I'm planning my first DISNEY CRUISE without my parents... any help/advice?

Metaphor

Metaphor

Official Iron Can
#1
#1
I have been on the Disney Magic several times (maybe a little more than 4) and the Disney Dream once. All of these times have been with my parents, and most when I was very young. The only one I truly remember was two years ago on the Disney Dream when I went for Halloween (btw going on a Disney Cruise on a holiday is AMAZING!!!!!).

I've met three other girls in college who wanted to go on a cruise with me for spring break (March) so of course I had to suggest the Disney Cruise. I've found us a stateroom on Expedia with a balcony for around $2,742 since none of the girls want a porthole room. Besides just the tickets, though, I feel like I am missing something.

What are some must-do's for my cruise planning experience? Please keep in mind that none of us are going to purchase excursions, and I would like to go on the Dream or Fantasy.

And if any of you are not minors, what are some benefits of being 18 on the ship? I've only gone as a minor and the kids clubs were fun in elementary/middle school, but a total drag my junior year as a 17 year old. All of us will be 19 by the time we set sail. Seriously any tips would be helpful! :)
 
technicolour

technicolour

Hola
#2
#2
three words: adult pool area

no kids, nice and quite, and some very comfortable chairs

other than that the cooking demos are fun( they give you samples of food), and i like going to the cafe( its called the cove cafe on the magic, I'm not sure for the other ships) and getting a coffee in the evening, they also have some good snacks and stuff in the case in the cafe, you can take for free, last time they had these triple chocolate brownies and they were AMAZING!:whee:
 
disneydreamin

disneydreamin

Dream
#3
#3
I've never been on a Disney cruise before, but I can tell you from planning many trips to the Disney parks singlehandedly... Planning ahead is key to getting the most out of your trip, so you're off to a good start. :)

If you don't get the answers you need on here, send me a PM and I can link you to a few other sites that I found extremely helpful in my planning. (They also have plenty of info on the Disney cruises.)
 
Luminosity

Luminosity

Well-Known Member
#4
#4
Okay, so we should definitely set up a chat because out of all of the cruises (3 disney cruises) I've been on, I've been on with my parents, but they've left me to do all of the planning (and even give them tours arg), but when it comes to vacation planning (especially disney vacation planning), I am told that I am an amateur vacation planner. So many tips that I'll send you in chat later and if you have any specific questions let me know? I love planning disney vacations! Ahhhhhh
 
Metaphor

Metaphor

Official Iron Can
#5
#5
disneydreamin said:
I've never been on a Disney cruise before, but I can tell you from planning many trips to the Disney parks singlehandedly... Planning ahead is key to getting the most out of your trip, so you're off to a good start. :)

If you don't get the answers you need on here, send me a PM and I can link you to a few other sites that I found extremely helpful in my planning. (They also have plenty of info on the Disney cruises.)
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Feel free to link them on the forum to help anyone else trying to plan a cruise :) I'd love to read any articles you can find.

Luminosity said:
Okay, so we should definitely set up a chat because out of all of the cruises (3 disney cruises) I've been on, I've been on with my parents, but they've left me to do all of the planning (and even give them tours arg), but when it comes to vacation planning (especially disney vacation planning), I am told that I am an amateur vacation planner. So many tips that I'll send you in chat later and if you have any specific questions let me know? I love planning disney vacations! Ahhhhhh
Click to expand...
Your message was SO HELPFUL!!!!!! Thank you for taking the time to write so much to me :dance2:
 
disneydreamin

disneydreamin

Dream
#6
#6
Captain-Heather

Captain-Heather

Retired Pluto Fan
#9
#9
@Metaphor

I personally love the wave phones on Disney cruises!

You really don't need to plan every detail of what you do ON the cruise. The planning comes for ports of call, but since you aren't buying any excursions, there doesn't seem to be much to purchase there, either.

$2700 seems a bit steep for the per person price...I went in May on a 9 day cruise to Alaska aboard the Wonder and a 7 day Caribbean aboard the Fantasy in September (over Halloween...yes, holiday sailing on Disney rocks), and 4 of us got a window for Alaska, balcony for Caribbean...each cruise was $1250 per person. So I highly recommend trying to go in the off season if you can. When is your spring break, and where did you want to leave from/what do you want to see (what ports of call to visit)?

