Do you always do a land-based portion to your cruise? Why/why not? Pros/cons?

[SwimMom2]

We only have one cruise under our belt and did a significant land-based trip (5 days in Copenhagen) after our cruise. Since we had flown over there and could spare the time, we thought we might as well take advantage. We did a lot in Copenhagen and since it was a novel city to us, it was an easy decision.

Our second cruise disembarks on Christmas Eve. We cannot come in more than one night early, so we are trying to decide if we should spend a few days in WDW over Christmas with the rest of America or fly home on disembarkation day. Neither idea scares me terribly, but I am interested in hearing others' perspectives and experiences.

 

[Patsydust]

Well I have never been on vacation during the holidays, it's not something for me, I like being home. But since it doesn't matter to you, personally I would do some Disney days! I hear its beautiful at Disney with all the Christmas splendor! Why travel over the holidays when you can have more vacation time? Why not stay at the Wilderness Lodge with its enormous Christmas tree? I say, if its in the budget to add more magic to your vacation go for it! Go big or go home! Our last trip was followed with Disney, while we'd rather have the relaxing part second, it wasn't bad at all!

 

[mmouse37]

We usually do a land trip either before or after our cruise. We also spent a few days in Copenhagen after our Transatlantic Cruise in May. When we did Alaska with DCL we spent 4 nights in Vancouver before our cruise. In Florida we usually do a few nights in Disney either before or after (I prefer before since it is so much more running around than the cruise). We also visit family in South Florida before our cruises. Sometimes the family wonders if I plan our cruises around other land vacations or the other way around. I'll always try to fit in a cruise!!!

MJ

 

[dcassetta]

I think a few days at Walt Disney World over the Christmas holiday is nice, although I would have no desire at all to go to the parks! But, the resorts are beautiful that time of year.

 

[KBinCO]

we added a day after our cruise to go to WDW. Never again. Our kids hated every second and just kept crying that they wished we were on the boat. I wish we'd just flown home to decompress.

 

[chimo2u]

I've added 4 days at wdw and 3 days at universal after our First cruise this Nov, I couldn't imagine paying 2K for our flights, being in Florida so close to wdw and not stopping in!!! I didn't want to only do the cruise then leave, so we extended to add on some land time and let us enjoy the Magic a bit longer!

 

[Mrs Green]

I can't say about how I would feel about wdw after a cruise, but I have been there with kids during the Christmas weeks. I love all the decor, especially the Osborne lights. The lines are long and parks are crowded but if you know that going in and plan accordingly, you can still have a wonderful time. If this is your chance, I say do it!

 

[BLTtinkerbell]

We've only been on one cruise.

We stayed at WDW for four nights before our cruise. We really wanted a Disney vacation before our cruise. It was a lot of fun and got us in the "Disney Spirit"

We stayed at the airport after the cruise for one night. This was because of the flight times into the small regional airport we were flying into.

 

[EskiLvr]

We've always had at least one night coming and/or going, with the exception of our Fantasy cruise. Part of that is that it just takes so *long* for us to get to port destinations - we like to build extra time in ahead of time in order to account for any weather/flight issues.

Having said that: not having the extra time to putter around the parks (or even just Downtown Disney) before our Fantasy cruise was more of a function of us not having much time to get to everywhere we wanted to be. Ideally, we'd spend 2 or 3 days in Orlando before we cruised, with another day to recoup at SSR (our home resort) post-cruise before flying home.

 

[erocrobro]

We always do. We've done both before the cruise and after. I prefer doing parks before so that I can relax on the ship and rest, but after is fun also.

 

[sharksfinatic17]

Twice we have sailed out of PC and both times we added 5+ days before the cruise, and we just added 6 days (Seattle and Vancouver) before our Alaskan cruise. So yes, if your going to make the effort, why not? Once we added a day after, but the was due to lower flight costs.

 

[bethy]

Yes because it takes 6.5 hours and costs a fortune to fly our family of five to florida. My rule is that any family trip involving airplanes needs to last for at least 9 nights or it's not really worth all the effort and expense to us.

 

[Ofinn]

Always. Were spending 3 nights in Vancouver before our Hawaii cruise. We take two or three 10+day vacations a year. It seams like a lot, but due to our jobs and schedules we cant take frequent short weekend trips like most people. We both get 5 weeks vacation a year, and that's the only time we travel. I say go for it if you don't mind the crowds and the ridiculous resort prices.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

We always add on land days because flying from AZ to FL I want to get my monies worth. But regardless of that if I was disembarking a cruise on 12/24, I would absolutely, positively, without a doubt do WDW after. I get basically no time off during Christmas and will drive 6 hours each way to Disneyland just to spend 1 1/2 days there at Christmas time. The parks and resorts are so amazing at that time.

 

[Steven Henry]

I think a few days at Walt Disney World over the Christmas holiday is nice

 

[bumbershoot]

I would definitely add the days. We haven't done major park time post-cruise yet, but if we really coudln't get in much earlier I would do it in a flash. I personally would go to Universal, but that's just preference.

We don't fly across the country for JUST a cruise.

We have a Southern Caribbean cruise booked in Dec 2016 and we'll be getting back in on the 24th. I've heard that PR does Christmas up HUGE, and even though we aren't religious, I think we'll be spending some time there before and after.

 

[RebelHawk]

We did a bookend WDW trip with a DCL cruise the for the first time this last January. After going 5 days at WDW with four adult friends and their 4 children ages 1-6 my wife and I boarded the ship with one goal, relaxation. We found the comparison of go go go WDW days to the relaxing schedule of the DCL cruise to be a fantastic finish to our vacation. We loved it so much we are doing the same thing for our upcoming Oct trip. We are planning to do our normal long days and short night WDW plans but are really looking forward to our unplug and recharge DCL trip. We think it's a perfect way to end a trip and head home felling energized rather than exhausted.

 

[asamklove]

I agree with previous posters - if time doesn't matter (i.e. school/work days missed), I would always choose to add on days at the parks given the fact that I'm paying airfare to FL anyway - maximize it! We are going on a 7-day this fall & I'm totally bummed we can't add on park days. We have a big family event in FL the day we disembark, so we're already taking a couple of extra days to spend with our FL family members for this celebration. If you can handle the crowds, I think Disney at Christmas would be exciting

 

[FindMeAFishingSpot]

We usually like at least a few days on either end - it depends on when the best airfare is. We've done it both ways. Sometimes, we enjoy some of the parks. Last time, we spent the last day at Downtown Disney and enjoyed the resort we stayed in. This time, we're flying in the day before and we'll do SeaWorld.

We're heading down to WDW separate from the cruise in early December this year - I hear it's wonderful!

 

[aggiedog]

Add a few days on. We've done Christmas at WDW a few times over my life and it's always been wonderful. We've done Christmas away from home other places and I always miss home, but at WDW I never do, FWIW.

I've only done 2 cruises, but we added land time to each. If I'm flying somewhere, I'm going to get my money's worth out of the travel part and see a few more places. We added a week to our Northern Europe 7 night cruise, and 3 days in French Polynesia. We rented a house in Italy two years ago that rented by the week, so we added 3 days in Rome to the trip.

I wouldn't add just a day. You wouldn't have time to relax at all. I'd add as many as you can afford time and money wise. Hopefully 3 days at least, so you could unpack, unwind, and enjoy your time off. The parks are crazy full that time of year, but if you go with the attitude that you are there to relax, you could hit the parks in the morning and come back to the resort and chill in the afternoons. I always plug the touring plans in the Unofficial Guide to WDW, but holy cow they work.

My 2 cents.