Land and Sea: Pros and Cons?

[bobbi565]

I need some planning advice. We're preparing to go on our next cruise and want to rebook onboard. We're thinking we want to do a three night after bringing DS for his first visit to the world. We'll probably go mid to late June, immediately after school is over. Can anyone tell me what the advantages are to booking a Land and Sea package, or would we be better off booking the park visit and the cruise separately?

 

[cruisin'Mike]

I've only ever booked our stays separately because we belong to DVC. But even if you're paying cash, I think you might be able to save some money by booking the land separately yourself. And you definitely have more flexibility as far as where to stay and for how long. One possible downside is if you're using DCL transfers, then they may not go to the hotel you choose or may not be heading to the airport on the day you plan to check out.

 

[DrCavin]

I think the biggest complaint about land/sea is the resort/staterooms being tied together. I would guess the biggest advantage is one-stop shopping, you get your park & cruise booked all at once.

 

[NancyIL]

I did my own "land and sea." After my first 4-night Wonder cruise last month, I stayed at the Swan for 4 nights and bought a new annual pass.

 

[Danemom]

You just have to check. For our sailing date, it was cheaper to do a land/sea package than separate bookings. We even priced it staying at a value resort, and the package was only $100 more.

 

[NJBILL]

Our issue on our last trip was that if you book the LAnd/Sea "package" and you are at Disney during the Free Dining promotion, they will not honor it. For us it was 6 people and it was a lot of $$$. I cancelled the package and booked land & sea seperately and we also received free dining..reducing the cost of the "land portion" greatly...

 

[michellem1118]

The one advantage I've seen to booking the package is that, apparently, you don't have to check in again at the port - you check in for both parts of the trip at the resort when you arrive. That said, we booked our trip separately, mostly because we're DVC members though.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Agree with the responses....it comes down to flexibility versus convenience.

I suggest pricing out the different options yourself and seeing how it compares.

I do believe that now you can add the dining plan to the L&S packages. That was not available last summer.

 

[kcashner]

The above poster has it exactly right--flexibility vs. convenience. Cost can be a factor, but isn't always.

Booking the L/S, you get the package. You have some options to upgrade it for a price, and you can add the dining package. However, if you are traveling during a free dining period, you will not get free dining.

Depending on your desires, you can sometimes save serious money by booking separately. This occurs when there might be specials in the resorts that you would qualify for or if you would choose a lower level of resort and/or park ticket than is tied to your cabin level. For instance, if you have a cat. 6, you get a deluxe resort. If you will be just as happy in a value or moderate resort, you will save $. If you want a park ticket that doesn't include water parks, you can save (and you can always add them back in at any guest services desk.) Depending on the number of people, you may save money by using a different travel method to get to the port other than the DCL bus.

All that said, you are traveling in June--that's high season. You're not going to find too many discounts available in June, so it may well be about the same price to book the package as to book separately.

 

[bobbi565]

Thanks for all the feedback, everyone! I asked my TA to price it out both ways for me and she said...

1. June 09 prices for WDW are not out yet, and
2. Like kcashner just posted, there are rarely any deals in June.

There is one more variable I neglected to mention: the reason I'm researching this now is we want to book on our May cruise to get the discount! I imagine with 10% off the whole package, that will probably be the best deal we can get for that time, wouldn't you think?

 

[disneypoor]

You won't get the 10 percent off on a land and sea. The only way to get the discount is to rebook for the cruise while onboard and then book the land yourself. We tried to rebook for a land/sea and although they could do it, we couldn't get the discount.

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

I booked a land/sea package with Dreams Unlimited because for one I got a $100 shipboard credit for booking with them and two they were able to get me a room at CBR, when I tried to call and book myself the only room disney cruise line said they had was swan, I would have loved to stay there , but we really wanted to add DDP to the land portion which dreams was able to do for us.

 

[bobbi565]

You won't get the 10 percent off on a land and sea. The only way to get the discount is to rebook for the cruise while onboard and then book the land yourself. We tried to rebook for a land/sea and although they could do it, we couldn't get the discount.

