Benefits of land and sea package?

[afcgirl]

I am confused. Why is it more expensive to book the land and sea package then it is to book the cruise and hotel stay separately? Am I missing something? Do you get something with land and sea that you wouldn't get booking separately? Thanks in advance.

 

[hydster]

In our Land/Sea last year we got tickets into the parks included in the price of our package. We got a good deal on the package or we probably would have done them seperately. The other nice thing about the land/sea is that once you check in at your hotel you are checked into your room as well meaning that when you get to the port you dont have to check in..you just wait in line and walk on. I dont know that that convenience is worth the extra but we decided to try it. We liked it so well we booked a 7 day for next spring but unless you get a killer deal I dont know that I would do the land/sea thing again.

HTH
Heidi

 

[NCRedding]

When we did the land/sea in 2001, it was easy, and cheaper than booking separately. We liked having the UPHs so that we could go to the water parks, etc. We also liked the ease of one check-in. Always check prices both ways--as a package, and in 2 parts, because I know other people who also say it was cheaper to book land/sea than to do it separately.

 

[two-foxes]

We did the land/sea in 2002 for our Honeymoon. We choose it because it was our first DCL trip and we wanted everything to go easy and stress free....which it did. We had nothing extra to worry about in planning such as transportation (to wdw from MCO or WDW to port or port to MCO), purchasing park passes, luggage problems, waiting at port...etc. It is ALL taken care of with the package. Do some research and see what all the extras will cost you booking seperately and hassles you find "priceless" to not have to deal with, then decide for yourself. We found the extra we paid with the package made up for itself in the ease of it. Just my 5 cents worth

But, for the record, we are booking it all seperately for 2004. 4 Days on DCL is so not long enough!!!!

 

[Hygiene99]

We always book , land portion on our own and the cruise...

here is a site that will help u get the best rate on a room at the world www.mousesavers.com

we like saving the money better than convience...........

 

[NCRedding]

When pricing the land/sea, verify if you are getting transfers or not. We chose not to get transfers, and rented a car.

Second, again, don't just believe that the land/sea is more expensive; price it out both ways--it was substantially cheaper for us to do land/sea on our first trip, because we hit at a time when there were very few codes available--to do the trip like we did for cheaper, the Poly room would have had to cost us less that $100 per night.

 

[tksbaskets]

We did the land/sea last Christmas and LOVED it! We tacked on another day on the land portion too. This was a bit of a challenge for getting the Mears bus on an 'off' day. The check-in feature was nice (as others have said)

Another perk was that we were able to go to Animal Kingdom on embarkation day. We were given priority seating (as part of the L-S package) for a character breakfast (one of our favorites at Donald's breakfast-o-saurus), fast passes for the Lion King show and ended up getting fast passes for the safari too. It was a great morning and then the DCL bus picked right up from Animal Kingdom. Oh, there was a DCL cruise line office that checked your day bag too and was constantly monitored so you didn't feel bad leaving goodies there.

The DCL bus from AK to the port was tons of fun! They showed cruise line videos and talked about what would happen at the port. My DH liked the bus ride so much he insisted we take the DCL bus from the airport on our next trip!

My sanity was worth any extra cost for booking this package!

 

[disneyholic family]

for our first cruise (a 3 day) we did everthing seperately..
i would prefer to do it that way again....
the one and only reason we are doing a land/sea this coming summer is to get the cat 1 room....
DCL told me that the cat 1 rooms are reserved for land/sea packages only......so i'm stuck...
otherwise i'd do everything seperately.....it comes out much cheaper for us that way...

 

[jlp651]

We booked a land/sea vacation...for us it was convience...but we got our park tix and air...when we booked, the prices for rooms/air and park tix for 2004 was not out yet...I saw that as saving $$$ on rooms b/c you know they will increase the price yearly...(we booked our trip in Jan of 2003) So, I think we might have saved $$$ in the end.
Just my 2cents

 

[jennie99352]

tksbaskets
How did you get the preferred seating at Animal Kingdom lodge? Does that just come with the land/sea package?

We are booking a land/sea in early 2005, and was curious how that works. our TA didn't say anything about that.