Quite honestly, if you are a poor college student, you'd be better off saving about $2000 per person and going on a $600-$800 cruise on Royal Caribbean or Princess or something like that. I would shop around and look on all the different booking websites and see what deals they are offering. Priceline offers free hotel stays, for example, or sometimes free onboard spending. So shop around the different sites, including Disney's cruise line website.

Let me know if you have any other specific questions...I kinda do this travel thing semi-professionally :)
 
Metaphor

Metaphor

Official Iron Can
#10
#10
Captain-Heather said:
@Metaphor

I personally love the wave phones on Disney cruises!

You really don't need to plan every detail of what you do ON the cruise. The planning comes for ports of call, but since you aren't buying any excursions, there doesn't seem to be much to purchase there, either.

$2700 seems a bit steep for the per person price...I went in May on a 9 day cruise to Alaska aboard the Wonder and a 7 day Caribbean aboard the Fantasy in September (over Halloween...yes, holiday sailing on Disney rocks), and 4 of us got a window for Alaska, balcony for Caribbean...each cruise was $1250 per person. So I highly recommend trying to go in the off season if you can. When is your spring break, and where did you want to leave from/what do you want to see (what ports of call to visit)?

Quite honestly, if you are a poor college student, you'd be better off saving about $2000 per person and going on a $600-$800 cruise on Royal Caribbean or Princess or something like that. I would shop around and look on all the different booking websites and see what deals they are offering. Priceline offers free hotel stays, for example, or sometimes free onboard spending. So shop around the different sites, including Disney's cruise line website.

Let me know if you have any other specific questions...I kinda do this travel thing semi-professionally :)
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Oh, our ROOM is $2700. Each of us are paying $675 for a 3-night Bahamas cruise, and our room just has a porthole.

Your message was so helpful, thank you! We are leaving from Port Canaveral (which I always do since it's the closest to my campus). I've never done a 3 day cruise before; my family always took the 7 day ones.
 
Captain-Heather

Captain-Heather

Retired Pluto Fan
#11
#11
Metaphor said:
Oh, our ROOM is $2700. Each of us are paying $675 for a 3-night Bahamas cruise, and our room just has a porthole.

Your message was so helpful, thank you! We are leaving from Port Canaveral (which I always do since it's the closest to my campus). I've never done a 3 day cruise before; my family always took the 7 day ones.
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Oh good! $675 is still the price of a 7 day cruise on another cruise line, though, so you might consider that. But Disney is so awesome, 3-5 day cruises are quite tempting even when higher priced. I like to search on priceline and vacationstogo.com - both have good search engines that allow you to really narrow it down, especially vacationstogo.
 
Metaphor

Metaphor

Official Iron Can
#12
#12
Captain-Heather said:
Oh good! $675 is still the price of a 7 day cruise on another cruise line, though, so you might consider that. But Disney is so awesome, 3-5 day cruises are quite tempting even when higher priced. I like to search on priceline and vacationstogo.com - both have good search engines that allow you to really narrow it down, especially vacationstogo.
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I will definitely try that and let you know what I find! I tried Expedia and I couldn't find anything reasonable.
 
Captain-Heather

Captain-Heather

Retired Pluto Fan
#15
#15
Port Canaveral is pretty limited in what they are offering that week, it looks like. If you left out of a different port, you would have more options. If cost of getting to another port is an issue, I found this site called wanderu.com that offers extremely low cost bus fairs...you can find them for a few dollars to get from one city to another. If your dates are more flexible (like, could you leave on the 5th or 6th? Or is that not possible at all) you can find a couple more deals, too. I'll post some cruises I found below, hopefully they format correctly!

(Also keep in mind that as a resident of Florida some cruise lines offer discounts! You can look those up on the cruise lines website).


5 Night Bahamas
Carnival Fascination

March 07, 2016 –March 12, 2016


Departing from: Jacksonville, Florida
Ports of Call: Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Cruiseline Private Island) • Nassau, Bahamas
COST: $1893 total, $473 per person (includes tax) OCEANVIEW (keep in mind interior is cheaper if you need that)

6 Night Western Caribbean
Carnival Breeze

March 06, 2016–March 12, 2016

Departing from:Miami, Florida

Ports of Call:Ocho Rios, Jamaica • George Town, Grand Cayman • Cozumel, Mexico
COST: $2208 total, $552 per person (includes tax) OCEANVIEW (keep in mind interior is cheaper if you need that)

