Anyway to cruise cheaply??

[DianeV]

You are just not going to find good deals in peak season thats true. My advice is to take them out of school for a few days or check into the 4 day cruse. At least that way you can do the cruise and its alot less costly.

Mousesavers has a list of Magical Rates that have come out and that is where found our $379 3 night one we took in October.

 

[PatriciaH]

It is true that holiday/school vacation weeks are SO much more expensive! I am a travel agent and I feel bad for families that can't take the kids out of school or are teachers themselves. It can be $2,000 more + on a school vacation week for a 7 night vacation! That is another trip as far as I am concerned.

 

[Miniefan]

The Truth is Carnival Cruise is cheaper but the rooms aren't as good and no mouse on board, no Castaway cay. My suggestion is to do some very early planning and let the kids miss the days, the rates are much cheaper in the off peak seasons and also maybe try to do the 3 or 4 night cruise instead. Take it from me, vacation sounds great when you first start talking about it, but by the time you research and get loads of advice, and tell yourself all the definitely must do's the trip has become astronomical and now you can't afford to go at all. We just got back from Disney, March 25-30, and we did well as far as budget but we too wanted the Disney Cruise, so We will go in Sept. We will leave on a Sat and Spend Sat-Thurs in Orlando divivding half our time in each WDW and UO, IOA, Getting our tickets through AAA, for 192.50,adult Seasonal passWDW, 97.95 adult seasonal pass, UO,IOA. We are also staying offsite this time, which I HATE but am peace with, at the Hampton Inn, and will take the 3 night Bahmian Cruise Thurs-Sun. I am so Psyched, The total budget for 4 people is under 2,700 not including the food, transportation , but we are driving so we will not need any airfare or transfers. Being a vacation lover and a Disney Nut Believe me if there is any way to cut costs or downsize I can rework, refigure and make our trips happen. If there is anything I can help you with let me know don't give up on your vacation hopes just yet!! Keep an open mind
Hope this helped some
Kim

 

[blanq]

I really don't have much to add, as you have already received some great advice! One thing I will comment on is airfare. Certainly $200 per person sounds like fairly decent airfare from Chicago. I have heard that you can get some great rates flying ATA, out of Midway, instead of Ohare. So, in case you haven't heard that tip before, I thought I'd throw that out as a possibility to look at to maybe reduce your airfare costs even further.

 

[momtofour]

Thanks to all who took time to reply to my thread. Everyone offered some wonderful ideas, and gave me some tips to think about. Unfortunately, my days of being able to take my children out of school just don't exist anymore. I have a daughter who is in high school with a very demanding curriculum and a son who is a struggling learner. Two other average learners in the middle. They will just miss too much. I guess it's time for me to evaluate if this wonderful cruise is really worth $1200.00 per day!! For that much money, I don't even know if I could enjoy myself!! For someone who is somewhat frugal, or at least tries to be, I think it will be difficult to spend that much money in one week!! Thanks again to all!!

 

[DianeV]

You could do the cruise that leaves on Thursday until Sunday and they would only miss 2 days of school...you wouldnt be able to add on any extra days in Disney though but you would get a nice cruise and it would be less expensive.

 

[ksumom]

One thing to add that nobody has said is book through Sam's Club or from what I hear Costco. I got a quote through DCL, which was the same as AAA, and then got a quote from Sam's Club Travel and it was over $300 cheaper for 3 rooms, saved $110 on one room, $120 and $95 on the third. We are also going during the off season, decided to take the kids out of school, and we're planning for Sept. 2005! Good Luck with all of the planning! The pricing is a bit overwhelming!

 

[disneyjunkie]

Originally posted by momtofour
Thanks to all who took time to reply to my thread. Everyone offered some wonderful ideas, and gave me some tips to think about. Unfortunately, my days of being able to take my children out of school just don't exist anymore. I have a daughter who is in high school with a very demanding curriculum and a son who is a struggling learner. Two other average learners in the middle. They will just miss too much. I guess it's time for me to evaluate if this wonderful cruise is really worth $1200.00 per day!! For that much money, I don't even know if I could enjoy myself!! For someone who is somewhat frugal, or at least tries to be, I think it will be difficult to spend that much money in one week!! Thanks again to all!!

I know how you feel. There's no way I can pull my son out of school for a vacation. He'd miss a huge amount of work and rack up zeros. Were stuck with traveling during traditional school vacations.

 

[D L and K's Mom]

We did a 3 day Disney Cruise a few years ago and we loved it. We loveDisney World but the cruise was so much more relaxing. Since Hubby and I are both teachers we went in July. I have to admit I did not check prices for any other times as we could only go in July due to graduate classes. Is summer any cheaper than school vacations? ALso just a tip. We did do the cruise and a few days in Disney but we DID NOT book as a package. We foudn it much cheaper to do the "sea" and the "land" seperate. As I said this was a few years ago so things may have changed. Good luck and I hope you are able to go somehow.

