Prices/crowds for spring break?

[3littlecuties]

I have never been on a Disney cruise. I would like to go and was wondering if spring break is more crowded/expensive like it is in the regular Disney parks. I was thinking about spring break 2014. If I booked early, would prices be cheaper? How early can I book that?

 

[kcashner]

Spring break at the ship is not like at the parks--the ship always sails at or near capacity and is used to handling that number of people, while the parks have to be at "OH NO" tilt level before they close the gates.

Yes, you'll get the best prices by booking on the first possible day. I do this thru my TA--they usually have strong suspicions in advance of date releases and take e-mail "What I want" orders. Then on the big day, I go about my normal business and trust them to get tier 1 prices for me. Your other option is to get on the phone/computer to DCL and do the best you can--potentially being on long term hold.

2014 dates are not released yet, so for now you save your $ and wait with the rest of us. I'd look for 2014 in the fall of 2012.

 

[3littlecuties]

Thanks for your reply. Is there any way to ballpark what a trip would cost? At that time, our kids would be 3, 6, and 8 plus DH and me. 7 day trip. Is this $5000? $10,000? I know it will vary based on exact dates/rooms etc but is there a ballpark figure so I know if this is even do-able?

 

[BeeTeacher]

Keep in mind too that "spring Break" varies. Our spring break for 2013 is March 16. On our last disney cruise we booked a western carribean for that date, which was cheaper by $800 than the week right after, and $1000 cheaper than the one 2 weeks from that. Some states have later spring breaks, some earlier. We happened to get lucky that our spring break is in that pre-break time.

As for cost, we booked 13 months ahead, so not the best price but we also got 10% off. We are a family of 5 booked in a Family Deluxe with Verandah and it was approx $6300. There are less expensive rooms, DH is adamant about the veranda... we did look into booking 2 reg veranda rooms but that was much more.

We;re saving like crazy so we dont have to put any of this trip on a credit card. If we can't, we'll move it. But I'd prefer not to! lol!

 

[kcashner]

Thanks for your reply. Is there any way to ballpark what a trip would cost? At that time, our kids would be 3, 6, and 8 plus DH and me. 7 day trip. Is this $5000? $10,000? I know it will vary based on exact dates/rooms etc but is there a ballpark figure so I know if this is even do-able?

Ballpark? Look up the dates for this year. There are LOTS of choices that influence things. With 5, you'll either need a "family" stateroom or 2 cabins. You can get them with a connecting interior door. It is often less costly to do 2 cabins than one, and you'll double your bathrooms, closets, etc. I don't know when your spring break is--I could have done my DD's for $1800 in the Mexican Rivera or $3000 in the Caribbean for 2 of us. If you see any "Kids Sail Free" specials, JUMP on them--this is a huge bargain for a family of 5. There were dates this year when a family of 4 could cruise for a week for $1600!!!! Of course, that was a matter of the dates working for you, and being able to cruise from California.