Another vacation thread! Disney Cruise - is it worth the $$$?

[millerpjm]

Ok, DH and I have decided on a cruise (thanks to all who posted in my PP)next year with DS. He will be 4 1/2 by then. We LOVE the looks of the Disney cruise, but it seems so much more expensive than other cruises. That being said, one of the appeals of the Disney cruise is that it is designed with kids in mind, and the kids programs run all day instead of just certain times. Having some time to ourselves is really important to us. It may even be worth coughing up the extra $$ for Disney.

So, have any of you done Disney cruises or other cruises (especially with younger kids?)? Are the kids programs on other cruise lines comparable? Thoughts? TIA!

Jen

[LaurelC]

We did the 7 day Western Caribbean cruise last year when Madeline was a week shy of her first birthday. It was GREAT. She was too young for the kids' club (min. age is 3) but they had Flounders Reef nursery, which we used a few times. We did check out the kids' club while on board - It is a little kid's paradise! While we were there, the childrens were being led on a treasure hunt by Peter Pan. It was so cute, and the kids were having a blast. We definitely plan to do another cruise with Disney when Maddie is old enough for the kids' club.

When Maddie was in Flounder's, we took the opportunity to have dinner at the adults only restaurant (Palo.) We also had a champagne brunch there. It was wonderful. They also have an adults only coffee bar and pool. If you are into gambling, there is NO casino onboard.

They were great with Maddie at mealtimes. Whatever we wanted for her, we could have it. The cruise staff in general are great at making the kids feel special. There were lots of character appearances (and a character breakfast) and we got some great pictures.

I also loved the look and feel of the Disney ship. It was sort of styled after old fashioned cruise liners, and was gorgeous. It was maintained beautifully, too.

One of the biggest highlights was the stop at Castaway Cay, Disney's private island.

The only other cruise line I have been on was Carnival (without kids.) I would never sail with them again.

It is true that Disney is much more expensive. But for a family vacation, I think that it is worth it. We booked through www.dreamsunlimetedtravel.com and saved quite a bit of money off of the quote we got direct from Disney. A site I have heard good things about it www.cruisecompete.com, though I haven't used them personally.

Hope this helps - let me know if you have any questions!

[mamaturk]

I cannot even begin to tell you how wonderful the Disney Cruise is!!!!!! We are going on our 3rd in February. The staff is fabulous, the ship is beautiful and SO clean, and there are TONS of activities for the kids!!!!! I think that the extra money is totally worth it. Let me know if I can help you with any other questions. DO IT..... You will LOVE it!!!!!!! ;) ;)

[deenass]

We've been on Disney cruise and Royal Carribbean, I would suggest you look at RC as well, they have a GREAT kid's program (which runs from about 7 am until 1 am). My nephews and niece haven been on several RC cruises (as well as the Disney cruise) and my SIL thinks that RC's program is more fun.

[COElizabeth]

I've cruised on both Disney and Celebrity this year with small kids (mine plus niece and nephews), and while the Celebrity cruise was fine for the kids and had a good children's program, we preferred Disney, not only for the greater family friendliness, but also for better service and better maintenance.

Also, if you are averse to cigarette smoke, Disney is a better choice than many lines because while smoking is allowed in some areas, it is not allowed in the cabins themselves. I did not at all like the fact that my Celebrity cabin smelled of stale smoke and that you could not walk down the hallways without passing many cabins with smoke seeping into the halls.

Elizabeth, Mom to James, 9-20-02
and Charlotte, 11-04-04

[Jacksonvol]

I also recommend Disney. I cruised with them b/4 kids, but was really impressed by how family friendly everything was. I also agree that the service was top notch and the cabins were very nice. The kids I saw looked like they were having a very good time and I saw the cast members deal effectively with some initially teary kids and one little brat. (His parents were called to talk with him before he could return to the group.)

