Which cruise should we pick?

[Ragnrok23]

Going on a cruise in February, it will be me, dw, ds (3.11), dd (2.4) and my mom.

Our options are

5 night cruise out of Miami. We would fly down the night before into Fort Lauderdale, stay either somewhere near the airport or down in Miami. We would take a 1:30 flight back home out of Fort Lauderdale the day we get back

4 night cruise out of port canaveral. We would fly down either 1 or 2 nights before, stay at either AKL or maybe Pop for the kids (no parks) take bus to port and bus back to MCO

Looking for opinions on people that have done both as this will be our first Disney cruise

Thank you!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Going on a cruise in February, it will be me, dw, ds (3.11), dd (2.4) and my mom.

Our options are

5 night cruise out of Miami. We would fly down the night before into Fort Lauderdale, stay either somewhere near the airport or down in Miami. We would take a 1:30 flight back home out of Fort Lauderdale the day we get back

4 night cruise out of port canaveral. We would fly down either 1 or 2 nights before, stay at either AKL or maybe Pop for the kids (no parks) take bus to port and bus back to MCO

Looking for opinions on people that have done both as this will be our first Disney cruise

Thank you!

For me, l'm in the "longer is better" camp, so 5 nights wins over 4.

 

[Dug720]

For me, l'm in the "longer is better" camp, so 5 nights wins over 4.

Agreed. Plus I like Miami as a city better than Port Canaveral. (And would go to MIA anytime over MCO. No experience with Fort Lauderdale.)

 

[Shanti]

Going on a cruise in February, it will be me, dw, ds (3.11), dd (2.4) and my mom.

Our options are

5 night cruise out of Miami. We would fly down the night before into Fort Lauderdale, stay either somewhere near the airport or down in Miami. We would take a 1:30 flight back home out of Fort Lauderdale the day we get back

4 night cruise out of port canaveral. We would fly down either 1 or 2 nights before, stay at either AKL or maybe Pop for the kids (no parks) take bus to port and bus back to MCO

Looking for opinions on people that have done both as this will be our first Disney cruise

Thank you!

I think the kids will likely have more fun on the Dream, which has more bells and whistles than the Magic, and enjoy spending a day at Animal Kingdom Lodge, more than having an extra day on a smaller ship & staying in a nondescript hotel in Miami.

When we sailed on the Magic out of Miami a year and a half ago, only about 15 - 25% of the passengers even spoke English. (This is not exaggeration- it is the way that cruise was. Most passengers seemed to be Brazilian or Argentinian.) I don't know if all Magic cruises out of Miami tend to be like that or if it was a fluke, but it was hard to socialize on that cruise as a result. The Fantasy cruise we took out of Port Canaveral had mostly English-speaking passengers, so it was easier to find fellow passengers to talk to for that reason. Just fyi.

 

[hanscarlet]

We went to WDW for the first time with the kids this year, at 5 and 8 yo and it was meh... I will say DH and I are not really super huge WDW fans... I would gladly go with my sister by ourselves, but dragging kids and a husband that isn't into rides and the expense of it all made it meh.... but again, we've been cruising since 2013 with the children so we're biased... we couldn't wait to get on the boat... my vote is 5 day out of Miami, their 5 night cruises out of Miami are a perfect amount of time to just chill and enjoy, the 4 nights go by too fast in my opinion

 

[Cackyschmackers]

We went to WDW for the first time with the kids this year, at 5 and 8 yo and it was meh... I will say DH and I are not really super huge WDW fans... I would gladly go with my sister by ourselves, but dragging kids and a husband that isn't into rides and the expense of it all made it meh.... but again, we've been cruising since 2013 with the children so we're biased... we couldn't wait to get on the boat... my vote is 5 day out of Miami, their 5 night cruises out of Miami are a perfect amount of time to just chill and enjoy, the 4 nights go by too fast in my opinion