Really? I specifically asked my TA this question, and she said the 10% was off the whole package! Anyone else have any experience with this? Maybe they've changed it since you last booked.

 

[poohfriend]

For the Land and Sea, they do not discount 10%. Instead, they usually grant a 200 onboard credit (instead of the $100 usually associated witha 3 or 4 day cruise.

We've booked it onboard. I'm positive you'd don't get 10%.

you are correct. there are rarely June discounts. If I were you, I'd price out a room at a resort you would like to stay at and see what this year's price is. Add 15% for next year and make your decision.

It seems to me that adding the land package to a cruise is a similar price no matter what category you're booked in. The result is that sometimes you stay in a Deluxe resort for a really good price. (cat 2-7).

Many families find that booking onboard for 10% off the cruise and booking the land seperately is better. You can determine how many full days on land you want. And if you book at a resort that the cruiseline uses, you can easily take advantage of DCL transfers. (if you so desire.)

Another consideration is insurance. I would not buy the DCL insurance if you book seperately as it would not cover your land portion. Buy directly from Travel Guard or Travel Insured, Travel Safe, etc (of get it through your TA)

I personally would book onboard and not associate it with your TA. Then you'll have flexibility if you should decide to use a specialist that offers additional Onboard credits.

 

[misslissa]

I think the biggest complaint about land/sea is the resort/staterooms being tied together. I would guess the biggest advantage is one-stop shopping, you get your park & cruise booked all at once.

I just called in to find out about this and you actually can choose whichever hotel you want, and upgrade to it. I am personally looking into a Cat 12 and stay at the Poly for our next, next trip. They bundle them together for easy booking... but you can just pay the difference directly through Disney.

 

[misslissa]

Thanks for starting this thread Bobbi!

I guess we are pretty much "in the same boat" in more ways than one

We are going to book the land and sea on board for ourselves, and my mom and sister who have never been to WDW before! I can hardly wait for either cruise

 

[bobbi565]

Ok, now I'm really confused!! Since DU is so highly recommended on this board, and my travel agent seemed to have given me wrong info, I priced it out with Tracy at DU. Here are some excerpts from our communications:

"As long as the land and sea package is booked as a land and sea package through Disney Cruise Lines, there is a 10% discount on the voyage fare on onboard bookings."

She claims she called DCL and verified this info. She also encouraged me to book with her first to take advantage of their double shipboard credits that they're doing right now and told me to do the following:

"I would put down $600 now to hold the space and then when rebooking onboard hold a room for only one person. The second and third person will still receive a 10% discount, though they would be charged at current rates when we add them to the onboard booking, but if this is done right away, the pricing should be the same.

I would then move the other two to the onboard booking along with $400 to satisfy the deposit requirement, then cancel the first reservation requesting a $200 refund. Once the deposit was paid on the onboard booking, we could take care of it immediately. Just drop me an email.

One other thought was that we could hold a reservation now for just two of you, only needing a $400 deposit and onboard you could book for one and then proceed as above. This way you wouldn't need a refund at all."

Does this make sense to anyone??

 

[poohfriend]

so, let us know when you get onboard if you get a discount or not for land/sea.

It sounds like in order to take advantage of DU onboard credits, you would need to book now. Then you'd be making another reservation onboard to take advantage of the discount. Then the money from the DU reservation would be transferred to the reservation made onboard.

is that too complicated?

Has anyone had the onboard discount applied to an exisiting reservation?

There used to be a great thread about onboard booking...anyone have the link?

 

[bobbi565]

They will not apply a discount to an existing reservation. That much, at least, I know has not changed. What I think she's telling me to do is make a reservation with her for two people and then when I'm onboard, make another reservation for only one person in the same category. They would then add more people (by transferring them from my existing reservation) to the onboard booking. The question is, will they extend the discount to more people added onto a stateroom that was booked onboard?

I think I read in another thread that someone did have a deposit from a reservation they made before boarding transferred to an onboard booking. When the heck is the search function going to be working again?