how to afford a Disney cruise

[Texans_loyal]

One thing to keep in mind when you look at that cruise fare is it includes everything. Unless you want alcohol or a spa package or to do excursions that's all you'll pay. I save money buy always going an inside stateroom and cruising in the off season (February and September being my top choices). I buy gift cards when target runs promotions and use my RedCard to get 5% off. One thing I did this year is they did a deal where it was 10% off Target gift cards. I bought those then used those to buy Disney gift cards at Target. So 10% off my cruise right there. In addition, I use my Disney Visa to get cashback and I pay it in full every month (unless like right now where I have a trip booked on it and I'm making payments). That way I'm getting 1-2% back of what I spend in a Disney gift card. We had a 250 gift card for our last cruise which covered half of one of our fares for a short 4 night Bahamian. Also, I told my family members that I felt comfortable asking years ago to stop buying me Christmas/ birthday gifts and just give me a Disney gift card instead so I can save. They're happy to get the pressure of picking a gift off their back and I get something I really really love!



One thing I'll say to be weary about with other cruise lines is that there are a lot of hidden fees in my experience, and not so with Disney. We are taking an RC cruise this April and I think it'll probably be our last non Disney cruise. The fare started out at about $290 a person. They raised it to $380 a person because I wanted to use credit card rewards and couldn't have any other discounts. Then I found that unlike Disney, their advertised rates don't include fees, taxes, etc. So that added another $80 per person. We 're up to $469 per person now which is approaching what Disney charges for the same cruise if we were willing to go in Feb instead of April (which we would be). If we didn't have what is essentially buy one get one free with my mom's RC credit card (which she is done using after this fiasco- rather just earn Disney dollars) I'd cancel this cruise and go through Disney instead. As it stands, it's only going to be about 469 for both of us plus we get a 150 stateroom credit because of our credit card rewards so why not? I've been on one RC cruise before though and I had a nice time.

awesome advice. thank you!

 

[Texans_loyal]

Thank you everyone! never been on a cruise so this is all new to me

 

[CM Dad]

Jillywilly143, how long ago did you do step 3 above? Can you still use Target gift cards to buy Disney gift cards?

I just ordered Disney giftcards from Target this Monday, using Red card/Target gift cards from Raise. Shipment is on the way and I shout receive either tomorrow or Monday.

 

[CM Dad]

I just ordered Disney giftcards from Target this Monday, using Red card/Target gift cards from Raise. Shipment is on the way and I shout receive either tomorrow or Monday.

Correction. This last order was using Target giftcards I bought from Cardpool, not Raise. I go with whichever one is offering a better discount. I wish Target still allowed you to combine their gift cards online. Being limited to 4 gift cards per order does limit thing if you can only buy small denomination gift cards.

 

[egesicki]

Jillywilly143, how long ago did you do step 3 above? Can you still use Target gift cards to buy Disney gift cards?

I just did one a minute ago, still worked fine.

 

[Starwind]

We live in Canada so end up with expensive airfare to fly to our cruise. And we prefer to sail in the winter during cheaper season (we are not beholden to school holidays as we are two adults), so arrive a few days before the cruise so we don't get snowed in at home. This makes a cruise expensive -- airfare + hotel costs as much as the cruise... Throw in the exchange rate and it costs even more...

What we decided to do after our last cruise was instead of going each year, we would go every two years, but consider doing a B2B when we did go.

We are doing this for the first time in 2017. So, one set of airfare and hotels, but two cruises It also gives us longer to save for it.

On our last cruise (also B2B) we booked on board placeholders which on opening day for the end of 2017 we called and moved to the actual B2B cruises we want. This let us take advantage of the OBB benefits as well as opening day pricing.

For airfare, I have a rewards credit card that I can convert its points into points with a specific airline; using that for one of our airfare and we will only have to pay the taxes as there are enough points for the base airfare itself. I am considering getting the airline's reward credit card as well because it comes with both a $ bonus and a $99 companion airfare each year, which would mean the second airfare is $99 plus the taxes. If I cn make out paying <$500 for $2000 in airfare, I am happy !

For hotel, we will book what we want when the release the dates we need. We know where we want to stay and are willing to pay rack rate if necessary, though we would prefer to have a discount. I then keep my eye out for room only or free dining or other discounts and if they come up for our hotel and date choice, call and see if we can get them applied. so far for past trips we have been largely successful at that; I think we have only had one night at full rate and that was because it was too close to Christmas to have any deals.

At home we rarely eat out, and if we do it is usually with a gift certificate we have been given. We do still have cable, but several months ago we changed to a different provider and got a much better rate than we had been paying. We don't go out to movies very often (a few times a year). My car is not quite nine and I am hoping it will make it to 12 or even 15. My sister uses public transit for her daily commute.

