Newbies to cruising - 7 nights a nightmare?!

[disneypaws]

Would appreciate your wisdom and thoughts! We love WDW and thinking about adding cruise in next spring. We have never cruised before but love the look of the ships so keen to give it a try. We live in The UK so will tag on week in Disney probably too. I'm wondering if people in general think 7 nights would be a bad idea for first time cruising - reasons for picking this are that we want to go to castaway cay (so rules out magic in the med) and I've looked at the ships (a lot!) and am sold on the Fantasy. It will be DH (who is a somewhat reluctant but enjoys it when he's there Disney traveller) and DS who will be almost 10. We are also stuck a bit between Western vs Eastern Caribbean itineraries. Would appreciate your thoughts

 

[squirk]

I think most people whose first cruise was a 3- or 4-night will tell you it wasn't long enough.

I am not sure anyone, especially on this board, would consider seven nights on the Fantasy to be a "nightmare".

 

[disneypaws]

I think most people whose first cruise was a 3- or 4-night will tell you it wasn't long enough.

I am not sure anyone, especially on this board, would consider seven nights on the Fantasy to be a "nightmare".

"Nightmare" Yip that did sound very much first world problems! I was starting to catastrophise a bit.

 

[dclpluto]

My first cruise was a very short 7 night cruise. It was way way too short. Especially for a first cruise. Maybe do a b2b on the fantasy.

 

[Geomom]

I think you will be fine with a week. We've done 1 cruise so far, the 7 nt Alaskan, and still didn't feel like we had enough days to do everything we wanted to do. Eastern/Western--check out the ports and see what interests you the most. If you're worried about sea-sickness, bring something with you 'just in case'. On the Wonder, we did find that outside the health center in a bin they have sample packets of seasickness medicine (chewable meclizine.)

 

[LSUfan4444]

I'm wondering if people in general think 7 nights would be a bad idea for first time cruising

N + 1 = the amount of days you should be cruising

N = the amount of days you are currently cruising

we want to go to castaway cay (so rules out magic in the med) and I've looked at the ships (a lot!) and am sold on the Fantasy.

If those are your requirements then 7 day it is and I prefer the Eastern but since it's your first the western would be fine. Go with which one fits your schedule the best and is priced better.

The key to adding park days before/after is to be aware of the type of vacation you/re planning. Don't run yourself into the ground. If the parks plan to be action packed with full days, take it easy on board and vice versa. If you want to take in all the ship and ports have to offer with early mornings and late nights, maybe relax more while at WDW.

The one thing I would say to remember is that you will feel the crowds more in the park than on the ship. Until you're at Castway Cay you won't realize how many people (especially kids) are on the ship. At WDW you will feel the crowds so start with the week you want to go to the park, then add the best cruise.

The decision to sail either before or after is not as important as picking the right week to be in the parks, the right days to be in which park and making sure the tempo of each portion is set appropriately to not run yourself into the ground.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Our first was 7 nights on the Fantasy. We loved it. Anything less wouldn't have been long enough. We did an Eastern, partially because of the timing, but also I thought the extra sea day would help us to really get a feel for the ship and cruising.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I'm not a fan of 3-4 day cruises, just because they are so rushed. I think a 7-day is a good base length. Longer with my kids has its own awkwardness.

 

[KashasMom]

There's enough to keep you busy on a 7 night....definitely the Fantasy! I prefer the Western over the Eastern. Take a look at some of the shore excursions or TripAdvisor to get an idea of what there is do to in each port.

 

[Brisbanemum]

Our first cruise was a 7 night Western Caribbean on the Disney Magic and it definitely didn't feel long enough! We are from Australia, so the travel time absolutely warranted adding at least a week (we added 3 on that particular trip) to Disneyworld. We stayed at the parks for one week before the cruise and then two weeks after, which allowed us to recover from the jetlag and sync ourselves up to the time difference.
In my opinion, I think the harder thing about doing a 7 night cruise on a Disney ship as your first cruise, is that you will be comparing every other cruise line to Disney from that moment on ...... and they are really in a league of their own!

 

[dani24]

Our first cruise was 7 days, and we felt it was just right. We sailed to the Mexican Riviera, and had three port stops, so there was a nice even split of port days to sea days. Once you know what you like you can select port-intensive vs. sea day-intensive itineraries in the future. Our biggest fear was that DH would get seasick... and he did. But he took Bonine and that resolved it. Now we just know we have to treat for that for him. But it didn't ruin the experience. We ended up loving cruising, and did a 12 day for our Honeymoon, and a couple other 7 days. Now we're doing our shortest - a 5 day on Disney, and I know it won't be enough (but we're limited on vacation time this year).

You're mostly going to find people who love cruising on this board, so the answers are going to skew that way. But when I've talked to people IRL about cruising most people who have done one enjoyed it. There have been a few that didn't -- but I've found that most of the time they went on a line that didn't fit with their style (in fact, many of them went on Carnival as their first cruise, and now think all cruising is akin to tacky, obnoxious, low quality booze cruising). I think DCL is a pretty safe bet though, if you love Disney anyway.

The majority of the people I know who "hate" cruising are people who have never been on one, oddly enough! They all seem to have this idea in their head that they're going to feel "trapped on a boat" and it's going to be crowded and boring and not very relaxing. But what my husband and I loved about cruising is that he and I have very different vacation styles -- he's a lay by the pool and do nothing for a week kind of guy, and I'm a do absolutely everything because I don't want to miss a thing kind of gal. Cruising is perfect for us because it lets us both vacation in our styles, but together. We can easily split off while he naps by the pool and I go attend some activity, and then we meeet up later for meals or activities we enjoy togethre like bingo or the spa or whatever. We've also never felt like the ship was truly crowded. They are like floating cities and there are so many things to do at any given time that people will spread out. It's FAR less crowded than Disneyland (haven't been to WDW yet, but I imagine that's way more crowded too). Heck, far less crowded than a touristy area in a major city on the weekend.

