2011 "Large Ship" Cruise Line Rankings

[aan1701]

Carnival is very much alive and well!

Booooooooooooooooooooooooo. I did two, the second time to give a second chance, and it was worst than the first. You could pay for my trip on them and I still won't go. That's how much I dislike them. Oh by the way I know they are around, I was just living in my personal Fantasyland.

 

[twindaddy]

Booooooooooooooooooooooooo. I did two, the second time to give a second chance, and it was worst than the first. You could pay for my trip on them and I still won't go. That's how much I dislike them. Oh by the way I know they are around, I was just living in my personal Fantasyland.

About four or five years ago, I was looking at cruises, was shocked how low carnivals were. I went online and watched a bunch of youtube videos shot on their ships, and could not find ONE video that looked like a situation I would enjoy. Then and there I decided until I have the means and opportunity to do DCL, why mess around with anyone else?

 

[DL1957]

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

While i am not saying this information is not correct be leary of Wikipedia. Anyone can edit what it is in there. My DSIS is a high school history teacher and the students have been told not to use them a a source for their research.

 

[Edd]

It is hard to mis-report that Carnival has built 14 ships and RCI has built 14 ships since DCL has built 3. Disney has one under construction at the present time and the other two companies have 2 each. How do you dispute the reporting of that information especially when they name the ships that are in the water and in service.

DCL is clearly not a contender in the cruise world. They are only playing to their theme park audiences, it is like another ride, which doesn't seem to be big enough for DCL to plan and build many more ships.

 

[VACruiser]

http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/travelsmart/2011/07/11/new-disney-cruise-ship-sails-with-a-full-house/
Not a contender? hmmm...

According to Port Canaveral data, occupancy aboard the Disney Magic, which sails seven-night Caribbean itineraries, was 142.8 percent from January to April. That’s up significantly from the same period last year, when the ship was sailing opposite the Wonder and its occupancy was 132.6 percent. (Disney in May temporarily shifted the Magic to Europe.)"
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Occupancy is typically far higher at Disney Cruise Line than at other cruise operators. That’s in large part because Disney targets families with children — which adds third and fourth passengers to many cabins — but also because Disney’s fleet is so small that demand continues to outweigh supply.

Ships operated by industry giant Carnival averaged 104.8 percent occupancy during the first six months of 2011, according to that Miami-based company.
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[Rogillio]

The fact that first timers could find cheaper cruises on a number of different lines and still chose DCL speaks volumes. It's hard to compete with the Disney brand. It's like Coke. Everybody knows Coke. "We don't carry Coke, will Pepsi be ok?" "Yeah, I guess, if that is all you have."

This thread has gotten off into the ditch with the same ole pro and con Disney arguments. Only time will tell what will happen in the cruise world. Personally, I think DCL will eventually dominate the cruise industry much as they do the theme park industry. No other cruise line has the power of a major movie studio and numerous theme parks around the world supporting them. Anyway, Disney has been successful at getting our entertainment dollars for many years and I see this trend continuing...with no end in sight.

~Mike

 

[Edd]

You gotta have ships to dominate the cruise world and that is something DCL doesn't have at the present time. There is no chance DCL will dominate the cruise world with the itinerates and activities they have aboard their ships.

 

[NancyIL]

You gotta have ships to dominate the cruise world and that is something DCL doesn't have at the present time. There is no chance DCL will dominate the cruise world with the itinerates and activities they have aboard their ships.

I agree. The luxury cruise lines have just a few ships each in their fleets - because there isn't enough demand to fill that many ships at their high prices. DCL will soon have 4 ships, and I think it will be several years before they see if they can continue to fill the new ships at premium prices. DCL has had to offer Kids Sail Free promotions for the Wonder's Mexican Riviera and Alaska cruises. Unless DCL continues to offer new itineraries that sell out quickly - such as Hawaii and previous Panama Canal cruises, they will have 2 new ships that sail at full capacity without discounts, and 2 old ships that sail full only when a deal comes out.

