First time potential cruise--advice please!

[Mousefan mom]

Hello folks!

We just wrapped up a week long vacation in Disney World and it was just magical--even in the July heat! Its going to be hard to top, but we'd like to try something new next year. Our family vacation time is generally mid July ish, and this is what works best for schedules. I have been reading reports that sea lice are a problem during this time--is this a real issue and something we need to be concerned about?

Any tips or tricks appreciated.

Although Disney is my first choice for a cruise, my spouse worries it is so much more expensive than other cruise lines...help me out, what does Disney do better? Cons? etc.?

 

[jlemieu1]

A couple tips on price. You can save almost 1/2 by going during off peak time(Nov, Dec, Jan). Also there are deal that offer value back when booking thru travel agents. Also even paying off thru Red Card 5% discount is a great way to save a little.

For us it is the level of service. I feel the level of service was as good as it was in WDW back in the 80's. The service in WDW is not bad but the service on DCL is even better in my opinion.

 

[KashasMom]

We've never had any issues with sea lice when cruising during the summer. July is going to be very expensive on Disney - and it is very hot in the Caribbean/Bahamas. What is important to your family? Do you have children? If so, would they make use of the kids' clubs? What are their ages? What do you enjoy doing as a family? All of those answers are important in determining the best cruise line for your family. With young children I would say everyone should try Disney once! There are so many threads here about the pros/cons of Disney (also in comparison to other cruise lines). I'd suggest browsing through some of them to see what people love/don't love about Disney cruises.

 

[jrabbit]

My Advise:
1) Use Sunscreen and reapply frequently - the sun IS different in the Caribbean
2) You Can't Eat It All - but try new to you food - if you don't like something, they will bring you something else - at no charge (try that at a land based restaurant)
3) Sleep is for After the Cruise ... but the beds are so comfy and the gentle rocking of the ship - and I could sleep the cruise away
4) the Hardest part of a DCL Cruise is Deciding What NOT To Do - lots of fun activities, many overlap, sometimes only offered once.

 

[mevelandry]

Hello folks!

We just wrapped up a week long vacation in Disney World and it was just magical--even in the July heat! Its going to be hard to top, but we'd like to try something new next year. Our family vacation time is generally mid July ish, and this is what works best for schedules. I have been reading reports that sea lice are a problem during this time--is this a real issue and something we need to be concerned about?

Any tips or tricks appreciated.

Although Disney is my first choice for a cruise, my spouse worries it is so much more expensive than other cruise lines...help me out, what does Disney do better? Cons? etc.?

PROS) What Disney does better? The Mouse. You can't get Mickey anywhere else so if you want Disney and/or if you question yourself whether or not you'll like cruising, it may be an excellent way to introduce your family to cruising as you already know you love Disney. (That's what DCL was for DH and I!). I'm pretty sure you'll have a good time. DCL offers a good experience.

CONS) Your spouse is right as they are more expensive than most "popular" cruise lines. Also, experience may vary but when it comes to food, amenities, service and friendly staff, I do not find DCL to be better than the other cruise line we have tried (in fact, my husband prefers the other cruise line). Regarding the food, everybody is different but DH and I were usually counting on Palo ($) and Remy ($) as the MDR was hit or miss for us.

TIPS) Bring Dramamine/Bonine/Ginger Pills with you and take them BEFORE you sail. Palo brunch (enough said!). Don't expect to be able to rent a cabana on Castaway Cay on your first sailing as it is extremely rare. Fly in at least the day before the sailing. Aft view is awesome.

 

[Mousefan mom]

All good, keep them coming. We are not able to cruise during off seasons, as I am a teacher. I also have a HS kid, and at that age I would never advise missing school, as it kills them academically. My kids are 16, 12, and 10. The two younger ones did enjoy the childcare at Disney World. We do have options of spring break or Christmas break—but I assume these times are just as expensive?

 

[jdb in AZ]

All good, keep them coming. We are not able to cruise during off seasons, as I am a teacher. I also have a HS kid, and at that age I would never advise missing school, as it kills them academically. My kids are 16, 12, and 10. The two younger ones did enjoy the childcare at Disney World. We do have options of spring break or Christmas break—but I assume these times are just as expensive?

Christmas is off-the-charts-expensive. So many school districts have spring break at different times of the year. It would depend on when your district has their break. If it's around Easter, DCL is ridiculously expensive.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

All good, keep them coming. We are not able to cruise during off seasons, as I am a teacher. I also have a HS kid, and at that age I would never advise missing school, as it kills them academically. My kids are 16, 12, and 10. The two younger ones did enjoy the childcare at Disney World. We do have options of spring break or Christmas break—but I assume these times are just as expensive?

