Tricks to getting the CHEAPEST deal possible on a Disney Cruise?

[ethanwa]

OK so here are a few I know of:

• Florida resident rates
• 5% off Disney Gift Cards with a Target Credit or Debit card
• 10% off when doing on-board booking

So are there other tricks?

- Do cruises generally count as "travel" that credit cards points can be used on (like the Capital One Venture or Barclays Arrival cards)?

- Are cruises any cheaper when going through Travelocity or Expedia or any other travel site?

- Do travel agents ever offer better deals that what is publicly viewable?

- Anything else?

Ethan

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

OK so here are a few I know of:

• Florida resident rates
• 5% off Disney Gift Cards with a Target Credit or Debit card
• 10% off when doing on-board booking

So are there other tricks?

- Do cruises generally count as "travel" that credit cards points can be used on (like the Capital One Venture or Barclays Arrival cards)?

- Are cruises any cheaper when going through Travelocity or Expedia or any other travel site?

- Do travel agents ever offer better deals that what is publicly viewable?

- Anything else?

Ethan

Travel agents give you on board credits to book with them so its a kind of rebate but all prices are the same.

 

[cruisecrasher]

Disney VISA card reward dollars can be redeemed for cruise fare (we've paid a full cruise this way.)

 

[KalamityJane]

If you have Costco, they give you quite a bit back in a gift card (I've heard 9%) once you return from the cruise. I've also heard you can pay for the cruise using Disney Gift cards that you have purchased from Target with the 5% off, so you could conceivably make out pretty well on that one. If you could add the 10% off and OBB for booking on board, it would be even sweeter.

Anyone know what would stack with each other?

 

[GenerationK-er]

If you have Costco, they give you quite a bit back in a gift card (I've heard 9%) once you return from the cruise. I've also heard you can pay for the cruise using Disney Gift cards that you have purchased from Target with the 5% off, so you could conceivably make out pretty well on that one. If you could add the 10% off and OBB for booking on board, it would be even sweeter. Anyone know what would stack with each other?

All of these would stack with each other, and you can sign up for Target Pharmacy Rewards as well. For every 5 Rx's filled you get a certificate for an extra 5% off day of shopping that you can use with your Target Red Card to purchase Disney gift cards. It is 5% off with the reward card and then 5% off that discounted total with the Red Card which comes to about 9.5 % off the face value. You can then use these gift cards to pay for your OBB that you transferred to Costco and end up with great savings. This is my plan for my next cruise in February 2015.

 

[KalamityJane]

Targets pharmacy rewards do not work on Disney gift cards any more, the red card discount is the only one at Target now.

 

[su_A_ve]

DCL fixes the prices. TAs cannot discount the fare, but they can offer gift cards or on board credit.

Best rates are on opening date. Other discounted offers sometimes available:

* opening day rates - the lowest rates for the most part
* IGT/OGT/VGT rates (restricted within 60 days of travel)
* Military rates
* Canadian resident rates (typically 20% but certain sailings)
* kids sail free (haven't been around in over a year)

 

[edtricia]

How does season (generally) factor in? Least expensive month(s)?
Is there a pattern to which ship is less expensive for a comparable itinerary? (Compare 4 day to 4 day, rather than 3 day to 7 day for example)

 

[SucalT]

OK so here are a few I know of:


- Do cruises generally count as "travel" that credit cards points can be used on (like the Capital One Venture or Barclays Arrival cards)?


Ethan

I know for a fact that Barclay Arrival can be used to pay DCL charges.

2% back on all purchases, plus an additional 10% point bonus when the points are used for travel! 2.2% of nearly every dollar I spend is returned as travel money.

 

[TinyG]

We just returned from the Fantasy on Saturday and today our Costco cash card came. $595.00 which will come in handy since we just booked the Magic TA for May 2015! Once it gets transferred to Costco that sailing has a $520 cash card.

 

[iamadisneynut]

Can I name Costco if I am Canadian? And use the gift cards in Canada?

 

[ocspartan]

How does season (generally) factor in? Least expensive month(s)? Is there a pattern to which ship is less expensive for a comparable itinerary? (Compare 4 day to 4 day, rather than 3 day to 7 day for example)

Longer the cruise the pricier in the same season, as far as which seasons are deals, think any time kids are in school, if you avoid major holidays and school vacations these tend to be off season....

