How long of a cruise to do/which itineraries?

[heehee611]

Hi all! We are seasoned Disney World travelers, but have never done the Disney Cruise! We are thinking of spring break 2018, so at that time, my kids will be 7 and 10. DH and I did a Royal Caribbean cruise before kids and loved it (a 4 day cruise). I am torn between doing a shorter cruise and fitting in a few days at the parks, or just doing a 7 day cruise. What would you suggest as a good length of time for a first cruise for the kids?

Also, which itinerary would you suggest? Thanks!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hi all! We are seasoned Disney World travelers, but have never done the Disney Cruise! We are thinking of spring break 2018, so at that time, my kids will be 7 and 10. DH and I did a Royal Caribbean cruise before kids and loved it (a 4 day cruise). I am torn between doing a shorter cruise and fitting in a few days at the parks, or just doing a 7 day cruise. What would you suggest as a good length of time for a first cruise for the kids?

Also, which itinerary would you suggest? Thanks!

It really depends on whether you think your kids will take to cruising as you did. My personal choice for cruises is "longer is better" so I'd be opting for a 7 night over a 4 night.

 

[o&smom]

I vote for 7 night! And you still won't be able to do every thing that you want!

 

[MunFam]

We are also longer is better people. Our one and only DCL cruise was the WBPC cruise at 14 nights and it was the perfect amount of time!!

 

[nearlyfallinstar]

The longer the better! Four nights was not enough.

 

[Arianabtd]

The first cruise me and my family did was a 4 night and it was NOT ENOUGH. Second cruise we did a week and it was perfect! At least a week is what I suggest.

 

[GPaLarry]

We just got off 18 nights on the Magic (B2B Med/Trans). The last night the cruise director asked everyone in the theater if we should turn the ship around, go back to Barcelona and do it over again. My wife and I (no kids/grandkids with) cheered the loudest. Too much of a good thing is still not enough with the mouse. We never intend to go on a DCL cruise for less than 7 days...sorry Dream...and we have done a week at WDW followed by a week on the Fantasy. Next up seven days to Alaska in June. Go for the longer cruise. You won't regret it.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

My vote is also for 7 nights.
Since you are seasoned wdw travelers you will be going back to wdw sooner or later even if you don't add on a few days with the 7 night cruise. You can always do a full day at a wdw resort/park before the cruise. It's recommended that you arrive the night before your cruise anyway so why not stay at wdw
We did a 3 night (never again, it was a blur) a 5 night and 7 night. Hands down 7 night is the way to go if you can swing it.
We are going on another 7 night in a few days.

I would probably try Caribbean first.

 

[Marc D]

I would opt for a 7-days Western Caribbean with a Star Wars day at sea on the Fantasy. Most cruises around spring break 2018 on the Fantasy will have SWDS. There's a bit more to do for kids on the bigger ship and in the ports on the WC itinerary.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

I vote for 7 nights too. We took our boys (ages 14 and 15) on their first cruise this summer, 7 nights on the Fantasy, Western Caribbean, and they loved it. Even 7 nights wasn't nearly enough (but the pocketbook couldn't provide any more.) Likewise 3 or 4 days at the Theme Parks probably isn't enough either. I can't speak for your family, but for mine if we had done half and half, my sons would have felt like they didn't have enough time at either place. So I'm glad we did it this way.

 

[JimGA]

Absolutely a 7 night is the way to go. Eastern or Western, it really depends on if you want an extra day at a Port, typically the Western stops at 3 Ports and Castaway Cay, where the Eastern typically stops at 2 Ports plus Castaway Cay. I prefer more days at sea relaxing, Ports can be very stressful.

 

[Neptune's Fork]

I'll add to the 7 night vote. For the life of me I don't how people do the 3 nighters. That would fly by so fast it would be a total blur.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

I'll throw my vote to the longer is better camp as well. Even 7 nights aren't enough for us now. We've got a B2B for 14 nights next June and another 8 nighter for next October. It really does become an absolute obsession.

 

[Geomom]

I'd go with 7 nts as well. Our first cruise was this past August, 7 nt Alaskan. It felt too short!

 

[jrabbit]

You've been given the "correct" answer - so nothing to add

 

[Neptune's Fork]

I'll throw my vote to the longer is better camp as well. Even 7 nights aren't enough for us now. We've got a B2B for 14 nights next June and another 8 nighter for next October. It really does become an absolute obsession.

It's funny you say that, I keep looking at those 14 and 15 nighters and thinking of ways to pull that off.

 

[Rabb it]

Longer the better for sure!

 

[Quellman]

Will you be visiting the parks other times during the same year? Still no concrete timelines for Avatar, Star Wars, or Toy Story expansions. So you might want to just do the cruise if you think that those places may not be open yet, and just get more parks for the same monies.