Our Crazy MAGICal Disney Cruise!

[iupalum]

howdy neighbor! (i'm right above you in concord, nc-just outside of charlotte). i loved reading your report. i've been on 3 cruises (2 with carnival and 1 with RCCL) and i'm setting sail with RCCL again in May; headed to the eastern caribbean. your pics just helped to increase my excitement to visit these ports. i wanted to get your opinion, seeing as how you lived so close to WDW, and have been on a disney cruise. my son is 5 1/2 and i've been dying to expose him to the magic of disney. i went to WDW when i was about 11. DH is dragging his feet at the thought of going to WDW (the lines, the crowds, waiting 4 hrs to ride 1 ride, and so on and so forth). we went on a 5 day cruise to the bahamas in august for our 10 yr anniv and he fell in love with cruising. he is open to the idea of a disney cruise. SOooooooo...seeing as how you've done both (WDW and cruise), which one would you recommend? i like that you can see and interact with the characters on a cruise but then you're missing out on the rides. however, you get to visit tropical places and do new and exciting activities. i'm kind of torn. also, is my son too young to do either one? we were thinking of planning something for next year (2014), since i already have a big vacay planned for this year. so in 2014 my son would be 6 (his b'day is in sept.). speaking of b'days...is your daughter's b'day march 31st? is so, that is the same as DH's! :) did y'all go during spring break? just trying to plan the most magical vacay for my lil buddy. besides going back to PA to visit family, we've never had a family vacay. after reading your awesome review, i'm looking to you for some input (oh, wise one). :)

[karajeboo]

howdy neighbor! (i'm right above you in concord, nc-just outside of charlotte). i loved reading your report. i've been on 3 cruises (2 with carnival and 1 with RCCL) and i'm setting sail with RCCL again in May; headed to the eastern caribbean. your pics just helped to increase my excitement to visit these ports. i wanted to get your opinion, seeing as how you lived so close to WDW, and have been on a disney cruise. my son is 5 1/2 and i've been dying to expose him to the magic of disney. i went to WDW when i was about 11. DH is dragging his feet at the thought of going to WDW (the lines, the crowds, waiting 4 hrs to ride 1 ride, and so on and so forth). we went on a 5 day cruise to the bahamas in august for our 10 yr anniv and he fell in love with cruising. he is open to the idea of a disney cruise. SOooooooo...seeing as how you've done both (WDW and cruise), which one would you recommend? i like that you can see and interact with the characters on a cruise but then you're missing out on the rides. however, you get to visit tropical places and do new and exciting activities. i'm kind of torn. also, is my son too young to do either one? we were thinking of planning something for next year (2014), since i already have a big vacay planned for this year. so in 2014 my son would be 6 (his b'day is in sept.). speaking of b'days...is your daughter's b'day march 31st? is so, that is the same as DH's! :) did y'all go during spring break? just trying to plan the most magical vacay for my lil buddy. besides going back to PA to visit family, we've never had a family vacay. after reading your awesome review, i'm looking to you for some input (oh, wise one). :)

 

Lots of questions and as luck would have it, I have lots of answers! lol

 

I LOVE WDW, everything about it. HOWEVER, I would take a DCL cruise over WDW. The best part about the cruise is that the character interaction is so intimate. I remember running back to our cabin one morning after breakfast, and Donald Duck was just walking down the hall with Daisy. Nobody around. So I got a pick with them. Another time I was walking and saw a little girl just chatting up Sleeping Beauty in a hall, nobody else around. Of course you have formal night and pirate night that the lines are longer to meet the characters dressed up for the ocassion, but still, it's not like our first trip to WDW when Ally was 5 and we stopped to see EVERY character she found! I think that week's vacation we probably waited 5 or 6 hours in line for characters...... seriously.

 

This was our first ever cruise, so I can't compare to other cruise lines. But from what I hear, it's the best of the "affordable" lines. So when you compare to HAL, Celebrity, Carnival, Princess, RCI. Again, just what I'm hearing from friends..... The service was great, the food was great, and we fell in love with cruising!

 

The other great thing for many people is that, while the characters are a part of the cruise, they are not in your face, like at WDW. Sure, they are part of the sail away party, they come out on sea days to have fun by the pool, they are in the atrium at night for photos, but if you took them away, the "mickey mouse" touches are very subtle throughout the ship.

 

In fact, our neighbors on our last cruise were a middle age couple who had no children, and this was their 6th DCL cruise. They sailed with DCL because of the level of service.....

 

As far as WDW, I think age 4-6 is the PERFECT age for first visit. It's all so magical to them at that age, and it's all "real." Sure they are cute when they go as toddlers, but they can't do much, can't ride much. But at 4 or 5,they are tall enough for almost everything (except the Disney thrill rides), including Splash Mtn, Big Thunder Mtn, which are some mild thrill rides, plus the fact that they "get" the magic. They are neither too young, nor too old in my opinion.....

 

I would highly recommend either one. Oh, and not sure if you took your son on the other cruises? But when we got on the Magic, we "forced" Ally to the kids club the first day at sea and after that we never saw her! lol She loved all the activities, plus making all new friends. Which was great for us because we got to have some grownup time on the cruise too. So it was the best of both worlds!!!!

 

Hope this helped some!

[PrincessBelle39]

What an awesome review. The best I've ever read. It was great to relive our last Magic cruise through you. We are off on our second DCL cruise in August on the Fantasy this time. I'm so excited.

[Im_A_Princess]

Love your report. :)

 

The Magic is our favorite ship!

[karajeboo]

What an awesome review. The best I've ever read. It was great to relive our last Magic cruise through you. We are off on our second DCL cruise in August on the Fantasy this time. I'm so excited.

 

Thank you so much!!!! We're back on the Magic in 74 days and I can't wait!!!

 

Love your report. :)

 

The Magic is our favorite ship!

 

Thanx! It's my only ship so far, back on in March, then anxiously awaiting 2013 and our first RCI cruise!!!!

[HappyRedhead]

I loved your review!

 

I'm one of those saps that cries when I walk in to the Magic Kingdom and blubbers on my last day there.

 

Quite honestly I cried through your review! Good tears though.

 

Thanks for letting me have a peek at your vacation!

[OnlineMom]

I'm thoroughly enjoying your posts and pictures!