Should we take a short cruise?

[Davin_Felth]

Hi all! We're excited because we just recently booked our first cruise on the Disney Dream for April 2021. My DW and I have been looking into the Castaway Club membership perks, and had what might be considered a silly thought. We're considering going on a really short (and just the two of us) cruise out of San Diego this year, so that we'll already have Silver membership for our family trip next year. We live on the west coast, so travel costs are better for those cruises. Are the perks (member only check in line I think might be the big one) worth doing this for?

Thanks for any thoughts!

 

[Geomom]

As a castaway member, you get free lanyards for each person and 1 gift per stateroom. The gift is currently a dcl sling bag...but is likely to change before you sail as this gift has been around for a couple years. Another perk is doing online check-in/port adventures/etc before first timers. 90 days out for silver members.

Its not worth spending thousands of dollars on just to get the perks, but if you're looking at a getaway anyways...sure.

 

[bakerworld]

We squeezed in a 4D cruise once before going on a long cruise to get a 'feel' for everything.

 

[Davin_Felth]

We squeezed in a 4D cruise once before going on a long cruise to get a 'feel' for everything.

That's one of the things that has us considering it too. It would be nice to have a little experience with a cruise before taking the kids.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Hi all! We're excited because we just recently booked our first cruise on the Disney Dream for April 2021. My DW and I have been looking into the Castaway Club membership perks, and had what might be considered a silly thought. We're considering going on a really short (and just the two of us) cruise out of San Diego this year, so that we'll already have Silver membership for our family trip next year. We live on the west coast, so travel costs are better for those cruises. Are the perks (member only check in line I think might be the big one) worth doing this for?

Thanks for any thoughts!

It is worth doing it just for the perks? No. But is it worth doing it because you'd enjoy the cruise, and as a side benefit, get a couple perks on your next cruise? Maybe. Only you can answer that.

Besides the earlier online check in, you could also re-shop your April 2021 cruise. If the price of that cruise has not increased more 10% or more by the time you sail on the San Diego cruise, you can re-book your next cruise and save a little money.

I did this with my first cruise. I had a 7 night on the Fantasy booked with my daughter for June 2015. In Fall of 2014, I was looking at doing a short, solo trip. I'd done Vegas, Miami, and an all-inclusive in Cancun previously and decided to book a 3 night on the Dream for just me. I got my feet wet with cruising, was able to scope things out by myself, had an awesome time, and rebooked our Fantasy cruise for a decent amount of savings.

 

[o&smom]

The member only check in line is often longer than first time cruiser line because a lot of get addicted!

 

[LeiaOfAlderaan]

If the cost is reasonable I would for sure do it. Mainly for having the perk of online check in for the next cruise at silver level. The Dream cruises tend to have a lot of first-timers, so if you are silver you will be way ahead of the game if you want to book Palo brunch or alcohol tastings. When I did online check in for my Dream cruise as silver there was even a cabana available.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

Go for it. If you like the cruise, be sure to sign up for the place holder, 10% off your next cruise (within 2 years). You can do it on the Navigator App when you get on the ship. But for the first-timer: go to the DCL booking desk to learn all about it.

 

[cvjw]

We did. We booked our first Disney cruise for our son‘s graduation. One from college, one from high school. Before committing to spending $10,000 on that cruise, just husband and I took a last minute cruise on the fantasy to see if it we enjoyed cruising with Disney.

Boy did we. Just finished cruise #4 in just over 2 years with cruise # 5,6,7 and 8 booked in 2020

 

[MomOTwins]

As others have said, the 10% discount on your longer cruise will be a nice benefit--almost certain to be a substantial savings since the price for your second cruise probably won't go up that much in the time between when you book and when you take your shorter cruise. Of course, you'll still have to pay for the shorter cruise which will likely exceed the cost of the 10% benefit on the next cruise, but if it is in your budget to do both cruises then do it!

 

[Sakura1017]

It depends if you will like the itinerary.

 

[cwis]

The member only check in line is often longer than first time cruiser line because a lot of get addicted!

If you want the “shorter” line you can always say it is your first cruise when the greeter asks

Joking aside (lying is bad, don't do it) doesn't Disney redirect you anyway to the shorter line if there is too much a difference? We know that for our first cruise we've been told to go to the Castaway Club check-in line even though we clearly mentioned we were not (I remember joking with DW that we wouldn't ever go to the first cruiser line because of this).

 

[lorimay]

Heck yeah, if you can do it, DO IT!

DISNEY CRUISELINE ADDICT HERE!!!

Impatiently waiting for cruise #20 in 2020, just over a 100 days to go............

 

[clten]

If you are doing it for other reasons, then go for it. If you are doing it just for Castaway Club perks, save your money and experience your first cruise together as a family.

The perk you point out (the CC Check-in line) is actually the least valuable perk. Most of the time the CC Line is the same or longer

 

[cwis]

Hi all! We're excited because we just recently booked our first cruise on the Disney Dream for April 2021. My DW and I have been looking into the Castaway Club membership perks, and had what might be considered a silly thought. We're considering going on a really short (and just the two of us) cruise out of San Diego this year, so that we'll already have Silver membership for our family trip next year. We live on the west coast, so travel costs are better for those cruises. Are the perks (member only check in line I think might be the big one) worth doing this for?

Thanks for any thoughts!

Funny I have already considered making a spreadsheet about how to get to the Platinum status the cheapest (not that easy to find short B2B cruises, most if not all 2 nights cruises are now gone, and since we live in Europe flights costs a lot).

Of course this is not a goal by itself but, heh, it HELPS justify cruising Disney, doesn't it?

 

[KashasMom]

If you're doing it for the "perks", don't! Seriously NOT worth it.

 

[Quellman]

doesn't Disney redirect you anyway to the shorter line if there is too much a difference? We know that for our first cruise we've been told to go to the Castaway Club check-in line even though we clearly mentioned we were not (I remember joking with DW that we wouldn't ever go to the first cruiser line because of this).

At Port Canaveral they typically will put Castaway Club guest in either line, but I don't typically see them putting First timers in the Castaway Line. Their goal is to get everyone checked in as quickly as possible so everyone can enjoy the cruise. The 'perk' is largely an empty gesture as it costs Disney $0 to implement it. Platnium has the option of the concierge line, but even that can be long these days with so many of those cruisers.

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

The biggest perk for Silver is the earlier check in time online for activities and whatnot. The terminal is a madhouse (but the happy kind!) so don't sweat that. Be careful, though. We tried a 4 night to see if it was fun (I'm retired USN, so was excited about going to sea and not having to work). We just debarked from cruise #12 with 13, 14 & 15 booked. They're like those potato chips...