Please talk me back into my Disney cruise!

[scrapper4]

Ok...I seem to be having trouble posting this. Let's try again.

I am a first time cruiser. I have booked my family on a 7 day Western Caribbean on the Magic for October '07. It will be DH, DS (who will be 4 1/2 when we cruise) and myself. We started looking at a Disney cruise because the idea of a well-run, high quality kids program was extremely appealing to us as part of our vacation. DS is in preschool/daycare full-time, but other than that, we do not get sitters often, so some "couples" time is essential! However, we couldn't possibly take a week-long vacation without our son! The Disney cruise seemed to be the best of both worlds, however a lot of other cruises seem to have kids programs. I don't mind paying the $$ for Disney - please share some good experiences with me!?!?! TIA.

Jen

[sms30519]

Our first cruise was on Disney. DS was 7 and DD turned 4 on the day we boarded the ship!

 

Good experiences-

DS never wanted to leave the kids club!

The look on DD's face when she met Mickey, Minnie, Wendy and Pluto!

Making sand castles and eating at the buffet on Castaway Cay!

Dining at Animator's Palate and having the servers bring DD a special birthday cake!

Ordering cookies and hot chocolate from room service at night!

DH winning $800 at the casino at Atlantis in the first 30 minutes he was there and then being to afraid to stay and possibly lose the money he just won!

 

Have a great time!

[LSKC]

we chose a cruise for the very same reason. time with our 2 kids (4 & 6 yr olds) and time for US too. perfect!

 

we booked a princess cruise and were set. then something made me price disney even though i knew it would be more money. my friend has been on 6 disney cruises and so i knew that she felt it was well worth the money spent.

 

another thing i learned was that the rooms are bigger. comparing an interior on princess and an interior on disney...there is much better living space with a couch and just the layout in my opinion. made us feel like we didn't need to upgrade to the balcony (like we did on princess). so we traded in our princess cruise for a disney cruise for $300 more. (went from a balcony room on princess to an interior cat 11 on disney though).

 

things that made my mind up:

- my kids aren't going to be this young for ever and i wanted the disney magic a disney cruise could offer. my dd is right into princesses and the thought of her dressing up in her costumes on the cruise makes me melt.

 

-free drinks. on princess there is no free pop/soda or juice set out - i didn't want to be shelling out extra money for soda cards for us ($25x4) or running around looking for juice or soda somewhere everytime one of my kids wanted a drink by the pool.

 

-characters on board. amazing kids club.

 

-palo's is an adults only restaurant. charge is $10/pp. a similar restaurant on princess is $25/pp (we plan on doing the palo's brunch)

 

-i loved that the theater shows will entertain our whole family, not just adults. on the princess cruise we pretty much planned on dropping htem at the kids club everynight if we wanted to see the show.

 

-and alot of other things i'm still learning about :)

[TrojanJulez]

You'll love it - it is soooo worth the extra money! I don't have kids yet, but I have no doubt that your son will have a blast.

 

DH and I did a 4-night Disney Wonder cruise as part of our honeymoon, and it was incredible. Disney goes above and beyond in all areas! The free sodas and larger rooms have already been mentioned... but also, you rotate through 3 restaurants (along with your servers and tablemates) rather than going to 1 dining room. Since each restaurant has its own kitchen, your food is prepared much more efficiently. Also, each cabin (except for the cat 12 (smallest) insides - I believe) has a split bathroom - 1 with a toilet/sink, the other with a shower/sink.

 

I'm so excited to be cruising Disney again... only 1 year and 5 months to go - LOL! :)

[woody73]

Disney has first run movies and fireworks.

 

Woody

[yndygo]

I know your hesitation - I can only say that part of the reason we chose DCL over other, less expensive cruiselines is that I did my research well.

 

I've talked to many people who have taken kids on both DCL and other lines - and uniformly they recommend doing DCL with the kids.

 

My older brother has taken his DD (now 13) on DCL 3 times, the first time when she was 4, just like my DD is now.

He and his wife both said that the cruise (they did Land & Sea that first time) was SO much more fun for her than the park was at that age.

 

I'll let you know for sure what I think when I get back after the 3/29 wonder - but you know what?

I can't imagine that I'll be saying anything different then! :)

[pfisted]

Ok, we've 40 something Disney fanatic teachers. We love the Disney cruises and, although we see a sea of children upon check-in, we don't see them the rest of the cruise. It's amazing! Either Pixie dust is sprinkled upon them upon embarkation and they become both invisible and sound-proof or they have an absolutely outstanding children's program! We notice children LESS on the DCL than on Celebrity (which touts that it is basically childless).

 

 

Believe me, you've made a great decision and your greatest problem will be getting the kids to spend time WITH you. But don't worry too much about that...there is plenty for adults to do including the Persian Gardens at the Vista Spa (don't forget to check that out)! Have fun!

[pkurst]

We just got back from a 4 night on the Wonder with our Son who is 7 and Daughter who is 4 years old. The kids loved it and so did we! We chose the cruise rather than chasing them around Disney World. I've been on numerous cruises and found the Disney line to be the best yet, in my opinion. We had dinner on Valentines day at Palo's and just loved it. The food, staff & activities all were top notch! Will be booking next one soon. Enjoy yours!

[Guest juliae]

Hi,

 

Don't hesitate - just go! Disney has such attention to details and it makes a cruise just magical! The children and their families are amazing because many of the parents are very involved, good parents and with Disney's amazing service, it makes it magical for everyone. Most of my clients have to drag their children out of the children's programs for bed at night. When they get off the ship, everyone has tears in their eyes. Some of my clients won't cruise any other line, family-friendly or not, besides Disney because it is such a magical experience.

 

I've been on many cruises and toured many more cruise ships, plus I am a former elementary school teacher, so I observe children and parents on ships and analyze lots of children's programs. Disney cruises are some of the very finest cruises at sea. Well worth the money!

 

Best Regards,

Julia

[UsedtobeSmith]

I am on the Magic Oct 6th Western...

 

We are doing Disney because DCL does it really well... The kids clubs are great, the adult spaces are great... it works for everyone in our family.

[polarismom]

You can't beat it but as you can see this year we are going on RCL we live in NJ and it is a much faster vacation. But the kids think they will be disapointed I hear they won't but there is NO sub for DISNEY. Worth the money And you are right no body does firewroks like Disney.:D

Polarismom of 4