Wow, I could have written this, especially the sister part! ! (Altho my kids would kill me if they found out!!)! Back on topic, I second the Miami 5-night. I think trying to fly to MCO just to stay at a WDW resort without any park days is an expensive "tease". The transportation to the port and the resort costs with meals/food make it seem not worth it. I would take that money.and put it into a nice beachfront hotel in FLL or north Miami. There're a lot of gorgeous family friendly hotels in those areas, and you might not know, but the water is crystal clear turquoise in those two areas as well. We love both FLL and north Miami beaches. And a 5-nt cruise is "just right " if you're not looking to do a 7nt in my opinion.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Another vote for the 5 night out of Miami, longer is always better. And this is coming from someone who greatly prefers the Dream class ships to the classics!

 

[cruiser21]

I much prefer the classics. I also think the classics are great for little kids. Mickey mouse makes an appearance in the dining room, parades and animated shows in the dining rooms, and it's a longer cruise.

 

[SteveMP]

For me, l'm in the "longer is better" camp, so 5 nights wins over 4.

Same, 4 day cruise is more like a 2 day, you won't even know which way to turn off the elevator before they kick you off the boat.

 

[DLM1980]

I don't care what ship it is. I like the 5-night because it's 5-nights ( it was also my first cruise)

However I don't like MIA. Perhaps it was our first experience there but it was walk walk walk to the rental car. Even with the moving walkways it seemed to take forever. At least with MCO I know where I'm going. But that could be a factor of lots of WDW visits

I wouldn't bother with a stay on WDW with no park visit. We stayed in PC However after the cruise our flight was changed to a later flight for some reason so we rented another car and drove to WDW to kill time It was torture. We went exploring resorts and Disney springs but we both wanted to go into a park

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

Another vote for the five night cruise. Especially if you are not doing any parks while in WDW. There is so much to do on board even with an extra night you won't be able to do it all (IMHO).
If you decide to go with the park first followed by the four night cruise, I would go with AKL , LOVE that resort!!!

 

[Rabb it]

We did a 5 night out of Miami this past February, it was a blast! Only bad thing was we weren't able to dock into Castaway Cay because of weather. Weather was PERFECT the whole cruise, sunny and warm, until we got into the Bahamas, windy and rainy

 

[hanscarlet]

We stayed at the JW Marquis Marriott in Miami on Marriott points and whoa was that an experience! We also ate at a steak house within walking distance from the hotel, it was a really nice experience and we'd do it again. Fanciest hotel I've ever stayed in!

 

[Ragnrok23]

Thank you everyone for the tips

We are DVC members so go to the parks frequently, and if we stayed at AKL we would use points

My thought for the 4 night was it would be easier to let Disney handle my luggage and drive me everywhere. By flying into Fort Lauderdale and cruising out of Miami, I am worried about the logistics of it all

 

[mevelandry]

You had me at AKL (I'm a big fan of Boma and Jiko) and the Disney Dream. I would go for the 4 nights. I find the DCL transportation to be very nice and efficient.

 

[lizabu]

5 night all the way. I've done both. I'm not sure of your itineraries but the 4 night usually only goes to Bahamas and the 5 night might go to grand Cayman or Mexico and being a little further south in February it might be warm enough to get in a decent beach day. When we travel in February it's to escape the cold.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Thank you everyone for the tips

We are DVC members so go to the parks frequently, and if we stayed at AKL we would use points

My thought for the 4 night was it would be easier to let Disney handle my luggage and drive me everywhere. By flying into Fort Lauderdale and cruising out of Miami, I am worried about the logistics of it all

I believe DCL has transfers in Miami, also.

 

[Dug720]

I believe DCL has transfers in Miami, also.

They do offer transfers in Miami - at least from ship to MIA. I don't believe they do shuttles to Fort Lauderdale.

 

[DLM1980]

They do offer transfers in Miami - at least from ship to MIA. I don't believe they do shuttles to Fort Lauderdale.

They also do MIA to port

Have done both, just not during the same cruise

 

[Dug720]

They also do MIA to port

Have done both, just not during the same cruise

I figured. I just hadn't done it so I didn't want to speak definitively on it.