Done with DCL

[mevelandry]

Same for us. We can't wait for our next DCL cruise in November but after that, we are trying another cruise line (Carnival - *gasp!*) because we are outpriced (p.s.: I sail during low season)...

We are talking about an Alaska Cruise for 2017 if we can afford it then (because you never know...) If we don't like Carnival that much, we'll try something else... Probably Celebrity or NCL.

 

[MUN]

Same for us. We can't wait for our next DCL cruise in November but after that, we are trying another cruise line (Carnival - *gasp!*) because we are outpriced...

We are talking about an Alaska Cruise for 2017 if we can afford it then (because you never know...) If we don't like Carnival that much, we'll try something else... Probably Celebrity or NCL.

We loved our DCL Alaska cruise last year and I thought the price for Oceanview rooms was not outrageous. I understand HAL and Princess do a nice job with their Alaska cruises.

 

[DisneySisters]

It's sad, because all of us here posting obviously love the DCL experience. For me, not only are the prices increasing, but my family is getting bigger. I was struggling with all the new dates trying to find one that would not only work with all the college schedules, but was at all affordable. Doesn't look like it's going to happen this year. We have done Celebrety, and it was nice. Also tried RCL, not that impressed. Maybe we will try Princess.

 

[cgolf]

Thanks! Happy sailing!

I have found that when sailing off-peak times DCL are very reasonable.....almost even competitive. Evidently the demand for the cruises during periods when kids are out of school remains high or maybe is even growing.

It would be interesting to compare cruise prices for say a June DCL cruise with other cruise lines and then compare a Sept DCL cruise with other cruise lines. My experience is you won't see anywhere near the disparity in prices for the Sept cruise like you see for June

We had found off peak times to be very competitive in years past with DCL coming out even cheaper sometimes. Now they have even bumped up the prices on off peak cruises to such a level that we don't want to justify the extra money we are spending over another line. We will attempt another line and see what we think.

This does go back to 2013 when we were sailing concierge and the same room the next year for the same itinerary and time of year bumped up over 3000 dollars.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

In addition to the huge price difference, I admit that the anytime dining is a huge draw to us. We are looking to jump ship in 2017 on a European cruise and the anytime dining on NCL looks so appealing. I'm curious what your experience was like. Did you make reservations ahead of time or could you simply show up when you got hungry? If the latter, how long was your wait for a table, especially if you didn't want to share. Did it make a difference if you were eating in the MDR vs a specialty restaurant? I've done some lurking on CC, but honestly most of the folks on the NCL forum fall into one of two camps - total NCL cheerleader vs "NCL is the worst cruise line in the world and it's my responsibility to make sure everyone knows it". I'd love to hear an objective opinion

TIA

We reserved 3 meals ahead of time while paying the 3 specialty meal package. We totally forgot the first one. Went to rebook it and explained what we did, fully expecting we'd be out of pocket since we were no-shows. The dining lady was like "Oh no! It's okay! You can still use your credit. You paid for that." So nice! We ended up doing 4 specialties. 2 of those were booked prior to sailing. 1 we added for like the following night while onboard. 1 was a walk-up. There was zero wait for the walk-up. The dining system showed no availability but some friends we made went to the podium anyway. They asked about the al fresco seating which they don't pre-book. So we dined al fresco at a 4-top with zero wait. Friends sat, ordered drinks, and texted us to come join. Lovely meal.

We had a MDR once for lunch. That's it. The buffet and other venues like Flamingo, O'Sheehans, and the noodle bar (all are inclusive) filled our other needs. We enjoyed it so so much. Hungry? What do you feel like? No multi-hour time commitments necessary.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

We had found off peak times to be very competitive in years past with DCL coming out even cheaper sometimes. Now they have even bumped up the prices on off peak cruises to such a level that we don't want to justify the extra money we are spending over another line. We will attempt another line and see what we think.

This does go back to 2013 when we were sailing concierge and the same room the next year for the same itinerary and time of year bumped up over 3000 dollars.

In September 2014 I sailed in an 00T on the Dream with friends. Paid roughly $500 more per person for the same room in September this year. Next year in September? Same room is about $500 more per person from this year. I love sailing with my friends dearly but I could, at this point, book an inside room & sail it solo for less than my half of the 00T. I don't even want to look at prices for a studio by myself on other lines for Sept next year. I might jump ship on my friends altogether. LOL!

 

[cgolf]

And... I really don't understand why people go on here telling us they are jumping ship. If it's during holidays and spring break. Of course the price will go up. Others will pay the difference. Just because you won't. Are you looking for us to tell you, no please stay?

JW

We only sail during the off peak cruises, and those have jumped substantially. For the same time period, cabin, and very similar ports visited, 9 nights on the Magic in 2016 is cheaper than 6 nights in 2017. That is as apples to apples as you can get for comparisons.

