Difference between longer cruise vs smaller cruise

[asgur5]

Ok have done 2 shorter 3 night cruises (wonder in australia and the wish in florida) in the past 6 months and the family loved both of them. The shows, the restaurants, the adults areas, fireworks and the kids clubs were all a massive hits (and castaway cay). Before then we had never cruised.

Are strongly thinking about booking a 9 night trip on the Fantasy in Europe for next summer. I gather this sort of trip is very different from the shorter 3 or 4 night trips where its go go go.

Does anyone have any views on what the difference is between the short and longer trips? Which do they prefer and why?

Is it easier to grab palo brunch bookings on the longer trips (we are obviously only silver members) or is it just as hard as on the shorter trips? We nabbed one on the wonder but not the wish.

The idea of relaxing on the deck and reading books and maybe watching a movie in the theatre with no other cares definately appeals (certainly no time for that on the 3 night trips) but does boredom kick in on the longer trips with a lack of things to do? The trip im looking at has 4 seas days. Do they have more variety of activities/shows on the longer trips? Or is just the same activities/shows repeated?

On port days in Europe do some people stay on the ships? I.e. will the pools, water slides be open? Will some of the cafes/food places be open? Will the kids club on the ship still be running? Are kids able to stay on the ship in the kids club while you get off the ship for a couple of hours?

Thanks.

 

[Travel60]

We love longer cruises. You really get to move into your room and relax.

Everything on the ship is open on port days - and much less crowded. There are often "spa specials" on port days

On sea days there are many extra activities for both adults and kids. Character meets, beverage tastings, "you can cook" seminars, towel folding, jewelry talks, trivia, movies....

Our experience has been that longer cruises attract a bit more affluent crowd and, therefore, a little better dressed. Not talking tuxes and gowns necessarily but sharper, more put together. Especially Europe.

As far as getting off ship and leaving kids on ship, that would have a lot to do with their age/maturity. I would make sure they have a phone that works in Europe, I would not go far, and I'd make darn sure not to miss the boat.

 

[auntlynne]

How many Sea Days did you experience on your short cruises? As you said, it’s only 4 in the Med.

I have done both long cruises with few ports (Transatlantic & Panama Canal) and long cruises with lots of ports (S Caribbean & Med).

If you are in the Med, some port days can be very long and tiring. And hot.

Looks like the Med in June - the balance of sea and port days looks nicely spaced. I got a bit bored when there were 5-6 days straight at Sea.

Are you considering a day or two pre- or post-cruise in Rome? That can be tiring, too. But worth it. It’s all worth it to many of us.

I don’t think the price or the destination of Europe lends itself to a lot of staying on the ship when seeing new places is available.

Expect reduced shipboard activities. Yes to food venues and pools, water features open. Movies in the Buena Vista Theater.

Shows - you will get the traditional 3 production shows. If you are lucky, perhaps some local/ regional performers. We had some excellent entertainment - way back in 2010 - in the Med. I suppose it depends on what DCL is budgeting these days. No extra Broadway type show, though.

 

[auntlynne]

This link will take you to information regarding an 11-N Med last Summer for an idea of WDT evening entertainment.

https://disneycruiselineblog.com/20...from-civitavecchia-to-barcelona-june-27-2023/

Disney Cruise Line Blog is a great resource for prior cruise Personal Navigators, menus, …

The above link has the hard to use video of the DCL app. Some dates show the 2-page list of activities and opening times for venues. Try different dates as wanted.

 

[auntlynne]

From old Navigators and online info, it does look like Kids’ Clubs should be open on Port Days.

 

[Marthasor]

I much prefer longer cruises. In 2015, we did a B2B on the Magic in Europe and were onboard for 20 nights - it was SO nice. We did an 11 night in Europe on the Dream last summer. Longer cruises give you a chance to settle in and do things at a more leisurely pace. We were never bored. Particularly with port stops in Europe, we found we spend a lot of time off the ship, so we loved having sea days to relax and recharge a bit. There are always things to do.

 

[asgur5]

How many Sea Days did you experience on your short cruises? As you said, it’s only 4 in the Med.

I have done both long cruises with few ports (Transatlantic & Panama Canal) and long cruises with lots of ports (S Caribbean & Med).

If you are in the Med, some port days can be very long and tiring. And hot.

Looks like the Med in June - the balance of sea and port days looks nicely spaced. I got a bit bored when there were 5-6 days straight at Sea.

Are you considering a day or two pre- or post-cruise in Rome? That can be tiring, too. But worth it. It’s all worth it to many of us.

