What would you do? Last minute cruise

[tgarre06]

We are booking a last minute cruise, and we are deciding between the two below:
Disney Magic Marvel 5 night Deluxe Inside Stateroom 214 sq ft at $4200 after travel
Agent OBC (Key West, Nassau, Castaway Cay)
RCCL Mariner of the Seas 4 night Inside Stateroom 160 sq ft at $1600 (Nassau, Coco Cay)
Would you jump from Disney to RCCL for this much lower priced cruise even after considering it is one night less?
My husband thinks it is a no brained to go to RCCL, but I love Disney.
We are traveling as 2 adults, 2 kids (4 and 7).
TIA!

 

[Brett Wyman]

With kids that young the up charge for DCL is worth it IMO.

 

[PendingPeril]

Man, that is a huge price difference. If the kids are super into Marvel it could be worth it. The 7yo is probably going to be able to do a lot of things on RCCL and Coco Cay that your 4yo can't. Plus I believe they would get split up at the RCCL kid club... that may be good or bad for you depending on how they get along lol.

 

[alpal22]

DCL is definitely better for kids, and Castaway has no major upcharges to do most of the stuff. A bit of the additional cost would be port fees for Key West, the extra day, and MDAS upcharge. DCL is worth it, and MDAS is great. Go for DCL.

 

[Tulip2796]

We love DCL but for that price difference I would try RCCL (we've never been.) I would save the extra money for a longer DCL cruise or some other awesome vacation, especially since it's a winter cruise and the waters aren't as warm and the ports just eh, IMO.

 

[Quellman]

The Mariner was refurbished in 2018, and has a bunch of water park style activities. It really depends on if you want/need the Disney kids clubs or not. At the end of the day it's only a $1600 mistake if it is terrible.

As for ports of call similar, Key West is neat enough to visit, but in terms of family stuff there is the treasure museum and the small aquarium. The hemmingway house is largely a disappointment and lost on the kids. The southern most point really isn't even the southern most. it is the southernmost incorporated place in the contiguous 48 states. For me Key West is all about the Dry Tortuga, sunset cruise and mallory square. Most of those you won't see on your itinerary.

 

[starvenger]

FWIW, I've not been on either ship, so I'm basing this on what I'm seeing online about both. Plus general cruise stuff.

From what I see Mariner did a refurb a couple of years ago so there are some new things on the pool deck and such. But it seems like there's no kiddie pool so that might be a negative for you. Also there are likely to be less kids on the Royal ships this time of year.

Extra night on a cruise ship is another point in DCL's favour - I think 5 nights is my minimum stay at this point. Also can I say that Magic has, on paper, a better layout than Fantasy?

Still, you're talking about the Disney cruise being over 2.5 times the cost. That's a big obstacle right there.

 

[otten]

We are booking a last minute cruise, and we are deciding between the two below:
Disney Magic Marvel 5 night Deluxe Inside Stateroom 214 sq ft at $4200 after travel
Agent OBC (Key West, Nassau, Castaway Cay)
RCCL Mariner of the Seas 4 night Inside Stateroom 160 sq ft at $1600 (Nassau, Coco Cay)
Would you jump from Disney to RCCL for this much lower priced cruise even after considering it is one night less?
My husband thinks it is a no brained to go to RCCL, but I love Disney.
We are traveling as 2 adults, 2 kids (4 and 7).
TIA!

I have been on both those ships. Disney hands down. The Mariner was great for an adult trip but 4 and 7 are perfect ages for a Disney cruise.

Besides that, the Disney itinerary is longer and imo goes to more interesting ports. CocoCay wasn't fantastic imo and Key west was great. My kids were 10 months and 3.5 and LOVED the butterfly garden in Key West. So much so that when asked what she remembers about the trip my now 8 year old always says the butterflies. Consider also what add ons you might want. With RCCL you have to either pay for soda individually or buy a soda package. Things like that add up.

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

With the Mariner's renovations, I think it looks pretty awesome. I am also super interested in all the updates to Cococay. For the savings, I'd try out RCCL.

