Book as package or ala carte?

[luvmk]

We are looking at doing a land/sea vacation in October to coincide with mnsshp. I'm wondering if it is best to book the land and sea seperately or as a package? Is there a benefit to booking the package? If book seperately, I can get the dates to work a little better. Also, does AAA give a discount for cruises? I know they do for the resort stay. Thanks!

 

[Hygiene99]

Alot of people book them own there own and seem to save some money verses the more expensive package.....

 

[Honeychild]

I'm in the process of booking a WDW stay and a cruise. I have found I can save $700.00 by booking it myself. (That includes buying tickets for my WDW stay.) I am by no means an expert but I have been reading alot on these boards. AAA has the same price as the other three TA that I tried. (I found a better deal only because one of them was offering a 6% rebate). AAA does provide you soda mugs for free, you use them like you do at the WDW resorts. Have you ever been to the MNSSHP? We went last year and LOVED it! My sister says it is her favorite and we've tried it all (MVMCP, CP, etc) I hope I was some help. Also, do a search on mugs and you'll find out much more on AAA. Have fun!

 

[CheapMom]

I saved alot by booking separate, in fact I saved so much that we upgraded 2 cat 10's to a cat 4 and added an extra day at WDW and we are still ahead!!!
Crunch those numbers, baby!

 

[luvmk]

Thanks! This info definately helps. I'm just now starting to price things out and compare. For those that used AAA, was it cheaper than whats is listed on the disney travel site?

We went to mnsshp last year and loved it. It was actually my dh who suggested doing the cruise with halloween there. I think it will be so much fun. My ds8 and dd5 are already trying to figure out how they want to dress up.

 

[Hygiene99]

luvmk i sent u a Personal message did u get it....

 

[two-foxes]

Now, on the other side of the coin...

We booked the land/sea package because we wanted the easiest, least stress thing to do. It was our first cruise, and our honeymoon, so we found all the details covered in the package price to be well worth the bit of money we would have saved booking seperately. We wanted a veranda stateroom and to stay in a deluxe on land, so that worked perfectly. We did not need to worry about our luggage, our transportation, our check in...anything, because it was all taken care of with the package. So, weigh out what is important to you. If you are a planner and are willing and able to cooridinate times, transportation, parks passes, etc on your own, go for it! (We are doing it all seperately the second time around ourselves!) But we do not regret doing the land/sea package at all the first time, except we only got a 4 night cruise! It saved alot of headache for us! Lastly, I have heard several posters say they saved booking the package, so do your homework, don't forget about transfers, etc and see what works for you! Regarding AAA, we have booked with them in the past, although I have not noticed any "substantial" savings going through them. Try Dreams and Allseasons, too!

 

[CheapMom]

I think it would be cool if Disney came out with a package that includes the 7 day cruise, like 7day land/7daysea or 3 or 4 days on land followed by 7 at sea.

 

[luvmk]

hygiene99--Yes, I did. Thank you! This looks like it will be very helpful. For me, part of the fun is in the planning. We are able to take different vacations, but I don't have nearly as much fun planning those as I do disney.

 

[kcashner]

In my experience, AAA has not been the best travel agent to use. Why not check out prices from Dreams Unlimited, cruisetraveloutlet, allseas, etc. It's the same cruise, no matter which agent books it. In my experience, AAA doesn't have anything to offer (other than the mugs) that isn't available from any other agency!

The biggest way to save $ with booking the land/sea separately is if you won't use all the days or all the features of the UPH passes. For instance, we typically arrive about 3 pm, so don't "waste" a park admission on the first day. We get to the resort, hop in the pool, unpack, and do dinner at Chef Mickey's. That way, the kiddo can see characters and feel "Disney-ish"....you might even walk around downtown Disney or just hang at the resort.....Watch the electric light show from the Contemp or go to the movies at Fort Wilderness after dinner, and you've had a full day.

