Beaches resort vs. Disney Cruise (1 Viewer)

Wife and I have analysis paralysis on this, so let's get some more analysis.

We have 3 and 5 year old kids.  Prices are almost identical including flights on 6 nights at Beaches resort in Ochos Rios vs. 5 night Disney Cruise that stops at Castaway Key and Cozumel.

We've never done a cruise before, so don't know if we'll like it.  Only AI we've done before was Sandals St Lucia 10 years ago before we had kids, and we liked it.

Any FBG's done either?  Which would you do?

Disney Cruise with kids.

No kids, do Beaches.

Check out Disney Vero Beach. Nice pool, organized activities for the kids.  Very relaxing. The villas have kitchens so that you can have breakfast in the room

I did a Disney cruise last summer (including stops at Castaway Cay and Nassau), but can't compare to Beaches. One thing to keep in mind (given your kid's age) is that the  Oceaneeer's Club is ages 3 to 12.  My son is 3, and was kind of overwhelmed with that, as he thrown in with a bunch of kids much older than him.  So, we could not really take advantage of that.  But we traveled with some of his cousins who are around 6, and they were able to take much better advantage of that.

Another thing that I also thought stunk as a first-time cruiser was that they award priority for activities/excursions that require sign-up based on number of Disney cruises that you have been on before. So, we were pretty low down on the list, and stuff like martini/cocktail activities were filled up before we could even sign up (they just sign up for it, and cancel later before they get charged for it).  You could go down to guest services on date of departure and wait in line for an hour-plus to get on a waiting list, but that crossed my "more pain that it was worth" line.

But lots of other activities on the ship that don't require sign-up like movies, character meet-ups, etc.

@Reaper

We did an Alaskan cruise with the kids about 10 years ago. We’ve taken lots of other vacations with them, and they still say the cruise was their favorite.

Go with the Disney cruise.

Beef resort for sure 

Did a Disney cruise a few weeks ago with a toddler. Absolutely amazing what they do for kids. I’m sure your kids would love it. Plenty for them to do to leave you and wife alone. 

D-Day said:

Check out Disney Vero Beach. Nice pool, organized activities for the kids.  Very relaxing. The villas have kitchens so that you can have breakfast in the room

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This sounds interesting. I hate cruises 

We'll be doing the Disney cruise sometime this spring. The debate was whether to do the parks or the cruise, winner was cruise followed by a couple days at the park. I pushed to do the parks first but the organizer seems to have won out.  

Should be fun. Any tips? Kids range 5-17

-OZ- said:

We'll be doing the Disney cruise sometime this spring. The debate was whether to do the parks or the cruise, winner was cruise followed by a couple days at the park. I pushed to do the parks first but the organizer seems to have won out.  

Should be fun. Any tips? Kids range 5-17

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There are kids clubs for all those age ranges. Make sure you take advantage of that and then go do your adult stuff. 
 

Personally I prefer the early dinner service. Late dinner stretches too far into the night for the kids. 

-OZ- said:

We'll be doing the Disney cruise sometime this spring. The debate was whether to do the parks or the cruise, winner was cruise followed by a couple days at the park. I pushed to do the parks first but the organizer seems to have won out.  

Should be fun. Any tips? Kids range 5-17

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Buy a photo mat at home, day 1 hand it in to guest services, last day of cruise they return it to you with all the main character signatures - great cheap souvenir without having to ensure you wait on all the lines to get each character to sign individually. 

dancer said:

Buy a photo mat at home, day 1 hand it in to guest services, last day of cruise they return it to you with all the main character signatures - great cheap souvenir without having to ensure you wait on all the lines to get each character to sign individually. 

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I like the concept, but our 5yo princess definitely wants to actually meet most of the characters.