First timer

[CeCe0906]

Hi. Never taken a cruise of any type before, but I'm considering taking my granddaughter (age 10) and my niece (Age 12) in July for the 3 or 4 day Disney Wish cruise leaving from Port Canaveral
Looking at the itineraries this is what I see:
4 Night, Disney Wish
1Port Canaveral, Florida- depart 3:45 PM
2Nassau, Bahamas 9:30 AM 5:15 PM
3---
4Disney Castaway Cay 8:30 AM 4:45 PM
5Port Canaveral, Florida leave ship 7:30 AM-

3 Night Disney Wish
1Port Canaveral, Florida- depart 3:45 PM
2Nassau, Bahamas9:30 AM5:15 PM
3Disney Castaway Cay8:30 AM4:45 PM
4Port Canaveral, Florida. Guest ashore 7:30 AM-


So they both have stops in Nassau and Castaway Cay. Does the 4 night have an extra day in Nassau on Day 3? Or is that just cruising around?

Thanks, I'm sure I will be back here often. Already started looking through threads. May add a few days a Disney World as a surprise pre sailing. They've both been in the last couple of years, but hey we are so close!

 

[Kwami]

The extra day is spent at sea so that you can enjoy the ship. There's a lot to do on the Wish!

 

[auntlynne]

 

[CeCe0906]

The 4-night adds a Sea Day. A lot of people use Nassau as a day to play in the ship; there are less scheduled activities than on Sea Day.

I will throw in my two cents and encourage you to do the 4-night and skip the parks, just let it be the focus of the trip.

The girls may enjoy the Kids’ Clubs so much you don’t see them - or they might just hang with you.

Make sure to have state-issued Birth Certificates for each. I also recommend notarized permission from each parent (I took a death certificate from a father, too). I never had to prove it was okay to take them out of the country, but I did not want to have to go through any hassles.

If you don’t have a passport that expires > 6 months after Sail Date, get a renewal or your own state-issued Birth Certificate.

Hope you have a great time.

Thanks for the information! I've taken grandkids on vacations before, I always have the forms for travel and medical. The extra sea day, doesn't interest me as much and getting off and exploring. That's probablly the main reason I've never done a cruise before, I've never been a chill with a book by the pool or go to the bar or casino person. I'm probably twice as active on vacation as I am at home. Hopefully there are some fun excursions to do on Nassau. Not a sleep in and stay at the hotel person.
While I'm glad there are fun things for the kids to do onboard, I was hoping that there were things to do together.
I'm not really looking for alone time.

 

[auntlynne]

 

[Marc D]

The extra sea day, doesn't interest me as much and getting off and exploring. That's probablly the main reason I've never done a cruise before, I've never been a chill with a book by the pool or go to the bar or casino person. I'm probably twice as active on vacation as I am at home. Hopefully there are some fun excursions to do on Nassau. Not a sleep in and stay at the hotel person.

I wouldn’t set aside the additional sea day. On all cruises, but especially on a DCL cruise, sea days do not mean that you only can lounge around the pool or chill, Some do do that, but it is not the only thing to do. That’s the beauty of a cruise : you can tailor your vacation to your liking.

For us, sea days are some of the most active days we have onboard, running from one activity to the next. We never take the time to go tho the pool. Those activities are family-oriented and often allow all the members to assist or participate together. Like many others, we do not get off in Nassau - it is not an interesting port in our view - and prefer to use that day as an additional sea day, to use the onboard amenities and participate in some activities.

BTW, there is no casino on a DCL cruise.

 

[CeCe0906]

I wouldn’t set aside the additional sea day. On all cruises, but especially on a DCL cruise, sea days do not mean that you only can lounge around the pool or chill, Some do do that, but it is not the only thing to do. That’s the beauty of a cruise : you can tailor your vacation to your liking.

For us, sea days are some of the most active days we have onboard, running from one activity to the next. We never take the time to go tho the pool. Those activities are family-oriented and often allow all the members to assist or participate together. Like many others, we do not get off in Nassau - it is not an interesting port in our view - and prefer to use that day as an additional sea day, to use the onboard amenities and participate in some activities.

BTW, there is no casino on a DCL cruise.

This is all new to me, I appreciate you taking the time. I've been looking at the DCL site, but didn't see much about the activities on board, they seem to be touting the different kids club activities, and also adult only spaces. I mean I get it, I've been a parent looking for an adult date night, with no chicken nuggets or pizza in sight. But for this trip, it's to spend time with my granddaughter and niece ( while they still think I'm cool, not embarrassing).

