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Is a 8 day cruise and disney too much?


dolphin2012

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I am thinking about an 8 day on the liberty in june and then a few days at disney.. would you do the disney part first and then the cruise?... i hate to pay for airfare and miss disney too since im so close... the ports are grand turk, st thomas and tortola and st martin.. we may not get a vacation the next year so trying to get it all in... advice please... thanks!!! we like to do tours off the ship but these ports seem to be beaches so thought it might be more relaxing.. our fifth cruise with carnival...

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Depends on what you plan to do in Disney. If you're just going to do one park, one day, then relax the other two, maybe do Disney after the cruise. But a Disney vacation is hectic. I would likely do Disney first, then relax for my 8 days on the sea. You can do as much or as little as you like. With Disney, you're on the go all day. Enjoy whatever you decide.

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I hope it's not too much as I'm doing the same thing before an 8 day on the Breeze.

 

I opted for before the cruise figuring that the cruise would be more relaxing and have more down time with sea days than WDW.

 

I considered doing WDW as a separate trip, but it made more sense, like you, to pay only once for airfare. In our case, we're flying into Orlando and then driving to Miami, where we'll fly home from.

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We did a 7 day cruise and Disney last year. Everyone recommended that we visit Disney first and then take the cruise. They were right. After going, going, going all the time at WDW, it was nice to relax on the ship. We came home rested and refreshed rather than tired out.

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Last year, we got to Orlando on Wednesday afternoon...checked into All-Star Movies Resort...spent Thursday at Epcot and Friday at Animal Kingdom. Both parks (and downtown Disney when not at the parks or the hotel) required so much darn walking...and walking...and walking. While we had a blast, we couldn't wait to get on the ship. Granted, our cruise was only the 5-day on the Ecstasy, but that order allowed us to recuperate.

 

After the cruise, we spent a few more days on the West Coast of FL before flying back to Cali...but I vote for Disney First and Cruise Second.

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I have done combination vacations with cruises and Disney every year for the last 5 years. I personally like doing Disney first. As other people have said, you tend to be on the go the whole time while you are at Disney World. It is nice to take a relaxing cruise after all of that running around.

 

To be honest I always feel like I need a vacation from my vacation when I get home no matter which I do first Disney or the cruise. The one exception was when we took a Disney Cruise. That was the most boring cruise I ever took.

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Another vote for Disney 1st. I do this all the time...In fact I usually do a few days before.....and then go back again for a few days to a different WDW hotel. Feel like 3 vacations:D

Hey once I paid the airfare....I get all it's worth. Plus I own DVC so I don't "pay" for a room so I utilize my points whenever we fly to MCO.

Which is often;)

 

I always use Fl tours and they are great to transport me to port and such.

Happy planning

Kerri

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I am thinking about an 8 day on the liberty in june and then a few days at disney.. would you do the disney part first and then the cruise?... i hate to pay for airfare and miss disney too since im so close... the ports are grand turk, st thomas and tortola and st martin.. we may not get a vacation the next year so trying to get it all in... advice please... thanks!!! we like to do tours off the ship but these ports seem to be beaches so thought it might be more relaxing.. our fifth cruise with carnival...

 

Absolutely do Disney first. We have done 3 Disney Land / Sea packages, and have always been glad we did it in that order.

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I'm the opposite of everyone else. I like Disney after as it takes away the sting of having to get off of the ship. It gives me something to look forward too instead of the dread of getting off the ship and heading straight home back to reality.

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We have done the Parks / Cruise thing many times over the years, and we agree with the majority. We have always found it much better to do the park portion first, then the cruise. Perfect way to wind down after a big dose of go, go, go !!!! :D

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I say it depends if you have kids or not. If you do have kides, definitely go to Disney first or you will be exhausted . If it just the two of you, i would do Disney after the cruise. ( which we have done several times ) . Either way it is a GREAT combo....:)

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Not to mention you probably

could have done a (7+7) day

b2b cruises for the price

of your Disney cruise..

 

I have done combination vacations with cruises and Disney every year for the last 5 years. I personally like doing Disney first. As other people have said, you tend to be on the go the whole time while you are at Disney World. It is nice to take a relaxing cruise after all of that running around.

 

To be honest I always feel like I need a vacation from my vacation when I get home no matter which I do first Disney or the cruise. The one exception was when we took a Disney Cruise. That was the most boring cruise I ever took.

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In May we did 3 days at Universal and then did the 8 days on the Breeze with stops at St. Thomas, San Juan, St. Maartin (sp?), and Grand Turk. It was a blast.

 

It was the first time for my two boys to go Universal and a cruise. With drive time we were gone about two weeks, which was long enough. I do not think I would like to do Disney or Universal after a cruise. It was more relaxing to visit Universal first then go slow with the cruise. :)

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We did a 7 day and then a week in Orlando 3 years ago. It was my first time at Disney and the other parks and frankly, after a week of snorkeling & relaxing, I was disappointed with the parks and we left early to go to the coast and swim some more.

 

I definitely think that it would have been better for us to do Orlando first; the difference in pace and atmosphere was just too jarring.

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I am thinking about an 8 day on the liberty in june and then a few days at disney.. would you do the disney part first and then the cruise?... i hate to pay for airfare and miss disney too since im so close... the ports are grand turk, st thomas and tortola and st martin.. we may not get a vacation the next year so trying to get it all in... advice please... thanks!!! we like to do tours off the ship but these ports seem to be beaches so thought it might be more relaxing.. our fifth cruise with carnival...

 

Not at all to me how old are your kids? I would do Disney first then take a cruise from all the walking and eating, by the way I am available for adoption :D:D Have fun!!!!!!!

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I am thinking about an 8 day on the liberty in june and then a few days at disney.. would you do the disney part first and then the cruise?... i hate to pay for airfare and miss disney too since im so close... the ports are grand turk, st thomas and tortola and st martin.. we may not get a vacation the next year so trying to get it all in... advice please... thanks!!! we like to do tours off the ship but these ports seem to be beaches so thought it might be more relaxing.. our fifth cruise with carnival...

 

Sounds fantastic either way, but I think the park should be first & cruise second. That way you can rest & relax on the cruise after a hectic time at Disney World.

 

By the way, can you take me with you!!! LOL

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Haven't read through all the posts, but we did 2 base days (MK and HS + DTD... that's Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Downtown Disney) before CCL Dream. Off the Dream, we still had all day saturday, so we drove to EP, picked up hoppers, and hopped all day until midnight. In fact, while the cruise was a let down, Disney was THE best part of the trip (and the islands were nice too).

 

My recommendation? No more than 2-3 days of parks before the cruise. We were worn out after 2. Happy relaxing cruise. And then run off the ship and do one more day!!! wohoo! It chases away an post-cruise blues you may have. Who wants to get off of a ship early right? If you have a fun park to go to!

Now, 8 days is admittedly pretty long. So if you are only going to do one part of it with land and one part of it with sea, than definitely as stated definitely do yourselves a favor and go before the cruise so you can run around and have a blast and than relax the rest of the trip.

 

But a cruise sandwich before and after? That's perfect. We are doing that next year prior to our 4 day DCL Magic. 2 days before, 1 or 2 days after. Possibly one of those as SeaWorld or perhaps a water park.

 

The only thing tricky is figuring out transportation for the before and after land trips. We snatched up airfare when it fell to 242!

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We just sailed the fascination from Saturday to Thursday. Thursday we drove to Orlando from Jax and checked into a condo. Friday we did Chef Mickeys with a 7am reservation, then were at Magic Kingdom all day. Saturday we relaxed at the condo, then Sunday we drove home.

 

 

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