Disney cruises

[nibbo]

Hi all,

I'm thinking of booking a Disney cruise for when we're at DW next christmas. It will only be the 3 night cruise but seeing as we've never done a cruise before it will give us a taster. Has anyone (I'm counting on Wayne for some help!) got any useful info on these cruises, who to book through and how far in advance it's best to book. We're already booked into ASM for 3 weeks so not sure if it would be best to check out for the 3 nights we're cruising and then check back in again afterwards or just go on the cruise and leave the room as it is.
Any helpful tips would be most appreciated.

Nick

 

[wayneg]

Hi Nick.
Price will be more or less the same on any US site, If you can find a UK agent that sells DCL they are usually expensive.
I used http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/dcl/en_US/home/home?name=HomePage for our 1st 4 Disney cruises, booking elswhere wasn't worth it but for next year booked with Dreamsunlimitedtravel.com at same price as Disney but got a $100 onboard credit. Any offers Disney have they get for you ontop of their own bonus. I got $200 OBC from Disney so a total of $300 to spend now, no idea how we will spend that much.
For 3 nights you will have to look maybe not much of an incentive to use them.
When checking prices on Disney remember to remove insurance and transport to the port if you don't want it.
Sooner the better for booking, prices very very rarely go down but if they do you can get the lower price, If you use a good agent they check every week and apply lower price, if you book direct with Disney you have to check price every Monday when they update their prices. Booking early also gets you a better room, we are happy with inside cabin as we are never in it but booking early has got us Secret porthole room on all but one cruise, these cabins you get a porthole with obstructed view but inside price.
Personally I wouldn't do the 3 night, never have and never will. 4 nights its over in a blink, 1st day is taken up with getting settled in, lifeboat drill and meal, last day you are off by 9am so really a 3 night cruise is only 2 days.
Ask if you want anymore info, think I covered enough to get you going.

 

[disneyholic family]

our first DCL cruise was a 3 night cruise - for the same reason - to see if we liked it and to see if our motion sickness would be ok..

we LOVED it and had no motion sickness problems at all...

so our second cruise was the 4 night...

both cruises were fun...

we booked both directly with DCL in the states (i called them long distance to book)..

our third cruise will be in May 2009 - i booked that one with dreams unlimited...seems to be just as good as booking directly with DCL and you get the onboard credit (as Wayne mentioned)...

regarding whether to leave your stuff in the hotel while you cruise...i've done that.....people think it's nutty, but we've done it...that way we didn't have to take everything with us....
but you could also pack everything up and check out and then check back in....whatever's easier for you...and whatever laziness is worth to you..

 

[nibbo]

Thanks Wayne, I thought I'd be able to rely on you.

I might well go for the 4 day cruise instead then. Where does the ship sail on this extra day as it seems to be just an extra day of cruising rather than going straight back to port like on the 3 day cruise.
I don't know whether to book now or not due to the low pound against the dollar. Booking on US sites means booking and paying dollars, but then it might get even worse before it gets better!
I suppose I'd have to check with VH what the best thing to do would be regarding our room at ASM for our cruise duration.

Thanks again and if I think of anything else to ask I'll give you a shout.

 

[nibbo]

our first DCL cruise was a 3 night cruise - for the same reason - to see if we liked it and to see if our motion sickness would be ok..

we LOVED it and had no motion sickness problems at all...

so our second cruise was the 4 night...

both cruises were fun...

we booked both directly with DCL in the states (i called them long distance to book)..

our third cruise will be in May 2009 - i booked that one with dreams unlimited...seems to be just as good as booking directly with DCL and you get the onboard credit (as Wayne mentioned)...

regarding whether to leave your stuff in the hotel while you cruise...i've done that.....people think it's nutty, but we've done it...that way we didn't have to take everything with us....
but you could also pack everything up and check out and then check back in....whatever's easier for you...and whatever laziness is worth to you..

Thanks for your help. I'll have a look at dreams unlimited.
I look at it the same way you do regarding checking in and out of rooms, at least you don't have to go to all the bother of packing everything up and taking it all with you.

 

[disneyholic family]

Thanks Wayne, I thought I'd be able to rely on you.

