What is a 3 day cruise like?

[Island_Lauri]

I know that most people recommend taking the 7 day cruise. But we are planning our first cruise for the days following a 5 night stay at the Beach Club Villas and are considering a 3 day cruise.

Does the shorter cruise feel very rushed? Do you have time to see and do many things on the ship? I would love to hear from people that have taken the shorter cruises - how much did you get to experience?

Thanks.

Lauri

 

[Grumbo]

Hi Island_Lauri:
You'll get all kinds of feelings, (most as you suggested telling you it isn't long enough) but I think its a great way to try DCL and we did this last year.
We did a daytime excursion in Nassau, loved CC and got to experience all of the dining rooms, as well as the live shows. Sure its not as leisurely as a 7 day but if you're staying at BCV you're going to be onboard for the Friday and Saturday night so this is going to save you a pile of points too which is an added plus .
7 days would be better but we were not disappointed one bit in our 3 day cruise and talk about the fun we had often.
Cheers,
Grumbo

 

[inkkognito]

My husband and I love the 3-day! Our of 34 Disney cruises, that's what most have been. I have lots of trip reports on my website at www.castawayclub.com
It does feel rushed, but there's no way to avoid that. Just make sure to schedule in some time to relax and you'll be fine We usually don't bother to disembark in Nassau. We pretend it's a day at sea and just lounge around the ship.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

Island_Lauri,
a 3 day cruise is great if its your first ever cruise. i found out that the 3 days goes by fast cause your trying to see everything at 1 time. try not to rush like barb said and enjoy the 3 "WONDER"ful days

 

[faireygod mother]

Is there a lot to do on board while at Nassau? Or are the activities limited because you are in port?

 

[PMelhorn]

Just being on the ship and being able to enjoy everything they have to offer is great. We did our first cruise in Dec. It was for 3 days. My kids loved it and would pick 3 days on the Wonder over any other vacation. Even my now 3 yr. old continues to talk about it. He was 2 at the time. He is alway asking if we can go to the Mickey boat tonight. Just a few more days and I can tell him yes. My older children 9 and 12 loved it and had plenty to do. We only got off the ship for about 2 hours in Nassau. When we got back the kids had no problem finding something to do. Then on our CC day we could not dock but the crew made sure everyone had lots to do and everyone had a great time.

It is short but worth going.
Best to be on a 3 Disney Cruise then any where else.

 

[christinou]

We just came back from a 3 day in August and loved it.
We did not feel rush, we got on the ship as soon as we could, ate lunch, and then enjoyed the pools, they were completely empty.....
We did not go on any excursion at Nassau, but did get off and walked around, we saw all of the shows, enjoyed the restaurant, had plenty of time to explore the ship, and decided that we REALLY enjoyed cruising, we are going for a 7 day in February
It is a great way to get a taste of it........

 

[Disneymommie]

We would like to do a 3 day with the kids. We will not get off the ship in Nassau with the kids since we as adults did not like it this past Aug. My question is, are the kids programs running while in port? Thanks

 

[TootyJane]

The first Disney cruise (May 1999) we did was a 3-day and it was a great way to see how you adapt to cruising. For us, it was just a teaser and we really wished that Disney did a 7-day cruise which we booked as soon as it was announced! The ship has so much to do and see that 3 days just isn't enough time to take it all in. Disneymommie, when we were in Nassau the kid's programs were running as we left two youngest on the ship. I'm sure more recent cruisers can answer this question. HTH.

 

[musicgirl]

You will enjoy every minute! We've done two 3-days and just didn't have enough. My only regret is that we didn't schedule our 7-n while on board!!!

This is a great way to try out cruising. That's why we did a 3-n to begin with.

To make the most of a 3-n, make sure you get there early. On our first trip, we took dcl buses from the resort and didn't get there until aroung 1:30. This year, we had a hotel room at Cocoa Beach and arrived around 11:30. We were on the ship by 12:30. 2 hours may not seem like much, but it actually was a HUGE difference. We didn't feel rushed through lunch and so on.

Have fun!

 

[inkkognito]

If you want to see what activities are going on while the ship is in Nassau, look at the navigators on my site at www.castawayclub.com and Dave's site at www.dcltribute.com
Barb

Fight apathy...or don't!

 

[jlawall]

Maybe we should plan a 3 day in the winter so we don't feel so miserable waiting for summer!!!

 

[married@wdw]

We did a 4-day for our honeymoon in January 1999, and wanted to "relive" that experience for our 5th anniversary. The short cruise was perfect for us -- enough time to enjoy some great food, relax, see a few shows, etc.

Now in January 2004, we need to celebrate Christmas with my ILs first and we also want to "relive" the wedding, which was at Epcot and the Boardwalk, so the 3-day fit nicely at the end of our vacation.

I think the 3-day is perfect to try out DCL -- if you love it, you can always so the 7-day later!

 

[cathie]

We did the 3 Day cruise this past February & loved it!! We had never cruised before & this was the perfect chance to see if we liked it. We'll be going on the 4 Day Wonder in Feb. 2004 & can't wait! We didn't feel rushed at all onboard & loved just being on the ship. The hardest part was leaving so early in the morning to disembark, but that would be difficult no matter how many days you were on board. The kids ages 9, 12 & 15 can't wait to get back on board..the adult kids too! Enjoy! Cathie

 

[Ursula's Mom]

As the others said, it is a great way to try cruising. In Aug, 2003, the kids club was open all day on Nassau Day. And as others said, try to get to the port early so that you can be among the first on the ship.

On Nassau day, after breakfast, my daughter had her hair braided on the ship($2.50 per braid), then we all went swimming, after lunch at 1:00 pm my 6 yr old DD went to the oceaneer club and did not want to leave until we told her that she had to get ready for dinner at 5 pm. While she was there, they made Flubber, did face painting and had a visit from Captain Hook. During her 4 hrs at the club, my husband and I went in the hot tub and had a great time walking around the ship.

On CC day, we stayed together as a family and went swimming, snorkeling and made a sandcastle. But there are club activities at CC if the kids want to do them. After CC, we went in the pool and got ready for dinner. The restaurants were excellent!

I would definitely do the 3 day again!