One possible cost saving Long Shot, for those of you that can not avoid peak times: Almost off peak times.

Are you one of those school districts that doesn't go back to school the last week of August? Or maybe, on the other end, one of those schools that finishes the first week in June. Or maybe has some other weird week off, like a longer Winter break into January? If something like this applies to you, you may be able to save THOUSANDS. If none of those apply to you, then you will have to prepare for some serious sticker shock compared to other lines.

Also, we went in mid-August and my sons did report some sea lice discomfort at Castaway Cay, but I was right with them most of the time, and didn't feel a thing. Still, it wasn't enough to ruin their day or anything.

 

[mevelandry]

Regarding Sea Lice... I've always used "Safe Sea Lotion" before swimming in the sea... Never had any problem... However, I can't tell whether there is Sea Lice or not in the water. :/

 

[All about me]

Pros of Disney Cruise Line:
Child-centric
Disney theming/attention to detail
Larger cabins
Disney stage shows
Kids Club
Disney characters
Castaway Cay (Disney's private island)
Disney old-style customer service
AquaDuck and Midship Detective Agency on Dream and Fantasy

Cons of Disney Cruise Line:
Expensive
Smaller pools
Food outlets with limited hours

 

[Sunshine2U]

If the price is "almost" the same the temperature Spring Break vs. summer will make a huge difference. If summer, I would choose Eastern over Western Caribbean for the additional at sea day. Being in ports can be stifling. And I feel like St. Thomas etc catch more breeze than Cozumel, etc. I think everyone who loves Disney should try for at least one Disney cruise. So a 4-day Disney cruise beats out a 7-day for the first go-around. If you do the 4-day, you can add a (less expensive than Disney) beach stay for a couple of days. At this point, I only take young our young grandchildren on Disney cruises. They are all still young so that's what we're doing. Once they hit 9+ we will probably switch cruise lines unless, of course, we are blessed with a Disney-loving princess. In that case we'll shell out the money for a few more years.

 

[lilsonicfan]

DCL is expensive, there's no doubt about it, especially at the peak times. There are really no discounts. The best idea is to book on opening day, for example for a summer 2019 cruise, we booked opening day which was around March 7 2018. With five of you, you'll have to make a tough decision about whether to cruise in one stateroom (limiting your choices) or two (you have to book one adult into each, but they don't care where you actually sleep). With older kids, I would look at the Fantasy or Dream (the bigger ships) but I would also consider lines like Norwegian and Royal Caribbean and Carnival, simply because they may have activities that cater more to older kids. Worth a look, at least.

 

[Lori74]

i've only sailed on Royal Caribbean so far. But i am seeing the pools are going to be a different factor, on Disney, there are few and rather small. Royal seems to have more pools and space and later hours, definitely important to us. Royal does have Dreamworks characters, if that is important to you. The price definitely is a big difference also. I would sit down and make a pros and cons list. The service and food are subjective, you'll get a different answer from ppl on which is better. Either way, have a great time! You can't lose whatever you pick!

 

[Travel60]

My two (girl, boy) were about the age of your older two the first time we sailed DCL. They had always gotten along but they became absolute "buds" on the trip.The teen club was amazing. We pretty much gave them run of ship... breakfast together, talked about days' activities, then dinner together. To me, this is the big "pro" of more expensive DCL. The one "big ship" cruise we've taken on another line was fine but the ship seemed more like a means of getting to the next stop than a place to have fun (at least my definition of fun). I hated the casino and they allowed smoking in more places.

To save $ pick the smallest room you can all fit in (you won't be there much). Resolve NOT to spend a lot on alcohol or specialty drinks and shopping. Get kids' buy-in by suggesting they find odd jobs (dog walking, raking leaves, snow shoveling, etc.) to contribute to excursions and personal purchases. We have always done DCL excursions but you can save a lot of $ by going on your own. We also stay on the much emptier ship at certain ports (Jamaica, Nassau).
Our family continues to sail together and we are eagerly waiting for youngest grandson to get old enough to sail to go on whole family trip.

