How far in advance should I book?

[Mariketa]

I'm doing this! I'm planning a vacation for the family, Fantasy with a verandah. I'm looking at next November, so yeah a full 18+ months away. I was hoping to have the option of a down payment and then monthly or quarterly payments, etc. rather than paying in full all at once (and then checking on and off for price drops).

 

Is it too soon to book for such a long way out? This will be our first Disney cruise and I have no idea how fast these ships fill up.

 

Thanks!!

[DISNEY FANTASY]

I'm doing this! I'm planning a vacation for the family, Fantasy with a verandah. I'm looking at next November, so yeah a full 18+ months away. I was hoping to have the option of a down payment and then monthly or quarterly payments, etc. rather than paying in full all at once (and then checking on and off for price drops).

 

Is it too soon to book for such a long way out? This will be our first Disney cruise and I have no idea how fast these ships fill up.

 

Thanks!!

 

I would book asap, the prices go up as the ship sells, so think of it going up in steps, with DCL the rule is most of the time that prices go up and not down, its only slow moving off peak cruises that may have offers.

 

With the exception of concierge suites, the deposit is refundable up to your advised paid in full date, so booking a cruise, you only loose the use of your deposit, but lock in today's prices.

 

If you book through a specialist DCL TA, 'if' prices fall before your PIF date they can advise you.

 

With four Disney ships its not a case of how quick they fill up, its how quickly people book, as each booking can cause the price to increase, then people may move their booking on to a different cruise.

 

Think of it as a shop and its selling a product.

 

It has 10 at a special price, when they sell then

they have another 10 at the first price + 5%,

then they have another 10 at the first price + 5%, etc.

Disney veterans, have this planned so well maybe as they are used to booking early and queueing for rides and parades, I have saved thousands over the years booking on the first day of release of the next seasons cruises.

[Mariketa]

Thank you! I'll go ahead and book it!

[Scrapnana]

We booked at the end of July 2011 for December 2012. By the end of August our booking went up about $700. I kept checking every few weeks and it never decreased.

[dyanna72]

Were already booked for a Sept 2014 cruise so dont feel bad about booking early :p

[DISNEY FANTASY]

I am booked for July/August 2014.

[dinkydee718]

The price for our Feb 2014 verandah stateroom went up over $400 just a few days after we booked! (Maybe we're the ones who caused it to go up!). Never hurts to book a verandah stateroom early since, as the pp said, you can always get a full refund if you change your mind before the pif date.

[STUR]

I'm doing this! I'm planning a vacation for the family, Fantasy with a verandah. I'm looking at next November, so yeah a full 18+ months away. I was hoping to have the option of a down payment and then monthly or quarterly payments, etc. rather than paying in full all at once (and then checking on and off for price drops).

 

Is it too soon to book for such a long way out? This will be our first Disney cruise and I have no idea how fast these ships fill up.

 

Thanks!!

We booked 2 Concierge Family Oceanview staterooms with Verandah January 31,of this year for August 23,2014 (next year)

and got the last two Concierge suites that where Available I did have to put 20% down Nonrefundable So I bought there insurance By booking early you can pick your suite if it is available

We will be celebrating our 50th anniversary with 2 grand kids daughter and son in law

[aimish]

I booked last fall for a cruise going in the winter of next year!

[nyc12345]

I would also book as soon as possible, as prices tend to go up in most Disney cruises.

 

Find a TA that will give you discounts/OBC for your purchase. I saved a lot when I book my Disney cruises through such a TA. =)

[cruisingfor5]

Looking at May 2014 ourselves. Hoping to book soon. Glad you posted this question since this will be our first Disney cruise also.

[cde48]

We love DCL, and are planning another cruise for January 2014, on the Fantasy. The first time we went on the Fantasy, was in May 2012. We booked the cruise in March 2011. While booking in advance can be very beneficial, we will now hold off until a few months prior to the cruise to book.

 

We were actually told by a Disney rep on the ship, that Future Cruises that are booked on the ship, artificially drive the prices up, because people book ghost dates, and can change those dates, up until the cancellation period. So, when people book the "ghost" dates just to get OBC, and the discount, they actually have no intention of sailing on the day they book. They just want the discount and credit. This will make the ship, when you are trying to book, look like it is more full than it actually is, thus driving the price up, and showing less rooms.

 

We actually found out the hard way last cruise, and this is why we questioned it with the rep. They were offering balcony rooms, cheaper than we paid for an inside cabin, a few months prior to the sailing.

[martinm]

I book a year plus out while on a cruise..

I do not book a "ghost cruise" but rather have a time or special occasion in mind.

I like the reduced deposits and it lengthens my time to pay...

 

I then crank out the payments to make sure I can book my specialty dining etc, as early as possible.

 

This July were on the Fantasy for our 21st anniversary. We booked on the Wonder Thanksgiving before last. The only issue I have with this plan is I need more cruises than this ;)