 

[klepton]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is buying Disney gift cards from Office Max with a Chase Ink Business card. You get 5 points per dollar spent, depending on how you use these points they could be worth $.02 or more each, so this could end up being a 10% discount.

I'm hoping to pay for my entire Norway/Iceland cruise this way. I also booked onboard for the 10% savings and am using Costco for the 9% gift card. Though, in hindsight I should have booked opening day rather than waiting 4 days to get onboard, I lost more by waiting than I saved with OBB.

 

[mamachap]

We just returned from the Fantasy on Saturday and today our Costco cash card came. $595.00 which will come in handy since we just booked the Magic TA for May 2015! Once it gets transferred to Costco that sailing has a $520 cash card.

Did you have a good experience booking with Costco?

 

[ocspartan]

Did you have a good experience booking with Costco?

I have booked through costco a number of times (including just transferring a booking made onboard) and have always been happy with the experience. The cash card shows up within a week of returning from the cruise.

 

[Gigi22]

Can I name Costco if I am Canadian? And use the gift cards in Canada?

Using Costco won't work in Canada. As for the gift cards, I suspect that you would have to use gift cards in US funds. (Remember DCL does not allow payment in Canadian funds).

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

We have two Disney Visa Reward accounts. For opening the non premier, we got $50 gift card and $50 On board credit for our Apr '13 cruise. Then I opened up the premier and got a $200 gift card. So $250 in gift cards alone. And then we have gotten 1% and 2% back in rewards all year, and I'm not kidding, it paid for at least HALF of our cruise INCLUDING tips and taxes! We are cruising interior deck 7 Magic 4 day in May (almost here!) for $300 pp all said and done thanks to these cards.

And it doesn't stop there. You get 6 months no interest on Disney vacations with it, so it gives you 'free' time to pay it off if you want. You also get 2% (with premier) back in Disney dollars for all the Disney vacation stuff you book, which has added up. We used those rewards to take off of our Disney tickets and got nearly one adult 2 day base pass paid for with rewards. (Was like $175 to put towards the tickets!) And then we use those rewards for dinner when we are at Epcot!

We are definitely over $800+ in incentives and rewards this year. We opened the first card at the end of Mar '13 and its mid Apr' 14, just over a year later, and that is like cruising half off!

Now, I know there are other cards that give you better percentages. HOWEVER, they aren't NEARLy as much fun. If you KNOW you are going to Cruise Disney, you can really get the rewards to add up. We also posted our On Board Expenses early and THEY are 6 months interest free deferred too. So again, time can equal money. (And more rewards! We also get 2% back in Disney rewards for the on board expenses too!) So we get to go on our excursions in peace and relaxation and enjoy Palo knowing that at the end of the cruise, we won't have to deal with them then.

At least this way, it 'forces' (hehe) us to use the rewards on great, and I repeat for us, GREAT vacations.

We also cruise off season and book far ahead of time, or last year, we snatched up a last minute VGT rate and got an incredible deluxe veranda room for $540 pp on 3 day Dream. That trip is what has started the obsession!

About 2 months after our cruise, we got the beloved 10% off voucher code even though we didn't book on board! For us, we got the 10% off anyway AND by then, we had $164 from gift cards/rewards to put on the deposit, so it only cost us $22 pp to book our cruise! I realize you can't always depend on that voucher (so we will hopefully book SOMETHING on this next one for guaranteed 10% off) but boy did we appreciate the pixie dust! Our rooms are over $200 more pp now!

Hope this helps OP!

Ps. the only silver lining I could find in my ridiculous power bills this winter is at least they got us Disney rewards!

 

[klepton]

We have two Disney Visa Reward accounts. For opening the non premier, we got $50 gift card and $50 On board credit for our Apr '13 cruise. Then I opened up the premier and got a $200 gift card. So $250 in gift cards alone. And then we have gotten 1% and 2% back in rewards all year, and I'm not kidding, it paid for at least HALF of our cruise INCLUDING tips and taxes! We are cruising interior deck 7 Magic 4 day in May (almost here!) for $300 pp all said and done thanks to these cards.

