Pre-Mediterranean cruise flight and hotel

[Deb in IA]

OK, I'm sorry if this has been asked before, but we are new to Med cruising and I am just kicking my planning into high gear!

We are currently booked on the 12-night June 15 - 27 Med cruise.

Does Disney still do a "land and sea" package, where they book your flight and hotel?

I'm not interested in the Adventures by Disney stuff - it is a bit too pricey, and would rather explore on our own, rather than be babysitted.

But, we would feel more comfortable if Disney was responsible for the air and hotel. I remember they used to have this for the Caribbean and Bahamas cruises, and I know that if a person was delayed on a Disney-booked flight, there were more options/refunds than if you booked it on your own.

Thanks!

 

[bats]

As far as I'm aware, they don't do land and sea acreages anymore, but you can still get them to do your flights.
If you'd like more info on Med destinations and DIY tours, we have a good thread going here: http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3046310

Hope that helps
Joa

 

[Maleficent73]

OK, I'm sorry if this has been asked before, but we are new to Med cruising and I am just kicking my planning into high gear!

We are currently booked on the 12-night June 15 - 27 Med cruise.

Does Disney still do a "land and sea" package, where they book your flight and hotel?

I'm not interested in the Adventures by Disney stuff - it is a bit too pricey, and would rather explore on our own, rather than be babysitted.

But, we would feel more comfortable if Disney was responsible for the air and hotel. I remember they used to have this for the Caribbean and Bahamas cruises, and I know that if a person was delayed on a Disney-booked flight, there were more options/refunds than if you booked it on your own.

Thanks!

We are on the 08 June Med Cruise and booked both air and pre-cruise hotel through DCL. I have seen many people say that it is much cheaper to book on your own, but if you're like me and don't have time to track websites for price fluctuations, then having DCL take care of those particulars is definitely an option.

 

[jel0511]

You can have DCL book both your flights and pre/post hotel as well. We booked our own air and let DCL book our hotel as they were actually cheaper than booking it independently. This year they are using the Barcelona Rennaisance and the Hilton Diagonal Mar hotels. These rooms only sleep a maximum of 3 so if your more you need to book two rooms. Talk to your TA or call DCL directly to find out your options.

 

[tajz90]

I called DCL about hotel options. We have 4 and I know we can sleep in one room, but they said we had to have two. I asked if I could leave one person off. DCL couldn't do that, but said if I wanted to try to book hotel on my own and leave a person off, I could try.

I just let it go. If they have made special arrangements for anyone to sleep more than 3, let me know, I would love to save some.

 

[jel0511]

I called DCL about hotel options. We have 4 and I know we can sleep in one room, but they said we had to have two. I asked if I could leave one person off. DCL couldn't do that, but said if I wanted to try to book hotel on my own and leave a person off, I could try.

I just let it go. If they have made special arrangements for anyone to sleep more than 3, let me know, I would love to save some.

Most hotel rooms in Barcelona (and Europe for that manner) only sleep up to 3, and they usually only sleep 2. They are SUPER tiny, unlike hotel rooms here in the US. There are VERY few hotels that have rooms that sleep 4 and usually it's cheaper to get two rooms. Even if you try to sneak in a 4th, there would be no place for them to sleep believe me!!! There usually in one bed, with maybe a small pull out or rollaway allowed for the 3rd. In Barcelona, I know the Novotel chain has rooms that sleeps 4.

 

[Tired mom of 3 boys]

We're on the same cruise.... We booked air and hotel on our own, but I know it was available through Disney. Looking forward to meeting you!

 

[tajz90]

The rooms aren't that small and if you're willing to squeeze, 4 in a room could be pulled off! . We're used to camping!!

In 07, we booked 2 rooms, but it was unnecessary because the one bed was big and we could all fit in it.
Post vacation hotel, we booked 1 and there were two tiny beds and a chair. We managed. I'd love to save the extra $$$$.

 

[disneycrazy2004]

Hi, we booked our hotel and flight on our own. I just found Disney expensive and it is 4 of us. We booked the Colon Hotell and it would sleep 4. We got a rate of 340 euro for 2 nights. I thought that was OK. We are arriving 2 days earlier just in case we run into any flight delays.