Ditto on the day you leave for the ship...we don't go to the park that morning. We do a character breakfast. If you book the land/sea, you have paid for park admission on those days. We buy Park Hopper Plus passes (which never expire!) at the local Disney store (also available on line, etc.)

Booking separately also gives you more flexibility as to which hotel goes with which category of cabin on the ship.

Check out www.mousesavers.com for current discounts available.

 

[Nathan's Grandma]

Thanks for all this information.

I am in charge of booking all of our Disney vacations and we were discussing yesterday what would the best way to do ithe cruise and disney. They already know they want to stay at AKL.

We are going in July, 2006 for a four day cruise and three days at Disney. We have cruised many times and would like the seven day but the rest of the family want to get their "feet wet" to see if they like it.

I am a control freak when it comes to travel so I at least know what to begin doing first. I love making all the reservations and arrangments.

 

[BALAMAV]

I must be doing something wrong? I can not figure out how you can save money by doing it ala cart? Does it matter if you are staying at the budget resorts or moderate? Let me tell you what we are doing. Land /Sea package 4 days at the Beach club 3 days cat 6 deck 6 verandah room. To book this all ala cart it is $1,100 dollars more. I even down graded the UPH to a 4 day hopper pass. We have some plus options left from last year. But I still came out better going with the package deal. We go in May. I have a friend that I am planning her trip for in Feb. I figured the 2 ways agian. Her plans will be the same as ours. It still saves her $500 dollars to book a package. This is freaking me out a little. I am a control freak also. So if I have missed a way to save money. It will drive me crazy. There is nothing I can do for my trip but I want to make sure I get the best price for my friend. PLEASE HELP!!! Thank Brenda

 

[CheapMom]

You probably will save money on the package if you want all of the exact same componants of that package. Meaning, if you want cat 4, a deluxe resort, and UPH's you will probably save on the package.
We wanted a veranda on the boat but my kids love AllStarMo and we are staying 5 days at WDW but only Park Hopping 3 of those days so we got 3 day PHPs. That was a big savings.
So- if you are comparing apples to apples the package is better but if you like (cheaper) oranges as well as apples you can save.

 

[two-foxes]

Just another note on what we did for our trip....in order to get the full benefit of our UPH and to get a full day in on our package (they booked the silver add on at the time)....we found a great rate at ASMu for one nite(you can probably find a better rate at an off site resort), flew in a day early and enjoyed a relaxing evening at Downtown Disney that night. The next morning we took a cab to AKL and got our UPH's and headed off to the parks. ASMu shipped our bags off to AKL, so when our room was ready at 3:00 ish, our bags were already there waiting for us. At $70 some odd dollars for our room and the few bucks for the cab, it was money very well spent to get full enjoyment on our trip!

 

[kcashner]

Most of the above is right. If you are staying at a deluxe resort with no discounts and buying UPH passes, you will probably save a little money on the land/sea package.

However, if you qualify for any discounts (DVC member, annual passholder, FL resident, military, Disney Visa, or any special Disney may be running at that time), if you are staying at a different category resort, of if you don't want/need the UPH passes, you can save a small bundle going separately. For instance, last year WDW ran a "kids under 9 stay and play free" package--free resort stay AND park passes with an adult in the room. That could save a bundle on the kid park passes. WDW intermittently runs all sorts of specials--Sunshine get away, Fal Fantasy, etc. just for travelling off season. That's another good time to save over the land/sea package. The key is to see what's available for your dates, then price it every way you can to see which comes out better.

 

[BALAMAV]

Thank you all so much. We did pretty good then. At the time I booked last June 2003 for the May 2004. (Early booking discount.)There were no discounts on resorts or anything else. We don't qualify for anything else. We did get the Disney Visa we got 6 months same as cash. Also we have been using the card for a year so we should have about $70 in disney money we can us. That will pay for at least a dinner. You are right comparing apples to apples. Thank again Brenda