And it doesn't stop there. You get 6 months no interest on Disney vacations with it, so it gives you 'free' time to pay it off if you want. You also get 2% (with premier) back in Disney dollars for all the Disney vacation stuff you book, which has added up. We used those rewards to take off of our Disney tickets and got nearly one adult 2 day base pass paid for with rewards. (Was like $175 to put towards the tickets!) And then we use those rewards for dinner when we are at Epcot!

We are definitely over $800+ in incentives and rewards this year. We opened the first card at the end of Mar '13 and its mid Apr' 14, just over a year later, and that is like cruising half off!

Now, I know there are other cards that give you better percentages. HOWEVER, they aren't NEARLy as much fun. If you KNOW you are going to Cruise Disney, you can really get the rewards to add up. We also posted our On Board Expenses early and THEY are 6 months interest free deferred too. So again, time can equal money. (And more rewards! We also get 2% back in Disney rewards for the on board expenses too!) So we get to go on our excursions in peace and relaxation and enjoy Palo knowing that at the end of the cruise, we won't have to deal with them then.

At least this way, it 'forces' (hehe) us to use the rewards on great, and I repeat for us, GREAT vacations.

We also cruise off season and book far ahead of time, or last year, we snatched up a last minute VGT rate and got an incredible deluxe veranda room for $540 pp on 3 day Dream. That trip is what has started the obsession!

About 2 months after our cruise, we got the beloved 10% off voucher code even though we didn't book on board! For us, we got the 10% off anyway AND by then, we had $164 from gift cards/rewards to put on the deposit, so it only cost us $22 pp to book our cruise! I realize you can't always depend on that voucher (so we will hopefully book SOMETHING on this next one for guaranteed 10% off) but boy did we appreciate the pixie dust! Our rooms are over $200 more pp now!

Hope this helps OP!

Ps. the only silver lining I could find in my ridiculous power bills this winter is at least they got us Disney rewards!

Did you, or do you know if you can, open both the premier and non-premier cards on the same day? Neither card appeals enough to me individually to justify the hard credit pull, but if I can open both the same day under one credit pull, that's $300 plus the fringe benefits at WDW for having the card.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Did you, or do you know if you can, open both the premier and non-premier cards on the same day? Neither card appeals enough to me individually to justify the hard credit pull, but if I can open both the same day under one credit pull, that's $300 plus the fringe benefits at WDW for having the card.

I don't know about that, I don't see why not? But it's never applied in our case. We originally got the free card in my Husband's name so that we could get the 6 months free and book the last minute cruise to surprise our parents. The rewards were good and adding up, but I wanted to double up, and then when I called and couldn't upgrade our non premier because I wasn't a 'primary' holder, I said 'forget this!' My Honey and I talked about it and agree it would be good for me to have my own credit line in my own name, so I opened up a NEW account as premier and got the $200. That was around November. My first month's rewards were $50 anyway so either that or the $200 gift card helped cover the annual fee. And my rewards have been about that much just about every month.

A friend of mine got the $200 gift card promotion, but I looked online recently, and I think it was showing $100. That wouldn't have been good enough for me, I wanted the $200 (especially because the $49 annual fee comes out right away.)

So anyway the $200 is not a given incentive, so you have to check on that. I assume you are adding up the $50 OBC and the $50 gift card we got with our non premier to equal the other $100. You can't guarantee the $50 OBC special either, because if you have any other booking discount (we couldn't combine with our 10% off), then you can't use it.

So bottom line, as of RIGHT NOW, you are looking at about a guaranteed $150 in gift cards for opening both accounts up right now.

I'm starting to think we got some real pixie dust last year.

 

[KalamityJane]

We got the Southwest card because it gives you 50000 points after you spend 2k in the first 3 months (which is about ~$1375 in flights). Personally, I think it's a far better bonus as far as credit cards go. Since we got 2 of them on the same rewards number, we ended up with 100,000 points and then spent an additional 6k (total 110000 points) to get the companion pass which allows someone to fly free as long as the card holder is flying. With all the money that we save on flights, we put into vacations. Since there is 5 of us flying, this saves us quite a bit, as you can imagine.

I know it's not specifically about saving on the cruise, but figured I'd add it.