Cruising based on itinerary or ship?

[kcamozzi]

Hi all
My family and I went on our very first Disney cruise aboard the Fantasy last December for a Merrytime cruise and it was wonderful! We definitely want to do another, maybe closer to 2022, but in the meantime I keep looking at all the cruises available and the different itineraries - wishing we could be back on the Fantasy. This got me to thinking...do most people book based on itinerary or do a lot of people have their favourite ship and therefore choose the itinerary by ship? I would love to do one that leaves out of New Orleans or even do a transatlantic...both of which are currently itineraries for the Wonder. We loved the Fantasy and would very much love to cruise on it again, but that said, we would also love to do something really different. I realize that there are pros and cons to both ships and being newbie cruisers we don't have any experiences at any of the ports. Just wanted to get an idea of how others choose their cruises - it might sway me to go one way or the other. Thanks in advance for all your help and suggestions

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hi all
My family and I went on our very first Disney cruise aboard the Fantasy last December for a Merrytime cruise and it was wonderful! We definitely want to do another, maybe closer to 2022, but in the meantime I keep looking at all the cruises available and the different itineraries - wishing we could be back on the Fantasy. This got me to thinking...do most people book based on itinerary or do a lot of people have their favourite ship and therefore choose the itinerary by ship? I would love to do one that leaves out of New Orleans or even do a transatlantic...both of which are currently itineraries for the Wonder. We loved the Fantasy and would very much love to cruise on it again, but that said, we would also love to do something really different. I realize that there are pros and cons to both ships and being newbie cruisers we don't have any experiences at any of the ports. Just wanted to get an idea of how others choose their cruises - it might sway me to go one way or the other. Thanks in advance for all your help and suggestions

For us first comes itinerary, then cost, dates, and then, maybe, the ship.

 

[Geomom]

First 2 cruises were for the itinerary, Alaska and then Baltic sea. This summer we're doing a dream cruise for the ship, since the itinerary we wanted (Norway) was too late in the season...kids will be back to school and our placeholder expires mid August.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Itinerary!

 

[Marc D]

Usually by itinerary, but on our regular spring break cruise, we now pick based mainly on the ship as long as the cruise goes to CC. The other ports are an afterthought.

For example, last year, we did a B2B on Dream to see the B&B show and complete our Grand Slam. We could have done a 7-Nights on Fantasy instead for a few dollars more, but we know that ship and its ports inside and out.

This year, we picked Magic so we could do MDAS. We didn’t even looked at the ports before booking our B2B.

 

[kcamozzi]

Makes sense - I guess itinerary should be first to consider. We just really loved the Fantasy. Perhaps if we had more cruises under our belts, we could think about the ship first. I think we actually enjoyed the size of the ship too - I’m probably over thinking that the Classic ships are smaller and therefore we may not have as much to do. Thanks for the responses - I will continue to search out our next cruise with Disney

 

[tvguy]

For us first comes itinerary, then cost, dates, and then, maybe, the ship.

Same here.

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

Our first two criteria are cost and whether it's in the time of year we want to cruise. From there we choose based on length of cruise (prefer 7 nights or longer), departure port, and itinerary. I'm happy on any Disney ship!

 

[dclpluto]

Definitely itinerary. I’m done with the same old same old cruises until the new ships come out. Last few years I only done one cruise a year. 2 years ago was quebec. Last year transatlantic, this year Alaska. Next year Northern Europe. When the new ships come out than I will go on the same old same old cruises.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

Here's the order for us:

1. Dates (I'm a schoolteacher, I share custody, and my son is in high school, so this factor is the top dealbreaker for me)

2. Itinerary (Castaway Cay is a must for us for typical beach cruises; we also like cruising Alaska)

3. Ship (prefer Dream class)

4. Price (barely even a consideration as every DCL cruise we've been on has been way overpriced- we're casualties of always having to cruise peak-season)

 

[Rob1872]

Itinerary; however, now that we've got 3 ships I would like to figure out how to get Wonder to complete the set (especially before the next ships come out and I need more to get all of them!!).

 

[tlprice]

Itinerary. Then dates. I am a teacher and will (and have) take off during the school year, but not right when school is beginning or ending for the year or before or after an already scheduled break. I am going on my 8th DCL cruise this summer and only have been on one almost the same cruise (a 3 day and a 4 day Bahamas on the Dream). I have done:
Western Caribbean
Southern Caribbean
Eastern Caribbean
Mediterranean
West Bound Transatlantic
Alaska (coming up)
Mediterranean -Greek (just booked for next year)
I have been on all 4 ships and love them all. I prefer the more intimate nature of the smaller ships though.

 

[bcwife76]

For us it's almost always the itinerary. However, we are sailing on the Dream this August not for the itinerary but because it's the only ship we haven't sailed on and there was a CDN residents promo for it (meaning I didn't have to waste a placeholder and could use that placeholder on a different cruise).

 

[DietCokeMommy]

We’ve done two cruises that we chose based on itinerary. One was and was an eastern Caribbean/repositioning and the other was a southern Caribbean, both on the wonder. We had friends on the 2nd Wonder sailing that convinced us to book something next January on the Fantasy with them. Since there are no southerns scheduled for next winter I really liked the idea of trying out one of the Dream class with our friends.

Then a couple weeks later we decided to book a 3 day on the Dream in November. I cant really explain that one, lol. A year felt like too far away to wait. And I thought the dates and length would work. I’m not a fan of the 4 day cruises because you have to take an entire week off of work yet you don’t get a full see’s cruise. And I thought it would be fun to see the Dream, so the ship played into it.

 

[kcamozzi]

For us it's almost always the itinerary. However, we are sailing on the Dream this August not for the itinerary but because it's the only ship we haven't sailed on and there was a CDN residents promo for it (meaning I didn't have to waste a placeholder and could use that placeholder on a different cruise).

Is the CDN Residents promo (fellow Cdn here) something I should consider or is it a better deal to book as soon as dates/itinerary come out?

 

[kcamozzi]

It’s very helpful to get everyone’s thoughts; there are so many experienced cruisers - thank you!

 

[o&smom]

For us it is the itinerary. We have shown our kids a lot of the world on a Disney cruise ship or before or after it. We have visited 5 continents with the comfort of Disney to come back to at the end of each day.

 

[KDG]

Itinerary for us! The Magic is our favorite ship as she has taken us to the Baltic, British Isles, Spain, Portugal and France. The Wonder took us to Key West and we’ll soon be on her in Hawaii.

 

[bcwife76]

Is the CDN Residents promo (fellow Cdn here) something I should consider or is it a better deal to book as soon as dates/itinerary come out?

The CDN residents deals are never guaranteed and only on certain dates/itineraries. We just happened to have a gap in our summer vacation schedule this year and a Dream cruise popped up that fit for us so we took it. Usually booking opening day is your best bet though.

 

[Mitura]

Wow we're completely different.

1) Port Canaveral - Since we drive from PA, Miami, NO, Alaska are out of bounds
2) Dates - with work and kids being in school that's important
2a) Price - we usually do the week after Thanksgiving since it is relatively cheap and the kids only lose 4 days of school vs 5
3) Fantasy - We have been on Dream but Fantasy is our Fav
4) Itin - We have done numerous EC and WC that we don't care so much for the stops any more. We just love the ship and CC.

Our dream cruise would be Fantasy leaving out of Port Canaveral, last week of June or Thanksgiving week, 7 days with 4 stops at CC and 3 days at sea.

Joe