Same itinerary very different price questions, how busy are you during a cruise w/ kids?

[VGCgroupie]

We have never cruised and we are considering it in April. I see the same stops, same ship, same days of week (like M-F, Sun-Wed) are vastly different in price from the 1st week in the month to the middle week of the month. Is this because that particular cruise already has more bookings? Of course the days I need are not the cheaper days.

I automatically assume I would want veranda because I love a good view, just coming back from Aulani I have to admit while I love a good view we are usually too busy to even bother enjoying the view. What is your experience on a Disney cruise with kids, do you find yourself never in your room and always doing stuff?

 

[nherbert]

Is the middle of April higher due to Easter and thus school holidays? And then yes more sold already?

 

[auntlynne]

Well beyond cruising with children at this point! But I think this could help.

The price does rise as the designated number of cabins sell at price X (that’s my theory of the algorithm they use. I know that some opening day prices are well below what is offered by the end of General Public’s access to first week of booking - and beyond).

Next year, Easter is on April 20. Some school systems set Spring Break around this. Disney must know trends and patterns of vacation breaks for families, as the initial price offerings pretty much reflect what demand will be. School break (Spring, Summer, Fall, and Holidays) will typically be the highest priced cruises. This works for airfare, too. For beach destinations, colder months = lower prices.

The need for a verandah is a personal decision. You have seen how it can be underutilized. I don’t like the heat nor the smell of smoke I get when I have paid for close access to fresh air. Some guests really cherish balcony time. Parents with small children (who nap) report sitting on the balcony and relaxing.

Do you expect your children to go to the kids’ clubs for extended periods? Or will they want time in the pool - that means you need to be at the family pool with them. Lifeguards are no guarantee of your child’s safety.

Every family’s travel style is different. Modern children who are used to being with their peer group may be doing a parallel vacation with their parents, joining together for meals. And some kids visit the clubs and say, no way.

If there’s nothing in the activity list that interests you, will you go back to the cabin or explore the ship?

Do you and your kids need down time, away from crowds? Some do, to avoid meltdowns.

There’s a pretty good possibility that your cruise situation will be similar to that at Aulani. The water features won’t be as good - mainly due to small pools on a ship.

 

[DCLMP]

I've cruised about three dozen times and I love a veranda if I get a good deal, but I don't spend a lot of time on it or a lot of time in the room. The enjoyment of a Verandah is also weather dependent. Too windy, to cold or to hot you probably won't use it. That being said April is usually perfect weather.

The ocean view rooms are the same size or bigger and you still get natural light. The insides are fine for two. I'd never do 4 in one inside room. When we first started cruising we always did a verandah as prices increased and the more experienced we got at cruising we realized it's not that important.

For a first cruise I would go with at least an Oceanview. I think that 's the best compromise. You get the view without the extra cost. I'm an experienced cruiser and have cruised a lot. I'm fine in an inside room. I've learned that the room isn't that important to me. Not everyone is like me and for some people the room is everything. You need to figure that out for yourself. You will after you've cruised a few times.

 

[auntlynne]

Is the middle of April higher due to Easter and thus school holidays? And then yes more sold already?

April 20, 2025. Northern schools will build break around this.

 

[nherbert]

To answer your question, your kids will spend a lot of time in the club or you will be taking them to activities such as pool or meals. But while your kids in the club you might welcome quiet time in the room just sitting on the balcony. I know I do, I always want the balcony.

 

[obsesseddisneyfan]

Veranda need really depends on what kind of travelers you are. Our kids were so busy in the kids clubs, water slides, and pools we really only saw them at meal time and adventures. My husband and I like being up on the pool deck drinking coffee and meeting other travelers. We found we were never on our Veranda and so did not book one next cruise. My MIL likes to sit and have time by herself. A veranda is necessary for her.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Well beyond cruising with children at this point! But I think this could help.

