One and Done?

[ambula603]

We are headed on our FIRST ever Disney Cruise next week and I am just curious...are there many people out there that do one Disney Cruise and then no more? Everyone tells us we will be hooked, but we normally do WDW and I look forward to those trips every day until we are back there again. I am most excited to see how this trip compares in my head and heart!

So, if you were "one and done" - why?

 

[Chemist]

We are not one and done, but...

I don’t understand doing the same vacation a million times. Four years ago we did a cruise for summer vacation. Then Hawaii, then a cruise, then a rafting trip...

Spring and winter breaks are similar. Went to DC and Williamsburg, going to Grand Canyon and Sedona. Last winter was San Diego.

More rafting, Yellowstone and Boston/Philadelphia (history) are on the list. And a different Hawaiian island too.

Can’t do everything I want to do. Certainly can’t do it all if we keep repeating vacations.

Not enough vacation time or money.

 

[JARNJ3]

Trying to do WDW and DCL every other year. Helps with WDW that I own DVC - so can save more for the cruise in that year.

Really wanting to try the Transatlantic cruise next. I want more than 2 sea days!

Should add - my first and only DCL cruise was this year's Rome to Rome Med Cruise. Had 2 sea days - but I got to see a lot of beautiful ports too!

 

[ambula603]

Chemist you think like my husband! He created a spreadsheet planning all of our major vacations for the next 15 years and I am not even exaggerating! Not that we have to stick to it, but we have our goals!

I want to NOT be so addicted to WDW, but for now while my girls are little we are still finding ourselves coming back. As they get older all of your locations are on our sheet, plus other countries.

Unless I just LOVE this cruise as much as WDW, I think we could possibly be one and done, unless we do a DCL to Alaska.

 

[iivye]

My brother-in-law and his family did one short 3 night DCL cruise (kids were 7 and 5) and said that was it for them. I think they thought it was too expensive and too crowded at the pools. I also think they are not big on cruises.

My brother and his family went with us on a 8 night DCL Med cruise (kids 8 and 6) and my brother hated how loud the dining rooms were, especially Rapunzel's Royal Table (it was late dining too). It was the Magic and the rooms were looking a little shabby too. Overall they enjoyed it but aren't going to be booking another one any time soon. I think it came down to them feeling the cost wasn't worth it. We had already taken an Alaskan cruise on NCL together and have a Spring Break one booked together on NCL for March so I do think they enjoy cruising.

My family has been on 7 DCL cruises and have another one currently booked. We're definitely hooked. So out of the 3 families only mine will continue to sail DCL.

 

[smmco]

I doubt too many people that are one and done would be reading much less posting on a DCL board.

 

[pezgirlroy]

We will be going on our third this spring. We have gone each with my parents and because of them. It is an ideal vacation for us to travel with them as there isn't much work to be done. However, we are lucky that we are able to do other vacations as well. For example we will be doing an African safari next summer.

 

[T & R]

For me, I thought I would be one and done. When my wife booked our first DCL cruise, I was not looking forward to going at all. I had visions in my head of thousands of screaming kids running everywhere. Now I am so grateful my wife booked that first cruise. In a few weeks we'll be on our 10th Disney Cruise with 2 more coming up. I got hooked bad. This may sound silly but I look back at my pre-DCL life and wonder how I could have been going through life unaware of Disney Cruise. Just don't make the classic rookie mistake of not booking a placeholder while you're onboard. Please let us know how it went when you get back.

 

[Chemist]

Oh yeah, I forgot international travel!
(My little one is still too hard to feed to contemplate real travel.)

Don't get me wrong, we've loved both cruises we did. However, my boys LOVED their whitewater rafting trip this summer, too!

Life is just too short to keep repeating the same vacations.

 

[3monkeys4me]

We are one and possibly done, possibly not. Haha. We are opposed to another Disney cruise and it is on a radar as a possibility frequently. But we have cruised other lines and enjoyed it (in some ways more than our DCL experience and other ways less) and we also really love camping and exploring national parks and international travel. We have a deposit on a DCL cruise next fall break, but at this point we are considering cancelling and spending 2 weeks in the UK instead.

Overall we just really like to vary our vacation experiences as much as possible. We have traveled a lot with the kids over the years but recently most of our trips have been in Asia or in the US. So we are ready for something different, but we just aren't totally sold on what yet.

