Would you do a Disney Cruise with no Kids?

[louey]

We are Disney World vacationers and have never done a Disney Cruise. I have only done one cruise in my life and that was many moons ago on Carnival.

With booking DW they have discounted rooms at certain times does DCL do that as well? I have no clue where, best time, ship anything.

For you Cruisers out there where should I start? Use a travel Agent? Best time to go? If anyone could point me in the right direction I would appreciate it. I'm not even sure this is something we will do, so I would love any feed back.

 

[undertheradar]

We are Disney World vacationers and have never done a Disney Cruise. I have only done one cruise in my life and that was many moons ago on Carnival.

With booking DW they have discounted rooms at certain times does DCL do that as well? I have no clue where, best time, ship anything.

For you Cruisers out there where should I start? Use a travel Agent? Best time to go? If anyone could point me in the right direction I would appreciate it. I'm not even sure this is something we will do, so I would love any feed back.

So many variables come into play. The lowest cost sailings are when school is in, as prices sky rocket during school breaks. Best ship will be subjective and you will receive information for all 4 ships. The rule for lowest cost is to book when new sailings are released, rarely will the cruise fare go down in price.

We have sailed 3 times without kids and it is very relaxing.

We do use a travel agent, something that I would do if I have never sailed DCL before.

 

[monarchsfan16]

We don't have children. We have only cruised Disney, and neither one of us cruised prior to adulthood. Obviously, I can't compare sailing without kids to sailing with kids, but both of our cruises have been amazing experiences, and we have another one booked for very soon, and will book more in the future. The level of service, cleanliness, and entertainment are fantastic, and quite frankly, the level of entertainment is our style of entertainment, despite the fact that we don't have kids.

In terms of discounts, I work in education, so I have to travel during school vacations. I have found that my state's April vacation is a much more affordable time to travel than summer. I am not really interested in cruising during our school's February vacation because germs are so prevalent in the schools at that time of year, that it just opens the door for more germs on the cruise ship. So there are definitely less expensive times of the year to travel. If you don't have the school schedules holding you back, you can really pick those times, and, frequently, the more interesting itineraries as well.

We use a travel agent, because we are still relatively new to cruising, and she is just so knowledgeable. There's a lot of the vacation booking that I do on my own, but she is such an asset for the cruise and travel insurance booking piece.

 

[martikus]

Nope. Waaaay too many kids. While we enjoyed our cruise with our son, we wouldn’t choose Disney without. We prefer more adult entertainment like comedians and shows. We actually pick the smaller ships of less family lines like celebrity when cruising without son. We also like the casino. Too much family stuff, example even the trivia and games, for a couples only. And then Disney is way too expensive in my opinion. Honsestly it was also our least favorite food wise.

But I know lots of people enjoy it. Just not our cup of tea to be with all those kids when our son isn’t with us.

 

[pixiedustedme]

I would definitely go without kids if I had an adult to go with who would appreciate the cruise. Unfortunately, my S.O. doesn't believe me when I tell him how nice the cruises are, so I typically just cruise with my son as a party of two. I took my mother along once as well, and she liked it.

There is no shortage of kids on the ship, so if you don't like kids, don't go. However, I like kids (I'm a schoolteacher), so that's a non-issue for me. There are also several adult-only areas (adult-only pool deck & hot tub, adult-only upcharge restaurants, adult-only coffee shop, adult-only clubs, adult-only spa, adult-only fitness center, an entire adult-only beach at Castaway Cay) that help you separate from the kids if you want. I've always wished for an enthusiastic adult fellow cruiser so that I could enjoy those areas more.

I always transfer our DCL bookings to Costco Travel within 30 days, and then after the cruise, Costco sends me a Costco cash card worth 8.5% of the base cruise cost. I can use that card at Costo, but I tend to just cash it out instead, as my Costco's customer service department will do that. I'm an Executive member, so at the end of the year, I get an additional 2% of the base cruise cost back in the form of a rebate check that can be cashed at the bank.

If you like the cruise and think you'll cruise again, definitely book another cruise onboard or just get a placeholder ($250 deposit) for another cruise. By doing this, you'll get 10% off your next cruise and a $100 - $200 onboard credit to use during that next cruise. (Btw, if you transfer to Costco within 30 days or book via Costco, the Costco discount will be in addition to the 10% off.) These deposits are refundable (unless you book concierge), so if you later change your mind you can always just cancel.

