Rope Drop Radio – Episode 57 – Disney Financial Travel Hacking
I had the great privilege and honor to be invited back on my favorite podcast, Rope Drop Radio, to discuss various ways to take Disney vacations for less money.
Planning
Updated Disney Cruise Line Prices – 05-29-2017
Note: This post is out of date. To see the latest prices (that we update once a month) go to our homepage and find the latest pricing posts from there. Or subscribe to our email list and get updated delivered to your inbox at the beginning of each month!
Star Wars Cruise – Part 1, Planning
Our 7 Night Eastern Caribbean Star Wars Day At Sea cruise on the Disney Fantasy didn’t start out as one of our normal cruises. As we discussed in our post about planning an off season cruise, we had originally planned to book our standard spring break cruise for 2017, but finances got in the way. We instead picked a different destination for spring break, and in October 2015 we booked what we thought would be a standard 7 night Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Fantasy. In January 2016, Disney announced new Star Wars Day At Sea cruises for 7 night sailings on the Disney Fantasy — and in March 2016, we received notification that our cruise had been switched to the Star Wars theme. Interestingly, the price of the cruise almost immediately went up by 50%. We weren’t upset that it got changed, but I probably never would have booked it for that price, even with the Star Wars addition.
Spring Break 2016 Cruise – Part 1 – Planning
Disney Cruise Line Cabin Upgrades
Disney Cruise Line, like all cruise lines, doesn’t always sail with a full ship. There are usually cabins available of every type before the ship leaves the dock. They are always willing to fill those cabins in exchange for more money. Here is how you can attempt to upgrade your cabin type.
Favorite Podcasts
Category Spending
We have a pretty good supply of credit cards we can use to earn points. We always try to spend in the bonus categories on the cards that make the most sense. (Note, when mentioning the number of points earned in each category, that is for each dollar spent.) Here are some of our main categories that we spend money in:
Upcoming Card Selection
With the recent draw down in our hotel and airline accounts, we need a plan to replenish them. We have our travel plans set until December of 2017, so we have time to build our supply back up. We plan to continue spending on the credit cards we have right now in order to maximize their bonus categories. We also plan to sign up for some new cards, since we usually have lots of spending we can do in categories that we never get bonuses on.
Spring Break Planning
We eagerly awaited the release of the 2017 Spring Itineraries from Disney Cruise Line. We’ve taken Disney cruises for our past three spring break vacations and have always enjoyed them. We haven’t been too adventurous with the spring break cruises: they have all been 5 night cruises on the Disney Wonder, with two sea days, and port days in Cozumel, Mexico and at Disney’s private Bahamian island, Castaway Cay.
