Is 3 nights enough

[ChipTheRescueRanger]

Hi all.

We are thinking about coming back to WDW this summer from the UK(if flights ever drop in price). Partner really wants to try a cruise.

Is 3 nights on the wish enough to get a taste of cruising or would we be better off paying more for 4 nights.

We have been thinking about one of the cruises from Miami as well but would add a whole host of complexity about getting to Miami and back to WDW.

Any help would be great

 

[Douglas Dubh]

we did three nights on our first cruise. I wouldn’t do it again.

 

[JM_97]

Personally, I would do 4 nights so you get a sea day to really explore the ship. Especially since the Wish is so much different than all the other ships.

If you want to sail from Miami, I would add an extra day to your vacation for traveling down. It's not a bad drive but doing it the day of the cruise is bold because you don't know what kind of traffic you'll hit or if there will be any other mishaps.

Also, I would do Disney World and then Disney Cruise. Disney World can be very overwhelming as there is so many people, so many things to do, and just a lot to take in. Disney cruises are like that too but the environment is laid back. It's nicer to have that as you end your vacation and head home. Sometimes, after visiting Disney World, you need a vacation from your vacation!

 

[ScooterScott44]

Pretty sure that everyone on a DCL specific cruise forum will say the longer cruise is better, us included. But you have to understand that the data pool you are polling is skewed. A three night will be adequate to assess if you like cruising but there would be bonuses to doing the four night. I say that since our first was a three night and we were happy and now sail regularly.

 

[MartyParty]

Is this your first cruise? DCL is super nice but twice the price of Royal Caribbean or Carnival. Three days on one of those would give you a quick taste of cruising. But for DCL four days is the ideal minimum. Good luck.

 

[tvguy]

Shortest cruise I have ever taken was a week. Too short, LOL. But my first cruise was two weeks.
What are the air fares like for you? My daughter booked a round trip from the West Coast to Edinburg for $600 each way on Delta for Eurovision in May. I didn't think that was too bad.

 

[darnheather]

Absolutely not. I did a four night in December and was completely disappointed. Best cruise was 14 nights.

 

[randumb0]

3 nights is perfect if you've never cruises before. 4 night would be max as there is a chance you may not enjoy it and you will feel stuck

 

[ChipTheRescueRanger]

Personally, I would do 4 nights so you get a sea day to really explore the ship. Especially since the Wish is so much different than all the other ships.

If you want to sail from Miami, I would add an extra day to your vacation for traveling down. It's not a bad drive but doing it the day of the cruise is bold because you don't know what kind of traffic you'll hit or if there will be any other mishaps.

Also, I would do Disney World and then Disney Cruise. Disney World can be very overwhelming as there is so many people, so many things to do, and just a lot to take in. Disney cruises are like that too but the environment is laid back. It's nicer to have that as you end your vacation and head home. Sometimes, after visiting Disney World, you need a vacation from your vacation!

The logistics of Miami could work. But would we need to figure out all the extra expense of getting to Miami. Annoying flights are cheaper out of Orlando. But would not want to do Miami first and then World. As last year 16 nights at World/Universal could have done with a relax.

Pretty sure that everyone on a DCL specific cruise forum will say the longer cruise is better, us included. But you have to understand that the data pool you are polling is skewed. A three night will be adequate to assess if you like cruising but there would be bonuses to doing the four night. I say that since our first was a three night and we were happy and now sail regularly.

It's a shame the Port C cruise idenary over summer is mainly the wish. As appears to be a big Wish tax.

Is this your first cruise? DCL is super nice but twice the price of Royal Caribbean or Carnival. Three days on one of those would give you a quick taste of cruising. But for DCL four days is the ideal minimum. Good luck.

It's more DCL that is drawing us in to Cruising we love the idea of going to castaway. We live near Southampton in UK and just doesn't have the same draw for a tester cruise.

Shortest cruise I have ever taken was a week. Too short, LOL. But my first cruise was two weeks.
What are the air fares like for you? My daughter booked a round trip from the West Coast to Edinburg for $600 each way on Delta for Eurovision in May. I didn't think that was too bad.

Partner is a teacher so limited to School holidays so price is a lot more than that sadly.

 

[Chrissy-Mickey]

For me, scheduling is more important than the length of the cruise.

