The information was sent to me by Stephanie from Mouse Fan travel. She's the agent who booked our Disney World vacation for my birthday last September. I highly recommend the use of Mouse Fan Travel for all your Disney booking needs. There's no fee for any of their services. They earn their money from Disney.
After getting this information I've caught Disney Cruise fever. I've started researching and reading all I can about taking a Disney Cruise.
The cruise we'd be booking would be a 4 night cruise to the Bahamas. We'd leave on Sunday December 9 and return on Thursday the 13th. The 2 ports of call for the voyage would be Nassau in the Bahamas and Disney's own Castaway Cay.
Now most of the Disney Cruises that leave from Port Canaveral stop at Castaway Cay. What I like about the itinerary for this cruise is Nassau. The Atlantis resort is on that island and you can book an excursion to that resort for the day the ship docks at Nassau. I've always wanted to go to Atlantis because its theme is based on the legendary Lost City of Atlantis; something Paula has always been interested in.
From what I've seen on the Disney Cruise website we will probably want to book a stateroom with a veranda. The price is a bit above the basic rate but is still within our budget. From what I've read and heard that an ocean view is worth it. A picture of the room and veranda from the website is at the top of this post.
I'm ready to pull the trigger on booking this trip right now. The advantage of booking so far in advance is that the price is as low as it will ever be. From what Stephanie wrote to me the price goes up as the ship's rooms are booked. So now would be the best time to book. But that means a down payment of 20% of the total price. That's a rather large investment for a trip so far away.
But first thing's first. My wife wants to take an early birthday trip in late May (her 50th birthday is July 1). She's said that before we think about our anniversary trip we have to plan and pay for her birthday trip.
But I know from past experience that it's better to start saving sooner than later. So I've planned out an estimated budget to estimate the cost of the trip. In addition to the cost for the cruise we will have to have transportation. We could drive to Florida like we did last September but it would be nice to fly. In addition you have to pay for any excursions you decide to take at the ports of call.
As I explained in one of my previous posts the one thing that sold Paula on a cruise on the Disney Dream was the opportunity to go to the spa. The cost of those visits will be extra as well. Then there's souvenirs and any other extras we would want on or off the boat.
So in preparation for making it a bit easier on us I've devised a savings plan that includes daily and weekly savings amounts. If I follow the plan by the time our cruise comes around we will have the money we need to pay for it saved.
So the way it looks for now I'm going to be able to do plenty of planning, some saving, but the actual booking and commitment to the cruise will have to wait. I look forward to the day I can post the fact that we've made our deposit and booked our reservation for our 10th Anniversary cruise on the Disney Dream.