 

[wilafur]

For the price difference, it'll be hard not to give RCCL a try, even with one less night.

 

[aggiedog]

At those ages, kids can be happy anywhere. For that cost difference, I'd go RCL, knowing it will be a different vacation from DCL but still a vacation - with $2,600 still in your bank account. With that savings, you could do a whole other vacation - or get a jump on early savings for your next DCL cruise.

 

[randumb0]

It's interesting to see a lot of people suggesting RCCL due to the price difference. Isn't Disney almost always double the price of everyone else?

 

[Disneyfamforsure]

Disney all the way! Your kids are the perfect age to really embrace the Disney magic. Plus Disney makes traveling with small kids so much easier which makes the whole experience more enjoyable for everyone.

 

[pearljammer]

So, that To me is a lot of money for a 5 nighter! We have 2 5 nights with DCL this year, granted only 3 of us and we aren’t paying more than 3K for either. ONe even a double dip at CC. So....if you love Disney Yet really want a last minute vacation, I would perhaps do RCL and when DCL comes out with their new itineraries, jump on getting one when they first come out as it’s always the cheapest. Yes, one of the 2 we are going on is a Marvel as well but we only found that out AFTER we booked. With the money you are saving with RCL over DCL, that’s almost half to pay towards a future DCL cruise!! Or a good chunk at least. My 2 cents

 

[SDJEL]

We’ve done RC and Disney. For our family, Disney wins, but for many RC is their choice. You never know until you try. I would save the money and give Royal a try. You may love it, you may not. Regardless, you are on vacation with your family and you don’t have to cook and clean. Save the money and either do something really special on vacation with it, or do another short cruise. That’s my 2 cents.

 

[MomOTwins]

It's interesting to see a lot of people suggesting RCCL due to the price difference. Isn't Disney almost always double the price of everyone else?

Lol, I had the same thought. If it was a "no brainer" to go with the RCCL cruise here, then none of us should ever go on a Disney cruise because there is always a much cheaper option.

To me, DCL has a much better kids club, evening shows that both kids and adults will enjoy, and the increased room size and split bathroom in the deluxe insides is nice to have. Have you looked at a Dream 4-night cruise though? I wonder if your five-night is the special "Marvel" cruise that is more expensive than regular cruises.

 

[pmcpmc]

We’ve done RC and Disney. For our family, Disney wins, but for many RC is their choice. You never know until you try. I would save the money and give Royal a try. You may love it, you may not. Regardless, you are on vacation with your family and you don’t have to cook and clean. Save the money and either do something really special on vacation with it, or do another short cruise. That’s my 2 cents.

How would you feel if it was adults only have never been on a cruise

 

[tgarre06]

Lol, I had the same thought. If it was a "no brainer" to go with the RCCL cruise here, then none of us should ever go on a Disney cruise because there is always a much cheaper option.

To me, DCL has a much better kids club, evening shows that both kids and adults will enjoy, and the increased room size and split bathroom in the deluxe insides is nice to have. Have you looked at a Dream 4-night cruise though? I wonder if your five-night is the special "Marvel" cruise that is more expensive than regular cruises.

I’ve been stalking the 4 night Dream availability (we’ve done the 3 night before), but only concierge is available. We need to sail on 2/10. We will already be in Florida visiting family. It’s so last minute. I’m about to give up and go another time. Today I’ve been reading the boards on the coronavirus and tsunami warnings, now I’m a nervous wreck to cruise. And my husband is probably going to never talk to me again because I’m so indecisive lol

 

[lilmc]

If you end up going to Key West, we took a shark tour and LOVED it. They’re located right off the dock

http://www.kwextremeadventures.com/

 

[SDJEL]

How would you feel if it was adults only have never

My husband and I did a 4 day Dream Cruise without the kids. It was nice, but not the same without them. Next we did a 7 night Norwegian Cruise in a suite without the kids. Norwegian is not the right cruise line for us. I think our next kid free cruise may be on Celebrity or one of the other upscale cruise lines.

We love Disney when we are with our kids, but the itineraries are repetitive and I’d like to be away from other people’s small children when ours are not with us.