Trouble deciding (DCL vs WDW, Oct 2021)

[dclDream2018]

I am locked in for an early October Bahamas cruise with a great aft cabin. That said, I am having second thoughts about it considering the current unknowns about the kids' club and nursery (LOs 7 & 2). Is anyone in a similar boat (ha ha!) about upcoming cruising, and thinking about switching to a land trip instead?

 

[OpieDoodle]

For me it would depend on how long of a cruise you're talking. For our last Disney cruise we were on a short 3 night cruise on the Dream. We went to the kids club for open house to show our kids and then ended up not having time to let them go. There is so much to do as a family. I wouldn't give up a whole cruise over the kids clubs honestly. Plus in reality I have a hard time believing they'd do a cruise and have that many people in that close of quarters all the time and justify having the kids clubs closed. Maybe having a lower capacity but I'd really be surprised if they're closed but then the cruise is still doing dinning, shows, etc.

For me I'd look at it this way. If you give up the cruise and go to WDW you're still not going to have a kids club there or anything. So either way it'll be full time with the littles. Personally I'd be more apt to stick with the cruise and enjoy myself where I can.

 

[Cheburashka]

We're sailing in December with an attitude of "whatever". I was more picky in the past, but life has become very stressful since, so we just want to get away from it all and cruise. I can take almost anything in terms of Covid rules, anyway. I taught in-person this past year from September to May, and had to wear a mask all day all year, and for the first few months I also had to wear a face shield. Try reading a book aloud, teaching a lesson or doing a computer task while wearing those. After that, you kind of feel like you can handle anything.

Castaway Cay is outdoors, so I'm quite sure they aren't going to require masks there. As long as we can enjoy Castaway Cay as usual, it will be a good cruise to us. We'll have a spacious verandah stateroom and will enjoy just hanging out in the room if restrictions onboard are irksome- we've already seen the shows & dined at the restaurants, and my teenage son has outgrown the clubs.

 

[AquaDame]

Yes; we ended up switching from DCL in early November to a land trip at Aulani. Then pushed our cruise out to March 2022 when things will (hopefully) be a little more certain.

 

[Jacq7414]

I’d do WDW instead personally.
I’m not even sure about my april 2022 cruise. I have a backup WDW vacation just in case

 

[Jacq7414]

I taught in-person this past year from September to May, and had to wear a mask all day all year, and for the first few months I also had to wear a face shield.

I did too and it’s miserable wearing and talking in a face mask all day. I definitely don’t want to pay thousands of dollars to do that. But I do understand your POV. I hope you get to go on your vacation.

 

[Andrew96]

I am in the same "boat" so to speak. I have a great Cat 5E (my favorite category) wrap-around verandah on the Dream scheduled for Sept. I really want to go (after three cancelled sailings), but I am just hesitant due to all of the unknowns and the possibility of limited experiences/restrictions. It is a toss up between going on the cruise or cancelling for WDW for 5 nights. Heat and crowds at WDW isn't exactly the trip I envisioned for this year! I'll be on the Wish next year so looking forward to that might satisfy my cruise appetite for now.

 

[Cheburashka]

I did too and it’s miserable wearing and talking in a face mask all day. I definitely don’t want to pay thousands of dollars to do that. But I do understand your POV. I hope you get to go on your vacation.

I was okay with the mask- if you wear a high-quality disposable one instead of cloth, it's actually quite easy to get used to. What was really hard was wearing the face shield while I was expected to read and work on the computer. With such visual distortion & not great eyesight to begin with, that was very difficult and it was also quite uncomfortable.

 

[lanejudy]

thinking about switching to a land trip instead

Do you have a WDW reservation already? October 2021 has limited rooms left, especially with a few resorts still closed. Due to the anniversary, it is expected to be pretty busy this fall.

 

[Jennifer124]

My TA booked us an alternate WDW vacation for our October 4 cruise. I believe we have to decide by early August unless DCL pushes back cancellation dates again.

 

[otten]

I am locked in for an early October Bahamas cruise with a great aft cabin. That said, I am having second thoughts about it considering the current unknowns about the kids' club and nursery (LOs 7 & 2). Is anyone in a similar boat (ha ha!) about upcoming cruising, and thinking about switching to a land trip instead?

While I am increasingly confident that there will be cruises in October 2021, it is pretty much guaranteed that it will be far from the previous pandemic experience. Meanwhile WDW is getting more and more back to normal. For that reason I’d be inclined to choose WDW for 2021 and save cruising for later in 2022.

 

[jujubiee4]

I'm in the same boat. After 2 cruises cancelled I decided to try WDW for December. I started
looking in May and already resort pickings were slim. Booked a split stay that im not thrilled about.
Rental car prices im not thrilled about. Airline cutting the route we fly to MCO. Now im back to
thinking about booking a cruise again. lol

 

[SailorsWhyf]

We had an August cruise on the Dream (not canceled), but we decided to jump ship (pun intended) for WDW.

Our decision was largely based on DCL’s decision to forego mandatory vaccines and therefore having a limited cruise experience with the premium DCL price tag, including masks and strict social distancing.

I’m not going to know 30 days in advance when I want to go to the pool or fitness center or the theater. How do you plan for that, it could rain during your pool window that you planned 30 days out and you won’t be able to get another time reserved. Meanwhile at WDW things are returning to a more normal experience.

We also have a 7-night on the Fantasy to look forward to in the mean time.

 

[Cheburashka]

I'm hoping that the 2021 cruises will have fewer passengers. That in itself could be a big plus on the ship and on Castaway Cay. My December Dream cruise has most categories in guarantee status already, but I'm wondering if they've artificially reduced the passenger count in each category, so the ship won't be as packed as usual.

 

[DCLMP]

WDW is a sure thing and everything is back to normal. Crowds might be the only negative.

 

[jujubiee4]

We had an August cruise on the Dream (not canceled), but we decided to jump ship (pun intended) for WDW.

Our decision was largely based on DCL’s decision to forego mandatory vaccines and therefore having a limited cruise experience with the premium DCL price tag, including masks and strict social distancing.

I’m not going to know 30 days in advance when I want to go to the pool or fitness center or the theater. How do you plan for that, it could rain during your pool window that you planned 30 days out and you won’t be able to get another time reserved. Meanwhile at WDW things are returning to a more normal experience.

We also have a 7-night on the Fantasy to look forward to in the mean time.

Wait what?? I'm so lost.....when did they decide this? I thought it was 95% for the sailing?

 

[SailorsWhyf]

Wait what?? I'm so lost.....when did they decide this? I thought it was 95% for the sailing?

No. That’s why they are doing a test cruise on the Dream next week.
Unless something has changed in the last few days and I missed the news ??

 

[lanejudy]

Wait what?? I'm so lost.....when did they decide this? I thought it was 95% for the sailing?

No. That’s why they are doing a test cruise on the Dream next week.
Unless something has changed in the last few days and I missed the news ??

I don't believe DCL has actually released any information about how they will handle vaccinated/unvaccinated passengers. However SailorsWhyf is correct they plan to do a test cruise for the Dream which implies they are considering allowing more unvaccinated -- likely due to the large numbers of kids/families. Whether DCL will follow suit with the rest of the fleet and test cruises remains to be seen.

 

[Cheburashka]

Crowds might be the only negative.

Yes, it will definitely be crowded. We were there this past Christmas & it was quite busy, so for the 50th with fewer restrictions it will definitely look a lot like the old WDW, in terms of crowds.

 

[cpep42]

I'm working into it easy...going to Disney in October.