HOW MUCH more are you willing to pay for DCL?

turtle27 · Mar 26, 2015

krisinparis said:
Just make sure you are not going on a Med. itinerary. We were on a short 4 night cruise last summer and while no one was smoking inside, the outside smoking areas were not enforced at all. People were picking up ashtrays and just taking them with them wherever they wanted to go. It made being on the pool deck like being inside a bar.

I went on Disney on the Med and did not notice the smoking, on the ship, we were in the ports 90% of the time! Also, I am not afraid to say something to a CM if ppl are in the non-designated areas, they have rules for a reason, just like parents who think it is ok to let their kids come to the adult pool, if a CM does not say something, I say something to the CM. And, honestly, as long as I get breathable air at least inside, surely there will be somewhere outside for me to enjoy smoke free. It is just inescapable if the smoke has permeated the interior of the ship (like my experiences on Princess). My experience has been that it is completely dependent on who you end up sailing with, some cruises may be better than others, even on the same ship, but I would like to enjoy common areas of the ship and find my lungs just won't tolerate as much anymore before I get sick.

alldiz · Mar 26, 2015

Ofinn said:
I checked princess. I saw norway and arctic circle. Hal I've heard is not that great for kids. NcL has one, but it's in Sept. I find all cruise web sites to be deplorable. I think they all have the same IT dept.

Think princess had 14 night in July...
Vacationtogo website plug in the month and where u want to cruise and all cruises from all lines come up. Good to compare itineraries
Kerri

KashasMom · Mar 26, 2015

Ofinn said:
You're lucky that your kids don't like the Edge because that is what's keeping me with DCL. They love that place. They open and close the place on sea days. They have made friends all over the country that they Skype with everyday. We cruise in the Off season so I'm not even sure the other cruise lines would have kids on board. You never have to worry about that on DCL. Alaska and European cruises are Summer affairs so I'm looking at other lines, but I can't find any other cruises that go to Iceland other than DCL.

NCL, Cunard, HAL, Celebrity, Princess, and a half dozen other lines go to Iceland.

KashasMom · Mar 26, 2015

ColoradoDisneyFreaks said:
We were on the Adventure, and while the ship was cool, the crew was the best part. I highly recommend Alla tours for St. Petersburg. We used them for Tallinn and Helsinki as well and were really impressed and happy with our tours. If you're hitting Copenhagen, DON'T do the HoHo bus, it only runs every 30 minutes, and it's crowded, so it's hard to catch, which leaves you either cutting a site short, or sitting around waiting forever for the next bus. We ended up walking back to port from the "postcard row" canal (I call it that because it's like those houses in San Francisco that everyone thinks of when they picture it).

Thanks! I've already started researching and Alla looks like the best option.

Coldflame · Mar 26, 2015

This is the third post I see about pricing. I'm glad. I really am. Supposedly there are DLC-connected people lurking in these forums and the more visibility these threads have the stronger the message.

I think the sentiment can be summarized as follows: we (fans of DLC) are willing to pay a premium for the DCL experience; however, there is a limit how much you can charge over the competition before your customers/fans will start abandoning your brand for something more affordable and equivalent. The amount you are charging for Alaska and European cruises is simply put excessive and w/o merit given that it's basically the same ships and mostly the same ports of call.

Lisa Lisa said:
Many of us here, myself included, are willing to pay more for a DCL cruise. But how much more? We really, really want to go to the Med next summer and had been pricing 11 and 12-night itineraries on other lines in preparation for DCL's release. I wasn't even sure DCL would offer a longer Med itinerary, so we wanted to know what are options are. I was really excited to learn that DCL would be offering one 12-night Med cruise, but of course I was nervous about the pricing. I expected them to be higher, but HOLY COW! Now we need to figure out just how much more we're willing to pay.

Just for illustration, here are the DCL and RCI 12-night Med w/Greece itineraries with pricing. Traveling will be myself, DH, and DD (who will be 13 at the time). On DCL we'd be in a cat 9C ocean view room on deck 2, while on RCI we'd be in a cat D1 balcony room (roughly equivalent to a cat 5 on DCL) on deck 7.

