Is there a cheaper time of year to take a Disney cruise?

[vickiea]

My inlaws want to do a big family vacation in 2008 as it is their 40th anniversary (yeah them!!) we have been tossig arounbd a few ideas of locations, such as Mexico, Hawaii, WDW(we just got back 5 days ago and are ready to go again) and then I thought of the cruise idea.

So back to my question. Is there a cheaper time of to go cruising, and also is an Eastern Carribean cruise cheaper than a western or vice versa?

Any info would be really appreciated since there would be 10 of us cheaper is so much better!

Vickie

 

[CRSNDSNY]

January and September tend to be the least expensive as well as booking as far in advance as possible.
Eastern is less expensive than Western for the same season because of the ports.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

We actually just booked a cruise for 2008 and booked the absolute cheapest we could find. That was a Western Carribean cruise in October.

 

[tvguy]

January and September tend to be the least expensive as well as booking as far in advance as possible.
Eastern is less expensive than Western for the same season because of the ports.

I had always assumed the Eastern and Western were the same price, although I had seen a few people say they picked the Western because it was cheaper, curious the basis for your comments. I had also heard the Eastern tends to fill up further in advance.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

The Western is definitely cheaper. Like I said, it's the sole reason we chose it over any other destination.

 

[SnowWhite2]

I think when the prices originally come out they are the same for Eastern and Western but the port charges are higher for the Western. If the Eastern fills up faster, then the Western would be cheaper. There are so many factors in determining the price for the cruise - mainly week, cabin, intinerary - that you need to pick two of the three and then play with the the third variable for a cost within your budget. Keep in mind that the times that are cheaper are that way for a reason - hurricanes, school in session, etc.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

All I know is that we priced both the Western and Eastern for the exact same time (October 2008) and for the exact same category of room and the Western was definitely cheaper. This was also the case for the rest of the year too without exception.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

I had always assumed the Eastern and Western were the same price, although I had seen a few people say they picked the Western because it was cheaper, curious the basis for your comments. I had also heard the Eastern tends to fill up further in advance.

Funny because when I've compared them in the past it always seemed that the Western was a little bit more than the Eastern. Now I'm out on the reservation website and am seeing the opposite.

 

[tvguy]

Funny because when I've compared them in the past it always seemed that the Western was a little bit more than the Eastern. Now I'm out on the reservation website and am seeing the opposite.

I think they use the same software many of the airlines and rental car companies use. As the requests go up for a particular time period, the price goes up. Folks don't even have to make reservations, just as for a quote.

 

[aprince&princess]

We are cruising in Apr 08, and when we priced them, not being sure which of two weeks in a row that our kids would be off, the Eastern was cheaper by about $200.

Even the DVC points for the Eastern are less than the Western. I assumed that it was because there was one less port.