Should we book?

Good morning,

I need advice because we made a poor decision. We have been saving and hoping for a Disney Cruise (our first cruise ever) for over a year. The problem is that we have been holding out hope for a military discount. There were plenty of military discounts when we began looking and now there haven't been any listed for a long time. We want to go on the Sept 5 sailing of the Fantasy and it looks like we held our breath for too long. We went ahead and got a quote and a reservation hold on the very last two inside staterooms from DCL directly, just to see. The big mistake on our part was to wait so long to book. I have learned that booking at the earliest possible time is the ideal way to go. We waited and waited and now may book. We got a quote for $3886.51 per room (2 rooms). We are a family of 6. So, my question is, should we book it? Is this a decent quote? Are we out of our minds to pay that price? We want to go so badly to make a dream come true for our kids and yet, we don't want to be foolish. Any advice please? We also were concerned about it being decorated for Halloween but we decided to try it anyway.

Thanks all!

For me, I would not pay $3886.51 for 3 people in an inside cabin in September (or $7773.02 for the 6 of you - that's $185 per person, per day for an inside cabin in September which is hurricane season).

Have you priced it out for next September? What is the difference in cost? Could you wait a year if it's a better price and then spend the difference doing something fun but cheap this September?

That's too rich for my blood.

Obviously there is a reason you want that date, which limits your options. The prices do go down A LITTLE later in the fall, but more importantly there is more availability. That could mean special rates if the ship doesn't fill. Alternatively, look at 2016 and/or wait for 2017 rates to come out and book as soon as they do.

I'd have to say no. Given limited availability, that is most definitely the very high end of the scale... It would be better to wait and leave yourself a bigger budget for other things, that's far too much for an inside.

Thank you all. I guess we will wait. We were choosing that date for a couple of reasons. We also thought that date would be good as the kids usually start school around then, so we thought we would have better luck of catching a sale. I homeschool my kids so we don't need to worry about that. We also wanted that date because of weather. We went to WDW last December and froze on a couple of the days. We also didn't want October because we were attempting to avoid Halloween, but it seems that Halloween is unavoidable. We don't want May-August because of the heat. And, on a childish level, we wanted to go soon because we have been waiting for a year already (insert whiney voice). Anyhow, I checked the fall prices and the 2016 prices and perhaps I am missing something but I don't see a big price difference.

We will likely wait though until we see a deal or book a new booking for much later.

Thanks, all.

I think that is expensive for an inside stateroom. 2 things. Have you contacted a travel agent? You may benefit, because you could give them some dates and your budget and see if there is anything available.

Second, you could wait and see about a guarantee room rate, BUT you would not be assured of 2 rooms together. Getting rooms at this point that are either connected or near each other may be an issue anyway.

OK, barring those two things, have you looked at other fall cruises since you do home school? I ask because you may have more options that way.

If Halloween is a deal breaker, you cannot sail from I think Sept 5 or 7th through the 31st of October. That being said, I did not think it was overly done. There were some special things for it being a Halloween on the High Seas, but less than you would notice the displays at most stores this time of year.

Looks like early Sept. 2016 on Fantasy Western is about the cheapest for an inside in the next 12 months. I didn't check Eastern though.

chictravel227, I contacted one other travel agency (not sure if I am allowed to name them), but they had a higher quote, mostly because there were no inside staterooms available for the 5 September sailing.

Halloween is not a deal breaker for us, anymore. We are open to it after reading some posts here on the topic.

We are now open to other fall cruises. I am just getting antsy. I know this sounds ridiculous but my one daughter is soon to turn 10 and this would be a dream come true for her. She is the one who talked us into considering it to begin with. I think that because she is turning 10, I am in a rush to make her dream come true. before she gets even older. She still likes the princesses and I can only imagine that in one more year, this young phase will be a distant memory. Crazy, right?

Thanks for your help.

Thank you ,dexddd. I will look into that one.

You could do the 5 night Magic November 15th to 20th for $2495 a cabin x 2 cabins in a 10C (inside) - total less than $5000. It works out to $166 per day per person. There are more than 2 inside cabins available so it would at least give you a bit of choice; the per day price is a bit better (around $19 per day, per person less). The ports are Cozumel and Castaway Cay.

[i have been watching the price on this cruise because I am booked on it. It has remained lower per person than the surrounding cruises.]

Maybe if you look at other ships, you might find something you're more comfortable with. Or wait to see if one of them offers either a Military or a GT rate. Looking after Halloween (but before December) and on different ships opens up a few more cruises.

Thank you, Meatloafsfan. That does give me a lot of options.

By waiting till September 2016, you can currently save a little over $600 total. Not a big deal maybe for a family of 6, but I tend to see the "every little bit helps."

Another idea...you could do the Panama crossing in an IGT (guaranteed inside cabin--you don't get to pick your room) for $4571 for 3 people for 14 nights. You will essentially double your trip for a total of $1400 more than the 7 night cruise.