I don’t think the price or the destination of Europe lends itself to a lot of staying on the ship when seeing new places is available.

Expect reduced shipboard activities. Yes to food venues and pools, water features open. Movies in the Buena Vista Theater.

Shows - you will get the traditional 3 production shows. If you are lucky, perhaps some local/ regional performers. We had some excellent entertainment - way back in 2010 - in the Med. I suppose it depends on what DCL is budgeting these days. No extra Broadway type show, though.

On the wonder it was all sea days but was really only 2 full days and an evening. Over so quickly. We were so busy doing activities and seeing shows we didnt even find any time to relax on our verandah.

We would make this cruise part of a longer trip and spend 2 weeks elsewhere in Europe afterwards. Probably northern italy or the Alps. We have also been to naples/pompei before so may use that day to stay on ship (or just do a short excursion). We havent been to greece or turkey though.

Good to know that things are still open on port days. Thanks for sharing the link to your blog. Also Good to know the restaurants change menus and that there is a pirate night.

 

[Dive Bar Casanova]

Ya settle in and get more comfortable on a long cruise.
Our next will be transatlantic.
Long stretches of days at sea to us are really amazing, a real voyage.

 

[Budzooka]

We did a 12 night Med cruise in 2022 and it was wonderful. Got to relax and enjoy the ship and got to know our servers better as well. My 19 year old DD stayed on the ship a couple of time during port days and loved how quiet the ship was, including plenty of lounge chairs by the pool!

We are doing a 7 night in Alaska next week and it feels like a short cruise.

 

[JM_97]

I've never done a 7 night Disney Cruise but from my experience on longer cruises on other lines, there's more activities and you don't feel as rushed since you have an entire week to explore the ship and check everything out.

Also in general, crowds on long cruises are different than shorter cruises. Not that Disney attracts a rough and rowdy crowd in general but having done both weekend long and week long cruises, it is definitely different.

 

[bakerworld]

IMO it's a temperament issue. DH gets really antsy after 4 days and just wants off the ship. We did a 5D to Canada and a 6D Caribbean. I enjoyed the 6D more than the 5D and I've no idea why. We've two 4D cruises book next and DH said that will do him for the cruising. I think we just prefer land vacations.

 

[JM_97]

IMO it's a temperament issue. DH gets really antsy after 4 days and just wants off the ship. We did a 5D to Canada and a 6D Caribbean. I enjoyed the 6D more than the 5D and I've no idea why. We've two 4D cruises book next and DH said that will do him for the cruising. I think we just prefer land vacations.

7 nights is enough for me too. On my last 7 night cruise, I was more than ready to get off on the final night. To me, 5-6 is the sweet spot.

 

[obsesseddisneyfan]

We did a 12 night Med cruise in 2022 and it was wonderful. Got to relax and enjoy the ship and got to know our servers better as well. My 19 year old DD stayed on the ship a couple of time during port days and loved how quiet the ship was, including plenty of lounge chairs by the pool!

We are doing a 7 night in Alaska next week and it feels like a short cruise.

Enoy Alaska. Its beautiful

 

[tvguy]

The shortest cruise I have ever been on was 7 days. For me I can't imagine.....in my case...traveling any distance for just a 3 or 4 day cruise. But my first cruise was 14 days with lots of ports, and just enough sea days sprinkled in to be rested for enjoy the following ports. We just booked a 14 day Princess Land/Sea package. 7 days touring on land, then 7 days on the ship....the first day a sea day which we will need to rest up after the 7 days of touring on land. We will be flying cross country.......and flying five hours each way, I want as many days of vacation to justify it.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Ok have done 2 shorter 3 night cruises (wonder in australia and the wish in florida) in the past 6 months and the family loved both of them. The shows, the restaurants, the adults areas, fireworks and the kids clubs were all a massive hits (and castaway cay). Before then we had never cruised.

Are strongly thinking about booking a 9 night trip on the Fantasy in Europe for next summer. I gather this sort of trip is very different from the shorter 3 or 4 night trips where its go go go.

Does anyone have any views on what the difference is between the short and longer trips? Which do they prefer and why?

Is it easier to grab palo brunch bookings on the longer trips (we are obviously only silver members) or is it just as hard as on the shorter trips? We nabbed one on the wonder but not the wish.

