Help me plan a Concierge level cruise for as little $$ as possible

[hypnotoad]

Here's the setup:
My parent's 40th is coming up, and they have offered to pay for a cruise together with my family (2 adults, 2 kids who will be 4 and 6) around November 2018.
I have offered to plan it, and they have given me a budget of 20k.


So now, after lurking on the forums and doing tons of research, I have concluded that we MUST be concierge level, and I would love for use to all stay in a Royal suite, but that doesn't seem possible with that budget.

I've come up with the following 2 options:

1. book 2 of the lowest cost concierge suites and hope to upgrade to royal suite at port
2. book the royal suite for my parents, and then book the lowest price suite anywhere on the boat and ask to upgrade into (my parent's already booked) royal suite at port

Are there other strategies I'm not thinking of?

 

[TestingH2O]

Which ship? I don't think the Royals on the newer ships sleep 6.

If you are on a newer ship, I'd suggest doing a 1 bedroom for your parents and the adjoining cat V for the rest of the family.

 

[perditax]

Be sure to get the Costco cash back if possible.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

and ask to upgrade into (my parent's already booked) royal suite at port

You won't be able to "upgrade" into their room, if the lifeboat for that room is full. Even if there are beds available in a room, DCL won't add people to a room where the lifeboat capacity has already been met for that cruise.

 

[Bettyscruise]

I concur that a connected family suite and 1 bedroom suite would give you lots of room and sleep either 6 or 7. Might be right at that budget amount for a week long cruise.

 

[CM Dad]

I booked the Walt suite on a 5 night out of Miami for my wife's 60th birthday. This was in January 2015 and was for 3 adults. Cruise cost for that was $6884. As a surprise to her, I booked three other non-concierge veranda rooms for our other kids and their families. I think the other three rooms were abut $3500 each. We had a total of 15 people.

 

[KVH]

One other possibility, depending on your proximity to the ports is to go book a cheap Cat 11 for a 2- or 3-day like right away. Goal is to make 1 or 2 OBBs for the 10% discount and the OBC (if you have to travel a lot may not be worth it). The 10% has the potential to save you a chunk on Cat00 rooms. Plus this makes you Silver and you at least have a fighting chance on your opening day. Still have to cross your fingers against the Platinums and Golds.

Some bookings are more competitive than others. Not only pricing but demand. Cost will be a major function of home port, # nights, when, ship, and, to some extent, demand. If you can be flexible, it would be good to have more than one sailing to select from when booking opens.

Get a good cruise-oriented TA. They can be an absolute lifesaver on booking day. if you can choose between November and December, a Merrytime cruise may be a HUGE cost saver. The Thanksgiving and early December timeframes out of Galveston are actually pretty cheap compared to the other periods before and after that. A few minutes on Cruisefish will get you a much better idea of relative cost; much moreso than the disney.com pages do.

 

[phinz]

T and V connecting. Best option.

 

[Shanti]

One other possibility, depending on your proximity to the ports is to go book a cheap Cat 11 for a 2- or 3-day like right away. Goal is to make 1 or 2 OBBs for the 10% discount and the OBC (if you have to travel a lot may not be worth it). The 10% has the potential to save you a chunk on Cat00 rooms.

This strategy will not work as concierge rooms do not get the 10% OBB discount.

Here is a link to info about OBB, if interested.

http://disneycruiselineblog.com/201...ooking-policy-now-to-include-block-out-dates/
[/QUOTE]

 

[Dug720]

This strategy will not work as concierge rooms do not get the 10% OBB discount.

Here is a link to info about OBB, if interested.

http://disneycruiselineblog.com/201...ooking-policy-now-to-include-block-out-dates/

I knew they didn't get the discount. Do they get the OBC?

 

[T. Bertsch]

Here's the setup:
My parent's 40th is coming up, and they have offered to pay for a cruise together with my family (2 adults, 2 kids who will be 4 and 6) around November 2018.
I have offered to plan it, and they have given me a budget of 20k.


So now, after lurking on the forums and doing tons of research, I have concluded that we MUST be concierge level, and I would love for use to all stay in a Royal suite, but that doesn't seem possible with that budget.

I've come up with the following 2 options:

1. book 2 of the lowest cost concierge suites and hope to upgrade to royal suite at port
2. book the royal suite for my parents, and then book the lowest price suite anywhere on the boat and ask to upgrade into (my parent's already booked) royal suite at port

Are there other strategies I'm not thinking of?

Hi,
Like you, we want to splurge and go concierge but I am a stickler for finding the best deals. So this was what I ended up doing...

I booked a 1-Bd suite with the adjoining suite. My husband and I (grandparents) will be staying in the 1-Bd because the bedroom area with full private bath can be closed off. My daughter, husband and the kiddos (5 and 7) will be in the adjoining suite and the living-room area and extra full bath can be utilized and enjoyed by all. This also gives us a larger balcony area with the divider removed.

We are members of Costco but Costco's price, even after figuring the cash back deal, was more than Disney direct. This was the case for us on the cruise that we wanted but it may be different for the itinerary you are looking for.