SW

 

[Ofinn]

That's a hard question to answer because everyone has a different amount of disposable income. A lot of people have no trouble affording a Disney cruise, and some people have to make a lot of sacrifices to afford it. If your asking how to get the best price and what not to waste money on that's a different story. I think you've got a lot of good answers here.

 

[xlxo]

Thoughts....

• choose Deck 2 oceanviews instead of verandahs
• look for cheaper pre/post-cruise hotels away from cruise terminals
• buy DIS to build on those savings.
  https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=DIS&t=5y&l=on&z=l&q=l&c=

 

[tinkerone]

You can do things like booking inside/ocean view cabins to cut your costs but keep in mind that no matter what you do it is still going to be an expensive cruise. I love sailing DCL and prefer to do b2b's on the Fantasy. We have decided that with the prices so extreme we are going to try RCL and check that out. I'm not finding the things that other posters are finding so I can't speak to that. I don't see the nickel and dimming. I also don't find a problem with the pricing, what the web site shows is the total price. The cost savings are amazing. Plus add into that we are Canadian and the exchange rate makes DCL so much more that what is posted. I do wish they took bookings in Canadian.

If its Disney you want I hope you find the way to do it however don't count out other vacation options. You may be missing out on something you would like just as much. What ever you decide, have a great cruise.

 

[Texans_loyal]

You can do things like booking inside/ocean view cabins to cut your costs but keep in mind that no matter what you do it is still going to be an expensive cruise. I love sailing DCL and prefer to do b2b's on the Fantasy. We have decided that with the prices so extreme we are going to try RCL and check that out. I'm not finding the things that other posters are finding so I can't speak to that. I don't see the nickel and dimming. I also don't find a problem with the pricing, what the web site shows is the total price. The cost savings are amazing. Plus add into that we are Canadian and the exchange rate makes DCL so much more that what is posted. I do wish they took bookings in Canadian.

If its Disney you want I hope you find the way to do it however don't count out other vacation options. You may be missing out on something you would like just as much. What ever you decide, have a great cruise.

Thank you!! Hope you have a blast

 

[JJZMgailey]

Hey guys!

I was just wondering, how do y'all afford a Disney cruise?
compared to other cruises, it seems super expensive.
I have mastered going to the parks for cheap but it seems like you can't cut corners when it comes to the cruises.
any advice would be great

Thanks for starting this informative thread! We liked it so much that we chose to feature it on today's DIS Daily Fix!

 

[Burgermom]

1. Sail in the off season when the prices are a bit less if you can. We love September the most
2. I buy discounted Target cards on Cardpool and then turn around and purchase Disney cards at full value for less. For example, I just bought 150.00 worth of Target gift cards for 142.50. Then I purchased $150.00 in Disney cards for $142.50 at Target.com and did not pay for shipping. Every little bit adds up. I put all of my Disney gift cards onto 1 card up to $1,000.00 each and use those to put on my onboard account to pay for excursions, drinks, etc. Anything that is not used goes back onto the GC. Sometimes I just go into Target and buy a few hundred dollars worth at a time for the discount. But if I have time, I buy them via Cardpool.
3. We don't have cable so that cuts down about $120.00 a month in useless expenses for us, which I turn around and use to put into my vacation account.
4. I am a TA, so my commissions go back into my travel account as well.
3. The prices change based on category, length of cruise and destination. Also if it is a special cruise (like Star Wars Days at Sea) or such the prices tend to go up.
4. Book either as far ahead as a year or try and get those GT rates closer to the sail date. The IGT, OGT and VGT rates are actually pretty close to opening day prices anyway, but you don't get to choose your cabin. And it is a restricted fare so there are all kinds of rules on those. For example, must be paid in full on booking (as they are usually offered after the PIF date for that sailing), you will get a cabin in any of those areas you selected but you just don't know where on the ship it will be and you don't choose. But the flip side is that you might end up with a cabin that is a better category than you would have chosen. We did that on our January cruise and we were quite pleased with what we ended up with. So much so, that now we choose that cabin for our cruises. lol
5. Look at your expenses and see if there is anything you can cut out of it.Some friends of mine were Starbucks fans, but then decided to try Dunkin Donuts and have never gone back. That might be taking it a bit far though if you are a Starbucks kind of person.

It is affordable, you just have to figure out what your family's needs and travel wants are and then go from there. There are some on here that sail in Inside cabins and some that swear by Concierge...and everything in between. Decide what you want and you will do fine!

Thanks for all of your advice. How do people know when the GT rates are available to book?

