Families of 6 or more how do you do it?

[Dreams&wishes]

Help me I really want to go on a Disney cruise but we are a family of 6 and our only options seems to get 2 statesroom but at the moment the price for two states room on a 4 days cruise is $8700 for oy 4 days!!!
That seems so much when I compare it to Disneyworld where I could stay so much longer and have so much more to do.
What can I do can you get discounts anywhere? Is this just the price for UK residents? Is it cheaper for Americans? Thanks

 

[Marc D]

What can I do can you get discounts anywhere? Is this just the price for UK residents? Is it cheaper for Americans? Thanks

Prices vary a LOT from week to week. I just priced a 4-nights December cruise, with 2 verandah rooms, with you party size, for 6 300 $. Those are regular, non-discounted rates.

Unless you are willing to cruise last-minute, therefore getting access to *GT rates, you will not find discounts anywhere. There is a sticky post on this board with some farther-away cruises that already offer discounted *GT rates. The problem with those is that you must pay-in-full at time of booking and they are not refundable. You would also need to stay in staterooms that are not next to each other since discounted rates involve DCL picking your room at a later time.

You can try to lower the cost through a TA that gives onboard credit, credit card points, discounted Disney gift cards and other similar tricks, but the listed price is the same everywhere.

 

[Firstof3]

one thing I have learned is the repositioning cruises tend to have a better cost to days ratio. For two cabins on a 6 night Galveston to Puerto Ricco cost me roughly $4000. Currently for roughly the same price you are looking at I have two rooms booked on the 14 night Panama Canal next November. If you plan for no peak times (especially when school is in, and yes I know that means having to pull the kids out of school) you can find some much more reasonable prices. The transatlantic was only about $7000 for 2 rooms when I was debating what cruise to take, and for you that would mean possibly only one airplane ride to deal with.

 

[Marc D]

In my previous answer, I forgot to mention that your comparison to Disneyworld is not adequate. Even if under the Disney company, both vacations could not be more distinct. In the same way, you could argue that a road-trip around England, staying in B&Bs would cost much less than a WDW trip and give you more to do.

I go to WDW for a week around once every year. I’m so used to it that I find it relaxing, even in August Florida heat and massive crowds. But I never come back relaxed from a WDW vacation. I still have to put a lot of effort in so my family has an enjoyable time. On a cruise, once you board, you have nothing to plan and still get to do plenty of things... or not if you wish to just take it easy.

 

[Lisa F]

If your kids are older consider getting one outside room (porthole or verandah) and one inside room across the hall rather than connecting rooms.

Also yes you can do much better. I travel just with my son and our 2018 4 day dream was about $2500 in a verandah and my upcoming 7 night fantasy is around $4000 in a verandah. Sounds like you are pricing a very very expensive holiday week at over $4000 each room for 4 days. You can definitely do much better.

I'd put two in a verandah and 4 in an inside room and then have people sleep however you want across the 2 rooms.

 

[aggiedog]

We're a family of 6, and the short answer is no, it's not cheaper. On any given cruise, I've priced out every combination of room and there is never any seriously cheaper choice, as I don't want an inside room. As mentioned, some cruises are cheaper than others. However, if you are locked into a school calendar, that won't help you much.

 

[Dreams&wishes]

Thanks for the replies we are currently living in the UK (back to Australia sometimes this summer) so we would also have to factor in plane tickets times 6... I considered European cruises, but they cost even more. We were looking at a cruise in May/June is that high season for you?
We are happy to do a last minute thing but how last minute does it have to be? And what kind of discounts are available?
I can't find the sticky note.

Thanks

 

[Dreams&wishes]

Children are 1,3,7 and 9. I will try to divide them up that's a great idea. I was just doing 3 in one room and 3 in the other.

 

[houseofduck]

Not a sticky, but the post that lists the current discounts is https://www.disboards.com/threads/current-gt-mto-flr-discounts.3244232/page-190

Discounts are usually released about 60 days in advance, but some are released earlier.

 

[lanejudy]

We are happy to do a last minute thing but how last minute does it have to be?

