Disney Cruise Pricing-good deal or rip off?

For the end of February I was quoted $3500 for a 6 night vacation that includes 2 nights at Port Orleans French Quarter, 4 nights in a room with a balcony on the Disney Dream Cruise (which goes to Nassau Bahamas, private Disney island, at sea, and back), includes all meals, shows, activities on boat, transfers, insurance, and park hopper passes for all of us for 1 day.

Add'l $900 for airfare on JetBlue for the 3 of us.

Is this a good deal? Are there any other websites I can check to give me a better rate? I called Disney Cruises directly.

TIA!!!!

Message edited 7/22/2011 9:20:46 PM.

Re: Disney Cruise Pricing-good deal or rip off?

Good deal or not I doubt I would do it...You will have one day of traveling in the middle of your trip...that's not for me, but if it works for you then I guess maybe. I always find DIsney cruises crazy expensive on and the one day park hopper is just a tease in my opinion.

Re: Disney Cruise Pricing-good deal or rip off?

Well I haven't priced it out (not sure how old the 3rd person is) but they are very expensive. A 4 day is often what you might pay for 7 on another cruiseline.

I am usually all in favor of park hoppers but since you are only getting a one day pass I think it is probably a waste. Unless you regularly go to WDW I would spend the say at the MK and skip the park hoppers.

Keep in mind that you are going to be spending a lot of time in travel. Flying both ways plus the driving to and from the port. You will be losing a large chunk of 3 days of the trip.

Can you add one more day to your WDW stay so that you at least get 2 days out of the parks. Unless you want to do say MK and EPCOT I would dump the park hopper for that short of a trip.

BTW try pricing things not one land and sea but as one land and one sea trip. You might be able to get a better deal. Check out places like bestpricecruises.com and cruisecompete.com to see if you can get a better price on the cruise portion.

Additionally you might want to check out mousesavers.com - she has some great tips on the cheapest ways to book these things. She also lists when historically they have park discounts so you might find that if you watch you can get a discount towards your hotel/park portion of your trip. If a code comes out you would not be able to take advantage of that if you book a land and sea package - I'm pretty sure. You can always get the transfers to the port without the package.

Re: Disney Cruise Pricing-good deal or rip off?

It sounds sort of high to me, but Disney Cruises tend to be a bit more $$ than some of the other lines out there. Are you looking to go during a school recess? The prices tend to be higher when school is out. Also, you might be able to do better with the airfare if you find it on your own.

Re: Disney Cruise Pricing-good deal or rip off?

We did a one day trip to the Magic Kingdom from our NCL cruise in June. I would not do it again. From the port it takes 1.5 hours to the park. We did not arrive at Port Canaveral until NOON so we had very few hours in the park. We were there mid week and there were tons of lines. I would only do Disney as a stand alone vacation or if you could have a few days at Disney.

Re: Disney Cruise Pricing-good deal or rip off?

Not doing park hopper-just one day at Magic Kingdom and I am unsure of what you mean by one day traveling. I'm taking early flight to Fl 2 days before ship leaves port. I'm still looking into it. First cruise I really ever priced so I have no clue that 7 night cruises are same price!

Thanks!!

Re: Disney Cruise Pricing-good deal or rip off?

If you compare a Disney cruise with a comparable length cruise on one of the other major mass-market lines (namely Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian) you will find Disney prices are considerably higher - no doubt about it.

Disney can charge (and get) these higher rates for a couple reasons:

First, they are excellent at what they do, which is to bring the magic of Disney and thier reputation for customer service to sea. While other cruise lines have cut corners to improve thier margins, Disney continues to offer what I feel is an unparalleled shipboard experience.

Second, with only 3 ships in service, it becomes simple supply and demand.

I've been fortunate enough to sail most of the major cruise lines and they all have something to offer (I've had maybe 1 bad experience in my 25+ sailings). However as a true Disney fan, no other line can offer me and my family what Disney can, and I think that is the driving reason they have so many return guests.

In the end, you have to decide what is important to you and your family on this vacation. If you are just looking for a basic cruise, I'm sure you can have a good time sailing one of the other lines that serve Port Canaveral or maybe Jacksonville. But for me, there is nothing like a Disney cruise, and although it might be difficult at times, justifying the added expense becomes an afterthought as embarkation day approaches!


Bob
Mouse Tales Travel
www.MouseTalesTravel.com
888.883.7940

"LIFamilies Vendor Since 2008"

Re: Disney Cruise Pricing-good deal or rip off?

When I say one day of traveling...I just mean packing, waiting for bus, bus ride, going through port security etc, and settling into ship, waiting or your luggage and unpacking. It might work for you but I would not do that. Cruising and Disney are two separate events in my family...but that's me.

Re: Disney Cruise Pricing-good deal or rip off?