Has anyone booked a cruise and Disney separately?

[pstepka]

I'm helping a friend plan a Disney vacation and cruise. She was originally just going to book a Disney land/sea package, but my thinking is she can do it much cheaper by booking them separately (and not cruising on Disney, but RCI or Carnival instead). I just took my first cruise in May (on RCI) and so I know the ins and outs of cruising (including how to get the best deal, etc .) so that is why I think it can be done much cheaper, even considering having to get from the airport to the resort, then to the port, then back to the airport.

BUT...I could be wrong. Has anyone done their own 'land and sea' package? I'd love to hear suggestions, comments, etc.

I'm a plan-o-holic so I'm really looking forwarding to helping her out and trying to find not only the best deal, but great accommodations, also. I am hoping she'll be able to rent DVC points and stay at BCV...she has a 4 year old son and I know he'd love Stormalong Bay.

Thanks,
Pam

 

[Disneefun]

I wouldn't do it any other way. The biggest diference is, if you book separately you can take advantage of any codes or discounts that come out (for either the resort or cruise) and you can't do that with the pkg. -- the price is fixed and no discounts can be applied. In addition, if you book the package, your resort choice is tied to your stateroom choice. For example, if you book a cat 5 stateroom, you have to stay in a deluxe resort. If you book separately, you can stay wherever you want. So if you want to stay at a value resort and really spluge on your cabin, you can do that or vice versa. Plus, you aren't limited to just 3 or 4 days for the WDW portion. You can stay at Disney as long as you want and then cruise - so if you get that great rate on a resort, maybe you can stay longer!!

 

[pstepka]

That's what I thought. I just wanted to be sure and not have gone through hours of research to find out that for some reason, it's cheaper to do the package.

Plus, it's way more fun to book everything myself (even if it's not me that is going!)

Thanks!!

 

[belleandthebeast]

I'm doing it that way myself. It does get a little confusing trying to keep everything in order. We are staying 2-nights @ POFQ, 4-night Disney cruise and then 1-night at Pop Century. We are renting a car rather than taking Disney. We are flying into Sanford so it was a little cheaper to rent a car @ the airport and drop it off at the pier (Alamo, thanks to the DIS Boards!).

Speaking from experience, it was definitely ALOT less expensive doing it this way.


~Princess Dana~

 

[pstepka]

I'm wondering if it's cheapest to just rent a car for the week and let it sit at the pier during the cruise, rather than 3 one-way rentals. And, I didn't even think about flying into somewhere other than Orlando! Guess there is alot to research.

 

[beattyfamily]

Originally posted by pstepka
I'm wondering if it's cheapest to just rent a car for the week and let it sit at the pier during the cruise, rather than 3 one-way rentals. And, I didn't even think about flying into somewhere other than Orlando! Guess there is alot to research.

I think in the long run it is cheaper to rent for the whole vacation. That is what we always do.

We've paid $172 for 10 days and then paid $30 to park (3 day cruise) and found it to be cheaper and more convenient for our family of 4 than any other way.

Plus we have the freedom to come and go as we please and hop over to Universal or an offsite restaurant if we want.

Good luck deciding!

 

[Alicia Gist]

When we went on our first 7 day Disney cruise we did two rentals using National. They did not have a shuttle so we got a taxi both ways. It was a huge hassle. The taxis were nasty. Even if it was more I would rent for the full time. We went on another 7 day this May and we drove. We stayed at the Hampton in Cocoa Beach. We were able to park there for free and take a free shuttle to the port. It saves you the $70 parking. The Raddison also has that special.

 

[beattyfamily]

Originally posted by Alicia Gist
When we went on our first 7 day Disney cruise we did two rentals using National. They did not have a shuttle so we got a taxi both ways. It was a huge hassle. The taxis were nasty. Even if it was more I would rent for the full time. We went on another 7 day this May and we drove. We stayed at the Hampton in Cocoa Beach. We were able to park there for free and take a free shuttle to the port. It saves you the $70 parking. The Raddison also has that special.

Are you talking about MCO? At MCO National is onsite and there are no shuttles.

I always rent thru National at MCO with no problems and it's always less than doing transfers for my family anyway.