Please help us decide 4 night or 7 for newbies?

[wonderlandaddict]

We were planning our 1st cruise on the Dream for Feb 26, 2018 for 4 nights in an ocean view room, stay 2 nights at WDW before and 1 night after. We go to WDW every 2 years so we were not planning on visiting the parks on this trip. After crunching the numbers if we downgrade to interior room and no stays at WDW there will only be a couple hundred difference. Since we have never cruised before I am not sure we will want to be on the boat for 7 days. Should we start out slow? Has anyone ever jumped in for the 7 days at the beginning? The 7 day we are looking at is the Wonder on March 4 stopping at St. Maarten and San Juan if that makes any difference.
Thanks in advance!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We were planning our 1st cruise on the Dream for Feb 26, 2018 for 4 nights in an ocean view room, stay 2 nights at WDW before and 1 night after. We go to WDW every 2 years so we were not planning on visiting the parks on this trip. After crunching the numbers if we downgrade to interior room and no stays at WDW there will only be a couple hundred difference. Since we have never cruised before I am not sure we will want to be on the boat for 7 days. Should we start out slow? Has anyone ever jumped in for the 7 days at the beginning? The 7 day we are looking at is the Wonder on March 4 stopping at St. Maarten and San Juan if that makes any difference.
Thanks in advance!

We did a 15 night cruise as our very first cruise. It depends on how flexible you are. If you're really unsure about whether you'll enjoy cruising, shorter might be better. If you're "go with the flow" kind of people, I'd go with a 7 night cruise. There's lots more things to do and you don't feel as pressed for time on a longer cruise.

 

[squirk]

I'd say do the 4-day, and maybe skip the WDW pre- and post-stays.

If you hate the cruise, or if someone in your party is particularly prone to seasickness, or whatever, you might be glad you aren't stuck on the ship for an extra three days.

If you love it, then use the money you would have spent on WDW to put toward your next cruise.

 

[wonderlandaddict]

I'd say do the 4-day, and maybe skip the WDW pre- and post-stays.

If you hate the cruise, or if someone in your party is particularly prone to seasickness, or whatever, you might be glad you aren't stuck on the ship for an extra three days.

If you love it, then use the money you would have spent on WDW to put toward your next cruise.

I think this is a wonderful idea!

 

[jvweston]

Don't know about everybody else, but I've never left a ship not wishing the cruise was just a little longer. I'd go longer interior than shorter, especially if you are interested in seeing those other ports. I've been to both St. Maarten and San Juan and really enjoyed them.

 

[seacruise]

Are you interested in the ports or just looking for the Disney experience on water? If the ports matter to you - St. Maarten and San Juan are considerably more interesting than Nassau. Plus going further south in Feb/Mar into the Caribbean rather than just the Bahamas is likely to get you some warmer weather (and water) as well.

The ship also matters. We prefer the smaller ships and I would think they would be less intimidating for a first time cruiser.

Are you flying or driving to the port? We have a 5+ hour flight to Orlando so for us it wouldn't be worth it for a 3 or 4 day cruise. We've done some shorter non-Disney cruises from our home port that we can drive to, but they are never nearly as satisfying. You just get into the vacation routine and the cruise is over.

 

[cmph]

I've never been on a cruise less than 7 days; mine have been 7-10 days each. My kids just had their first cruise, 7 days, and left wishing they had more time, and that they hadn't wasted ANY time in the ports. Even Castaway Cay!! I think it comes down to what you want out of a cruise. For us, I'm now practically counting down the days until my kids are older when school isn't an issue, and we can do transatlantics and Panama Canal cruises.

Having said that, I also have a plan in my head to do a 4-day and combine it with a 3-4 day AKL stay. We love that resort but don't want to stay there when we're in the parks all day and can't explore the resort enough. I think it might be somewhat exhausting to do pre- and post-cruise WDW time, personally, and would pick one or the other.

 

[Shanti]

We were planning our 1st cruise on the Dream for Feb 26, 2018 for 4 nights in an ocean view room, stay 2 nights at WDW before and 1 night after. We go to WDW every 2 years so we were not planning on visiting the parks on this trip. After crunching the numbers if we downgrade to interior room and no stays at WDW there will only be a couple hundred difference. Since we have never cruised before I am not sure we will want to be on the boat for 7 days. Should we start out slow? Has anyone ever jumped in for the 7 days at the beginning? The 7 day we are looking at is the Wonder on March 4 stopping at St. Maarten and San Juan if that makes any difference.
Thanks in advance!

Since you were already not planning on doing the parks, I typically would recommend not spending money to stay at WDW, and instead do the 7-night cruise, but that would only be my recommendation if you were planning on sailing the Fantasy.

I recommend the Dream over the Wonder for the Caribbean, because the Wonder has the least activities available out of any ship. So choosing between Dream and Wonder, I'd go with Dream.

 

[Bear3412]

7 nights. If allowed. Period. Irregardless of previous banter.

Trust me.

