When to plan/book Disney cruise?

[Anonymous]

We’re planning on bringing our three kids on a Disney cruise for spring break next year. (Kids will be 11, 9, and 3.)

When is best to book and is there anything in particular I should know? I’ve never been on a cruise but I know that planning Disney itself takes a lot of effort. Hoping it’s not the same case for a Disney cruise!

TIA.

[Anonymous]

Literally the day the cruise you want is released to the public. Unless its a very unpopular week (rare) the fares only go up from that day.

Its usually 15-17 months out, depending on the season.

[Anonymous]

Do it now.

[Anonymous]

Disboards for planning info

[Anonymous]

One thing to keep in mind if you're going to the private islands is that one ship goes per day. So it will be a less crowded experience if you're on a ship of two thousand people vs. four thousand people. The trade off is the larger ships will have much more to do.

If you're a Costco member, I recommend booking through them. You get Costco cash and if you're an executive member, the purchase price goes towards your cash back at the end of the year.

[Anonymous]

We used Undercover Tourist to book our Disney Cruise. We got a small discount and an in-room gift. It’s more a self service booking site, but we had to make a significant change to our booking and they were extremely helpful.

[Anonymous]

ASAP.

For reference, we booked a spontaneous (in cruising, anyway) cruise last weekend. Royal Caribbean (not sure about Disney) will allow you to, if you find your sailing drops in price, receive the difference in cruise credit up until you pay the final payment. Our cruise was nearly $1000 more last night!

Early, early, early! Book now.

[Anonymous]

Disney has a pretty liberal cancellation policy. It’s best to book immediately and cancel if your plans change. The biggest risk is missing the early dinner seating.

[Anonymous]

Book now. Look online to see what exactly you want and then call Costco to get it so you get Costco cash back.

Here’s my advice:
1. Decide if you want to splurge on concierge. There’s a private lounge with breakfast, snacks, hors devours, drinks, and a private sub deck plus you can get priority seating for shows, but it’s a lot more expensive. You can also book a bit earlier for some things.
2. If not, next biggest question is your room. Check what is above and below the room. If possible avoid rooms that are below a dinnng room for instance. Middle of ship has less motion. You’ll all so get to pick early or late dining, so decide your preference.
3. Plan on flying in the day before and get a hotel room.
4. Figure out when booking opens for extras. I think most of the extras are a waste of money but some people like the fancy restaurants or getting a private cabana on the beach. Those are the things that go quickest.
5. Figure out if you want to book shore excursions. They will be cheaper if you don’t book through the ship (but beware if you don’t get back to ship on time they won’t wait for you, so I tend to book through ship for anything that is taking me very far away from port — I don’t want to hear the risk of a potential flat tire or traffic backup making me miss the boat.