Question about B2B cruises or multiple a year

[kateandy08096]

Last year I did four cruises (oops.) Two extremely good rate cruises on the Wonder than ran way less than that for a week. On last minute VGT rate on the Fantasy. And one that my parents paid for on the Magic

I don’t have kids though. and I will sleep anywhere on the ship. Give me a closet and I’d still sail!

I think my 7 night on the Fantasy and my 7 nights on the Wonderwas less than that $5k mark.

I'm the same way. I would sleep pool side hahahaha but my husband now is a whole different story

 

[kateandy08096]

Thank you everyone! Next time we look to sail we will remember the wish is at the premiere rates right now. We needed a 4 night because we are taking our granddaughter and not sure how she will do but I do wish they offered 1st responder discounts

 

[tvguy]

While opinions vary wildy here on what middle class income is, I think most Disney cruisers are more affluent than the general public.
My last cruise was on Celebrity in October 2019. Balcony stateroom, 2 adults, $625 per person, 7 day cruise.
Even with all possible discounts, I'm not sure you're going to find a fare anywhere near that on Disney.

 

[MomOTwins]

You can book 2 placeholders on a single sailing and use them on back to back cruises. It’s the only exception to the general rule that 2 placeholders booked on the same sailing by the same household must be used on a single cruise. Placeholders are the only kind of discount we use as we are a family of 5 so can’t due GT.

The “how can people afford” question also dances around the reality that everyone has a different vacation budget. We feel pretty lucky as we can take 2-3 vacations a year (up to 3 weeks total). But we basically spend all of our recreation budget on vacation (no home remodels, concerts, sports game tickets, or fancy new tech for us—we have a small tv, ancient iphones and keep driving our cars until they aren’t worth the cost to repair them). But that’s how we afford our trips. We have wealthier friends and relatives who take vacations pretty much every month of the year, sometimes for several weeks at a time—they just have more money than we do!

 

[bcwife76]

One of the reasons my husband and I are looking forward to retirement in 10 years!

Same! I'm hoping my husband is down to 9yrs at this point, though I might do something part time because at that point we will only be in our mid 50's.

Us too! But I'm pushing for earlier...just need to pay for our children's education, and we're retiring!

We were able to use the Canadian resident discount for our verandah. I think the discounts are different now than they use to be. I was pleasantly surprised.

I agree with those who said it's likely a post covid catch up. We usually cruise twice a year, but we will have 4 cruises for 2023.

Yes, same!

We have taken advantage of a Canadian residents rate recently and verandahs were definitely included. Every week when the discounts are released I scan for any that *might* work with any dates we have coming up ;-)

 

[auntlynne]

(This is not meant to sound mean.) You asked HOW they do so many cruises - then said money didn’t matter. For some, this is the case.

But notice the majority of the responses talk about sailing with discounts (FL, military…), looking for lower priced cruises, sailing outside school break.

To answer your explicit question, No, Disney has no discount for booking B2B or multiple cruises in a year. And no discount for loyalty, like Royal or MSC has.

Bottom line, they just make the choice to spend their money and vacation time (or are not having to show up at an office) on a cruise. Sort of like your 4-5 trips to WDW in a year. And some of these cruisers are also doing WDW trips, too. All rather mind-blowing. (No, I am not pointing fingers. I did a B2B 25 night combo; then had to fly home from Europe. Had some 5-cruise years. I have spent 188 nights cruising various cruise lines. I consider myself very fortunate). I am also short enough to not need a Verandah (Only 5’9”)

 

[Kwami]

While opinions vary wildy here on what middle class income is, I think most Disney cruisers are more affluent than the general public.
My last cruise was on Celebrity in October 2019. Balcony stateroom, 2 adults, $625 per person, 7 day cruise.
Even with all possible discounts, I'm not sure you're going to find a fare anywhere near that on Disney.

Well, but pre-pandemic rates aren't fair. There's been a lot of inflation since then and a lot of extra greed in the travel industry, too. I bet the same Celebrity cruise would cost a fair bit more now.

But, ultimately, Disney costs a bit more. That's nothing new.

 

[tvguy]

Well, but pre-pandemic rates aren't fair. There's been a lot of inflation since then and a lot of extra greed in the travel industry, too. I bet the same Celebrity cruise would cost a fair bit more now.

But, ultimately, Disney costs a bit more. That's nothing new.

Actually, no. I just checked. That cruise is $576 a person for the same ship, same trip, same week in October 2023.

 

[OpieDoodle]

How you can afford it is really a loaded question and is very different for everyone. For us I book early, avoid those hot peak times where prices are nuts, use the target 5% discount, and I'm going to start stacking that with a placeholder discount.

