Convince me to keep my 7 Night Sailing on the Fantasy...

[Buzzalot]

We are a family of four, two boys 9 and 6. It's our first cruise. My wife and I always traveled to the Caribbean before kids. We loved staying at resorts and experiencing different islands. We love the beach and never wanted to cruise because we felt we'd be trapped on a ship. Fast forward to the time with kids. We've been to Beaches Turks and Caicos three times and now only do WDW two weeks a year. The hype of a Disney cruise sucked us in. The kids love the water, pool/beach. We are afraid that the pools will always be packed and they will have nothing to do on days at sea except kids club. I don't want them in the kids club the entire cruise. That's just not are thing. We like time together.

Do I keep our sailing? Are there activities to keep everyone busy? Will we feel trapped?

Note: We will have time in the parks prior to and after the cruise.

Thanks,
Ben

 

[Pens Fan]

Our son never went to the clubs until he was old enough for Vibe, as he didn't enjoy them. He also never went in the pools as they are kid soup. But he loved each and every Disney cruise that we have taken. There are tons of things for kids (and adults) to do onboard besides the clubs and pools. I recommend going to http://disneycruiselineblog.com and checking out the personal navigators (under the Cruise Planning tab). They will show all of the various things going on throughout the ship. I can't imagine being bored on any cruise, especially a Disney cruise.

 

[Geomom]

There are family activities (trivia, crafts, etc) that you can all do together, movies to see, 9 hole mini golf, midship detective agency, character meet and greets, nightly shows in the Walt Disney Theater, etc. I don't think you'll be bored.

Look at some personal navigators from the Fantasy to see what types of 'all ages' activities that are offered. I tried to find some from last year that are close to the season you'll be travelling:
Eastern caribbean: http://disneycruiselineblog.com/201...ribbean-cruise-port-canaveral-august-12-2017/
Western Caribbean: http://disneycruiselineblog.com/201...ween-cruise-port-canaveral-september-16-2017/

 

[imahistorygeek]

Ben,

We were just on a 7-night Fantasy sailing last week. It was our first 7 night. Our worries mirrored your worries. We had three days at sea and thought we were going to be terribly bored. Quite the opposite happened. There are so many activities that don't revolve around the pool. We didn't take any kids, but if the adult activities are numerous, the family and kid activities even more so. There was a wide variety of activities each day.

Before we went on this sailing, we had convinced ourselves that 7 days would make us stir crazy. It didn't. In fact, I think we will now consider longer cruises because the amount of enjoyment we had during this particular cruise.

 

[MichelleCanada]

I do not think you will have a problem keeping busy. We did a 7-night out of Houston last January. It was our first cruise and we had 2 days of straight rain while at sea - so the outside decks were closed. Our DS was 5 at the time and barely wanted to spend time in the kids club. There was so much to do and we all had a great time! We didn't feel trapped. We have done many all-inclusive trips to the Dominican and Mexico because we also love beaches. We got our fill of these on the port days! Castaway Cay was awesome!! We did the bike rentals and went to the other side of the island and it was great! We did 3 weeks at WDW last fall and had a wonderful time but we booked another cruise this year not another trip to WDW.

Have a great time!

 

[Cupcakesmum]

We had your exact same concerns. It took us a long time to pull the trigger on the cruise as we thought it might be a letdown compared to our usual beach vacations. Long story short we LOVED our first cruise in February. It's a different type of vacation but we had so much fun and it was still relaxing. Keep the reservation

 

[lklgoodman]

We've done 4 7night cruises so far and already have our 5th booked. There's always a ton of stuff to do on the ship besides going to the pool or kids club. In fact after every cruise, I still find things that we didn't have time to do---makes a great excuse to book another cruise.The kid's clubs are great though to use when you want to do some adult only activities like going to Palo or Remy

 

[bethy]

Yes the ship does keep you busy. None of my kids have enjoyed the clubs. BUT we are also beach people. I think we might have done our last cruise for awhile because we do need more beach time. Port days were not nearly enough . . .

I don't think it would hurt to try it once, though. I'm sure you'll love it but it is a different type of vacation.

 

[hanscarlet]

We sailed the fantasy for the first time last week, we have a fantastic time and actually had to cancel some activities because we were so busy. We have a 6 and 9 year old and we don't leave the kids in the clubs more than 90 minutes, once, max 2 times per day. One time is always after dinner for an hour while we grab a cocketail before the show and the other time is during sea days just to enjoy Palo Brunch or a massage or something. If they aren't in there for more than 90 min then they tend to love it. Some people leave the kids in the whole time, the kids seem to like it. My youngest wanted to stay a couple of times this time. Feel free to read my trip report. I think you're going to be sold on DCL after this, the 7 night cruises are the best in my opinion.

 

[LizGirl]

I also shared some similar concerns and preferences of yours regarding travel and cruising. We've sailed on the Fantasy twice now and loved both trips. We've never been bored or felt trapped. Honestly, I have to try hard to have some down time just relaxing on the verandah that we pay extra for!

FWIW - the pools can be crowded but we've found that the splash/spray areas are more fun and have plenty of space for everyone.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

Echo the others. Plenty to do. So much great family time. So many things so close together too, so you can "mix and match" if two of you want to do one thing and two another (or 3 and 1) and still easily meet back up and then split off in a different pattern.

