From staying away for 2 years to booking a cruise + a few days in Orlando

[rutgers1]

We have spent a lot of time in the World this year, with a 2 week trip in August and a 9 day trip in February. At the end of our February trip, we seemed a bit burned out and decided to skip a year, perhaps 1.5 years so that we could see a bit of the country/world and recharge our Disney batteries.

Well, one of the ideas was to do a cruise. I figured that the cruise (non Disney) would be our trip for the next school year and that we would go to Disney at some point the following year.

Well, after looking around at different cruise lines and realizing that points isn't THAT bad with Disney cruises anymore, we decided to do the Disney cruise next year. Then, when we realized that we had a few days left at the tail end of the trip, we decided to spend a few days in the World.

So, just when I thought we'd get away from the pull of Disney for a year, we are headed right back again!!!!!

 

[Arthur27]

We are thinking of doing the same thing. We live close by and use our points for a few staycations throughout the year. But if we use our points for a 3 day cruise it would use up a lot of our points, maybe two years worth. I don't know if a 3 day cruise is worth it.

 

[es45]

We have spent a lot of time in the World this year, with a 2 week trip in August and a 9 day trip in February. At the end of our February trip, we seemed a bit burned out and decided to skip a year, perhaps 1.5 years so that we could see a bit of the country/world and recharge our Disney batteries.

Well, one of the ideas was to do a cruise. I figured that the cruise (non Disney) would be our trip for the next school year and that we would go to Disney at some point the following year.

Well, after looking around at different cruise lines and realizing that points isn't THAT bad with Disney cruises anymore, we decided to do the Disney cruise next year. Then, when we realized that we had a few days left at the tail end of the trip, we decided to spend a few days in the World.

So, just when I thought we'd get away from the pull of Disney for a year, we are headed right back again!!!!!

You'll love DCL. In my family, we are happiest to do a cruise plus a few days at the parks.

 

[El&Asmom]

We were thinking about doing the same in the fall of '11 on the new Dream. After considering the price of a cruise for the 5 of us, airfare, and park tickets, we decided against it. We kinda felt the same way about WDW after 3 trips this year. Plus our kids are all under 6 so our trips feel like a lot of work even when they're fun. Now that we're not doing the cruise, we have to figure out how long we can stay away from WDW, where and when we want to go.

Have fun on your cruise. We went this past Jan, and absolutely loved it.

 

[rutgers1]

I booked the cruise this morning. A 4 night cruise with an inside room for 4 people was 250 points. We bumped it up to a room with a window, paying for 3 people with points (233 points) and 1 person with cash ($400).

At first I thought it was a rip-off, considering you can get a 7 night cruise through Norwegian or Carnival that week for 1/2 the price of a Disney cruise. But the point conversion wasn't really that bad when I compared it to a stay at Disney World, adding in $ for park tickets and food. Plus, since the points were there already and I was burned out of going to the parks, it made sense to me.

The big selling point to me was when I looked up what it would cost if I bought it for cash. For the original scenario of an inside stateroom, it would have cost $2,185, compared to 250 DVC points. If I had rented those points out at $9/point, it would basically have been even. At $10/point, I would have come out ahead. But then again, I don't have the headache of trying to rent them out.

If I didn't have DVC points, I might have opted for the longer - and cheaper - cruise through Carnival, but with the points sitting around in my account, I am happy we did it. We will spend four days on the ship and then spend four days at Saratoga Springs (home resort), or another DVC resort if we can trade out. We still haven't stayed at OKW, BCV or BLT.

 

[El&Asmom]

I booked the cruise this morning. A 4 night cruise with an inside room for 4 people was 250 points. We bumped it up to a room with a window, paying for 3 people with points (233 points) and 1 person with cash ($400).

At first I thought it was a rip-off, considering you can get a 7 night cruise through Norwegian or Carnival that week for 1/2 the price of a Disney cruise. But the point conversion wasn't really that bad when I compared it to a stay at Disney World, adding in $ for pack tickets and food. Plus, since the points were there already and I was burned out of going to the parks, it made sense to me.

The big selling point to me was when I looked up what it would cost if I bought it for cash. For the original scenario of an inside stateroom, it would have cost $2,185, compared to 250 DVC points. If I had rented those points out at $9/point, it would basically have been even. At $10/point, I would have come out ahead. But then again, I don't have the headache of trying to rent them out.

If I didn't have DVC points, I might have opted for the longer - and cheaper - cruise through Carnival, but with the points sitting around in my account, I am happy we did it. We will spend four days on the ship and then spend four days at Saratoga Springs (home resort), or another DVC resort if we can trade out. We still haven't stayed at OKW, BCV or BLT.

That's a good deal and certainly not worth the hassle of renting. Too bad we never seem to have extra points hanging around in our account.

Have fun. You'll love it.

 

[permavac]

Hey I remember your post about being "burned out" by Disney at the time. Well, I can now say I told you so

Terri

 

[rutgers1]

Yup, I was thinking of that post when I started this thread. It only took me a few weeks of being burned out before I started coming back to this site regularly and playing with the idea of another trip, lol.

I do think, though, that a normal 9 day trip to Disney World wouldn't be as much fun for our family right now, which is why the cruise seems so ideal. We are even tinkering with the idea of banking the rest of our points and splitting our stay with Universal instead of Disney so that we will REALLY be excited the next time we hit Disney. I talked about it with my wife last night and, although we enjoy being on Disney property MUCH more than Universal, there are more rides at Universal that we want to ride at this point. We have done all of the Disney rides too many times over the past year. Therefore, there is a chance that we'll get our Disney fix on the cruise ship and then head over to Universal.

Decisions, decisions........

 

[mickeys girl 52]

You'll love DCL. In my family, we are happiest to do a cruise plus a few days at the parks.

This is our favorite vacation too. In March we spent 3 days at Animal Kingdom followed by a 4 day cruise than followed by 3 days at the Beach Club, We love to combine our vacations this way.

 

[rutgers1]

If I like it, I think I will start going to Disney only every other year and really blow it out with a longer split trip, perhaps a longer cruise followed by a longer time at the World.

Anyone have experience with kids between the ages of 8 and 12 on the ship? My sons will be 9 and 11 when we go next year, and I am wondering what your kids thought of it.