Can a cruise be affordable?

[Limerick]

Hi everybody. So now that I've got the DCL bug, I want to figure out if we really can swing it. I wrote to Dreams Unlimited and they wrote back, but I would really like to get some feedback from people booked for this July/August. so I have something to compare with.
We're thinking of travelling next July (7/03). We'd like the 4 day cruise/3 day land option. We are a family of 5 (kids 13, 8,7) and think that the Cat 10 adjoining room would be the best (least expensive) way to go. Can any of you offer some insight as to the price you paid? We were quoted $5,700. Is that about the average? We were really hoping to get it a bit lower. I haven't called Costco yet, but will if advised to do so.
Thanks for your help. We hope we can do it!

 

[prymsu]

i think if you would get prices for different times of the year, your price could drop quite a bit. Also it is much more cost effective to purchase your own airfare if you are flying in.

stayed tuned to this board, and in no time you will learn lots of tips on saving money.

personally I think september - october, and january are the best months for cruise deals.

 

[Hopkins]

Avoid the alcoholic drinks... EXTRA COST
Avoid the professional photos... EXTRA COST
Avoid the shore excursions... EXTRA COST
BUT,
Remember the tips for the stateroom host, server, head server and assistant server are EXTRA, but necessary.

I think if you can minimize you alcoholic beverages, professional photos and shore excursions, you can make cruising more affordable. Watch the time of year you book (if you can) and also you don't necessarily need a verandah or porthole for that matter. An inside cabin has it's benefits. Lots of places to save money.

Tina
Cat 11 inside cabin cruiser (3 times)
Cat 9 upcoming 1/03 Magic Western (porthole room)

 

[imgoingtodisney]

Sure a disney cruise is affordable. We look at it as paying off DVC, not paying for the cruise. Or okay maybe we are paying for the cruise and not so much for DVC. Ummmm

 

[Lisa F]

One thing you can do is split up your package and book the land separately from the sea. There are generally some kind of discounts on WDW rooms and packages are rarely the most cost effective way to go. You can check prices on DCL's website so you can easily play with dates and see if you can find a cruise that is less expensive than the dates you are thinking about.

Lisa

 

[zurgswife]

We currently have 2 cat 10's book in 03/02 and the cost for the 4day cruiseonly is about $3100 total....That means your 3 day onsite is about $2600 sounds like alot...

I would try to price the two separately to see if you could save more....

 

[Casey's mom]

Follow Lisa's advice and book the cruise separately from the land portion of your trip. This will give you the most flexibility to choose hotels and cruise cabin categories and typically the packages are more expensive than you could put together yourself. Have a great trip!

 

[Cassi]

I booked my land and sea separately for January. I was able to choose an All-Star resort to save money (I don't think you can choose those with the Land/Sea package, can you?). Anyway, I also joined the Disney Club (for a discount with my Entertainment Card) and I'm hoping to get a good break on our hotel (rates for next year aren't out yet). Definitely check with Costco. They gave me the lowest rate on the cruise.

 

[westjones]

Just wondering, had you considered two Cat. 11 or 12 rooms instead? We always stay in a Cat. 11 room (2 adults and 2 kids) and we are fine. We don't spend much time in our room, and with two adjoining rooms you would have plenty of space (I think).

I also agree about booking your cruise seperately from the land trip. You can get much less expensive hotels while at WDW and you won't be in your rooms much anyway.

DJ

 

[Limerick]

Thanks so much for all the advice. I will look into separate bookings, but I have a question about Disney hotels.

Since we are a family of 5, which hotels allow 5 in a room? I've already looked into Music/Movies and Carribbean and both have a max of 4 in a room. I don't think 2 rooms at a hotel would be cost effective, would it? We stayed offsite last year and really were fine, but I don't want to rent a car again for such a short visit. The HoJo's did offer a shuttle, but I don't want to rely on their schedule, which wasn't often enough for us. I'd much rather use a Disney onsite place and use their shuttles.

Hotel suggestions?
Thanks again!

PS: I was able to find 2 Cat 10 rooms for a 4-day for $3413 for all 5 of us. I think that's pretty good since we're limited to July/August, which are expensive months. Does it sound right to you?

