Done with DCL

[cgolf]

Well many can be happy because a frequent DCL cruiser is opening up some spots for others by jumping ship to Celebrity in 2017. We looked and found that the opening day prices for the Magic 3 day cruises are more than we paid for 4 and 5 day Magic cruises in 2016 around the similar time. It has gotten out of hand. The service is not what it used to be, the perks that have been dropped recently, and not to mention there sub industry standard loyalty program we are done. The cool thing with Celebrity is we can still use Dreams, but lose our TA we have worked with for all but one of our cruises

 

[Otimon]

Hope you enjoy your future Celebrity cruise.

 

[lillygator]

it is a shame how much prices have gone up. we sailed on the wb panama canal cruise with 2 kids in an inside cabin for 15 nights for less than we could do a 3 nighter these days!

 

[Quellman]

Based on your signature you have given a lot of time to the DCL. I hope you have lots of great memories and will make many more on Celebrity.

 

[Ofinn]

Enjoy your cruise on Celebrity. I totally get your frustration. Our future cruises on DCL will probably be limited to repositioning cruises. I can't see us sailing on the Fantasy or Dream out of PC at these prices.

 

[magicmomms]

Sorry you had a bad experience. I have never DCL, but have done Celebrity and loved it! I think you will greatly enjoy the value of Celebrity cruising.

 

[missyp]

I am right behind you. I no longer feel I am getting the value for the money spent. March will probably be my last Disney Cruise. I have been on a Celebrity Cruise and I think you are making a great choice.

 

[RebelHawk]

We have two more PIF DCL cruises coming up. These will be our last two for the foreseeable future. We are then going to try RCL and then a Celebrity cruise. Once we have a solid baseline for these lines that we consider "comparable" to DCL we will happily determine where the best value for us will be.

 

[ldo]

we still love DCL, and cruise when the price is not crazy, but have also jumped ship many times. Last spring break, we took 7 persons in 2 cabins on a 5 day Princess cruise for less than 4 persons in 1 cabin on a 5 day Wonder (which was still much less than the Dream 4 day). The 2017 DCL Easter cruises are too much for us. We are considering Princess to Aruba instead for around $3K for 4 persons (granted it's bunk beds over our beds and a small bathroom--but it was fine for us last year). My teens enjoyed Princess last spring break and preferred it over RCCL. Ironically, where we found a half decent price was the Magic to Norway in late June 2016.

 

[cgolf]

Sorry you had a bad experience. I have never DCL, but have done Celebrity and loved it! I think you will greatly enjoy the value of Celebrity cruising.

I wouldn't say a bad experience, just that the quality of the service is declining. It is still very solid service, just not what I remember from our earlier cruises.

 

[cgolf]

We will probably be back to DCL for a Panama Canal cruise. The Hawaii cruise was unbelievable, and I have heard they handle the Panama Canal cruise in a similar way. For that trip we want to go with a line that we know what to expect. For a winter getaway cruise to the Caribbean we will go with the best value.

 

[Amw1064]

We have two more PIF DCL cruises coming up. These will be our last two for the foreseeable future. We are then going to try RCL and then a Celebrity cruise. Once we have a solid baseline for these lines that we consider "comparable" to DCL we will happily determine where the best value for us will be.

Yes this is us as well. I think #25 will be a perfect ending to Disney cruising. The prices are just crazy and they do not offer the discounts we have gotten use to. I know it didn't help others, but we have done so many of our cruises with the Fl Res discount. With that not available, we can spend our money better elsewhere. I am glad my daughter is getting older, she has had many great memories in her 13 years on Disney cruises.

 

[tinkerone]

we are right behind you. switching to royal but for pretty much the same reasons. dcl prices are insane and the value is just no longer in there. no reason to pay so much more for no extra. dh and i share a bathroom in our bedroom at home, we can do it on a cruise ship.

 

[lucky1]

it is sad.. we have 2 placeholder cruises and not sure we can use them.. They have priced us out of doing any cruising with DCL for at least for now.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I considered a Fantasy booking post dry dock but my placeholder I have will be "expired" by then. I'm not paying full rack rate for any Disney cruise, even opening day. We have a couple Disney cruises booked for 2016 but those are more about the company than the ships and itineraries. We have b2b NCL Escape cruises booked for spring next year. I'll be looking forward to opening day prices on NCL.....

 

[Iamaplanner]

I was waiting for the DCL release of March 2017 cruises and based solely on price and the US exchange, we are going to book with RCCL.
That being said, I'm so sad and apprehensive about the change. I want to stick with Disney but there comes a point where you just can't justify THAT MUCH of a price difference

 

[disneybass]

We are cruising RCCL next month after having only cruised DCL. The prices are just crazy at this point and I don't see it getting any better. I really hope we enjoy RCCL

 

[jdb in AZ]

We really enjoy Celebrity. Choose an itinerary where the Mouse doesn't sail, and that will help make the transition easier.

 

[tinkerone]

i hope everyone who is sailing rcl will come back and let us know how you felt. i have the same apprehension about it but i think this could be a good thing.

 

[lb2000]

We just came back from the San Diego to Ensenada 3 nights on the Wonder and had such an amazing trip. But it was under $3000 for 5 of us and I thought that was OK pricing. I just asked for a quote for a 5 night from Miami in March 2017 and it was just shy of $8000. Plus, we'd have to travel to Miami. Looks like a great trip, but we won't be sailing then. Maybe another time, another trip. I do want to do one more Disney Cruise while my kids are still a good age for it, but have cruised Royal Caribbean with just adults and enjoyed it.