Need all the help I can get!

[qbananc]

I am trying to plan our first extended family trip to DW (8 adults, 3 children). We would like a land/sea package. Where do I start? How do I know I am getting the best prices? Do we book a separate land and sea package? Do packages include admissions to the parks? What will be a modest price hotel inside the park? What and where should I be looking for discounts, bouchers, etc.? We are trying to keep this as economically as possible. We will be driving to FLA. Please help!!! Thank you!!

 

[ceecee]

There are land/sea cruise packages available. I think there is a cruise line forum somewhere. I don't think I'd want to chance booking all of that seperately.

 

[icydog]

Actually you will do a lot beter booking it separately. You can pick and chose your hotel and you can use codes or discounts to get them even cheaper. Look on WWW.MOuSESAVERS.COM for some discount codes. Also if you look on some of the boards there are several travel agencies that handle the Disney cruises almost exclusively. One of them is Tim Larrison's agency. He runs the Disney vacation Club board on Yahoo and was very helpful to me.
His email address: timl@cruiseco.com
His toll free phone number is 866-200-8022

Be sure to tell him Marylyn Carlyle sent you since I owe him big time for excellent service from his company.

Good luck
Marylyn

 

[bobcat]

Here's the cruise board http://disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=9

With a cruise it may be best to price out a package as well as individual cruise and hotel/park passes. I have seen some pretty good deals on land/sea packages that would be hard to beat.

 

[qbananc]

Thank you all for your help! I already have a quote from Tim for a land and sea package, but I am going to check booking separate and see if its cheaper. Marylyn, I will tell him about you! Could you tell me if you think or have had the experience of these prices reducing as the trip gets near? I live in NC, but I am a Jersey girl at heart having lived there for most of my life. My sister who will come on the trip is from Toms River. If any of you hear of any discounts etc. please keep me in mind! Thanks.

 

[vhoffman]

I've never been on a cruise so I can't comment on that, but my experience with travel agents is that you can almost always do better on your own price-wise, plus you have more control.

Also, I've found you can sometimes get better prices by calling hotels direct, instead of the toll free number. I just learned this recently--hotels such as Marriott are actually individually owned and operated. They are part of a franchise, and when you call the toll free number they can only give you the standard rate you'd be charged at any of their locations. You can oftentimes strike better deals dealing with the hotel direct. This might work with cruises too.

 

[icydog]

I agee thaat booking a hotel would be cheaper if you booked yourself but as far as the cruise part I would only go with a travel agent. Tim Larrison promises that if the cruise line offers any specials he will immediately call and get you the better price. there is no way you can keep up with this yourself unless you were to call the cruiseline every day to check the prices. Also travel agents get discounts that you can take advantage of. I have never found it cheaper to book a cruise with a cruise line. I think Tim is a very ethical, trustworthy agent.

Qbananc, we know of people whose cruise prices have been substantially lowered with the passage of time and new discounts. My SIL lives in Forked River right near Tom's River. We are even interested in moving down there to a Senior community in Waretown. The only problem is the summer traffic on the Parkway. You just cannot get in or out of there in the summer due to the outrageous shore traffic.
BTW where did you grow up in NJ. I have lived here since my daughter was born 26 years ago. I love it here but hate the area we are in since it is so congested.

Marylyn

 

[mad4themouse]

Disney has done away with most of the cruise discounts in favor of early booking savings. The earlier you book your cruise, the more you will save.

After pricing my cruise online at Disney, thru the WDW Travel Co. and with a few TA's, it's been my own experience that the TA's had the best pricing. They can also be of assistance with any question you have regarding ports of call, documentation required and

I would also suggest that you book the land portion of the cruise separately. If you book it as a package, your resort stay will be tied to your cabin preference. In other words, if you book a small, inside cabin on the lower decks, you will have the option of staying at a moderately priced resort (CR, CBR, POR, etc.). If you book an outside cabin with veranda, you will be staying at a deluxe resort (CR, Poly, YC&BC). The AllStar Resorts are not even an option for a cruiser who book the packages.

With the package, your park tickets are included in the price. However, keep in mind that you will probably have very little time to visit the parks on the morning of you cruise departure. Checkin at the port begins at 1 pm (castoff is at 5pm) and the port is an hour's drive from WDW. So, if you're doing the 4-day land/3-day sea package, that 4th day on land will actually be spent traveling from your resort to the port and not at one of the parks.

Another factor to consider is that Disney will allow you to add days on to your land portion of the package but they will not allow you to subtract any. You also must do the land portion of the package first. By booking the land separately, you can save money on accomodations & tickets, set your own schedule and stay at the resort of your choice.