Traveling with just immediate family

[hubbard53]

we've done both and each have pros and cons. With extended family, our son has someone to hang out with if he's sick of us and tired of Kid's clubs. . . it's usually just me, wife, and 4 yr old son and we do just fine. When he's in the clubs, we're at the quite cove hanging out with each other, at mixology/tastings, or at the bars. plenty of opportunity to meet others, but frankly, we spend our real lives associating with others so the cruise is our family time.

 

[jjgarv]

We've done several Disney cruises with both extended family/friends, as well as just the three of us... I've found that while traveling with extended family/friends can be a lot of fun, it's most relaxing when it's just me, DH, and DD.

 

[gtpoohbear]

We haven't cruised yet, but have taken a couple of vacations with extended family- they are far more drama-filled and stressful than the "just us" trips, which is what we usually do.

I can't really imagine getting sick of being with my family on vacation (if we're talking DH and my kids that is. ILs and siblings would be a different matter!) But we don't tend to get a lot of time together during normal weeks at home because of our busy schedule, so the extra family time on vacation feels like a treat.

That said, there are so many opportunities to do individual things on the ship that you should have no trouble escaping each other should you feel the need

As far as being "lonely" I guess I can't relate- I'm enough of an introvert that the thought of having to socialize extensively with strangers on vacation makes my stomach drop, lol! I'd much rather just keep to myself and my own family.

 

[MunFam]

We did the WBPC with the three of us (2 adults and a 4 year old). We travel to get away from extended family! Hahaha. We were on the ship 15 days, got off the ship for a grand total of 11 hours the entire cruise and nope, we had a wonderful vacation. There was so much to do. Kiddo went to the club and DH and I went out on our own too. It was fantastic.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

We've done two WDW vacations with extended family (my Mom, my sister, and my husbands mother). Our daughter was 3 and 4 at the time. I felt like I was "doing the right thing" asking them all to join us. We live in California, they live in NJ, don't see each other often. But I will not do it any more. Everyone got along but you can tell by the end of the trips, nerves were being tested. I had to do all the planning/reservations, etc. and make everyone happy. I much prefer vacationing with just myself, my husband and my daughter (who is now 10). My Mom and sister are just fine with not going on vacations with us but I know my mother in law has expected a few invites on some past trips, like to Aulani. She said she thought she would be invited.

 

[diznymom]

We cruise with just the three of us (me, DH and DS16). This next cruise will just be DH and me.

We like eating with other families also. We always meet people while on the cruise.

 

[SwimMom2]

While I would love to get my extended family to go on DCL with us, I have not yet been successful, so yes, we cruised just the four of us.

The cruise environment really helped us to mix and meet everyone's needs in a way that I have never experienced before. Our 9 year old, who is rather reserved, made friends and loved the kids club. My outgoing 3 year old had plenty to interest him. The one bit of advice I would give is this: do not be afraid to split up if the interests of your party are varied. You can get plenty of time together, but if you let yourselves split up, you will find the together time to be even better and you will have much more to talk about!

Don't be afraid to let yourself be seated with others, either. DCL tries to match you with another group that is similar to yours. This doesn't happen for everyone, but it happened for us and we found that we really liked sitting with another family. Now, it's not like we traded phone numbers or social media, but we enjoyed dining together for our seven night cruise.