First time DCL, debating between 2 sailings, please help!

[josefina022]

Hello, my family (DH, DDalmost 10, DD7 & DD1.5) have been on several cruises but never Disney Cruise Line. We are debating going on one soon & I would appreciate getting your thoughts!

Disney Wonder - 5 nights San Juan to New Orleans, it would be a balcony room with one port Castaway Cay

Disney Fantasy - 7 nights from Port Canaveral, ocean view with 4 ports and a Star Wars at sea day.

we’ve never cruised less than 7 nights, so I’m afraid a 5 night might feel too short? But I am concerned about the weather being too cool in mid-Jan for the Fantasy sailing?

 

[Marc D]

With 4 ports, I think you’re looking at a Western Caribbean cruise on Fantasy. In any month, outside of the stop at Castaway Cay, the weather on that itinerary will be warm after the first night.

SWDAS is a great day if you are into SW. It is worth it to downgrade to an ocean view. If your group doesn’t care about SW, it is pretty much a toss-up for me. The ports on a WC are not very interesting to us, outside of Grand Cayman.

 

[lklgoodman]

I love the Wonder, but I would pick the Fantasy. We've done 2 7nights on the Fantasy in Jan, we have our 3rd Fantasy cruise coming up next Jan. The Caribbean is warm that time of year. The water at CC can be chilly, but once you get used to it, it's fine. All of our Fantasy cruises have been SW cruises, if you are a SW fan then you'll enjoy that day. Plus the Fantasy has extra stuff that the Wonder doesn't have(Aquaduck, mini golf, Midship detective game) I also prefer longer cruises, so that's also another reason I would pick the Fantasy.

 

[eva2015]

We've done a 7-night Eastern mid-January and will be doing a Western in 2021. The nights were cool and the water in CC is chilly but overall was warm.

Have you compared flight prices? We thought a one way cruise on Magic from San Juan looked great and "cheap" until we looked at flights. Airfare negated any savings on that particular sailing.

 

[tee11]

This is a very personal choice, but I'd pick the Fantasy 7N, Oceanview. For one, one way sailings add to logistical headaches, at least for us. If I looked at that choice for us, we'd pay 3x per person for that one way flight to SJA vs. roundtrip MCO, but again that's us... just something to keep in mind. Also with young kids... we've scrapped the idea of balcony cabins for now. It was just a constant in and out from the stateroom to the balcony with very lively kids, add a toddler to that, and it was just too much for me, lol! The weather might be cooler in the Bahamas, but the Caribbean will be much warmer.