7 Night Western Caribbean
Norwegian Star

March 06, 2016 –March 13, 2016

Departing from: Tampa, Florida
Ports of Call: Roatan (Isla Roatan), Bay Islands, Honduras • Harvest Caye, Belize • Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico • Cozumel, Mexico

COST: Porthole oceanview: $2603 total, $650.75 per person (includes tax) OCEANVIEW (keep in mind interior is cheaper if you need that)

7 Night Eastern Caribbean
Freedom of the Seas, Royal Caribbean

March 06, 2016 –March 13, 2016

Departing from: Port Canaveral (Orlando), Florida
Ports of Call: Cococay (Cruiseline Private Island) • Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. • Philipsburg, St. Maarten
COST: $2991 total, $747 per person (includes tax) OCEANVIEW (keep in mind interior is cheaper if you need that)

5 Night Western Caribbean
Brilliance of the Seas, Royal Caribbean

March 07, 2016 –March 12, 2016

Departing from: Tampa, Florida
Ports of Call: George Town, Grand Cayman • Cozumel, Mexico
COST: $2903, $725 per person OCEANVIEW (keep in mind interior is cheaper if you need that)

Now, if it were up to me, I'd pick either Royal Caribbean or Norwegian or Princess. I've been on a Carnival cruise and I've never been that impressed. If your only cruising experience is with Disney, Carnival is going to be much, much different. Some people love Carnival, though, and you could be one of those.

Anyway, send me a PM or post here again if you would like more help. :)
 
Metaphor

Metaphor

Official Iron Can
#16
#16
Captain-Heather said:
Port Canaveral is pretty limited in what they are offering that week, it looks like. If you left out of a different port, you would have more options. If cost of getting to another port is an issue, I found this site called wanderu.com that offers extremely low cost bus fairs...you can find them for a few dollars to get from one city to another. If your dates are more flexible (like, could you leave on the 5th or 6th? Or is that not possible at all) you can find a couple more deals, too. I'll post some cruises I found below, hopefully they format correctly!

(Also keep in mind that as a resident of Florida some cruise lines offer discounts! You can look those up on the cruise lines website).


5 Night Bahamas
Carnival Fascination

March 07, 2016 –March 12, 2016


Departing from: Jacksonville, Florida
Ports of Call: Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Cruiseline Private Island) • Nassau, Bahamas
COST: $1893 total, $473 per person (includes tax) OCEANVIEW (keep in mind interior is cheaper if you need that)

6 Night Western Caribbean
Carnival Breeze

March 06, 2016–March 12, 2016

Departing from:Miami, Florida

Ports of Call:Ocho Rios, Jamaica • George Town, Grand Cayman • Cozumel, Mexico
COST: $2208 total, $552 per person (includes tax) OCEANVIEW (keep in mind interior is cheaper if you need that)

7 Night Western Caribbean
Norwegian Star

March 06, 2016 –March 13, 2016

Departing from: Tampa, Florida
Ports of Call: Roatan (Isla Roatan), Bay Islands, Honduras • Harvest Caye, Belize • Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico • Cozumel, Mexico

COST: Porthole oceanview: $2603 total, $650.75 per person (includes tax) OCEANVIEW (keep in mind interior is cheaper if you need that)

7 Night Eastern Caribbean
Freedom of the Seas, Royal Caribbean

March 06, 2016 –March 13, 2016

Departing from: Port Canaveral (Orlando), Florida
Ports of Call: Cococay (Cruiseline Private Island) • Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. • Philipsburg, St. Maarten
COST: $2991 total, $747 per person (includes tax) OCEANVIEW (keep in mind interior is cheaper if you need that)

5 Night Western Caribbean
Brilliance of the Seas, Royal Caribbean

March 07, 2016 –March 12, 2016

Departing from: Tampa, Florida
Ports of Call: George Town, Grand Cayman • Cozumel, Mexico
COST: $2903, $725 per person OCEANVIEW (keep in mind interior is cheaper if you need that)

Now, if it were up to me, I'd pick either Royal Caribbean or Norwegian or Princess. I've been on a Carnival cruise and I've never been that impressed. If your only cruising experience is with Disney, Carnival is going to be much, much different. Some people love Carnival, though, and you could be one of those.

Anyway, send me a PM or post here again if you would like more help. :)
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You're a DARLING for doing this for me <3 I am going to re-group with my girls, then send you a PM :)
 
G

Gregory

N/A
#18
#18
Alright, I figured I should throw in some input. Background: 17 years old, been on 32 cruises, on the path to starting my own cruise line in the future- know everything you could wish to know about cruise lines and cruise ships.