The price does rise as the designated number of cabins sell at price X (that’s my theory of the algorithm they use. I know that some opening day prices are well below what is offered by the end of General Public’s access to first week of booking - and beyond).

Next year, Easter is on April 20. Some school systems set Spring Break around this. Disney must know trends and patterns of vacation breaks for families, as the initial price offerings pretty much reflect what demand will be. School break (Spring, Summer, Fall, and Holidays) will typically be the highest priced cruises. This works for airfare, too. For beach destinations, colder months = lower prices.

The need for a verandah is a personal decision. You have seen how it can be underutilized. I don’t like the heat nor the smell of smoke I get when I have paid for close access to fresh air. Some guests really cherish balcony time. Parents with small children (who nap) report sitting on the balcony and relaxing.

Do you expect your children to go to the kids’ clubs for extended periods? Or will they want time in the pool - that means you need to be at the family pool with them. Lifeguards are no guarantee of your child’s safety.

Every family’s travel style is different. Modern children who are used to being with their peer group may be doing a parallel vacation with their parents, joining together for meals. And some kids visit the clubs and say, no way.

If there’s nothing in the activity list that interests you, will you go back to the cabin or explore the ship?

Do you and your kids need down time, away from crowds? Some do, to avoid meltdowns.

There’s a pretty good possibility that your cruise situation will be similar to that at Aulani. The water features won’t be as good - mainly due to small pools on a ship.

We tend to be helicopter parents so we will be with our son the whole time, with the exception of kids club, we don't need any down time. Good point about school systems and breaks, maybe this is why Im finding one port is cheaper than another on certain dates.

 

[VGCgroupie]

I've cruised about three dozen times and I love a veranda if I get a good deal, but I don't spend a lot of time on it or a lot of time in the room. The enjoyment of a Verandah is also weather dependent. Too windy, to cold or to hot you probably won't use it. That being said April is usually perfect weather.

The ocean view rooms are the same size or bigger and you still get natural light. The insides are fine for two. I'd never do 4 in one inside room. When we first started cruising we always did a verandah as prices increased and the more experienced we got at cruising we realized it's not that important.

For a first cruise I would go with at least an Oceanview. I think that 's the best compromise. You get the view without the extra cost. I'm an experienced cruiser and have cruised a lot. I'm fine in an inside room. I've learned that the room isn't that important to me. Not everyone is like me and for some people the room is everything. You need to figure that out for yourself. You will after you've cruised a few times.

This could be the perfect compromise especially since Ive never had a room without a window before.

 

[auntlynne]

My favorite cabins have giant porthole windows.

This is on the Dream & Fantasy. A cabin with a divider wall; bed has its own area the other side of the wall behind the sofa. Category 8 A, sleeps 3. Only 4 cabins like it on the ship. Some similar, but lacking wall.



On the Wish and Treasure, I would want the Deluxe Family Oceanview for the window! You can see the difference in window size in the smaller photos. The regular size room’s window is perfectly fine, but I love the view out of a big window.

 

[VGCgroupie]

My favorite cabins have giant porthole windows.

This is on the Dream & Fantasy. A cabin with a divider wall; bed has its own area the other side of the wall behind the sofa. Category 8 A, sleeps 3. Only 4 cabins like it on the ship. Some similar, but lacking wall.

View attachment 889784

On the Wish and Treasure, I would want the Deluxe Family Oceanview for the window! You can see the difference in window size in the smaller photos. The regular size room’s window is perfectly fine, but I love the view out of a big window.

View attachment 889785

Adding this to my notes! Thank you! That window is much larger than I could have imagined. I actually think my son would enjoy this more than a veranda.

 

[sponica]

We have never cruised and we are considering it in April. I see the same stops, same ship, same days of week (like M-F, Sun-Wed) are vastly different in price from the 1st week in the month to the middle week of the month. Is this because that particular cruise already has more bookings? Of course the days I need are not the cheaper days.

