First Ever Cruise.. which one??

[sunshiinedaydream]

Trying to decide which itinerary to keep. Both are on hold currently. The only differences between the two are dates, stateroom, and my son’s 5th birthday falls on 9/5 (Labor Day). The price is basically the same but #1 is in a forward slanted wall room (extra floor space, but no curtain divider and bunks separate) and #2 is next door with cramped entry hallway but large porthole.

Which would you choose? We’ve never been on a cruise before, let alone a Disney one. We would be travelling from Arizona and kids would be 7 and (turning) 5.

 

[sunshiinedaydream]

Also wondering how frequent weather during September prohibits docking at castaway cay. I know it’s the height of hurricane season

 

[HiStitch626]

Unless having the non-slanted porthole is important to you, I would go for extra space. You can see from the porthole in 8504 and it allows natural light in the stateroom.

Unless there is a hurricane, the seas are not too bad in September. The ship is more likely to miss CC in the winter and early spring.

 

[luvincruising]

I agree with HiStitch626, go with 8504 for the extra room. We have taken multiple September cruises with very few weather problems. You will have a blast.

 

[Dug720]

FWIW, there can be issues with docking at Castaway at any time of year.

 

[rere101399]

As far as dates, I don’t think there’s a huge difference between them. A 4 night on the Dream is the perfect first cruise in my opinion. You’ll have a great time on either. The only questionable thing is the time of year, I’d just make sure to buy the insurance in case a hurricane tries to mess with your good time. Personally I’d rather cancel at the last minute (with cancel for any reason insurance) than get on the ship with a known storm out there already. Guaranteed that Disney will do their best to sail around, do an alternate course with alternate ports etc., but I’m the type who would rather just wait and reschedule for the exact experience I want, if that makes sense.

 

[meliscan]

I am a big fan of being on the upper decks. I have been on 8, 9 and 10 on the Fantasy. 9 is my favorite but 8 is a great option. I have cruised in September on Disney 5 times. Of the 5 we missed castaway cay twice. I was on the ship in 2017 when we had to turn back to to Irma and then in 2019 a hurricane had gone through the week before so Castaway Cay couldn't take us, but we did stop and drop off supplies. I love cruise in September. The weather is great. I highly recommend insurance. On the aforementioned Irma cruise we had been impacted by Harvey. The insurance covered new airline tickets from another city and the a rental car on the back end when the cruise got turned around. Honestly you can't go wrong with the Fantasy. I don't' want to scare you off September I would cruise at that time again if my kid wasn't in high school.

 

[Cheburashka]

Trying to decide which itinerary to keep. Both are on hold currently. The only differences between the two are dates, stateroom, and my son’s 5th birthday falls on 9/5 (Labor Day). The price is basically the same but #1 is in a forward slanted wall room (extra floor space, but no curtain divider and bunks separate) and #2 is next door with cramped entry hallway but large porthole.

Which would you choose? We’ve never been on a cruise before, let alone a Disney one. We would be travelling from Arizona and kids would be 7 and (turning) 5.
View attachment 579184

I would choose the large porthole cabin, definitely! We sailed in one of those on the Fantasy and loved it. So much light and a wonderful view. The slanted porthole will not give an easy view or as much light. Also, the large porthole cabin will have a privacy curtain that you can pull across the room to assist in getting multiple people dressed at once, but the slanted porthole room will not have a curtain. The slanted porthole room will also only allow a view of the television from certain areas of the room, due to its irregular shape. In the large porthole room, everyone in the room will be able to see the TV.

But, if none of those things really matter to you, then get the slanted porthole cabin for the extra floor space. That will probably help with small kids.

 

[sugliac]

Agree with previous commenters... more space is nice! Disney Cruise Line definitely is the best of that class of ships (e.g. family friendly / non-luxury) for room size!

 

[sunshiinedaydream]

Thanks everyone for the info! I’m leaning towards the first dates simply because we’d be embarking ON my son’s 5th birthday which seems more magical than going a week later. However I really loved the idea of the large porthole room. My DH reminds me that we will not be spending the vacation in the room

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Thanks everyone for the info! I’m leaning towards the first dates simply because we’d be embarking ON my son’s 5th birthday which seems more magical than going a week later. However I really loved the idea of the large porthole room. My DH reminds me that we will not be spending the vacation in the room

While this is true, you will be getting ready for dinner (and starting your day) in the room. That is when the curtain is most appreciated. As a mom of 2 boys, I liked that I didn't have to get dressed in the hot, steamy shower side of the bathroom or on the toilet side either. They could watch tv with dh until I was ready.
Have you asked your son if he'd rather be on the ship on his birthday? Or will it be a surprise? It's possible he'd rather spend his actual birthday with his friends, blowing out candles, etc.

Because our schools close for at least 2 days for a statewide teachers' convention in the first week of November, and also would also coincide with schools closing for Election Day, that was always a good week for us to cruise. They'd only miss 2.5 days of school for a 7 night cruise during a very off-peak time of year. More than once, we spent Halloween onboard. We'd always fly down the day before, as late as we could, within reason price-wise. So one year, our sail date was Oct 31 and we had a 5pm-ish flight on Friday, the 30th. This coincided with ds's school Halloween party. He was able to stay for about half of it but was so upset that he had to miss some of it. I truly believed all of those kids would have much rather been leaving to sail on a Disney cruise than to stay at the school party but regardless, he was mad to have to miss out.
So while I was thinking, "Heck yeah, DCL over a school party." I assumed wrong. It really meant a lot to him because he knew once he'd move on to middle school, they didn't have in-school Halloween parties.
Also my kids were often glued to the window so if you can't really see out the slanted porthole, that would be a bit of a bummer.

With either cabin you will have a great time! Have fun planning!