How/When to get BEST prices for DCL..any discounts with DVC? Disney Visa?

[disprincess2213]

We are DVC members but bought resale. We really want to take a Disney cruise in the future and dont even know where to begin in finding the best price. WHERE can I find the best prices...TA? the DCL website? Expedia? WHEN is the best time to book one? Do they ever run specials? Any tips are greatly appreciated to help me get the best price for a DCL cruise!!

 

[perditax]

http://www.mousesavers.com/disney-c...dvice/disney-cruise-line-discounts-and-deals/

 

[dcassetta]

In general, the best prices can be found on opening day, or very close to the sailing date, when Disney sometimes offers some discounts. The last minute rates do not usually allow you to choose your specific cabin, only a cabin category. Disney has also done some specials out of ports that have not sold as well, like Galveston. Some travel agents may offer on board credits, and you can currently get a $50 drink credit for using a Disney Visa.

 

[4rkdz]

Here is what I did. Made a reservation on DCL website for 2016 Fantasy 7 day cruise for family of 5 cat 4b for $7275. Did some research online and found that Costco offered a $545 Costco card for booking with them. We own a timeshare and belong to RCI which also books cruises. I called RCI and told them the Costco offer and they beat the Costco price by $100 and reduced my cruise fare by $645. So I end up paying $6630 instead of the DCL price of $7275. That's $645 for us to spend on other cruise stuff. I felt pretty good about that deal.

 

[Disneyteachers]

Living in a location that requires flights to the port for us has been an issue with the last minute deals. I can get a decent cruise deal that way, but get nailed on flight prices. We finally booked our first DCL cruise (Alaska 2016) on opening day. The price 1.5 mo later has not changed...

 

[wdwwishes]

Discount and Disney are words that are seldom used together I've always heard that opening day is the best pricing and opening day booking has been our practice. Do I check the pricing a lot after that, a few times and it's usually gone up a bit. Do I spend time making price comparisons etc., no. Maybe I'm foolish but DCL is our cruise line of choice at this point so I step up to the plate, credit card in hand

 

[MNtwinsplus1mom]

Living in a location that requires flights to the port for us has been an issue with the last minute deals. I can get a decent cruise deal that way, but get nailed on flight prices. We finally booked our first DCL cruise (Alaska 2016) on opening day. The price 1.5 mo later has not changed...

Interesting/good to hear the Alaska prices have been stable. I have been planning on a future Alaska DCL cruise and was shocked at the price jump this year on opening day. I think they started so high that increases perhaps will take longer than previously was the case.

This cruise is a few years off for us, but I appreciate tips on making it more affordable and have been impressed with the onboard credit Dreams Unlimited offers when booking through them. I am also buying discounted target gift cards on raise.com and using them to buy Disney gift cards at 5% off at target.com, so that amounts to at least 10% off. I also plan to use the Disney vacation account (can load the gift cards into it) and take advantage of the free giftcards they offer for using the account. Every little bit helps, I think.

 

[Ofinn]

Book opening day if it's peak season. Book last minute if it's off season and you're flexible. There has been lot's of discounts over the last year on off season cruises, but airfare can be problematic for some. The GT rates are much better for people that can drive or can fly on points.

 

[bcwife76]

Living in a location that requires flights to the port for us has been an issue with the last minute deals. I can get a decent cruise deal that way, but get nailed on flight prices. We finally booked our first DCL cruise (Alaska 2016) on opening day. The price 1.5 mo later has not changed...

I'm hoping that price increases for Alaska 2016 are slower than previous years; I would really like to book for August 2016 but dh wants to see how we do on our first cruise this coming September before booking a second one.....

 

[CM Dad]

We are DVC members but bought resale. We really want to take a Disney cruise in the future and dont even know where to begin in finding the best price. WHERE can I find the best prices...TA? the DCL website? Expedia? WHEN is the best time to book one? Do they ever run specials? Any tips are greatly appreciated to help me get the best price for a DCL cruise!!

Sign up for a 6 month contract with DCL and they will pay you to cruise, but you may not get to pick the exact ship or ports you want.

 

[dsnydaddy]

I work at it pretty hard and sometimes wonder if it is worth the effort. But I am currently managing a 19% discount on my next cruise. Here's how I am doing it:

1. Okay, this really doesn't help the first time cruiser but for those who have cruised before, 10% discount for OBB is the way to go for a good headstart.
2. Target Red Card will buy Disney Gift cards at a 5% of discount. There's other ways to get even more but those really skirt the boundaries of the rules and so I don't go there.
3. While I am shopping at Target I look for the frequent deals that they have. Like Buy TP and paper towels together and get a $5 gift card. I never buy stuff that I don't use or will go to waste to get a GC so it's free money to me. My local Targets allow me to buy Disney Gift Cards with those Target Cards. Depending on the offers that are out there I can get between $10-20 a month that way.
4. Shopkick. This is realy pretty easy money if you have a smart phone. Just 6,250 kicks gets at $25 target gift card. And again, my local Targets have never had a problem with buying a Disney Gift card with the Shopkick target gift card. Since, my wife and kids all have smart phones we can usually rack up $100 in gift cards over the course of a few months.

 

[MelSpees]

I haven't heard of Shopkick before. Guess I'll have to look it up. Thanks.

 

[havoc315]

I'm hoping that price increases for Alaska 2016 are slower than previous years; I would really like to book for August 2016 but dh wants to see how we do on our first cruise this coming September before booking a second one.....

Remember, the best savings is to book your next cruise while on board. 10% off and extra on board credit. We got a very good price on our upcoming Alaska cruise that way. Booking opening day would have been more expensive. Though very shortly after we booked, balconies mostly sold out, so the prices skyrocketed for any balconies that did become available. So the timing worked out perfectly.

We booked August 2015 Alaska while on a August 2014 cruise.

 

[WelshDH@98CPAlum]

This may be a silly question - but how do you find about next available cruises so you can be ready on "Opening Day"? Is there a good site/link for research? Thank-you!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

This may be a silly question - but how do you find about next available cruises so you can be ready on "Opening Day"? Is there a good site/link for research? Thank-you!

Generally, just hang out here. The news that new itineraries are coming tends to show up here a couple of days early.