Best Disney cruise alternative

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This made me look into Boston as a port (had never thought of it) but nice option coming from DC.

Looks like NCL has an April 2026 cruise to Bermuda for four nights. The ship is the Gem. Is there an off chance someone here has been on that ship? Also first time possible cruise goers!

I’ve done the trip twice years ago and loved it. Bermuda is lovely. It’s a small ship so not much going on but found is good. I liked it docked for a few days to explore. Food was expensive so if we were near the ship we’d eat on it.

[Anonymous]

I have only been on 3 cruises - one Disney and 2 RC. I liked both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Be aware that the options will be much worse than what you’d get from flordia.
But if you must….i guess I’d do Royal carribean and consider upgrading to their concierge level of money is really no object.
And bring Bonine.

OK I’ll bite. Who’s Bonnie?

Bonnie's the life of the party.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This made me look into Boston as a port (had never thought of it) but nice option coming from DC.

Looks like NCL has an April 2026 cruise to Bermuda for four nights. The ship is the Gem. Is there an off chance someone here has been on that ship? Also first time possible cruise goers!

I’ve done the trip twice years ago and loved it. Bermuda is lovely. It’s a small ship so not much going on but found is good. I liked it docked for a few days to explore. Food was expensive so if we were near the ship we’d eat on it.

Thanks so much for your reply! Appreciate it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This made me look into Boston as a port (had never thought of it) but nice option coming from DC.

Looks like NCL has an April 2026 cruise to Bermuda for four nights. The ship is the Gem. Is there an off chance someone here has been on that ship? Also first time possible cruise goers!

I’ve done the trip twice years ago and loved it. Bermuda is lovely. It’s a small ship so not much going on but found is good. I liked it docked for a few days to explore. Food was expensive so if we were near the ship we’d eat on it.

Thanks so much for your reply! Appreciate it

We’ve done NCL twice and Royal twice. nCl probably has a nicer concierge level (haven). Ncl is really good for teens or young adults because of all the live music venues and things like quasi Broadway shows. For younger kids, it might not have as much value added. NCl also has freestyle dining which some people like but other people find kind of a pain (you need to make reservations every night). You can almost always get free speecialitt dining as a promo on NCL but then you have to try or wrangle reservations at the different restaurants. I would just check the different ships and see what amenities each has and go from there. When my kids were little they loved the NcL getaway because it had a bungee trampoline, massive climbing structure, climbing wall, and I think a ropes course. Look and see what your kids will like and choose from there. I’m the one that suggested Bonine because the seas from the ny/nj area are notoriously rough — by leaving from Florida, you avoid that. Also, a lot of those ships stop in Nassau which is one of the worst cruise stops. Bermuda is nice but I think the water is still cold in winter so might be tough to have a nice beach day of going in winter. That’s a trade off with leaving from my/nj/ma or even Baltimore—it takes too long to get to the really warm waters like Jamaica or Cozumel. But life is full of trade offs and if you can’t fly for some reason, this is maybe a good alternative.

Once you pick, if you call Costco to book they will give you a very large Costco gift card.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Norwegian is nice, especially in the Haven. There are 5 & 7 day cruises to Bermuda from both NYC and Boston. We went last summer and had a great time. We still prefer Disney Cruise Line because of all of the kids activities, but Norwegian was a fun change of pace.

PP from last message. Did you happen to go out of NY or Boston to Bermuda? It’s nice to hear it’s a good option for kids! Disney is SO pricy.

PP- We did a 7 day from NYC to Bermuda on the Norwegian Joy. We had 3 days docked at Bermuda, which we really enjoyed.