Fall (particularly September & October) is the cheapest time of year to book a Bahamian or Caribbean cruise, because it's hurricane season. It's safe, because they'll steer the ship out of the way of any storms, but your cruise has the most potential for being disrupted or cancelled at this time of year. Be sure to get good travel insurance that covers flights, hotel & cruise if you go at that time of year (insurance is always important, but especially then). January (after school resumes) and February tend to be the next cheapest times to go.

 

[jerseygal]

Our first and only Disney cruise was on the Dream in the month of August with adult kids. We used the adult only section pools, but would only consider going again in non summer months, non holidays, non school vacations. Understandably, in the summer there were SO MANY kids, but we really enjoyed the cruise and loved Castaway Cay and the ability to have adult only beach!

 

[Cruising Engineer]

We cruise in the off seasons of Sept, Oct, and January because there are fewer kids on board. We do not have children and still totally enjoy everything DCL has to offer. Just planned a family trip for early Sept 2020 with my nephew and his family (7, 5, 4, yrs old). For 2 days at WDW and 3 days on the ship, I think we can handle it, then it's a B2B for 5 day WC just the two of us. Been on Celebrity and enjoyed the cruise, but love Disney.

 

[dclpluto]

We have sailed 21 times on dcl. 19 of them without kids.

 

[Auntof2]

We are big Disney World (and Disneyland) vacationers and cruised without kids over Memorial Day weekend last year. I am sure school was out but it didn't seem like there were too many kids - or too many people in general - on the ship, this was the Dream. We picked this cruise for a number of reason, aside from being Disney fans. 1) Timing - we were both off work, flew to Orlando Thursday night and stayed at the MCO Hyatt and then took a car service to the port (more expensive than the Disney bus service, but totally worth it in my opinion). 2) It was short, a three night cruise, as I was using this as a test to see if I could handle cruising in general. We have a longer (non-Disney) cruise with a bunch of friends this year and I wanted to make sure I could handle things from a sea sickness standpoint. 3) My husband went on a Disney cruise in college and raved about Castaway Cay (of course we couldn't dock and missed it, gah!). 4) I was really interested in both Remy and Vanellope's Sweet Shop.

Aside from Castaway Cay we were able to do everything I/we had hoped for. Loved dinner at Remy - probably only a one time thing for us, but it was so worth it. I enjoyed my sundae at Vanellope's and have my car container souvenir. Absolutely loved the adult areas of the ship, especially the champagne bar. Really enjoyed the main dining room and requested (and received) a table for just the two of us. Room service was also fantastic and we're still talking about how good the BLT was. We also spent a decent amount of time in the adult pool which was usually empty or maybe two to four other people, and also enjoyed the hot tubs (those got more crowded). It was opening weekend for Solo so we were able to watch that in a beautiful theater when CC didn't work out. I enjoyed our Disney cruise so much that I tried to convince our friends we should do the same for our larger milestone birthday cruise we are doing with a lot of people, but between one person insisting on a casino being on the ship and another person being concerned about price, I wasn't successful and we'll be on NCL.

We vacation well a lot (lots of points and miles from work travel - not trying to brag, just giving a comparison point) and our short Disney cruise is one of my favorite vacations ever (and we have been to Hawaii, Paris, London, etc). I've been annoying my husband by nonstop talking about doing another one, and finally convinced him to book one of the summer 2020 cruises which we just did the other day. I was able to sway him with the double dip giving us two shots at Castaway Cay considering we missed it on our last cruise. Heck, I even leaned towards booking a family cruise with my in-laws and nieces/nephews, as I know they would love it and the thought of the kids eyes lighting up and having big dinners together just made my heart warm. And then I remembered how my nieces mother treated us when we took the entire family to Disney and pushed that thought aside. (Probably TMI, just trying to express how much we enjoyed our one solo cruise just the two of us).

 

[dcassetta]

We are Disney World vacationers and have never done a Disney Cruise. I have only done one cruise in my life and that was many moons ago on Carnival.

With booking DW they have discounted rooms at certain times does DCL do that as well? I have no clue where, best time, ship anything.

