Need help deciding!!

[George123]

Hello! We have been planing to go on a Disney Cruise as a family for over 3 years now (Thanks Covid), but as it seems to be getting back to normal we are finally going to book a 2023 cruise (Most likely April time). But now we have the dilemma of What Cruise to Choose!
Bare in mind we live in the UK, we have two options. Go to Florida, get a 4 night Bahamas cruise on the Wish. Or, get a 7 night Eastern Europe cruise from Dover.
You might think this isn’t a big choice, but we all want to experience the Wish so much, but also feel like going to Florida for only a 4 day cruise when we could go to one in our country is a bit silly.
Either way this would most likely be a once in a lifetime holiday for us and this decision is a BIG one. So please, any advice you could give would be appreciated a lot!!
Thanks in advance!

 

[jme]

Well, there are a couple of things to factor.
Have you been to the U.S. before? If not, do the Bahamas and Florida appeal to your travel tastes? Or, do the Eastern European stops appeal more? I don't want to assume that just because you live in Europe that you've ever been to these places.

How importantly does Castaway Cay weigh in on your decision?

I will say, that for me, a 7N cruise is much more appealing than a 4N. I always feel like my vacation is just getting started by night 2, and then I realize it's half over! That being said, since it's a once in a lifetime trip for your family, you may want to factor in how important those destinations and the newer ship are VS a longer stay aboard.

The Magic is a lovely ship, and while it is quite smaller than the Wish, it's still very much a worthwhile cruise ship.
So... I guess it really comes down to your families pros/cons for each. Could you provide some details as to what your looking for out of your vacation so we can better weigh in on this decision?

 

[George123]

Hello! 2 members of our family have been to the Bahamas and US before but the other 4 of us haven’t. Obviously Castaway Cay would be a lovely place to go, but the stops on the Europe cruise are also lovely places, but the call of the Bahamas and the heat is a big swaying factor. As the stereotype goes, the weather in the UK is very bad most of the time so some heat would be nice. 3 of our party have been on a cruise before and none of us really get motion sickness so I think 7 nights wouldn’t be too much, but also feel that 4 might not be enough.
Mainly we are looking for something for the 2 grandparents, 2 adults and 2 children can all enjoy together while also each having their own special moments by them selves.
Anyway, thank you for your advice and any further advice would once again be very appreciated!

 

[MaryJaneP]

Since you asked, 4 nights is probably too short to really enjoy the ship and your destinations. Likewise, the Caribbean may not provide a very interesting itinerary. Castaway Cay is fun, but hardly a reason to choose one cruise over another. Even the 5 night European cruise might be too short. Seven nights or longer would be our recommendation.

As a family, we have done both the Western Mediterranean cruise (on the prefurb Magic) and several Eastern Caribbean (on the prefurb Magic and also on the Fantasy) cruises. We would do the Mediterranean one again if the money could be found. Not so much on the Caribbean cruises. We would like to try the 8 night greek isle cruise leaving from Civitavechia (2022, not seeing 2023 European on DCL website yet).

Another consideration you might want to think about is that the tipping atmosphere across the pond is very different than it is in Europe. Finally, our experience favored the smaller ship in that it felt more cohesive as a group (crew and passengers) than the larger. Maybe the Wish will feel good to you but the size of the ship would not drive our decision and bigger may even be a negative for us.

Have a great time, please keep us updated on your choice, and kindly favor us with a trip report when all is said and done.

 

[jme]

Have you considered sailing out of Miami instead of Port Canaveral? For similar pricing you can get a 5 Night on the Dream with stops at Grand Cayman, and Castaway Cay. This gets you an extra night, a bigger and newer ship than the Magic (but not quite as new as the Wish of course), and it's a stop in the Caribbean which may be a new location for those in your party that have done Bahamas before.
In April 2023, they have 2 sailings, 4/1 and 4/29.

Considering that most of your party has not cruised, the large majority haven't been to the US before, I think I'd (personally) lean toward a US option, considering it's a once-in-a-lifetime trip. European destinations are far more accessible to you down the road and can be visited piecemeal over the years, while US/Caribbean isn't quite so.

I'm sure whichever trip you choose you'll have a good time though! Maybe review the pros/cons with everyone and then take a vote.

 

[DisKid]

Since you really want to sail on the Wish and feel coming all the way to Florida from the UK for just a 4 night cruise is a bit silly,
how about doing a back to back cruise on the Wish? That way you would get 7 nights to enjoy it. You could do your 4 night followed by a 3 night or 3 night followed by your 4 night. You would get to enjoy Castaway Cay and Nassau twice. And you could do 2 different port adventures at both Nassau and Castaway Cay should you wish. And just in case you were unable to dock at Castaway for some reason on one sailing (which has happened, but rarely) you would probably get to enjoy it at least once as it is doubt full you would not be able to dock on both cruises.
Granted doing the same cruise back to back and seeing the same ports could be boring but if you have never been there you should enjoy it. At least the 7 night Europe cruise you would see different ports.
You are right that coming from the UK for just a 4 night cruise is a bit much but 7 night would be more justifiable!
It really all depends on your priorities. Do you really want to sail on the Wish or see Eastern Europe.
It is harder and costlier for you to come here whereas you can get your cruise out of Dover much easier.

 

[jme]

It really all depends on your priorities.

And budget!