There are advantages either way. The advantage of a land/sea package is that everything is arranged for you--you have very few choices or decisions to make, and the whole thing is one package. This only works if you have exactly 7 days and you want to do it "their" way. The land/sea limits you choices of WDW resort based on your cabin category on the ship.
The advantage to booking things separately (a land package and a sea package) is that you can customize things the way YOU like them, and depending on your preferences, you can save a lot of money.
For instance, I understand that there are 4 of you. Did you realize that it is cheaper to book a private limo service for that number of people than to take Disney transfers? Also, the private limo service will run when YOU choose, not when
DCL chooses. (The break even point on limo service is 3 people...for 3, the cost is the same either way, for 4, private is cheaper).
OK, if you choose private limo service, that means you can choose any hotel. You could save $ by staying at an All Star resort...maybe enough $ for an extra day! We've done 10 cruises on the Magic, and I've stayed at a wide variety of WDW resorts. If you only have 3-4 days, you can't possible "DO" Disney (not all of it!), and you will probably pack your days full of parks. In that case, you'll use your hotel for little more than sleeping....so I'd go low end. You could turn that around and decide that you LOVE the pool at Beach Club (we do!) and that makes it worth the extra $ to stay there....or you might choose to do water parks instead.
The Land/Sea packages include Ultimate Park Hopper passes. That means you have admission to everything from the minute you check in till the minute you check out. That's nice if you'll use it, but it is also pricey. Will you go to a park on the day you board the ship? We usually don't--we do a character breakfast at one of the resorts. However, on the UPH pass, you have paid for park admission that day. Will you go to a park the day you check in? That probably depends on what time you arrive..... Again, you might consider purchasing Park Hopper Plus passes for the number of days you will use them. These are available in advance at the
Disney Store or on line. If you choose not to do parks one day, the days never expire...and they are cheaper than UPH passes to begin with.....if you don't use one day of the UPH, you would save major $ on the Park Hopper Plus.
So, I guess what I'm saying is that which is "better" is a personal decision issue. Is it better to have everything easy and convenient? Are you willing to give up some choices to do that? Or are you interested in more flexibility? Or is saving money important to you?
You'll have a great vacation either way, and a good TA should be able to put together a full "package" no matter how you book it...she can combine the land...limo...and sea into one vacation. You can private message me if you want more info.
Do remember that if you book things separately, you probably do not want to buy the
Disney cruise vacation insurance as that would then cover only the cruise portion of the trip. Private insurance is available that will cover the whole trip. Ditto, if you do not book your air thru Disney, it is not covered on the
trip insurance, but is covered if you choose to insure privately.
Good luck and have fun,
Kathryn