For you Cruisers out there where should I start? Use a travel Agent? Best time to go? If anyone could point me in the right direction I would appreciate it. I'm not even sure this is something we will do, so I would love any feed back.

Since you enjoy going to Disney World, you will most likely enjoy a Disney cruise. Most of my Disney cruises have been without children, and I really think the experience has something for everyone. There are lots of locations on the ship where children are not present. And as a PP said there is an adult only beach at Disney's Castaway Cay. Now, if you want to avoid children entirely, the Disney cruise line is not for you.

Disney does occasionally offer some last-minute specials, usually within about three months of the cruise date. However those are not offered on all cruises, and may not save that much money. The best option is to plan way ahead and book a cruise when it first opens, that tends to be the best available price. Usually, the lowest priced cruises will be those that occur when school is in session.

The best time to go does depend on where you'd like to go. If you're planning to sail to the Bahamas or the Caribbean, summers will be hot and the winters will offer nicer weather. If you'd like to go to Alaska or Europe, Disney only sails those locations in the summertime. In Florida, Disney primarily uses the Port Canaveral cruise terminal, but they also sail out of Miami. The Alaska cruises sail from Vancouver. In addition to those locations, Disney has some limited offerings from Galveston and San Diego. Beginning in 2020 they will also sail from New Orleans for a limited time. If one of those locations is close to your home, that can save you money as you don't have to fly to the cruise port.

The sponsor of this particular message board is Dreams Unlimited, and they do have Disney cruise specialists. You might start by contacting them and seeing what they offer. A cruise requires much less detailed planning then a trip to Disney World, but you might still find it helpful to use a travel agent, especially on your first cruise. You can also just wander around on the DCL site itself and take a look at dates and prices.

 

[Dug720]

Solo adult. Disney Cruiser.

What’s the problem?

 

[kiford]

Ten DCL cruises so far. No kids. We find that sticking to the adults-only areas makes the cruise feel like there's far fewer children than there really are. We don't find it to be too overwhelming with children and given that we do not have kids, we would notice it if we felt we were being inundated with them. Yes, the entertainment is more family-oriented but I don't feel that it's too childish. I'm fine not to have Vegas-style shows, raunchy entertainers, casino, dance until dawn entertainment so I'm fine with "family" oriented. We do spend time in the lounges and try to rotate through them but often find on a particular cruise that we like one of them better than the others so gravitate towards it more than others.

We usually cruise in early December if we're doing Caribbean/Bahamian cruises (2 of our cruises have been Med and 1 Baltic). It's not too hot, everything is done up for Christmas, flights and prices are not too crazy earlier in December and I can be home for the holidays with family. For European cruises, you're basically limited in dates so they weren't the most ideal times especially for weather (hot, hot, hot for the Med ones) so with those it was the itinerary that dictated the time to cruise.

 

[GPaLarry]

Of the eight times we have cruised with DCL, three have been without kids/gkids. We love both for various reasons. There are adult areas we retreat to when the kids become too much. We find lots or nothing to do, too. We used a TA for our first cruise, the rest have been by ourselves. Each has its advantages...agree with those above that for your first cruise a TA is most helpful. Cruise on...

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

No. If we got to travel without our kids, we would go to a resort in Fiji that is kid-free or other places we can’t easily go with small children.

 

[diznymom]

We do. We are empty-nesters and headed to Hawaii to Vancouver w/ just the 2 of us.

Awesome adult only areas and activities.

 

[dizmama3]

The first cruise DH and I went on together was just the 2 of us (and we got engaged on the ship!). We had a blast. There's plenty of other adults cruising without kids - our tablemates were made up of 2 other adults-only parties, and we saw many other similar tables while dining each night.

 

[disneylove69]

All 10 Disney cruises were without adults.

 

[lindsay0526]

I would say no. To me, Disney is great because it caters to my family- they focus on the kids which makes them happy, which makes me have a great vacation. Once the kids are gone, there are a lot of their places I would like to go/experiences to have that are not tied to Disney.

 

[mmmears]

Yep. 2 of our 4 cruises were taken as a family after my DD became an adult. We have a great time, and like DCL even more since we can spend more time in the adult only areas.

 

[Luv2Diz]

Four Disney cruises so far and two more booked. No little kids with us on any of them. I cruise with my adult daughter and we enjoy it!