 

[Bear3412]

deleted

 

[jdb in AZ]

Seven nights is a minimum cruise for us. DMIL took us on several cruises and her motto was, "If it's not at least a week, it's not worth unpacking your bags."

 

[lbus42]

Since you have never cruised before, I would ask myself the following before deciding.

What do you like the most about going to WDW? Do you go for the Disney experience or it that secondary to the planning, rushing around, the thrill rides, etc..?

Do you like to relax on vacations?

Going back to the planning, are you a control freak (no offense to those that love this) that must have control over all aspects of their vacation? Or are you more of a go with the flow kind of person?

If you lean more towards relaxing, letting others do more of the planning, going with the flow, and can do without the thrill rides, go for a 7 day cruise. You will not want the cruise to end.

If the idea of this sounds like it might be boring to you, stick to the shorter cruise. Or skip it all together if this sounds VERY boring.

Whichever cruise you choose, I suggest taking seasick medications BEFORE boarding the ship. Pick up Bonine or other non-drowsy seasick medications and take them before sailing. I also recommend seasick bands.

Enjoy your cruise!!

 

[mandylovesdisney]

I did 4 nights on my first cruise and my husband had to drag me off the ship in tears. Do 7 nights. You will love it and want those extra days, I promise!

 

[Neptune's Fork]

Definitely 7. If you only do 4, come day 5 you'll be saying 'what just happened' because it'll fly by.

 

[squirk]

I think this is a wonderful idea!

Thanks. But be forewarned - the others folks are absolutely right. If (if) you love it, the four days will fly by and you might be kicking yourself that you didn't book the 7-day.

Our first cruise ever (Disney or otherwise) was a 5-day on the Dream. Even that did not seem like enough for us, and we have done Fantasy 7-days ever since.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

Yes, our first (and second and third) DCL cruises were all 7-nt! I agree with previous posters that the ports are much more interesting on 7-nts and the weather and water will be warmer. I would save my money, not do WDW this time, and maybe even see how much a verandah room is (not sure of your party's ages or number), for the true cruising experience. Sooooo much more relaxing on the ship, characters galore, excellent food; really, Disney at its finest. I'll bet you won't regret it!

P.S. I would highly recommend the smaller ships (i.e., the Wonder in this case) over the Dream class ships for first -time cruisers, better experience, but that's just my opinion.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

We were planning our 1st cruise on the Dream for Feb 26, 2018 for 4 nights in an ocean view room, stay 2 nights at WDW before and 1 night after. We go to WDW every 2 years so we were not planning on visiting the parks on this trip. After crunching the numbers if we downgrade to interior room and no stays at WDW there will only be a couple hundred difference. Since we have never cruised before I am not sure we will want to be on the boat for 7 days. Should we start out slow? Has anyone ever jumped in for the 7 days at the beginning? The 7 day we are looking at is the Wonder on March 4 stopping at St. Maarten and San Juan if that makes any difference.
Thanks in advance!

I agree with what has been said here for the most part.

I would ask what your specific concerns are, and about your family.

How many are you; if you have have kids how old are they?
Are you concerned that you might not have enough to do for 7 days?
Are you concerned about the food, or the facilities?
Are you concerned about sea-sickness?
Are you concerned that your kids might not like it?

On three of those four, I can be pretty certain you will be happy. There is PLENTY to do, whether you prefer to just relax and take it easy or if you like a lot of activity. It definitely isn't as crazy active as the theme parks, but you can be on the go all day with activities if you wish it. The food and the ships are wonderful, they have lots of different things that appeal to a wide range of interests/tastes. Your kids (if you have any) will have a blast. Maybe they will love the kids clubs, maybe they'd rather stay with you, either way, they will have plenty of fun.

The sea-sickness is the biggest wild card. I think many people take four day cruises first for that reason. Do you get a lot of motion sickness in other things (cars, planes, amusement parks, boats)? Every person is different. I can only tell you that I am a person who gets motion sickness from all of those other things, but I don't have any problem on the cruise ship. I take Bonine every morning and that works for me. Others have different methods. Most people don't have an issue with it.

Best of luck and enjoy!

 

[dmbcrush5]

Our first cruise ever was 7 nights on Fantasy with stops at St. Maarten and San Juan. We LOVED it and have now done 4 cruises (all 7 days) in 2 years. We used to go to WDW twice a year and haven't been back since our first DCL cruise. I'd highly recommend going with the 7 day. Those two ports are absolutely wonderful and better (in my opinion) than the other eastern and western Caribbean ports we've been to since. Thinking back on the progression of the 7 days, I think anything less than 5 would feel extremely rushed for us.

 

[AlohaNow]

Do 7 nights. Most definitely.

 

[tink1970]

Even speaking as someone who was seasick on her first DCL, I say go for 7! Definitely...the first day is figuring everything out, the final day is packing and so a 3 or 4 day is pretty short (not that I wouldn't do a 3 or 4 day tomorrow if given the chance ). Again, just my 2 cents...