I might well go for the 4 day cruise instead then. Where does the ship sail on this extra day as it seems to be just an extra day of cruising rather than going straight back to port like on the 3 day cruise.
I don't know whether to book now or not due to the low pound against the dollar. Booking on US sites means booking and paying dollars, but then it might get even worse before it gets better!
I suppose I'd have to check with VH what the best thing to do would be regarding our room at ASM for our cruise duration.

Thanks again and if I think of anything else to ask I'll give you a shout.

you only have to pay a deposit now.
the balance is due 2 months before you cruise...

as to the 4th day - some 4 day cruises have a sea day as their fourth day, other 4 day cruises have a 2nd day at castaway cay for their 4th day..

in other words, some 4 day cruises have 1 day at nassau, 1 day at castaway cay and 1 sea day (the boat just sails slowly 'out at sea')..

other 4 day cruises have 1 day at nassau and 2 days at castaway cay (but you don't stay overnight - you go out and then come back in----so it's the 2nd and 4th day or something like that)...

check on the DCL website to see what dates are the double CC days...

you should go to the DCL website anyway, just to learn about what it is and what's available...
http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/dcl/en_US/home/home?name=HomePage

oh i see on the DCL website that there is a limited time offer for a reduced deposit...
so you should go have a look
http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/dcl/en_US/home/home?name=HomePage

i just did a search on 4 day cruises in december 2009 - there are only 1 CC day cruises that month...so your itinerary will be:
port canaveral
nassau
castaway cay
sea day
port canaveral

 

[nibbo]

you only have to pay a deposit now.
the balance is due 2 months before you cruise...

as to the 4th day - some 4 day cruises have a sea day as their fourth day, other 4 day cruises have a 2nd day at castaway cay for their 4th day..

in other words, some 4 day cruises have 1 day at nassau, 1 day at castaway cay and 1 sea day (the boat just sails slowly 'out at sea')..

other 4 day cruises have 1 day at nassau and 2 days at castaway cay (but you don't stay overnight - you go out and then come back in----so it's the 2nd and 4th day or something like that)...

check on the DCL website to see what dates are the double CC days...

you should go to the DCL website anyway, just to learn about what it is and what's available...
http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/dcl/en_US/home/home?name=HomePage

oh i see on the DCL website that there is a limited time offer for a reduced deposit...
so you should go have a look
http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/dcl/en_US/home/home?name=HomePage

i just did a search on 4 day cruises in december 2009 - there are only 1 CC day cruises that month...so your itinerary will be:
port canaveral
nassau
castaway cay
sea day
port canaveral

Thanks, I'll have a good look this afternoon.
I was hoping to book one so we'd be on it on Christmas Day but it's just way too expensive then. We want to better last Christmas Day which we spent at Discovery Cove and was a complete surprise for DD's until we turned up there.
Can't think of anything else though.

 

[wayneg]

I missed the bit about keeping room. We did it one year as we booked a package with Virgin, cheaper than DIY so the room was paid for for all 3 weeks, just left it empty while we cruised. Other times we have done DIY and always book cruise 1st so then booked rooms before and after cruise.
Next year planning 16 nights offsite, 7 night cruise then finish off with 2 nights at AKL. Thats if I can get flights I want 6th-31st August.

I would love to cruise at Xmas but we always arrive Xmas day(like this year) or Boxing day, cruise costs are crazy at this time of year, too much for me.

 

[nibbo]

When checking prices on Disney remember to remove insurance and transport to the port if you don't want it.

That certainly makes a big difference, it knocked over $500 off the price. I presume it's easy enough to go there in the car and leave it at the port and that your holiday insurance will be good for the cruise too.

Nick

 

[wayneg]

Couldn't be easier parking at port but read my post in this thread. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1945100
What kind of prices you getting for the cruise? are they OK?

 

[nibbo]

Couldn't be easier parking at port but read my post in this thread. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1945100
What kind of prices you getting for the cruise? are they OK?

$1968 for Me, DW and 2 DD's for 4 night cruise on Disney Wonder, Dec 13th 2009....is that good? That's with DCL, waiting for Dreams Unlimited to email me with quote.

