I’ll report back with details but fairly certain its same ship, same-ish dates, same level, one additional stop on the 4 night. Think the 4 night had a stop on “their island” while the other was just nassau or something cheesy. Sorry, my wife will fully plan trips, give me minimal details, and ask if it sounds good/what credit card to put it on.
1) even their 3 night cruises stop both at Nassau and the private island. 2) some of the 4 night cruises stop at both private islands plus Nassau and the others just give you an extra day floating at sea. the sea days are actually great on Disney cruises. There’s a ton to do on the ships. Especially for kids. Our last one we spent like 2 hours just letting the 3 year old have extended meet and greets with the characters. He loved it
First time cruisers (aside from one pos Carnival) June 2025 Wish ship Concierge Both go to castaway key and nassau 4 night has an additional just sea day It’s 40% more for the 4 night. Trying to determine if it’s worth it.
Unless you got that fuck you money and haven’t told anyone, concierge is absolutely not worth it for a short cruise. Get a family verandah for half the price and get the extra night.
Yeah I just asked my wife what were getting out of it and she ain’t selling me on it. Thats a whole nother vacation. One of her friends did it once and said she ain’t going back so I think that’s stuck with her.
I mean I havent done concierge yet, but I’ve seen enough reviews, tik tok stuff to know that shit ain’t worth it unless the money just doesn’t matter. Give me a 7 day cruise in a family verandah over 3 nights with a slightly nicer room and access to a lounge with snacks and free beer/wine.
bruce bowen here’s a thread breaking it down. Nothing here is worth 2xing the cost of your trip https://www.disboards.com/threads/concierge-amenities-to-expect-ask-for.3951891/
Thanks man, got her off the concierge. Any opnions on boat? Were looking at the following listed by most expensive to least. Same room type, same dates, etc Wish Magic Dream
We loved the wish and it's the best choice if you have kids. I have been on all the classes, you will love all of them. Disney does a great job with upkeep on their ships.
For me it's Dream/Fantasy Wish Magic/Wonder For me the determining factor would be what the destinations are. If they are all Bahamas cruises, I'd go with whichever of the dream or wish that stops at BOTH at castaway key and lighthouse point. I personally like the Dream/Fantasy class more than the Wish but it is really close and not a distinction that will be the difference between enjoying your trip or not. If the iteneraries are exactly the same, go with the ship Dream or Wish that is closest to you. (Magic is also nice and has the benefit of being the smallest which means less people on castaway key, but I went on it a few months ago, and it's showing its age compared to the newer ships.) That lack of size is also pretty noticable on the sea day. There's just not as much to do, less pools, etc. Disney will never be like Royal Carribean where the ship is basically a floating island with a theme park on it, but there's just so much more to do on the newer ships compared to the OGs. But if you live in SFL and can be on the Dream in 20 minutes compared to a 3 hour drive to Orlando, it's a no brainer. Go on the Dream. If you are in Central/North Florida, go on the Wish.
IMO post all three trip options ITT and FrankReynolds and I can give you even better advice. or if you want privacy, start a dm with the 3 of us.
Compared to other cruise lines, Disney ships (right now) are probably the most similar top to bottom. Whereas on royal you’d get a drastically different experience from top to bottom, Disney less so. That said I’ve been in fantasy and that’s a pretty perfect ship. Haven’t been on the wish but I know a ton of people telling me I need to but I’ll probably hold out until the Treasure (which is basically like the wish but 7 nights vs 3/4).
I think we've decided on 4 nights on the dream with 1 stop at a disney island other at nassau. I was most comfortable with the price point on a 4 nighter. I'm sure once we go on one I'll be down for a longer one in the future but the savings on a 4 vs 5 will pay for a long weekend away we're looking at doing in the fall. Thanks all for the advice Oh and funny thing about my wife's friend who would never not do concierge again...her in-laws pay for any vacation they go on. Pretty fucking easy to say that
I fucking despise people like this. They live a charmed life due to someone elses success and then turn everything into a game of keeping up with the jones's that they wouldn't be able to win if it wasn't for the generosity of others.
since your wife is completely lost with all this, make sure you are checking the florida resident rates. When cruises (especially the september ones) don't sell, they offer some good deals to try and fill up the ship.
