My thoughts on a 3 night sailing

[PAGA2003]

We just returned from a terrific 3 night sailing on the Wonder so I wanted to post my thoughts on doing a short sailing. I see a lot of posts about taking 3 night cruises and it seems most of the time people are discouraged from going on short trips so I just wanted to put another perspective out there. We had several reasons for choosing a 3 night and I have to say we loved it! Our main purpose was giving our son a little dose of Disney magic without leaving our infant daughter for a long period of time and a 3 night sailing was just perfect for a weekend getaway that also minimized his time missed from school.

We went into this trip with an open mind and the intention to relax and not try to fit everything in. I really think that perspective is key on a short sailing. I had pre-booked the princess and frozen meet and greets as well as a Palo brunch. I hoped to visit the Pirate Museum in Nassau, run the Castaway Cay 5k, do an alcohol tasting and attend the shows. I viewed everything on my two lists as optional with the exception of brunch! In the end I felt that visiting the Pirate Museum in the morning followed by a 12:00 princess meet and greet and then a 12:30 brunch was a bit ambitious so as we were leaving the ship to head into Nassau I dropped off our princess tickets at guest services so they could be redistributed to another family. That decision was the right one as we felt much less constrained and were able to enjoy Nassau more freely. Other than that one activity we were able to do everything else we wanted and never felt rushed! We even fit in meeting a couple other characters (Tinkerbell and Goofy) that I hadn't planned on.

We were all truly surprised how much we did and how relaxing our short little trip was! Our son still had plenty of time in the clubs and my husband and I were able to relax and enjoy time by the adult pool and Cove Cafe as well as in the Cadillac lounge each evening. We also managed to make it to each of the shows. More than likely our next trip on DCL will be another 3 night since our daughter will still be too young for the kids club so a longer cruise is not appealing to us right now. I really encourage anyone thinking of doing a 3 night to give it a try and not be discouraged if that is all time/finances/family/etc. allow at the time. I really think it is worth it and doubt you will be disappointed

 

[bobbiwoz]

I enjoyed reading about your wonderful 3 night cruise!

 

[Dug720]

We just returned from a terrific 3 night sailing on the Wonder so I wanted to post my thoughts on doing a short sailing. I see a lot of posts about taking 3 night cruises and it seems most of the time people are discouraged from going on short trips so I just wanted to put another perspective out there. We had several reasons for choosing a 3 night and I have to say we loved it! Our main purpose was giving our son a little dose of Disney magic without leaving our infant daughter for a long period of time and a 3 night sailing was just perfect for a weekend getaway that also minimized his time missed from school.

We went into this trip with an open mind and the intention to relax and not try to fit everything in. I really think that perspective is key on a short sailing. I had pre-booked the princess and frozen meet and greets as well as a Palo brunch. I hoped to visit the Pirate Museum in Nassau, run the Castaway Cay 5k, do an alcohol tasting and attend the shows. I viewed everything on my two lists as optional with the exception of brunch! In the end I felt that visiting the Pirate Museum in the morning followed by a 12:00 princess meet and greet and then a 12:30 brunch was a bit ambitious so as we were leaving the ship to head into Nassau I dropped off our princess tickets at guest services so they could be redistributed to another family. That decision was the right one as we felt much less constrained and were able to enjoy Nassau more freely. Other than that one activity we were able to do everything else we wanted and never felt rushed! We even fit in meeting a couple other characters (Tinkerbell and Goofy) that I hadn't planned on.

We were all truly surprised how much we did and how relaxing our short little trip was! Our son still had plenty of time in the clubs and my husband and I were able to relax and enjoy time by the adult pool and Cove Cafe as well as in the Cadillac lounge each evening. We also managed to make it to each of the shows. More than likely our next trip on DCL will be another 3 night since our daughter will still be too young for the kids club so a longer cruise is not appealing to us right now. I really encourage anyone thinking of doing a 3 night to give it a try and not be discouraged if that is all time/finances/family/etc. allow at the time. I really think it is worth it and doubt you will be disappointed

Thanks for the report!

What kind of cabin did you have?

 

[GoofyLovingFamily]

We are gold cruisers and doing our first 3 night to do the Fantasy double dip.

 

[PAGA2003]

Thanks for the report!

What kind of cabin did you have?

So the cabin was the one misstep in my opinion We booked one of the least expensive cabins, an 11A Standard Inside and found it was just a bit small for the 3 of us. We missed having the split bathroom and a touch more storage. All things considered it was fine for 3 nights but more than likely we will not be booking a standard inside again.

 

[dragynally]

I'm so glad you had a great time! Honestly I think anyone can have fun on a 2 day cruise if they want. Usually when I'm talking people out of 3 days is because they are debating between 2 cruise lengths. But a 3 night can be perfect.

 

[mevelandry]

I agree! 3 nights cruises are very good (and better than no cruise at all!)

 

[nycdisneygal]

That sounds awesome. And hey Any number of nights is better than Zero nights!

 

[cariann77]

We went into this trip with an open mind and the intention to relax and not try to fit everything in.

I need to make this my mantra. We're doing a 4-day in May but wish we could have done more. I've been so worried about not being able to enjoy such a short cruise because we'll be so rushed to fit everything in but this helped. I needed this review. Glad you enjoyed yourselves!