I went with Disney's website and booked exactly what I wanted. (ship, itinerary, deck, location) Then I transferred the reservation over to Dreams Unlimited and they gave me an on-board credit for transferring over. (For us it has turned out to be $450 that I plan on using towards a cabana on Castaway Cay. If you book directly I believe there is a larger credit. Double check what they are offering for your best savings.) I did our final payment through them and they have been available to answer questions and give much needed guidance.

We applied for a Disney Credit Card and put the cruise on that for the benefits. I also used it for the airfare which they give a "cash back" type bonus for, that I have applied back to the card.

Airfare I bought cheap and upgraded with miles so we are all flying first class as well. I saved hundreds doing it this way.

We will be, and I highly recommend, arriving in the area (if you are coming from far away) the day before. I booked our pre-cruise hotel with hotel points and that came out free to us. It also has a free shuttle from the airport so another savings there.

The only thing I have left to schedule is the car service from the Orlando area hotel to the port. It seems a car service will be less expensive for our party of 6 than taking Disney's Bus service.

I hope this helps. It took me months of searching and calculations to get to a point where I figured I had the best deal I was going to get. We cruised Disney in 2000 with our kids and they still say it was the best trip we ever took. Back then we did 4 day land/parks and 3 day cruise. This time it will be 5 day cruise and we just cant wait.

I hope you all have a wonderful time and you find the best deals possible so you can relax and enjoy the trip.

 

[Shanti]

One other possibility, depending on your proximity to the ports is to go book a cheap Cat 11 for a 2- or 3-day like right away. Goal is to make 1 or 2 OBBs for the 10% discount and the OBC (if you have to travel a lot may not be worth it). The 10% has the potential to save you a chunk on Cat00 rooms. Plus this makes you Silver and you at least have a fighting chance on your opening day. Still have to cross your fingers against the Platinums and Golds.

Some bookings are more competitive than others. Not only pricing but demand. Cost will be a major function of home port, # nights, when, ship, and, to some extent, demand. If you can be flexible, it would be good to have more than one sailing to select from when booking opens.

Get a good cruise-oriented TA. They can be an absolute lifesaver on booking day. if you can choose between November and December, a Merrytime cruise may be a HUGE cost saver. The Thanksgiving and early December timeframes out of Galveston are actually pretty cheap compared to the other periods before and after that. A few minutes on Cruisefish will get you a much better idea of relative cost; much moreso than the disney.com pages do.

I knew they didn't get the discount. Do they get the OBC?

Yes.

 

[disneyholic family]

the royal suite on the new ships isn't big enough for 6 people.....and totally not worth it either..
i can't stand the royal suite on the new ships...
on the old ships ("classic"), the royal suite does fit 6 people, but i think you'll still be more comfortable in two smaller concierge suites even on the smaller ships..

in other words, i agree with everyone else - book one 1 bedroom concierge suite and the adjoining concierge family suite....
you'll have lots of room that way and it will be lovely for everyone..

 

[cgolf]

If concierge is a must, then I like everyone's idea of the linked 1 bedroom and the family suite.

But if concierge isn't a must and you are not locked into just a week with that budget you could add a land component and get the largest non concierge veranda rooms side by side and having the veranda dividers open (I believe all four ships do this) linking the rooms together and having a nice meeting space. I guess it all depends on what your family is looking for in the trip.

 

[KalamityJane]

Hi,


We are members of Costco but Costco's price, even after figuring the cash back deal, was more than Disney direct. This was the case for us on the cruise that we wanted but it may be different for the itinerary you are looking for.

Wanted to note this - Costco's price is more expensive on the website until you get to the end, it is the same price as Disney direct, and then 7you get the cash back. I don't know why their website shows a more expensive price initially.

 

[Billinaz]

I knew they didn't get the discount. Do they get the OBC?

A small one. The Costco cash card would be more than a thousand dollars. That beats any OBC out there, hopefully you have a costco near you. If you are talking spending $20K then the cash card would be about $1700... now thats a good credit!

 

[Billinaz]

Hi,


We are members of Costco but Costco's price, even after figuring the cash back deal, was more than Disney direct. This was the case for us on the cruise that we wanted but it may be different for the itinerary you are looking for.

Costcos price is the exact same as every other travel agent including DCL. There may be changes in prices that do not catch up to the webpages at first. When you get to the final booking part, the prices come out to exactly the same as DCL and everybody else.

 

[Billinaz]

the royal suite on the new ships isn't big enough for 6 people.....and totally not worth it either..
i can't stand the royal suite on the new ships...
on the old ships ("classic"), the royal suite does fit 6 people, but i think you'll still be more comfortable in two smaller concierge suites even on the smaller ships..

in other words, i agree with everyone else - book one 1 bedroom concierge suite and the adjoining concierge family suite....
you'll have lots of room that way and it will be lovely for everyone..

For even more room, book these rooms over the bump out over the spa. You get a huge balcony and can have them open the divider between the rooms.

 

[Dug720]

A small one. The Costco cash card would be more than a thousand dollars. That beats any OBC out there, hopefully you have a costco near you. If you are talking spending $20K then the cash card would be about $1700... now thats a good credit!

So you work for Costco or something?? Seriously. Not everyone shops at Costco. We get that YOU do, but not everyone does.

 

[KalamityJane]

So you work for Costco or something?? Seriously. Not everyone shops at Costco. We get that YOU do, but not everyone does.

You can take the Costco Cash Card to the service desk and redeem it for cash.