I've done the Panama crossing on DCL. If you wish, you can easily make this an educational experience. I firmly believe that kids learn more from doing and experiencing than from reading about something in books. No, I'm not saying that the trip is equal to 14 days of school, but you can certainly get some educational time from this trip. On our crossing, DCL hired the recently retired head of the canal visitor's center to be on board and do a series of lectures on Panama, the people, their arts and crafts, as well as on the canal. She also did at least one specifically for kids, brought samples of molas, etc. She was great. On the other hand, the guy who did the narration of the crossing was boring!

14 days would be incredible. I never considered it. Lots to discuss with my husband. Thanks Mokismommy.

You're welcome. Long cruises are totally THE BEST. Of course you get totally spoiled.

I would also look around for a travel agency that will give you OBC. We've taken 3 Disney cruises and booked them all through a TA who offered the most OBC. We have also waited until about 2 months out and got a VGT room at really great prices. The tell you they can't guarantee the rooms will be together but all 3 times we got 3 rooms next to each other on really good locations.

I would also look around for a travel agency that will give you OBC. We've taken 3 Disney cruises and booked them all through a TA who offered the most OBC. We have also waited until about 2 months out and got a VGT room at really great prices. The tell you they can't guarantee the rooms will be together but all 3 times we got 3 rooms next to each other on really good locations.

I would be a little cautious. I use a TA who gives a nice onboard credit. They have an 800 number as well as being happy to work with me on line, and they do a super job. However, before I found this agency, I booked one vacation with another who actually gave a larger onboard credit but awful service. They did nothing for us and made a mess of our reservations. They required all communication to be on line, and got back to me when it suited them. A small difference in OBC was not worth the hassle of dealing with this agency.

And yes, when possible DCL attempts to place linked reservations near or next to each other if booked at a *GT. However, as you noted, this cannot be guaranteed. That said, we have been very happy with both our standard guarantee and our *GT reservations.

I totally agree with moki'smommy. This was our experience. We were adults traveling with 1 DS (I'm the mom, so her dad and the grandparents too) and didn't really care if we had rooms together. We booked through the TA and never spoke to them again, we did everything on our own so that part didn't matter to us.

Your description is where I thought I was....book the reservation, do the on line stuff myself and not deal with the TA again. That was a great idea until they messed up the reservation. Then it was a matter of going around and around till they finally got it almost corrected. We had a B2B booking. They applied the payment twice to one reservation and didn't pay the other one. Yeah, a mess that should be a simple fix--not.

Since you homeschool, your choices are wide open. I'm jealous!

I also vote for wait and find something that gets more bang for less buck. I would LOVE a panama canal cruise. And you are not imagining it, 2016 prices are significantly higher for most sailings. I guess the only bright spot there is that they will be higher yet by this time next year, as prices tend to only increase as it gets closer to the sail date. There has been discussion on another board that the "close to sail date" discounts seem to have really dried up. Given that DCL raised their prices so much, I'm guessing they don't really need to discount rooms in order to fill the ships. Good for them, bad for us. :(

The move into more itineraries like Norway and the Med have had two very good effects for Disney. One, they have reduced capacity in the Caribbean, driving up prices there, and second, the new itineraries have increased demand among more experienced cruisers, driving up demand there. Princes will reflect that for a little while, one reason a Disney cruise is not on our current list.

Thank you for the tips all. Perhaps I should start a new thread but can anyone tell me what a GT rate is and how it works?

Actually, I just did a search and found the answer. Where do I look to see if there are any GT rates being offered?

Actually, I just did a search and found the answer. Where do I look to see if there are any GT rates being offered?

GT rates are usually not offered until close to sailing and they will fluctuate daily in price and availability.

You can't choose your location with GT reservations though which would be a problem with kids in one cabin.

I'd jump all over the transatlantic if the dates worked. Of course, you may be spoiled forever for cruising if you start with it!

Also, avoid bumping up against any school holiday when you're looking for a cruise. Since you homeschool, you could pick a date in early November when schools are between fall breaks and Thanksgiving. That's if you are interested in a Caribbean cruise, of course. Since that's where the ships will be in November. Just buy travel insurance in case of weather issues.

The trans-Atlantic is fully booked, so you won't see any specials there. We were booked on it but gave it up because we couldn't get our needed HA cabin after being waitlisted for more than a year. Canceled right before penalty date. And then, 2 days later, our top 4 cabin choices all opened up--meaning people who were holding them canceled. Boo hiss.

There are several places you can find *GT fares listed, but the only one I'm allowed to post here is the DCL web site, http://www.disneycruise.com and then click on "specials."

Currently, the only cruise showing *GTs is the Panama crossing.

Sorry for the delay in my response but wanted to say thank you for the replies and advice. The Panama cruise sounds awesome but I think the airfare would kill us. We can drive to Port Canaveral, which saves us a bit of money. For now, we are watching and waiting. Thanks again, all. I enjoy reading the posts and learn a lot from this community.