Other than that I literally budget our trips. So I'll figure out about the cost I need for a cruise and plan it out saying I need to save this much per check. Then we also do some extra stuff. Like for example, my husband and I's 10 year anniversary cruise in September? I paid entirely from DoorDashing and watching my family's dogs. We can afford one trip like this a year as a family of 5. Anything over that we have to get creative.

 

[kateandy08096]

While opinions vary wildy here on what middle class income is, I think most Disney cruisers are more affluent than the general public.
My last cruise was on Celebrity in October 2019. Balcony stateroom, 2 adults, $625 per person, 7 day cruise.
Even with all possible discounts, I'm not sure you're going to find a fare anywhere near that on Disney.

Yes however with all of the horror stories I have heard with other cruise lines I'm not sure I'm ready to be stuck at sea on another other line then disney.

 

[kateandy08096]

You can book 2 placeholders on a single sailing and use them on back to back cruises. It’s the only exception to the general rule that 2 placeholders booked on the same sailing by the same household must be used on a single cruise. Placeholders are the only kind of discount we use as we are a family of 5 so can’t due GT.

The “how can people afford” question also dances around the reality that everyone has a different vacation budget. We feel pretty lucky as we can take 2-3 vacations a year (up to 3 weeks total). But we basically spend all of our recreation budget on vacation (no home remodels, concerts, sports game tickets, or fancy new tech for us—we have a small tv, ancient iphones and keep driving our cars until they aren’t worth the cost to repair them). But that’s how we afford our trips. We have wealthier friends and relatives who take vacations pretty much every month of the year, sometimes for several weeks at a time—they just have more money than we do!

I wasn't asking how they afford it because I dispise when people ask me how we afford to go to Disney 6 times a year for almost 2 weeks at a time. It was more a question of where are the discounts of any

 

[kateandy08096]

(This is not meant to sound mean.) You asked HOW they do so many cruises - then said money didn’t matter. For some, this is the case.

But notice the majority of the responses talk about sailing with discounts (FL, military…), looking for lower priced cruises, sailing outside school break.

To answer your explicit question, No, Disney has no discount for booking B2B or multiple cruises in a year. And no discount for loyalty, like Royal or MSC has.

Bottom line, they just make the choice to spend their money and vacation time (or are not having to show up at an office) on a cruise. Sort of like your 4-5 trips to WDW in a year. And some of these cruisers are also doing WDW trips, too. All rather mind-blowing. (No, I am not pointing fingers. I did a B2B 25 night combo; then had to fly home from Europe. Had some 5-cruise years. I have spent 188 nights cruising various cruise lines. I consider myself very fortunate). I am also short enough to not need a Verandah (Only 5’9”)

I think I more likely worded it wrong. Not how as in money wise as I dislike people asking me how I go to Disney 6 times a year for 2 weeks at a time however I was asking how as in where are they finding the discounts if any.

 

[kateandy08096]

I just added an EDIT to my original post. I'm not asking how money wise like how you are able to afford it. I asking how as in are there specials, promos, discounts . Money isn't an issue to myself and my husband when we plan our travels because we are very fortunate to be able to travel as often and as frequently as we do.

 

[auntlynne]

I think I more likely worded it wrong. Not how as in money wise as I dislike people asking me how I go to Disney 6 times a year for 2 weeks at a time however I was asking how as in where are they finding the discounts if any.

Yep, that was your explicit question. It just got lost in the weeds. It happens. The good news is you haven‘t missed out on any secret savings.

 

[tvguy]

Yes however with all of the horror stories I have heard with other cruise lines I'm not sure I'm ready to be stuck at sea on another other line then disney.

I've cruised on Disney, Paquet, NCL, RCCL, HAL and NCL America. Other than NCL America, I would have no issue being stuck at sea on any line. NCL America has one ship, the Pride of America, and only sails around Hawaii. Two of their ports you overnight in, so they are more set up to be a floating docked hotel than a cruise ship. I'm sure they would do fine, but they have no sea days on their cruises so they might be a little short on on board activities..

 

[jimmymc]

No special discounts for frequent travelers. Going during the spring and fall tends to be cheaper, and depending on how long your flight is, combining WDW and a cruise or 2 into one long trip might be a better value than going several times.

If you're out of state, the guarantee cabins are going to be your best discount. Florida resident rates are usually the best overall prices.

 

[OpieDoodle]

No secret savings aside from placeholders, target gift cards, maybe credit cards (depending), then DCL did the Disney+ deal semi recently. Otherwise no special sauce.