Disney cruises?

[jeaniebueller]

Anyone ever do one? I never thought about it, but DS has seen commercials and is lobbying hard.

[kittycatlove]

We're going on spring break. I'll write up a review when we get back. But I asked about this last fall and got some good responses, but I don't know how to add my thread.

ETA:  pandce.proboards.com/thread/553904/disney-cruise

does that work?

[countthestars]

Us! What questions do you have? My experience will be different because we traveled with a 2 year old and 6 month old but I'm happy to try!

[bronxgirl]

I've only done one, but it was awesome!! It was on the magic, but before it was refurbished. The ship looks really amazing now. We were gone for 5 nights and had so much fun.

[lishie]

We did the 7 day Alaska cruise in 2014. We were on the Wonder. It hadn't been refurbished. The cruise was magical. We absolutely loved it. My kids still ask about when they can go back on the Disney Cruise ship, even after our 10 days at Aulani this past summer.

[georgeglass]

We did the Star Wars at Sea Fantasy cruise last March.

[jeaniebueller]

Jan 9, 2017 22:01:52 GMT -5 countthestars said:

Us! What questions do you have? My experience will be different because we traveled with a 2 year old and 6 month old but I'm happy to try!

Yeah, we have an 8 year old and a 2 year old and if this was something we pursue it wouldn't be for at least a year or two. IDK what questions I have really since we haven't cruised before. Was it amazing and fun? wannabe's photos in that old thread look awesome.

[bex]

We did a 4 day cruise on the Disney Wonder in 2014. At the time, I did not like it, BUT looking back I think that was based on four main factors:

1) I was 8 weeks pregnant.
2) DS was 22 months, so he was a little old for the nursery, but could not go in the kids club (we put him in the nursery once for two hours and it was fine, but I wouldn't have used it every day for him.) he also wasn't great about eating during dinner, and he still needed to go to bed by 730 or 8 or else he was a monster, so we were pretty confined to our room at night.
3) the first night was AWFUL in terms of the ocean being rough. Even the cruise ship employees were saying how rough it was. And I was limited in what I could take because of #1. it just set me off for a bad cruise.
4) It was my first cruise, so I went in not knowing really what to expect, but ended up being disappointed.


So in retrospect, I think it was a nice cruise, and I would go on another one, but not until DS2 was older. Oddly, I thought the cruise ship was not super friendly for kids less than 3. (the splash area was closed for two days, there were few onboard activities aimed at kids younger than 3 or 4, etc.) My nieces were 3.5 and 5 and they had an AWESOME time. We did a Royal Caribbean cruise when the boys were 4.5 and 14 months and that was much better for them, IMO.

But like I said, I think a lot of the things I did not like about it were more about me and the age of DS, not about the actual ship. I think had DS been a bit older (or a bit younger) it would have been a lot better. We definitely have not written off Disney cruises and will probably do another one in the future.

[miss1180]

we're going on third Disney cruise in November- so that should tell you something HAHAHA (it'll be our 5th cruise altogether...)
DS had just turned 4 on the first one, was a little over 5 on second one... and he'll turn 7 while we're on our next one :-) we really had the best time!!! they spoil you :-) and DS loved the kid's club. one night they did "super hero training" and he came out wearing this paper cape they had decorated, and i think Iron Man or captain america had stopped by to meet all the kids :-) all this while DH and i had a great meal at the Adults only restaurant (Palo) LOL
The Disney Island, Castaway Cay, is great- nice beaches, snorkeling, you can rent bikes and ride them to the other side of the island, they had a water spray area for the younger kids, they also have a drop-off kid's club right there on the island, which is nice.
The shows in the main theater at night are nice and family-friendly- DS really liked them. the restaurant rotation thing they do is cool, too-- you eat at a different restaurant every night, with different themes. Pirate night is a blast- they set off fireworks right from the ship, everybody dresses up in pirate stuff. one of the ones we did was getting into christmas season, and they were starting to set up a giant gingerbread house on the ship... just fun stuff like that :-) also, the movie theater onboard is great- we saw the star wars movie one rainy afternoon. and think the 2 bigger ships have mini golf courses, too...
but i like cruises in general with kids (we also did one on Norwegian cruise line)--- you basically float around for a week while they feed you good food, and clean your room twice a day for you HAHA

[egishere]

We did the 3 night on the Dream in Sept. It was a lot of fun and the ship was amazing! However its their biggest ship so it was just a ton of people. We are definitely going to do another Disney cruise at some point but wont do the Dream again. My kids loved the kids club. The service was really good and food was decent-the adults only restaurant, Palo, was amazing.

[Deleted]

Jan 10, 2017 11:11:45 GMT -5 miss1180 said:

we're going on third Disney cruise in November

We're doing our second Disney cruise in November! We're on the Magic out of NYC on the 4th. Which are you doing?

[Deleted]

Jan 10, 2017 14:42:50 GMT -5 @evilin68 said:

Jan 10, 2017 11:11:45 GMT -5 miss1180 said:

we're going on third Disney cruise in November

We're doing our second Disney cruise in November! We're on the Magic out of NYC on the 4th. Which are you doing?

Oh please report back. I am thinking of booking a cruise out of NYC next November.

[miss1180]

Jan 10, 2017 14:42:50 GMT -5 @evilin68 said:

Jan 10, 2017 11:11:45 GMT -5 miss1180 said:

we're going on third Disney cruise in November

We're doing our second Disney cruise in November! We're on the Magic out of NYC on the 4th. Which are you doing?

Fun!! We were on the Magic in January/ it was great!! We live in NJ, so going out of NYC would be awesome!!
We're doing the Fantasy out of port canaveral going to Tortola, st.thomas and castaway cay!