 

[nzdisneymom]

We are currently booked on the 12-night June 15 - 27 Med cruise.

Does Disney still do a "land and sea" package, where they book your flight and hotel?

But, we would feel more comfortable if Disney was responsible for the air and hotel. I remember they used to have this for the Caribbean and Bahamas cruises, and I know that if a person was delayed on a Disney-booked flight, there were more options/refunds than if you booked it on your own.

We are on the same sailing as you and we are doing hotel/transfers through DCL because air was so much less on our own. But we have done air/transfers/hotel for three other cruises through DCL as well and it's really nice to know that once we step off the plane, there will be someone to get us to the hotel and then to the port. And you're right - booking through DCL gives you access to DCL staff to help you if your flight is delayed.

We have a Meet Thread started if you want to join us.

 

[DL1957]

We are also on the same cruise. We booked everything except our air through DCL. Hotel and transfers and plan to the shore excursion they have for when you get off the ship that takes you to the airport or back to a DCL hotel. The only thing we were informed which was not an issue for us was that at the time we booked the hotel about 4 months ago we could only book a total of 3 days which was great for us because we wanted 2 nights before and 1 night after. Sue

 

[Deb in IA]

Thanks so much, EVERYONE!!!


Tired mom, nzdisneymom, and DL 1957, we are super excited to meet you all!

I got onto the initial thread for this cruise way back last winter when we first booked this, but it blew up so fast, I lost track of who was who!

I'll be much more active on this board as the cruise approaches, I'm sure.

I think we will do what several of you have done - book the hotel and transfers with DCL. We are checking into air fares, and will try to use some frequent flier miles to save some $$, so we will probably do the air on our own.

One more question: Do you call DCL to book the hotel and transfers? Can you do it online from the DCL website? I looked there and couldn't find it, and then I was on hold with DCL yesterday for over 20 minutes.

 

[woody73]

. . . And you're right - booking through DCL gives you access to DCL staff to help you if your flight is delayed.

We were on the 2010 EBTA, which arrived at Barcelona during the Ash Cloud that was causing cancelation of hundreds of flights in Europe.

We received a notice in our cabin stating DCL was monitoring the flight situation, and if you had booked air through Disney, they would make alternative arrangements for you if needed. For those who didn't, there was a list of airline phone numbers.

Woody

 

[nzdisneymom]

Thanks so much, EVERYONE!!!

One more question: Do you call DCL to book the hotel and transfers? Can you do it online from the DCL website? I looked there and couldn't find it, and then I was on hold with DCL yesterday for over 20 minutes.

Yes, you book through DCL (or if you have used a travel agent, they will have to do it for you, or if you are using DVC points, then DVC has to do it for you). If you aren't using DVC points, then they just add the cost for the hotel and transfers to your account and you pay when your final payment is due. (DVC you have to pay right then.)

We have four people in our party and as a result have two rooms at the Barcelona Renaissance. We have transfers from the airport to the hotel and then from the hotel to the port. We are also staying a night post-cruise and have the same arrangement only in reverse

 

[sayhello]

We were on the 2010 EBTA, which arrived at Barcelona during the Ash Cloud that was causing cancelation of hundreds of flights in Europe.

We received a notice in our cabin stating DCL was monitoring the flight situation, and if you had booked air through Disney, they would make alternative arrangements for you if needed. For those who didn't, there was a list of airline phone numbers.

Woody

And those who had trip insurance could call their insurance company's concierge service (collect!) and have them book it for them.

Sayhello

 

[suzysharp]

I called DCL about hotel options. We have 4 and I know we can sleep in one room, but they said we had to have two. I asked if I could leave one person off. DCL couldn't do that, but said if I wanted to try to book hotel on my own and leave a person off, I could try.

I just let it go. If they have made special arrangements for anyone to sleep more than 3, let me know, I would love to save some.

Spanish fire codes do not allow you to have 4 in a hotel room b/c I remember years ago going to Madrid and Malaga with my parents and them getting us our own room due to that even though we could have all fit in the one room...