Disney Honeymoon Cruise Help!

[codylamb18]

My fiancé and I are going to Disney World for a few nights then a 3 night Disney Cruise. This will be our first. I have some concerns about a few things though.

Book on our own or a travel agent? Most likely dreams if a TA. Any perks to a TA?

We are torn between the 4 night or 3 night cruise. Both include same ports but the 4 night includes day at sea. Are we missing anything?

Any honeymoon type things to do on castaway cay?

We originally said just do Disney World for our honeymoon but really wanted a cruise as well. So I told my fiancé we can do it if it’s under $4,000 (whole trip) transfers, flights, etc. We are sitting at $4,025 including a $500 Disney gift card for our food/souvenir budget. Any way to shave off some money? We are booking on Orbitz with 15% off at All Star Movies. 5 day base Tickets on Undercover Tourist.

Here is our trip as of now…

Day 1 - Fly In – Hotel Check In

Day 2 - Magic Kingdom

Day 3 - Animal Kingdom

Day 4 - Hollywood Studios

Day 5 - Epcot

Day 6 – Hotel Check Out - Cruise Embarkation

Day 7 - Nassau, Bahamas

Day 8 - Castaway Cay

Day 9 - Cruise Debarkation – Hotel Check In

Day 10 - Magic Kingdom

Day 11 – Hotel Check Out - Fly Out

 

[GoofyLovingFamily]

4 night cruise. The sea day is so relaxing!

 

[msmama]

Book through a TA that will give you on board credit for the cruise. That will shave some $$ off the bottom line.

 

[PurplePencil]

Any honeymoon type things to do on castaway cay?

Of course this costs $$ but a couples cabana massage. There's also less expensive stuff onboard including the rainforest room in the spa (roughly $125 for a couples cruise pass) Another option is just sitting in lounge chairs on Serenity Bay (adult's only beach)

 

[Dug720]

Of course this costs $$ but a couples cabana massage. There's also less expensive stuff onboard including the rainforest room in the spa (roughly $125 for a couples cruise pass) Another option is just sitting in lounge chairs on Serenity Bay (adult's only beach)

And just a note that with Disney "adult beach" does NOT mean clothing optional. Just 18+. Please wear clothing. And limit the PDA - even if it is your honeymoon.

 

[PAGA2003]

The main things I can think of for saving money are booking the cruise with a TA that offers on board credit(you'll probably get $50-100 in on board credit depending on fare), buy Disney gift cards at Target to save 5% if you have a Red card, and depending how much time you have to earn points consider an airline/travel affiliated credit card to earn miles to purchase your airfare (we put all purchases on a card that we pay off each month and earn 2-4 free airline tickets a year).

For the cruise if your budget allows the 4 night I would do it otherwise a 3 night will be just fine We're doing a 3 night soon and are looking forward to the quick little getaway!

 

[Ms.Mouseketeer]

Open a Disney vacation account and use discounted gift cards from BJs

 

[NoodlesMom]

How are you getting to the cruise port from WDW? If your taking Disney transportation, you could rent a car instead. I usually rent through Budget. You can rent two one way rentals. I've found promo codes online and paid as little as $35-40 each way. There is a Budget in the Double Tree hotel near Disney Springs and the other is a few minutes away from the cruise port (shuttle included).

 

[cruisehopeful]

The 4 night cruise would be better. I did the 3 night for my first cruise and it went by really fast. There were many things on the ship that I never saw.

Book with a travel agent to get on board credit. They may even be able to put together your WDW portion for less money.

I did the couple massage on Castaway Cay and it was nice, but expensive if you are on a budget. I'd just go to Serenity Bay and hang out there.

 

[olookasquirrel]

Any way to shave off some money?

-DVA! AKA the Disney Vacation Account (as long as you have at least 120 days between now and when you have to make final payments). You'll get $20 for every $1000 you put towards your vacation, so that's $60-80 of free money. Works really well with gift cards.

-Some others have noted, but Target gives you 5% off Disney gift cards. That's $200 right there on your $4k trip. In that vein, there are several credit cards (Freedom by Chase, for example) that give 5% cash back at various warehouse clubs - so BJ's only has Disney gift cards for a 5% discount (and you don't need to be a member, and it was free shipping as of a few months ago), plus the 5% cash back.

-Who are you flying? I see a lot of 10%+ discounts for Southwest gift cards available.

-Book with a travel agent definitely. If you're willing to not have your hand held, and since money is an issue, Costco gives the best deal, but it's in the form of a Costco gift card after your return. However, it's a lot more than you'll get in OBC from most agents (our last cruise, we were offered $50 OBC per cabin from an agent, and ended up getting $235 back from Costco). If you'll never use it, it's not as good a deal, but if you're local to a Costco, it's easy enough to use for gas after you get back.

-If you're cool with credit cards, sign up for a new one. The Southwest card will give 40-50k points if you spend a certain amount in a certain time period, and a $200 round trip flight is about 12k points, so that's a big line item taken off. The Disney card can give $200 Disney (you have to find the right promotion or get a referral), plus has some special terms with 0% interest for Disney vacations. Poke around - but this is only good if you're good with credit cards, obviously.

-Don't forget to account for tips on the cruise portion!

Also, Castaway is so amazing, I would say just plan to enjoy the adult beach that day. Depending on where you find your budget, the spa may have various specials on treatments that you can decide on last minute if that's your thing. We're not massage people so I'd rather do jet skis or something crazy for the same cost, but to each their own. Have an amazing time!

 

[codylamb18]

Thank you all for the responses. We have chosen to go through a travel agent to book the cruise. We have not decided on the resort stay just yet. Orbitz reflects Disney prices and gives 15% off with coupon code takemeaway. The only problem is we would have to be stuck with the resort we pick. No changing around resorts when discounts come out to get a better deal. Not sure if I should wait to book resort. We also updated our travel plans to include the 4 night cruise!!! So excited.

Day 1 - Fly In – Hotel Check In

Day 2 - Magic Kingdom

Day 3 - Animal Kingdom

Day 4 - Hollywood Studios

Day 5 - Epcot

Day 6 – Magic Kingdom Day 2

Day 7 - Epcot Day 2

Day 8 - Resort Pool Day

Day 9 - Hotel Check Out - Cruise Embarkation

Day 10 - Nassau, Bahamas

Day 11 – Castaway Cay

Day 12 - Day at Sea

Day 13 - Cruise Debarkation - Fly Out