[taratru]

I did one with juliej sans kids - Dream 4-night and am leaving next week on a Fantasy 7-night with the whole family. I LOVED it. I think the kids are going to love it. And I think it is WELL worth the price.

[juliej]

I'm a Disney TA and I *love* cruising! Ask me all the things!

[dulcemariamar]

I have done two but I prefer other cruise lines for kids under 6. The kids club was complete chaos and my daughter refused to go. We had better luck with Carnival and Royal Caribbean. The shows were great and the food was ok.

[Deleted]

Jan 11, 2017 15:56:30 GMT -5 juliej said:

I'm a Disney TA and I *love* cruising! Ask me all the things!

Ooh ooh I have a question. Is it *really* cheaper to book as soon as rates come out or can you find a better last minute deal if your dates are flexible?

[juliej]

Jan 12, 2017 10:48:03 GMT -5 @notquiteblushing said:

Jan 11, 2017 15:56:30 GMT -5 juliej said:

I'm a Disney TA and I *love* cruising! Ask me all the things!

Ooh ooh I have a question. Is it *really* cheaper to book as soon as rates come out or can you find a better last minute deal if your dates are flexible?

You can absolutely find a better deal last minute if your dates are flexible – meaning you buy a month or two before the ship sails. They won't start offering the best deals until the people who booked way in advance pass their "paid in full" date, which is typically 75 to 90 days out depending on the length of the cruise and whether the passengers have status/have sailed before. And you wouldn't necessarily have the pick of the crop, because they'll be the sailings and staterooms that no one else wanted (and you typically won't get to pick your stateroom; they'll give you the low rate and you'll have a general idea of category, but not specific location). But they'll drop the prices to get those last few rooms filled, so if you can pick up and go and aren't picky, there are deals to be had. They're not bad rooms, as such; just things like smaller portholes or verandahs, obstructed views, white wall instead of a railing you can see through, far from the stairs and elevator, etc. 

Occasionally with these fares, you get lucky and get an upgrade to a nicer stateroom as they balance the number of people to match with lifeboat zones and other quirks of sailing like that. But you'll never be dropped a category. Also, because it's so close to the sail date, you have to pay in full immediately. You also can't use a placeholder (onboard booking) for these fares, which is why unless it's your first sailing, it's not necessarily a better deal. The placeholder gets you 10% off and an OBC, so often booking early with a placeholder is still a better deal than waiting for a guaranteed stateroom deal later, especially if you have your heart set on being near the kids' club or spa, or being higher to get to the pools quicker, etc. 

And sometimes, you can find deals sooner – Disney knows which cruises and what times of year are popular (and not popular), so they manage their fill rate pretty well. 

[miss1180]

What Juliej just said is how we went on our first DCL cruise. We booked it like 2 weeks before we left ( DS wasn't in real school yet, and DH had some time to use)
We booked a guaranteed balcony category, got a great deal. ( like $2200 for 3 of us ) We got lucky and ended up with an awesome room right off the back of the ship, HUGE balcony- loved it! Then the next 2, we did the placeholder to get the obc and save 10% :-)



it!!!

[was5]

miss1180, juliej, Do you get these deals directly through Disney, or through another vendor?

[juliej]

Jan 12, 2017 13:58:18 GMT -5 was5 said:

miss1180 , juliej , Do you get these deals directly through Disney, or through another vendor?

Directly through Disney. You can book them through a Disney travel agent or through Disney's website or phone line (for the same exact pricing – you don't pay for a travel agent's help). 

[Sloane]

We just got back from one in December, on the Wonder for 7 nights and it was the best vacation I've been on in my adult life, certainly the best one since having kids...I mean we've travelled lots with them before but it's basically been like work in another location, this was different.

We booked another one for next year, while the kids are still young, this is the easiest way to have a trip we're all going to enjoy.

[krystee]

H and I did one 10 years ago and loved it. We are currently planning to go for DS's fifth birthday, three years from now. If we don't have a second kid, we may move it up to his fourth birthday since we wouldn't have to worry about a too-young sibling.

[miss1180]

Jan 12, 2017 13:58:18 GMT -5 was5 said:

miss1180 , juliej , Do you get these deals directly through Disney, or through another vendor?

we booked ours through a travel agent that specializes in disney. They don't charge an extra fee bc they get commission from Disney. But you can also do it on your own, too.... it all depends on how flexible you are, and how much disney needs to fill up the ship...

[alexis]

We're going on one next Christmas and we are super excited.

For those that have cruised Disney before are the photo packages worthwhile? It's not something I usually go for but I am toying with the idea of getting the digital package and taking every opportunity to have our picture taken. I know DH will balk at the price.

[taratru]

Jan 13, 2017 16:57:25 GMT -5 alexis said:

We're going on one next Christmas and we are super excited.

For those that have cruised Disney before are the photo packages worthwhile? It's not something I usually go for but I am toying with the idea of getting the digital package and taking every opportunity to have our picture taken. I know DH will balk at the price.

I allllllmost pulled the trigger, but then realized ALL the photos have a border or clip art of some kind, which I loathe.  So, no for me.  If they didn't all come with that, I'd do it. 

[alexis]

Jan 13, 2017 23:29:50 GMT -5 taratru said:

Jan 13, 2017 16:57:25 GMT -5 alexis said:

We're going on one next Christmas and we are super excited.

For those that have cruised Disney before are the photo packages worthwhile? It's not something I usually go for but I am toying with the idea of getting the digital package and taking every opportunity to have our picture taken. I know DH will balk at the price.

I allllllmost pulled the trigger, but then realized ALL the photos have a border or clip art of some kind, which I loathe.  So, no for me.  If they didn't all come with that, I'd do it. 

Really? They won't just let you have the plain picture? Lame.