 

[mad4themouse]

Originally posted by momtofour
Thanks to all who took time to reply to my thread. Everyone offered some wonderful ideas, and gave me some tips to think about. Unfortunately, my days of being able to take my children out of school just don't exist anymore. I have a daughter who is in high school with a very demanding curriculum and a son who is a struggling learner. Two other average learners in the middle. They will just miss too much. I guess it's time for me to evaluate if this wonderful cruise is really worth $1200.00 per day!! For that much money, I don't even know if I could enjoy myself!! For someone who is somewhat frugal, or at least tries to be, I think it will be difficult to spend that much money in one week!! Thanks again to all!!

Since you're from the frozen, northern mid-west, I assume that the children do not head back to school until around Labor Day. Disney cruise prices begin to drop dramatically around the 2nd week of August with the week before Labor Day being very cheap by Disney standards. If the children are not involved in band camp, football camp or cheerleading camp, this could be a more affordable option for you.

I just checked the Disney.com website and two Cat. 11 staterooms with 3 people each (2 adults and 1 child) would run you about $2500 for the 4-night cruise 8/28-9/1/05. That's closer to $625 per day for 6 people! The rate includes a discount for early booking and I "declined" the ground transfers and trip insurance. Your airfare and tips would also add to the bottom line.

Our last cruise was the 7-night Magic in mid-August of 2002. The rates were so much lower that week than the prior sailings! Like you, my children have reached an age where taking them out of school for a vacation is no longer an option we can excerise. It was a little hectic trying to prepare for back-to-school after such a relaxing trip but I think the lower price was well-worth it.

 

[momtofour]

Thanks for everyone's latest suggestions! Unfortunately, school starts for us August 24th! (It does every year around this date!)
We then go until about June 4th or so!! Just doesn't seem like this is going to work for us!

 

[CheapMom]

1 quick note- I have priced out several Disney Cruises this year and the best rates come from DU, Allseastravel and the cheapest rate evry time came from Costco.

 

[MrsPete]

I'll reiterate what some others have said:

Timing is everything. You're looking at one of the most expensive times of year; it's also a time when the ship is likely to be filled to capacity.

How many days do your kids get off at Thanksgiving? Mine get three, so if we were to cruise that week, we could miss only two days of school -- and those two days are usually not very um, academically strenuous. Ditto for fall break week. How about January? When do you go back to school? If you have a few days in there, it could work out. While I am against pulling kids out of school for a full week (and I saw that you have some concerns about this), I really think timing is your best way to save money. If you could find an "odd week" in your school's calendar, it could possibly work out for you.

Still on the subject of timing, make your reservations far in advance. You'll find that the cruise prices RISE as the cruise draws nearer.

Do you have a Disney VISA card? If you make your downpayment with one of these, you can often receive $50 in on-board credit. It's not much, but it would help.

Would you likely buy those overpriced $35/person refill soda mugs? Book through AAA and you'll receive them for free as a "gift" from your travel agent.

Finally, before you write off the cruise as more expensive than WDW parks, consider that EVERYTHING is included in that high price. Your family will enjoy very nice meals -- without bills at the end. You can easily have a great time onboard and on shore without paying for any additional excursions.

I'd suggest that you read the cruise board (on this message forum). The posters there are a wealth of information!

 

[MrsPete]

One more note: You mentioned paying for a hotel for the night before the cruise. This is an absolutely "must do". With four children, you need to know that you're not going to be late! When we drove down for our cruise last fall, we were delayed for a good two hours by an incredible wreck involving two tractor trailer trucks that burned to cinders. We kept saying to each other, "Thank goodness we're only driving down to a one-night hotel." and "What if we had to be on the ship an hour from now?"

We stayed at the Days Inn in Titusville, and it turned out to be a great choice. With our AAA discount, it was only $45/night (slept four people) and included a fairly decent breakfast the next day. It was nothing fancy, but it was clean and decent. You can find it right off the interstate, and it's close to fast food, a steak house, and a Walmart (which came in handy when I realized that my husband had no socks). The next morning we had only a 20 minute drive to the port. I'd definitely stay there again!

I suggest that you pack a "first night bag" with just some PJs and everyone's embarkation clothes. That way you won't have to take the suitcase of the car for the one-night stay.

 

[CheapMom]

I did priceline for my night before cruise hotel and got Holiday Inn Oceanfront for a bid of $40.

If you could find an "odd week" in your school's calendar, it could possibly work out for you.

In November the kids had of election day (Tuesday) and then had a half day that Friday. That is a 3 and 1/2 day school week- something like that might work.