Cruise first then WDW or vice versa?

[hulabird]

I am undecided on planning my cruise, I want to take a 4 day cruise and spend 4-5 days at CBR or OKW....this will be end of Aug/beginning Sept 2003....I am also undecided on DCL or Carnival Cruise Lines. All opinions will be very helpful, it will be our very first cruise, and no kids will be along. Thanks!

 

[Parrotheader]

We personally did WDW first and then did the cruise. This seems to be the more popular choice as WDW tends to keep people fairly busy and on the go. Then you get to the cruise and you can relax. But then again, nobody said you have to go go go at WDW either, especially if you're a WDW vet and know what you want to bother with.

I have nothing to offer on Disney vs. Carnival as our Disney cruise was the only cruise we've ever been on. We had a blast though so I can certainly recommend Disney. It is a bit pricey though which will probably keep us from going back as soon as I'd like. But these people on here are masters at helping you find good deals on the cruise so hang around here long enough and you could save a pretty penny.

 

[mcnuss]

IMHO - I would do WDW before the cruise. You'll be ready for a relaxing break, and all my friends who have done Land/Sea say that the cruise is the best part bc the adults can have a little time off after several days of 24 hours of the kids.

As for which line to pick, I think it will depend on whether you are going with kids, how old they are, the atmosphere you prefer, etc... I have several single & couple friends who have done Carnival, but none with kids. Those who went enjoyed it, but they are real partiers. That's not my scene, so I chose DCL.

 

[disneyholic family]

well..considering we spent 3 days at WDW before the cruise and then 2 weeks at WDW after, i'd say do both...
but if i had to choose i think i'd do WDW before the cruise..

as for DCL vs Carnival....we've only been on DCL but i can't imagine anything more perfect.......no kids necessary (personally i can't stand other people's kids.....disney was perfect...lots of adults only places...i never even noticed there were 1,500 kids on the ship...of course, at the time of year you're planning on going, there won't be many kids at all....also the DCL prices are much lower then.....we cruised on the 4th of july......very high prices and lots of kids....didn't matter....it was perfectly wonderful!!!!!!!!)

 

[Nutsoverdisney]

We did Disney (Poly) for 7 days before our Disney cruise, and once with Disney (Poly) again for 7 days before our cruise and then AKL for 4 days after our cruise.

It was much more relaxing doing Disney first then the cruise. We didn't do much at Disney after the cruise, we were all so tired. DD15 was totally exhausted from staying up until 2-3am with all the friends she met onboard the ship she would sleep til after noon. We basically just hung around the hotel and pool area of the hotel for our first 2 days back from the cruise.

It was myself, DH46, DD15, DM69

As far as cruise ship, we have only used Disney and have had a great time on the Wonder both times. It feels as if we are childless when we go on the Disney cruise. DD15 mets teens her own age and hangs around with them for most of the cruise. We see her and her new friends as we are walking around the ship, or at designated check in times throughout the day/night.
There is always plenty of things for an adult to do on the ship.

My BIL decided to sail with Carnival only because they had a casino onboard and Disney does not.

 

[markºoº]

If you tend to do a more commando style tour at WDW, doing the cruise last will give you a chance to relax. We wanted to do WDW first and then the cruise but the schedule didn't work that way so we did DCL and then the parks.

In retrospect, we are kinda glad we did DCL first and then the parks. Lets see....definitely gained weight on cruise....definitely lost wait at the parks with all the walking and heat. Net result was only a 2 pounds for each of us after 9 days. We can live with that.

 

[disvaclub92]

I totally agree - that is our plan - cruise first then WDW - then we can walk off the pounds the following week.

 

[cindy_k]

We are going on the 4-day cruise and then to WDW for 4 days.
But this was decided based on the Cruise schedule.

The 4 day leaves on Sunday and returns on Thursday... we decided to stay and go to the parks for the rest of the week rather then come back home.

If I were on the 3 day cruise we would go to WDW first and then cruise.

Have FUN!!

Cindy

 

[hulabird]

I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and suggestions....I am thinking that we will do WDW first and then the cruise, sort of saving the best for last because we do WDW every year but have never tried a cruise so I guess the anticipation of it will keep us going all through WDW. I really want to do the DCL but my husband, who has been a perfect disney husband, really likes casinos and when I told him DCL doesn't have one, he kinda frowned but said "whatever you like", so I guess I may end up trying CCL instead as a treat for him. Thanks everyone for the help!

 

[ASFCurly]

I think that it depends on what you are looking most forward to. If you are looking forward to the cruise most then that is what I would do first, the last time I went I did what I had been looking most forward to second and the whole first part of the trip all I could think about was the second part of the trip, I missed a lot of things that I wanted to see and regret it now, I wish I had done it the other way around.

 

[prymsu]

I personally would say do WDW first, and then the cruise. I see that you are from Indiana. If you go in winter months, or if you experience bad weather on flights or drive to get there, and you don't plan on getting in the day before your cruise, you could possibly miss the ship departure. I would much rather give up one day at WDW rather than cost and expense of trying to catch up to the ship...

 

[Denine]

Cruise then WDW. That way you ease yourself back into reality.

 

[ncligs]

We are planning to do our 1st ever cruise in Feb of 2004. We will probably cruise 1st, and arrive the night before departure. We will stay one night at Vero Beach, then go on the cruise. Then head up to WDW and OKW for 3 more nights.Then we don't have to worry about getting back late and missing our flight back.

 

[FunFamily]

Cruise ship casinos have much worse odds than other domestic casinos. Forget the casino and do DCL. With the $ you save by not gaming with bad casino odds you can go to Venetian in Vegas.

 

[outahere]

Just a quick comment about something disneyholic family posted in this thread.

I think whatever time of year you go there will be a lot of kids on the ship. Obviously summer and school vacations will see the most. We were on the 9/1 4 day on the Wonder and the cruise director said there were over 700 kids on board, from 30 different countries.

Since other countries have different school vacation times, and parents in the US take their kids out of school, there will be kids.

As for which to do first..... if you are going at the end of August or early September it will be very hot!! I vote for doing the cruise after the parks, because after doing the parks for 3 or 4 days you will, most likely, be beat and need a rest.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

Our decision was also based on the cruise schedule. Once we decided on the 4 night cruise, we knew it would be DCL and then WDW since I want to go all of 4th of July week so the kids miss less of their summer activities (no activities on weekends or on July 3 and 4). If we had done the 3 night cruise we would have switched it around. But you all convinced me to do the 4 day!
Robin M.