Tacky queston ahead! How does a family of 5 afford a Disney Cruise?

[shinez]

Hi All!
Wondering about if there is any special way to get a disney cruise cheaper then their website? Priced out a cruise for our family next year...7 day in February and for the 5 of us it would be around 8 grand! Is this right? Tips, Please!

p.s. This year we are going thanks to my mom for Birthdays...

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Hi All!
Wondering about if there is any special way to get a disney cruise cheaper then their website? Priced out a cruise for our family next year...7 day in February and for the 5 of us it would be around 8 grand! Is this right? Tips, Please!

p.s. This year we are going thanks to my mom for Birthdays...

In the USA there isnt a cheaper way to get a cruise than the price listed on the DCL website, but if you use a travel agent you can get on board credits, that 'refund' you a bit to help with spending money on the ship.

I would ask a TA to keep an eye on prices and offers, every so often there are 'kids go free' or discounts and offers, so if they come up get the TA to ping you a note or call you asap.

Look at room options, try 5 in a room or try 5 split in two cheaper rooms, the max in any room is 5 and not many do that, so that might bump your price up if you are searching on one room for 5, rather than 2 for 5.

Try different times of the year, as well, as the prices go up/down depends if its near USA holidays.

 

[abdmom]

The website automatically adds in transfers and insurance at very high rates. You can and should decline these. Look at the price with tax only.

Try looking at the 4 night Dream rates - much lower on a per night basis. Less money for a brand new ship. Also have a look at Mexican Riviera cruises, they are less by $2K for a week.

Sometimes they have a kids sail free promotion or low category 12 rates.

 

[Maryrn11168]

We went last year for my 40th and It was expensive, but not as bad as it could have been. We decided to take our kids out of school for the week. (Personal choice and it is very debatable on these boards!), book transfers on our own, and did without the insurance. Book airfare separately too!! It is very expensive to do thru Disney!! BTW we are also 5 people.

On board we booked another cruise. Downgraded from a Cat 4 to 2 adjoining Cat 8 rooms (oceanview...no Verandah) It would double the space, give us 2 full bathrooms and still was about $500 cheaper then the Cat 4 room. We actually ended up cancelling that trip and rebooked on the Disney Dream! They have Cat 8 rooms that sleep 5. That switch save us almost $3000.

Good Luck!! Hope you find a great deal!!!

 

[Edd]

One way to cut the price is to go to an inside room. If you can go than price out a cruise in the 2nd and 3rd week of January. I could get an inside on the RCCL in early February for a price of about $3000 to $3500. Disney is anticipating the Easter vacation rush for Feb, Mar and Apr and do jack up the prices.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

On the Magic & Wonder, if you enter 5 guests on a search, it automatically puts you in a very expensive Cat. 4 w/balcony. Any cheaper cabins only sleep 3-4. I would def recommend either 2 adjacent cat. 11 staterooms, depending on the ages of your kids or if you really need rooms with a connecting door, you have to go to cat. 10 higher, which is a slightly bigger stateroom (214 sf vs. 184) and the split bath. Cat. 8 & 9 get you a window, 9's are on decks 1 & 2, cat 8s on higher decks.

Also if you're looking at Pres. Day week, that will be much, much higher than the weeks before and after, prob by a few k.
It's always much cheaper while kids are in school. If they can't miss a whole week, maybe there's a long weekend some time so you can sail during off peak time. (Our kids get 3 days off 1st week of Nov. for a 2 day Teacher Convention and Election Day so this has to be our cruise week.)

Insurance thru DCL is very expensive as are their bus transfers. Our TA gets us better coverage for $150 while DCL charges $336 and doesn't cover pre existing conditions which is important for some. Even if you don't use a TA, you can buy ins. cheaper thru www.insuremytrip.com. I've never used them but lots of Disers have recommended them.
When my parents cruise with us, we are a group of 6 and it's cheaper to hire a limo than pay DCL's price for bus transfers. Absolute cheapest method is renting a car each way.
These are both optional charges and can be removed while booking online; just click on decline; it will removed several hundred $$ from your total.