Rather than last-minute, I suggest you plan in advance -- well in advance. Cruises are released approximately 14-18 months out. Those will most likely be the lowest fares, with fares increasing as more people book. Only sometimes do the last minute *GT rates match or lower than opening day. May is likely less expensive than June, but it could depend on the itinerary of interest to you. Most US kids are done school sometime in mid-May through mid-June. If cruising from a US port, consider that the last weekend in May is a holiday and may be higher priced, as is late June which often rolls into our July 4th holiday.

As to splitting the family -- the younger kids will have the lowest fares - so definitely keep the two youngest as the 3rd/4th passenger in a room. You could do 4+2 with mom+kids 7,3,1 in one room and dad+9 yr old in the other; or split 3+3 with mom+kids 7,1 then dad+kids 9,3. The oldest child in each room will be charged full price because DCL charges full fare for the first 2 passengers regardless of age. You can re-arrange for sleeping however works best.

I recommend looking ahead to early May of 2021, which hasn't been released yet.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[Dreams&wishes]

Thanks for the advise. We are actually looking at this May 2020 as this is the only time we can actually go. So probably the GT option is the way to go.

 

[Canadian Girl]

We just did a 5 day from New York to San Juan on the Magic. It was very reasonable and they sold off inside rooms at about 600.00 USD PP for the first two. Even full price was not a lot more. It was a great cruise and Merry Time to boot. These are out there if you can travel at different times of the year.

 

[lilsonicfan]

The reality is that once you have over 4 people, the price to cruise goes up dramatically. This is because DCL has very few rooms that can hold 5, and almost none that can hold 6. So a family of 5 often pays substantially more than a family of 4 (especially on the classic ships) A family of 6, however, doesn't pay a substantial amount more than the family of 5.

Example: There is a 5 night April 2020 cruise I was looking at, for the Canadian resident deal. For two standard inside rooms, we are looking at $5,035 for the five of us. That's four "adult" fares (guests #1 and #2 in each room are full "adult" fare) and one "child" fare. If we were only a family of 4, we could all fit in one standard inside room and the total would be $3,521.

Flexibility in when you can travel is pretty essential.

 

[aggiedog]

May can be cheaper relative to June. We did a DCL Baltic cruise, and chose to take the kids out of school a few days early so we could leave May 25 (Texas gets out earlier than many other parts of the country.) The next sailing 8 days later was 30% more expensive. It wasn't ideal as I had HS sophomores who missed finals, but for that much differential in cost we made it work.

 

[sethschroeder]

I think the Europe cruises are more expensive for everyone.

We booked our first at like 71 days out. Got 2 Adults for 7 Days for $3000 would have been like $3700 for adding 2 kids. The issue you are going to run in to is with two rooms and wanting to have them together you can't take advantage of the discounted rates that give you a random room in a category.

 

[xQuizx]

Hi!

We are a family of 5 and we normally get 2 inside connecting staterooms. We've gone this route the past 2 cruises and have another booked next week.

On our cruises we've averaged just under $900 a night, but that also includes the 10% discount for the on board discounts. The number also includes the standard gratuity.

We also book our cruises almost a year out and travel during the shoulder season.

If at all possible traveling during the shoulder seasons would be less expensive, and traveling on longer cruises.

Cheers!

 

[BlueRibbon]

We are a family of 7 and book 2 connecting staterooms. What I've found is that travelling in the cooler months is also going to bring the cost down substantially. Trying for that 4th week of July or 1st week of August in the Bahamas? You're looking at over $10k. In Feb, that same cruise is about $6k.

 

[Intr3pid]

The entire travel industry is built around a max family size of 4: hotel rooms, reward flights, ship staterooms, etc. For any larger size - like ours of 5 with teens/tweens - you need to get two of everything. Make peace with it, and make it count when you travel.

On the plus side, you will have two of everything - bathrooms, storage space, freebies, and more.

To get good prices, avoid the busy school holidays. Although we are locked into high school breaks, we try and skip a week when we can. We also book really early.

 

[Sun_soakin]

We are a family of 6 and that makes most vacations $$$$. Unfortunately we haven’t ever found a cheap way to do DCL but to the extent we can make it work around school schedules, we try to find a cruise we like that’s a bit cheaper. We did a last minute discounted 8 night Mediterranean cruise last summer for relatively good price, in mid June. Be patient and compare options