DCL Newbie Questions

[ncstate7991]

So, we are considering a Disney cruise for a family vacation. I am trying to convince my wife it is okay to go ahead and book a 4 night trip on the Dream for September 2013 because it is fully refundable until 60 days before sail date. So, my first question is the cruise refundable?

She thinks I am a little crazy for booking a trip two years in advance, but I know that we are getting to pick where our cabin will be and hopefully get better pricing. Which brings me to my next question, if the rate drops will Disney honor the new lower rate?

We are DVC owners, but not going to use our points because the research I have done favors paying cash and renting out points. Any different thoughts on how to make this more economical?

Our children will be 5 & 3. Is this too young for a Disney cruise? Can we leave both of them in the child care programs at the same time to have a nice meal/drink to ourself or just some quiet time at the pool? Are there non-children areas on the ship?

Sorry for so many questions, but here is the last one for this post. We will also be going to WDW for 3-4 nights. My initial thought was to go to WDW before the cruise because sometimes we are very tired after a few days at the world and the cruise would give us the opportunity to relax some and go home better rested. What has your experience been in regards to cruising before or after going to WDW? Thank you for your ideas and suggestions!

 

[Crush Dude!]

So, we are considering a Disney cruise for a family vacation. I am trying to convince my wife it is okay to go ahead and book a 4 night trip on the Dream for September 2013 because it is fully refundable until 60 days before sail date. So, my first question is the cruise refundable?

Sure is but i think its up to 75 Days beforehand now

She thinks I am a little crazy for booking a trip two years in advance, but I know that we are getting to pick where our cabin will be and hopefully get better pricing. Which brings me to my next question, if the rate drops will Disney honor the new lower rate?

If your room type drops in price it will definitly be honoured!

We are DVC owners, but not going to use our points because the research I have done favors paying cash and renting out points. Any different thoughts on how to make this more economical?

See Below

Our children will be 5 & 3. Is this too young for a Disney cruise? Can we leave both of them in the child care programs at the same time to have a nice meal/drink to ourself or just some quiet time at the pool? Are there non-children areas on the ship?

Nope not too young Disney has child care for babies upto teens! Yes you can leave both and have no worries about it the cast members inside are AMAZING!
Yes there is an adult area with an Adult only pool,hot tubs, bars, restaurants and sun lounge areas they are brilliant! You must eat at Palo, the service, food,wine and experience are impeccible!

Sorry for so many questions, but here is the last one for this post. We will also be going to WDW for 3-4 nights. My initial thought was to go to WDW before the cruise because sometimes we are very tired after a few days at the world and the cruise would give us the opportunity to relax some and go home better rested. What has your experience been in regards to cruising before or after going to WDW? Thank you for your ideas and suggestions!

I would def go with the cruise after WDW as it is going to be super relaxing after a few days at the world! We are doing this next year, when we will be spending 2 to 3 weeks at wdw followed by a week on the Fantasy!

Hope all this helps, and dont hesitate to ask any other questions!

Also see the DCL FAQ thread, its full of info and any questions will be answered by our resident DCL Guru DisneyFalcon among others :wave::wave:

 

[Disneyfalcon]

So, we are considering a Disney cruise for a family vacation. I am trying to convince my wife it is okay to go ahead and book a 4 night trip on the Dream for September 2013 because it is fully refundable until 60 days before sail date. So, my first question is the cruise refundable?

She thinks I am a little crazy for booking a trip two years in advance, but I know that we are getting to pick where our cabin will be and hopefully get better pricing. Which brings me to my next question, if the rate drops will Disney honor the new lower rate?

We are DVC owners, but not going to use our points because the research I have done favors paying cash and renting out points. Any different thoughts on how to make this more economical?

Our children will be 5 & 3. Is this too young for a Disney cruise? Can we leave both of them in the child care programs at the same time to have a nice meal/drink to ourself or just some quiet time at the pool? Are there non-children areas on the ship?

Sorry for so many questions, but here is the last one for this post. We will also be going to WDW for 3-4 nights. My initial thought was to go to WDW before the cruise because sometimes we are very tired after a few days at the world and the cruise would give us the opportunity to relax some and go home better rested. What has your experience been in regards to cruising before or after going to WDW? Thank you for your ideas and suggestions!

Excellent!

It is fully refundable, but 75 days in advance, not 60.

Absolutely book now. The prices usually only go up. Sometimes a lot. If you are on a rare cruise that goes down and you are outside of 75 days, Disney will honor the new price but you or your travel agent have to call. They won't do it automatically.

I don't use my points for cruises either. To make it more economical I would suggest going in a slow time, and September is one. It's one of the cheapest months to cruise.

You'll hear a lot of different opinions on WDW or cruise first. I am with you, I would do WDW first and then relax on the cruise. Some people like to cruise first because it's so sad when you get off the ship, it's nice to still have some vacation left.

Your first time cruising you will have a ton of questions. Just ask!

 

[Disneyfalcon]

One caveat, concierge rooms have different cancellation rules. So they are not fully refundable 75 days out.

 

[Crush Dude!]

Also if you would consider doing a Mexican Riviera Cruise, they often do kids go free offers :wave:

 

[ncstate7991]

Thank you to the people that have already responded! I have been reading on the DCL portion of the message boards here for about two weeks.

CrushDude, I looked at the Disney Cruise Tips and Tricks by Disneyfalcon. The FAQ thread seemed really long, but I will def check it out.