So... just how much more are you willing to spend for the DCL experience??

artnerds · Mar 26, 2015

Coldflame said:
I think the sentiment can be summarized as follows: we (fans of DLC) are willing to pay a premium for the DCL experience; however, there is a limit how much you can charge over the competition before your customers/fans will start abandoning your brand for something more affordable and equivalent. The amount you are charging for Alaska and European cruises is simply put excessive and w/o merit given that it's basically the same ships and mostly the same ports of call.

I think you are right on with this. We said a quick "no thanks" to the prices of the 12-night British Isles and 12-night Mediterranean cruises and quickly found an 11-night London-to-Copenhagen cruise on Oceania that felt like an excellent consolation prize (we don't have kids, so the lack of kids' programming didn't worry us). We then started thinking twice and booked the 7-night Med for about the same price as the Oceania cruise, but we were very on the fence about it, and it won't take much more of a price increase to knock us over that fence next time.

Ofinn · Mar 26, 2015

alldiz said:
Think princess had 14 night in July...
Vacationtogo website plug in the month and where u want to cruise and all cruises from all lines come up. Good to compare itineraries
Kerri

KashasMom said:
NCL, Cunard, HAL, Celebrity, Princess, and a half dozen other lines go to Iceland.

Thanks I will check again.

Ofinn · Mar 26, 2015

alldiz said:
Think princess had 14 night in July...
Vacationtogo website plug in the month and where u want to cruise and all cruises from all lines come up. Good to compare itineraries
Kerri

Just checked Princess Ocean view and balcony's already sold out for 2016. The mini suite was 18k. Dcl's not looking so bad now.

Cousin Orville · Mar 26, 2015

krisinparis said:
Just make sure you are not going on a Med. itinerary. We were on a short 4 night cruise last summer and while no one was smoking inside, the outside smoking areas were not enforced at all. People were picking up ashtrays and just taking them with them wherever they wanted to go. It made being on the pool deck like being inside a bar.

I can't say I've seen this on the 12 day DCL med's we've taken. Not to discount your experience, but I only saw smoking in the designated smoking area. Very frustrating you had to put up with that though.

HappilyEverAfter80 · Mar 26, 2015

I would be willing to pay 10, maybe 20 % for Disney. No more. I have friends who have sailed on RCI, Princess and the new Norwegian breakaway and loved the experience. I do think that DCL is superior to the other lines older ships, but some of the new ships on RCI or Norwegian look amazing too. We just priced out NCL 7 might Caribbean for $2250 including free beverage package for Dec 2016 that's for 2 adults, 2 children, 7 and 1. I know DCL hasn't released winter 2016 rates but I'm willing to bet their price will be double. We looked at a midship balcony on NCL and it was on their new Getaway. At that price point I am willing to try NCL. We are still looking into Europe cruises, but after showing the price to DH we will not do Europe with the mouse.

alldiz · Mar 26, 2015

Ofinn said:
Just checked Princess Ocean view and balcony's already sold out for 2016. The mini suite was 18k. Dcl's not looking so bad now.

Wow.... Selling out quick 11 night princess Baltic night I was looking at was about $13,000 mini suite. There was not a lot or rooms left. I am dragging my heels hopefully something Good left when I decide.
Happy planning
Kerri

Ofinn · Mar 26, 2015

alldiz said:
Wow.... Selling out quick 11 night princess Baltic night I was looking at was about $13,000 mini suite. There was not a lot or rooms left. I am dragging my heels hopefully something Good left when I decide.
Happy planning
Kerri

I think I've settled on the 9/10 med it's 4833 for a cat 9b for the four of us. I don't know if the Magic will be in the Med until mid September again so I might as well take advantage of the lower prices. My kids are begging, pleading, and crying to go on the Wonder in February with some friends they met on the Fantasy. That cruise is about 3k. Two cruises for 8k and I think that's it for 2016. I'll start looking at Iceland/Norway cruises in 2017 or maybe I'll just plan a land trip it will probably be cheaper.
I'm not thrilled about the Feb cruise I'd rather put that money towards a better cruise, but I'm using it as leverage. I've told them they have to earn it by good school work and good behavior. As a homeschooler I'm always looking for something to give them incentive this may work out to my advantage. My devious mind is coming up with all kinds of ways they can earn this cruise with their friends.

