Planning First Cruise, Need Advice

[Steveromo]

Veteran WDW traveler but never been on any kind of cruise. Before we even start, I need some advice from some experienced cruisers. Traveling party is DH, DW, and 8 yr old DD, as well as Darling In-laws (70's.)

1. Travel agent boasts how DD will have plenty to do while the adults go their own way. But we all enjoy our Disney activities together - as a family! Are there enough activities that we all can do together?

2. We love the parks, rides, flavor of WDW. Never big on the shows, water parks, and fancy meals.
Seems like that's all the cruise offers, but we're willing to try a new venture. Do theme-park-loving veteran WDW visitors like us still get a lot out of a cruise?

3. Looking at possible President's day week, spring break, or wait till July / August. We would never
do WDW any of those times - high prices, huge crowds! But does that have any affect on cruises?

4. How is the weather at sea and in ports on Bahamas, Caribbean, Castaway Cay during above
mentioned times of year? We are afraid of intense heat (90's and above) and potential hurricanes.

5. Thinking of 4 or 5 day for first-timers. Lots of you say that's too short. Have any first-timers felt that was an appropriate length?

Thanks for any and all feedback!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Veteran WDW traveler but never been on any kind of cruise. Before we even start, I need some advice from some experienced cruisers. Traveling party is DH, DW, and 8 yr old DD, as well as Darling In-laws (70's.)

1. Travel agent boasts how DD will have plenty to do while the adults go their own way. But we all enjoy our Disney activities together - as a family! Are there enough activities that we all can do together?

2. We love the parks, rides, flavor of WDW. Never big on the shows, water parks, and fancy meals.
Seems like that's all the cruise offers, but we're willing to try a new venture. Do theme-park-loving veteran WDW visitors like us still get a lot out of a cruise?

3. Looking at possible President's day week, spring break, or wait till July / August. We would never
do WDW any of those times - high prices, huge crowds! But does that have any affect on cruises?

4. How is the weather at sea and in ports on Bahamas, Caribbean, Castaway Cay during above
mentioned times of year? We are afraid of intense heat (90's and above) and potential hurricanes.

5. Thinking of 4 or 5 day for first-timers. Lots of you say that's too short. Have any first-timers felt that was an appropriate length?

Thanks for any and all feedback!

Well, I'll try to field a few:
1. Yes there are many "family" activities onboard. I'd suggest you check out various past Navigators (the daily activity paper) here for an idea of what sorts of activities may be offered on a cruise:
http://disneycruiselineblog.com/personal-navigators/
2. We enjoy DCL, and we enjoy Disneyland. Also been to WDW and liked that (well, except for the FP+ nonsense).
3. Yes, the high season at WDW will be the same as high season on cruises (particularly the Caribbean cruises). Prices are higher for those cruises, and book up faster (bigger demand - limited space compared to WDW resorts).
5. Personally, we're firmly in the "longer is better" camp (our first was 15 nights). But many first timers do the shorter ones to make sure they are going to like it. No wrong choice here. Whatever works for you is best.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Veteran WDW traveler but never been on any kind of cruise. Before we even start, I need some advice from some experienced cruisers. Traveling party is DH, DW, and 8 yr old DD, as well as Darling In-laws (70's.)

1. Travel agent boasts how DD will have plenty to do while the adults go their own way. But we all enjoy our Disney activities together - as a family! Are there enough activities that we all can do together?

2. We love the parks, rides, flavor of WDW. Never big on the shows, water parks, and fancy meals.
Seems like that's all the cruise offers, but we're willing to try a new venture. Do theme-park-loving veteran WDW visitors like us still get a lot out of a cruise?

3. Looking at possible President's day week, spring break, or wait till July / August. We would never
do WDW any of those times - high prices, huge crowds! But does that have any affect on cruises?

4. How is the weather at sea and in ports on Bahamas, Caribbean, Castaway Cay during above
mentioned times of year? We are afraid of intense heat (90's and above) and potential hurricanes.

5. Thinking of 4 or 5 day for first-timers. Lots of you say that's too short. Have any first-timers felt that was an appropriate length?

Thanks for any and all feedback!

We're getting ready to board our 4th cruise which will put us at 21 nights on a DCL ship, our 2 kids have spent about 4 hours combined in the clubs. We spend almost all our time together doing crafts, trivia, games, towel folding classes, desert making classes, etc. there is tons to do. We started taking the kids to DL anywhere between 1-5 times a year back in 2005, since our second cruise on the Fantasy back in 2013, we've been hooked on cruising. Our preferred Disney vacations in order of favorites is DCL, DL, and WDW.

I would recommend a minimum of 4 nights to start cruising, our first was 3 nights and wasn't long enough. I'm always up for longer cruises but our next one is only 4 nights and I can hardly wait, any time on a ship is good for me.

Cruises aren't for everyone but we find we get our Disney fix and come back completely relaxed instead of exhausted like when we're at DL or WDW.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Veteran WDW traveler but never been on any kind of cruise. Before we even start, I need some advice from some experienced cruisers. Traveling party is DH, DW, and 8 yr old DD, as well as Darling In-laws (70's.)

1. Travel agent boasts how DD will have plenty to do while the adults go their own way. But we all enjoy our Disney activities together - as a family! Are there enough activities that we all can do together?

