If you’ve read my past blog posts, like Disney Vacation Planning, and What to Eat at Disney, or Day 1 of My Adult Trip to Disney, you know how much my family and I love Disney parks. But we’ve never been on a Disney cruise.
I’m currently in the middle of planning a multigenerational Disney Cruise! That is, my family, my parents, my brother, my sisters family and her mother-in-law are all coming on this trip. I am learning so much! There is so much to know about Disney Cruises and I wanted to share them with you. So, read on for how to start planning for a Disney Cruise.
Start Planning for a Disney Cruise
Disney Cruises, as with almost anything Disney, can be pretty pricey. So you want to make sure that “do your homework”. But to be really honest with you, Disney always delivers in the arena of creating magical experiences and customer service. They even have an institute where organizations send their employees to learn the secret sauce that Disney delivers every day in their parks and on their cruise ships.
So, what are some first steps to planning a Disney Cruise? Here’s what I did to start:
1. Understand that this will be a Pricey Cruise
Disney Cruises are generally known to be a bit more pricey than other cruise lines. But from what I’ve heard everyone has found it to be worth it. I’ll let you know what I think as soon as I go on my first Disney Cruise coming up soon. I’ll share with you what I think about the price vs. the quality as well as compare a Disney Cruise to a Walt Disney World vacation.
2. Decide on the When
I knew that I had wanted to go on a Disney Cruise with my immediate family for a long time. Also knew that I had wanted to go with my extended family as well. As many as I can get on board (literally and figuratively). So I did some research to see some of the itineraries Disney Cruise Line was offering for the following year and reached out to my parents, sister, and brother with some possible dates for a cruise together. After a few weeks of back and forth we had begun to focus our attention on one particular cruise that fell just after my parents 40th Wedding Anniversary (my mom’s idea) and a sailing length that we could all afford.
There are so many types of cruises so we settled on 4 Nights for our first Disney Cruise, that was scheduled a little over a year away. We needed lots of time to save up!
3. Decide whether to Use a Disney Certified Travel Company or Book it Yourself
There are two ways you can start planning for a Disney Cruise when it comes to booking. Using a Disney Certified Travel company or booking it yourself.
There are many reasons to use a Disney Certified Travel company to book a Disney Cruise as well as booking a cruise yourself. It all really depends on how much control you like to have on your planning and booking. Using a Disney Certified Travel Company doesn’t cost you any extra money so it might be worth it for you if you’d rather have someone else do the booking for you. They are travel companies who have been approved by Disney to book Disney Vacations and Cruises. The agents are paid a fee by Disney for what they book. You don’t pay for their services. Which is pretty cool.
I went with a travel company I heard about. Our agent is great. They are knowledgeable, and can find you discounts and book hard to get rooms. But personally, I like to get into the details and decisions of my vacations. So not having that kind of control is kinda freaking me out. Ha! I’m praying about it. 😉
4. Book it Dan-O
Go ahead and book that Disney Cruise! Whether through an agent or directly through the Disney Cruise Line website. But you should probably be prepared to put approximately 20% deposit down upon booking.
When it comes to start planning for a Disney Cruise, they are expensive and so it’s important to plan ahead, especially if the financial factor is important to you. The earlier ahead you plan, the more time you will have to save up and plan a great Disney Cruise Vacation.
What other questions do you have about planning a Disney Cruise? What else would you like to know about our plans for our Disney Cruise? Post your questions and comments below and let’s chat!
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