Also since your post irritates me, did you read my opening line, I don't want to be told to stay, very happy leaving, just pointing out that the price hikes have gotten out of hand. Yes people will pay, we won't and and don't want to. I will be eating the popcorn to see how far DCL can take the prices before they start losing enough guests that they need to either drop them or offer deals to fill the ship.

 

[Iamaplanner]

But do they need loyalty? When I think about Disney, I think about a product geared to families with young kids. Honestly, if DD still likes Disney at 12 or 13, I will be happy to support her. However, I suspect that her eagerness to hunt characters will wane sooner rather than later. I have viewed my time in the Disney bubble as finite from the beginning. I suspect corporate sees it that way too.

I partially agree with you but some people, like me, are making the switch before the kids are 12 or 13. If the price was right, Disney could have easily had another 5 years with us.......

 

[NancyIL]

I can't say I'm "done with DCL" - because I might still sail with them every few years on longer repositioning cruises. However, when I look for cruises with interesting itineraries at good prices, I look elsewhere. My upcoming cruises are on RCI (Canada/New England and western Caribbean [the latter is a DIS Podcast cruise in 12/2016]), Princess (South America and Alaska), and Celebrity (Pacific Coastal).

 

[DCLDVC1]

And... I really don't understand why people go on here telling us they are jumping ship. If it's during holidays and spring break. Of course the price will go up. Others will pay the difference. Just because you won't. Are you looking for us to tell you, no please stay?

JW

Rinse and repeat every time the new schedules are released.

 

[Mickeyhugger]

We reserved 3 meals ahead of time while paying the 3 specialty meal package. We totally forgot the first one. Went to rebook it and explained what we did, fully expecting we'd be out of pocket since we were no-shows. The dining lady was like "Oh no! It's okay! You can still use your credit. You paid for that." So nice! We ended up doing 4 specialties. 2 of those were booked prior to sailing. 1 we added for like the following night while onboard. 1 was a walk-up. There was zero wait for the walk-up. The dining system showed no availability but some friends we made went to the podium anyway. They asked about the al fresco seating which they don't pre-book. So we dined al fresco at a 4-top with zero wait. Friends sat, ordered drinks, and texted us to come join. Lovely meal.

We had a MDR once for lunch. That's it. The buffet and other venues like Flamingo, O'Sheehans, and the noodle bar (all are inclusive) filled our other needs. We enjoyed it so so much. Hungry? What do you feel like? No multi-hour time commitments necessary.

I so much agree! The freestyle dining is very under-rated! Even though I love DCL's MDRs, (especially Animator's Palate,) I can't really see myself enjoying other non-DCL cruise lines now. Loved all of the choices on the Getaway. The MDR (Tropicana) on the Getaway, BTW, was great at dinner too!

 

[Rogillio]

There are so many factors to consider when choosing how to spend our vacation dollars. The only thing I will caution against is missing the Disney cruise experience when your children are young. There is no going back. They won't be in 5 to 12 year old range for very long and suddenly one day, before you even realize what happened, you will wake up and realize they are grown up. They are going off to college or getting engaged to me married or starting a new job. Every age of a child is special....but there is something especially special in that 5 to 12 age period. Doesn't last long and you slowly realize they no longer want to hold your hand anymore. Or they don't grab your arm for security because, while Mickey is very cool, he is also a little bit scary. So many good memories on our Disney cruises.......

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I so much agree! The freestyle dining is very under-rated! Even though I love DCL's MDRs, (especially Animator's Palate,) I can't really see myself enjoying other non-DCL cruise lines now. Loved all of the choices on the Getaway. The MDR (Tropicana) on the Getaway, BTW, was great at dinner too!

I've been asked a bunch of times about Cagneys since we dined with y'all. I think we should've gone with the filet. The prime was good but not great. The filets we had in LeBistro were much better. Those truffle fries, tho! Wowza! And Tracey has had a ton of Kahlua & Creams since that night at dinner. He loves them! <3

 

[sweetpee_1993]

There are so many factors to consider when choosing how to spend our vacation dollars. The only thing I will caution against is missing the Disney cruise experience when your children are young. There is no going back. They won't be in 5 to 12 year old range for very long and suddenly one day, before you even realize what happened, you will wake up and realize they are grown up. They are going off to college or getting engaged to me married or starting a new job. Every age of a child is special....but there is something especially special in that 5 to 12 age period. Doesn't last long and you slowly realize they no longer want to hold your hand anymore. Or they don't grab your arm for security because, while Mickey is very cool, he is also a little bit scary. So many good memories on our Disney cruises.......

I agree. Ours were at the top of that age range when we started cruising and we still got a lot out of it. But, ours are both aged-out of the youth programming now. That fact truly does have a huge impact on how we spend our vacation funds now.

