Best time to cruise Disney?

[Mom2Joce]

Hey there, we're on the west coast and not famililar with Florida and the weather. I wondered what is the ideal month/time to sail a 7 day Disney cruise?
Also, which is the better itinerary, western carib or eastern?

[Host Mick]

This is another of those "it depends..." answers.

The Fall is the best time to cruise because the rates are lower, but a hurricane might mess up your itinerary. Not that that is always a bad thing, it adds a bit of excitement to go to ports unexpectedly.

The best time to cruise is when the kids are in school/out of school depending. Because most cruises are full or nearly so, the in/out of school time effects the ratio of kids to adults aboard. If you're an adult going without kids, going during school breaks puts more kids aboard but fewer adults doing adult activities and using adult facilities. Likewise the opposite if you have kids going when school is in. More adults but fewer kids. It all depends. The rates are much higher during school break periods like summer and spring break.

East or West? I can't say. I went on the Eastern itinerary and it was the best. Then I went on a Western and it was the best also. I'd give the tie-breaker to the Eastern itinerary though because I liked the ports just a little more. However, the ports are about 10% of the experience, the rest of the cruise experience is aboard which is nearly identical either way. Don't sweat the compass.

[mom x4,grandma x4]

Eastern is our favorite, we like the western too, but eastern is our favorite. We especially love the extra sea day for things to do on the ship. We usually cruise in September and November or first part of december, before the rates go sky high for the holidays. December is nice because the ship and CC are decorated for Christmas which is a bonus for us. Weather is usually very nice, around 80. Sometimes the ocean water will be a little cool for swimming, but that can change every week in the winter.
I'm sure you'll like both itenaries.

mom x4,grandma x4