Convince me: is a Disney Cruise worth the $$$?

[meajuly5]

Do it. You have worked hard and will continue to. You are going going nuts and splurging on a two week cruise-- thus us a reasonable well deserved splurge!

 

[NancyIL]

Since you really want to go on a Disney cruise - you should do it.

 

[NancyIL]

Cruised Princess to Alaska 14 years ago. Got off and thought "Eh. Fine. No issues. Don't need to ever cruise again." Went on Disney Wonder 3 night to Bahamas 3 years ago and got off jumping up and down thinking "I can't wait to go again!" Since then, my wife has done a total of 8 DCL cruises, and she is doing a "girls trip" in 4 weeks and another trip with a friend in 5 weeks (B2B on the Wonder). I have done 7 DCL cruises, including one with just my wife. The girls have done 6. The only danger you have going on this cruise is that you will get hooked.

BTW, what residency? I'm a pediatrician.

My first cruise to Alaska was on Princess in 2007, and I loved it. (I have been on 3 more Princess cruises since then.) My first Disney cruise was in Jan. 2008 with my elderly mother, and I couldn't wait to get off the ship!

 

[BosMan]

It seems like a lot, I know. I built a justification for myself. I added cruise/air/ meals and expenses and divided by # of days and then again by # of people..... It turns out to be Half what we would spend on our own . On top of that, first class entertainment and service....

 

[MySecondHome]

Another Disney Snob :-D

In 15 days I will be on my 10th DCL trip! Yay me!

Try www.vacationstogo.com they have discounted DCL trips if you can do a 90 days or less plan.

Sent from my iPod touch using DISBoards

 

[caitlinsdad]

Just go and convince yourself. Great time on board, but only you can tell for sure based on your likes

 

[stsomewhere]

We have a certain price that we can justify DCL. We love it and it is our favorite line.

We were on about 20 cruises before we sailed DCL. We were concerned about price. I convinced my husband to try Disney before the kids got too old.

He loved it and rebooked on board the same day we got on the cruise.

Our next 6 cruises were with Disney. But, we were getting tired of the same ports. ( We cruise 1-2 times a year as a family . I cruise alone once a yr for a mom vacation)

We did a Bahama, couple Caribbean ,Transatlantic and Alaska. We were convinced that we would never sail another line again.

However, I got a fantastic deal of HAL. It was an 11 night deep southern with 6 new ports. We jumped on it. We had a good time. The kids made friends on board. It was different than Disney but we tried not to compare. It had its pros and cons.

I went on a DCl California Coast/Pixar cruise with my mom in Sept. We had a great time. We got a good deal. But, it was not a magically as I remembered.
There were things that I loved and things that were just ok.

That being said, I booked another cruise while I was on board for Easter. We are sailing on a 8 night.

We have a NCL 10 night southern Caribbean booked over Christmas. It has ports that DCL does not visit. Plus, it was the same price as a DCL 4 night during the same time.

I do plan on booking a Panama Canal cruise while I am on DCl for my mom and I.

 

[Four Swampers]

I know we'll get hooked! I'm applying to IM...planning to do cardiology (possibly interventional). So I'm sure you can appreciate me wanting to celebrate graduation and do something fun before internship starts...

absolutely! wife and I took six weeks after residency to bike around Ireland. last chance for that kind of time until I retire! have fun!

 

[Figment_Fan]

I've learned the higher the education, the less you will be able to fully control your schedule in the future. So, the question is whether you feel a need to treat yourself well, and right, when you can.

In a year or two, you probably won't remember what you paid for the trip. You'll just remember the trip, and the memories you created. Yes, it is a short trip. Add an overnight at a Disney resort before or after, stop by Downtown Disney. Not much of an added cost, and it will make the vacation seem a little longer for just a little more.

And, learn the lesssons of others: take time when you can, because you are about to enter a whirlwind involving a lot of work, and even more stress. You owe it to those around you to take the time to care for yourself and your family. You need the memories to be able to think about when you can close your eyes amid the chaos and think about that time in the hot tub, with a drink of the day, and feel your blood pressure lower as there is peace in that one moment that will carry you through the next hour.

Good luck on your decision.

 

[carmie3377]

I know we'll get hooked! I'm applying to IM...planning to do cardiology (possibly interventional). So I'm sure you can appreciate me wanting to celebrate graduation and do something fun before internship starts...

Yes!!! Celebrate that graduation. You deserve it after finishing med school and to relax before that intern year. Hubby finished pedi cards last June and was on call q4 with 30 hour shifts during his intern year and first year of fellowship. I've read that they've lowered the max hours allowed on shifts but still, you'll definitely be busy.

We still managed to take one 1 week long vacation each year as his hospital required that they take 5 straight vacation days once a year. We even pulled off 16 nights once during fellowship. But that sure did mean a long time w/o any time off. We realized that cruises were the prefect way for him to relax w/o pager and 2 phones attached to his hip!

Best of luck to you!!!

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[carmie3377]

absolutely! wife and I took six weeks after residency to bike around Ireland. last chance for that kind of time until I retire! have fun!

I wish we would have done something extended like that when hubby finished up. Fellowship was technically over on June 30, 2012 but his new job wanted him to start on July 2! And that involved moving 500 miles away. He had to save up 2 weeks of vacation just so we could move so needless to say, he had basically no break before starting his new job. He did have a conference at WDW last October that he extended by a couple of days though. He is so looking forward to our cruise in March. A week w/o pagers and phones is paradise to him! We are even trying to squeeze in an adult cruise on dcl in May. He has the vacation time now. . He will be able to take up to 2 weeks off at time starting next year but 4 or 6 weeks, yeah forget it till he retires, lol

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[JimGA]

Just go and convince yourself. Great time on board, but only you can tell for sure based on your likes

I love your picture in your signature, where can I find it, very neat.