 

[cgolf]

There are so many factors to consider when choosing how to spend our vacation dollars. The only thing I will caution against is missing the Disney cruise experience when your children are young. There is no going back. They won't be in 5 to 12 year old range for very long and suddenly one day, before you even realize what happened, you will wake up and realize they are grown up. They are going off to college or getting engaged to me married or starting a new job. Every age of a child is special....but there is something especially special in that 5 to 12 age period. Doesn't last long and you slowly realize they no longer want to hold your hand anymore. Or they don't grab your arm for security because, while Mickey is very cool, he is also a little bit scary. So many good memories on our Disney cruises.......

Well said, an I am living this, my daughter is a Freshman in college and was 9 on our first DCL cruise, man time flies And yes we have a ton of great DCL memories

 

[MUN]

There are so many factors to consider when choosing how to spend our vacation dollars. The only thing I will caution against is missing the Disney cruise experience when your children are young. There is no going back. They won't be in 5 to 12 year old range for very long and suddenly one day, before you even realize what happened, you will wake up and realize they are grown up. They are going off to college or getting engaged to me married or starting a new job. Every age of a child is special....but there is something especially special in that 5 to 12 age period. Doesn't last long and you slowly realize they no longer want to hold your hand anymore. Or they don't grab your arm for security because, while Mickey is very cool, he is also a little bit scary. So many good memories on our Disney cruises.......

So sad, but so true. Our baby is 11 and he seems so grown up. Our oldest is soon to be 17 and our middle child just turned 15. Our NYE cruise out of Galveston may be our last for awhile, not because of cost, but because of ages and school/work/activities. And you're right we have a lot of great memories on DCL that I'm not sure we could have matched on other cruise lines.

 

[Pens Fan]

We reserved 3 meals ahead of time while paying the 3 specialty meal package. We totally forgot the first one. Went to rebook it and explained what we did, fully expecting we'd be out of pocket since we were no-shows. The dining lady was like "Oh no! It's okay! You can still use your credit. You paid for that." So nice! We ended up doing 4 specialties. 2 of those were booked prior to sailing. 1 we added for like the following night while onboard. 1 was a walk-up. There was zero wait for the walk-up. The dining system showed no availability but some friends we made went to the podium anyway. They asked about the al fresco seating which they don't pre-book. So we dined al fresco at a 4-top with zero wait. Friends sat, ordered drinks, and texted us to come join. Lovely meal.

We had a MDR once for lunch. That's it. The buffet and other venues like Flamingo, O'Sheehans, and the noodle bar (all are inclusive) filled our other needs. We enjoyed it so so much. Hungry? What do you feel like? No multi-hour time commitments necessary.

I'm liking this more and more!! Now if they just schedule the Northern Cape cruise again at a time that works for us, I think we are in. Two weeks in Norway - all the way to the northern cape - for probably less than DCL would charge for a 7 day - oh yeah!

 

[Ofinn]

Those are the ONLY Disney cruises with what I consider to be reasonable rates! Other cruise lines' Transatlantic and Panama Canal cruises tend to have better itineraries than DCL, and often lower prices, too. However, I'm willing to do a long DCL cruise every few years because they do a nice job onboard.

Yes I agree on the better prices, and if you have kids DCL is the only cruise line that will have kids onboard those long cruises. The other lines have better itinerary's on their TA's but what from what I've read on CC kids are non existent. I have a TA booked in September, but not sure I want to eat up all my vacation time in one chunk or leave my dog in a kennel that long. I prefer the to do two or three one week cruises a year, but it's getting hard to find deals on DCL.

 

[Pens Fan]

There are so many factors to consider when choosing how to spend our vacation dollars. The only thing I will caution against is missing the Disney cruise experience when your children are young. There is no going back. They won't be in 5 to 12 year old range for very long and suddenly one day, before you even realize what happened, you will wake up and realize they are grown up. They are going off to college or getting engaged to me married or starting a new job. Every age of a child is special....but there is something especially special in that 5 to 12 age period. Doesn't last long and you slowly realize they no longer want to hold your hand anymore. Or they don't grab your arm for security because, while Mickey is very cool, he is also a little bit scary. So many good memories on our Disney cruises.......

This is very true. I would have liked to explore other lines for a while now, but stayed the DCL course mainly for my son who still loves them at 17. But he will be 18 in a few months, so no more youth programs - Vibe is the main reason he's hung onto DCL for this long - and soon off to college. It's time for us to branch out and explore new adventures. Not to mention, save some $$$ for those tuition bills!

 

[emilymad]

We sail in January and while prices have gone up they are not that different from other cruise lines. We are doing the Fantasy again this year. RCL is only a few hundred dollar cheaper when you factor having to travel to Ft Lauderdale or Miami. That is way more expensive for us. We are looking forward to RCL bringing more ships to Port Canaveral.

We did Celebrity once and never again. We are in our mid 30s and we were the youngest people on the ship for President's Week. The main dining room wasn't great. Food was so so and service was really slow. The servers seemed to cater to the older crowd. Celebrity was also the only ship that we had to get security involved to deal with unruly kids who were placing people's safety in jeopardy.

We would like to try NCL but traveling to Miami just makes is so much more expensive for us.