Disney Cruise Newbie!

[Hawkeyegirls]

Our family had our first wonderful family vacation to WDW this past November. Im now in the planning stages for Sometime in 2016.

The idea of doing the 3-4 night cruise (along with 3-4 nights before hand at WDW) appeals to me. BUT I have done a few Carnival cruises, and never loved them. But I love everything Disney, and this would be the first time going with my daughter. Do you think doing it Disney is enough to maybe Love cruising and different enough to try again?

Are there any 3-4 night cruises, that DONT stop at Nassau? From Port Canaveral…I thought I saw someone post they were going on one that only stopped at Castaway cay (and two times?) Is this common?

What is the best month for cruising? As far as pricing/low crowds?

Does Disney provide transportation from the cruise from their resorts?

Thanks in advance!

 

[lizabu]

I know I love Disney cruises but I suppose it's always possible to not love it. I'm pretty sure 3-4 night cruises stop in Nassau. You could always stay on the ship if it's not your thing. There are cruises that stop at Castaway Cay twice but I believe those are longer cruises. For the best prices book opening day. There is a bus that goes from the resorts to Port Canaveral but you have to pay for it.

 

[Mrs Green]

You can check cruise fish for historical pricing per person to help you see what might be lower cost. Summer, holidays are priced highest. Booking opening day or when discounts are released close to cruise date are recommended.

 

[truck1]

Our family had our first wonderful family vacation to WDW this past November. Im now in the planning stages for Sometime in 2016.

The idea of doing the 3-4 night cruise (along with 3-4 nights before hand at WDW) appeals to me. BUT I have done a few Carnival cruises, and never loved them. But I love everything Disney, and this would be the first time going with my daughter. Do you think doing it Disney is enough to maybe Love cruising and different enough to try again?

Are there any 3-4 night cruises, that DONT stop at Nassau? From Port Canaveral…I thought I saw someone post they were going on one that only stopped at Castaway cay (and two times?) Is this common?

What is the best month for cruising? As far as pricing/low crowds?

Does Disney provide transportation from the cruise from their resorts?

Thanks in advance!

As far as I know, there are no 3/4s out of PC that don't stop at Nassau. There are several double dips which are 4 or 5 night trips, with 2 stops at CC but they all stop at Nassau. To not go to Nassau, you would need a 7 day out of PC on the Fantasy, or one of the 5s out of Miami ( I think) or Galveston.

Best month for cruiseing is very subjective. For us, we normally cruise in October, which is on the down hill side of hurricane season and things are still typically warm. For the most part the ships sail on average 90-95% full.
Best pricing is when the cruise is first announced. Typically they only go up from there.

DCL does provide bus transportation to and from the airport, the resorts and the pier. But, its 35 pp 1 way, 70 round trip.

 

[GatorMomInNC]

Our family had our first wonderful family vacation to WDW this past November. Im now in the planning stages for Sometime in 2016.

The idea of doing the 3-4 night cruise (along with 3-4 nights before hand at WDW) appeals to me. BUT I have done a few Carnival cruises, and never loved them. But I love everything Disney, and this would be the first time going with my daughter. Do you think doing it Disney is enough to maybe Love cruising and different enough to try again?

Are there any 3-4 night cruises, that DONT stop at Nassau? From Port Canaveral…I thought I saw someone post they were going on one that only stopped at Castaway cay (and two times?) Is this common?

What is the best month for cruising? As far as pricing/low crowds?

Does Disney provide transportation from the cruise from their resorts?

Thanks in advance!

Maybe if you would be willing to share what you DIDN'T like about cruising on Carnival we can speculate if you will like cruising DCL better. Who am I kidding, you WILL like DCL better, but we can let you know if it is right for you.

 

[Hawkeyegirls]

Thanks everyone. How far in advance is opening Day?

I was kind of thinking Sept. I don't know if that's too risky for hurricane season.... But I would like to go during the free dining at WDW, so that we can do some character meals. Otherwise May, but they don't have many specials around that time. We will defiantly avoid holidays and summer.

My biggest issue with cruises were the pool area, being so crowded and 1-2 little pools for everyone on board. The other issue was when getting to a port having to do a lot of travel/work to get to a beach (that's all that we would want to do!) That is why I think we would enjoy their private island.
But I know we would enjoy meeting characters, relaxing after go-go-go at the parks, the beach/ocean & shows! (oh and eating!)

 

[DISNEYFAN3260]

My biggest issue with cruises were the pool area, being so crowded and 1-2 little pools for everyone on board.

As far as that goes, you'll probably feel the same way about pools on the Disney ships. The pool in the adult-only area is generally uncrowded, but the family and kids pools can be crowded to the extreme! Fair warning.

That's not to say you wouldn't love a Disney cruise but you should really factor crowd levels into your decision about when to sail.

 

[truck1]

Thanks everyone. How far in advance is opening Day?

I was kind of thinking Sept. I don't know if that's too risky for hurricane season.... But I would like to go during the free dining at WDW, so that we can do some character meals. Otherwise May, but they don't have many specials around that time. We will defiantly avoid holidays and summer.

My biggest issue with cruises were the pool area, being so crowded and 1-2 little pools for everyone on board. The other issue was when getting to a port having to do a lot of travel/work to get to a beach (that's all that we would want to do!) That is why I think we would enjoy their private island.
But I know we would enjoy meeting characters, relaxing after go-go-go at the parks, the beach/ocean & shows! (oh and eating!)

Sept isn't bad. Opening day is about 18 months prior to. DCL will typically announce it a few days in advance.

On CC there is a tram a short distance from the ship and it's a 30 second walk to the beach. In Nassau for example there are taxis at the pier that will take you to the public beach. The paid excursions have personal transport to the beaches.