Once you lock in and book look for your sailing’s Facebook group. It will be a bit overwhelming with how crazy people are BUT you will learn a lot to help prepare including when to book excursions and other high demand experiences like the royal greeting.
I'm guessing hits a holiday or is already pretty full? Only reasons I can think of why the cost per day would be more. Maybe someone can explain to me what makes a Disney cruise worth all the extra money versus going on Royal Caribbean, MSC, etc. We considered a Disney cruise when we were booking back in March, but the price differences didn't make any sense to us.
IMO the advantages and disadvantages of a Disney Cruise compared to RCL, Norweigan, etc Pro-Disney Far better service. The personalized service on DCL compared to other cruise lines is night and day. Ex. the servers had all of our names memorized, did special things for my 3 year old to keep him excited, had puree's made by the kitchen for our 1 year old. etc. Room attendants are always super nice and engaging. At the signature restaurant (Palo on the fantasy) we had this server from Croatia named Boris. We randomly had him again the following year and he remembered us immediately. He remembered that my wife loves chocolate covered strawberries and had a dozen sent to the room for free. Those kind of personal touches just don't happen on other ships. The food is much better. On RCL I've found the main dining food to be as medicore as it gets. I won't do a RCL cruise without the food upgrade package. Disney's main dining food is excellent in my opinion. No need to do the upgrade option if you don't want. the kids club. A dedicated nursery for my 1 year old so we could drop him off for nap time and later in the evening so he could go to sleep while the rest of us enjoyed the ship. The kids club for the 3-10 year olds is incredible. Way better than anything else the other cruise lines can offer. Family friendly- When I go on a weekend disney cruise, it's still nothing but families or "Disney Adults" who keep to themselves anyway. If you do a weekend RCL cruise, the odds of the ship being 30% filled with 18-30 year olds looking for a 72 hour long bender are extremely high. (I've been this guy) We used to laugh at the horrified faces on the unsuspecting parents seeing a bunch of college girls with their tits and asses out sharing the same pool as their 6 year old. That's not happening on a Disney cruise. This goes mostly for the weekend cruises. The more expensive week long cruises tend to filter that age group out and make for much more family friendly experiences. Typical Disney touches. Ex. My kid loves interacting with Mickey. On the cruise, you can just be walking around and randomly run into a character having a dance party in the hallway with like 5 other kids. It turns into a 10-15 minute encounter where your kid has an absolute blast playing with mickey/pluto/goofy, whoever and there was no line and no mob of people trying to cut in and get their moment. Less upcharging. Ex room service is free. Lot of free services that RCL charges for Bigger isn't always better. 8k people on a single cruise ship will feel overwhelming on those sea days. Much more relaxing to be on a smaller shipt with 2500-3500 people imo. Upkeep/maintenance. I was on the Disney Magic a month ago and that ship was built in 99. Yea, its showing its age a bit, but it was in much better shape than the Virgin ship I sailed on in March and that ship is less than 5 years old. I know Carnival is currently running a weekend cruise on a ship that breaks down once a month and strands the cruisers at whatever port they are at for a day or 2. Pro RCL/Carnival/Other More to do. Their ships are much bigger than disney. So that means more big things to do. More shows, more everything. On a newer RCL ship, theres like 7 different water slides, more pools, surfind simulator, golf simulator, rock climbing, escape room, etc. You could spend a month on some of those mega ships and not do it all. More adult activities. Disney ships tend to shut down around 10:30-11:00. The other ships keep the party going late into the night. Casino. If you like to gamble, those ships all have a casino. Disney famously does not. Drink Packages. If you want unlimited booze, those carriers all have that option. Disney does not. (Disney also doesn't charge an arm and a leg per drink so it's not terrible, but still) More signature restaurants. Disney ships have 1-2 upgraded restaurants that are adults only. RCL and others have a bunch of them and they all allow kids. More itineraries. Larger fleets mean way more options for ports. Right now disney is limited to Alaska, Bahamas, and the Carribean when it comes to US based cruises. RCL will take you almost anywhere. Overall, it comes down to preference. For me, spending a bit more to have an experience perfectly catered to my 1 and 3 year old is exponentially better than going on RCL. Now when they get older and their interests shift from wanting to dance with Mickey Mouse to trying to hook up with some girl from Texas, we will shift over to RCL if/when we cruise. This is also when we'd do more Europe trips rather than local cruises.
