ideas and opinions needed and welcomed

[pwcarlson]

Here is a new dilema for us to ponder and get different views and opinions.

My DH and I are celebrating 25 years of marriage this aug. He was thinking that we should take a disney cruise with the land and sea package. I was snoopying around the different sites and boards and found them to be quite pricey for 7 days. I understand that all food is included. They do have some cheaper packages that are more reasonable but they are with the smallest cabins (inside) with a moderate for the land part. I think that for our annivesary we deserve a larger cabin and a nicer resort. Doing some math with the latest code, we could stay 15 nites at some of the deluxe resorts for what is cost for a middle range cabin on a cruise.

For those that have done the land/sea cruise would you do it again compared to say staying 5 or 6 nites at a deluxe without the cruise? I would post this on the DCL forum but they seem pretty gun ho about cruising and I need both perspectives.

We have stayed in at moderates and deluxe and enjoed both levels. We are not planning on renewing vows or anything. Just would like a nice, relaxed, enjoyable vacation at WDW.


What would you do?

 

[Dana_Buckley]

I've never been on a cruise, but a full week or so at WDW would be fantastic. Maybe even Polynesian Concierge??. Beautiful surroundings at the resort and you would have a lot of time to do all the things at WDW that you like to do.
Congratulations! And happy planning! Have a wonderful vacation!

 

[Michelle]

August is pretty much high season for cruising with DCL and the prices reflect that. You may want to consider a 3- or 4-night cruise booked separately from the land portion, and hope for some good code rates for your WDW stay. They can be quite affordable and you will get a taste of what all those gung-ho cruisers rave about. Cruising is absolutely a very romantic and wonderful way to celebrate a milestone like your 25th anniversary, and you could enjoy the best of both worlds with a short cruise and a WDW stay.

 

[Grumpy92]

Havent done the land/sea pkg. But have done the two seperately. The cruise is absolutely the best we have ever been on. We had an inside cabin but if we went again would definitely get the veranda cabin. We both said it was the most relaxing vaction we had ever had. We did the 7nt on the Magic in Oct. The rate was less then $100 a day because we went off season. So that might be something you might want to consider.

If you are stuck with the dates I would do WDW and pick a really nice resort that you can enjoy leisurely days at.

 

[pwcarlson]

We are looking at early to mid sept. We are dropping our DD off at college then heading down to FL. My MIL is in a nursing home in FL so need to visit her and get some business done for her. So our dates are not written in stone but around that date. We are leaving Rochester NY about Labor day so ....

Michelle stated that it is high season in Aug, what about after Labor Day? That is our favorite time for WDW. Low crowds, still hot for water parks.

 

[shelly3girls]

DCL was offering discounted rates for September since I believe this is a low season. I would second the idea of going on the 4-day cruise then booking your own stay at WDW. The cruise is very relaxing and can be very romantic. Consider in the price that not only is food included, but entertainment too. You won't have the cost of park tickets for those days. Our 4-day was fabulous.

As far as the verandah is concerned, we had one and never used it. I can imagine that many people would enjoy theirs, but we were so busy doing everything that we were almost never in our room. It seems that in the low season is it relatively easy to upgrade at the port so if money is a big concern you could book the lowest category room that you would be satisfied with then try to upgrade at the port for a significant discount.

In my opinion you can't compare dollar for dollar the two vacations b/c they are completely different. We love WDW, but our cruise was worth every penny. I didn't even want to go on the cruise in the beginning, now I can't wait to go on another!

Overall, I cannot imagine a more romantic vacation than a Disney cruise.

 

[nancyv58]

We have been to Disney many times and have done the cruise once. We booked it separate and actually went to Universal before the cruise. This year we are going to WDW and staying at OKW for 4 nights beofre the 3 night cruise. We booked everything separate. I think if you have been very often you can book everything yourself and it is just as good. We have 10 of us going this year and 6 of them have never been on a cruise before.

 

[>>^..^<<]

Hi there...

First, Happy anniversary!

2nd... did you consider the one week cruise and then say a - 3 or 4 day stay at a nice resort?

Then you get a nice 10 day holiday - perfect

You really don't spend alot of time in your cabin - we were in a category 11 and it was plenty of room - larger than other cruise lines - thats for sure.

Let us know what you decide

>>^..^<<

 

[dahess]

The cruise is very nice. We enjoyed it a lot. We didn't find many things to do in the evening. If we were to do another cruise with the kids (we can't afford one) we would go on a Dis Cruise. If it was just dh and I we would try another cruise line for adults only.

 

[mhelsley]

I have both an addiction to WDW and cruising thanks to our first cruise on the Magic. I will say with each trip i take i'm learning more about how to save money each time. If i were to do land/sea again i would book it seperately to get a better price also this way you can choose to stay in a deluxe hotel and still get a good deal on the stateroom cabin of your choice. I have now been on 7 cruises(been on Magic and Wonder)and the stateroom are larger than most keep in mind that going up in catagory does not always increase the size of your room(www.cruisestateroom.com will let you compare room size). I say as long as you like Disney styled entertainment this would be a good cruise for you but keep in mind before you pay for it how much in 4 days would you use the extra sq footage which would mainly be the balcony. I will say that i have enjoyed all of my cruises and with all the great ship out there it has to be something extra special for me to want to repeat cruise on the same ship. I would do a 3rd Disney cruise but this time it would have to be for at least 7days. I hope this helps and if you have more questions feel free to email me.

 

[D L and K's Mom]

We have done the cruise and stayed in Disney. My suggestion is also BOOK SEPERATELY!! We saved quite a bit doing it that way. If you can go for the veranda do it. We had a lovely room. We had a great time during the day and then when the kids went to sleep after dinner and the shows we ordered a frozen drink from roomservice and a wonderful dessert and we sat out on the vernada and just relxed and sat. Sitting out on the deck in the starlight is beautiful and very romantic!!! By booking the two portions individually we were able to have more choices for hotels in Disney and were not limited by "Tiers". We went with Dreams and they were wonderful keeping us up to date on any discounts etc. I would call around and get some room prices yourself using codes etc. We stayed at the Radisson right in Port Canaveral the night before . It made things so much more relaxed the morning were were leaving and breakfast and parking were included. Good Luck!!

 

[confal1]

I just did 5 nights at the B.C. and then the 4 night cruise. It was great and we booked it separately. If you book it together you get all your passes included. So if you think that you may not do a park everyday it will probably be worth it to look into booking it separately. Also you may get a good code. Sept. I believe is hurricane season although that would never stop me but you could probably get a good rate for the cruise. Check travelocity.com to check rates. I do not know what type of people you are. I know a lot of people say that you are never in your cabin but my husband was in the cabin a lot. He is not a huge people person so he really enjoyed reading on the verandah and being able to watch the football games with the verandah door open. Also it was very romantic when the 4 yr old was asleep and we could enjoy a quiet time on the verandah. And there is always the hope of seeing the dolphings along side the ship, which we did. That being said the cruise is AWESOME. My dad and his wife are down in Disney right now and opted for Hilton Downtown Disney which they love. Try also Expedia.com for hotel rates. Good Luck and have a Ball!!!!!!!