Help choosing first cruise (ever)!please

[Kirschclan]

Hi! My husband and I want to do a Disney cruise in Jan or feb 2018 with our 4.5 year old daughter (at time of sailing age). 4 nighter
Trying to decide between:
-4 night Bahamian cruise (port canaveral, Nassau, castaway cay and back). We'd do a plot layout ocean view room on Disney dream.
OR
-4 night eastern Caribbean (san Juan> St Thomas/st john Virgin Islands> Castaway cay and then port canaveral). Verandah room on Wonder.

Trying to decide if Bahamas or Virgin Islands (with San Juan start) is better.
Also the ship/room differences.

My husband gets pretty bad motion sickness so bit worried, hence 4 night vs longer (he'll have meds and sea bands).

Thoughts?
Thanks so much in advance!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hi! My husband and I want to do a Disney cruise in Jan or feb 2018 with our 4.5 year old daughter (at time of sailing age). 4 nighter
Trying to decide between:
-4 night Bahamian cruise (port canaveral, Nassau, castaway cay and back). We'd do a plot layout ocean view room on Disney dream.
OR
-4 night eastern Caribbean (san Juan> St Thomas/st john Virgin Islands> Castaway cay and then port canaveral). Verandah room on Wonder.

Trying to decide if Bahamas or Virgin Islands (with San Juan start) is better.
Also the ship/room differences.

My husband gets pretty bad motion sickness so bit worried, hence 4 night vs longer (he'll have meds and sea bands).

Thoughts?
Thanks so much in advance!

For me, I'd go with the Wonder cruise. Been to Nassau and not impressed. That being said, if you've not been to any of the ports, either cruise will be fine.

Wonder is smaller than the Dream. Dream is technically newer, but the Wonder recently had a major re-imagining and should be great.

Thought on the seasickness thing - whether 4 night or longer, if your husband gets seasick, he'll get seasick on a short cruise as much as a longer cruise. Has he talked to his doctor about his options (like the patch)?

 

[85glht]

First cruise..... You need to go see St. Thomas. Nassau, not so much.

 

[tink1970]

My mother gets terribly motion sick and has (with the help of the patch) sailed with DCL many times. She IS very good about using it as directed (I am not ).

As far as the ships, I prefer the Wonder to the Dream for size, but others prefer the extras of the larger ships (putt putt, Midship Detective Agency, etc). So hard to say what would be the better choice for you, ship wise. They are both beautiful.

I think the itinerary would depend on your goal for the trip- getting your feet wet with cruising? Doing everything and everything on a cruise ship? The actual ports (and level of "exotic")?

Since I've been to the Bahamas (and have been underwhelmed) I'd love to do the Wonder St Juan itinerary- you get to see San Juan, St Thomas/John AND Castaway Cay. Either way a cruise is a wonderful experience with family!

 

[Kirschclan]

Thanks everyone for the replies! I think this sealed it- Wonder ship- San Juan, Virgin Islands, etc vs dream to Bahamas. I was leaning this way so your replies helped convince me!

 

[tigerchic89]

Would you have to fly one way into SanJuan? For me, I'd probably use those airfare dollars and just book a 7 night from PC. If the airfare to SanJuan is not an extra cost compared to rt out of PC, I'd choose the Virgin Islands destinations.

 

[over50visits]

Nassau for so many is the last choice of all the ports on the DCL itinerary. I'm sure the only reason they subject us to Nassau is because the ship is registered there for some reason.

Old Town in San Juan is a friendly, colorful area to walk around in (both the shops and the water's edge), the sailing to St Thomas is beautiful, and St Thomas is a great island to visit. The port area isn't much, but it is clean and friendly, and the rest of the island is inviting. You'll get more sea sailing time i beautiful waters, you'll be a bit further south ensuring warm weather that time of year, and the Wonder is a favorite of ours…it seems, uh, friendlier than the Dream, probably because it's not overwhelmingly large.

But, tiger chic makes a great point…7 days on DCL is about the sweet spot for a cruise that's just long enough. You might consider that.

I wouldn't say "don't worry" about seasickness, because it does happen, but don't worry.

 

[Scillycruisers]

Our very first cruise ever was a 7 day from PC. Our son was the exact same age as your daughter is and we all had an amazing time. Our son get motion sickness in a car, but had no problems on the ship.
I on the other hand was feeling queasy the first evening so went to bed early while my husband took our son to the show. He was concerned we had made a mistake and I would feel ill the whole trip but I woke the next morning feeling fine and was for the rest of the trip.
I am sure your husband will be fine with his meds.
We wouldn't have wanted to be on a shorter cruise - it gave us time to relax and time to do activities. We only did one excursion, but got off the ship in all ports.
We are now booked on our 7th cruise - all 7 nighters!

 

[mevelandry]

St. thomas all the way.