What should we do?

[jenanderson]

Let me start by saying that we have gone to Disney World the past 3 years during Spring Break (it is crazy but we still love it) and we have never taken a cruise. We currently have a land/sea package booked for October 2005 but we don't think we can wait that long and we are concerned that we will feel like we didn't get enough of the land and we didn't get enough of the sea. So, we have started a crazy plan for our house!

We are going to take a 7 day trip in April 2005 AND a 7 day trip in October 2005. We now are seeking opinions on what trip to take when.

Price - When pricing things out, it seems like it would be a bit cheaper to go to WDW in April and Cruise in October (a savings of about $1500 - and a better cabin catagory - cat. 10 in April versus a cat. 6 in October). Price is an issue but we could be okay either way.

Crowds - If we go with the cheaper option, we will be at WDW in April - super bad crowds. If we switch them around and go with the more expensive option, we will be at WDW in October - I think the crowds would be better. Since we have never cruised, I don't know if there would be a difference between cruising in April or cruising in October. Crowds could be a deciding factor for us. We could pay a bit more to do WDW with smaller crowds.

Weather - Any input on weather for cruising in April versus October would be appreciated.

Based on the dates we can go in April and in October, both cruise itineraries would be the eastern cruise.

One last thought - we could keep our land/sea in October (the sea is only the 3 day one) and then do a 7 day WDW in April.

As you can see, we are confused about what to do. We are concerned that because we are only 6 months out from April, we will pay too much for the cruise. We are also thinking if we do just pay the higher pricing and cruise in April that we will have better crowds at WDW in October. Any ideas or opinions would be very helpful in making this decision. Thanks!

 

[JC Butterfly]

Well, I don't have experience with cruising in April but I have been to WDW in light crowds and heavy ones and I would definitely rather go when it's less busy. In fact October is my favorite time to go there. The weather is usually mild, the crowds light to moderate. I was there when Jeanne went through last year and they are so quick to get everything up and running again it's such a minor inconvenience.

I know that the Magic is in dry dock for the first two weeks of October 2005 so I assume you would sail one of the other two weeks if you did go.

I think that if you did seven days at Disney World in April and then wanted to do four more in October (if you kept your current land/sea cruise) you would definitely feel cheated out of time at sea so my personal vote would definitely be against that option.

If you can afford the April cruise, that would be my suggestion because the ship is going to feel about the same level of crowded in April versus October and you can really appreciate how less crowded WDW is.

In fact another idea might be to sail in April 2005 and then when you discover how very much you like it, you might want to keep your land/sea in October as well. If your budget allows, you could always add on another land day or two.

Can't wait to see what others suggest!

 

[jgalecpa]

I have done both, and I recommend this:

Do the DCL cruise first.

That way, since you have aleady done WDW, you will have immediate comparisons you can make.

Then, you might find tha you like the cruise so much, you can book onboard for Seven MORE days of cruising in the fall, get the onboard booking discounts, and cancel the land portionin the fall.

If you find you aren't cut out for cruising, you have your WDW trip to look forwrd to.

Just my thoughts!



Jim

PS Also, April is not hurricane season!