Wonder Baja Spring 2018 vs Fall 2018

[DrHickenlocher]

Hi there!

Never cruised before. We booked Disney Wonder 09D Oceanview for April 29, 2018 5-nights to Baja, 2A2C (9 and 5) about a week ago.

But I just found out opening day for us to book Fall 2018 itineraries is in two days (May 18). We're not locked into traveling in April, and if the price is significantly cheaper we are considering to switch to a late-September/early-October itinerary (Same Disney Wonder Oceanview 5 or 7 night to Baja/Mexican Riviera).

I've been doing as much research online as I can, but I haven't found the answers to everything. Can any of you veteran cruisers please give advice to a first-time cruiser? (as in NO cruise ever, not on any other cruise line either)

(A) Is the weather significantly different in Sept/Oct compared to April/May?
(B) Are there any other reasons why a late April cruise would be better than Sept/Oct? (School year is a non-issue for us)
(C) Can I expect Halloween on the High Seas offerings in the Fall 2018? (Gold/Platinum people might be able to answer this already).
(D) Are there any drawbacks to doing a Halloween cruise versus a "normal" cruise? (i.e. Do they take other events away to make room for the Halloween ones?)

Thank you all so much in advance. Looking forward to joining the family of Disney Cruisers!

 

[MSPeeler]

As for pricing, You can see current pricing that platinum and gold castaway club member has recieced this week and compare.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/o...-december-magic-wonder-dream-fantasy.3603818/


Hopefully someone who has experience cruising at both times can answer the advantage/disadvantage questions!

 

[AquaDame]

1) I'm not sure... we sailed a 3-night Baja on the Wonder last year in mid May and had good weather and are sailing mid October this year on a 7-night. You might want to just look at weather averages more than anecdotes. Weather can be so fickle..!

2) You might appreciate the warm weather more having just come out of Winter...? Sorry I can't really think of anything, lol!

3) Yes, unless Disney throws a curveball and cans the whole thing (unlikely).

4) Arts and crafts and some evening entertainment will be Halloween themed instead of other more generic themes. For example Mickey Bat shapes to cut out and color instead of a ship cutout. There will be lots of Halloween decorations around the ship and such, but if you LIKE Halloween, then it is really fun! I can't think of any decorations they put away in favor of Halloween stuff.

 

[cruisehopeful]

It's very hot in September/October. It can be in the high 90's in southern California. I had a 5 night scheduled this October, but ended up moving it to next April because I realized that I wouldn't enjoy my port times in the heat. I live in San Diego and the last couple years, we had many days of ridiculous heat in october. Also, I had read several trip reports and it sounded like a lot of people were pretty worn out from the heat while in Cabo.

I expect the Halloween on the High seas to continue. It seems to be very popular. I haven't seen any normal activities removed for Halloween, but I've only been on one Halloween sailing and that was only 2 days.

 

[cruiser21]

I grew up in Southern California. I would pick Fall over May. May can be overcast and the water won't be as warm. I guess it really depends on what you plan on doing. If you plan on being in the water I would go with Fall. If you like cooler weather to walk around then go with Spring.

 

[DrHickenlocher]

Thank you all so very much!

 

[kittyklawz]

What did you end up doing? We're going on the 5 night Oct 14, 2018 cruise. The sept/oct are all confirmed as Halloween on the High Seas

 

[DrHickenlocher]

We ended up sticking with our April cruise. The September one was a grand total of $84 cheaper for our family of 4. Not quite worth delaying our trip for an additional 5 months, even for Halloween on the High Seas. April is far enough away as it is. I can hardly wait!