2011 "Large Ship" Cruise Line Rankings

[Rogillio]

Travel and Leisure magazine is owned by American Express and has a publication of only 4.8 million magazines a month and published monthly. It is a small publication. Its polls would be skewed toward the American Express card holders who probably own the mailing list and credit card list.

Interesting numbers but totally irrevelant.....nevertheless, 5,000,000 people is not insignificant....and as magazine distrobution goes, that is not bad.

But what is your point? Are American Express card holders biased towards Disney?

BTW, T&L is the top travel mag in the country.

 

[Rogillio]

Carnival is the number #1 cruise line in the industry, over 52% of the cruising passengers, in passengers cruising. There must be a reason. I have enjoyed the cruises I have gone on with that company.

It this a typo or is there a word missing? What are you trying to say?



IMO, there is only one way to know 'who is the best' and that is the company who is making the most money and who is growing. No way of knowing how much of the Disney Corp's profit is coming from DCL but we do know they are growing.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

So do you think lots of children read T & L Magazine and skewed the results?

No - but I do think that the magazine's readership falls in a high tax bracket and those multi page glossy ads Disney takes out in their magazine several times a year might help their numbers.....

It this a typo or is there a word missing? What are you trying to say?

IMO, there is only one way to know 'who is the best' and that is the company who is making the most money and who is growing. No way of knowing how much of the Disney Corp's profit is coming from DCL but we do know they are growing.

Carnival Cruise lines must be in the top 3 then (if not number 1). They are premeiring new ships every year in 2010, 2011, and 2012. They are a highly profitable cruise line and their stocks do very well. All this despite offering very reasonable cruise rates.

RCL is premiering new ships every year but they are carrying a high load of debt to pay for them.

And as you say - DCL does not issue it's own profit statments so, who knows? Maybe there's a reason why the cruise prices for DCL just keep climbing, and climbing, and climbing.......

 

[Edd]

Disney is growing but not as fast as other lines. Disney has built 2 ships and working on a third one since their first ship launch in 1997. A total of 3 ships floating and one building, over a period of 14 years.

Carnival has built 14 ships since 1997 and 2 more building or planned. Same period.

RCI has built 14 ships since 1997 and have two more due out in 2015 and 2016. Same Period.

Do you think DCL is growing like the more popular lines. Two ships are approaching their retirement age, which will leave them with only two ships in their fleet.

 

[mmouse37]

The Magic will celebrate the 13th anniversary of her MV on July 30th...she was launched in 1998, not 1997. The Magic and Wonder are far from retirement.

MJ

 

[Edd]

I have a feeling many business accountants will disagree with that statement.

 

[TXDCLfan]

Disney is growing but not as fast as other lines. Disney has built 2 ships and working on a third one since their first ship launch in 1997. A total of 3 ships floating and one building, over a period of 14 years.

Carnival has built 14 ships since 1997 and 2 more building or planned. Same period.

RCI has built 14 ships since 1997 and have two more due out in 2015 and 2016. Same Period.

Do you think DCL is growing like the more popular lines. Two ships are approaching their retirement age, which will leave them with only two ships in their fleet.

Edd- you have nothing to back up this statement ( here you go spouting your own opinion again) So once again I will state that in March of this year I asked captain Thord what the life expectancy of the Magic was and he stated 25-30+ years. Will Disney keep her around that long? only time will tell.

 

[Rogillio]

Disney is growing but not as fast as other lines. Disney has built 2 ships and working on a third one since their first ship launch in 1997. A total of 3 ships floating and one building, over a period of 14 years.

Carnival has built 14 ships since 1997 and 2 more building or planned. Same period.

RCI has built 14 ships since 1997 and have two more due out in 2015 and 2016. Same Period.

Do you think DCL is growing like the more popular lines. Two ships are approaching their retirement age, which will leave them with only two ships in their fleet.

DCL went from 2 ships to 4 ships in about 12 years. How many other cruise lines double the size of their fleet in the the last decade? LOL

Tavel and Leisure has been around since 1937. I don't think one can just dismiss out of hand their ranking of cruise lines unless you have some hard data (not opinions) to refute their results.

 

[NancyIL]

No - but I do think that the magazine's readership falls in a high tax bracket and those multi page glossy ads Disney takes out in their magazine several times a year might help their numbers.....

I'm not that familiar with Travel & Leisure magazine, but I think of Conde Nast Traveler as the magazine for high-end travelers.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Tavel and Leisure has been around since 1937. I don't think one can just dismiss out of hand their ranking of cruise lines unless you have some hard data (not opinions) to refute their results.

Why not? Travel and Leisure didn't use hard data - they did a limited opinon poll and published it. If opinions are good enough for them.......

 

[PrincessTrisha]

I'm not that familiar with Travel & Leisure magazine, but I think of Conde Nast Traveler as the magazine for high-end travelers.

Well there's high end and then there's well.......private jet and yacht high end.....