I automatically assume I would want veranda because I love a good view, just coming back from Aulani I have to admit while I love a good view we are usually too busy to even bother enjoying the view. What is your experience on a Disney cruise with kids, do you find yourself never in your room and always doing stuff?

A little bit of both. My 3 year old wasn't fully potty trained, so we were in the room more often with her than we planned (she doesn't travel well and needed A LOT of down time). We were also sailing with my mother who isn't happy without a verandah. My 7 year old on the other hand lived in the kids club. I had to put a disclaimer on my photos saying I promised she was with us on vacation, she was just never WITH us.

We're on a 7 night cruise in August 2025 and since both kids will be in the kids club, I fully intend to use the verandah. But I'm more introverted and can find the pool deck on sea days to be a mad house and send me into sensory overload.

 

[tvguy]

Based on school schedules here, I would expect April as a whole to be a higher priced month, peak period.

Public schools here tend to take the week before Easter off, so week of April 14.
Parochial schools here tend to take the week after Easter off, so week of April 21.
And schools that have disassociated this break from Easter take their Spring Break the week of April 7

As for being busy with kids, just depends on you and your kids. Cruises for our family were always our time to be together 24/7 for the week. But we did not do things at a frantic pace. Meals, movies on board, trivia, excursions, just enjoying the sight of the sea, and the sight of islands in the distance after dark were our main activities. My wife and I did the champagne tasting, so we were away from both kids for an hour that week, and our then 12 year old daughter did the Music Trivia for an hour in the kids club, other than that we were together as a family for a week. BTW, DD was appalled at the lack of music knowledge that the Kids Club Castmember had. She did not know that Paul McCartney had been in a group before Wings. SMH!!!!!!!

 

[sponica]

Also for the school schedules, easter is April 20, 2025. Massachusetts school vacation week is that week (and some northern NH districts). NH is the following week.

Now there are some districts in the states that move their breaks to be either the week before Easter or the week after Easter. So I would anticipate basically the whole second half of April to have an originally higher pricing and also be more expensive because more of the rooms are booked by this point in time.

 

[lanejudy]

vastly different in price from the 1st week in the month to the middle week of the month

As others have stated, that 3rd week in April immediately follows Easter which is a very popular "spring break" week for many US schools. Disney knows this. They price their cruises (and park tickets and resorts) accordingly. Most likely that cruise had a higher starting price on opening day compared to the same itinerary earlier in the month. Plus it likely has sold more staterooms already, and DCL cruises pricing increases in tiers as more staterooms are booked. So double-whammy on why the price in mid-April is higher at this point.

 

[MomOTwins]

Think of cruise prices light flight prices—they go up around holidays and other school breaks.

 

[Ronneeaght]

It depends on the age/temperament of your kids if you will be in the room a lot, so if you’ve noticed that you don’t spend a lot of time in the room at the resorts, then probably similar on a cruise. In our family our daughter (cruised ages 4-7) likes to be out doing things or just walking around the ship while our son (cruised age 4) liked being back in the room watching TV or something else quiet for a little part of each day. For us the oceanview with the large porthole was perfect for that.

 

[juxtapose]

We are a required verandah family. Nothing better than having coffee and breakfast (we get room service on all sea days for breakfast) out on the balcony before even getting dressed. We also usually have pre-dinner drinks out on our verandah while everyone is getting ready.

 

[Anna131517]

The week you want is probably one of the weeks around Easter - a common spring break time. So yes, more bookings and probably lots of kids on board.

We always get verandas because I’m paranoid about not being able to get fresh air, but we hardly use the balcony with kids. If you can mentally handle not having a balcony you should be fine. I think Disney cruise ship staterooms are pretty spacious, but we do get the 5-person rooms since we have 3 kids. We don’t spend much time in our room when we cruise with Disney because there’s just so much they want to do. When we cruise with NCL we’re in the room more often because there’s less To do on the ship for kids.

 

[o&smom]

Never in our room! We do love the giant porthole rooms. Have even sailed a couple of times in an inside.