Just for the heck of it, I priced my Oct. 30 7 nt cruise as a family of 5 (must have 1 adult in each room) and got $4678 for 2 cat. 10s (cat. 11 n/a)
Not cheap but way better than 8K.
Good luck!

 

[tvguy]

You can do a few things like folks have suggested to cut a few costs, but Disney is a premium brand. Disney is a company that busts their tail to keep their prices up, and right now they have just 2 ships in service. Even when they get their 2 new ships in service, they will be the smallest cruise line out there with the fewest cabins available. Good old supply and demand for a very popular product.
So in the current economic situation, you could take a 7 day Caribbean cruise on another line, and save close to $6,000 over Disney. I wouldn't be Disney, but it would still be a great vacation. You just have to decide which is best for your family and your budget.

 

[Bethshaya]

We paid $8,000 for Disney Vacation Club 12 years ago. We can afford a trip every other year because of that.

We figured purchasing would pay for itself since we go to Disney so much and it did..by the second year. We agonized over that decision thinking as a young couple, we were making such a frivilous purchase not knowing what the future would hold. But we made the wisest choice. DVC, plus the decision to become 100% debt free (including no credit cards - thanks Dave Ramsey) were the best decisions we made. No mortgage, no car payments, no credit cards. We save for what we want now and have no stress about how were going to pay for it all later.

Now, no matter where in the world we use our points for, all we need to have money for is airfare (if not within driving distance) and spending money.

 

[Edd]

Another way to save money is to schedule your transfer from MCO to the port with a car service. Disney charges $69.00 per person for transfer to the port. For you group that is $350.00. You can find a car service transfer for around $180.00. The transfer is included in the price of your cruise when you first view the price. You have to go back further in the screens to turn down the ground Transportation and the insurance option.

For insurance a family of 5 must pay about $500.00 and that would be a great savings. That to me is a worthless charge. Over the years of cruising I have probably paid for 2 extra cruises by not paying for travel insurance. In about 20 cruises I have not bought the first trip insurance and never missed a cruise. I could have spent $6000 to $10,000 for insurance over the years. So if I miss the next one it has already been paid for.

 

[Poohbug]

It's tough. We have not cruised since the arrival of our fifth family member. Look into the Dream in 2011-the prices are a little bit less. You can do a 3/4 night back to back that can be less than a 7 night.

Usually two lower category rooms are a better price than the family stateroom. Just decide if you need a connecting room or not. It looks like the Dream will have more options for larger families.

We also cruise off season for the best price. September/october are the least expensive. Yes-hurricane season-but that is the only way we were able to keep the price down.

 

[MickeyMom:)]

Hi All!
Wondering about if there is any special way to get a disney cruise cheaper then their website? Priced out a cruise for our family next year...7 day in February and for the 5 of us it would be around 8 grand! Is this right? Tips, Please!

p.s. This year we are going thanks to my mom for Birthdays...

We are also a family of 5 and had been looking into cruising with DCL for about 3 years but paying 7 or 8k was not the thing for us to do....Fast forward to this month about 2 weeks ago we logged on and found that they had Florida Resident rates and we were able to book 7 nights on the Magic sailing 02-06 in a Cat4 for $3700.00...Totally doable....

 

[NancyIL]

My family of 5 has taken many vacations together - including a 3-week trip to Europe in 2000. However, I have an aversion to spending big wads of money at one time, so we have never taken a family cruise. We were going to take our kids on a Baltic cruise in 2005, then realized that for the price of that trip, we could either take the kids along or our 2nd daughter could go to college. College won, and we left the kids at home. Since then, I have cruised with everyone in my family - just not at the same time.