I wasn't looking for a casino, didn't think DCL had them, just remember my MIL telling me about never getting off the boat on some of her cruises to beautiful places, spending her time in Port there; I mean she had fun, so it worked for her.

Can someone point me in the direction of descriptions of on board activities ot excusion activities on these type of cruises on Disney Wish?

 

[Marc D]

Can someone point me in the direction of descriptions of on board activities ot excusion activities on these type of cruises on Disney Wish?

In the videos on the linked page, you can see the daily schedule for a 4-nights Wish cruise :

https://disneycruiselineblog.com/20...-cruise-from-port-canaveral-november-14-2022/

There are character meets, trivia, game shows, musicians, movies, crafting activities, video game tournaments, plus all the non-scheduled things that you can just go and use.

 

[Clarkson U]

If you have the time you might consider the 7 night Fantasy out of the same port doing a Western Carib that will give you lots of ports to get off and explore - usually Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Jamaica along with Castaway cay.

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

I second the recommendation for the 4-night sailing. There will be SO MUCH to do together on the ship with your granddaughter and niece!

Here are some things I like to do with my 10-year-old daughter on DCL:

• Go to the evening shows in the theater, including the Broadway-style shows and the variety performers
• Attend the family game shows. She loves to drag us up to participate in things like So You Think You Know Your Family and Who Wants to Be a Mouseketeer!
• Hang out by the pool, swim, go on the water slide, and watch movies on the Funnel Vision on the pool deck
• Go to open houses in the kids club and teen clubs to enjoy activities together
• Trivia as a family! Sometimes we are great at it, sometimes we are terrible, but it's always fun.
• Meet characters around the ship
• Go to the deck parties - my kid loves music and dancing

On the Wish there is also the Disney Uncharted Adventures virtual game you can play around the ship, and the Hero Zone for family activities. You will stay very, very busy doing things together all day on a sea day - you definitely do not have to use the separate kids and adults activities. You will find MANY things to do together!

 

[Capt_BJ]

given that you seem to have 'time' for the vacation (considering adding some Disney World days) and some $ flex (willing to pay for days in the park <they just raised prices again>) I'd recommend you look a bit deeper at your cruise options from Port Canaveral on Disney.

WISH is currently doing the 3 and 4 night trips and is DCL's newest ship AND therefore commanding the highest prices. FANTASY is doing 7 day trips and the price difference per person is about one day's park stay (in park resort at a good rate) .... or in my math +3 days for the price of ONE

and while I am NOT trying to sell you let me add as an EXPERIENCED cruiser ......

- for many NASSAU is a stay on the ship day cuz NASSAU just ain't that great anymore. Why do cruises go there? Because it is the place they can REACH in a 3 day cruise from Florida. If you cruise often from Florida you go to NASSAU a lot ..... NASSAU's big attraction is the casino on Paradise Island ... after that the things to do are ho hum. If a first time visitor DO go and explore a bit but the days of great duty free shopping are LONG GONE. Stuff for kids? Not saying the ports FANT' goes are all better but there is variety and CAYMAN is the best stop in the Carib' IMO .... do a snorkel trip here and visit stingray city!

- WISH and FANTASY will both visit Castaway which is a highlight of the DCL experience for most ....

- 3 vs 4 day on WISH is a 'day at sea' aka sailing in a circle and you can enjoy the ship. PLUS side of this is IF you miss Castaway due to weather (it happens) there is possibility you can get in on the 'sea day'. NEGATIVE is the sea day is essentially the CASTAWAY day without the beaches . . .

- the risk for first time cruisers is you my HATE IT and then the longer the cruise the more PAIN ...... but this is VERY unusual.

- my son is a DCL frequent flier (Castaway Cub Platinum) and snagged a cabin on the maiden voyage of WISH from Canaveral. He's sailed every Disney ship and gives WISH . There may be other factors in play here but were he to sail DCL again he says it won't be WISH ......

my two cents ....

you're a generous grandma/aunt. We hosted a niece and her daughter to a week in Florida including SeaWorld and Discovery Cove . . . .... wonderful memories

 

[Louise97]

I'd definitely recommend the 4 night (or consider the 7 night on the Fantasy as others suggested) over the 3 night. Our first cruise was a 3 night UK Staycation on the Magic, which is smaller than the Wish/Fantasy. Even with no port calls (so two days at sea), there was so much to do on the ship that we wished we'd been able to stay longer!