 

[cedricandsophie]

We have done 20 plus Disney cruises, in the US and internationally. We never tire of them primarily because we have a disabled adult daughter and always take her best friend, but we also lucky that we can do multiple vacations every year. With our daughter and her friend we also go to WDw at least once for two weeks and sometimes add another week around Christmas and we go to Alauni every year for 10 days. My daughter and I have been going to a dude ranch to ride horses every summer for a week and are now on our 28th year. And we try to go to Mexico every year for the day of the dead celebration.

But my husband and I also do a special trip just the two of us usually every other year. In 2018 it was a crystal Cruise from Bali to Singapore and next year it will be 18 days in Africa. So yes we are very lucky we have the time and the money but as long as our daughter loves the cruise and the characters and as long as we can take her best friend with us I doubt we will change our addiction to dcl or Disney in general.

I’ve been retired for 15 years, which I was lucky to do at age 55. I always had at least three vacations planned and I always told people who worked for me to always plan several vacations ahead, just for sanity sake. It’s always good to have something to look forward to.

 

[LeiaOfAlderaan]

I loved our first cruise (Alaska) but I let my husband convince me not to book a placeholder since he said he didn’t see us cruising again anytime soon (why did I listen to him). Flash forward 2 years and we’re going on our 4th cruise in the spring. So even if you’re on the fence during your cruise, you should book a placeholder.

Every cruise has felt different to us, so I don’t consider it to be the same vacation over and over. Maybe we will get sick of it eventually after cruising more, who knows. But we also do other vacations so there is some variety.

 

[Budzooka]

We were planning on being one and done when we first cruised in 2016, but we loved it so much we ended up booking a placeholder. The 10% discount (and now expired OBC) is too good of a deal to pass up. Tack on discounted gift cards and the cruise just became much more affordable. We're going on our 3rd cruise next month (27 days, but who's counting?), and will put a placeholder down for Summer 2021.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

We are not one and done, but...

I don’t understand doing the same vacation a million times.

I think it's just a matter of people having different goals for vacation. If you want to travel to different places and see new things, that's one set of goals. If you want to de-stress and indulge yourself by going somewhere beloved & familiar, that's a different set of vacation goals. Some people in the latter category have a lake house that they go to every year, some always go camping, and some like to regularly take a cruise.

 

[vertigo235]

Everyone is a one and done, until they do their second cruise.

We were a one and done for 6 years, and then we went a little crazy, and have done 11 in the last 5 years.

 

[vertigo235]

Well I mean I guess if you book onboard you are not one and done , also with placeholders now, it's silly not to go ahead and get that while you are onboard just in case.

 

[KashasMom]

I have read some comments on other boards from people who were one and done but I doubt you'll find many here. We've moved on to other lines that fit our needs better but like the Very Merrytime Cruises. We have an upcoming one in November but doubt I'll book a placeholder. Our vacations are planned until March 2021 and unless the new ships WOW us (or Disney offers some exciting itineraries), it's likely this may be our last Disney cruise.

 

[Chrissy-Mickey]

Like others have mentioned, those who are one and done won't be hanging around these boards. I had my own questioned which I asked in a similar environment... won't a 14-night cruise be too long? But of course I asked this on a social media group which was filled with people who either had never done it, or had done it and booked another long cruise so obviously loved it.

Personally, DCL has a lot going on on these cruises, but my upcoming cruise is my 5th one with DCL and I think we're done with DCL for the foreseeable future after that. I'm ready for something new, thinking about Virgin Voyages or Celebrity Cruises.

 

[thumpie's mom]

We thought our first cruise was going to the "once in a lifetime trip", but we are leaving next month for our 12th DCL cruise. We truly enjoy the cruises and until they price us out, will continue to cruise with DCL.

 

[msmama]

I never thought I’d be one and done but I didn’t think I’d be as hooked as I got. To me, it’s kind of the best of both worlds between WDW and other places.

I don’t see cruising as taking the same vacation over and over again.

WDW (And Disneyland) were great trips for when my son was younger. Now we’ve moved on to crushing (Disney cruising). We’ve done Norway and Iceland, Canada, and NYC to the Bahamas. Next month we’re doing the Panama Canal.

As a single mom I love the fact that we get to see new places and not have to pack/unpack and move hotels because the kid is only so much help. That said, the Bahamas/Caribbean really have little appeal to me and I don’t see myself repeating itineraries. I’d love to do Alaska and the Med.

We did WDW 10+ times in 8 years but haven’t been back in several years and I have to say I don’t miss it.