Any Chance for Discounts in Early June

[Wanna be Ariel]

We are thinking of taking a surprise after school trip this June. Just the 5 night is what we were looking at. I was looking at prices and wondering if there is any chance there will be any discounts offered or are we to late in the game. Anyone have any help hints or sites they could give me. We are AP and DVC holders, but this would be our first Disney cruise and first cruise in 6 years. Any insight would be amazing.

 

[Shanti]

We are thinking of taking a surprise after school trip this June. Just the 5 night is what we were looking at. I was looking at prices and wondering if there is any chance there will be any discounts offered or are we to late in the game. Anyone have any help hints or sites they could give me. We are AP and DVC holders, but this would be our first Disney cruise and first cruise in 6 years. Any insight would be amazing.

Unfortunately DCL cruises don't get big discounts like WDW resorts do. If you're a Fl. resident or military, you might get a last-minute deal, & some cruises have last-minute restricted rates that are lower than ordinary rates, but as I said, don't expect big discounts. School vacation season rates are consistently high.

If you book through a travel agent, the agent might give you an onboard credit as a reward for booking the cruise through them.

 

[Wanna be Ariel]

Thank you. I was kinda thinking June was not going to be good for discounts. As far as Disney cruise prices, would I be better to wait til next year and book the day they open up June? Any benefit to do that?

 

[Shanti]

Thank you. I was kinda thinking June was not going to be good for discounts. As far as Disney cruise prices, would I be better to wait til next year and book the day they open up June? Any benefit to do that?

Booking early is typically better than waiting until the last minute, but early-booking of DCL cruises isn't the deal it once was, particularly for their standard Bahamas/Caribbean itineraries. Imo, if you really want (& can afford) this summer's cruise, you should book it. Unless it's a cruise to Alaska or some other less-usual itinerary, you likely didn't miss a huge deal by not booking earlier. It will likely be more expensive next summer as prices keep going up.

 

[MunFam]

I'm not sure if this will help you, but we cruised sort of last minute on the WBPC cruise in 2015. We did not book on opening day because we were hoping to get an IGT or OGT rate at the last minute...

...well, they did not end up offering an IGT or OGT rate (right away), but they did offer a military discount. We took it...combined with my own travel agent commission for the booking (I do corporate travel, but still qualified for the commission)...and with those two "discounts" we still paid more for the cruise than the opening day rate.

And @Shanti is correct. The rates are going up every year. Opening day on our same cruise for 2016 was $2,000 more than we paid...thats a 50% increase in fare.

 

[Wanna be Ariel]

Thank you both. We do not qualify for military discounts so that would not help. Would I be safe saying that I should book a cruise and then book another while on board? Is that where I will see my biggest discounts? We decided to just book a 4 day next February since the rates seemed to be a lot better. This will be out starter cruise, but since I know there will be lots more in the future I want to start learning the ins and outs for discount travel.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

Thank you both. We do not qualify for military discounts so that would not help. Would I be safe saying that I should book a cruise and then book another while on board? Is that where I will see my biggest discounts? We decided to just book a 4 day next February since the rates seemed to be a lot better. This will be out starter cruise, but since I know there will be lots more in the future I want to start learning the ins and outs for discount travel.

You just took your best step right there. You know you plan to go again, and you are starting to look now. That way, when you find a good deal, that works for you, you will recognize it right away and jump on it.

Try to find a week that works for you and doesn't work for other people. We cruised 7 days on the Fantasy with a group of 9 the last full week in August 2016. The two rooms together were a couple thousand less than they would have been any other week of the summer. If we could have waited one more week (as the schools in New Jersey where we used to live could have) we could have saved a couple thousand more. So if you can find a week that works for your schedule, but doesn't for other families, you may well find a cheaper rate. Start looking now, and keep your eyes open as rates change or new cruises are added in the future.

 

[Tulip2796]

We are FL residents. We booked our 1st (and only thus far) cruise less than 3 weeks before the sail date (early July 2016.) With the FL discount, we saved about $1400 over what the current price was. So it was $6800 for 7 nights on the Fantasy, 2A, 2C, verandah. I don't know what it cost on opening day so I don't know if we really got a great deal. While on board we went to book a placeholder but the guy at the desk told us that the FL discounts were the best deal if we were flexible about dates; so, he steered us away from booking the placeholder.