It Just Got Cheaper to Plan a Cruise With Disney
The initial expense that comes with booking a Disney Cruise Line vacation was significantly reduced, to the tune of 50%, thanks to a new deposit rule the brand has implemented.
The new required deposit for any Disney Cruise Line voyage is 10% of the base cruise fare, down from the previous 20% requirement. The updated policy is effective on all new bookings made beginning on June 18, 2025.
Any existing reservations made before that date still require the 20% deposit. The deposit amount was altered in an effort to lower upfront costs that guests pay.
According to Disney Cruise Line’s Pay at Your Own Pace policy, the line will hold a booking for up to three days without any deposit. At that point, the reservation must be confirmed with a 10% down payment.
Going forward, booked guests can make additional payments in any amount they wish in the run-up to the cruise, with final payment due 90 days before departure of sailings up to 5 nights and 120 days before departure of voyages 6 nights or longer. These requirements have not changed.
Based on the new deposit rule, a sample cruise fare of $5,000 would require a $500 deposit. Disney Cruise Line sailings can cost anywhere from under $1,000 per person to $10,000 or more, depending on destination, stateroom choice, and departure date.
Disney Cruise Line noted that cancellation fees on bookings made after June 18, 2025 will match the new deposit amount, meaning that if a reservation is cancelled during the allowed period, the cancellation fee will be 10% of the cruise fare.
The cruise line has not altered its Concierge-level cancellation policy, which states that deposits are non-refundable.
The cruise line has also changed its Placeholder reservation policy. These reservations are open-ended and made while onboard a Disney cruise. The exact date of the future cruise is chosen later.
Like other lines, Disney offers special fares for future cruises during each voyage. Guests make a deposit at the time of the placeholder transaction, and those deposits have now been reduced to 5% of the cruise fare rather than the previous 10%.
Here’s How Other Cruise Lines Set Deposit Amounts
Cruise lines handle deposits in various ways. Some base them on the amount of the cruise fare, like Disney Cruise Line, while others tie deposits to the cruise length and other factors.
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Virgin Voyages, for example, mirrors Disney’s former policy and requires a percentage of the base cruise fare, not counting taxes and port fees. In Virgin’s case, the deposit is 20% with the final payment due 120 days before departure.
Royal Caribbean is among the lines that bases its deposits on length of voyage, except for suite reservations, which require a 10% deposit.
Stateroom categories below the suite level require a $100 per guest deposit for sailings up to 5 nights; $250 for 6- to 9-night sailings; $450 for cruises of 10 to 14 nights; and $500 for voyages 15 nights and longer.
Deposit rules for guests sailing with the Carnival Cruise Line fleet are similar to Royal Caribbean’s but include higher deposits on voyages to certain destinations.
The brand requires a $100 per guest deposit for cruises up to 3 days, rising to $400 per guest for sailings 10 days and longer, and on all itineraries to Alaska, Europe, the Panama Canal, and transatlantic and transpacific voyages.