We are on the fence about changing our summer vacation plans from a beach vacation to a Disney Cruise, which would be our first cruise.
I know for WDW Vacation packages they will often come out with certain discounts for pass holders, free dining, etc - is there anything similar for the cruise line? We are also DVC but they said there are not any discounts at this time. I wasn’t sure if that is something anyone has come across before. Thank you
I think the general rule is to always book as soon as possible. For DVC, there was a DVC counter to check in for the cruise. I received a call a couple of days before the cruise inviting us to a member presentation ( free drinks and possible prizes), and a magnet on our door. They were also offering FPs for your next wdw trip to meet with them.
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Book as early as possible, OR if you are flexible, as last as possible… Do you have that luxury?
You can watch this thread for sell offs:
Go to the last page.
It’s a very reliable thread (despite being DISB…).
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I think we are going to do it.
My husband was anti-cruise but I think I convinced him to at least try a short 4 night cruise to see what he thinks. If he hates it, I promised I won’t force him to do it again, but secretly I think he will love it.
I have the reservation on hold and am waiting to pull the trigger, I usually research things A LOT more before doing something like this, but also wanted to book ASAP before prices go up.
We would probably do a night or two at WDW before or after the cruise.
Can anyone talk me out of it? Or should I just go for it?
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If you haven’t done a lot of research, the UG to DCL is a good read. There’s also a lot of free info out there if you spend some time googling. There are a lot of YouTube videos out there on DCL cruising, some more helpful than others. I’m going on my first cruise in less than 2 weeks, so I’m probably not a good candidate to talk you out of it. Good luck with your decision.
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Thank you, I’m sort of coming to a conclusion that a Disney Cruise/vacation is never a bad idea, just doubting myself because I usually research things more and this was more of a rushed decision having just decided to not do our regular beach vacation.
If we hate cruising, then we won’t do it again, and if we love it…well, then I will have a lot more planning to do
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Can not talk you out of it. Would not. It’s my favorite thing!!!
Both the Disboard DCL forum and the cruisecritic DCL forum have a wealth of information. I encourage you to lurk a lot.
Which itinerary?
Castaway Cay is amazing.
I’m happy to talk cruises as much as you’d like, but don’t want to overwhelm you!!!
The 4 night Bahamas/Castaway Cay from Port Canaveral.
I’m nervous about booking the onboard encounters and meet and greets, just because I never have before and you can’t see the options from what I can find before your booking window opens. How is the availability of those usually?
If you look at Disney Cruise Line Blog you can probably find navigators from a recent similar itinerary. There’s no guarantee you’ll have the exact same options but it will likely be similar enough to give you an idea of what it might be like.
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They do say if you can’t book online you have a good chance of getting availability if you go inquire as soon as you get onboard. I recommend staying up and booking what you are interested in when your booking window opens at midnight. Things were becoming unavailable quickly as I was booking them.
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Thank you, I will definitely check those out and I didn’t know the booking window starts at midnight - good to know! Thank you
Did you book yourself or through a travel agent? They said they can get the same pricing but add a travel credit, I wasn’t sure it if was worth it. Any down side to using a TA except that you can’t modify the reservation yourself?
I booked through a travel agent. There was no down side to it at all.
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I also booked through a travel agent and received a travel credit. The only difference is you can’t modify the booking yourself, the TA acts as the middleman between you and Disney for payments and if you want to book port transfers (Disney bus or Minnie van) you also go through the TA for that.
We’re atlantic time so it was 1 am. Painful to get up to work the next morning, but it was worth it to me. I’m a first time cruiser but I was able to book everything on my realistic wish list. (There were no castaway cay cabanas still available, but I wouldn’t have splurged on that anyway). Palo brunch was also not available, but I lucked into a cancellation on that one day.
That’s good to know, thank you. We have some dietary restrictions, so weren’t planning to splurge on the restaurants. I also don’t think our family would stay still long enough to make the cabana worth it. My biggest priorities were to get the character meet and greets, some excursions at Atlantis, and maybe a spa appointment for myself and Bibbidi Boutique for her.
You can also put in all of your information after 9:00 I believe so that you are ready at midnight.
People have been reporting that that hasn’t always been working in the last few months. Mine didn’t open until midnight. But you don’t have to have all your online check in done to book your onboard stuff.
I was just looking at some of the navigators, that is A LOT of information.
Feeling a little overwhelmed like the first time we went to WDW, but I guess I have to keep in mind that similarly we will not be able to do EVERYTHING in one trip