Europe or Disney????

[honeydog714]

What to do what to do??

We are holding a cabin for the DCL mexican rivera cruise next July but now my TA called and said she can get me a great deal on Europe on NCL. It is almost twice as long for about the same price- well except air.

We have never done Norweigan but the price seems so good. I just don't want to feel let down after sailing Disney so many times.

[PDAZ]

Well I can't compare the lines, not having sailed on Disney, but I would so do Europe over Mexico -- especially since you're in CA and can do Mexico anytime.

[ohioNCLcruiser]

I agree. Go to Europe! I'm sure they would both be fun though.

[CruisinMatt]

If you can afford the airfare, try Europe. How many people in your party?

[karen2cruz]

We loved our cruise on DCL, when the kids were smaller. But if I had the choice between Europe and DCL cruise, and they were the same price, I would definitely choose Europe!

 

Which NCL ship? How many people in your party? What kind of cabin are you looking at? If you can get a suite, it will defintely compare to DCL cabins.

 

DCL is the only cruiseline to have the 1-1/2 split bathrooms standard in all staterooms. Soft drinks are not included, like DCL.

 

However, the freestyle dining will be a plus. Who wants to drag formal clothes to Europe anyway? Airfare luggage weight to Europe is limited. Lots of dining choices. If it's the right NCL ship there will be laundry rooms. If not, they have mid cruise specials- fill their laundry bag for one price. You can fit alot into those bags.

 

My kids (now teens/young adults) enjoyed NCL kids/teens programs more than Disney. I know, hard to beleive but true.

 

Good luck in your choice, either way it is a win-win situation.

[travellady]

We just made the decision between Disney World or NCL Jewel 8/26 Western Mediterranean. I've had a deposit down for a resort room at Disney for a month but decided since we now have time we thought we wouldn't have at the end of August, we'll do a Europe cruise instead. So, I paid my NCL deposit the other day.

 

We like NCL, especially the freestyle aspect of it when a cruise is port intensive. No need to feel rushed back for dinner, get dressed up, and sit for 2 hours. We can eat when we're hungry and enjoy doing other things if that's what we choose. d

 

We've also crusied Disney and thought they're really nice ships, I felt disneyed-out after a few days. My 13 year old now prefers NCL or Royal Caribbean.

[honeydog714]

We could get a suite on NCL for what it would cost us for a balcony on Disney, there are three of us,,, I am leaning towards the europe one, I hope the TA doen't freak she stayed on hold for hours the day the DCL mex. rivera cabins were opened to get "our" stateroom, although she is the one that suggested this cruise

[CruisingClarks]

Dear HoneyDog:

 

We have done both Disney cruises and the Disney resorts as well as NCL. Disney is nice, but it sure is expensive! The 2 cruise lines are quite different - for example, Disney has the scheduled seating for dining, and NCL is free style. We have a preteen son who has always enjoyed Disney (as do my hubby and I), but we also enjoy NCL. One example of the differences we have experienced in price - we took an 11 day Caribbean cruise on NCL in 2004, and 6 months later (2005) did a combined land-sea at Disney in Orlando for only 7 days, and paid about 20% more for the shorter vacation. The cruise part was only 4 days, which was WAY too short! We had balcony cabins on both cruises, and our Disney Hotels were in the higher category (Animal Kingdon Lodge). Also, they didn't have dining packages w/ Disney at that time, so in addition to the 20% more we paid up front, we had the added expense of meals in the land part of the Disney vacation. Both vacations were absolutely terrific, but for the value, I prefer NCL. One other difference is that Disney is extremely kid centered, which is OK some times, but I find that NCL and other non-Disney type vacations we have taken are better for us, esp my son who I hope will not always expect to be the center of the universe.

 

Perhaps the best part about your decision is that either choice will be wonderful vacations, so you really can't lose! Enjoy, whatever you decide!

[chunky~monkey]

My vote is definitely for Europe!!! I would choose a suite to Europe any day. I've been to Europe quite a few times and it's a different world ~ definitely a must see!!!

[Andy99]

I vote for Europe Unless you have kids under the age of 12 cruising with you...

[heelfan94]

I love Disney and so did the kids when they were younger, but they love NCL now. I would do the cruise to Europe because it sounds like a better value for the money. :)

 

Which NCL ship are you looking at?

[honeydog714]

TA says it will be either the Jade or the Jewel since we want a longer trip but she might check the Gem with a nice land stay too. She is going to look into all the details and get back to me. Poor woman I keep bugging her even on the weekend but she is so sweet she just laughs. I just love her, what a doll!

