alamode123 Posted July 23, 2018 Report Share Posted July 23, 2018 As per Matt's recent perfect day at CocoCay podcast, he stated he'd love to do a cost analysis of a weekend cruise vs the same weekend at WDW. ROYAL PERFECT DAY CRUISE I picked a 3 night cruise (Nov 1 to 4) on Navigator of the Seas, balcony room. Family of four (2 adults 2 kids). Base price: $2121.40 Tips: $174.00 Waterpark cabana (includes waterpark admission): $684. (I averaged out the high and the low prices from the official prices).GRAND TOTAL: $2979.40 WDW 3 nights, Port Orleans Riverside Disney Dining plan (regular) 3 day Park hopper plus water park ticketsGRAND TOTAL: $3097.68 You could tweak the numbers with Ultimate Dining plan for Royal, or just buying a waterpark annual pass for WDW (or add a WDW cabana at the waterpark), but I think this is a fair comparison. CraftyCat05, Matt, NS8VN and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NS8VN Posted July 23, 2018 Report Share Posted July 23, 2018 One thing that could bring those numbers even closer is transportation. If you fly in to MCO Disney will drive you from the airport to your hotel and provide transportation throughout the entire property, as well as drive you back to the airport. For a cruise you have to pay for that. For Miami it should still be less than $30pp (the rough difference between these prices) if you arrange it privately, and probably a bit more than $30pp round trip if you arrange it through RCCL. WDW also offers complimentary baggage transfers to and from the airport, RCCL also has this but for an additional fee. So these numbers are quite close and could easily be closer after considering getting you and your baggage to/from the airport and your destination. Up until about a year ago I could look at parking for those not flying, but Disney decided free parking was just a bridge too far, so that's a wash now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alamode123 Posted July 23, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2018 4 minutes ago, NS8VN said: One thing that could bring those numbers even closer is transportation. If you fly in to MCO Disney will drive you from the airport to your hotel and provide transportation throughout the entire property, as well as drive you back to the airport. For a cruise you have to pay for that. For Miami it should still be less than $30pp (the rough difference between these prices) if you arrange it privately, and probably a bit more than $30pp round trip if you arrange it through RCCL. WDW also offers complimentary baggage transfers to and from the airport, RCCL also has this but for an additional fee. So these numbers are quite close and could easily be closer after considering getting you and your baggage to/from the airport and your destination. Up until about a year ago I could look at parking for those not flying, but Disney decided free parking was just a bridge too far, so that's a wash now. An UberXL from the airport to PortMiami is $30 according to their web site. As for parking, I don't drive so I never thought of that cost. (We're DVC members so wouldn't have to park regardless). Mind you, this doesn't include the hotel the night before your cruise if you're flying in. Kim&N8 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melski94 Posted July 23, 2018 Report Share Posted July 23, 2018 I think you could play around the numbers and make any vacation cheaper or more expensive than an RC cruise. In both situations, a 3 night trip is not a great value on a per person per night basis.I think the value of both is that the longer you are there, the better the value. A few issues with the comparison mostly for those who aren't familiar with WDW: You chose the WDW regular dining plan which includes 1 table service meal, 1 quick service meal, 2 snacks and 1 refillable mug (which isn't refillable at the theme parks) per person. To me that means you are missing one meal, we'll say breakfast. On RC, you could have 3 table service meals per day if you chose and the Windjammer is much better than any quick service at WDW. I feel that the food in general is better on RC and then you could have much healthier options. Tips weren't included in your WDW fee, but even with the dining plan you should tip 18-20% for table service even with the dining plan (meal for 4 probably at least $100+ for 4 so about $20 tip) and tip Mousekeeping around $8-10 per day so tips for the 3 days could be around $120. You don't have to pay for the waterpark cabana and considering you aren't purchasing a cabana at WDW that isn't a fair comparison as you could use the free lounge chairs just like at WDW which would put RC at about $300 less. I think this is subjective to make the cost appear the same and not a true apples to apples comparison. While you say this doesn't include the night before cruise hotel, your comparison does include 3 full days at a theme park which is also difficult unless you plan to arrive extremely early on day 1 and head straight to a park or leave extremely late on the after a park day or you add in a travel day. Both options should allow for a travel day or both allow for a very early morning on day 1. My family loves WDW but I love the relaxing nature of RC. At WDW, I need to make a reservation 6 months in advance for a restaurant or make Fastpass reservations at 60 days. At WDW, I have to be up at 6:00 or 6:30 am to try to beat the crowds at the parks. We are due for a trip to WDW but I chose another cruise instead. One of these days, we'll be back to WDW but right now I'm just going to relax with the family on RC. Either way a little weekend getaway could be quite expensive for a family. Matt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fonemanbob Posted July 23, 2018 Report Share Posted July 23, 2018 Lived in Orlando for 10 years. We did R.C. 6 times and W.D.W. 0 times. We may move back to Fla. as daughter and grand kids are there as is R.C. Nothing like booking a last minute cruise and at the dock in a couple of hours. Sure would cut down on a lot of the costs living in TN. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 I completely agree. Transportation is such a huge expense or us that we have basically stopped cruising out of Florida except or rare occasions. That is one of the primary reasons we are moving to FL when we retire !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim&N8 Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 UGH transportation! Were in NY so there isn't a short cruise option, NJ only seems to get 5+ day sailings. Looked at one for $1,086.80 USD out of Miami for this fall on the current promo for family of 4, flights to get us all there were nearly $1500 Driving to Florida is a FULL 2 days of driving from our house which is out of the question, been there done that don't need to try it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 2 hours ago, Kim&N8 said: NJ only seems to get 5+ day sailings. Cruises must include an international port of call by law. A disadvantage of the greater NYC area as a cruise home port is that there are no close international ports. Bermuda is a sea day away so 5 night cruises are the minimum from NJ/NY. Transportation from the North East is a wash, WDW or a 3/4 night cruise, fly or drive it applies to both equally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim&N8 Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 @twangster yup! We just watch for good airline deals getting out of here. We did WDW 2017 and were able to get southwest round trip for ~$1000 which was great. But it was over $1000 for just 2 of us to San Juan in 2016. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 1 hour ago, Kim&N8 said: But it was over $1000 for just 2 of us to San Juan in 2016. OSJ has expensive flights year-round, based on all the comments I've read here over the last year and a half or so. Just seems to be something one has to be prepared for, whether land vacation or a cruise with San Juan as the embarkation port. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
princevaliantus Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 6 hours ago, twangster said: Cruises must include an international port of call by law. A disadvantage of the greater NYC area as a cruise home port is that there are no close international ports. Bermuda is a sea day away so 5 night cruises are the minimum from NJ/NY. Transportation from the North East is a wash, WDW or a 3/4 night cruise, fly or drive it applies to both equally. Actually, you are misstating your facts. In the NYC area, as a cruise home port, the closest international port is Halifax, Canada (approx. 600 miles compared to 780 to Bermuda). I.E. - Back in 2016, RCCL offered a three (3) night cruise, Friday thru Monday. We arrived Saturday morning for the whole day. Great weekend getaway cruise!!! As for 5 night cruise minimum out of NY/NJ, it is also inaccurate as Royal Caribbean and Carnival both offer four (4) night cruise(s). See December 6, 2018 sailing for Royal on AotS and August 16, 2018, etc for Carnival on the Horizon, their new ship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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