39. Unleashing the Exciting Disney & Wave Season Specials for 2024 Travel

January’s almost over and time is running out to seize those exclusive wave season deals! From free dining plans at Disney to fantastic discounts on cruises, I’m sharing the best offers to make your 2024 adventure truly unforgettable.

Links mentioned in the episode:
Sex and the City Fan Cruise
Virgin Voyages Book with Me Link
Celebrity Galapagos
Oceania Cruise Line
Silversea Cruise Line

Download my free guide: 10 Tips for A Luxe Disney Vacation or connect with me on Instagram @michelevisitsmickey.

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This episode was produced by The Podcast Teacher.

Transcript

Hello my friends. Today, let's unlock the magic of travel for 2024 and beyond with Wade season specials. We are almost at the end of January, which means many of the wave season specials are going to disappear at the end of the month. And so let's go over them all so that we can get you in on some of the Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line travel specials, as well as other cruise travel specials, river cruise travel specials, all inclusive travel specials. January is the time to look forward and book those experiences for this year and beyond. So I'm going to reveal all those exclusive bonuses to make your 2024 adventure unforgettable. So pun intended, let's dive right in.

Of course, let's start on land over at Walt Disney World. There are Several specials that they are advertising, and they are heavily advertising these specials. And I don't want you to get your hopes up because although if you do qualify, There's a great savings. Availability is extremely limited and it's kind of a fine needle to thread. So I encourage you, if you are interested in thinking about a Walt Disney World vacation this year, to contact me and let me help you thread this needle. We're starting in Florida, in Orlando, and the first one is for Disney plus subscribers. And this is a great savings. It's a free dining plan.

But as I said, eligibility is not just being a Disney plus subscriber. You do have to be on a 4 night or longer travel package that includes your room and your theme park ticket, but it must be a park hopper theme park ticket. Now if you're staying at a deluxe resort or a DVC vacation villa, you're eligible for the Disney dining plan, which includes full service dining. That, when you calculate the savings versus what a park hopper would cost you, if you're a park hopper, and so first thing, then that's probably worth it. However, if you're gonna stay at a moderate or a value resort, you're eligible only for the quick service dining plan that's included, and we really would wanna calculate How much the difference in savings is on the prepaid meals versus the cost per day of a park hopper? So that's just something to talk about. And again, that is why I highly recommend that you plan your Disney vacation travel with a Disney Vacation travel advisor. It is valid for most travel dates between July 1st through September 30th. So something else to consider that you would have to be traveling to Walt Disney World July, August, or September, which are 3 of the hottest months there.

So something else to consider, in which case, that free hotel refillable mug would come in really handy that comes on that Disney Dining Plan as well as the Disney quick service dining plan. So let's talk about it, is basically what I'm saying. Another special that Their advertising is another one that I say you really have to contact me or your trusted travel adviser to discuss. It is advertised as up to 35% on rooms at select Disney Resort Hotels when you stay 5 consecutive nights or longer. And you can save up to 30% on shorter stays. Now The kicker is that the savings for stays from March 25th to July 7th are actually lower then the savings from July 8th to October 3rd. And, again, the savings of up to 35% are on the deluxe and Disney Vacation Club Resort properties. So it's very complicated.

It is based on the number of nights you stay and how you bundle it. And so again, the best bet is to contact me and let me help you plan your experience. I've said that like 3 times now. So if you are looking for my contact me information, it is in the show notes. Disneyland has a few offers as well. There's the kids 3 to 9 play and dine offer where kids can dine free. There is specials on rooms and kids tickets for stays up to March 10th. So definitely cutting out that whole spring break crowd.

If you are a Florida resident, there are great Florida resident specials that you can get in on right now in Orlando, and there are California specials for Disneyland. So yay for specials. Hopefully, we can find you something. You just have to be really and willing to go at times when they're looking to build traffic to the theme parks. Makes sense. Now, Castaway Club and DVC members have some special early booking bonuses on some new river cruise adventures and new cruise line itineraries that are done through adventures by Disney and National Geographic. So if you are Retired or maybe you work for yourself and you have a lot of flexibility and vacation time, and you are a member of Castaway club. That means you've sailed on Disney Cruise Line at least once, or you have some DVC early booking bonuses apply to you.

