they're at least 42" tall), Disney on-demand programming in the stateroom, minigolf, etc. that will help keep small kids entertained.

The fireworks go off on the starboard side of the ship, and I recommend aft on the Dream, to be a quick elevator ride away from most of the ship's dining locations.

With kids that young, I recommend staying on the ship at Nassau and just enjoying what the Dream has to offer.

 

[2clssy]

Thanks! Is there nothing for a 5 and 6 year old to do in Nassau or the ship is just better? Also with the fireworks, can they be viewed from the veranda on the starboard side? Do you recommend a 4 day cruise with a day at sea and one day at WDW or a 3 day cruise with no day day at sea and 2 days at WDW?

 

[Geomom]

I would go with a 4 day vs. 3 day. That first day is mostly a waste and by the time you figure out where everything is on day 3, it'll be time to leave. We've done 1 cruise so far (Alaskan on the Wonder) that was 7nts and feel like we weren't on the ship long enough.

For me--which ship should depend on which amenities you might use, which shows you're more interested in seeing, etc. The new shows on the 2 ships--Frozen on the Wonder, Beauty and the Beast on the Dream. If you think you might do a longer cruise in the future, maybe do the Dream now as it only does 3/4 nt Bahamas ones. Fantasy does 7 nt Western/Eastern Caribbean and a few longer Southern Caribbean ones. Wonder does a little of everything--(from 3-7+ nts) Bahamas, Caribbean, Southern Caribbean, West Coast cruises--including the Alaska summer season. Magic does a little of everything as well, but heads to Europe in the summer, and tends to do cruises from NYC in the fall.

 

[Shanti]

Thanks! Is there nothing for a 5 and 6 year old to do in Nassau or the ship is just better? Also with the fireworks, can they be viewed from the veranda on the starboard side? Do you recommend a 4 day cruise with a day at sea and one day at WDW or a 3 day cruise with no day day at sea and 2 days at WDW?

It depends on how often you get to go to WDW. If doing so is a rare, special treat for the kids, then I recommend the 3-night cruise & 2 days at the parks. This is a cruise message board, so most posters here prefer cruises to the parks & insist that longer cruises are always better, but two of our cruises were 3-night cruises & we had a great time. WDW has a lot to offer young kids, so if that's something they rarely get to experience, I'd definitely allow 2 days at the parks.

One tip for short cruises is to keep swimsuits in your shoulder bag and arrive as early as possible on embarkation day, so that you can board relatively early, then upon arrival, go straight to the pool deck to swim in the pools & ride the Aqua Duck while crowds & lines are low. It will be your best pool deck experience of the whole cruise, because so many people haven't boarded yet, & most of those who have boarded go straight to lunch, not the pool deck.

I recommend cruising first, then visiting the parks second (the opposite of most people's recommendation), for two reasons:

1. If you do the parks first & take the Disney bus from resort to ship, you'll arrive on the late side & miss the emptier pool deck opportunity I described above.
2. Leaving the cruise ship is depressing on the last day, & having the parks to look forward to is a nice way to keep everyone's spirits high.

On a 3-night, you can make the Nassau day your virtual day at sea by staying onboard. Yes, with small kids I recommend staying onboard, as nothing on Nassau can match the attractions on the ship for young kids.

Many starboard verandah staterooms lend themselves to viewing fireworks. I think DCL recommends against that, but lots of people do it anyway with no issue. Here is a link to stateroom reviews that you can search as you consider different staterooms.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/cruise-new/roomlist.cfm

 

[Sunshine2U]

I agree with everyone who says no need to plan an excursion in Nassau. Treat the ship as the destination, especially if a 3-day and even on a 4-day. Our first cruise was 3-day parks + 3-day cruise. The 3-day does make sense if as stated above your trips to WDW will be limited over time. Otherwise I recommend a 4-day. With the 3-day you are just figuring our what you like when it's time to get off the ship.

If it's the first time to WDW, I think you do WDW first so the kids have a chance to experience Magic Kingdom first - I always feel like Magic Kingdom should be a child's first experience with Disney. And it's true you are more relaxed coming off the cruise than from the parks.

 

[2clssy]

We’ve been to WDW once before in 2017, but used to have season passes at DL in California. We’ve recently moved to TX so don’t have easy access to DL like before so the February 2019 trip will be the first time back to Disney.

 

[Quellman]

I like the Starboard side of the ship. It just feels better. This is the side of the ship they shoot the fireworks off of. But do be mindful that some staterooms they ask you not to be on the verandah during the show. Also, you will not see the pirates show that starts before the fireworks, and some of the music may be hard to hear. (Just letting you know).

 

[RedSox68]

From our experiences, I cannot do forward because I get seasick (rising and falling of bow during the night). We always like Port, but nowadays it really doesn't matter as the ship might pull in or back in with starboard side facing land. Sorry, can't answer about which ship is better with a little one.

 

[buzzsmom]

Starboard generally has better views, but it has never been enough to weigh in on room selection. I am very prone to seasickness and will never stay in a forward cabin again. We always get midship, but prefer to favor the aft end of the ship in the selection.

As for the ships, it depends more on your kid's personality than age. My younger son found the Fantasy's kids clubs overwhelming at that age. My older one, who is more outgoing, loved the Fantasy clubs at that age. Both preferred the kids clubs on the Magic and Wonder though. If you are looking for more family activities to do with your son, the bigger ships are better because there are more activities. If you want to take advantage of the kids club and your son can take some time to warm up to other kids, the smaller ships will probably provide a better experience. We were just on the Wonder in August and it has the best crew of all the ships we've been on (and we even ran into some of our favorite crew members from previous cruises on the Fantasy and Magic).

We just booked the Dream to round out our tour of the Disney ships, in part because it allows us to visit Atlantis for the day and we can knock that off our kids' bucket list of places they want to visit without having to stay there overnight. Otherwise, I agree that nassau doesn't offer much for families that is better than a day on the boat.