Family friendly- When I go on a weekend disney cruise, it's still nothing but families or "Disney Adults" who keep to themselves anyway. If you do a weekend RCL cruise, the odds of the ship being 30% filled with 18-30 year olds looking for a 72 hour long bender are extremely high. (I've been this guy) We used to laugh at the horrified faces on the unsuspecting parents seeing a bunch of college girls with their tits and asses out sharing the same pool as their 6 year old. Could also put this one on the con list...
Disney is a premium cruise product. It’s not really fair to compare it to carnival or most ncl/royal sailings. That said I don’t think there’s much of a price difference between Disney and newer royal ships like Icon and Utopia. So if you’re comparing fantasy with the price of a 15 year old royal ship, it’s like holiday inn vs JW Marriott. Disney is also great at not requiring extra money to be spent if you don’t want. The restaurant rotation model keeps things from feeling the same day after day so you don’t feel like you need to go to a premium restaurant if you don’t want. Soda on Disney is INCLUDED which can be like a couple hundred dollars worth on royal if you have a soda drinking family. main money I spent on board was a little in the shop and popcorn refills 2x a day. We also used the spa (thank you kids club) but that’s obviously optional. We did an excursion too but that’s off the ship. Oh and we got the photo package. For a first Disney cruise this is pretty much required especially with character photos. You may pay more for Disney but after onboard charges it may not be as different as it seems. speaking of characters, we had the best interactions. My wife and I were on two lounge chairs at night and goofy came by to sit in one next to us. We saw chip a dale on an elevator. Repunzel hanging out on the top of the main foyer just watching from above (as she does). Just random stuff. The best way to describe it is the characters are basically cruising with you. You’ll see them everywhere
oh absolutely, but the people who want to hunt T&A aren't considering a disney cruise in the first place. completely agree. The problem is that there really is no apples to apples comparison to be made. There are no comparable premium cruise products to the 3-4 day bahamas cruises that disney offers. agree 100% with everything else.
Got caught in a similar situation at sawgrass mall like 10 years ago. There was a fight where someone pulled a knife and a police officer on the scene pulled his gun. No shots fired, but some kids decided it would be fun to cause a panic and ran through the mall screaming GUN GUN EVERYBODY RUN. Absolute mayhem/terror as the entire mall cleared out in seconds and went into full lockdown. Couldn’t imagine the scene at MK yesterday.
Took my older kid to the Halloween party Friday. Some rain, but overall it was awesome. He pounded candy and got on six rides - cars, Dumbo, pirates, haunted, teacups, small world plus front row for the parade (he’s only 2 so that’s a lot) and my wife and I got to do space mountain with the lights off and Tron (her first time on it, my first time on it at night - for those of you who said it’s way better at night, it is). also got two full bags of candy at the end of the night from the stop under Tron - had to send that to work with my wife yesterday because I ate an incredible amount of it on Sunday watching games.
We went Friday as well. Didn’t get anywhere near as much done. Didn’t get into the park until about 7:45 because of the rain
I left work early, we were in there by about 5. Met up with my brother in laws family and another friend a little later. I had never been, thought it was pretty great.
Love the Halloween party, but I much prefer the weather during the Christmas party. if you complain your day right and get a nice cool night it’s awesome.
My crew advised Halloween was better. May have to make the move and I see if I agree with them or you guys.
Heading down that way with the family in November. Going to need to start figuring out the new Multipass system real soon.
I feel like my kids will be drenched in sweat in costumes at this thing but there’s no way to tell them not to wear them right? Probably bring a change for them after an hour or something
my kid and niece and nephews just wore Disney Halloween shirts but a lot of kids (and adults) were in costume.
Our kid wore a simple lightning McQueen costume that draped over his shoulders. Easy on/off for when it was raining/got a bit hot. Highly recommend.
What are reasonably priced character meals you all suggest? Doesn't matter if they are in the parks or at a resort. My sister and BIL are taking my niece (9) and nephew (7) in November. Money is tight as my sister is a public school teacher in SC and my BIL is a police officer, so have to keep the cost reasonable.
Last time we did Halloween party we all just wore different Toy Story character t-shirts like this: Worked out great because everyone stayed cool and we weren’t toting around a bunch of extra stuff. I wanted to be Hamm, but my wife was Bo so she made me be Woody.