 

[Mousefan mom]

Regarding Sea Lice... I've always used "Safe Sea Lotion" before swimming in the sea... Never had any problem... However, I can't tell whether there is Sea Lice or not in the water. :/

I had no idea they made this stuff! I've only gone to the beach a few times in my life, so very good to know! I had no idea something like sea lice was a real thing until I was researching cruises and someone was commenting these can get bad in July/August on Castaway Cay and the Carribbean...uggh! I had to google them and of course the internet is doom gloom talking about how you get fever, sick, etc. Needless to say that appeared to be a real Debbie Downer. Since our spring break isn't on Easter, I did research that but due to the sailing dates of cruises, it doesn't really work since we are off only a week. I will check beginning of summer though as we get out earlier. I love that end of summer vacation as we spend the whole summer looking forward to it though. .

 

[Dakota731]

youngest grandson to get old enough to sail to go on whole family trip.

What age is young?

 

[Travel60]

What age is young?

Everyone has their own idea but we've seen and heard too many tired, screaming children and seen too many mothers with "this is not vacation" look. I doubt we will do a whole family cruise until youngest is totally potty trained and old enough to go on excursions we would want to go on. Gram & Gramp often cruise alone. As soon as daughter stops breastfeeding youngest (1 year), we will watch little ones so mom and dad can go on cruise alone.
But that's just us.

 

[k3chantal]

All good, keep them coming. We are not able to cruise during off seasons, as I am a teacher. I also have a HS kid, and at that age I would never advise missing school, as it kills them academically. My kids are 16, 12, and 10. The two younger ones did enjoy the childcare at Disney World. We do have options of spring break or Christmas break—but I assume these times are just as expensive?

I'm a teacher too so I completely agree that with a HS kid; they can't miss school.

In my opinion, a Disney cruise is the best. We have never cruised with any other line because we are afraid of being disappointed. My children are 18, 15 and 8 years old. We started cruising when the youngest was 18 months. Everyone is happy; from the adults to the youngest when we are onboard. Even though my kids have been raised on WDW and DL vacations, they MUCH prefer a cruise. We just finished our fifth cruise with DCL.

To save money:
Book as far out as possible. I am told that the prices do not improve as you near the time of the cruise.
Once aboard, sign up for your next cruise.

I look at the whole experience as you "get what you pay for". NO other cruise line can show you new movies before they are released and no other cruise line can give you magical moments with Disney characters you don't expect. On our first cruise we played miniature golf with Pluto. He just appeared (without his handler visible) and we were the only guests on the deck. This past cruise, my daughter literally bumped into Belle as they both had their noses in their books. We had just finished our planned visit with the Frozen sisters and were waiting for the elevator when Belle just was "wandering" the stairs. Sure, as an adult I know Belle knew what she was doing but to my 8 year old daughter, she was amazed and thought it was funny that they were both reading (as a teacher; priceless!) and again we were the only guests around.

What's magical about the ship is even though you are sharing these experiences with so many other guests, so often you can feel like you are the only ones there. Besides the Belle and Pluto experiences, my husband and I have had opportunities to swim in the adult pool by ourselves gazing at the stars. It felt like we were on our own private yacht.

So, no its not cheap. But it is what I think, unfortunately, what the Disney parks are missing these days; these small magical experiences that make it worth every penny.

 

[matthew517]

Sea lice hang around ropes and other areas they can get some shade. I've never had an issue. I attached a tips guide for newer cruisers that I put together.

 

[aggiedog]

I'd answer maybe DCL is better for your family, but at this point, not for mine. We love Disney, and have done 2 DCL cruises, but for the cost I can get a whole lot more vacation on another line. There are non-DCL ships with more for teens to do - rock climbing, zip lines, many more pool options, more food options, and more. My teens were split on the teen club. Older dds (16) did not care for it. Younger dd (13 at the time) loved it for the ability to play video games. Youngest ds (10 at the time) did not like the kids club and rarely went.

With a HS student, you are locked into prime DCL rates. One of our cruises was a 4 day Merrytime over Christmas. It was horribly expensive, so I just ignored the cost for that trip. I had a great time not having to cook/clean/host of the holidays, so that was worth it to me.

I personally really like the decor and lay out of the DCL ships, and have only been on the smaller ones (Wonder, Magic) I don't know how I'd feel about any company's mega ship. I personally don't think there is a LOT to do for adults on the ship, particularly at night, particularly if you have older kids than can go out and do their thing without you.

We did a Med cruise last year on MSC, in concierge, for less than half of what a non-concierge DCL Med cruise would have cost. That let us add a week in France before the cruise and still pay less than the DCL cost. Crazy!

Before you commit to DCL, look at some other lines, and let your kids see what's available on other ships.