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The Disney Cruise Line Spring 2018 itineraries were released near the end of October 2016. We started scanning them as soon as they came out because we knew our Spring break trip for that year would be a DCL cruise. We eventually decided to go back on the Magic as a follow up from our Christmas Cruise planned for December 2017. The cruise we selected was a 5 night Bahamian cruise that left from Miami with stops at Key West, Nassau, and Castaway Cay. We had previously sailed to Key West on the Wonder and loved the port. We were also excited because there would be a sea day after Castaway Cay. All of our other cruises spent the last full day at Castaway Cay, which kind of made the stop bitter sweet.
Since we decided to activate our annual passes for a quick weekend trip in the summer, we decided to book a fall trip as well. We planned to travel during a long school weekend in early November. The girls had an early release on a Friday, plus the next Monday and Tuesday off from school. If we could get down there on Friday, we could have four days in the parks!
We’re taking a slight detour from the subject of Disney trip planning with this series of posts. The other half of the Back to the Mouse trip planning duo, Nancy (who is usually the creative force behind our Instagram photos), shares her experiences traveling to Italy last fall.
Planning | Travel | Animal Kingdom | Epcot | Magic Kingdom | Hollywood Studios | Summary
We are always looking to save money on airfare when visiting our favorite Disney vacation locations. We’ve talked about using points to get free flights, especially through the use of sign up bonuses for credit cards. We have also talked about making alternate flight arrangements, including flying into alternate airports. During a recent search for flights for a trip next summer, we’ve discovered another tip!
We usually plan our travel 18 months or so in advance. We look at school calendars, compare prices, and then book a trip. In the case of our February 2017 cruise on the Disney Dream, almost none of this happened (we did look at the school calendar). Here is how our cruise came together.
One way we keep our vacation costs down is to leverage frequent flyer miles to get free flights to our destinations. The cost of the flight to your vacation can comprise a large portion of your overall budget — why not have that cost covered for you?
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.