 

[lbus42]

Hey guys!

I was just wondering, how do y'all afford a Disney cruise?
compared to other cruises, it seems super expensive.

You said that you thought that a Disney cruise was super expensive. That is the first thing that you need to decide, whether you believe that the cost difference between a Disney cruise versus another cruise line is worth the extra money (I do).

If you decide that you think that it is the extra cost, then it will make it easier to come up with a plan to fund it. PP's have given you plenty of suggestions on how to cut some of the costs. I recommend opening a Disney Vacation Account or some other savings account and then putting aside enough money each payday to cover the cost of a cruise. For example, I put $125 a week into my DVA. This gives us plenty of money each year to pay for a cruise and also not worry about how much money we spend during the cruise.

 

[com_op_2000]

I use my DVC points, only costs me $95.00 per room out of pocket.
Most on these boards will tell you it is not a great value for the number of points required for DCLs. I have gone on 8 DCLs, 7 of which I used DVC points for including 2 cruises with multiple rooms. My DVC points were all bought long ago at a cheaper price per point than what you can buy them for now, so I can understand for those with recently bought points DCLs are not a great value. My one DCL on cash was purchased back in 2009 when DCL was offering rates of less than $100.0 per night per person.

 

[BigredNole]

I just pulled up a complete list of 7-Day Caribbean cruises. After going through the list, the cost difference justifies pulling my DD out of school for a week. We still can't go until next year. However, $2,000 makes it an easy decision. She can catch up on all school work on the 2 10-hour drives each way. $4,000 vs $6,000 makes it an easy decision.

 

[MUN]

Hey guys!

I was just wondering, how do y'all afford a Disney cruise?
compared to other cruises, it seems super expensive.
I have mastered going to the parks for cheap but it seems like you can't cut corners when it comes to the cruises.
any advice would be great

First, it helps to have a lot of money. I always tell my children that to be financially independent it helps to have selected wealthy parents. Next, marry into wealth. However, if you don't have a lot of money, I would suggest sailing during the off-season, book inside cabins, and move to Florida and join the military so you can get instate or military discounts and be able to drive to PC. You can save a ton of money if you don't have to fly to the port.

MUN

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

My wife and I have used this for years to help save for any vacation, especially Disney related.

1. Get a 5 gallon plastic water jug...........make a cap and tape in place.

2. When you get home at the end of the day......throw in any change, singles and when able, larger bills.

3, Over the course of a year or two saving for the vacation, you will be amazed how much money is in that jug.

4. When the kids were young, about 2 or 3 weeks before we left for the vacation, we made it a evening of it letting the kids cut off the caps and empty the jug on a old sheet in the living room and start sorting the bills and coins.

5. Saving over 1 or 2 years ...............we have had anywhere from $800 to $2,000 in the jug.


Have a great trip


AKK

 

[mevelandry]

My wife and I have used this for years to help save for any vacation, especially Disney related.

1. Get a 5 gallon plastic water jug...........make a cap and tape in place.

2. When you get home at the end of the day......throw in any change, singles and when able, larger bills.

3, Over the course of a year or two saving for the vacation, you will be amazed how much money is in that jug.

4. When the kids were young, about 2 or 3 weeks before me left for the vacation, we made it a evening of it letting the kids cut off the caps and empty the jug on a old sheet in the living room and start sorting the bills and coins.

5. Saving over 1 or 2 years ...............we have had anywhere from $800 to $2,000 in the jug.


Have a great trip


AKK

We do something similar with huge coffee cans (dropping spare change in it) + when we go to the restaurant if we drink water instead of soft drinks we put the 3$ pp saved in the can. I'd say we save at least 30-50$/month that way.

 

[RedSox68]

Save Save Save! We don't take them every year and with the Disney Visa, you get six months no interest which helps, and earn onboard credits. That's why we only go every other year on Disney -- for us it takes that long to save for one of their cruises. Sometimes though you luck out with opening day prices or, like us, not popular cruises. We got the WBTA for next year for less than we paid in 2007 -- way less -- my TA said it was because it was not a sold out cruise so they started the prices lower.

 

[mevelandry]

To be perfectly honest, if we want to go once a year, we have to settle for 3-4 nights cruises only.

This is why we decided to try other cruiselines in between... I just don't know if Mickey Mouse is worth paying 40% more for a cruise (we are talking 900$ US VS 1600$ US for a similar itinerary and the CND conversion is cruel, my friend!)

We'll have our answer in 12 weeks. Within 14 months we are supposed to do 3 cruises: Carnival-Disney-Royal Caribbean. Then I guess we'll really know if it's worth it.