Hope this # crunching helps someone else considering the Land/Sea Package

[AlexandNessa]

Hi there. I hope this doesn't sound over-the-top, but my intent is not to sound pretentious, but to possibly help someone who is also considering booking the land/sea package, and also to help me think "out loud." All numbers are for 2 adults only and include travel insurance:

Dates: Oct. 19 - Oct. 26, 2006 (3 days on land/4 days at sea)

Resort Room for Land Portion: Grand Floridian - Standard Garden Room (Oct. 19 - 22, 3 nights)
Park Tickets: 7 day Magic Your Way Adult Tickets w/Park Hopper Option
Disney Wonder: Cat. 3 for 4 days

Total: $5,863.26 for 2 adults with all taxes and travel insurance included.

We eventually decided that although the GF is a nice resort, it's not our favorite as far as location, and also, we've "been there/done that" and wanted to try something new. Plus, we remembered that we still have unexpired park hopper tickets from 2002 -- bonus!

So, we eventually canceled the land portion of our trip. We knew that the GF was costing us $454.69 per night because we had asked about adding an extra night onto the Land portion so that we'd have 4 nights on land and 4 nights at sea, and that's exactly how much an extra night at the GF would have cost us.

When we got the quote back for the Cat. 3 Cruise only, the total for the 4-day Cruise (still in a Cat. 3 for 2 adults) was then $3,283.26 (which still includes all taxes and trip insurance).

So, $5,863.26 - 3,283.26 = $2580 for room and tickets.

$2580 - (454.69 per night at the GF*3 nights) = $1215.93.

Cost of 7-day Magic Your Way adult tkts w/park hopper option + advance purchase according to Mousesavers for 2 adults: $475.

$1215.93 - 475 = $740.93.

Now, I can't imagine that park hopper tickets would increase **that** much from 2005 to 2006, and I can't imagine that extra insurance on the land portion would be ~ an extra $700.

Am I missing something here? -- neither quote includes air fare or ground transportation. Where does the extra $740 come from if I've itemized everything correctly?

We opted to cancel the GF and book BWI Concierge when AAA rates come out (usually 10% discount on Deluxes during regular season). The way I see it: cruise: $3283.26 + 4 nights at BWI Concierge ($490 per night* 10% AAA discount * 4 days * 11.5% tax = 1966.86) + 475 for park hopper tickets = $5725.12, which is less than just 3 nights in a standard GF room + 4 day cruise + same park tickets (which would be $5,863.26).


Anyway, any input into what exactly I am missing here that makes the Land/Sea Package worth booking is most welcomed. I just don't get it.

 

[scrapperjill]

EVERYTHING I have heard about the land/sea packages are.....you'll be able to do it cheeper if you book seperatly...on your own.

Matter of face...... Were doing a 7 night cruise, 3 days at the world (tickets, meal plan, and WDW hotel)...with limo transfers to port and back, insurance, airfare, MNSSHP and a few other odds and in's for less than $6000 (2 adults and 2 kids 7&12) It may be a little more work...but you make up for it in what you save.

 

[CM_Mom]

Alexandnessa, I think what you're missing is convenience. Some folks just like to make one phone call or internet booking and be done with it. Although personally, I can make several phone calls/internet time and spend some time researching for $700+.

Also, if I remember the land/sea you would have been booking Thurs, Fri, Sat at the Grand Floridian and if you had added a day it would have been a Wed. Is it possible that the Thurs, Fri, Sat rates were higher than the quoted rate for Wed? An extra 30-50 per night would take up some but not all of the 700.

I think your comparison can help folks trying to decide how to book.

 

[dislvr75]

CM Mom made me think of it when she talked about convenience. The transfers are included with the land/sea right? Those are about, ummmm, maybe $60 bucks a person for the transportation and baggage handling. Maybe that's a bit more of the $700 as well. Not sure exactly about this, but I am just guessing.

We did land/sea about a month ago. It was very nice to have someone pick up our bags outside our room the morning of the cruise. It was also great being able to have our documents checked over by the DCL staff which maintains a desk in the hotel lobby. We had a great breakfast at Kona Cafe, boarded the bus and when we arrived at the port, we went thru security then directly thru Mckey's ear and onto the ship. I know I paid more for the opportunity to do all of that, for us, our traveling party of 7, our very first Disney cruise, it was worth it. Might I book separately in the future to save money... maybe. Now that I am more familiar with how everything works, I am more apt to be creative.


**** oops, I see now you wrote that the quote DID NOT include ground transport, sorry......

Have a great trip!