 

[Edd]

My statements on the construction of ships can be backed up by information on the WEKI. Also the normal life of a cruise ship is approximately 15 - 20 years as stated in threads I have published in the past. There becomes a time in the life of all cruise ships when they become to expensive to operate. DCL ships are not an exception. They are not putting out enough new ships to stay in competition in the cruise industry. They aren't building any faster because the future isn't there for them. Disney is smart, if the money was there for them in the future they would be building more ships to take care of the passengers.

They have one more ship in construction and no plans for any future ships. They than will have two ships in the port where they can make the most money and two smaller ships going to other ports that may not offer the profits they are used to going out of Port Canaveral. It is the only port in the world that they can sell the cruise in conjunction with a vacation to one of the most famous parks in the world Disney World. DCL can't survive year around in a port withut a Disney park to draw from.

 

[TXDCLfan]

My statements on the construction of ships can be backed up by information on the WEKI. Also the normal life of a cruise ship is approximately 15 - 20 years as stated in threads I have published in the past. There becomes a time in the life of all cruise ships when they become to expensive to operate. DCL ships are not an exception. They are not putting out enough new ships to stay in competition in the cruise industry. They aren't building any faster because the future isn't there for them. Disney is smart, if the money was there for them in the future they would be building more ships to take care of the passengers.

They have one more ship in construction and no plans for any future ships. They than will have two ships in the port where they can make the most money and two smaller ships going to other ports that may not offer the profits they are used to going out of Port Canaveral. It is the only port in the world that they can sell the cruise in conjunction with a vacation to one of the most famous parks in the world Disney World. DCL can't survive year around in a port withut a Disney park to draw from.

What is weki??? an AM radio station 1490 am in Alabama?

 

[Edd]

Sorry, Wikipedia. An online encyclopedia.Check it out sometime and quit listening to AM radio.

 

[Rogillio]

Why not? Travel and Leisure didn't use hard data - they did a limited opinon poll and published it. If opinions are good enough for them.......

LOL, yeah I guess you got me there. Looks like they just survery their readers and based on the what their readers voted were the best cruise lines, published the results.

We really don't know the demographics of T&L readers but presumably it is comprised of people who like to travel. For whatever reasons, they ranked DCL pretty high on the list. Having cruised several times on DCL and a couple of other lines, I'd have to rank them near the top too.

 

[Rogillio]

My statements on the construction of ships can be backed up by information on the WEKI. Also the normal life of a cruise ship is approximately 15 - 20 years as stated in threads I have published in the past. There becomes a time in the life of all cruise ships when they become to expensive to operate. DCL ships are not an exception. They are not putting out enough new ships to stay in competition in the cruise industry. They aren't building any faster because the future isn't there for them. Disney is smart, if the money was there for them in the future they would be building more ships to take care of the passengers.

They have one more ship in construction and no plans for any future ships. They than will have two ships in the port where they can make the most money and two smaller ships going to other ports that may not offer the profits they are used to going out of Port Canaveral. It is the only port in the world that they can sell the cruise in conjunction with a vacation to one of the most famous parks in the world Disney World. DCL can't survive year around in a port withut a Disney park to draw from.

Unless your line of work is corporate espionage, I don't think any of us can know what DCL is planning.

BTW, Disney is building a 4.4 billion dollar park in China. Hong Kong and France also have Disney parks.....so I don't think Port Canaveral is the only port....I thnk L.A. has a park too.

 

[darkwing818]

Looks like it maybe time to throw another log on the fire. According to Conde' Nast Traveler's Gold List for 2011, (Best Cruise Line,) DCL scored a 90.3, which appears to be 4th place again, behind Crystal, Regent & Seaborne.

I Could be wrong but DCL it appears DCL is again, in some very good company, at least according to Conde' Nast.

 

[Rogillio]

Looks like it maybe time to throw another log on the fire. According to Conde' Nast Traveler's Gold List for 2011, (Best Cruise Line,) DCL scored a 90.3, which appears to be 4th place again, behind Crystal, Regent & Seaborne.

I Could be wrong but DCL it appears DCL is again, in some very good company, at least according to Conde' Nast.

It must be a conspiracy! DCL has paid off the editors of these two magazines to change the results of their surverys to put DCL near the top.

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

Last summer I got the opportunity to talk for quite awhile with the Vice President for the Western States for Disney Hotels. We talked a lot about DCL, the Wonder moving West, and the parks expansions. He shared that as high as the customer satisfaction ratings are for WDW and DL onsite park guests... highest in the industry...they are only exceeded by the customer satisfaction ratings for DCL. He said on the Theme Park and Hotel side they aspire to the same ratings as DCL earns! He also said that DCL has the highest repeat customer rate of any cruise line. As anyone who's ever waited in the Castaway Club check in line knows!

 

[twindaddy]

Did someone just say to stop listening to AM radio and read wikipedia?

You realize I could go on wikipedia right now and updated DCL's page to say their ships are powered by urine and Deck 3 is booked solid by the Nazi party?

DCL has a bright future, there are enough rabid Disney fans to keep them going for MANY years. As a family cruiers, what else is there, Bud Light Cruise Line? Canibal oops I mean Carnival?