So is the Disney Dream enough to make you consider your first Disney cruise? by Mark Goldhaber
Mark Goldhaber takes a look at cruising aboard the Disney Dream for cruising newbies.
Read it here!
So is the Disney Dream enough to make you consider your first Disney cruise? by Mark Goldhaber
Mark Goldhaber takes a look at cruising aboard the Disney Dream for cruising newbies.
Read it here!
Great article, Mark. One comment on your cost analysis, however. There is an intangible that you forgot to consider (said with a huge smile). I would say it is unique to my family, but I have seen it come up in other discussions as well. If you take a cruise with DCL, the schedule typically will allow you to "swing by" for a few days at WDW as well. (Isn't that kind of them?
). And given the Disney geeks that many of us are, those couple extra days can stretch into a few etc. Working the other way, it is far less likely that if you have a WDW trip planned that you would "swing by" for a cruise. I think all things considered that makes a Central Florida vacation that includes DCL slighty more expensive/intensive then just a park trip.
Believe me, I think it is a huge treat to be able to do both. We have a trip planned for May that includes park days and smack in the middle, 4 days on the new Disney Dream! But what started as a 4 day cruise is now a 10 vacation! (Poor us) I say this mostly with humor, but it is something to think about.
Loved your article! I have sailed with DCL previousley, twice on Magic and three times on Wonder and have been booked for Dream since February last year!
For us, I have to agree it turns out roughly the same amount of money for a WDW or DCL vacation cost per day. I thought Disney Cruising would be out of our budget but it really isn't. We are a family of 5, so we generally have to stay deluxe and our options on Magic and Wonder were limited to the family stateroom but am very happy that Dream has a lot more options for families of 5. Having a verandah has been wonderful and couldn't give it up, but now there are some cheaper options. We personally would rather skip many shore excursuions in favor of the verandah but every family is different.
It is all about timing just like with WDW, cruising in Jan, Sept, Oct and Nov really cuts costs and since we are a home schooling family, school isn't a factor.
I also agree for us traveling from Ohio, it makes sense for us to add a trip to WDW before and or after cruising, if we're already down there, just makes sense to pop over to WDW!
I agree. When working into a longer stay, the incremental cost differs largely because the cost of the additional park pass days is negligible vs. the cost of the first 3-4 days. That would hold even more true for a 7-day WDW stay vs. back-to-back cruises. However, the main idea of the piece was to show that, for the average family, a cruise isn't really that out of reach as a vacation idea.Originally Posted by SJF510
Great article, Mark. One comment on your cost analysis, however. There is an intangible that you forgot to consider (said with a huge smile). I would say it is unique to my family, but I have seen it come up in other discussions as well. If you take a cruise with DCL, the schedule typically will allow you to "swing by" for a few days at WDW as well. (Isn't that kind of them?Six cruises! I'm jealous! You're going to love the Dream. It's a magnificent ship.
I'm not really big on shore excursions, expecially in Nassau. In fact, when we do go on our cruise, I'll be lobbying to stay on the ship during Nassau day. (You'd better believe I'll be getting off at Castaway Cay, though!)
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