 

[TammiMcMan]

Historically packages never save you money, only time and convenience of not shopping for it all separately. I've pointed this out to a number of friends and there are still quite a few that feel like they don't know enough about it to feel comfortable doing it on their own. My guess is that because you're looking at suite pricing and the GF, the price difference is probably much higher, than say a category 7 and the AKL.

Just as an aside, are you sure that it was a garden view room at the GF? There's anywhere from $100 to $150 per night difference between a garden and lagoon. That could bring the additional "convenience" cost down to something more justifiable.

I'm glad you were able to book the resort you wanted and get the extra night all for the same price. A little legwork definitely pays off.

Tammi

 

[deez1966]

I keep coming up with a different scenario for our cruise - it is actually cheaper to do the land/sea. Please let me know if I am missing something!

For 2 adults, 1 child in a Cat. 7 with Beach Club
4 days land, 3 days sea - Nov. 27-Dec. 4 = $2998

If priced separately:

3 day Cat 7 = 1707
4 day hoppers (2A, 1C) = 638
4 nights standard view at Beach Club with AAA discount = 1110

Total = $3455

I am purchasing, air, transfers and insurance separately.

MD.

 

[AlexandNessa]

Hi there. Neither the Land/Sea Package or the Cruise Only quotes included transfers. This is because we will book our own towncar, so each package we were quoted clearly states transportation not included (only travel insurance has been included).

Others may find the transfers convenient, but we'd rather have a towncar so that we can keep our luggage with us, not have to wait for a bus to fill or go from resort-to-resort picking up other guests, and so that we do not have to be ready for a pick-up 3 or 4 hours before our flight if we don't want to. Again, that's just us. And, that will be a bit more expensive than Disney transfers, but again none of my # crunching included transportation/transfers.

Perhaps it is new that Disney charges less on a Wednesday night stay than a Thursday; I'm not sure about that one, but the Land/Sea Reservation does state: "Standard, Garden View" room at the Grand Floridian.

I agree with those who said it would be a matter of convenience, and I certainly understand it. But for those who would like to save the several hundred $$, I can tell you that it took me all of 5 minutes to call my TA, have her cancel the Land Portion, and explain that we'd rather have BWI instead. I realize that we'll have 2 separate reservation numbers now (one for the Land part and one for the Sea part), and therefore will have 2 KTTW cards. We also know that we'll have to check in both at the hotel and at the cruise terminal. We are seasoned cruisers, however, and are pretty familiar with the check-in process and what forms we need (I can't imagine check-in documents would differ too much by cruiseline). The convenience of one reservation and one KTTW card may be worth it to many of you. Speaking for us, sacrificing that seems a small price to pay to save the $700+ I keep coming up with. (Although I still think I **have** to be missing something!)

Any other input is most welcomed, and I do hope this post helps others when deciding to book the Land/Sea as a package or separate.

 

[Buddy Bear]

I don't know if this policy changed since 2002 when I was considering a land/sea, but I was put off by the lack of choices. DCL would only allow certain resorts to be booked based on the category chosen.

For instance we wanted a Cat 5; my choices for resorts were limited mainly to the moderate/deluxe resorts which were okay, but our favorite resort Wilderness Lodge was not an option at all so I booked separately.

 

[jilljill]

You have to keep in mind the time of year when travelling will factor into the pricing of the hotels. Their 'seasons' run differently than the cruises for pricing. So some may save more when pricing separately over what others may find for different times of the year.

 

[ericamanda01]

We booked our honeymoon land/sea seperate. We wanted to have 4 days in the park and 4 days at sea. We spent less by booking them seperate than we would have by just adding a day in the park.

 

[jeannief]

Thanks Alexandnessa. We booked the land and sea last year (sailed in Feb/05) and it was cheaper for us. The package offered to Canadians were for 3 of the moderate hotels but we could choose our cabin level. It worked out better for us than buying park tickets, hotel and cruise separately. And we didn't book the transfers... it was almost $400 cnd for the transfers and we rented a car for $160. Add gas and port fees to that and we still came out way ahead and never had to go by another person's schedule.
Next time we book it will be 5 days at the parks and hopefully a 7 night. We'll do it separately then probably, have to see the numbers before we decide. And next time we may stay at a value... our family didn't use the hotel facilities at all and I'd rather put the $$ into an upgraded cabin on board.
But for a first time trip to disney and cruise, it was mega convenient to only check in once... especially since we didn't arrive at the port until 3:15! Although if it was $700 cheaper we would have opted to save the money!

