I love getting a good deal when I book a Disney Cruise Line Vacation! Here are some great guidelines on when to book, how to book and when to sail for maximum value. Plus a few other tips!
When to Book
Book as early as you can. Generally, Disney cruises keep increasing in price the closer you get to the sailing date. The lower prices are available as soon as the itineraries are available to book.
There is one exception to this: on cruises where there are just a few more staterooms left to fill, Disney may seel these as guaranteed staterooms. This means that you do not get to pick your stateroom location or even know your stateroom number or deck before you sail. Disney will assign your room sometime before sailing. These guaranteed rooms can be a great deal if you are OK not knowing your specific location on the ship. Note that the cancellation terms are also different for these discounted fares.
Promotions: Not Really
We saw promotions coming out of the pandemic for discounts for Disney+ subscribers. This type of discount has more or less stopped materializing.
There is still an occasional reduced deposit promotion. This promotion does not actually save you money but shifts funds from the deposit date to the final payment date.
Placeholder: For the Win!
The best tip on when to book to maximize value is that you need to book your next Disney cruise while you are still on your current Disney cruise. Even if you do not know exactly which date or itinerary or ship you want to sail on, you can book a placeholder (future) cruise on board and save money. You just need to book that placeholder cruise before the last night of your current Disney cruise. This can be done on the DCL app easy-peasy. Booking your next cruise while on board saves you 10% on the prevailing cruise fares which is a huge savings on a Disney cruise. Note that the placeholder discount cannot be applied to concierge level stateroom or to block out dates such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s and Spring Break.
How to book
Use those placeholder cruises! This part is key to saving money on a Disney cruise. Your family can book placeholders for up to two staterooms on one sailing, each time you sail on a Disney cruise. The biggest savers either book a single cruise at a time or they keep two cruises booked at all times using their placeholders to leapfrog each other. This allows you to get a placeholder discount for cruises booked quite far in advance (18 to 26 months out) but to still have a Disney Cruise vacation planned in the near term also.
When to Sail
The best value times for a Disney Cruise vacation are:
For Bahamian and Caribbean itineraries:
September and February – September is by far the best priced months for sailing in the Caribbean and Bahamas as almost all schools are back in session after the summer. It is also mid hurricane season which leads to some of the most fantastic cruise prices! If you can get away for a Disney cruise in September – do it!
Pro tip: you might want to consider travel insurance if you’re sailing during hurricane season. I am a big fan of sailing during this time because crowds are low and prices are low but the risk of a weather event is higher.
Alaska
The best time value wise to sail in Alaska is in May or September. These are the shoulder seasons for Alaska and sometimes you can catch a sailing date that’s either before most schools are out of session or after some schools have returned to classes at the end of the summer.
Europe and in the Mediterranean
The shoulder season is the best time to go. This would be May and October for European itineraries. And for Mediterranean departures this would be late March and November.
Times to Avoid
If you are looking to save money on a Disney cruise, avoid all school holidays. Disney Cruise Line prices markedly increased over school holidays like winter holiday breaks, Thanksgiving break, fall breaks, Spring Break and summer. This summer increase is not as high as the increases on breaks that occur during the school year.
Other money saving tips
Warehouse Discounts
If you are a Sam’s member, there are different times during the year when you can buy Disney gift cards at a discount through your warehouse club membership. Always read the fine print but typically you can use these gift cards to pay for your on board expenses or even your cruise fare.
Popcorn Bucket
Buy a popcorn bucket! Your first night on your Disney Cruise, buy a popcorn bucket as soon as you can. I recommend the typical bucket shaped bucket. You can refill your bucket as many times as you want during the course of your cruise for approximately $2.00 a refill. The novelty shaped popcorn buckets are very cute and make wonderful souvenirs but I find them awkward to carry and I don’t think they will hold as much popcorn.
Special Discounts
Verify whether you qualify for a special discount. If you live in Florida or have been a member of the armed forces you may qualify for special discounts applied to Disney Cruise Line vacation. These discounts sometimes don’t apply until closer to the sailing date but let your travel agent know and they can check and see if you can save a little bit more.
Sail the Classics
What ship do you plan to sail on? Generally on Disney Cruise Line as well as most other major cruise lines, the newer ships will cost more. Disney does such a fantastic job of maintaining all of their ships that the classic ships are a lovely experience. A 7-day sailing on Disney Magic or Disney Wonder is likely to cost less then an equivalent sailing on Disney Wish, Disney Treasure or Disney Destiny.
Use a Travel Advisor
And last but not least you should call me and the team at The Magic for Less Travel! Why? Because we will do all the work for you, watch for discounts and we love to say thank you for booking with us!
