Disney Cruise tips?

1SEIACLONE

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Would be just as cheap to do a Carnival cruise and then spend time at Disney world. If you have small kids, and can afford it, a Disney Cruise can be great, but they are expensive as hell.
 

mj4cy

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Bumping this. Thinking of taking a Disney Cruise with my family of five next year. We have three kids would be 6, 6, and 3 at time of cruise. We're big Disney fans, but have never been on a cruise before. Any thoughts about this? Or about cruises in general?
We are doing Dream in January. Also looking forward to info.
 

ISUTex

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Wife is adamant on taking the kids(8 & 4)on a Disney Cruise first of the year. Anyone have experience with these? I’m trying to convince her to go to an all inclusive resort instead.

Go to Disney World and stay at a resort.
 

mj4cy

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Go to Disney World and stay at a resort.

We did that two years ago and loved it. My wife says we can't do that again til we try a Disney Cruise. Kids are 13,10,7 so perfet ages for it.

I figure by mid-January ill be ready for the Caribbean.
 

do4CY

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Bumping this. Thinking of taking a Disney Cruise with my family of five next year. We have three kids would be 6, 6, and 3 at time of cruise. We're big Disney fans, but have never been on a cruise before. Any thoughts about this? Or about cruises in general?
My wife and I have been on 2 disney cruises, once without kids and once with them. Our kids were 7 and 5 when they went. They were both 3 nights with a stop in Nassau and castaway cay. Both times we spent a few days at the parks beforehand. The cruise was a relaxing end to the vacation. My wife could be a Disney planner for as much as she has read and researched for the parks and cruises over the years so she knew a lot of what to expect and some of the finer details.

If you like the parks I think you would like the cruise. It's very disney but different than the parks. The service was excellent, the food was good. There are plenty of things to do and besides the main pool deck you can get away from people. We would definitely go again.
 
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rpcyclone2013

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My wife and I have been on 2 disney cruises, once without kids and once with them. Our kids were 7 and 5 when they went. They were both 3 nights with a stop in Nassau and castaway cay. Both times we spent a few days at the parks beforehand. The cruise was a relaxing end to the vacation. My wife could be a Disney planner for as much as she has read and researched for the parks and cruises over the years so she knew a lot of what to expect and some of the finer details.

If you like the parks I think you would like the cruise. It's very disney but different than the parks. The service was excellent, the food was good. There are plenty of things to do and besides the main pool deck you can get away from people. We would definitely go again.
Thanks for the input. Did you book directly through Disney or did you use a travel agent? We've never been on a cruise before.
 

do4CY

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Thanks for the input. Did you book directly through Disney or did you use a travel agent? We've never been on a cruise before.
We booked thru disney. The prices can fluctuate some like airlines but I don't remember it being a lot. Stuff like tips for the staff are not included in the prices but I think you can pre pay these. Do a little research to see what the percentages are.

My wife will buy disney gift cards at sams club, there are times when they are close to 10% off. That is how we pay for park tickets and I'm pretty sure that's how she paid for the cruises. It sounds crazy but 5-10% off will add up at Disney.
Booking a cruise can seem overwhelming, especially the first time, just don't overthink it.
 

DesertClone1

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I will say, ALWAYS call into a person who does booking for cruises. NEVER do it on your own, there is always discounts and add on's that they do for free.

I'm sure you could search a disney cruise person on Facebook, that's how i always book a Carnival cruise.
 
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1SEIACLONE

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I will say, ALWAYS call into a person who does booking for cruises. NEVER do it on your own, there is always discounts and add on's that they do for free.

I'm sure you could search a disney cruise person on Facebook, that's how i always book a Carnival cruise.
Carnival will assign you a person if you call and ask them. We cruise with another couple and use the same lady that was assigned to us. We find a cruise we want to go on, call her up and she has all our info on her computer, make its very easy to book a cruise.
 

DesertClone1

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Carnival will assign you a person if you call and ask them. We cruise with another couple and use the same lady that was assigned to us. We find a cruise we want to go on, call her up and she has all our info on her computer, make its very easy to book a cruise.

Same! I have a guy who used to be a Carnival Cruise director, we booked our 1st cruise with him, and then our second one (during covid) was $79 per person!
 

mramseyISU

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I guess you could say my wife and I are cruise people now. We've done like 6 of them on Royal Caribbean since 2017. The big tips I'd say are use the child care if you have littles on board with you, get some alone time with your spouse. The other one is unless you have a lot of sea days I'd be really skeptical about the drink package saving you money. Hard to be that drunk that long at least for me so we get the package with free soda and maybe a drink or two with dinner and come out money ahead. I personally hate the main buffet but there are tons of places to eat on board and try to check as many of them out as you can. If you're like me and get peopled out in a hurry get a balcony room and sit out there. I do that a lot.
 

legi

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So I can go to Dreams Sands all-inclusive in Cancun for 7 nights for $5K approximately. This would also include the flights for 2 kids, 8 and 11, and two adults. What would be the ballpark cost for same length stay at Disney Cruise and why is it worth paying that much more? What more would I get than Dreams Sands?
 

rpcyclone2013

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So I can go to Dreams Sands all-inclusive in Cancun for 7 nights for $5K approximately. This would also include the flights for 2 kids, 8 and 11, and two adults. What would be the ballpark cost for same length stay at Disney Cruise and why is it worth paying that much more? What more would I get than Dreams Sands?
I can't speak to either yet as I posed the question that we are thinking of it. From looking at the Disney website, a 7 night cruise for 4 people is going to be at least 6k, and that's just the cruise. My family just enjoys the Disney experience so it might be worth the premium due to the familiarity and knowing my kids will like it.
 
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