 

[Irishmom23]

We always stay at Port Orleans Riverside (formerly Dixie Landings) for our family of five. The Alligator Bayou area has trundle beds in the rooms which easily accomodates the third child. The food court and restaurant are great, along with the pools. My older son actually uses the WDW buses on his own without difficulty. I booked through Dreams for the cruise and WDW stay, but booked them separately as suggested and paid much less than you were quoted. In fact, I had almost $1000 taken off my WDW stay almost a year after I booked (we are going this June) because they gave me whatever discount was available that came up. We also booked our own airflight, but are using the DCL transportation, though I do know there are much cheaper alternatives. With our airflight ,I was able to book last summer for this year from Boston, on Delta, a direct flight both ways, at the times we wanted, for a total of $158 per person. DCL could NOT even come close to that price. Good luck, and I'm sure you will find a way to make it affordable!! These boards have been a GREAT source of information (and INSPIRATION!) to me

 

[Lisa F]

For the $2300 difference between your two quotes, you could easily stay in a deluxe hotel, even at rack rate, for 3 nights! You should definately check out the budget board for ways of making the land part of your trip as inexpensive as possible. Another option besides a deluxe that sleeps 5 and PO riverside that sleeps 5 are the home away from home resorts... Either a DVC property (2br unit that sleeps up to, and you'll see REAL luxury) or maybe a ft. wilderness cabin, I think those sleep up to 6.

Good luck!

Lisa

 

[TheLorax2000]

Also, the dolphin sleeps 5 and you can get some decent deals.

 

[DiznyMagic]

Limerick:

How much are they quoting you for the AllStar or Movies Hotel? If the rate is low enough you may still be able to get two adjoining rooms and still make out less than 2300.00! Would the veterans out there agree?

 

[my3kids]

Beware of the category 11 ans 12 rooms. You can not get these categories with a connecting door between the 2 rooms. If you want that connection, you'll need at minimum a cat. 10.

We are a family of 5 in 2 cat. 10 rooms for about $3800 through Costco (for the 7 night cruise) Summer will be higher....ours is for the fall.

Book the land/sea by themselves. Also, you can look into the Ft. Wilderness Cabins...they sleep 6 and have a full kitchen so you can save on meals. Check mousesavers.com for discounts.

 

[Kaa]

Something to keep in mind about the land/sea package. The land portion includes your room and Ultimate Park Hopper Passes. That may help for comparison when looking into booking your land portion separately. If you can find some other type of discount for your land stay (Disney Club, code discounts - if available next year), you can bring your costs down. Since your youngest child is under the age of 9, you could book at Port Orleans Riverside. They have rooms furnished with two double beds and a trundle bed. The trundle bed is designed to sleep children under the age of 9. If you intend to ONLY visit the parks, you could purchase a 4-day Park Hopper pass and use the remaining day for a future trip.

 

[nearlychildless]

You might also look in to hotels in the downtown disney area. They have bus service to the parks so no car would be necessary. Check mouse savers for deals.

 

[westjones]

Sorry, I didn't realize that the Cat. 11 and 12 couldn't connect.

What about the Deluxe Family Staterooms? Some of them sleep 5, right? Is it cheaper to get two rooms that connect than to get just one of these? (I don't really know myself).

Well good luck. I am a 'bargain' shopper most of the time, and if it were me I would go with the two cheapest rooms and get them right next to each other and have one parent in each room and split the kids (2 in one and one in the other--this way you could go for two cat. 12 rooms since they only sleep 3 each anyway). We didn't spend much time at our rooms at all and I would hate to spend anymore money on them than I would need too.

The cruise is wonderful!
DJ

 

[TheLorax2000]

We had 2 rooms, side by side in the Cat 11 or 12. Don't remember which one. We actually put the kids (13, 9and 7) in one and us in the other. When we were in the rooms we set the doors so they wouldn't close all the way and lock (except when sleeping). The only caveat is that DCL won't guarantee that they'll be next to each other, but we took the chance. I think if we were down the hall or something we'd have put an adult in each room. Also they will book you as an adult in each room, we just waited till sailing and got extra keys made. If you try to get them at the dock, they give you a hard time.

It was cheaper this way then the family suite.

 

[din]

Originally posted by nearlychildless
You might also look in to hotels in the downtown disney area. They have bus service to the parks so no car would be necessary. Check mouse savers for deals.

I am not sure if this still applies to these hotels. First these are non disney owned hotels. The buses that take to the parks do not drop you off at the "door" of the park. For example I remember the buses from these hotels drop off across the lake at Magic Kingdom, then take the ferry to the main gate. The hotels in the resort drop off at the front gate of Magic Kingdom. The only ones that are in the "resort" areas are non-disney are Dolphin and Swan that take advantage of the WDW buses. Other Dis who have been there recently can correct me. I would suggest that you look in the All Star resort. We personally like the Epcot Resort.