I would love to help you book. Now here is the special that I am most excited about. Normally, a Disney cruise line Vacation deposit is a big commitment when you're just making a deposit. And it's more than most other cruise lines. They are having a 50% of your required deposit special. So you only have to pay half of the normal required deposit on the day that you make your reservation. You have to book it by February 16th. So again, it's definitely a wave special.

It is valid on any new reservation for select Disney cruises departing between June 17th this year and May 31, 2025. So If you are looking forward in the future, you can save money now. You can keep more money in your pockets and less money giving to Disney by making a 50% of the required deposit special, And then the remaining balance of what would normally be part of your deposit will not be due until the final payments. So very exciting, some Disney specials. Okay, moving on. My favorite cruise lines. And if you've listened to me long enough, you know That actually, I like a Disney cruise. I love the Disney Wish, but my favorite cruise lines in no particular order are Virgin Voyages Celebrity Oceania and Silversea.

And all of them are having fabulous wave season specials. Let's start with Virgin Voyages because if you've been listening to me for more than a minute, you know how excited I am about All things Virgin Voyages, but I had a really great experience on my November cruise. And I'm looking fast forward to June and the Saxon City cruise, And therefore, this particular wave special is the most savings you can ever get And I will tell you why. Because Making Memories Travel is going to match some of the special that Virgin Voyages is offering. So their standard wave offer, and you can book on any Virgin Voyage cruise. It doesn't need to be the one that the amazing group is going on. And you can receive 70% off of the 2nd sailor. So basically, almost a 2 for 1 kind of thing.

Plus, you can get up to $600 in free bar tab. So $600 per cabin and free bar tab is basically like free drinks. Now, the $600 is for cruises of longer than a typical week. So let's just take it for a 7 day cruise. It's $300 and free bar tab on the cabin. But, if you want to book on that Greek Island Glow itinerary on June second, again, that link is in the show notes. I am going to match that with an additional onboard credit of $200 per cabin. So, woo hoo.

You would get $300 in bar tab and $200 in onboard credit. That's $500. And if you book it before the end of the month, then you're also saving that 70% off of the 2nd sailor. So I just can't even. That's such a Great deal. And let me remind you why Virgin Voyages is so epic and amazing. And I'm actually going to remind you by telling you a story about my Princess cruise at the very end of December. And my husband and I, Mr. Michele Visits Mickey, and I have loyalty on Princess.

And we have sailed with Princess a lot before the pandemic, but this was our 1st post pandemic Cruz back on Princess. And as I said on an earlier podcast, or maybe I was just talking to a friend, But I don't think that Princess has come back from the pandemic, as well as other cruise lines have. And there was nothing I can point to that was bad about this cruise. It was just very meh. It was fun. The staff was great. It was meh. It was like, the food was meh.

And I kept saying to myself, oh, the food's better on Virgin Voyages, or The excursions are better on Oceania or whatever it could be. I just kept pointing to the other cruises that mister Michele visits Mickey and I had been on. But again, we have loyalty and that's a BFT, which is another reason that Virgin Voyages is a really good thing right now because, at least now, and this could change at any minute, they are matching loyalty status other cruise lines and hotels and air. There are certain criteria and there's a form you have to fill out. So contact me if you're interested in finding out what that is all about. I digress as usual. Going back to my princess story about why I think Virgin Voyages is so epic and amazing. It was the week of Christmas.

School is out, I get it. There's kids on board. And I sell on Disney, so I'm used to kids being on board. The thing about princesses, and I had forgotten, there are no kids clubs. So they were fucking everywhere. They were at the pool. They were in the hot tub. They were watching the movies on deck.

They were in the ice cream shop. I mean, they were everywhere. And that's great. I love family reunions, family multi gen, fabulous. I just wasn't traveling with mine. Mine are older, you know how I feel about the pint sized entourage. Needless to say, Virgin Voyages has no kids. You have to be 18 or older to sail.