A cruise is really what you make of it. Don't feel like you have to do everything if you don't want to. But there are so many different options that I honestly feel like anyone who feels "bored" on a cruise ship is either not even trying, or a really boring person themselves.

 

[TestingH2O]

One of the biggest differences between the two itineraries is the number of sea days. Are you hoping to visit lots of places or do you want to focus on enjoying the ship? Also, based on my initial research, the eastern ports will have lots of beach and snorkeling options. The western will provide some more cultural choices at some of the ports.

 

[lothik2]

Our first cruise was a 7 night Western on the Magic with kids 9 months and almost 4. My husband just wants to sit and relaxed and I want to do everything. 7 nights was not enough for either of us. We leave on the Wonder next month to do 14 night Panama Canal for our 2nd trip, our girls will be 3 and 6 this time. My husband is choosing to stay on board 2 of the 4 port days while I go off. The only thing bad about doing a 7 night first is we can't imagine doing anything less than 7. My parents joined us on the 1st trip and now the 2nd and they would agree.
Our 3rd trip is in the plans for a 7 night Eastern Caribbean cruise with friends. Our friends will be first time cruisers and can't wait and we are talking about going winter in 2019 lol.

 

[WildEyed]

7 nights was not enough for either of us. We leave on the Wonder next month to do 14 night Panama Canal for our 2nd trip,

My experience too! My first cruise was 7 days on the Fantasy - it went by so fast, I felt like I missed out on so many things. Within a few weeks I had booked the 14 day Panama Canal and that was just about the right length!

 

[Bsmitty]

My first was a 5 night western Caribbean on the Wonder. It was not even close to long enough. I've now booked our family for a 7 night Eastern Caribbean on the Fantasy & can't wait! Hoping it's enough time this go around...

 

[M<3'sMickey]

Our very first cruise on DCL was a 4 night. Granted, they weren't offering 7 day cruises yet, so that was our only choice. We were hooked. Many seven night cruises followed by a 14 night cruise. THAT was pure paradise. We've done a 4 day and another 7 day since the 14 day cruise (the 4 day was the DVC Member cruise) and my husband and I are now going on the 10 night Southern Caribbean. I'm so excited! I wish DCL would offer longer cruises more often because I never feel like my cruise is long enough lol.

 

[jdb in AZ]

We've never spent less than 7 days on a cruise. Our favorites have been 15 days.

 

[xlxo]

I recommend 7 days for a cruise.... pad it with pre/post-cruise days to really extend the moment. You might want to try some of your local European cruises too.

 

[DLgal]

I'm going to be the dissenting opinion. Our first FAMILY cruise was a 5 night Double Dip (2x Castaway Cay) on the Dream.

We got bored on those sea days...my kids were 6 and 8, didn't like the kid's clubs, and there is only so much shuffleboard and mini golf you can play. The pool deck is SO crowded that we were over it after about an hour. We all loved the Aquaduck and rode it several times, but there's just not that much to DO on Disney Cruise ships. They have hokey (to us) "activities" that remind me of the kind of stuff you'd find at after school daycare or nursing homes (crafts, bingo, trivia). It's just not something that interests our family, I guess. I would look at the navigators and literally only the alcohol tastings, movies in the theater, and ONE particular trivia (80's TV sitcoms) interested us. Since our kids refused to be left at the club after a particularly bad experience on the second day, we didn't get to see any of the adults only areas (except Cove Cafe). I did work out, once. We did end up going to an alcohol tasting but on our second cruise when my Mother in law came and watched the kids for us. Our second cruise was a 3 day and it felt a bit too short. I think 4 days is the sweet spot, honestly. We spent the majority of days 4 and 5 in our cabin watching on demand movies and doing laundry. We did very much enjoy the cruise overall, liked the dining, felt the nighttime shows were mostly good (but super cheesy, obviously), and enjoyed the Pirate night fireworks.

I wouldn't take a 7 day cruise as a first one. My first cruise was a 3 day and I worked up from there.

Now, as ADULTS, we did a few 7 night cruises and I loved them! But, they were not on DCL. Royal Caribbean. When you don't have kids to worry about, cruising offers a really great relaxing vacation. I think that's what I missed about the Disney Dream 5 day cruise. I never once got to actually relax. I had to entertain my kids all day and try to keep them busy.

 

[KJF]

7 nights is the only thing we'll do now (well, we would do more, just not less!) We had done a 4-night once & we said never again. The first night you're getting used to the ship, where things are, what to do. The last night is a bit sad as you have to pack your bags & have them outside your cabin for pickup. Also, sea days are good - perfect time to relax. Especially since you haven't cruised previously, it would be good to have the extra time. I remember our first one was on Carnival for our Honeymoon & it took a bit of realizing we could walk into shows without paying, eat all we want, etc!!! I really wish we had been able to research it back then like we can now!

Personally, we prefer the Eastern one - we love St. Thomas & at the same time aren't too big on Mexico or Jamaica, but this is totally a personal preference. I agree w/ the comment above about researching the ports & what you might want to do.

No matter which you choose, I would recommend finding the "Navigators" online for the ship/itinerary that you are doing & get a feel for all there is to do.