So let’s start by talking about different options of booking a Disney Cruise that I personally have experience with and what we ended up doing.
Option 1: Booking via Disney Cruise Website
You can book Disney Cruise directly from Disney Cruise Website. Website itself is very easy to use and straight forward. Disney Cruise also sometimes has special offers that you can take advantage of. Those offers are typically available if you book thru Disney travel agent too.
Option 2 : Booking via Third party website
There are a ton of third party websites out there that you can book cruises. I only have experience with Costco Travel so that’s the one we will be talking about here in the comparisons.
Option 3: Booking via a Disney Travel Agent
Yes there are Travel Agents specialized in Disney and some travel agents that can help you book a cruise. I personally have not used one yet, so I will not be speaking from experience. I have contacted a couple of them for basic inquiry but did not decide to book thru them. They do advertise for added benefits such as booking excursions and activities for you and checking in the cruise for you etc.
Comparisons:
- I consider the Disney website to be the most comprehensive. You can filter by date of travel, ship name, destinations, port etc. While some third party websites might not offer some of those options and only showing certain ones and you have to keep going back and forth to pick what you want. But of course you can also use Disney’s website to find the cruise you want, then go to third party website to book it. I did notice that Disney Website appear to offer more room availability. I have had a situation that I tried to book on Costco but was told that room was not available, but I was able to book it directly with Disney.
- Once your cruise is booked, you can make changes to your reservation such as room type, cancel reservation, adding ground transportation, make payments etc right from the website or Disney Navigator App. If you have questions that you need to contact Disney Customer Service, they do have exceptional customer service. Each time I speak with the cast member, they make you feel warm and fuzzy. If you book your cruise via third party (in our case, our second cruise was booked via Costco), you will need to contact third party provider every time you need to make a change. It can be a bit of a hassle as you need to wait on their customer service and the reality is they are not able to make changes on their end, they still need to contact Disney to complete those steps. So you will end up on hold for a while.
- Booking via a travel agent typically give you an offer of onboard credit, which is basically an amount you can use towards your final bill. The amount can vary. Booking via Costco will get you a shop card (a Costco gift card), again the amount will vary based on the cruise and any promotion that Costco might be running at the time of booking. The price of the cruise would be the same as Disney website, so the additional gift card/onboard credit would be icing on the cake.
My Pick
So far I have booked a total of four cruises. Two we took, one we canceled, and another one is set for next year. Out of those four, three of them were booked directly from Disney and one was booked via Costco Travel. So obviously my pick would be directly from Disney Cruise Website. For Convenience factor, I would always pick Disney Website. Dealing with third party can add additional hassle, especially in the event of unexpected issues with your trip. But if you are looking for additional cash benefit, booking thru a third party can be worth it (imagine having Costco Shop card pay for your next month’s grocery bill). You just need to weight your pros and cons. Booking cruise is just the first step, but a very important step because then the count down starts!!!
