Extra Guests Sail Free on Disney Cruise Line

There’s a new Disney Cruise Line discount in celebration of Disney+ Day: third and fourth guests set sail for FREE with two full-fare passengers in the same stateroom. In this post, we’ll share details of the unprecedented discount, why it’s likely being offered, and more.

Lots of synergistic stuff is happening for Disney+ Day at Disney Parks. Disneyland Resort in California, Disneyland Paris, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World are all getting decked out with festive décor, special character sightings, and photo opportunities. They’re also offering (or were, as it’ll be past tense by the time you read this) extra Early Entry.

There are also deals on Walt Disney World resorts for Disney+ Day. Earlier this morning, we shared those details in: Up to 20% Off Disney World Resorts at Christmas 2022 for Disney+ Subscribers. It’s a similar story with Disney Cruise Line, with one big difference: this discount is impressive instead of underwhelming! 

If you’re not a Disney+ subscriber, you still should check out this discount. You don’t really need to “crunch the numbers” to determine if you would save more by one member of your party purchasing a Disney+ subscription if you don’t already have one. I can answer that for you right now: you would. That’ll cost you under $2 per month now, whereas this could save you hundreds of dollars or more on a cruise.

In order to access the page on Disneycruise.com with official discount details, you’ll need an active Disney+ account. We had some issues accessing the Walt Disney World deal earlier this morning, and offer some troubleshooting tips in that post. The TL;DR version of that is, failing all else, launch a private browsing window and login to Disneycruise.com with your Disney+ credentials.

Don’t worry if you can’t do that, or if you want a look at the special offer details before subscribing to the Disney+ streaming service, as we have those:

Set sail and save—third and fourth Guests of Disney+ subscribers sail free with 2 full-fare guests in each stateroom, for up to 2 staterooms, during select cruises in 2023.

This offer is available on select sailings on the Disney Magic, Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy from January 2023 through April 2023, in stateroom categories 4A–11C.

Taxes, fees and port expenses for all Guests are not included and are due at time of final payment. Taxes, fees and port expenses are approximately $89–$202 per person depending on the itinerary selected (all amounts subject to change). Offer excludes suites and categories with restrictions (VGT, OGT and IGT). Offer only available to Disney+ subscribers who are residents of the US and Canada.

Disney+ subscriber can book up to 2 staterooms with this offer; 2 full-fare Guests must stay in each stateroom. The Disney+ subscriber must be the primary Guest on the reservation and must sail in one of the staterooms booked with the offer. Proof of Disney+ subscription required.

If Disney+ subscription cannot be verified, reservation will be cancelled with applicable fees. Cannot be combined with any other discount or promotions. Valid on new and existing reservations. Offer is subject to Disney Cruise Line Terms and Conditions.

The number of staterooms allocated for this offer is limited. Stateroom accommodations for four or more Guests are limited and based on availability at the time of booking.

View all eligible sailings and booking online by click here. You can also call Disney Cruise Line at (800) 951-3532 or contact your travel advisor. Online bookings are limited to 4 Guests per stateroom.

Our recommended Authorized Disney Vacation Planner provides an on-board credit based upon the size of the booking, and also offers itinerary advice, suggestions for the cruise, and assistance with booking port excursions and more.

The following sailings are blocked out, and are not eligible for this offer:

Disney Magic

  • January 2, 2023
  • March 13, 2023
  • March 27, 2023

Disney Dream

  • January 2, 2023
  • April 10, 2023

Disney Fantasy

  • March 11, 2023
  • March 25, 2023

In terms of commentary, it’s pretty obvious that Disney Cruise Line is still struggling to fully recover based on the degree of discounting we’ve seen firsthand.

In addition to the general public special offers, there are a number of deeper discounts for Florida residents, US military personnel, Canadian residents, Cast Members, travel agents, and other affiliations of which I’m probably unaware.