 

[emmabelle]

Out of curiosity I looked up how much a package would be instead of booking each separately for our cruise next August 2006. The price we're paying for a four nighter, 2 adults, 2 kids, one cabin is $1850 (we don't spend any time in the cabin, so we booked the Cat 12). For the package they want $3900, that's with three nights at Port Orleans. I can't imagine paying $2100 for three nights with tickets. I purposely left out insurance and transfers. I don't know how Disney arrives at their figures.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

I keep coming up with a different scenario for our cruise - it is actually cheaper to do the land/sea. Please let me know if I am missing something!

For 2 adults, 1 child in a Cat. 7 with Beach Club
4 days land, 3 days sea - Nov. 27-Dec. 4 = $2998

If priced separately:

3 day Cat 7 = 1707
4 day hoppers (2A, 1C) = 638
4 nights standard view at Beach Club with AAA discount = 1110

Total = $3455

I am purchasing, air, transfers and insurance separately.

MD.

I used the same math you did. Staying at a deluxe resort, it is a better value when booked as a package for us as well (late August). The air is much cheaper separately. After rebooking our airfare separately, I had enough to book another night at the Beach Club, and still save $200 over what Disney was charging us for airfare...

 

[TumFamily]

We recently went on the Land/Sea package through a travel agent. It was 2 adults, 2 children in the cat. 11 or 12 (I Forget). We were rarely in the room so I didnt care and we stayed at the Carribean Beach Resort. It included the hopper park tickets for three days. You wouldnt need tickets for 7 days because you are on the boat for the other four. So, that is a waste of $$.

Anyway, our total was $2800. It included our fees to get into the Bahamas but not the transfer from the land to the ship. I thought we got a really great deal.

I have been looking into going on the 7 day cruise (the one that goes to Castaway Cay 2x) and through Disney it is alot more $$$.

 

[fletchers]

We didn't want to spend too much time at the theme parks (travelling with 18 month old and 4 year old), so we booked our land/sea package separately, and it was cheaper for us. We only bought 2 day park tickets. The difference was almost $300 for us.

 

[J.J.]

I usually get quotes for both and then find that booking seperately is always cheaper. Plus we were able to book a Cat 6 & get the AKL in Dec. If we did the land/sea the only available resort was the the poly. We really wanted AKL so we booked seperate.

 

[Sinderelli]

Hi, I'm new to these forums but they have helped me out tremendously when I booked my land/sea package. I originally booked the 4 land/3 sea package for myself, DH, DS, and DD. I booked a Cat 5 room and the BC. However, after reading the replies here I realized I did not do enough research! Fortunately my vacation is not until Feb/Mar 2006 so I was able to make changes without penalties. I cancelled the land portion of my trip and downgraded my room to a Cat 6 (still with veranda, so I didn't care if it was a deck lower). I then seperately booked my land portion. I booked the CB hotel, added an extra night, and included the MYW with dining. It came out to be only $200 more than what I originally booked. We were planning on doing a few character meals anyway since it is my DD 3rd birthday. So now my meals on land are paid for also AND we are staying another night. I don't mind the downgrade in hotel and stateroom, I just want to be there!

 

[SueEllen]

I just wanted to add to this--

If you are staying in a category 4-7 (with the deluxe resorts) more often than not it is less expensive to do the land/sea package than to do these separately (all things the same.) In addition it depends on the time of year you are doing the package.

It is a rare instance indeed (barring any AAA or passholder discounts on rooms) that for a full rack rate room and cruise separate in one of the deluxe resorts offered (Beach Club, Poly, AKL) has priced lower than a land/sea package. I'm certainly not saying it doesn't happen, but it has been my experience that most people are better off booking the land/sea package in the verandah cabins.

Sue Ellen

 

[LucEeyore]

I have a land sea package booked for 12/1-12/8/05.
We are in a cat 9 and are staying at the POFQ. 3 days land/4 days sea. What tickets come with the package. What is it that I hear about a character breakfast on Sunday at AK and leaving from AK to go to port/

Thanks for your assistance.

 

[kstelzner]

We are booked for a 3 night land/4 night sea package. I must be doing something wrong since ya'll have saved money doing the land/sea seperately. We are going April 27, 2006. We are booked in a cat 6 on the ship, reserved for the Poly and inclulded all passes. Total is $3715. If we were to do the cruise alone it would be $2775. Add the cost of the Poly @ $369/night for 3 nights = $1107. Seperately, that 's $167 more and doesn't even include our passes. Am I missing something here? I called AAA and they don't have any discounts to the Disney hotels and is it worth it to buy a passholder discount for hotel savings? I definately think $369/night is outrageous for a 3 star hotel. We paid less for a 5 star resort in Maui right on a beach! How do I get this hotel cost down and potentially save by doing this seperate?
Thanks!