How do you afford these cruises??

[LuvThatMouse]

We just had our first trip to WDW in Oct 04 and I thought it would be a great follow up to do the Cruise since it will be here this summer.
My quote for our family of 5 was $8000. That hit me pretty hard.
Are everyones elses trips that high or am I missing out on some discount. I have been a Disneyland AP holder for like 15 years and couldn't find any discounts that way.
I guess I'm just sad that we probably won't be able to go(at least on Disney's boat). Any suggestions?
Susan

Our 4 day cruise cost $2,247. for family of 3 in a category 8 stateroom. We booked directly through Disney.
I did check out Cheaptickets.com online and their rates were pretty good too.
My DH travels alot for work so we buy our own plane tickets and we use his frequent flyer miles to do it.
We don't go out much. I buy clothing at Target and Walmart for my daughter who outgrows them faster than she can wear them out. I, too, shop end of season clearance sales for the next year to save money.
We also use the Christmas bonus and tax refunds to pay for vacations.

 

[jlowejd5]

I married a doctor who happens to love Disney stuff.

So if you get the chance to do that...go ahead...

 

[disneygatorfan]

or if you can't marry a doctor, you can always work for WDW!

 

[LuvThatMouse]

I married a doctor who happens to love Disney stuff.

So if you get the chance to do that...go ahead...

Yeah for you! Alas, I am too late to marry a doctor. DH is in telecom. However, my mother just remarried and HE is a doctor! They are meeting us in Disney after the cruise!

 

[LuvThatMouse]

or if you can't marry a doctor, you can always work for WDW!

I have a distant second cousin who just moved to Florida because she got a job at WDW as one of the costumed characters. Don't know which one yet. Will have to find out so we can get our picture with her.

 

[mist_e_rose2002]

We just had our first trip to WDW in Oct 04 and I thought it would be a great follow up to do the Cruise since it will be here this summer.
My quote for our family of 5 was $8000. That hit me pretty hard.
Are everyones elses trips that high or am I missing out on some discount. I have been a Disneyland AP holder for like 15 years and couldn't find any discounts that way.
I guess I'm just sad that we probably won't be able to go(at least on Disney's boat). Any suggestions?
Susan

there is only my DS and I going on our trip, which costed me about $3000 for 15 days in Orlando.

My income tax paid for most of mine, but also my vacation checks for work, with a little help from the family back home to get the money to the bank while I am gone.

I tried travel agents, but I found the better deals just by hours and hours and hours of searching on the internet.

 

[mist_e_rose2002]

"Now, the hardest part is waiting to even be able to book the cruise and then having to wait SO long until the cruise date"

Oh yeah..I booked Feb 12, and we don't cruise until August 18. Anyone got a time warp machine?? LOL

Actually I need to gather some funds for other parts of my vacation, but it is going to be a long 178 days.

 

[mamalle]

we work and wait for the fla resident rates to come out It is a hard pill to swallow when you see that total but its worth it to us. dh found the excursion list for our western today and he said- Honey looks like you are going to have so save some more money. there are a few things I would like to do!

 

[madisonsmom]

My husband and I are excited about taking our first Disney Cruise in Dec. We like to have a "nice" vacation every couple years and just plan it into our budget. We do without alot of other materialistic things to be able to do it. To us it is worth having the time together for a memorable and super relaxing vacation than having an {insert overpriced car of choice here} to drive, designer clothes or fancy restaurants all the time. We buy our household items on sale, clearance or end of season to save major $$. We would rather travel and be able to experience other parts of the world. This is our first time taking our daughter out of the country and figured it would be a great way to start her in on our desire to travel as well. We are paying about $2200 for a cat 8 for a family of 3 going on a 4 day the week before xmas. We also plan our trips WAY in advance and just pay a little each month on them so it doesn't take a big chunk out of our wallet.

 

[LiserAnn]

Also keep in mind that one of the attributing reasons as to why DCL is more expensive than some of the other cruise lines is because they don't have a casino. There's big money to be made by the cruise ships in the casinos which is revenue DCL doesn't see so they make up for it with higher pricing.

Lisa

 

[DisneyBill]

Also keep in mind that one of the attributing reasons as to why DCL is more expensive than some of the other cruise lines is because they don't have a casino. There's big money to be made by the cruise ships in the casinos which is revenue DCL doesn't see so they make up for it with higher pricing.

Lisa

Good point! I wonder what the average dollar income amount per passenger is for the casinos?

 

[crisi]

There is another reason DCL costs a lot - they get it. Despite it being "non-family-friendly" pricing, somehow 2000 people get on the ship each week - many of them families. It may be something they will do once in a lifetime that they scrimped and saved for, or it may be something they are doing because "the summer house in the Hamptons is being redecorated." Disney is a corporation, as such one of its main motives are profits. If they can sell at a higher margin than other lines, they have an obligation to their stockholders to do so. When they can no longer sell the quantity at the price, they will lower their price. That may happen if a third ship enters the fleet - they will have more supply and that may lower prices - although the fact they are talking about a third ship leads me to believe they think the demand will support half again as many staterooms at the same price. Economic theory goes even farther - if they underprice the cruises, brokers will "buy up" the bargain cruises and resell them at even higher rates than DCL currently gets ala ticket scalping - i.e. if there is a profit in something, someone will find a way to take it.