Disney Cruise Line’s recent special offers prior to this Disney+ Day deal have included Halloween on the High Seas, Very Merry Time Christmas Cruises, Marvel Day at Sea, and other themed sailings. These discounts are still available, running between now and May 2023, with over 100 sailings discounted out of several departure cities including Port Canaveral and beyond.

Between around 2018 and early 2020, this degree of discounting simply was not occurring. Even during the ‘glory days’ of DCL deals, I don’t recall anything on par with what has been available in the last year. It’s a relatively unprecedented time for Disney Cruise Line deals, and it looks like it’ll last at least a few more months.

It’s curious how the tables have turned when it comes to Walt Disney World v. DCL discounts. Between 2018 and 2020, deals at WDW were abundant and aggressive. Now, they’re relatively meager. Pent-up demand is still running strong for the parks, to the point that resort reservations are difficult even at full price for October through December 2022.

If you’re wondering what’s up with the DCL discounts, it’s due to health safety protocol. There are undoubtedly other contributing factors, but that’s the big one. This has discouraged some people from cruising while preventing others from doing so. With the end of testing for vaccinated guests, some members of the former group will have one big barrier removed later this month (or November 2022, in the case of the Disney Magic).

I’m one member of this group. Not to belabor the point or rehash commentary covered elsewhere, but I’ve been in “wait and see” mode when it comes to cruising for a while. There have been too many hoops to jump through, compromises to the on-board experience, and the potential risk of being denied boarding erroneously.

Recently, some of that has been dropped and I’ve cruised aboard the new Disney Wish. I found the pre-departure testing to be nerve-racking. I essentially didn’t engage in any indoor activities for nearly two weeks beforehand and even then was worried about testing positive. To be blunt, that’s not something I would do again–we would’ve cancelled upcoming sailings had the policy remained in place.

This may sound excessive, but I really didn’t want to deal with the hassle and uncertainty of being denied boarding. I enjoy cruising, but not enough to go through that repeatedly. Given the degree of discounting for cruises even as every other segment of the travel industry has been red hot, I cannot be alone in that sentiment.

In addition to people like me who didn’t want to deal with the hassles and headaches, there’s another huge pool of potential guests who flat-out cannot set sail aboard Disney Cruise Line at this time. There are undoubtedly others at the opposite end of the spectrum, who could cruise but would not out of concern about insufficient health safety measures aboard ships. I suspect the Diamond Princess and other incidents back in early 2020 have left lasting scars for some.

Whatever the causes, the end result is that the pool of potential customers for Disney Cruise Line is smaller than normal–even as DCL has expanded its fleet by adding another ship. More supply but less demand is a recipe for savings, and we’re seeing exactly that play out with this Disney+ Day deal and other recent special offers.

Ultimately, it’ll be interesting to see how long these Disney Cruise Line discounts persist. My guess is as long as any health safety measures or restrictions remain in place, plus another 6 months or so. (Since very few people travel immediately upon booking.) In short, it’s a great time to set sail and take advantage of these unprecedented DCL discounts. It’s likely they’ll stick around until policies change (and also likely that policies will change very soon given their economic impact on DCL), so you probably have until at least May 2023 before rates start rising again.

Planning to set sail aboard one of the DCL ships? Read our comprehensive Disney Cruise Line Guide to prepare for your voyage, plus plan entertainment, activities & excursions, and learn what to expect from your Disney cruise! For personalized planning & recommendations, click here to get a cruise quote from a no-fee Authorized Disney Vacation Planner. They can find you all of the current discounts, and help you plan the details of your cruise.

YOUR THOUGHTS

What do you think of these Disney Cruise Line discounts for Disney+ Day? Will you be taking advantage of this special offer? Have you already booked one of the FL or CA resident or other deeply-discounted rates? If you booked this, do you think you ended up with a good price or do you feel like you’re overpaying? What was available or unavailable for your dates? Is this deal enough to convince you to book a cruise, or can you not justify DCL’s premium price points? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!

18 Responses to “Extra Guests Sail Free on Disney Cruise Line”
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