What would you do?

[VbChristy]

Help me decide please! My choices are a 4 night on the Dream or a 7 night on the Fantasy May 2016. We have an almost 2 year old now. He will be one month shy of 3 when we travel. We have done Disney with him like 5 times and have gone on 4 cruises so we are sufficiently traveled. Pre-cruise we will do a trip with 4 days at the parks and probably one complete swimming day. We keep his schedule for naps, bedtime and eating routines. I originally booked the 7 night on the Fantasy- but I am concerned that it will be too long of a trip for him. I don't want to travel a separate time and I for sure want to do both the cruise and the land portion. (My mother comes with us on the cruises so she spends time with my son- the nursery is not a concern.) We would save a significant amount of money doing the 4 night instead of the 7, but we can afford both comfortably. In January we did a night pre-cruise stay, one day in the park and then a 7 night cruise and by the end my son was over the trip. Even though he stayed on his routine and we didn't run him ragged, he just wanted to be home. Anyone have experience- is that a 20 month old thing? Will he be different at almost 3? I cannot decide what to do- help me decide please

 

[nearlyfallinstar]

It really depends on your kid, since that sounds like he is your main concern when it comes to which cruise to choose. He may have matured in the past 15 months, he may not have. His cruise experience will be similar since he still will not be old enough to go to the Oceaneer's Club, which may have held his interest for a longer cruise. If I was in your situation, I would choose the 4 day cruise since you want to do the land portion as well. 8-9 days of vacation with a three year old sounds easier to accomplish than 11-12 days. Then again, a longer cruise always sounds better than a shorter cruise. You could just bite the bullet and hope your kid copes!

 

[ptcbass]

With your concerns I might have to go with the 4 night Dream. I would hate for you to be on the 7 night and the family getting antsy to be home and you still have 3 more nights to go before traveling back home. That might just wipe everyone out. You know your family more than anyone so it is hard for us to say though. I am sure whatever you choose it will be so much fun so enjoy your vacation!!

 

[saraheli]

Personally I'd opt for the 4 night. I thought 7 night cruise was too long, so adding 4 days at at WDW on the front end, would be just too much Disney IMHO.

 

[VbChristy]

I'm still just torn- anyone have direct experience with a pre-cruise and a longer trip with an almost 3 year old?

 

[Quellman]

Ours is still only going to be 2 this year. Make use of the nursery, even if only during open house times. We could only pack so many toys/books/activities for our little guy so he was really happy to see the play space! 7 Days is fine for a cruise and maybe less hectic for sure because the routine is the same after 2 days. But you certainly have plenty of experience with the 2. Since you are weary do the 4 day cruise. This way you'll save some money for when he is 3-4 years old and can hang out in the Oceaneer labs/clubs

 

[bethy]

In your case I would do the 4 night.

 

[ReadyForVacation]

We are going on our first cruise in September with a 5 year old and 2 year old. Since we will be driving 12 hours one way and staying the night before the cruise in a hotel then having to drive 12 hours back home after the cruise, we just opted to do the shorter cruise. We don't want to overwhelm our boys especially our two year old until we know how they will react. If things go good and he can seem to handle it, we will opt for a longer cruise next time. If your that concerned about the 7 nights then definitely go with the 4 night cruise.

 

[mmouse37]

We had the opposite. We had the 7 day cruise and then 3 nights at Disney with young ones. They were fine. I would prefer it WDW first as it is always a let down for me to hit the parks after the cruise. But other than some sweltering days in the parks the kids help up fine.

MJ

 

[lisamarie12]

The closest I can come to that is taking a 7 day cruise with my DD when she was a little over 2. (She was something like 23 months I think) and it was the most miserable trip of my life. No joke. She was whiny and refused to nap-ever. And the tantrums. They were miserable. There were times when we would have to take her around the ship while she was carrying on just so that security would not come to our room thinking we are beating her or something. I am not sure who that kid was. At home she had her moments of being slightly less than delightful, but nothing like that trip. I almost swore off all trips with her. In fact, the next year after that we took a cruise with just DH and I. But later that year we had some vacation time and a really cheap 5 day cruise came up. She was 3 1/2 and I was torn. But she was a delight.

So my thoughts are that being older will definitely make a difference, but kids are unpredictable, especially the under 5 crowd. If I were in your shoes, I probably would take the 4 day cruise, even though I would have preferred the 7 day under almost any other circumstance.

Another thought- even if you fully intent to keep your child's schedule for naps and routines, you cannot force them to sleep. And if they don't sleep, you know how that one goes.

 

[crafty91]

I would say for YOUR situation go with the 4 night situation. When your little one gets older he will enjoy the cruises quite a bit more and you'll want longer then. So save a few bucks now and enjoy the cruise and WDW. For us DS 15 and DD 14, 7 nights OR LONGER is the only way to go!

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

I know that my DS would have been ok with it at any age, he has been an easy going traveler since he was a few months old. All-inclusive Caribbean, Disney World, Cruise doesn't matter and the length never mattered.
I loved being on the Fantasy for a week, and I would choose the Fantasy for the fact that it will actually go to the Caribbean ports and not just Bahamas. However... since you are adding a few days at the parks too, the 4 night cruise would be ok as well... It would be a week or so total. You know your son best, if you are worried then the shorter one may work better for you at this point.
I would choose the Fantasy if this was my family, but I know that it would be ok with my DS.

 

[VbChristy]

Thanks for the feedback. We have done 3 7 day cruises with him and he's been fine just on the last cruise he was ready to go home that last full day. We are really good with just letting him not nap of he isn't going to. For the most part he's been fine though.

Well we gave it a lot of thought and discussion today and decided we are sticking with the 7 day. We have a 1 bedroom and I decided we will spend more time in the room- have breakfast delivered instead of going to cabanas and eat random lunches in our cabin too. I think that will help with the running off to events, etc.