Cruise Newbie Help / Questions

[AnthonyAllShore]

To keep it short, I consider myself to be a borderline Disney World Professional (and I say "borderline" only because on this board I am probably only average, but in the real world I would be considered a pro). If I had my way I would only do Disney World, but I have this family of mine that seems to have other opinions. My wifes birthday is coming up in Feb. and she mentioned that maybe possibly perhaps we could do something other then Disney World? She always mentioned wanting to try cruising and or Disney Land or Disney Paris and such... BTW, I hate flying. I suck it up for 2 hours to get to Disney World, but adding 4 hours or so to a flight isnt really ideal for me. Plus taking off so much time isnt ideal for my job. SO.... with all that said I am seriously considering doing a cruise that leaves a port around NYC. I tried to look on thier website, but it looks like they are only listing cruises for October? My immediate questions:

1. How many options do they have for a Cruise leaving the NYC port areas?
2. I would like to set up a Cruise sometime late Feb, March or perhaps even April. Assuming there are cruises that leave NYC area around then, how are the seas? I do NOT love the idea of choppy seas!

I guess those are my first two questions, because for all I know they dont offer cruises out of NYC ports during the times I want to go. If they do I am sure I will have more questions. As per usual, thanks for all of your help!

 

[BadPinkTink]

If you are looking for Disney cruises out of NYC you are very limited.

The Disney Magic historically did a few cruises to Canada or Bermuda from NYC and then the repositioning cruise down to Florida in September / October time after the transatlantic from Europe. These were cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid.

In 2022 these are the cruises scheduled out of NYC on The Magic

• Friday September 30, 2022 5-Night Bermuda Cruise from New York
• Wednesday October 5, 2022 5-Night Bermuda Cruise from New York
• Monday October 10, 2022 6-Night Canada and New England Cruise from New York
• Sunday October 16, 2022 5-Night Bermuda Cruise from New York
• Friday October 21, 2022 5-Night Bermuda Cruise from New York
• Wednesday October 26, 2022 5-Night Bermuda Cruise from New York
• Monday October 31, 2022 7-Night Eastern Caribbean Cruise from New York to San Juan

In 2023 The Dream is going to Europe, not The Magic. The Westbound Transatlantic from Europe back to USA and cruises after the transatlantic have not been announced yet and are not available to book. There is no information available if The Dream will go to NYC like The Magic did to do the same type of itineraries.

 

[nancipants]

To cruise in the months you want, you could take a cruise out of Port Canaveral, which is not far driving distance wise from Disney World. You could fly into Orlando and take a DCL transfer to the port, so not any more flying than would take to get to WDW.

 

[AnthonyAllShore]

I live in the Long Island area... Assuming I might not have that many options, is the Florida Ports the next closest to me? It kills me because I dont know if I like cruising and I know I dont like flying, so having to do both on one trip is not ideal...

Is there such a thing as a land and sea vacation? Meaning like a short short cruise out of Florida (3 days?) and then 3 or 4 days in Disney World?

 

[Stitch'sCousin]

You can book both your cruise and WDW stay through DCL, but it is often cheaper to book the two separately. Book your cruise with DCL and book the park stay through WDW. You can get DCL transportation between the airport and the port, or between WDW and the port.

 

[AnthonyAllShore]

Great. And thanks for everyones above help...

I tried to look at the bookings and such, but how does deposits work? For example, at Disneyworld you can cancel their deposit with no penalties. Anyone have a quick rundown of the rules for deposits and refunds?

Also, how are the seas from Port Canaveral to Castaway Keys during late March and Early April?

 

[Mommb]

Disney Cruise Line offers 3- and 4-night cruises out of Port Canaveral (near Orlando) year-round. So you could certainly fly down to Orlando and do a Walt Disney World trip for several days either before or after a Disney Cruise. As Stitch'sCousin mentioned, you can book the two trips separately but book Disney transportation (or a private car service) to go between the parks and the port. If you book the park stay with DCL, you can't take advantage of any other resort discounts that become available.

Cruise deposits are fully refundable up until your final payment dates, which is typically 90 days in advance for 1-5 night cruises and 120 days in advance for longer cruises. (Currently, final payment and penalty dates have been adjusted to be later, but that is scheduled to end in December.) After that date, there is a sliding scale of cancellation fees, from "lose your deposit" to "lose 50%/75%/100%." The details are here under Cruise Cancellation Fees: https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/contracts-terms-safety/terms-conditions/united-states/

The seas are generally calm, although it depends on weather. The captain will try to avoid bad weather by sailing around it if possible. Hurricane season is June through November, so March-April will probably just have the occasional rainstorm.

 

[Rob1872]

With regards to the weather, our first cruise was a 3 day in March after having done 2.5 days at Universal Studios. Didn't have any issue with waves, but it will change from year to year so you never can be sure. However, you would be outside of typical hurricane season so it theoretically is a 'good' weather time.

 

[mullysisters]

Does it have to be DCL? There are 5 night cruises with other lines in Feb, Mar and Apr 2023 that either leave NY or fly to Bermuda and arrive (home) in NY. I realize that you specifically asked for Disney but as you are not sure about cruising and wanted a shorter flight maybe these are options? Just saying?

 

[msmama]

If you can swing it, a New England/Canada from NY on the Disney Magic is a GREAT first cruise (and I'm not just saying that because it was my first cruise). You're going the opposite way that any hurricanes would come, you're fairly close to shore so the seas don't get too rough. I felt like I could really spend time enjoying the ship and I didn't feel pressured to do excursions because I wasn't anywhere more exotic than Canada - I can handle Canada on my own, lol. I'm on LI, too and we just took the LIRR to and from the city (Uber'd to and from the port to Penn Station).

Now, the possible downside to Disney cruising...I haven't been back to WDW since our first cruise because we decided we like it so much more!!

 

[MrsScooby]

I live in the Long Island area... Assuming I might not have that many options, is the Florida Ports the next closest to me? It kills me because I dont know if I like cruising and I know I dont like flying, so having to do both on one trip is not ideal...

Is there such a thing as a land and sea vacation? Meaning like a short short cruise out of Florida (3 days?) and then 3 or 4 days in Disney World?

There are options near you, but very few are DCL as explained above. Most people I know love cruising, but not all. For example, my brother-in-law decided he felt too claustrophobic on the ship, he prefers a different type of vacation with wide open spaces. My sister tried it and decided that the pools weren't big enough for her. So yes if a big pool is important to you then a resort stay would be better.

It is advisable that when sailing out of any port that you are in the area at least the day before the cruise starts. Cruise ships will not wait for you. So many cruisers will spend at least one day at WDW prior to their cruise as the port is then a relatively short drive away. Many options for getting to the port from WDW, some people use a rental car, some uber, some take the DCL bus/transfer.

I would recommend you reading some of the trip reports in the section at the top of the main Disboards DCL page as that will give you a better idea of what to expect from a DCL vacation. Also, probably a 3 or 4 day cruise just to try it out to start. Combining that with a WDW trip and should be fine. The land portion can be a couple days before and a couple days after. Whatever works best for you.
Oh and I'm very prone to motion sickness and use non-drowsy bonine as a preventative. So far no problems in 12 cruises.
Good luck!!

Laurie

 

[Cruising Engineer]

Get a Travel Agent (TA) from Dreams Unlimited (who sponsors all things DIS) and let them do the heavy work of being on the phone with DCL and WDW. You get a really nice gift basket and OBC (on board credit $$$).