Disney Insider Secrets: 6 Tips on How To Get the Best Price on a Disney Cruise

Take a peek at our Disney Insider Secrets as we share 6 Tips on How To Get the Best Price on a Disney Cruise. Disney Cruise vacations are fun for the entire family – no matter the age! Personally, I’ve sailed on 3 Disney Cruise ships – the Disney Wonder, the Disney Dream, and the Disney Fantasy. Disney Cruises are one of our favorite ways to travel.

6 Tips on How To Get the Best Price on a Disney Cruise

6 Tips How To Get the Best Price on a Disney Cruise

My good friend Lisa is a Disney vacation planner and seasoned Disney Cruiser as she’s taken 8 Disney cruises over the past 6 years – with 2 more booked for the future. She knows how to get a bang for her buck so we thought it would be great to share her tips and advice to help you get the best price when you book a Disney CruiseI absolutely LOVE Lisa’s advice for booking Disney Cruise vacations as she really knows the inside secrets to saving.

Here’s the best advice based on her expertise and experience to help ensure you get the best price for your cruise.

 6 Tips on How To Get the Best Price on a Disney Cruise

My family and I have taken eight Disney cruises over the past 6 years and have two more booked for the future. We’ve traveled to the Bahamas, Eastern Caribbean, Western Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, Transatlantic and Mediterranean.  As a fan of Disney Cruise Line and a Magic Creator I’d love to share with you some of the tips I’ve learned over the years from taking and selling Disney vacations.

Tip 1: Plan ahead and Book far in Advance for your Disney Cruise

How To Save Money Booking Disney Cruise Vacation

This is especially important if you are interested in a holiday or summer time cruise.  Many Disney Cruise line veterans have experienced the anticipation leading up to the latest release date of new itineraries. This is because the prices are generally at their lowest when they are released and then increase as the ship fills.  It’s ideal to have your date lined up with a travel agent when the new itineraries come out so you can get opening day prices.  For example, look at this price comparison: We wanted to take a 7-night Fantasy cruise for Easter break, 2014. I booked on the first morning the prices came out for 2014 itineraries. The cabin price was about $5000 for an inside cabin for 4. If someone were to book that same cabin now – still 5 months before spring break – the price would be almost $10,000.  This is a wonderful example of how booking early is a huge cost savings. If you miss the opening day prices there is no need to worry. Just keep in mind that the sooner you book in advance the better.

 On November 14th, 2013 the itineraries for January – April 2015 will be available for booking! 

Check out the Disney Cruise itineraries for 2014  and Disney Cruise itineraries for 2015.

Tip 2: How to Save Money When You Book a Disney Cruise: Be flexible with the dates you travel.

A good rule of thumb is for Disney Cruise Line the prices will be higher when the kids are out of school.  This means you’ll pay a premium to cruise during the summertime and over holidays (Presidents Week, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas).  If you can be flexible with the time of year you travel you can save a significant amount of money.   You’ll find great rates during off season times like September, October and January.

Disney Cruise Pool at Night

Tip 3: Be open to cabin selection to Save Money When Booking Your Disney Cruise

 Being flexible with what type of cabin you choose can also reduce the cost of your trip.  Many times people think they need a verandah but may not realize how much booking another room category could save them.  There are certain itineraries where an outside or verandah may be ideal, such as an Alaskan or Mediterranean itinerary, but for others the cabin view may be less critical.  In my experience on the Fantasy and Dream there tends to be less of a price difference across cabin categories but on the Wonder and Magic the jump between inside to ocean view and ocean view to verandah is greater.  Therefore, the cost difference between an inside and a verandah is generally less on the Dream and Fantasy than the Magic and Wonder.  We have stayed in inside, ocean view and verandah cabins and the cabin type hasn’t impacted the enjoyment of our cruise in any way.

Here’s a photo of Colleen’s kids in an Ocean view Room on the Disney Fantasy

Oceanview Room Disney Cruise

Considering an inside or ocean view cabin over a verandah is a good way to cut costs, especially during peak holiday or summer periods when the overall cost is higher.  Also keep in mind that guests who book farther out have more choice of cabin selection and the inside and ocean view cabins sell out first.

You can check out photo details and a video tour of Disney Fantasy stateroom cabin here.

Tip 4:  To Save Money When you Book a Disney Cruise Be flexible with the ship

When the Fantasy and Dream were released they were priced higher because they were newer. Now, since the Magic has been newly refurbished this ship is priced almost as high as the Fantasy.  Traveling on the Wonder, which typically sails out of Miami, will cost less than traveling on the other ships.  Furthermore,  the port of Miami is also closer to the airport so you’ll save additional money on transfers.

Disney Cruise Sail Away Party Images

Tip 5: Getting the most bang for your buck on a Disney Cruise – try a Transatlantic! 

We took a 14 night Transatlantic cruise when my kids were in preschool and it was one of our favorite cruises.  We enjoyed being on the ship for a full 2 weeks and the price was very low for the number of day you are onboard.  Transatlantic cruises are offered 2 time a year when the ships go overseas for Mediterranean sailings.

Disney Cruise Transatlantic

Tip 6:  More Ways to Save on a Disney Cruise: If you can take trips with little notice you may be able to get great rates!

About a month before a sailing if Disney has a lot of open inventory it will occasionally offer guarantee rates for various cabin categories (IGT, OGT, VGT – inside, oceanview and verandah guarantee).  When these rates are released you must pay in full and they are non refundable. If your schedule allows you to leave with little notice it’s a good idea to check to see what’s available. With these rates you are assigned a cabin in that particular room category and do not select your stateroom number.

Disney Cruise Party Night

Hope these tips have been helpful!

24 thoughts on “Disney Insider Secrets: 6 Tips on How To Get the Best Price on a Disney Cruise”

    • Just to clarify, when you email me for quotes and mention you read my tips in this blog I will give you another $25 gift card from me personally. This is in addition to the great incentives offered by my travel agency. Hope you enjoyed my tips. I have many more that I can provide you when you take your cruise! LBrown2@AAAMidatlantic.com

  1. We are a little Disney’d out – which for MY family means my husband has stopped looking at vacationing in Disney World and has started looking at Disney Cruises! LOL. I’m not kidding, he keeps saying we’ll go this year, so I shared this post with him 🙂

  2. Thanks for posting my tips Colleen 🙂 If anyone is interested in booking a Disney cruise or Disney World vacation this month is a great time to do it! Guests booking vacations of $3000+ in January will receive a 7″ Android tablet, PLUS a Disney gift card ($50 Disney gift card for Moderate/Deluxe resorts / $25 for Value resorts) as well as the $25 from me if you mention this blog. LBrown2@AAAmidatlantic.com

  3. I am really impressed with your writing skills as well as with the layout on your
    weblog. Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself?
    Either way keep up the nice quality writing, it is rare to see a nice blog
    like this one nowadays.

    • Thank you for complimenting my writing. I have a PhD and did a lot of writing in my former career before I discovered Disney was my true passion and switched careers to plan Disney vacations. Web layout is all Colleen.

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  5. Perfect timing for this. I’m a Disneyland veteran but we’ve never been cruising. Were looking into our first cruise sometime next year when my son will be somewhat old enough to enjoy it!

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