Newbies to cruising - 7 nights a nightmare?!

[mom+3girls]

My first cruise was a 7 night Western on the Magic. I was a bit apprehensive myself... what if we don't like it, what if we get sea sick, what if what if what if. But OH my goodness, it was amazing. We boarded the Magic with a hurricane out in the Atlantic(it was September 2005). The day before we were waiting on a call on our drive to FL from DCL to tell us we would be leaving from another port. But nope we got to leave from Port Canaveral. The first night was a bit rocky and I looked at the girls and said I'm not sure this is going to be fun if it stays like this. The captain told us the rockiness would be over sometime that night. The next morning when I woke up I thought we must be docked but we were not we were in the middle of the ocean could not see land and you couldn't even tell the ship was moving. My kids and I absolutely enjoyed that cruise. I would love to do a 7 night cruise again someday, but must settle for 4 nighters since the 7 nights are so expensive. I would do it.

 

[mmouse37]

7 nights all the way!!!! Eastern will give you an extra sea day to explore and enjoy the ship!! We prefer doing WDW first and relaxing on the cruise but that is personal choice...no right or wrong answer.

MJ

 

[JWG]

My first cruise was a 7 night Western on the Magic. I was a bit apprehensive myself... what if we don't like it, what if we get sea sick, what if what if what if. But OH my goodness, it was amazing. We boarded the Magic with a hurricane out in the Atlantic(it was September 2005). The day before we were waiting on a call on our drive to FL from DCL to tell us we would be leaving from another port. But nope we got to leave from Port Canaveral. The first night was a bit rocky and I looked at the girls and said I'm not sure this is going to be fun if it stays like this. The captain told us the rockiness would be over sometime that night. The next morning when I woke up I thought we must be docked but we were not we were in the middle of the ocean could not see land and you couldn't even tell the ship was moving. My kids and I absolutely enjoyed that cruise. I would love to do a 7 night cruise again someday, but must settle for 4 nighters since the 7 nights are so expensive. I would do it.

I think we were on this cruise with you! We, too, were on the 7 night western on the Magic in 9/2005 right after hurricane Ophelia and right before hurricane Rita. First ship out of Cape Canaveral after Ophelia and rough waters until we got out into the open ocean. My wife was miserable the rest of the cruise because of it. Never thought I'd get her on again. I remember the walk to dinner that first night was a serpentine affair as walking straight wasn't possible. We've done 4 cruises (1 3-day, 1 4-day, 2 7-day). Our first was the 3-day in 2000, because we weren't sure we'd like it. Too short. It's really only 2 full days. The 4-day is a decent sweet spot as you get 3 full-days (almost four with embarkation day) and a a day at sea to test your sea legs.

Maybe start with 4 for testing and cost, and go from there into the future.

 

[mom+3girls]

I think we were on this cruise with you! We, too, were on the 7 night western on the Magic in 9/2005 right after hurricane Ophelia and right before hurricane Rita. First ship out of Cape Canaveral after Ophelia and rough waters until we got out into the open ocean. My wife was miserable the rest of the cruise because of it. Never thought I'd get her on again. I remember the walk to dinner that first night was a serpentine affair as walking straight wasn't possible. We've done 4 cruises (1 3-day, 1 4-day, 2 7-day). Our first was the 3-day in 2000, because we weren't sure we'd like it. Too short. It's really only 2 full days. The 4-day is a decent sweet spot as you get 3 full-days (almost four with embarkation day) and a a day at sea to test your sea legs.

Maybe start with 4 for testing and cost, and go from there into the future.

It was Sept 10, 2005. Were you on that cruise?

 

[Msmit002]

Our very first cruise many, many years ago was an 11-night Caribbean. Talk about a leap of faith...

 

[kiford]

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

We love cruising the long itineraries and even feel like 12 days was too short, but I'm glad we did the 4 night to start. DH was very worried that he'd be seasick or bored (neither occurred) so it was just long enough to convince us that it was something that we wanted to do more of. I'm not even sure I could have convinced him to do 7 nights (even if it had been offered at the time which it wasn't) without that dipping of the toe into cruising.

On the other hand, my father convinced my mother to go on a 7 day cruise to start. She was worried about cruising as she'd sailed to England in 1951 and got horribly seasick. He managed to convince her that a 20,000 ton ship built in the early part of the century and a 90,000 ton recently built cruise ship with stabilizers was vastly different but she wasn't willing until she saw one in port on one of their land vacations. After that, they mostly did 14-20 day cruises. Move forward 20 years and after she passed away my dad tried to convince my aunt (mother's sister - same experience on that same ship to England) to cruise. Talked her into a 7 day cruise and they've now cruised 6-7 more times usually in the 18 day range. Both were convinced after the first day of an initial 7-day cruise.

So it really depends on what the potential cruisers are willing to do/risk/tolerate/try. Either a very short 3-4 day cruise or a 7-day cruise can work for the first one. Are there ports that are more attractive for the 7-day over the shorter one?

 

[disneypaws]

Wow, thanks for all the thoughtful input! We normally capitalise on our jet lag to get into the parks early then leave before or around early afternoon and then head back to the beach club pool. Ideally then I would do WDW first, then cruise and because dates are pretty fixed that would mean Western itinerary and then flying home overnight on the day the cruise finishes. I could live with that but would be a wasted day. If we cruised first then we could stay in a resort for one night first (and could drag my guys to a different resort for a one night trial), then Eastern, then some more holiday time. I'm swayed a little more towards this as the ports seem more relaxing stops and there is an extra sea day. I think I am convinced on 7 days though! Now just considering whether July might be an option - more flexibility on dates, maybe not so good weather though. Lots to think about. Thanks again!

 

[JWG]

It was Sept 10, 2005. Were you on that cruise?

Yup, that's the one. We were in stateroom 6004 near the front, that probably didn't help that first night.

 

[mom+3girls]

I was on deck 6 midship. And it was pretty bad there to.