 

[breakingd_awn]

I would suggest getting the cheapest rooms. We are a family of 6 and i priced a 7 day in Jan 2011 2 cat11c room no ins no transferrs for $4456.00
or we could do 4 night on the new Dream in Feb 2011 in 2 cat 11b's for $2705.00 no ins no trans. There is no way we would cruise if it cost us $8000.00!

 

[disneyfool_1202]

I'm not sure if Disney does it but many cruiselines have last minute fares that are far cheaper than the regular plan ahead rate. A friend of mine is infamous for finding low fairs 2-3 wks before departure - usually during the lower season. If you're willing to take the chance, you could always block off the time from work / school and take your chances.

I'm another DVC fan- this will be our 2nd cruise using points - our last cruise was in 08, our next will be 2011. We bank, use and borrow, and don't do a 7. Last time was a 4, next will be a 5 night.

 

[wehavesix]

We are a family of 6 and are booked on the Dream for a 4 night cruise. We have 2 connecting inside staterooms, Cat. 11. We are paying just under $3k, including taxes. No insurance or transfers. Our last cruise was a 4 night on the Wonder, Cat. 9, 2 connecting rooms and cost was about $4k for all 6 of us. Both cruises were booked for before Memorial Day because the in very next week the price nearly doubles. A lot has to do with the "season" you choose and the room type. A little creative planning can really make it an affordable trip.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

You can do a few things like folks have suggested to cut a few costs, but Disney is a premium brand. Disney is a company that busts their tail to keep their prices up, and right now they have just 2 ships in service. Even when they get their 2 new ships in service, they will be the smallest cruise line out there with the fewest cabins available. Good old supply and demand for a very popular product.
So in the current economic situation, you could take a 7 day Caribbean cruise on another line, and save close to $6,000 over Disney. I wouldn't be Disney, but it would still be a great vacation. You just have to decide which is best for your family and your budget.

Yikes! I've never spent more than 4k on a 7 nt DCL cruise, including Thanksgiving 08. (cat 9s, 3 cruises)
My friend who has a family of 5, spent $4600 for 2 cat 11 for Oct. 09. Rebooked onboard 2 cat 11s for next Oct for only $3800.
Deals are out there.

 

[Maren1111]

For our cruise, Grandma & Grandpa are coming along and getting their own room and our youngest child (#3) is booked as staying with them.

 

[momofkhm]

Hi All!
Wondering about if there is any special way to get a disney cruise cheaper then their website? Priced out a cruise for our family next year...7 day in February and for the 5 of us it would be around 8 grand! Is this right? Tips, Please!

p.s. This year we are going thanks to my mom for Birthdays...

The way we did it was first we shortened to a 4 day cruise and then we went on kids sail free. I don't know the price difference between 7 days and 4 days but I think the kids sail free saved us around $1500.

 

[Presentation]

We are a family of 5 and we booked the category 4 room with veranda. Catagory 4 rooms do sleep 5.

We sail in a week and a day on the Wonder on a 4 night cruise. We booked this with the kids sail free promotion and picked a lower cost time, end of January.

Disney Wonder, cat 4 varanda, family of 5, January 24 2010.


Room w/taxes Cruise/ Taxes
$1,093.92 Adult $1,049.00 / $44.92
$1,093.92 Adult $1,049.00 / $44.92
$44.92 Child 13 $0/ $44.92
$44.92 Child 9 $0/ $44.92
$44.92 Child 6 $0/ $44.92
$2,322.60 Total $2,098.00/ $224.60



Of course this is the cruise only expense, the above total does not include things like airfare, tips and other money we spend.

 

[tvguy]

Yikes! I've never spent more than 4k on a 7 nt DCL cruise, including Thanksgiving 08. (cat 9s, 3 cruises)
My friend who has a family of 5, spent $4600 for 2 cat 11 for Oct. 09. Rebooked onboard 2 cat 11s for next Oct for only $3800.
Deals are out there.

I'm sure a lot of folks would like your secret. That works out to less than $132 a day per person, a good price on any cruise line, a bargain on Disney.
I suspect the economic climate played a role.