Never cruised before....have questions

[Disney-Kim]

We are considering the idea of doing a 3 day cruise along with our WDW visit this SEpt.
I am interested in the 3 day cruise only for now. We want to visit the Caribbean and figured this was a way to get a small taste of it and be at WDW at the same time.
I am worried about being on a ship....I do get motion sickness and can get a little clausterphobic. but Disney's rooms seem big enough that I think we would be fine.
but to keep things cheap we would have to book the room with no window.
please tell me how big of a difference it really makes.
please be honest....we do have options.

 

[AnnMorin]

That said however I think if they only way I could cruise was to go without one and it was a short three day cruise I could live without it. ( a cruise without a veranda is still better than no cruise at all!!) I personally LOVE our veranda but I also personally only like the seven day cruises. Unfortuneatly the bahamas in my opinion (and many people would dissagree with me ) offer the worst of the caribbean. (except for castaway cay which is exquisite) Nassau is filthy and full of "braid you hair lady?" type of people who accost you constantly. There is no natural beauty in my experience such as you would find in St. Thomas or Grand Cayman. It is no where near as tropical. Now as I said before though Disney's island is picture perfect and well worth the trip ( I would just stay on the boat in Nassau and pretend I was at sea) It is one of the loveliest places I have ever been and I never get sick of going there!
We have never had problems with motion sickness, our son gets terribly car sick (vomits EVERY summer on the way to cape cod which is a three hour drive) and he has never been troubled, if you are concerned you could use dramamine or the likes but the ships are quite stable.

 

[CamColt]

Our first Disney cruise was in a cat 11, with no window. We never missed it. We traveled with 2 small children and spent very little time in our room. Other than sleeping, changing and showering, the only time we were in the room was for 1 meal(DS had a meltdown on the way into dinner). If you ever felt too closed in you could take a walk or turn on the tv...they have a channel that shows outside.
If the price of a cat 10 is an option you may want to look into the "secret porthole rooms". The cat 10s on deck 5 have a porthole, but due to some obstruction they are priced as an inside room. We had 5522 on our second cruise and loved it! But again, we found nothing wrong with the 11 either.
Also, I agree with Ann about Nassau. If its your first time you might want to make a quick visit just to check it out. We did that on our first visit, then on our second we stayed on the ship. On our 3rd we had to find a phone to call home, so we got off just for that, but quickly returned.
Good luck deciding!

 

[Disney-Kim]

We have been looking at pictures and decided that we would need the porthole window at the least.


What about the Atlantis excursion? We would like to visit the resort and do the tour. $50 each for that. It got good reviews here on the DIS...any opionions?

thanks

 

[AnnMorin]

I think someone on the board had posted about a day room at one of the hotels that gave you admission to atlantis. I can't recall which one but it was cheaper than the excursion. And YES Atlantis is MUCH better than regular Nassau...

 

[westjones]

We are on the September 18th 3 day cruise this year. We have always cruised in Cat. 11 (although as a surprise this year, I have booked one with a window to surprise the girls). I also get motion sickness, but haven't had problems on the cruise except for one night on a seven day when there was a storm (but it wasn't bad motion sickness).

I don't like feeling closed in, but the inside rooms didn't bother me. For one thing we hardly spent any time in our room, and when we did go to bed at night I was SO tired that I feel right to sleep!


I think you will be fine and you will have a great time!
DJ

 

[Buckaroo's Dad]

Yo Ann.

Unfortuneatly

Eating your fortunes again?...

 

[AnnMorin]

BD.. I am ALWAYS eating my fortunes.,.. many peoples according to my hip size..

 

[jrabbit]

We have cruised twice (4 night and 7 night). Both times we didn't have a window nor veranda. Did not miss it. On the 4 night we were rarely in the room (change clothes and to take naps - usually from 2am to 7am - that's a nap not sleep!). On the 7 night cruise we were in the room just a little longer (midnight to 7 - almost a good nights sleep). We sometimes popped in to the room between activites to see where we were going next. NOTE: Bring a small sized tablet to write out your daily schedule on with times and locations so you can carry it with you. The only problem with the inside room was when you woke up you really had no idea if it was the middle of the night or moring or noon or any other time - the room is totally dark. Bring an illuminated clock.

You other issue deals with seasickness. I'm in the 40's and get motion sickness very easily. I take dramamine (sp?) EVERY DAY that I go to a theme park. I take the meds while on the cruise. Here is what happens to me the minute that I step onto the Magic. I feel the ship rocking like crazy. Think Gilligans Island intro, big waves, going way up, get tossed around and come back down, then repeat over and over and over and over again. I KNOW that we are still tied up at the dock in the harbor and we are not moving an inch. I feel this way the entire time I am on the ship. I usually forget to take the dramamine after a day or two. Guess what happens!!! Absolutly nothing!!! I still feel the same way (up down rock, repeat) but I have not ever felt motion sickness. When we are out on Deck 4 or up on decks 9/10 and my eyes are telling me that we are not doing the Gilligan's Island rock and roll, I don't feel the "movement" but as soon as I go back inside it starts up again. As far as going to sleep, it's never been a problem on the ship either.

If you are worried about getting motion sickness there are several over the counter meds available and some herbal remedies too. Your doctor can also prescribe meds that might work for you. Whatever your choice in motion sickness remedy is, be sure to try it BEFORE leaving on your trip. Sometimes the side effects can be worse than the motion sickness its self. One of the common side effects is being sleepy. I don't feel that that is an acceptable side effect - you are paying way too much for this trip to sleep through it.

 

[lynn71092]

I would check out the difference in price from a 3 night to a 4 night. I'm taking my niece on our 1st ever cruise and I was going with the 3 night but when they quoted the 4 night it was only like a $50.00 per person difference so I figured why rush through it when for that small amount of money why not go for 4 nights?

 

[Memaw2Wm]

And I purposefully choose to do a land/sea vacation with 3 days at sea ... wasn't sure if I'd like cruising and I also wanted to take my grandson to WDW. He's only been once before ... he was three and spent one day in the Magic Kingdom.

I ended up adding an extra day at WDW so we'll arrive on Saturday rather than Sunday.

Cheryl

 

[westjones]

I was surprised by the difference between the 3 night and 4 night cruise. I am guessing that because the 3 night is one a weekend, that makes it more costly? We are going a 3 night this year, but will do a 4 night one next year, it really is a better 'deal'.

DJ