Do I want to do a Disney cruise?

[Grace2007]

Hi all, we had to postpone our Oct 2021 trip to Oct 2022. We always go for three weeks and only do Disney parks, we are a family of 4 - kids will be 18 and 14 when we travel. Would love to do a 3 or 4 night cruise and just can’t decide if it should be DCL or another cruise line. Like the idea of castaway cay just wondering if having had our Disney park fix already would we get value out of DCL with older kids? Your views would be welcome and any other suggestions for cruise lines would be great - we’ve never cruised before thanks 😊

[Omega1]

Most cruise lines have a private island (or access to one) in the Bahamas like Castaway Cay. RCI has Coco Cay, NCL has Great Stirrup Cay, Princess has Princess Cay, Holland America has Half Moon Cay. They all have the same basic features - gorgeous white sand beaches, water activities, bars, bbq, etc.

[Merryweather17]

I think if you like disney then you will enjoy their version of cruising. They do have activities for older children and an 18-20 social group as these are not able to drink and still need to be catered to. RC larger ships have a lot wider range of activities (surf simulators, rock climbing walls, dodgem cars, ice skating...) on them than the disney ones and tend to cost less. Coco Cay has a huge range of activities and they are more suited to older children and adults like the ones on the ship. Check out both DCL and RC websites to see what the activities are and what the ships look like, there are also lots of great videos out there that can help you judge whether the relaxed and immersive disney feel would suit you better than a more bustling ship with a wider range of activities. We have yet to try RC - postponed from last year, but have done DCL twice and we love it! will i be climbing walls, ice skating and falling on my bum in a surf simulator thingy for everyone to see when we finally get on our RC cruise? well no, but those activities are going to please a lot of teens and I will make the most of my drinks package and the adult areas of the ship - to each their own!

[Grace2007]

Thanks for your replies - will take a look at that RC cruise videos and see what their activities look like. Done quite a bit of DCL YouTube watching so it will be good to compare thanks

[Elsa42]

Disney cruises are fantastic! We both love the parks and still find the Disney cruises very appealing. Theres enough to do for families and just adults. There are loads of activities to do and the food is great. We have been on a non Disney cruise and couldn't wait to do a Disney one again after. They are more expensive that other cruises although i do find with the cheaper ones that theres not much included with the price you pay. Regardless of who you decide to cruise with i think you'll have a fantastic time as cruising is super fun!

[jas72]

Honestly other cruise lines are not inferior the standard is really high in these cruise ships, if you plan a 3 night cruise the price difference isn't that big but if you look at 7 nights Disney can be almost twice as much and really from watching YouTube I don't see the price difference. Have a look at the ships and watch vlogs they give you a good idea of the differences. But it's like everything some people save on accommodation in florida to spend elsewhere some stay at art of animation some stay at the poly. 😀 it's really down to what you want to do with your hard earned cash.

[gismo1554]

The only thing I've found Disney do better is the shows but that's because its Disney lets be honest. Service I've found just as good on other ships along and Food I've found better on others just in terms of variety (menus on Disney never seem to change).

[KeepSmiling]

The most recent cruise we did (pre Covid) was the 4 night Disney Dream. My teens were 17 and 18 and we brought along my sons GF who was also 18. They had an absolute blast. Was our second 4 night cruise and I've just booked for my daughter and I for next year. They loved all of the activities, the entertainment and the food! Would highly recommend for older teens.