 

[ericamanda01]

Dh and I have gone throught a couple of places. Dreams Unlimited for the first, All seasons for the second and Micdan for the third. We booked out Sept 06 cruise in December 04. Early booking is the best way to save money. And always go through several travel agents and get quotes. They are, on the whole, pretty close to the same price but hey every little bit helps.

 

[stevechase]

hi all

I dont really have much to contribute to this, but I did notice that you were discussing the costs of these cruises. You guys are lucky, you are already half way there. We are planning our next Disney trip for 2006 July/August, for me, my wife, and threee kids for 3 weeks including passes and hotels, flights and spending money it will cost us somewhere in the region of £6000.00, which is what, $9000.00 +. We are going to Cuba in August (sorry, I know how you guys dont like talking about it) for 3 weeks all inclusive £4000.00 and that is quite a cheap one. I dont know what it is like in the US, but we really get caught out by the prices being 'up'd for the school holidays, it is a big issus here in the UK and the government is talking of fineing £100.00 for each child taken from school during term time. Although it is still cheaper even allowing for the fine.

Sorry for rambling, have a great hols wherever you go

Steve

 

[disneygatorfan]

$100 fine for taking kids out of school... nice to know at least some government out there takes an interest in education!

sorry.. just found that interesting. I can imagine going overseas would be very expensive. I am very lucky to live in Florida, and can take advantage of the FLA rates.

Shelley

 

[jenmack]

When we sailed last october 2004 we booked with ALL SEAS Travel 8 months in advance. The total including taxes, port fees (not insurance or transfers)
was $4963.87 for a family of 5 in a cat 4. I looked for this October 2005 & it's considerably a lot more. I think we just lucked out. We are going again this October, but it will only be myself & DH, and we are going thru DU because they quoted us a lower price than All Seas. I think you just have to look around and see who's offering a better deal not only financially, but customer service wise too.
We do plan on going again, all 5 of us, but it will have to be summer or school holiday now that the kids are getting older. Needless to say...We will definetly be looking for the best deal than and looking way in advance, because I know that the $4963.87 is probably a thing in the past.

~Jen

 

[ljql_5969]

There is another reason DCL costs a lot - they get it. Despite it being "non-family-friendly" pricing, somehow 2000 people get on the ship each week - many of them families. It may be something they will do once in a lifetime that they scrimped and saved for, or it may be something they are doing because "the summer house in the Hamptons is being redecorated." Disney is a corporation, as such one of its main motives are profits. If they can sell at a higher margin than other lines, they have an obligation to their stockholders to do so. When they can no longer sell the quantity at the price, they will lower their price. That may happen if a third ship enters the fleet - they will have more supply and that may lower prices - although the fact they are talking about a third ship leads me to believe they think the demand will support half again as many staterooms at the same price. Economic theory goes even farther - if they underprice the cruises, brokers will "buy up" the bargain cruises and resell them at even higher rates than DCL currently gets ala ticket scalping - i.e. if there is a profit in something, someone will find a way to take it.

I know what you mean. Back some years ago when my husband and I first got married (before kids), we had talked about doing a cruise for our honeymoon on Disney. Our travel agent told us "Oh, I would wait because the Disney boats are sooo new and surely the price will come down after they are an established cruise line". Well, that didn't happen!

 

[disneyophile]

How did we afford our Disney Cruise?

1. My pay check is direct deposited. I have a set amount of it deposited into a special savings account just for vacation. Last years and this years tax returns were added to that account.

2. We skipped a vacation last summer to save for the more expensive Disney Cruise.

3. We booked as soon as booking was available because we were told that the prices only go up during the more popular vacation periods.

4. We decided to drive from our home in Cincinnati to save on airfare and transfers.

This will most likely be a once-in-a-life time experience for us because of the cost, but IMHO it should be well worth worth the sacrifice.

 

[jhorstma]

I dont know what it is like in the US, but we really get caught out by the prices being 'up'd for the school holidays, it is a big issus here in the UK and the government is talking of fineing £100.00 for each child taken from school during term time. Although it is still cheaper even allowing for the fine.

Steve, we used to be able to keep the kids in school while stealing away on vacation, but then Bush came along and put the kibosh on that with his "No Child Left Behind" program - now we have to bring them with us.

 

[tecdavidt]

jhorstma--that is a good one, "no child left behind!"

Yes, a DCL cruise is expensive and so are other lines. All cruises are pricey but they are almost an all inclusive and you can control how much extra you spend. Most of us who have gone more than once have a good idea how much we will spend on board.

What we do is book the cruise far out to get the early booking rates. Then my husband puts away each month the money for the cruise. The cruise has to be paid off 60 days out or it might be farther out than that. You should be able to do it but it does take planning.

A fellow classmate in our daughter's class is in a family of 6. They are also DIS board members, Padre Disney. What they did was do paper routes for an entire year to get the extra cash needed for the trip. The entire family was involved earning the extra $'s. I always thought that was a good idea, involve all not just the parents.

What is a real shocker, add up all of the cruise vacations and go ouch. That would of made a nice contribution to retirement. Oh well, we only live once. As my husband tells people, it isn't the cost of the first cruise that gets you, it is all the cruises that follow because you get hooked!
Kathy
Kathy