Tips on planning DCL Cruise

[jessiesgurl]

My husband & I just got home from a Carnival cruise (kid free) & LOVED it (our first cruise); but feel that Carnival is not the best choice for our young children. Now we are looking into planning a family cruise w/ DCL. I have been looking at the DCL website & have noticed that the cruises typically leave only twice a month, is that correct, or am I not understanding the site? Do the cruises typically sell out fast? I've looked at several dates that are pretty far out and it says that there aren't any available sailings. When will the 2015 dates come out? We're interested in February again.

 

Anyone who has sailed both Carnival and DCL, what are the main differences that we should be aware of?

 

In 2015 our kids will be 6 & 3. What are the Disney points people talk about? How do you get them? Do they make the cost of your cruise lower?

[Shmoo here]

My husband & I just got home from a Carnival cruise (kid free) & LOVED it (our first cruise); but feel that Carnival is not the best choice for our young children. Now we are looking into planning a family cruise w/ DCL. I have been looking at the DCL website & have noticed that the cruises typically leave only twice a month, is that correct, or am I not understanding the site? Do the cruises typically sell out fast? I've looked at several dates that are pretty far out and it says that there aren't any available sailings. When will the 2015 dates come out? We're interested in February again.

 

Anyone who has sailed both Carnival and DCL, what are the main differences that we should be aware of?

 

In 2015 our kids will be 6 & 3. What are the Disney points people talk about? How do you get them? Do they make the cost of your cruise lower?

 

DCL certainly sails more often than twice a month. The Dream departs on Sundays & Thursdays with alternating 3 & 4 night cruises. The Fantasy departs on Saturdays with alternating 7 night Eastern & Western Caribbean cruises.

 

Currently the Magic is in Galveston sailing various Bahama & Caribbean cruises. She will go to the Med in May through Sep. Then returns to Miami for the Caribbean again.

 

And the Wonder is in Miami right now, and goes to the west coast for Alaska for the summer, then back to Galveston.

 

That's the schedule for this year. Next year it's a bit different.

 

As the end of 2014 cruises were just announced this week, it's most likely that 2015 won't be announced until at least November.

 

The points are the DVC (Disney Vacation Club). It's a time share program on Disney properties. Using the points from DVC on a cruise is actually not a good use of them.

[rosebud6362]

You might want to look into a travel agent, they sometimes provide on board credit

[Scrapnana]

Our TA gave us $250 OBC and Disney gave us $25 for each room. We never were totally sure but thought it was a first time Disney cruiser perk. You might want to check with a TA to see what you could get.

 

Some of the cruises differ by week. For example, the Fantasy does the Eastern Caribbean one week and the Western Caribbean the next.

 

You may sometimes see no rooms available when really there are. When you make a dummy booking on the Disney website they ask you the age of the children. They have a quota for kids in each age group. So if you just put in two adults it might come up available but when you put in the kids it would come back as no rooms available.

 

Booking as soon as possible after the cruises are announced will usually get you the best deal. We booked at the end of July 2011 for a December 2012 cruise. By September the prices had gone up $1000.

 

I think your children will love the Disney cruise. My grandkids were 2 and 7 and both had a great time.