Considering first Disney cruise

Dakota731

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 8, 2014
I cant find any price quotes online for a cruise/parks package. Is there a special site for this info?
 


Like many other huge, multi-national corporations, Disney consists of many different companies under one brand. Disney Cruise Line is actually a separate company from Disney Parks and Resorts.
Disney Cruise Lines Inc. is based in Kissimmee, Florida while Disney Parks and Resorts Inc. is based in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The Walt Disney Company is headquartered in Burbank, CA.
The reservations systems are completely separate. They don't even link to each other and what you book in one place isn't visible to what you book in another. Even the shuttle services are treated separately.

When you are on the ship or in the parks, you are likely experiencing entertainment options from a variety of Disney companies. Walt Disney Imagineering operates Walt Disney Entertainment and Walt Disney Theatrical, which takes care of all the live entertainment, then there are all the movie companies (Touchstone, Lucas Film, ILM, Pixar, Marvel, WD Animation, etc.) followed by the ABC properties.

I could have some of this wrong and it's far from an exhaustive list, but most of the time when we think Disney, we are actually referring to a complex web of companies, many privately held by the Walt Disney Company. That said, they have their own profit/loss to maintain and often have the autonomy to decide how to operate, so long a they follow the core brand principles. That means choosing their own technology solutions for their reservations systems.
 
We did a week at the parks (well 5 days) and a 7 day fantasy cruise in November 2017. I planned the whole thing on my own and didn’t use a TA aside from Costco for the cruise. Stayed off site with a rental car. WDW involved more intense planning, but overall I’m really happy to have pulled it off.
 
Could you tell me about a Disney Cruise? What type of entertainment would there be for a four year old? Is there enough to do if we skip the parks this trip to save money?
 


They have enough entertainment to keep anyone busy from age 1 to 100. Or you could relax and do nothing. They have the kids clubs which many kids stay in all day. They also have pools, characters, broadway style shows, movies, deck parties, fireworks, crafts and so much more.
 
You can't book the land and sea vacations together; you book them separately. But you can call and book DCL transfers from resort to cruise terminal and it is all very seamless - they pick up your luggage from the resort room and take it to your stateroom on the ship.
 
Could you tell me about a Disney Cruise? What type of entertainment would there be for a four year old? Is there enough to do if we skip the parks this trip to save money?
one of the hardest parts about a DCL Cruise vacation is deciding what NOT to do!! There are so many activities (usually) and several will overlap during the day - thus the hard choices.

Your 4YO will have plenty to do. There is the pool and the clubs. the kids clubs are open from early to late. Movies in your room and in theaters onboard. There are many family activities - but it's been 25 years since I've spent any quality time with a 4yo, so I don't know what they like or do any longer. 1st grandbaby is only 1 year old and there's a lot of change in those next 3 years if memory serves me correctly.

Have Fun!
 
Cruises for a 4 yo are great! If s/he likes characters, there are so many to meet (with often much shorter lines than at the parks). The kids clubs have many fun activities and if s/he is shy, the kids clubs also have open houses where parents attend with their kids to play. You can watch movies on board in a real theatre, swim in the pools / splash in the splash zone, participate in activities like family crafts, bingo... there's a lot of fun to be had on board :) and if you pick a cruise with Castaway Cay as a port, that's Disney's private island where you can have a fun beach day.
 
Could you tell me about a Disney Cruise? What type of entertainment would there be for a four year old? Is there enough to do if we skip the parks this trip to save money?

Plenty to do for the little ones. But we don’t know your kid, what they like or dislike, how active or social they are, etc.

Really, with such a subjective question, your best bet is to browse the official DCL web site. Across the top of the home page, there is a link entitled “Things to Do”. You can find tons of information there, including pictures and videos, so you can make your own informed decision.
 
Book separately.

^ This. In all my years of reading Disney nerd websites and listening to Disney nerd podcasts, I have never heard anyone recommend booking the “land & sea” package, except Disney itself.
 
Is this no charge so we don’t have to rent a car then we can just fly home via FT Lauderdale?
 

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