Vacation Package vs. Separate Bookings

[Sneezie]

My travel agent is trying to convince me that booking my cruise and disney hotel separately will be cheaper than booking a land/sea package. She says that with the package every person has to pay the same amount (well, the first two people pay the same then the third and fourth person are significantly cheaper) but if I booked the room separately from the cruise then the whole family could stay in one room for the same price.

Does anyone have any pros and/or cons to booking the cruise separate from the land or booking a land/sea package?

 

[goscudder]

We just got back from our Land/Sea and ended up booking it as a package. I priced everything out separately and the difference between the two was less than $100. I usually never book packages because they usually aren't cheaper so I was surprised in this case. For our family of six, it was nice having all the convenience of the DCL transfers for our first cruise. The downside is the DCL transfers don't get us to the terminal until after 1:30, but with the package you already have your KTTW card so you don't have to check-in again at the terminal. That was very convenient! I'm not sure where you'll be staying at WDW, but we stayed at AKL and they gave us a savannah view room which was a great treat for us since we have never had savannah view rooms in our previous stays at AKL (couldn't afford it!!). I guess with Disney's Land/Sea guests, they automatically get savannah view rooms.

Overall I'm very glad we went with the package for all the little extra conveniences. This was our first cruise, so it was great having everything go so smoothly since everything was new to us.

 

[pyramid2000]

Sometimes it depends on what kind of room you have on the boat and at the resort. Say that you have a Cat 5 which would give you a room at the Poly.etc. Booking seperate you could stay at a moderate or value resort and save quite a bit. The best thing to do is to price it all out, including park tickets. We did it seperately, stayed at a cheaper resort than alloted and didn't get park hopper tickets since we wouldn't be needing that feature. We went in Sept. and even got the free dining plan!

 

[tlynk]

I think it depends on your dates and whether or not there are any specials offered as a land/sea package or separate cruise and/or resort discounts.

The last land/sea quote we got during peak season for a Cat. 6/BC resort was a great deal cheaper than booking separate. However, it is cheaper for us to book the land sea separate since we downgraded to a Cat. 10/Mod. and/or Deluxe (WL) resort (priced both resorts) during value season.

I would look into it and compare the difference. There are different discounts that can be used for the resort portion itself (AAA, AP, etc) that can lower the cost as well.