DCL Newbie - Weather, kids clubs, etc???

[mom-2greatkids]

We go to WDW every January because DH has a conference there, but never though a cruise would fit into our plans. We saw the special on the Travel Channel, and it looked so great I had to check out sailing dates. To my great surprise the timing for a 3 night Wonder cruise is perfect!!! (now I just have to convince DH)

Because I just started looking at this today I have a bunch of questions:

Would you go the end of January? Will it be too cold? We usually find WDW in January to be hit or miss weather-wise. Sometimes it's warm and sometimes it's cold. I hate the thought of sitting on deck in big heavy jackets during the middle of the day.

Are the kids activities as fun as they look? We have a DD who will be 6 and a DS who will be 3. Can we really expect them to want to spend some time there (and give us a break for a couple hours??) I love the thought of it, but am just not positive our DS will do it.

Where can I find the best discounts??? Disney Visa? Dreams Unlimited? Booking directly with Disney??? I'm very savvy with resort discounts, but DCL is a whole new animal.

Thanks in advance for any advice!!!

 

[Princess49]

I am not sure about all of your ?? as we are headed on our first cruise in May- but I will say that this cruise board is AMAZING! Any time I think of a question as odd as it may be I always find the answer here! We were watching the cruise special the other night too & it was SOOO exciting to know that we are actually going!! We actually got hooked by watching the cruise channel in the WDW rooms!! I still play the song in my head when I think of it... "cross the sea, where each discovery begins with fairytale inspiration come with us!!!" (I'm am TOTALLY belting this out all by myself with a huge grin!!)
Well, here is some weather related info on a different post, hope it helps good luck & have a WONDERful time!!
http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=547901

 

[Cruisin]

Would I cruise at the end of January.............yes...........we have cruised 4 times in at the end of January. The weather is just as you described it sometimes very warm, sometimes cooler. That said, I think that you will not be sitting out on deck with a heavy coat on in the middle of the day. The coldest day would tend to be the day at Port Canaveral, after that it warms up. You may need some sort of jacket especially at night because it gets very windy on deck and therefore it is cool.

We have never travelled with children as young as yours, ours were/are teenagers when we cruised. I can say that our daughter has a great time everytime we cruise hanging out in the teen room or just on deck with other teens.

The children's counsellors seem to be very good and the clubs are very magical looking with fun stuff to play on and things to do, you might find that your son will not even miss you when you leave him there.

I can't help with the best place to get discounts.

I hope that you can talk your husband into it and have a wonderful cruise.

 

[nativefl]

On our first cruise my son was 7 & we had to DRAG him literally from the Kids club.

We live in FL & would always stay at WDW for all our vacations, until we took our first cruise. We all agree WDW is great, but the cruise is even better!!

Leslie

 

[nativefl]

sorry one more thought.. we always book through All Seasons Travel. Initially because they are local to us, but now because they have great deals & are a major booker of Disney Cruises, so they know their stuff.

Of course check out DU who sponsors this board as well!

Leslie

 

[CM_Mom]

To your question about the kids clubs. I'm not exactly a disinterested party since my DD is CM in the Club. However, I can say that every kid she's ever been around loves her. Her descriptions of the activities, security and general atmosphere of the clubs pretty much tells me that your kids can have a wonderful time.

She says they have more problems getting kids to leave when the parents are ready to pick them up than having kids who cry or whine when they're left. You are given a pager and all your kid has to do if they want to get you a message is to ask the CM. Since they all have at least two years experience working with groups of kids (in addition to a college degree) they identify pretty quickly which kids are kind of whiney and say they want their mommy but can be happily distracted and which kids only say they want Mom when they're ready to leave.

If you have any specific questions, send me a PM and I'll ask DD when I talk to her this weekend.

If you haven't already ordered the DCL DVD, I defintely would order it. That lets the kids see the activities. Also check out the Navigators at www.dcltribute.com. You may have to drill down a little but they have Kids Navigators for 3-4s, 5-7s and the older kids that describe the activities.

P.S. Folks with kids the ages or yours who like to cruise are the reason why my DD has her dream job. Keep on coming and have fun.

 

[TheWog]

We went on our first cruise (Magic - Eastern) in January. The weather was beautiful. Like someone said before it was a little cold in Port Canaveral, cold being high 50's so short sleeve weather, but it got so warm during the day it was wonderful and chilly on deck in the evening, sweatshirt was fine for me.

Our DS6 absolutely loved the ship and all the activities. He did only the ones he wanted and spent the rest of the time with us. There is so much to do, they will enjoy it immensely. Some activities in the clubs are with the characters like making pillowcases with Goofy or making flubber, and they get to be pirates with Capt. Hook, they will be greatly entertained. So yes there is the possibility for down time from the kids if that's what you want too.

We are planning our Western cruise for January 2006.

(I think there is another thread about January weather v. May weather recently on this board you may want to look at too)

 

[mom-2greatkids]

Thanks for all your help! I've already ordered the video and last night I showed DD part of the special on the Travel Channel. I requested a quote from DU and also looked at All Seasons Travel.

Right now I think my biggest obstacle is weather--and DH who will go on the cruise, but wants more days at WDW that I planned after adding a cruise. We'll see what happens!