2. We love the parks, rides, flavor of WDW. Never big on the shows, water parks, and fancy meals.
Seems like that's all the cruise offers, but we're willing to try a new venture. Do theme-park-loving veteran WDW visitors like us still get a lot out of a cruise?

3. Looking at possible President's day week, spring break, or wait till July / August. We would never
do WDW any of those times - high prices, huge crowds! But does that have any affect on cruises?

4. How is the weather at sea and in ports on Bahamas, Caribbean, Castaway Cay during above
mentioned times of year? We are afraid of intense heat (90's and above) and potential hurricanes.

5. Thinking of 4 or 5 day for first-timers. Lots of you say that's too short. Have any first-timers felt that was an appropriate length?

Thanks for any and all feedback!

1. There are a ton of family activities on the ship that you can do together. My DS7 wouldn't go into a kids club until this year, so we were always together during our cruises.

2. A Disney cruise and a visit to WDW are completely different, IMHO. The cruise is far more relaxing. If you like to go, go, go, I would suggest an itinerary with a lot of port days so you can get off the ship and explore.

3. If you don't want intense heat, I would avoid July/August in the Bahamas and Caribbean. You won't have hurricanes during President's Day week or spring break. Yes, whenever school is out, prices go up on DCL. If you want to avoid crowds, I would actually suggest sailing on the Magic. It's a smaller ship, so when you go to Castaway Cay, there will be half as many people there as there would be if you sailed the Dream or Fantasy.

4. Unless I was doing a WDW/DCL combined vacation, I wouldn't do anything less than 4 nights. Our first cruise was 5 nights and it was plenty to get a sense of whether we liked it or not. I would suggest picking the time frame you want to go and pricing your options out. Personally, for a first time cruiser who isn't sure if they will like it or not, I would pick the least expensive one and give it a try! I've been on the Fantasy, Dream and Magic and you really can't go wrong with any of them.

 

[truck1]

Veteran WDW traveler but never been on any kind of cruise. Before we even start, I need some advice from some experienced cruisers. Traveling party is DH, DW, and 8 yr old DD, as well as Darling In-laws (70's.)

1. Travel agent boasts how DD will have plenty to do while the adults go their own way. But we all enjoy our Disney activities together - as a family! Are there enough activities that we all can do together?

2. We love the parks, rides, flavor of WDW. Never big on the shows, water parks, and fancy meals.
Seems like that's all the cruise offers, but we're willing to try a new venture. Do theme-park-loving veteran WDW visitors like us still get a lot out of a cruise?

3. Looking at possible President's day week, spring break, or wait till July / August. We would never
do WDW any of those times - high prices, huge crowds! But does that have any affect on cruises?

4. How is the weather at sea and in ports on Bahamas, Caribbean, Castaway Cay during above
mentioned times of year? We are afraid of intense heat (90's and above) and potential hurricanes.

5. Thinking of 4 or 5 day for first-timers. Lots of you say that's too short. Have any first-timers felt that was an appropriate length?

Thanks for any and all feedback!

Ill leave 1 alone since its been covered. Then check the link in my sig line.
2. The shows on the ships are very good, though some will not like them for 1 reason or another. They are typically Broadway type productions centered around Disney. Whether its a look back at some of the Disney movies or centered around the villains, they are all unique, even from ship to ship. The MDRs (Main Dining Restaurants) each have their own unique atmosphere. Animators for example on the Magic and Wonder change colors while you eat where on the Dream and Fantasy, have interactive experiences with different Disney and Pixar characters. The same holds true for the other MDRs, as each has its own atmosphere.
3.For the most part, the ships sail between 80 and 100% full,(Varies from ship to ship. Dream and Wonder 100% Magic 90% and the Fantasy 8-100%) though the only way youd know is if you went to GS and saw the sign on the desk saying no upgrades, ship is full. If you book a cruise, anytime the kids are off from school, such as the dates you mentioned, you will typically pay a higher price then when kids are in school. Best cruise times that I have found are in late August to early November. The prices are very reasonable, the weather is still nice (mid to upper 80s, flat seas) and water is still warm.
4.As far as the conditions in say July, we did the 4 day double dip to Nassau, and it was in the 90s the whole time. It wasn't bad if there was a breeze, but when the breeze died it got a little uncomfortable on Nassau. By comparison we did a 7 day on the Fantasy on the eastern carib, in Oct of 13 and it was flat seas and very nice in the islands. Abut an average of 88.Oct is the usual downhill slide for hurricane season. We did the Maiden on the Fantasy in 2012, and the weather was nice but the water was pretty cool, and there was some rough conditions outside of CC. You could see the waves breaking over the breakwater and feel the surge in the lagoon. Typically, Jan to about early March is the time the ships miss CC due to weather. From Nov to early March, if you see what the weather is like in Central Florida, it will follow the ships to the Bahamas on the 3/4 in a day or so. Hurricanes and storms can pop up at any time, and the ships will work around them, so I wouldn't worry about it. Worst case scenario a 7 day western becomes a 7 day eastern or vice versa, or CC will come before Nassau.

5. 5 day trips are rare. The 4 day is about right to get your feet wet, out of PC as you get Castaway Cay, Nassau and a day at sea. The 3 day trips are too short. You race to Nassau, race to CC and then race home. My personal favorites are the 7s.