Feb 2018 WC w/ Costa Maya OR Apr 2018 WC w/Jamaica?

[northshoremama]

please help me decide. i think we are really going to book one for 2018....our very first disney cruise! earlier this year, i thought we could do one next year, but with personal situations, we'll have to postpone to 2018. it'll be the 5 of use...DH, me, DD11, DD10, and DD5 (she'll be 6 if we do the april itinerary).

here are the 2 cruises that i'm looking at:
Feb 2018 WC on the wonder
cozumel, costa maya, grand cayman, cc

April 2018 WC on the fantasy
cozumel, jamaica, grand cayman, cc

i was opting for the feb cruise cause of the smaller ship and costa maya (figured smaller ship, less people at cc). then i showed DH the fantasy and the aquaduck and he's hooked! he really wants to do the april cruise because of that. i told him it's a bigger ship, so more people. i also warned him about jamaica not being a great stop for some people (so maybe we can stay on the ship). he said we should get off at least to walk around the port and try some jerk chicken.

now i'm really torn....i was about to put a deposit down on the feb itinerary until DH said "let's do the april one".

thoughts? input? any feedback would be greatly appreciated! this is our very first cruise..could we go wrong with either itinerar?

 

[dclpluto]

please help me decide. i think we are really going to book one for 2018....our very first disney cruise! earlier this year, i thought we could do one next year, but with personal situations, we'll have to postpone to 2018. it'll be the 5 of use...DH, me, DD11, DD10, and DD5 (she'll be 6 if we do the april itinerary).

here are the 2 cruises that i'm looking at:
Feb 2018 WC on the wonder
cozumel, costa maya, grand cayman, cc

April 2018 WC on the fantasy
cozumel, jamaica, grand cayman, cc

i was opting for the feb cruise cause of the smaller ship and costa maya (figured smaller ship, less people at cc). then i showed DH the fantasy and the aquaduck and he's hooked! he really wants to do the april cruise because of that. i told him it's a bigger ship, so more people. i also warned him about jamaica not being a great stop for some people (so maybe we can stay on the ship). he said we should get off at least to walk around the port and try some jerk chicken.

now i'm really torn....i was about to put a deposit down on the feb itinerary until DH said "let's do the april one".

thoughts? input? any feedback would be greatly appreciated! this is our very first cruise..could we go wrong with either itinerar?

You can go to Jamaica anytime with DCL. Costa maya there's not that many a year that DCL goes there. Jamaica has lots better excursions than Costa maya imo thou.you cannot go wrong with either.

 

[CurtisB]

We booked a Feb 2018 Wonder cruise because it's going to Costa Maya. We really like the small port feel. We go into town and go to the beach. We found a place where we reserve beach chairs and umbrellas for free and lay back and relax. We also want to go on the Wonder since it just finished a reimagineering. Granted it will be almost a year and a half after that but still new stuff. We did the Fantasy and to be honest, we loved it because it was a Disney cruise but I prefer the smaller ships.

 

[disboardlover]

Unless you have a specific excursion or plan in mind for Costa Maya (like CurtisB), I would not recommend it. It is the epitome of a cruise line manufactured port with an overpriced shopping village. I know it provides a living for the local folks, but if you want to do that, I think it would be better to actually get away from the port area. Of course, if you like these type of places, you might like Costa Maya. My recommendation would be to stick with the island ports on the Disney Fantasy cruise, unless you really want to sail the reimagined Disney Wonder... which might be the better deciding factor.

 

[noahsmom]

I'd pick Jamaica over costa maya. Been to both and Jamaica was amazing!

 

[Cackyschmackers]

Unless you have a specific excursion or plan in mind for Costa Maya (like CurtisB), I would not recommend it. It is the epitome of a cruise line manufactured port with an overpriced shopping village. I know it provides a living for the local folks, but if you want to do that, I think it would be better to actually get away from the port area. Of course, if you like these type of places, you might like Costa Maya. My recommendation would be to stick with the island ports on the Disney Fantasy cruise, unless you really want to sail the reimagined Disney Wonder... which might be the better deciding factor.

I 100% agree with every word of this (could have written it myself! ) I would describe the sea water as actually stagnant at the beach day we chose (sounds like the one previously described) and there was concrete under the sand at the beach. We went in January , so if it was hotter, I can't even imagine .

 

[northshoremama]

I'd pick Jamaica over costa maya. Been to both and Jamaica was amazing!

Did you do any port excursions at Jamaica? If yes, what did you do?

 

[jdb in AZ]

We prefer Jamaica to Costa Maya too. For info on a fun shore excursion, do a Google Search of Dunn River Falls.

 

[northshoremama]

We prefer Jamaica to Costa Maya too. For info on a fun shore excursion, do a Google Search of Dunn River Falls.

did you do the dunn river falls excursion? if yes, through which company? i have 3 girls...they'll be 11,10, and 6 at the time of the cruise. just wonder if my 6 year old will be okay with this excursion.

 

[jdb in AZ]

did you do the dunn river falls excursion? if yes, through which company? i have 3 girls...they'll be 11,10, and 6 at the time of the cruise. just wonder if my 6 year old will be okay with this excursion.

My teens had a lot of fun. It's been several years so I don't remember what company we used.

Not sure how your 6-yr-old would handle the slippery rocks.

 

[noahsmom]

Did you do any port excursions at Jamaica? If yes, what did you do?

Yes, booked our own tour with Courtney Taylor tours. We went to the blue hole which was awesome! Highly recommend.

 

[northshoremama]

My teens had a lot of fun. It's been several years so I don't remember what company we used.

Not sure how your 6-yr-old would handle the slippery rocks.

I've read great reviews about Dunn River Falls...but we may have to do it on another trip back to Jamaica, when my youngest is older.