Land/ Sea packages worth it?

[minnieandmickey]

We are planning a trip for next year and are wondering if these are worth the price?

 

[CSX2]

I think the general consensus is that you can do better price wise if you book the cruise and WDW portion as separate packages. We did the 4 day sea/3 day land back in 2000 and then booked a 4 day cruise with separate WDW accomodations and preferred the latter. You also get more flexibility booking on your own.

Either way it is a great vacation!!

 

[FantasticDisFamily]

A lot depends too on particular circumstances and if the convenience of having everything handled for you is worth it.

For us it has been/is. I'd rather spend my time planning and chatting on the boards, shopping in preparation than chasing after separate reservations and rates. Plus there just are not that many choices in flights, etc. from our area. Without an excessive drive that is.

Deb

 

[vicnmickey]

We did the package for convience. I priced the vacation out seprately and there wasn't that much of a difference. The only thing we did on our own was airfare and added on a day to the beginning of our vacation.
Price things out on your own both ways. Research is the key!

 

[musicgirl]

We did the 4-land/3-sea last year(6-01). We went through disney and used their package. It was very convenient because we didn't have to worry about planning too much. I'm sure it is cheaper to set it up yourself.
We had been to WDW the year (6-02) before for 5 days and had a great time. Since it was the 1st time, we tried to do as much as possible. We felt like we missed somethings, so we decided to have a second round. Unfortunately, it rained alot on the 2nd trip. We did our best to get around, but we felt very drained trying to get out in the limited good weather. It wasn't alot and we were out in the rain quite a bit.
In hindsight, What we paid for the land and sea we could have done the 7-day for a little more or even the 3-land/4-sea. We had never cruised before and were not sure how we would like it. I have a tendency to get motion sickness and I didn't want to spend the whole time sick. I only was sick the 1st night-but there was a big storm.
I think your decision might be partly based on if you've been to WDW before. We're going back for more of the cruise. 3-days was definitely not enough. We only are doing the 3-day again because of the expense. Maybe next time!

Good luck on your decision-but it's disney so you can not go wrong.

 

[jlp651]

we booked the package...main reason-2004 land prices are not out yet. We could have booked just our room...but other prices will go up for next year...should save us money in the end...

 

[mazzarafe]

We booked the land/sea for the end of next April and I think we did better with the package than if I were to book separately. I too do enjoy the planning process and getting all my priority seatings booked, but this time I'm leaving it up to Dreams Unlimited. We are staying at the Poly and even with the codes that Disney came out with this year I think my pricing is much better with the package. I'm also getting a $100 on board credit and rebate.

I think you can make out better with a package but you need to figure out what your costs would be if you book separately your cruise, hotel and buy your park passes. I'm doing my air myself, the prices thru Disney are crazy and I want non-stop.

Do alittle research and see what works out better.

 

[jfeasel]

In 2000, we booked the 3 day land/4 day sea package. Since there were 11 of us, using Disney transportation and having them handling all of our luggage was worth it. In 2 months we're doing a 7 day cruise with 3 days following at the park staying in WL and our travel agent was able to work out pricing that was better than I could have gotten booking everything indivudually for 10 people. He did not do our airfare through Disney though because we wouldn't be guaranteed a direct flight, which is key because I hate flying and getting on just one plane is better then psyching myself up to get have to swtich planes and do it all again. I would definately check with a travel agent and compare that price to what Disney will do for you.

 

[kmc33]

I would price both before deciding. I had planned to book the cruise and the resort separately so that I would have flexibility. However, when I got the quote for the 4 night cruise and the 7 night package including the 4 night cruise for the same dates, the package was only $100 more. There wasn't much deciding to do. The agent even said that he had them recheck the pricing because he thought there was a mistake. He was told that after DCL sells a certain number of cruise only rooms, they start pricing it such that you can't say no to the package. So I guess they inflate the cruise only rate so that the package is worth taking. So, for $100 more than what we would have paid for the cruise only, we got 3 nights hotel and Ultimate Park Hopper passes for each of us.

 

[Empire Day]

I say it is, only because we started to look around and try to do it sepreratly next year. here is what I have found so far: we paid 3600 for 3land4 sea cat6 delux veranda, and room at poly. no AIR but including ultimate park hoppers and transfers for 3.
when we tryed to do it our self (not much has gone into it yet) for the same rooms/cat we would be at 4200 so yes it has a little savings we figured out we are paying about 119 a night for the poly.
We will be doing it seperate next year for a few reasons ; we will stay land at a mod resort or go to a away at home , and will be extending the land leg alot longer!
for the price we had our TA take care of everything and she watched the codes and such and got us everything we could get, sometimes withg a little phone call from us. Next year we will be trying DU and hope we can do a little better!
as said befor the best part is having everything all set up!
but I would always sugest booking your own AIR Disney is really high priced in that dept. (although if they do book your air they know if you are late ariving etc.)

 

[two-foxes]

The ease of booking the package is well worth it. I didn't really research the difference in prices booking seperately, mainly because this was 1. our honeymoon and the easier the better.
and 2. our first time cruising on DCL, so having all the check in details and transportation issues dealt with was much easier.

Plus, booking a cat 6 put us in a deluxe resort automatically, and I know we wouldn't have shelled out $$ for a deluxe if we booked seperately, so that was an added perk! ( Although we ended up adding 3 nights to the land that we booked seperately through the late, great Disney Club....staying in AKL... My DH's little unexpected present! 3 nights at WDW simply isn't enough!)

We did book our airfare on our own however. That is an easy thing to shop around for to get a better price.

Do your homework and decide what works best for you..having it all "taken care of" won out for us!

 

[aprilgail2]

I booked the package for convience but we also drove down a week early and rented a vacation home for that week and did Sea World, the Beach and some other things. Three days at DIsney just is NOT enough time to do most things. next time I go just to Disney and not cruise it will be a 2 week trip.