I freaking love Disney Cruise line, but they're pricey, so I'm definitely on board with @Captain-Heather when she suggests shopping around.

I'd say that if you're looking for a "nicer" cruise line (being that you currently plan on Disney Cruise Line), then you probably want to avoid any Carnival ship pre-Spirit Class(Carnival Miracle, Carnival Pride, etc). I'm personally a very huge fan of Royal Caribbean, I find their ships to be the most innovative and entertaining in the industry, as well as having the largest range of activities (to please everyone involved). Preferably an RCI ship Eagle Class(Voyager of the Seas, Explorer of the Seas, etc) and newer. I personally dislike Norwegian Cruise Lines, as I find their ships to be designed around fitting the most passengers and making the most money, as well as the layouts being very rail-roady(Have to cross through one room to get to another, no true walking space). Not to mention their recent policy change of "No food can leave the buffet or restaurants" while simultaneously adding a room service charge(Hmm, I wonder if those have any connection...). Princess can be great, for the right crowd. Make sure you research whatever cruise line (and cruise ship!) you're looking into before deciding.

Itinerary isn't that big of an issue, considering you can find almost identical ones across every major cruise line.

What I'd honestly love to hear more of is what type of experience you're looking for: Sun Bathing? Parties? Fancy Dinners? Modern Ships?
As for Heather's cruise finds, I'd definitely rank Freedom of the Seas and the Carnival Breeze at the top of the list.
 
Metaphor

Metaphor

Official Iron Can
#19
#19
Gregory said:
Alright, I figured I should throw in some input. Background: 17 years old, been on 32 cruises, on the path to starting my own cruise line in the future- know everything you could wish to know about cruise lines and cruise ships.

I freaking love Disney Cruise line, but they're pricey, so I'm definitely on board with @Captain-Heather when she suggests shopping around.

I'd say that if you're looking for a "nicer" cruise line (being that you currently plan on Disney Cruise Line), then you probably want to avoid any Carnival ship pre-Spirit Class(Carnival Miracle, Carnival Pride, etc). I'm personally a very huge fan of Royal Caribbean, I find their ships to be the most innovative and entertaining in the industry, as well as having the largest range of activities (to please everyone involved). Preferably an RCI ship Eagle Class(Voyager of the Seas, Explorer of the Seas, etc) and newer. I personally dislike Norwegian Cruise Lines, as I find their ships to be designed around fitting the most passengers and making the most money, as well as the layouts being very rail-roady(Have to cross through one room to get to another, no true walking space). Not to mention their recent policy change of "No food can leave the buffet or restaurants" while simultaneously adding a room service charge(Hmm, I wonder if those have any connection...). Princess can be great, for the right crowd. Make sure you research whatever cruise line (and cruise ship!) you're looking into before deciding.

Itinerary isn't that big of an issue, considering you can find almost identical ones across every major cruise line.

What I'd honestly love to hear more of is what type of experience you're looking for: Sun Bathing? Parties? Fancy Dinners? Modern Ships?
As for Heather's cruise finds, I'd definitely rank Freedom of the Seas and the Carnival Breeze at the top of the list.
Click to expand...
I want Disney magic, that is why I want to go on the Dream or Fantasy haha. But my friends absolutely want some sort of club on the ship for us to get in to, and possibly ports we can drink at.
 
G

Gregory

N/A
#20
#20
Metaphor said:
I want Disney magic, that is why I want to go on the Dream or Fantasy haha. But my friends absolutely want some sort of club on the ship for us to get in to, and possibly ports we can drink at.
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Haha, well, as far as Clubs go, the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy both have a variety of nightclubs and bars onboard- although it should be noted that there is no Casino on any Disney ships (Although I doubt you're all heavy gamblers :P).
Here's a link to the Dream's nightclubs/lounges, the Fantasy has an equivalent for each one (with different names/themes): http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/ships-activities/ships/dream/nightclubs-lounges/
As far as finding "Disney Magic" on other cruise lines, I'd still say Royal Caribbean would be your best bet, so long as it's either a Quantum Class, Oasis Class, Freedom Class, or Voyager Class ship. I would also say that the RCI nightclubs/lounges tend to be more "Club-like", if that makes sense.
Here's a link to the RCI ship classes: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/ships/home.do

Drinking in port shouldn't be an issue with almost any itinerary in the Bahamas/Caribbean.
 
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