I am so excited now! Definately want a suite, she says she will get me all the numbers, now I just have to tell hubby that DCL is out and NCL is in. I think I will wait until the middle of the bbq monday. She says that she did a quick ball park check and the price is not going to be much different than our Disney one even adding the air and extra time since we had such and expensive cabin on disney.

Europe yee ha!

[7SeasLover]

Europe. It's a fantastic place. If you want to see photos of our Europe trip in October on the Jewel, email me and I'll send you a link to the photos. We were in a mini suite. A suite would be better though.

 

Europe - it's great. We booked all private excursions and saved abour $1200 over the ship's excursion prices.

[honeydog714]

Europe. It's a fantastic place. If you want to see photos of our Europe trip in October on the Jewel, email me and I'll send you a link to the photos. We were in a mini suite. A suite would be better though.

 

Europe - it's great. We booked all private excursions and saved abour $1200 over the ship's excursion prices.

 

Thanks for your help, we are all set our TA is going to research it all for us, she always finds us private excursions, now Ijust have to let DH know our plans have changed, maybe let him have a few drinks first monday:D

[cusyl]

I'm glad you decided on Europe. You can go to Mexico any time. The European cruises are very port intensive and you will be able to see a lot of history there. When planning your budget don't forget you will definitely want to do excursions in each port.

It's great you can afford the suite, it will be quite a rememberance for you. :D

[mailbroad]

I have been to Mexico and Europe on NCL. I have never been on Disney...although I would like to... go for Europe!

[honeydog714]

Here is one more thing in the mix- I don't want to be greedy our TA has always been fantastic, she got me prices and they look good but that spring for it credit isn't in it, she said that is only good until March. I was dissapointed as a credit helps to pay for excursions and such. She said I have two choices, book now and get the cabin I want (which is a perfect location) and she will personally throw in a 100.00 credit for us (not quite as much as the three of us would have gotten in the spring sale) or wait and hope the price stays low and the cabin stays open and see if they extend the sale or offer a new one. She said that these credits are really high compared to the usual ones and that a hundred was the best she could give me. I checked other sites (felt like I was cheating on her) and her price is as good if not better than any of them and none of them are giving credits so it really would be coming from her own pocket. So should I wait or just go for it. I really am excited I just don't want to end up switching again, when i tell hubby tomorrow at the party I want it to be all set.

[heelfan94]

It depends on how much you want that particular cabin. If it's the one, then I say go for it now. If all of the suites are in comparable locations then you can wait. One thing to keep in mind is that the price can, and might, go up. What is the category cabin you're looking at? Some on here can help with location. :)

[TITISSA]

I've done both. I loved The Disney Wonder. I thought service was impecable. But, as you can see from my signature, I haven't sailed it again only because now my daughters are teenagers and are no longer into Disney stuff. I have also sailed NCL many times and unless you have a very bad cabin (what I consider bad someone else could think differently and like it) and air to Europe is not a problem - don't forget hotel and meals for the day before the cruise, I would do Europe. We are actually doing the Mediterranean Riviera this summer because I think my children are old enough to appreciate Europe. I refuse to pay a lot of money and travel so far, to have 2 kids complaning that they are tired or bored. It depends on your own situation. But whatever your choice is, a cruise is never a bad choice.

[cusyl]

So should I wait or just go for it. I really am excited I just don't want to end up switching again, when i tell hubby tomorrow at the party I want it to be all set.

With the price of fuel going up, I don't see the price coming down. In most cases if the price does go down your TA should be able to get you an OBC for the difference.

[travellady]

Price aside, I encourage you to book now because cabins for greater than 2 people are few and far between on many ships sailing Europe this summer. We decided this past week to go 8/26 and cannot get a cabin for 3 on the Voyager out of Barcelona. There are doubles left, but nothing more. The Splendour out of Venice has limited availabilty as well. We also looked into sailing Northern Europe the same week but slim pickings there as well and extremely high prices.

 

We prefer NCL for this type of cruise anyway so are happy with what we've booked.

 

Not sure about what dates you're looking at but for last week of August, final payment is due in mid June for everyone. We may see some cancellations at that point and a little more availability. Not sure if the prices will go down though. It's always a gamble.

 

If you are looking at an earlier date, then either final payment has passed and there will be few changes in inventory, or final payment is close so changes will happen the next week or two. But don't expect tons of cancellations. Many who are going to Europe have probably purchased airline tickets and won't tend to cancel their cruise.

[cruisequeen10]

Since the Disney ship only comes to the West coast very seldom, I would take the Disney cruise to Mexico.