4 night or 5 night out of Fort Lauderdale

[DigitalOlli]

Hello,
We are struggling with the decission if we want to spend 2000 usd more on the 5 night Magic Cruise out of FLL ( Stop at Nassau , Castaway and Look Out Cay)

The 4 night Cruise only stops at the new Island and nassau. We have never been on a Disney Cruise.

Is it worth it to spend 2000 usd more for 1 night and 1 island?

Thanks

 

[Marthasor]

Absolutely not.

 

[MomOTwins]

I can tell you we had exactly the same choice (though for us as a family of 5 it was over $3000) and we chose the 4 night. As much fun as castaway cay is, you can almost buy another cruise to Castaway for the price of the extra day, plus there are never any guarantees the ship will be able to dock there if bad weather happens.

 

[MamaMermaid]

I wouldn't do it. It's extra expensive right now because of the new island.

 

[DigitalOlli]

yes the 4 night is 4500 usd for 2 adults and 1 child and the 5 night is 6750 usd.

 

[bakerworld]

We're basically going on the same cruise Nov '24 and Feb '25 but the February one is 1K less expensive. Same cabin/category type. Must be the time of year.

 

[DigitalOlli]

yes but here it is 5 night with both disney island or 4 nights with only the new island

 

[starvenger]

I was gonna say that you always go for the longer cruise... until I read that it cost $2000 more. Go with the 4 night. Spend an extra day in Fort Lauderdale instead or something like that.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We're basically going on the same cruise Nov '24 and Feb '25 but the February one is 1K less expensive. Same cabin/category type. Must be the time of year.

February is often chilly in FL and Bahamas. For that, I'd pay the extra money for warmer weather. If you're flying, then Feb can be a headache with winter storms. JMHO.

For OP's dilemma, I would not pay that much more for 1 extra day. In fact, I'd look into a B2B if there's a 3-nt on either end of the 4 night. It may not be much more to do 3 more nights instead of one more.

 

[sadiecatie]

Hell, for that money, go on the 4 nights after spending a couple nights at WDW. That price delta is not worth it.

 

[DigitalOlli]

Thanks.

We changed with our TA for to the 4 nights. 2200 USD ist to much for 1 night. We will invest it in the Dining Plan on our WDW Stay

We have a WDW stay before the cruise and after the cruise.

Is it possible to drive down to FLL on Cruise day or should we arrive 1 day before the cruise?

 

[Girl of the South]

Some friends of mine did 5 full days in WDW in January. Said they ended up not using some of their meal vouchers (?) and lost money on the deal. Disney is not flexible about issuing a credit or being able to use the unused meal for a snack, for instance. Just FYI. Are you renting a car? It’s a 3 hour drive with perfect weather/traffic. I am one of those people who doesn’t like stress so I would drive down the night before. Up to you!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Thanks.

We changed with our TA for to the 4 nights. 2200 USD ist to much for 1 night. We will invest it in the Dining Plan on our WDW Stay

We have a WDW stay before the cruise and after the cruise.

Is it possible to drive down to FLL on Cruise day or should we arrive 1 day before the cruise?

We have cruised out of Miami after a WDW stay and had no problems driving down same day. We even had a character breakfast at Cape May Cafe around 8 am and left BC at around 9.

This was before covid so procedures may have changed. We could drop our rental car off at the Miami Car Rental Center and they offered a free shuttle to the port with proof of rental car receipt.

Maybe Ft Lauderdale has a similar set up. Where are you dropping off your rental car?

Personally, I would drop off the luggage at the DCL terminal if possible, before returning the rental car. Then you can shuttle/Uber to the port with minimal baggage.

 

[DigitalOlli]

we had a great deal on a rental car, so we leave the car parked at the port.

 

[RedHead0186]

Is it possible to drive down to FLL on Cruise day or should we arrive 1 day before the cruise?

I've driven from Orlando to FLL the day of a cruise (not DCL though). It's doable, though you have to get up pretty early so keep that in mind. You will also likely hit traffic coming into Fort Lauderdale, so account for that. We did a one-way rental, so drove down, dropped people and luggage at the port, then I drove the car back to the airport and took a Lyft back to port. It worked out pretty well.

 

[DigitalOlli]

maybe we are going for 1 night to vero. have some dvc points we can use there.

it should be an 2 hour drive instead of 3 hour out of orlando

 

[Ronneeaght]

Interesting. We are looking at a five night and I didn’t even consider that the four night could be that much cheaper. For us it is about $1500 cheaper but for some remarkable reason airfare for my family of 4 would be $1500 more the week of the 4 night so it washes out.

 

[Cheburashka]

I will buck the trend here and say yes, I would choose the 5 night. Especially since this is your first Disney cruise. Castaway Cay is a special place, and given Disney's current trajectory of providing less and less, I find it hard to believe that the brand new island is going to be as good. I never take a tropical cruise that doesn't include Castaway Cay, because for me, that's one of the primary reasons to pay the Disney premium in the first place. And 5 nights instead of 4 will make the cruise feel less rushed, more of a complete experience.

You'll have a great cruise either way, I'm sure. But I personally would choose the 5-night. Whether or not it is really worth it to you, though, depends on your financial situation. If it would be a stretch to do the 5-night, then I would stick to the 4-night, to avoid overspending. But if you comfortably have the money, it isn't a waste.

 

[DigitalOlli]

I will buck the trend here and say yes, I would choose the 5 night. Especially since this is your first Disney cruise. Castaway Cay is a special place, and given Disney's current trajectory of providing less and less, I find it hard to believe that the brand new island is going to be as good. I never take a tropical cruise that doesn't include Castaway Cay, because for me, that's one of the primary reasons to pay the Disney premium in the first place. And 5 nights instead of 4 will make the cruise feel less rushed, more of a complete experience.

You'll have a great cruise either way, I'm sure. But I personally would choose the 5-night. Whether or not it is really worth it to you, though, depends on your financial situation. If it would be a stretch to do the 5-night, then I would stick to the 4-night, to avoid overspending. But if you comfortably have the money, it isn't a waste.

Thanks

I hope the new island is like cast away cay or better

But 2200 usd is a lot of money. We will spend arround 2 weeks at WDW after the Cruise. So the Budget is a little bit stressed

Its our first cruise and we want to taste if we like it. if we like it we want to try a longer one in the next year