 

[disneyholic family]

$1968 for Me, DW and 2 DD's for 4 night cruise on Disney Wonder, Dec 13th 2009....is that good? That's with DCL, waiting for Dreams Unlimited to email me with quote.

$1968 total for the 4 of you?
that sounds good to me....
but what category are you looking at?

 

[nibbo]

$1968 total for the 4 of you?
that sounds good to me....
but what category are you looking at?

Category 11, inside stateroom. As Wayne said, you'll only be sleeping in it so sea view not really important. Price comes up as nearly $2500 when you first get price but as you go through the booking process you can take off transport and insurance which takes off over $500.
I'm very tempted to book it and worry about the cost later!

 

[wayneg]

I have never cruised in Dec to compare. Easter this year was most I have ever paid, that cost us $800 each, $2,400 for 3 of us. Oct 05 was least I have paid, $2,200 ($733 each) for a 7 night cruise.

I think your price is fair enough, just not great with exchange rate as it is, about £134 more than if you could pay at $2/£1, Glad I paid half of mine at $2.
Unfortunately have to pay a little OTT to cruise Disney, 4 nights on Royal Caribbean same dates (14th) would cost you approx $1,200 on Monarch of the seas but not in the same league of cruising if you have children.

 

[disneyholic family]

Category 11, inside stateroom. As Wayne said, you'll only be sleeping in it so sea view not really important. Price comes up as nearly $2500 when you first get price but as you go through the booking process you can take off transport and insurance which takes off over $500.
I'm very tempted to book it and worry about the cost later!

it will be interesting to see what the DU quote is...

 

[nibbo]

I have never cruised in Dec to compare. Easter this year was most I have ever paid, that cost us $800 each, $2,400 for 3 of us. Oct 05 was least I have paid, $2,200 ($733 each) for a 7 night cruise.

I think your price is fair enough, just not great with exchange rate as it is, about £134 more than if you could pay at $2/£1, Glad I paid half of mine at $2.
Unfortunately have to pay a little OTT to cruise Disney, 4 nights on Royal Caribbean same dates (14th) would cost you approx $1,200 on Monarch of the seas but not in the same league of cruising if you have children.

Yes it's a shame about the currency exchange but we only have to pay a $400 deposit now and the rest 2 months before when hopefully the pound might have recovered a bit.
The cost for the cruise on 23rd December is over $4000!!
I was thinking of going with another cruise line but with my 2 DD's it's got to be Disney really.

 

[amystevekai&bump]

I would love to cruise at Xmas but we always arrive Xmas day(like this year) or Boxing day, cruise costs are crazy at this time of year, too much for me.

Hi Wayne!!

Have you any idea how much the Xmas cruises are??

We are anxiously waiting for them to release the 2010 prices (I have my fingers crossed for a 10 day xmas cruise but everyone on the cruise board says its really expensive but no one seems able to give me any idea of the price!! - I am hoping for a cat6 for me, dh, Kai and lucas - I am just hoping we can afford it !!!! )

thanks alot!

 

[wayneg]

Hi Amy
No idea for the 10 night cruise but for 7 nights in Cat 6 it would cost you about $10,000 incl New Year eve or the other Itinery to include Xmas day. Just had a look for Xmas 09

 

[amystevekai&bump]

Hi Amy
No idea for the 10 night cruise but for 7 nights in Cat 6 it would cost you about $10,000 incl New Year eve or the other Itinery to include Xmas day. Just had a look for Xmas 09

thanks Wayne - thats what I was scared about!! - I'm just going to hope that the opening day prices are a bit lower and that my 10% onboard re-booking discount will save the day!!

thanks for taking the trouble to look for me though - much appreciated!!

 

[Ware Bears]

Woo hoo!!! Just jumping in on the end here to say yesterday we have booked our first Disney cruise for 20th December 2009!!

It is DH's 50th next year and he doesn't want a party, he said he would rather celebrate it with a cruise!!

I am so excited I didn't sleep at all last night!!

We are not going to tell our DDs until Christmas Day ~ don't know if I will be able to keep quiet that long!