The idea of relaxing on the deck and reading books and maybe watching a movie in the theatre with no other cares definately appeals (certainly no time for that on the 3 night trips) but does boredom kick in on the longer trips with a lack of things to do? The trip im looking at has 4 seas days. Do they have more variety of activities/shows on the longer trips? Or is just the same activities/shows repeated?

On port days in Europe do some people stay on the ships? I.e. will the pools, water slides be open? Will some of the cafes/food places be open? Will the kids club on the ship still be running? Are kids able to stay on the ship in the kids club while you get off the ship for a couple of hours?

Thanks.

Our preference is for longer cruises - 10 nights and longer. 7 night cruises are "short" for us. Mostly because the shorter (3, 4, 5 night ones) feel like you've just unpacked when you need to pack up to get off the ship. Also the longer itineraries have different port options than the "standard" Caribbean/Bahamas cruises that most lines do.

It does get easer to get the palo reservations on longer cruises since the passenger load is basically the same on short and longer cruises, but the time onboard have more spaces.

We've never been bored on any cruise we've taken, whether we've chosen to do shore excursions in every port, or just stay onboard during port days.

There are more activities (or, at least, more repetitions of the activities offered). Each ship has their "standard" Disney production shows. Longer cruises they will offer more individual entertainer performances and, sometimes, special musical variety shows.

When in port pools and all are open. Also dining options are open. Shops are not.

Kids clubs are open, generally. You can leave you child onboard while you go off the ship, I believe you have to provide an emergency contact for that time that will be reachable.

 

[auntlynne]

As to Palo, expect it offer brunch on all (and only) the Sea Days.

 

[readyplayer]

We prefer the longer cruises. More time to relax, different activities are offered on these longer cruises, different menus, etc. One show that we enjoyed that is only added on longer voyages is the crew talent show. Its amazing how talented the crew is. While in port, my experience with kids in a club while the parents are out, is that the ship won't leave if the parents are late. That happened once when we were delayed leaving. The crew said that the ship couldn't leave because the parents hadn't returned. There was no family onboard to care for the kids.

 

[auntlynne]

With your overall vacation, those 4 Sea Days should be welcome. You may still say you could use more.

We did an Eastern Caribbean in the Fall. Two port days (beach, and not extremely long or tiring). We had to skip Castaway Cay due to engine issues. That was too long a cruise of just cruising. @bakerworld - this cruise lets me understand why even an 7-night cruise can be too long.

I did a 14-night cruise a few months later and was ready for it to be over around Day 10. Even though most days were port days. But it was S Caribbean. And I tested positive for Covid the day I got off the ship - maybe I was just not feeling up to anything those last days.

I do not think port day necessarily = good port day. I am not a big beach person, nor a Caribbean port fan. The Med and Alaska cruises, land trips in Hawaii and Europe really do more to keep me interested. Again, @bakerworld hit it on the nose; it’s a matter of temperament. Learning (or knowing) what you like or interests you really helps in vacation planning.

Vacation Philosophy 101

 

[otten]

We love longer cruises. We've done a 14 night and an 11 night in addition the the 7 and 4 nights we've done. I very much prefer the longer cruises. I like that there is time to get settled and really explore. 4 nights feels too rushed.

As for Palo it really depends on the make up of your cruise. Some of the longer sailings such as the Panama, the longer Europe cruises and other unique itineraries tend to have more gold, platinum and pearl. We actually had an easier time booking things on our two 4 night cruises for that reason.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

We prefer the longer cruises with a mix of port days and sea days. We’ve done four transatlantics and three panama canals along with a number of back-to-back Bahamas and Caribbean cruises. Our longest was a b2b2b of 26 nights where the last 12-night portion was a WBTA. We found the 7-night Med cruise we took from Barcelona to have very full port days, since many of the sites we wanted to visit required full-day excursions. That made the sea days particularly welcome.

We cannot really judge the difficulty of booking Palo, since we’re now Pearl and usually are able to book both brunch and dinner at the early booking window. Even at that, we had to book Palo dinner on the first night of a Wish cruise we did (had to check out the ship, even though we prefer longer cruises). We were not able to book Palo brunch at all that cruise, but since we did a 4-night-3-night b2b, we were able to book a brunch for the second leg while onboard for the first.

All of our TA and PC cruises have been on Magic or Wonder, as was our Med cruise, so the experience on the larger Dream/Fantasy TA and Europe itineraries now available may be quite different. Passenger capacity is about 50% greater, so there may be a noticeable difference even with reduced occupancies typical of some of the longer cruises. We’re booked on this fall’s WBTA on the Dream, so we’ll have a chance to find out come October.