 

[OurDogCisco]

I'd definitely price it both ways. We did them separately in August of 2001 because we had a hotel code. We saved $100 per night (for a total of $600). But we also stayed extra time at the parks because we were flying from the West Coast. We did 6 nights at WDW and then the 3 night cruise.

YOu can check out www.mousesavers.com for the hotel codes. Depending on when you book there might be codes available. Even if there isn't a code available now you can always book and then, add the code later when it becomes available. But if you book as a package you cannot use the hotel code.

Good luck!

 

[kcashner]

You really have to price it both ways. Consider that the land/sea package may include things that you won't use. For instance, if you are arriving at 4pm, will you use the length of stay pass for that day? Do you plan to do water parks? Will you be just as happy with a X day Park Hopper Pass?

Disney offers a lot of "off season" discounts on hotels, meals...rarely on passes. You just have to see what's available when you want to travel. Right now, the kid 9 and under stay and play free package is a really good deal...and if you book it on a Disney Visa, you get $100 in Disney dollars. This can amount to serious savings, since it includes the child's park passes.

You CAN purchase each part of the land/sea separately--hotel, passes, transfers, etc. You can also do a land package and then add the transfer to the port. You just have to see what works best for you.

 

[mkandk]

We wanted to do a 4 day cruise...for us, the price difference between adding the 3 days of a land/sea package was a few hundred dollars...for 4 people...definitely worth it, and we get to stay in a nicer hotel than we normally would. I can't remember if that was after I factored transfer costs in or not.

 

[MrsPete]

If you look at what you can actually use, it makes sense to book the things separately. The biggest thing is the UPHers -- you can't possibly use the whole ticket! Most people will arrive at DisneyWorld mid-afternoon, thus half a day's ticket is already wasted. Will you really go to the parks for an hour or two on the morning you head out to the ship? Most people won't, thus that part of the ticket is wasted. If you buy park hoppers for the days you'll actually utilize them, you'll save money!

Are packages easier? Sure. Are they more expensive? Yes. You have to decide just how much of the package you'll be able to use -- that'll tell you whether it's worthwhile for you.

 

[afcgirl]

Thanks so much for all of the helpful responses!

The hard part about the land/sea package is that you must get a verandah room on the cruise in order to get a deluxe hotel. And I don't even want a verandah since I will worry about my 3 year old getting out there (even though I will be watching him).

So, in case anyone is wondering, I priced out the separate booking with a stay at WL for four nights with the three-night cruise with a deluxe ocean view room and with park hopper tickets for four days for two adults and two kids and got a total of $3,376.

I then priced out the land and sea package with the four-night deluxe hotel (Poly, AKL or BC, for some reason WL was not an option?!) and the three night cruise with a verandah room (which I don't care about but must choose to get a deluxe hotel) and with ultimate hopper tickets and the total was $4537. I did not pick ground transfers, we will not need them as we will have a car.

So, based on our needs I think I will book separately. In doing so, I will still stay at the fabulous WL, I will still get an ocean view cabin, and having preschoolers I doubt I will need more than the park hopper tickets. Doing this will save us $761, a substantial amount!

Thanks again for the advice.

 

[LAMPSKIES]

afcgirl............. Are you booking thru DCL or a TA???

 

[afcgirl]

Lampskies, I priced it on the walt disney world website, not through a TA.

 

[LAMPSKIES]

I ALWAYS book thru DCL. Call the 800 number and ask. I'm sure they will accomodate you. I have booked my last 4 thru DCL direct. I pay online but prefer the "voice" in my ear. If you do post back your results......I'm curious.

 

[Rence]

Originally posted by afcgirl
Thanks so much for all of the helpful responses!

The hard part about the land/sea package is that you must get a verandah room on the cruise in order to get a deluxe hotel. And I don't even want a verandah since I will worry about my 3 year old getting out there (even though I will be watching him).

With regards to a 3 year old and the verandah. The verandah door has a safety lock way up high, out of reach of little hands. My sisters both have young children and had no worries once they saw the safety lock.

 

[disneyholic family]

forget child proof, WE couldn't get out of the verandah door....