So if I were doing a Christmas break cruise again, Not so much for me in the Princess cruise line. Also, as I said, the food on our apprenticeship was just Kind of meh. And we had specialty dining. It was just, like, meh. The food on Virgin Voyages is just to dine for, like literally to dine for, d I n e. And if you want to learn more about that, I can direct you to previous podcast episodes that are all about that. But just to tease again this Greek island glow itinerary, if you haven't heard yet, Molly dropped a little hint last week on last week's pod that she is gonna be shopping for Carrie on the vintage shops on the Greece streets and the aisles. So if you want to follow along and be a little, like, Shadow to Molly while she shops.

She has invited you to come along. And then, of course, there's Richard who's gonna ask the hard questions of Cindy, about things like all the smoking and all the drinking, and do single women really need a man, and All of those things that may or may not have held up well in the passage of the 35 years since the show Sex and the City began. Okay. I've said my piece. I'm off my Virgin Voyage soapbox. Celebrity Cruises, another very favorite cruise line of mine. Sadly, they do not match loyalty, which is why I don't sell with them more often. They are really well known for their Galapagos itineraries, and that is definitely something on my hashtag bucket list travel list.

They are offering 20% of those itineraries when booked with a signature agency. Hello MMT, we are a signature agency. So if you are interested in explorer travel or adventure travel, and especially to the Galapagos, Celebrity Cruise Lines is the only cruise line that actually has ships that were created specifically to sail in the Galapagos. So 20% off of those. Oceania, which I don't talk about much on this podcast because I haven't sailed on them in a while. But they are what I would consider to be In between a premium line and a luxury line, kind of like a premium plus, they are Hands down, my favorite cruise line. It's more of a small ship luxury, but they are known for the best food at sea. And as much as I love Virgin Voyages, I will say that Oceania has the best food I've ever had.

One of the meals I've had on Oceania was one of the best meals of my life, not just cruising. It was that good. It's called red ginger and it's Asian. And, and the t menu. Oh, to dine for. Again, to dine for. The specials that they have right now are 2 for 1 cruise fares plus free round trip airfare with free airport transfers, and that, of course, is only on Certain itineraries that they offer, that special, although they're calling it a limited time New Year sale, That special typically stays around year round. What they have added that make away at the end of January is the save up to 25% on certain sailings.

Again, Oceania, known for smaller ships, golf club, country club casuals, so there's no formal nights. They don't have photographers, so it's a very unique cruising experience. And they're known for these really long port intensive, kind of exotic itineraries. So if you'd like to learn more about Oceania, I would love for you to drop me a DM or Hit me up in the Facebook insiders group, and I would be happy to educate you more about that line. It's fabulous. Now, If you're ready to take the next leap and go for super luxury, all suite, Silversea luxury liner through the end of February, which is a leap year this year. So through the 29th February, you can enjoy up to 4,000 savings per suite. River cruises.

Select itineraries on my favorite river cruise line which is Avalon, which you know from previous episodes where I talk about my own personal river cruise. If you book by March 2nd, you could be eligible for $250 off per person. So 500 per suite, and you can fly free from a gateway city. Dallas is the closest one to me. So they basically charge you, like, $100 to get from Austin to Dallas, for example. So it's free from a Gateway City Tulip Time, anyone? They've got a fabulous new itinerary that is sailing for tulips. And there are way too many specials for me to mention for all inclusives. So if you're looking for a spring break trip in the Caribbean, and you're looking at a resort or all inclusive in Mexico, Cancun, the Bahamas, And you wanna book it by the end of this month, so you have a little over a week to do that.

My colleague, Jessica Frey, is the resident expert for an all things all inclusive Mexico and Caribbean, and I would love, love, love to put you in touch with her. And she's got your 411 on all the specials for all inclusives. So basically, to sum it all up, January is like Black Friday for travel. It's the time to invest in your experiences for this year and even beyond, and not to miss out on these limited time deals. So head over to the Making Memories Insiders Facebook group. Again, the links are in the show notes for more information and be among the 1st to access these specials. And with that, I will see you real soon.