Cheeky 3 night cruise on DCL - worth it?

[cheekytink]

We are looking at maybe sneaking in a 3 night DCL to Nassau/CC on our trip to WDW in August/sept.
NEVER been on a cruise before. Never even looked at it, but seriously looking now.

What are the best and worst things about a DCL trip and is it worth it for 3 nights? We aren't really bothered about Nassau and so would probably stay on board on that day to use ship's facilities...

All advice greatly received!

[mrslfc]

We have done 2 DCL med cruises on the Disney Magic (one of the smaller ships) and we all loved them! The service, food and kids clubs are brilliant. We have booked on a 3 night cruise when we go in Aug. Would have loved a longer cruise but just don't have the time.

I am interested to see whats it like on one of the bigger ships

[mrsmickey]

If it’s an indication of how good it is, we had our first DCL cruise last year, put a placeholder down and are adding a 3 or 4 day cruise on our 2021 trip. The busiest area all trip was the rebooking area on the last day!

I’m very much looking forward to just being able to chill out for 3 days after all that walking around, in the knowledge my little monster will want to spend lots of time in the kids club.

[dippiedawnie]

We have added that 3 night cruise on many trips to get a break from all the walking in the parks and give the feet a rest. People will tell you it's not long enough and not worth it but we think it is-especially to dip your toe in and see if you like cruising. We tried it as a couple and loved it so much we are now on cruise 8 with kids and this year will see us going on the last of the 4 ships the Fantasy and can say we have been on them all. A longer cruise is amazing but if all we could manage was 3 nights on the Dream we would do it.

[syber32]

Husband and I have done two 3 night bahamas cruises now - first one was August 2018 to the Bahamas on the Dream - it was the first time we had ever cruised. We then repeated it before our WDW holiday August 2019. We're hooked, its amazing. We are only 2 adults no kiddies but the ship is beautiful, amazing service and the adult only areas are great and so peacefull. Castaway Cay is fantastic. Im taking my mum on the 5 night cruise on the Magic in September from Dover - cant wait. We will be back on DCL in the US soon hopefully to do a Carribean cruise next time.

[milliemouse5]

I’m currently on that exact cruise on the dream, Nassau yesterday and castaway cay today! 3 nights is enough I think to enjoy everything and is a nice break from the parks!
However if money is a factor then I would say do a similar cruise with another cruise line. We went on our first cruise 18 months ago with royal Caribean and found the service to be much better and the drinks package/WiFi a lot cheaper - also the ship was much less crowded. I think if you have young children then Disney is fab but sadly I am
underwhelmed 😔
I don’t know if this is usual but we’ve waited an hour each evening for the first course, not been offered a refill on our drinks and the food is not great and I am not fussy at all, I’ll eat any old crap 😂
I feel like we might be unlucky as everyone else loves DCL. It was always my dream to do a Disney cruise but DD11 agrees that Royal Caribean was better.

[milliemouse5]

Also asked for a table for 2 and didn’t get it - luckily we have a lovely lady and her little girl with us who also agree the service is pretty poor 😭

[NikNak]

We first done this cruise in December 2014 as a 'one off' as a treat for a special birthday! We absolutely loved it and our only complaint was that it was over too quickly! We have since done a further 6 cruise (2x Bahamas on the Dream, 1x Transatlantic on the Magic, 1x Norwegian Fjords & Iceland on the Magic and 1x Western Caribbean on the Fantasy) and we have had an absolute ball every time! Would highly recommend them and we found the 3 night to be ideal as a taster but just prepare to be hooked as I know we're not the only ones this has happened to lol.

We have requested our own table for 5/6 cruises and our requests were granted every time so it's definitely worth asking and also checking once you board the ship as we have always found the staff to be extremely accommodating with any of our requests, dining related or otherwise.

[Taffy1959]

We did a 3 night cruise last September on the Disney Dream and we loved it.
The ship is beautiful we enjoyed the shows the service is amazing and the food was so good.
We had dinner in Palo on our first night which was excellent and the service there was outstanding.
Castaway Cay was beautiful but there was some damage from hurricane Dorian although they’d done a good job cleaning up.
The only negatives were it poured down all morning at Castaway Cay but we sheltered under an umbrella with a lovely American couple and for us 3 nights wasn’t long enough.
Would love to go on another Disney cruise if funds allow but a longer one

[Merryweather17]

Best things: food, entertainment, characters, lots of disney touches and amazing service, Castaway Cay is great.

Worst things: getting off, realising you are now a dcl addict and that it is a very expensive hobby!

The time of year you are looking at is the season for hurricanes, our 3 night cruise last year turned into a 6 night one, for no extra cost. Just be aware they may need to change the itinerary and move things around a bit if the weather is not ideal, knowing this kept us in a calmer state as we tracked the weather a few days before sailing.