3/4 night cruise at beginning or end of trip?

[ElsasGloves]

I’m so tempted to book a DCL in May 19 but don’t know whether it is best to do 3 nights at the beginning or 4 nights at the end? Obviously the 3 nights is the cheaper option but I’m worried the jet lag might be an issue with staying up in the evenings (kids are 9 and 7). The 4 night is clearly more expensive but takes out a fair bit of our 2 week trip giving us only 10 nights in WDW, and realistically, only 9 actual days in the parks.
Any suggestions on which might be better?

[Spencerfamily]

Our first DCL Cruise we did a 4 night over christmas and the the Parks after. Our DD was 5 and I hadn’t even considered the impact the jet lag would have on her. We ended up not even getting to the dining room on Xmas day as she was wiped! Your children are a bit older so may be ok but we now have since put the cruises on the end of the hols.
We find 4 nights perfect (never done 3 though) and on the end of a hol is a nice change of pace.

[Loopylooloo]

The end...save the best for last!

[dippiedawnie]

We usually do it in the middle so it's a nice rest for the feet 😀. We did one at the beginning of one trip and wouldn't do it again as flew in the day before so felt like a bit of a wasted day to be honest as we landed at 2pm and didn't get to the cruise till lunch time the next day. I wouldn't do it at the end as they wake you up VERY early for disembarking and then if you have to wait for a night flight that's a long long day 🙁. Last year we did 10 days in Disney, the 3 day cruise and then back to Disney for 4 days and that worked well for us but everyone will be different 😀

[Bats]

Definitely 4 nights at the end!

You have to be off the ship on the last day by 9am, so it's a fairly early morning start. You have the choice of eating breakfast in the restaurants or in the buffet, we go for the buffet as it's quicker and you get more choice.

If you're going back to the airport for a late flight, book a day room at the Hyatt (it has a rooftop pool which is nice), do a trip to Cape Canaveral Space Centre, or pop down to Coco Beach for the day and try to get a day room there?

Joa

[DisneyBride08]

We did our four night at the start of our trip last October. Our two were 3 and 7. My boy 7 got ill on the first night but also the jet lag really hit him hard. We couldn't get him to nap in the day like our 3 year old. We didn't see any of the night things because we had really early starts to our days. I would do the four night at t he end if we ever got the chance to go again.

[Merryweather17]

Originally Posted by Bats

Definitely 4 nights at the end!

You have to be off the ship on the last day by 9am, so it's a fairly early morning start. You have the choice of eating breakfast in the restaurants or in the buffet, we go for the buffet as it's quicker and you get more choice.

If you're going back to the airport for a late flight, book a day room at the Hyatt (it has a rooftop pool which is nice), do a trip to Cape Canaveral Space Centre, or pop down to Coco Beach for the day and try to get a day room there?

Joa

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we are thinking of doing this only with a 3 day cruise at the end, ca you remember how much the day room was? i can't seem to find any prices on the website. Also was wondering if you found it was worth it?

[Bats]

Originally Posted by Merryweather17

we are thinking of doing this only with a 3 day cruise at the end, ca you remember how much the day room was? i can't seem to find any prices on the website. Also was wondering if you found it was worth it?

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It was around $100 plus tax and it was worth every cent. We got lunch and ate it on our balcony. lazed by the pool for a couple of hours, showered and had a snoozette!

[duchy]

We are doing a four night cruise after 12 days in Orlando but there's nothing to say you *have* to fly home the same day. We are having 2 nights on the coast before flying home rather than deal with a long travel day when we leave the ship.

[disneymadhouse]

We did 8 nights at OKW, 4 night cruise over Christmas then 2 nights at AoA.
This year, to mix things up a little, we are going straight to Cocoa beach the night we land, and the next day boarding the Dream for 4 nights. Then we will be at WDW for 10 nights. That way we get the best of both worlds ... a cruise and Christmas day in MK! ( The cruise was also a lot cheaper on 17th Dec than 24th!)