MC0810 · Mar 26, 2015

We are cruising May 16th 2015 western carib. same cruise in 2016 on May 14 is $340 more than what we paid....I checked out Junes prices are were blown away.

dotfurio · Mar 26, 2015

I would pay maybe 2-3K more for a 7 night+, but double??? I just couldn't, even if I wanted to. The European cruises look amazing, but the price is WAY too much for us when you factor in airfare and excursions.

bcwife76 · Mar 27, 2015

LorraineBaines said:
We just booked our first cruise (ever) with DCL, and it will almost certainly be our last. Even if it turns out we absolutely love cruising, we will cruise another line next time (and it won't be for a few years). I am quite frugal by nature - this a once in a lifetime experience for our family, and at this point I'm willing to pay a premium for Disney because my kids are a great age for it (will be 10 and 7 at sailing), I know they will enjoy the kids' club, characters, activities, etc. DH and I love the idea of doing a Panama cruise at some point as a couple, but no way would we pay DCL prices for just the two of us.

This is us exactly too! We have our first DCL cruise (our first cruise ever, too) this September; our kids will be 7 and nearly 5 at the time of sailing so a perfect age for this cruise line. But this pricing is just WAY too high for us. I can't imagine ever doing another DCL cruise again. If we do end up enjoying cruising (hey, maybe we'll hate it LOL) then I could see going with NCL or RCL in future as they have some very kid-friendly programs too. Panama Canal would be unbelieveable, but the way it's set up (fly into Miami, fly out of San Diego) is a huge PITA for us West Coasters (Canada).

kiapepito · Mar 27, 2015

I'm actually kind of happy and thankful that we are sailing our first cruise this summer... we are also adding two days at the parks beforehand because we are flying from California... this is by far the MOST expensive trip we have ever taken and we usually visit Europe every other year because my college roommate lives in London... my husband told me that we could take a DCL cruise every five years... our next trip would be Alaska... I priced it for us... and it would be over $12,000 for summer 2016. I better start saving up for our next cruise in five years...

princessnicchia · Mar 27, 2015

We are going doing an April Western Caribbean in 2016.... I can say exactly how much. 50% over the cost of the same room at RCL. We've cruised RCL in the past, this will be our first Disney cruise. It is my daughters golden birthday and we were talking about a vacation...wouldn't it be nice to do a Disney Cruise...long story short, heart absolutely set on it though the wallet is NOT a happy camper. But it will likely be the last time because although I love all things Disney, I am normally a very pragmatic person.

FJS961 · Mar 27, 2015

It will be double in 5 years

cwdefouw · Mar 27, 2015

Another thing that Disney is doing to make people think that maybe their price may not be so bad is this. They generally release their future cruises much later than other cruise lines. Once people look at the Disney price and then decide to shop, the cheapest prices on other cruise lines are already gone because the other lines released their cruises much earlier. Case in point...

Ofinn said:
Just checked Princess Ocean view and balcony's already sold out for 2016. The mini suite was 18k. Dcl's not looking so bad now.

Had a balcony been available, I am sure they would found it to be much cheaper, but because Disney release their cruises so much later, the cheaper, more equivalent, balcony cabins on Princess are gone. So now they are comparing apples to oranges, but the price is about the same. It is much easier to accept an orange instead of an apple when the price is about the same.

FJS961 · Mar 27, 2015

Oh, it looks bad, without question

HOW MUCH more are you willing to pay for DCL?

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