full ship?

[ChattyKathy]

I wondered if there was any way to tell if a ship is full for certain dates or not...?

 

[cjsmith]

They're almost always at full capacity, with the exceptions of off times of year. Since you've asked to cruise when the kids are offf rom school, Im sure the ship will be full. Just try going to a travel web site or even DCL and see what kind of categories and cabins come back to you as available and you'll be able to get some kind of idea.

 

[ivanova]

The 11/16 Wonder definitely had available staterooms (considering some folks had to change cabins mid-cruise .. couldn't have done that if they were all full).

I kept checking the DCL website for our cruise dates to see what category staterooms came up as being available for booking ... all of 'em (cat 4 to cat 12) were available up to 2 days before we left (when I last had computer access).

 

[kcashner]

Even when they say they are "full," there are always a few cabins available.

One way is to go to the Disney Cruise Line reservation site and see whether it is possible to schedule reservations in all categories. You can go thru the whole process up to selecting a category and giving them credit card info. If they show all categories open (or only a couple not available) you can be pretty sure the ship isn't full. One point though...they continue to book up to the day of sailing, and sometimes have a LOT of last minute bookings. We had one cruise where the PC check in gal told us that 50% of their bookings had been made in the 2 weeks before sailing. We had a family emergency, and had to change our cruise date 2 days before we sailed! Disney was very gracious, and it only cost us $25 per ticket for "re-ticketing." We were able to pick up new documents at the port....everything was great.

It really doesn't matter whether the cruise is full or not in terms of your enjoyment. Disney is great at "crowd control" and there is plenty of room on the ship for all of us. Yes, we like it a little less full, but it's always a good vacation.

 

[DOOGIERUNNER]

I've wondered if there's discounts to be had by booking w/in the 60 day window? There was a couple on our last cruise who had booked 5 Magic cruises that way. They booked in May for a June cruise and only paid $699/adult cat 11. If one were flexible with travel dates, this would work great!!

 

[gonna go cruising]

I may be mistaken, but on DCL the closer it gets to sailing time, the higher the price. I have only seen the rates go up when checking.

 

[Cruisin]

When I check out the prices on the DCL site they never seem to change.

It is always the same and it always says includes early booking discount?

 

[kcashner]

The rates DO change. If a cruise has lots of space 45-60 days before sailing, it is likely to be reduced significantly. They seem to change on Mondays and at the beginning of the month. Some January cruises were recently reduced, but it seems they sold at the reduced prices as they are now increased again. We have booked short notice cruises at bargain prices a several times.

The prices increase as the ship fills. They figure that if you want a particular date, you either booked early or will pay for that date at the last minute. SO....we booked DD's "birthday cruise" early as we wanted that week. The price has now increased significantly. Converesly, had we just wanted any Jan/Feb cruise, we could have saved a significant amount of money by taking one of the recent "sales." Flexibility and sailing "off season" can save you real money.

 

[kaykels]

You're right! Stay flexible and you'll see. The December 6th sailing was on sale for 699.00 for the 7 night Eastern and the January 10th sailing is still on sale for $549.00 pp for the 7 night Eastern. I love off season!

 

[LuvMyRedHeads]

I am going on the January 10 cruise. Where did you see it for $549. Was this a category 11? I am wondering if Dreams Unlimited will reduce my price. If I am not mistaken they say they will if Disney reduces the price. Does anyone know if that is the case. Thanks

 

[lbgraves]

Look on disneycruise.com under rates. There is a Special price section on the left side & click on the 7 day Carribean. Scroll down to the Eastern dates.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Check out www.cruise-locator.com. You can do a search on your cruise and see how many cabins are open in specific categories.

Of course, you also have to take into account that travel agents purchase blocks of rooms and they will not be listed here if they are still vacant. It's a good estimate, though!

 

[Nesnboy]

I looked on cruise-locator to see what room are available for our 1/24 cruise and can't find where to do the online search. Can you help?

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Sure!

(1) www.cruise-locator.com
(2) Click on Cruise Search from the top links
(3) Choose either "Non WorldPerk Members Enter Here" or "Non Amtrack Guest Rewards Members Click Here"
(4) Choose the Destination, Dates, Duration and CruiseLine specific to the sailing date you're interested in and then click "Search for a Cruise."
(5) Then choose "Check Availability" for the cruise you are interested in.
(6) On the next screen choose the number of passengers and "Continue."
(7) Finally, choose "Select" next to the category you are intersted in finding. This will usually give you the exact stateroom numbers that are available. The exception is a Category 11, which will most likely give you a "Guarantee."

Hope this was helpful!

 

[kcashner]

Where did you find $549 for the Jan 10 cruise? I can find $599...

 

[RebeccaLovesDisney]

LuvMyRedHeads -

DCL will give you a credit if the price of your category on your sail date is reduced. If you booked through a travel agent, you must contact them and they will contact DCL to obtain the credit. Otherwise, you can contact DCL directly. Good Luck!

 

[Nesnboy]

Thanks for the info. We are in Cat 6 gty and it looks like there are none being advertised. Maybe we will get the magic upgrade. Even if we don't, me and my gang are excited about our first cruise! Something to look forward to after the holidays.

 

[ivanova]

first cruise? in a cat 6 (outside w/ verandah)? You will LOVE it!!!

We just finished our first ever cruise (DCL Wonder 11/16-11/20) and had a cat 7 navigator's verandah ... it was spectacular!!

My biggest recommendations: take time to enjoy your verandah AT LEAST once ... plan a couple of hours to sit out there, eating breakfast (room service) or a cheese & fruite platter in the evening (also from room service).

I woke up our first morning, having problems sleeping, and crept out to the verandan in the wee hours of the morning & watched the sun rise ... that could easily be the BEST and CHEAPEST part of any cruise!!! I went back to bed after awhile, and then woke up as we were pulling into Nassau, so I went back out onto the verandah and watched as we docked (kinda cool to watch).

Would like to do a 7 night w/ a verandah and have dinner out there at least once......