Also, I totally get what you are saying about wanting family time not kids clubs, but I will say it is a feature that not all vacations have and it is nice to have some alone time with your spouse, and nice for the kids to meet other kids. Having said that, I also want to point out that the kids clubs all have daily "open house" hours where you can go to the clubs WITH your kids, so even if you don't want to split up, fine, but still check out the kids clubs together during open house hours. They have some fun things there too that you can enjoy with your kids.

 

[Winston Wolf]

I've literally NEVER felt trapped on a ship. It's my favorite part. They practically have to drag me off.

 

[Quellman]

Never sailed the Western, but have done the Easter on both the Magic and the Fantasy. The western has one more port day and one less sea day than going East. So if the ports aren't a big concern to you, you might consider that avenue.

The pools on the boat aren't like land pools anyway. They aren't big enough to be swimming laps, playing marco polo, and you can't jump in. But others have pointed out the many many other things to do, like the virtual sports arcade.

 

[Stacey1980]

We just took our first cruise in April. It was a 7 day Eastern on the Fantasy. We had the same concerns you do. We ALWAYS have taken a beach vacation as we love the beach. We also use our vacation time to spend together as a family. My husband and I both work, combine that with the kids school schedule and activities, and it feels like we never have time to just hang out as a family when we are at home. We loved our cruise aboard the Fantasy! We had enough beach time to satisfy our love of the beach and there was so much to do on the ship we never felt bored. We did activities as a family and the kids spent some time in the clubs. We enjoyed it so much we have a cruise to Alaska aboard the Wonder booked for June 2019.

 

[phinz]

I'd suggest you read a bunch of the Navigators and see for yourself if there's anything you would want to do. Only you can decide if it's worth it.

 

[MomOTwins]

Just want to add, since you are beach people, that Castaway Cay is the most breathtaking, extraordinary beach I have ever been to (we did our first cruise in April; previously had done a lot of all-inclusive resort vacations). I have seriously never seen anything more beautiful. And my husband who is an avid snorkeler got blown away when he swam alongside a giant sea turtle (we later saw what we think was the same turtle from our oceanview porthole - so cool! I told my kids maybe it was "Crush" from finding Nemo and they went nuts). If beaches are the main focus for you, consider switching your 7-day cruise to either the 5-day cruise that makes two stops in castaway cay, or book a back-to-back 3-day and 4-day cruise on the dream (which will also mean you stop twice at castaway cay and twice at Nassau--and you can even go to the beach at Nassau for extra sun and sand). Then you have fewer at-sea days but still get to experience the Disney Cruise.

 

[mevelandry]

The pools will most likely be full, I call them children soup. But sea days can be as packed or quiet as you want them to be.

 

[tvguy]

DD was 12, DS 16 on our Disney cruise. DD went to a music trivia contest in the kids club, and that was it. She was appalled at how little the Castmember running the contest knew about music!

Cruises with our kids were time for us to be together. We played basketball, and shuffle board together. Family Disney trivia together (and were shocked that only 5 families showed up for Disney trivia on a Disney cruise). We say movies together on sea days. Just enjoyed the ship and the sea together. And every night before bed, usually about 11 pm, we all went up to the bow, in front of the wind screen and just enjoyed the wind, and the stars and the island lights in the distance.

My advice, go. Check your "mom" and "dad" hats at the gangway, and be your kids friends/playmates for a week.

 

[Dug720]

DD was 12, DS 16 on our Disney cruise. DD went to a music trivia contest in the kids club, and that was it. She was appalled at how little the Castmember running the contest knew about music!

Cruises with our kids were time for us to be together. We played basketball, and shuffle board together. Family Disney trivia together (and were shocked that only 5 families showed up for Disney trivia on a Disney cruise). We say movies together on sea days. Just enjoyed the ship and the sea together. And every night before bed, usually about 11 pm, we all went up to the bow, in front of the wind screen and just enjoyed the wind, and the stars and the island lights in the distance.

My advice, go. Check your "mom" and "dad" hats at the gangway, and be your kids friends/playmates for a week.

Just don't neglect to step in and be a PARENT if something calls for it, please.

 

[soniam]

Keep in mind. You may not want the kids to hang out in the clubs; however, they may really enjoy it. There is a lot of time to be together on the ship and a lot of time for yourself, as a couple. Take advantage of that, especially if your kids like the clubs. We have to drag our son out of the club. However, we have very specific things/times that we would do stuff together. Obviously shore excursions is one of those. We required dinner be together. We would also set specific times for swimming and other planned activities. We would also just end up spending time in the room watching a movie and enjoying the beautiful ocean. Our son loves swimming, so we thought he would sit in the pool all day. However, he enjoyed some of the other things, especially the clubs, enough that we had to remind him about the pools. It was hard to believe. You won't be bored. It might just be the best family vacation you have ever had. I know our cruises usually are, even compared to our WDW/Universal trips.

EDIT: If you haven't already, go look at the Navigator for your cruising time and ship at Disney Cruise Line Blog. There you can see a ton of activities for kids, families, and adults, besides swimming, occurring all day long. You probably won't have enough time to do everything that you want.