New to Disney Cruises...couple of questions

[tbrenk]

We are thinking about a Disney Cruise and I have a few questions.

 

1) My son will be 4 when we take the cruise. Is that too young or will he be old enough to enjoy it?

 

2) What is a rough estimate on a cruise only price?

 

3) Are there on-line travel agents that are good that someone can recommend?

 

4) Is there a big price difference between the 4 day and 7 day?

 

5) Sine we are not die hard Disney fans, is there another cruise line that is a better value and kid friendly?

[beachpal]

We took our first 7 day cruise last July with our 7 and 4 year old sons. They both had a fantastic time. They loved the pool, the kids clubs and, of course, the characters. We loved it so much, we are going again in November.

 

The cruise prices vary. You get a better value the further out you book. Look on the dcl website to get a quote: www.disneycruise.com . That will give you a good idea. Some travel agencies may get you in cheaper too. We just go through Disney so I can't help you there.

 

We have only traveled DCL at this point but I have heard mostly good things about Royal Carribean's kids programs too.

 

Good luck with your decision!

[TheWog]

We are thinking about a Disney Cruise and I have a few questions.

 

1) My son will be 4 when we take the cruise. Is that too young or will he be old enough to enjoy it?

 

2) What is a rough estimate on a cruise only price?

 

3) Are there on-line travel agents that are good that someone can recommend?

 

4) Is there a big price difference between the 4 day and 7 day? These are actually nights.

 

5) Sine we are not die hard Disney fans, is there another cruise line that is a better value and kid friendly?

 

1) I think your child would love it at that age. They are in awe of the characters and to have them just appear would be great. My son was 6 the time we cruised and love it. He still talks about going and we will probably go back in 2007.

 

2) That varies greatly. Category 12 compared with a category 3 on the same cruise date will be thousands of dollars difference. What are your preferences. Do you want a verandah or are you just happy to be on board. Cat. 6 (verandah) in a non peak time can run you between $3,000 and $4,000 for a family of 3. Cat. 12 will be a lot less. As suggested above go to the website and check it out. It is very easy to use and it will give you an idea of the different pricing. Also as stated the earlier you book the less it will cost. Disney prices on a tier system.

 

3) Dreams Unlimited is a Disney Cruise specialty site that seems to give pretty good prices. You will not find deeply discounted prices though, unfortunately.

 

4) Yes, you will find a large difference between price on 4 night vs. 7 night, but that is to be expected. Our first cruise was 7 night and we loved it. Well worth it.

 

5) Other cruise lines you will find for less money. Royal Caribbean is one in fact that I have recently priced out, sailing the Mariner out of the same port the same week to essentially the same ports would save me over $1,000 for a similar balcony room. Mariner is a much larger ship with more activities and specialty stuff, but no Castaway Cay. I am sure you can also find other ships out there that go to the same destinations for less money. Value in these cases are subjective. How valuable is the Disney experience to you and your child. I am very glad we did Disney with our son, but are not completely against trying another line with him. I do love Castaway Cay as it is a great tropical Island experience with no pushy vendors, etc.

[Yellowlily]

I can't answer your ?s fully as my DH and I are taking our one-year old on the Wonder. We are seasoned cruisers, but have not done Disney. We thought Disney would be the way to go for us with a small child.

 

As far as travel agents go, I have heard that Dreams Unlimited and Magical Journeys are great. We booked straight through Disney. Sure it may cost us a few more bucks, but it's worth it to us for convenience sakes (all inclusive - we are doing a 3 day Land & 4 day sea). At least we'll have all our arrangements (and insurance - which is extremely important to us...espcially having a little one) together. But, if you want to save some cash, try those other two TAs.

 

We've been on Celebrity, RCCI and Carnival. We absolutely love cruising and no matter what ship you're on - you'll see lots of kids. RCCI is our fav, right along with Carnival (which we thought would never be the case, but we really loved it...times have changed). Their kids programs seemed to be great. I can't say much for X....the Christmas cruise we went on there were over 500 kids...but the two-week transatlantic crossing, there weren't many at all.

 

That's why we decided to go with Disney for a first-time cruise for the baby.

 

There are some other great websites out there that will help you...

 

www.allearsnet.com

www.dcltribute.com

www.disboards.com

www.intercot.com

 

Best of luck to you!!

[slineberry528]

I think your child is a good age. We took our son when he was 3 1/2 to Disney World. He is grown now and still remembers his first visit to see Mickey.

When booking through the cruise line, you can transfer your booking to a travel agent and also get what ever discounts the agent can offer.

[Frequentfloater]

I saved a ton on our soon to be first Disney cruise by going to cruise deals. Just add the usual web prefix and suffix to it (I'm not sure if we are supposed to list cruise agencies or not, so to be safe....) :)

 

We are taking our 7 year old son along this time, for his first cruise. We love cruising and Disney theme parks, so sailing with the mouse should be fun for us.

[Chucksta63]

Also depends on when you want to cruise??

[gizfish]

If you are not die hard Disney fans, maybe another cruise line would suit you better. While Disney excels at the kids clubs and the entertainment, it is much more expensive for a comparable cruise on another line, and the food quality and variety just doesn't compair to others. The other lines have come a very long way in providing great kids activities, and since you guys don't love the mouse, it may be more worth your money to sail a different cruise line.