Disneyfalcon, DW and I have cruised several times on Carnival and RCL, so we will not be asking many generic cruise questions. I just hope I am not building up DCL too much. My gut says that even though it is expensive it will be way worth it. Plus we love cruising so much we want to introduce our children to it. What better way than on Disney, and I am sure that the Disney children's program is heads above the other cruiselines.

Random question ... did DCL 4 night cruises used to visit Castaway twice? I seem to remember talking to someone that said the 4 night was worth it because you went there twice. If so, why did they change it to one day at sea?

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Thank you to the people that have already responded! I have been reading on the DCL portion of the message boards here for about two weeks.

CrushDude, I looked at the Disney Cruise Tips and Tricks by Disneyfalcon. The FAQ thread seemed really long, but I will def check it out.

Disneyfalcon, DW and I have cruised several times on Carnival and RCL, so we will not be asking many generic cruise questions. I just hope I am not building up DCL too much. My gut says that even though it is expensive it will be way worth it. Plus we love cruising so much we want to introduce our children to it. What better way than on Disney, and I am sure that the Disney children's program is heads above the other cruiselines.

Random question ... did DCL 4 night cruises used to visit Castaway twice? I seem to remember talking to someone that said the 4 night was worth it because you went there twice. If so, why did they change it to one day at sea?

Ah so you are not a cruise newbie! In that case, yes still buy it now. Disney is unlike Carnival and RCL in that the prices only go up.

And yes, I think you'll find that Disney is worth a little more than most other lines.

The kids clubs on the Dream are just amazing. Seriously, I wanted to stay and play.

I don't remember the 4 nights ever visiting Castaway Cay twice on a regular basis. The 5 nighters usually do. There were a few 4 nighters that got lucky with an unscheduled stop at CC when the gas prices first got so high. Disney decided it was cheaper to dock twice than float around and burn gas.

 

[Phonedave]

I don't remember the 4 nights ever visiting Castaway Cay twice on a regular basis. The 5 nighters usually do. There were a few 4 nighters that got lucky with an unscheduled stop at CC when the gas prices first got so high. Disney decided it was cheaper to dock twice than float around and burn gas.

Weren't there some that did that when there were only two ships and one of them was off doing the Mexican cuises.

They billed them as "double dip cruises" if I remember correctly.

With three ships now in the fleet, I don't see that happening too often.

-dave

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Weren't there some that did that when there were only two ships and one of them was off doing the Mexican cuises.

They billed them as "double dip cruises" if I remember correctly.

With three ships now in the fleet, I don't see that happening too often.

-dave

You know, you may be right. The 5 nights are called double dips too, but there may have been some 4 nighters that did it too.

Double dips are definitely some of my favorite itineraries. We did a 5 nighter a few years ago and it was awesome.

 

[DVCOwner]

Our children will be 5 & 3. Is this too young for a Disney cruise? Can we leave both of them in the child care programs at the same time to have a nice meal/drink to ourself or just some quiet time at the pool? Are there non-children areas on the ship?

Just got back from a seven night on the Magic with the 5 & 3 year old grandkids. There was no problem with leaving both kids a the club at the same time. The 5 year old want to stay at the club all the time and did not want to come out. We would make her do something like a show with the family and than she wanted to head back to the club. The 3 year old is not as outgoing and would tell me "I do not want to go", but by the time we got to the door of the club he would run to get in. I think it depends on the 3 year old, but I think he may have been just a little young for the club.

 

[flynnibus]

So, we are considering a Disney cruise for a family vacation. I am trying to convince my wife it is okay to go ahead and book a 4 night trip on the Dream for September 2013 because it is fully refundable until 60 days before sail date. So, my first question is the cruise refundable?

She thinks I am a little crazy for booking a trip two years in advance, but I know that we are getting to pick where our cabin will be and hopefully get better pricing. Which brings me to my next question, if the rate drops will Disney honor the new lower rate?

We are DVC owners, but not going to use our points because the research I have done favors paying cash and renting out points. Any different thoughts on how to make this more economical?

Our children will be 5 & 3. Is this too young for a Disney cruise? Can we leave both of them in the child care programs at the same time to have a nice meal/drink to ourself or just some quiet time at the pool? Are there non-children areas on the ship?

Sorry for so many questions, but here is the last one for this post. We will also be going to WDW for 3-4 nights. My initial thought was to go to WDW before the cruise because sometimes we are very tired after a few days at the world and the cruise would give us the opportunity to relax some and go home better rested. What has your experience been in regards to cruising before or after going to WDW? Thank you for your ideas and suggestions!

It's not too early at all.. in fact this is probably a good time to do it We just got back from a 4 nighter on the Dream.

Your 5yr old will want to be in the club all the time.. he/she will ask to go. Leave them there as long as you want! including over meal time. The younger one will be in the connected oceaners club space. The young ones actually have it better then the adults in a lot of ways

I highly recommend buying the passporter guide - it's a great primer if you aren't sure what to be looking at.. and helps in planning, packing, etc. The PDF version is so cheap.. its a no brainer. http://www.passporter.com/dcl/guidebook.asp . I bought mine AFTER I had already had the trip booked and found most of the info would have been very helpful for those still trying to decide... wishing I had bought it earlier.

The Disney Cruise is the best experience where you can get time away from your kids and get some great adult time.

The forward part of the pool deck is an adult only area.. there is a small pool, hot tub, cafe, and 2 bars there. There are also adult only lounges/bars at the back of the boat.. the 'district' they call it. It's really just a few different bar/lounge areas and the one dance club.