4 Night Cruise plus Parks or 7 Night Cruise

[Spiffy MacSpiff]

I'm not a WDW veteran, but if you are and you've cruised before then I'd also suggest the 7-day, with departure from NYC and an excursion to the parks if those are options during your fall travel window. Less stressful travel, easier planning, and you'd have extra days at sea to relax and check out what the ship has to offer. On our first DCL cruise we spent so much time trying to take advantage of Port Adventures that afterward we were sorry that we didn't spend more time just enjoying the ship! Our boys are 14 and 11 now, with four cruises under their belts, and they're more interested in getting off the ship on port days... at the time, though, when they were 9 and 6, everything on the ship was new and exciting and they really just wanted to stay on board. YMMV, but that's my two cents. Enjoy your cruise!!!!

 

[taaren]

I've done parks-sea-parks, just cruising on 7 nights, and parks-cruise. We ended up not liking the parks after as much, ending a trip with the cruise was my travel groups favorite combo because having the parks before got us excited to relax on the cruise after walking for days, but at the end of the cruise it felt too hectic to go back to the parks and then the food wasn't all inclusive which felt weird.
Personally I love the parks then cruise combo the best, but that being said you get a lot more bang for your buck on longer cruises most of the time. We find that a 5 night cruise is ideal for us, but YMMV. Because we tend to have APs every few years it is not much more expensive for us to add a few nights at the parks before a cruise; if we had to buy tickets that would definitely swing it towards a 7 night cruise instead. Season also can make a difference if you are considering cruising in the fall or winter it could be fun to just go to one of the Halloween or Holiday parties before getting on a cruise, we did that last year and it was wonderful to get into the spirit of the holiday then continue it on the cruise, got to use our costumes multiple times on one vacation since Disney does the holidays so well.

 

[lizzyb]

7 night cruise.... 4 nights is way too short!

 

[Sunshine2U]

You save a day of travel at each end by sailing out of NYC. And since you're not trying to fit everything into airline limited luggage, you can take pretty much all you want. A different gown each night for each of your princesses, multiple door magnets, fish extenders and gifts, Tervis tumblers, over the door hangers for accessories, your own snorkeling gear, that special life vest since you're just not sure about a used life vest, car seats, lovies and blankies, pirate costumes for the entire family with hats, Christmas jammies for the entire family so you get the perfect photo, autograph books, your favorite pillow... I know I'm forgetting something important!Oh yeah - 4 bottles of wine!!!

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

I'm not a WDW veteran, but if you are and you've cruised before then I'd also suggest the 7-day, with departure from NYC and an excursion to the parks if those are options during your fall travel window. Less stressful travel, easier planning, and you'd have extra days at sea to relax and check out what the ship has to offer. On our first DCL cruise we spent so much time trying to take advantage of Port Adventures that afterward we were sorry that we didn't spend more time just enjoying the ship! Our boys are 14 and 11 now, with four cruises under their belts, and they're more interested in getting off the ship on port days... at the time, though, when they were 9 and 6, everything on the ship was new and exciting and they really just wanted to stay on board. YMMV, but that's my two cents. Enjoy your cruise!!!!

I just wanted to say I really like your screen name

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Thank you everyone! I think I will be looking into a 7 day day!

One other I thing I just thought about and it may not matter to you but, after we booked our 8 day out of NYC on the Magic they announced it was a Marvel Day at Sea cruise and that day was fantastic, so much fun and the Marvel show on deck at night was awesome.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I would vote for the longer cruise. When we do combine parks and cruise, we always do the parks first, usually just a day or 2. Then we know in the back of our mind while we're dealing with the lines and crowds that soon we'll be cruising and that is sooo much calmer and more relaxing.

 

[Numtini]

I just got off our first cruise, which was a 7 day, and I think that's the way to go. There's so much going on with the ship and it takes a while to get a handle on it. Paradoxically, I think the shorter cruises are better suited for people who've already done a cruise and can step onto the ship knowing the basic layout and what they want to do with their time.

 

[christmasmagic]

I would vote for the longer cruise. When we do combine parks and cruise, we always do the parks first, usually just a day or 2. Then we know in the back of our mind while we're dealing with the lines and crowds that soon we'll be cruising and that is sooo much calmer and more relaxing.

LOL that is a good point! I bet my husband would like that better!

 

[christmasmagic]

One other I thing I just thought about and it may not matter to you but, after we booked our 8 day out of NYC on the Magic they announced it was a Marvel Day at Sea cruise and that day was fantastic, so much fun and the Marvel show on deck at night was awesome.

My 3 year old son (who will be 4 at the time) would love that! Whenever he sees the commercials and he sees Spiderman he gets so excited! I can't wait for the 2019 NYC cruises to be released!

 

[christmasmagic]

You save a day of travel at each end by sailing out of NYC. And since you're not trying to fit everything into airline limited luggage, you can take pretty much all you want. A different gown each night for each of your princesses, multiple door magnets, fish extenders and gifts, Tervis tumblers, over the door hangers for accessories, your own snorkeling gear, that special life vest since you're just not sure about a used life vest, car seats, lovies and blankies, pirate costumes for the entire family with hats, Christmas jammies for the entire family so you get the perfect photo, autograph books, your favorite pillow... I know I'm forgetting something important!Oh yeah - 4 bottles of wine!!!

OMG Packing those princess dresses for the parks! AH! haha