DCL is awesome, no matter how long or short. One time, a 14-night cruise worked for our schedule, so that's what we booked. We loved it! If we can get a good deal for during Spring break, Christmas break, etc. we've booked a 7-night cruise and loved it! Several times, we've booked 3, 4, or 5-night cruises since that fitted better with our schedule at that time, and we loved it!

If a 3-night cruise fits best with your schedule, enjoy! Will you leave wanting more, sure, but we still had that at the end of our 14-night cruise as well.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

I find embarking and debarking to be kind of stressful, so I would always go for a longer cruise if that was an option. But if 3 days is all you can manage, it's still better than none!

 

[DWillowBay]

If your choices are 3 or 4......FOUR! That is all.

 

[lanejudy]

A 3- Night cruise is really just 2.5  days of cruising. If your itinerary makes port stops both days there is no opportunity to enjoy a "day at sea" with all the onboard activities. That said, maybe your focus is the port stops so that's fine. A 3-night is better than none.

 

[holula]

I’ve never done a 3 night on it’s own, I’ve always done a b2b with a 4 night. 3 night cruises feel much more rushed than the 4 night, that extra night makes a huge difference.

 

[dmetcalfrn]

Not sure when you are traveling but Brightline train may be an option. We are considering for a future cruise. https://www.gobrightline.com/orlando

 

[JM_97]

The logistics of Miami could work. But would we need to figure out all the extra expense of getting to Miami. Annoying flights are cheaper out of Orlando. But would not want to do Miami first and then World. As last year 16 nights at World/Universal could have done with a relax.

If you can make it work financially, I would get a one way tickets from the UK to Orlando. Then go to Disney for however many days you had planned.

Then rent a car and drive down to Miami the night before your cruise. It's about 3.5 hours, so you could wake up early the day of and do it but you are risking it. You could also get on a short flight from MCO but with it not being that far away, it's almost easier to drive.

The next morning, return the car rental and head to the cruise. Then afterwards, get a one way ticket to the UK.

That's what I would do in your shoes. Definitely a lot of moving parts but if you can swing it, I'd go for it!

 

[JM_97]

I’ve never done a 3 night on it’s own, I’ve always done a b2b with a 4 night. 3 night cruises feel much more rushed than the 4 night, that extra night makes a huge difference.

Was so happy to have our sea day on the 4 night. Really got to enjoy the ship and was probably my favorite day

 

[MartyParty]

Hi all.

We are thinking about coming back to WDW this summer from the UK(if flights ever drop in price). Partner really wants to try a cruise.

Is 3 nights on the wish enough to get a taste of cruising or would we be better off paying more for 4 nights.

We have been thinking about one of the cruises from Miami as well but would add a whole host of complexity about getting to Miami and back to WDW.

Any help would be great

Seems I've unintentionally sparked a lot of interest in a 4 day 3 night cruise comment. If you're new to cruising you can generally get this on Royal Caribbean or Carnival for $200 or less. Fairly cheap way to test if you like cruising. And to stir the plot a little more Miami even offers a 3 day 2 night cruises but it tends to cost the same as the 4 day 3 night. Disney also offer 3 day 2 night cruises but at around +$1,500 and not departing from Miami.

Our first cruise was a 4 day 3 night Christmas cruise out of Galveston, Texas. My wife and I weren't sure if we'd like cruising as a family. But with kids off to cruise club, no cooking, no cleaning, drinks and shows galore, we loved it. Have taken several different cruises on different ships. Disney line is by far our favorite but due to price we've only done it once.

Since we've decided we like cruising, we generally like 5-7 nights. I'd love to do a 10 day though the Panama Canal or West Coast cruising up to Alaska. But I likely will need to reach retirement age to have enough freedom away from work to do such a trip. And...youngest is finishing high school and off to university next year. Need to get that expansive out of the way.

Tomato potato.

 

[Rochester Disney Fan]

Your already spending the money on the airfare so I would definitely book the 4th day.

 

[ChipTheRescueRanger]

Thanks all lots of food for thought.

If we go on a cruise it will defiantly be a Disney one. So really need to worked out Miami of Port C. The bright line could help sort that as would cut out a lot of effort of having to rent a car. Last year we managed with Ubers.

Ideally would love to do a 7 day cruise. But we are limited to August so costs are sy high on all cruises and doesn't look like Disney do much if any discounts during this time. Also UK residents discount never returned after covid.

Until some cheaper flights come up look like it will all be a pipe dream.