I like the fact that there is no casino (when kids are present on the ship) and that I did not see anyone acting like a drunken sailor. I can't say the same for my experience on Carnival. Service there was "o.k.", but just o.k.. Also, it was like feeding time at the zoo at many of the buffet service meals and at the bar. It was like some of these folks had never seen food or alcohol before.

I think we will take DD on a Disney cruise next year when she is 4. Have fun!

[saschalicks]

I'm another one who highly recommends Royal Caribbean. Although we went on before DC, we constantly commented on how child friendly it was. Both DH & I are just waiting for when the boys are old enough to take them on RC (about 4), so that we can all equally have a good time.

I remember on our RC cruise there was a woman on there who was eating lunch at the same table as us and she was saying how they loved RC so much they were returning in 6 months with the kids again. She was just so happy.

HTH

[tarabenet]

We took the teen step-daughters a couple of years ago, and we all had an amazing time. I can't wait until we can do it again, with or without the girls -- but don't tell them that, or they'll stow away in our luggage! Every single minute was just wonderful. For those kids who are character fanatics, there is much better access to the characters, plus the little girls dressed as princesses every night for dinner. I'm guessing little boys are going as pirates these days! Oh: and the shows are incredible!

[millerpjm]

Quick question on the RC kids program...you said that their program runs from 7 am - 1 am. On their website it looks like they only have limited hours, which was a bit of a detractor. Has your SIL cruised recently? Do they change their hours? I appreciate the input!

TIA!

Jen

[HallsofVA]

We took the 7-day Western Carribean cruise with Disney in early December 2005, and absolutely loved it! It was our first cruise, and we rebooked while on board for another cruise we had such a great time. Our son was 23 months old at the time, and he seemed to have a great time, and was given special treatment (it seemed) by just about every castmember we ran into. I spent a fortune on pictures because he was so cute and good with the characters.

From what we saw on our cruise, it seems like you'd be going at a perfect age for your DS. We decided that we really want to cruise again when DS is around 5, though we'd seriously considered going again this December while DS was still cheap (since rates go up at age 3), until I got pregnant.

In terms of the cost, be sure to look all around for discounts. AAA, Costco, USAA all discount Disney cruises. You can always book with Disney directly if you're more comfortable doing that, and then move your reservation to a travel agent if you find a better price. We'd originally reserved with Dreams Unlimited, then I found a group through a AAA office in another state who was travelling on the cruise and had extra rooms reserved at a greatly discounted rate, with extra group perks and benefit.

A great source of information is the cruise chat room on the disboard site. That resource was invaluable for me for everything from deciding which cruise to take, when, how to find a bargain, which excursions to register for, and how to score an upgrade (we ended up in a huge Category 3 suite after originally booking a Cat 4 cabin.) We even up attending some gatherings of other "DISers" and it was sort of like cruising with a bunch of your friends.

Hope you go and enjoy yourselves!!!

[LD92599]

We're leaving on QM2 tomorrow w/ DS. We went last year by ourselves; i'm anxious to see how their kids programming is.

We did Disney when DS was 7 months and it was fantastic. We also did Disney 3 times before that by ourselves and had a super time! Now I'm just glad we don't have to lug all of this luggage through an airport (and how does the luggage keep multiplying?).

Laura

[Tondi G]

I signed up for with a site called vacationstogo.com and get a weekly newsletter email with super deals on cruises (mostly last minute). They show their rates and regular rack rates for all the different lines. They also do resort land vacations too!

I also recommend checking Mouseplanet and Mousesavers.com

We took a Royal Carribean cruise for our honeymoon and loved it. We've been waiting for DS to be old enough to take part in kids clubs (then #2 came along). We have promised him we will take him on a Disney cruise (we got a vaction planning dvd from them and he LOVES to watch it). I am thinking when Aidan is 2 or 3 we might just have to bite the bullet and book something... hopefully grandma will come along too!

~Tondi
Mommy to Mason 7/8/01 and Aidan 5/4/05