 

[CamColt]

What a great perspective! While I would usually say the longer the cruise the better, given your situation, this sounds just perfect! And really, 3 nights on DCL is better than 3 nights at home

 

[dragynally]

I need to make this my mantra. We're doing a 4-day in May but wish we could have done more. I've been so worried about not being able to enjoy such a short cruise because we'll be so rushed to fit everything in but this helped. I needed this review. Glad you enjoyed yourselves!

4 nights is lovely! A perfect vacation. You will do more than you think. Each day felt like a week on my 4 day.

 

[PAGA2003]

I need to make this my mantra. We're doing a 4-day in May but wish we could have done more. I've been so worried about not being able to enjoy such a short cruise because we'll be so rushed to fit everything in but this helped. I needed this review. Glad you enjoyed yourselves!

I'm glad it helped you feel a bit better You are going to love it! I'm glad I had my list of things we hoped to accomplish but the most important thing was just not stressing over making it happen and I think that really helped. Even when we signed up for the 5k we weren't sure we would feel up to getting up early enough to do it so we went to bed saying if we make it great and if not more beach time! My husband did a whiskey tasting the night before so he was the really iffy one

 

[Shanti]

I totally agree. Our first cruise was a 3-nighter on the Magic, and it was probably more relaxing than our recent 7-night Fantasy cruise. This may have been due to the fact that the 3-nighter did have a sea day (no Nassau), and that it was a classic ship, so there was a bit less available to do.

Both cruises were great, & I take exception to those people who say that 3-nighters aren't worth it. Ours was very much a complete and memorable vacation, albeit not a long one.

 

[squirk]

We have friends who have sailed once with their young daughter on a Carnival cruise. They were not thrilled with the experience - too adult, too "booze-cruise"-y, wet t-shirt contests, etc. For the record, I am not knocking Carnival - just recounting what our friends told us they didn't like.

We would love for them to try a Disney cruise (with us) and see the difference. We usually do the Fantasy 7-day E. Caribbean, but those are pretty pricey and we don't want to ask our friends to spend a lot of money to sample cruising again. Baby steps, y'know?

A Dream 3-night out of PC would be perfect - not tons of money, not a huge time commitment, yet enough of the DCL vibe to (hopefully) offset the bad taste that Carnival left in their mouth.

 

[WDWLODGE]

We are gold cruisers and doing our first 3 night to do the Fantasy double dip.

We'll be on the same cruise. It will be our first 3-nighter as well.

 

[smiths02]

This is encouraging.
We finally got my in-laws to agree to some sort of vacation with us. (They did Disneyworld with us in 2009, but they are older now and less adventurous). Anyhow, 4-nights was the maximum cruise I could get them to agree to, and with taking 7 people 4-nights is better on the budget, I know it will be too short, but I am hoping we have fun.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

I think it's great DCL offers shorter cruises. It works for so many people. I am so glad it worked out for your family. Thank you for posting.

 

[PAGA2003]

This is encouraging.
We finally got my in-laws to agree to some sort of vacation with us. (They did Disneyworld with us in 2009, but they are older now and less adventurous). Anyhow, 4-nights was the maximum cruise I could get them to agree to, and with taking 7 people 4-nights is better on the budget, I know it will be too short, but I am hoping we have fun.

I bet y'all will have an excellent time! My parents went with us on our first Dream cruise because we knew with my mother having mobility issues it was a better way for them to experience a bit of Disney with their grandson than trying to take on the parks. It worked out wonderfully!

 

[mevelandry]

I need to make this my mantra. We're doing a 4-day in May but wish we could have done more. I've been so worried about not being able to enjoy such a short cruise because we'll be so rushed to fit everything in but this helped. I needed this review. Glad you enjoyed yourselves!

Here is how I see things: Whether it's 3 nights, 7 nights or 10 nights... The days will pass. You'll be back home at some point anyway (because vacations are temporary). And once those days are gone, your memories will be only be snippets of your best moments.

The key word is "mindfulness". Instead of trying to do it all in the same vacation, plan whatever you think is absolutely necessary (read Personal Navigators before. It helps.) in order to really take advantage of your cruise. And when you get there... Relax. Follow your plan but "Be in the moment". That's the only way to be satisfied.

If you keep thinking "it will already be over by tomorrow" you anticipate, therefore you are not in the moment/capturing feelings and memories.

 

[PAGA2003]

We have friends who have sailed once with their young daughter on a Carnival cruise. They were not thrilled with the experience - too adult, too "booze-cruise"-y, wet t-shirt contests, etc. For the record, I am not knocking Carnival - just recounting what our friends told us they didn't like.

We would love for them to try a Disney cruise (with us) and see the difference. We usually do the Fantasy 7-day E. Caribbean, but those are pretty pricey and we don't want to ask our friends to spend a lot of money to sample cruising again. Baby steps, y'know?

A Dream 3-night out of PC would be perfect - not tons of money, not a huge time commitment, yet enough of the DCL vibe to (hopefully) offset the bad taste that Carnival left in their mouth.

Don't worry we still had plenty of magic! We felt we actually saw more characters out and about this time which was wonderful! Depending on when your going maybe consider a 3 night on the Wonder if you can. With the updates to the ship there was magic everywhere. Tiana's was amazing and we heard from many that have sailed on all four ships that it really is the best restaurant DCL has at sea. It was an extremely immersive experience and by arriving right when our dining time began we were one of the first seated so Tiana chatted with us a while and posed for a picture! We enjoyed Animator's Palate more as well since Sorcerer Mickey made an appearance and now my son can't wait to see Fantasia!