Newbie question Land/Sea

[Grumpy56]

I am a complete novice to this having never taken any kind of a cruise. Thinking about doing 4 days at WDW and a 3 day Disney cruise. I'm trying to compare the cost of Disney's Land/Sea package with booking myself. I know the land sea package includes theme park tickets does it include airfare or is that extra? I can book the Contemporary for a great price because my husband is in the military, so I'm wondering if between the savings I can get there and on park tickets and probably on air fare if it's better to just book the whole thing myself. Anyone who has done the land/sea package that can tell me what it includes? Thanks for your help, it's very exciting to think about but so much to plan!

 

[RIDISNEYLOVERS]

Hello -

We booked the land / sea package as well. We are booked for 10.31.02 - 11.07.02 (3 night land 4 night sea) and then we are doing an additional 3 nights on land at the Contemporary.

The land portion includes:
1. Park tickets for the days you are on land (kinda like a length
of stay pass.
2. Depending on the category you book for your cruise you get a
choice of what hotel you would like to be at during the land
portion (based on availability).

The sea portion includes:
1. Your stateroom onboard the Disney Wonder
2. All meals onboard the ship in each of the restaurants (I
believe there is a small fee ($5 pp) if you dine at Palo's.
3. Entertainment onboard the Disney Wonder

You do have the option of adding airfare, transfers and insurance to this package through Disney. You can also add special packages to your land portion such as Disney Discovery Magic ($199.00 pp) that can include your meals while on land.

Some things that are not included are:
1. Alcoholic beverages
2. Gratuity
3. Shore Excursions
4. Spa Treatments

My dad is in the military so I have some info for you on that as well.

Due to the Shades Of Green being closed for their expansion, they are transfering all guests to the Contemporary North Garden Wing only if you booked a room at the Shades Of Green during this time. If you choose to book the land / sea vacation package together this will not be a choice of hotel, however, you will probably have this choice if you book it separately (based on availability) If there is no availability at the Contemporary (which there was none for us in May), they did offer the All-Star for $74.00 per night or Port Orleans Riverside for $99.00 per night (both are military discounts). They are still going to be giving military discounts on park passes (Which is a really good one) - they will have a place set up in the Contemporary North Garden Wing, just like they did at Shades Of Green.

I hope this info is helpful to you!!

Lisa

 

[phxjj05]

For us booking it as a land/sea package turned out to be a better deal. We are going 10/10/02 BC and DCL 10/13

We booked the sea package alone, and planned to stay offsite at the Safari Lake Hotel for free with Starwood points.

We changed after I did a spreadsheet that spread out all of the costs both ways, including tickets to the parks

Because we have 4 kids under 12, over 3 cabins, the price for them for the sea only to land/sea, was practically the same. This made the total price for the package only about $30 more per person to stay on site. Had we bought ultimate hopper passes for them it would have been over $200 per kid. The cost for them to stay in a cat 6 room with the land/sea was less than $400.

Needless to say we switched to the land/sea package and are staying at the BC.

Bottom line, depending upon the number of people in your party, and their ages, it may or may not be a better deal. List all of the costs separately, you may find that it is not much more than you think.

 

[Grumpy56]

Thank you phxjj05 and RIDISNEYLOVERS for the very helpful information. I will price it all out and see what I come up with. The other thing that seems to be a difference is that if I book the CR thru SOG seperately I could book a less expensive stateroom on the cruise, though I'm not sure what the best choice is for a stateroom. Since it's all 4 of us together in one room, it's nice to have little extra space. Thanks again for your very complete replies. These boards are great!

 

[kellyb2000]

we did the 3 day land/4 day cruise and I can only tell you that we quickly learned 4 days on the boat is not enough!! I know this wasn't one of your questions, but my suggestion is to definately spend more time on the boat! I had to book another cruise 'cause I didn't get enough the first time!!

 

[Grumpy56]

Originally posted by kellyb2000
we did the 3 day land/4 day cruise and I can only tell you that we quickly learned 4 days on the boat is not enough!! I know this wasn't one of your questions, but my suggestion is to definately spend more time on the boat! I had to book another cruise 'cause I didn't get enough the first time!!

Thanks for the suggestion, I was wondering about that too, not sure if I can manage a 7 day cruise and 4 days at WDW, I know my kids would be really disappointed not to go to the parks, but the western caribbean cruise is tempting!

 

[Hygiene99]

hi , ok if u would like to have a verandah, then u need to be in a catagory 7 or higher ,
if u just want to have a porthole u could be in cat, 8 or lower
i recommend u start off with a cat . 10 Secret porthole room
they r on deck 5 disney sells these rooms as an inside room price
but u get a porthole they r often called the secret porthole rooms and u can request a cabin when u go to book .
the view is partailly obstructed but it is ok
u can check out pictures of the rooms
at www.castawayclub.com the room #s r 5020 5022 5024
and 5520 ,5522 ,5524 great place to start
Peter go to disney cruise lines web site and check out deck 5 and u will see the rooms also


thanks AL.

 

[Familyof6]

Sorry,
I had just spent a very long time typing a long answer to this post and just when I was wrapping it up, I got punted! GRRRRR!

Here's a short version:

1. Go for the 4-day cruise (3-day is too short)

2. Better to book on your own due to military discounts (or other discounts via codes and such from Mousesavers.com) Ask for SOG overflow rates. Buy tix through MWR instead of full price through pkg.

3. Flexibility to book extra park days without paying pkg rate.

4. Airfare is cheaper (usually) on your own. You can pick the departure city that best suits you...not DCL. You can be sure your seats are together and know this far in advance. You can chose your own flights instead of the ones that the airlines will sell to DCL cheap...(read, the wee hours )

5. Ultimately it depends on how much planning you want to put into this trip. Pkgs are great for those who don't want to or don't have the time to plan things like hotels, flights, tix, etc.


I guess that was the major point of my (opinion only) post.

I had started off the punted reply by saying that I didn't read all the responses to this post so I may have be redundant here or I may have contradicted some. I am only offering my opinion...

from a fellow military family!

Lisa

 

[albiats]

Originally posted by Hygiene99
hi , ok if u would like to have a verandah, then u need to be in a catagory 9 or higher ,
if u just want to have a porthole u could be in cat, 10 or lower

Just a minor correction -
Category 7 is the lowest category with a veranda and it's the Navigator Veranda. The regular style veranda cabins are in category 6 or above.

An outside cabin with an oceanview porthole is in category 8 and 9.

Inside cabins are in category 10, 11, and 12.

 

[Grumpy56]

Thanks Lisa, I think you are right. The research I have done so far seems to show that I can do better on my own and I don't mind doing the planning. I have done the parks several times and always do my own planning, but the cruise is a whole new world!
Thanks for your reply, it was very helpful!
Susan

 

[noahsmom]

I first booked a land/sea package with DCL, after some research I quickly learned I could save a lot of money by breaking the trips up. We are still going to be at WDW for 3 nights (only because we had already booked air) and 4 nights on the Wonder. I saved enough money to upgrade our Disney trip to Polynesian conceirge!! We are celebrating our 15th anniversary and taking our 4 yr old ds with us.

The right travel agent will save you a bundle too!

Good luck and have fun!

Kelli

 

[Grumpy56]

Kelli,
You will love the Polynesian! We just returned for 8 nights there and it was awesome. Be sure to take your son to the character breakfast at Ohana's and eat at least once at the Kona Cafe. Also the Neverland Club is very cool, gives you a chance to go out with your with your husband, I recmmend the CA Grill for that. Have fun!
Susan