How do you actually book a Disney cruise

[Patrick A]

It feels awfully silly to ask this, but:

My wife and I are considering Disney for a future cruise with the kids. One of our issues it there are 5 of us, and the family suite and one-room suite on Disney are appealing.

Problem is, none of the booking engines I'm used to using seem to show very many Disney itineraries at all, and they never seem to include the larger cabins. Is the Disney site itself the only way to book these? Also, I've read comments about these cabins selling out 2-years in advance, and even the Disney site doesn't seem to go that far out. What gives?

Pat.

Crown Princess '93
Crown Princess '02
Star Princess '03

[bryanwal]

Your favorite cruise travel agent can book a Disney Cruise for you. That is certainly better than booking directly through Disney's site, where you are not likely to get any price breaks at all!

- Bryan W
Oct 2000 Disney Magic - Eastern Caribbean
Jun 2002 Disney Magic - Western Caribbean
Jul 2004 HAL Oosterdam - Alaska
Feb 2005 Celebrity Mercury - Mexican Riviera

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[LibertyBelle]

The problem with the suites is that they tend to have a long waitlist. Not that Disney is selling them ahead of time but that as soon as a new sailing becomes avalaible there is already someone waiting on the suite. You can usually get a 1 bedroom suite without problems as there are a handful of them on board. The Royal suites and 2 bedroom suites are the ones that book fast and WAY in advance (as there is only 2 of each on board). The only way to book a Cat 1, 2 or 3 is to go through a travel agent or Disney Directly. They are not avalaible through pages like Icruise.com and expedia...ect.)

I personally book the cruise direct with Disney because I like to be in control of my reservation (versus having a Travel agent that has to do everything) but I am a former reservations agent for a cruise line and my step mother was a travel agent so I know what to ask and how to price watch. Your best bet is to get a travel agent, even if it is just going to Wal-Mart, Costco etc and getting assistance. But as stated by bryanwal you will probably not find many deals on your own.

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=FFA000&cdt=2004;5;30;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0800[/img]  NCL Sun...Alaska

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=8b0000&cdt=2004;10;31;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]  Halloween...Explorer of the Seas

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RCCL Enchantment of the Seas 2003; Carnival Spirit 2003; RCCL Brilliance of the Seas 2002; RCCL Voyager of the Seas 2002; Disney Wonder May & Dec 2001; Disney Magic 2001; RCCL Sovereign of the Seas 2000; Disney Magic 1999; Disney Wonder 1999; Carnival Ecstasy 1999; NCL Norway 1998; Carnival Fantasy 1998; NCL Leeward 1997; Commodore Caribe I 1986

[zeroni]

The Cat 4 (Deluxe Family Stateroom with Verandah) is also equipped for a family of 5 and they don't sell out nearly as quickly as the suites do. You can look at the layouts on the Disneycruise.com site to see if it would be a good choice for you. During the less popular seasons, you have a better chance of getting hold of a suite.

[imsulin]

Disney only has two ships. The Wonder does 3 and 4 night Bahamas cruises from Port Canaveral, FL., and the magic does 7-night Caribbean cruises, also from Port Canaveral. The same problem exists for putting 5 people into one of the Disney on-property hotels. The cheaper All-Star hotels will only accomodate 4 people. It's the Disney way!

[Freebird 188]

I booked directly through Disney and had no problems at all. They were extremely helpful through the entire process. Just counting the days now until we cruise!

Freebird 188
Georgia

RCCL Sovereign of the Seas June 2002

Disney Wonder
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[imatarb]

Does anyone know of any online cruise companies that you can book a Disney cruise through?

We are considering a Disney cruise next year around this time for me, DH and our 6-year old son.

Lisa [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

[b]Monarch of the Seas - 1994
Royal Majesty - 1996

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=9400d3&cdt=2004;5;9;16;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
Until VICTORY is ours 5/9/04


<MARQUEE>A day at sea is better than a day at work</MARQUEE>

[timdebraandkids]

A really good place is Price Club/Costco. We went on one last September. IT WAS WONDERFUL!! Costco saved us quite a bit of money. We are not members because they don't have one in Nebraska, and we were able to do it anyway. But, definitely recommend Disney. We are 4 kids and and 2 adults. The kids actually stayed in their own cabin (we booked them with one of us in each cabin). That worked out fine. The oldest was 12 and the youngest was 7. You will love the cruise!!!! We booked 1 1/2 years ahead of time. Didn't tell the kids. We woke them up at 4 a.m. the morning of the trip, drove them to the airport and flew to Orlando. They had no idea until we got on the shuttle to the ship. A trip of a life time.

[imatarb]

I can't seem to find these sites..can anyone help?

Thanks,
Lisa

[b]Monarch of the Seas - 1994
Royal Majesty - 1996

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=9400d3&cdt=2004;5;9;16;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
Until VICTORY is ours 5/9/04


<MARQUEE>A day at sea is better than a day at work</MARQUEE>

[TheWog]

Libertybelle thank you, we are so looking forward to it. We are going with just the adults so we chose the Enchantment. I have heard good things and we wanted to 5 night because of leaving our son. I am glad to hear you loved it so much and hope our experience is just as good.

Disney Magic 01/10/04
Enchantment of the Seas 01/22/05
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=ff0000&cdt=2005;01;22;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]

[LibertyBelle]

TheWog...
Yeah, we were a little hesitant going on it as we had sailed both Disney ships and RCCL's larger ships (Voyager and Brilliance) but the price was right and the timing was right so we decided to suck it up and go...any cruise is better than no cruise right... and we were very surprised. The ship was beautiful, the crew was very friendly and helpful, the entertainment was good (not Disney, but still good) and the ports of call were great (we did Key West, Cozumel and Belize)... It is ranked in the top 3 of all the cruises we have been on...I was very impressed with it [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=FFA000&cdt=2004;5;30;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0800[/img] NCL Sun...Alaska

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=8b0000&cdt=2004;10;31;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img] Halloween...Explorer of the Seas

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=000080&cdt=2005;08;20;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0800[/img] Disney Magic Repositioning...Ca-FL


RCCL Enchantment of the Seas 2003; Carnival Spirit 2003; RCCL Brilliance of the Seas 2002; RCCL Voyager of the Seas 2002; Disney Wonder May & Dec 2001; Disney Magic 2001; RCCL Sovereign of the Seas 2000; Disney Magic 1999; Disney Wonder 1999; Carnival Ecstasy 1999; NCL Norway 1998; Carnival Fantasy 1998; NCL Leeward 1997; Commodore Caribe I 1986