 

[Edd]

Most adults don't want to cruise aboard a ship that caters to kids, is overloaded with kids and has a lack of adult attractions.

 

[anna08]

DCL is #1 with me, so that said, I do have knowledge that some magazines (not referring any knowledge to this one) will rank the "best" based on who spends the most advertising dollars in their magazine.

I think any magazine's list of the "best" needs not to be taken as anything more as advertising.

I find it very funny to read the "best" lists from our local sources of media, as I am sure many of you also find the results not in line with your tastes.

 

[Rogillio]

You gotta have ships to dominate the cruise world and that is something DCL doesn't have at the present time. There is no chance DCL will dominate the cruise world with the itinerates and activities they have aboard their ships.

Yeah, that is the reason I wrote, "DCL will eventually dominate the cruise industry". That'd be like saying about Wal-Mart in the 1970s that you have to have retail stores to dominate the retail industry.

DCL went from zero ships to 4 in 15 years. I expect continued growth and see absolutely nothing to indicate they will not continue to grow. I've read a lot of opinions and speculation but I doubt Disney's senior execs are checking the DIS boards.....I expect they are looking at customer satisfaction cards and profit margins and market analysis.

 

[Rogillio]

Most adults don't want to cruise aboard a ship that caters to kids, is overloaded with kids and has a lack of adult attractions.

And yet 'most adults' have kids of their own at some point in life. DCL caters to families and they have carved out a nitch in the cruise industry for themselves....and now other cruise lines (who for 70 years catered to adults) are now playing catch-up to DCL.

 

[TitanBrett]

DCL went from zero ships to 4 in 15 years.

Wow, 4 ships in 15 years! Lets see what RCI has done during that timeframe

1997---2 New Ships
1998—1 new Ship
1999—1 New Ship
2000---1 New Ship
2001---2 New Ships
2002---2 New Ships
2003---2 New Ships
2004---1 New Ship
2005---0 New Ships
2006---1 New Ship
2007---1 New Ship
2008---1 New Ship
2009---1 New Ship
2010---1 New Ship
2011---0 New Ships

So RCI has launched 17 ships in the time that DCL has launched 4. DCL will never dominate the cruise market. I doubt they want to dominate the cruise Industry. They want to dominate a near-luxury niche, which the are doing quite well. If they grew their fleet to a point of being the dominant cruise line they would not be able to maintain their current pricing structure as seen by the promotions for the non PC sailings. I bet they have Industry leading profit margins though. But to say they will dominate the Industry overall, not gonna happen.

Carnival, RCI and NCL will continue to remain the Big 3 in passenger count for the forseeable future

 

[Tower]

Where is Carnival?

 

[sabrecmc]

I don't see why this always has to be a debate. Honestly, kudos to DCL and the other top cruise lines. Lots of hard work goes into achieving customer satisfaction, so good job to all the crew members and those behind the scenes. I don't think any of us are privy to DCL's long-term business plan. Nor do I think that a slow build-up of ships necessarily means they don't plan world domination at some point. We only had 1 theme park for how many years? Yet look at the Disney brand now! I personally hope they stick to the family niche and don't try to be the cruise line for everyone, but it isn't up to me.

 

[Rogillio]

I agree. The luxury cruise lines have just a few ships each in their fleets - because there isn't enough demand to fill that many ships at their high prices. DCL will soon have 4 ships, and I think it will be several years before they see if they can continue to fill the new ships at premium prices. DCL has had to offer Kids Sail Free promotions for the Wonder's Mexican Riviera and Alaska cruises. Unless DCL continues to offer new itineraries that sell out quickly - such as Hawaii and previous Panama Canal cruises, they will have 2 new ships that sail at full capacity without discounts, and 2 old ships that sail full only when a deal comes out.

I would not read too much into DCL offering promotions. That does not necessarily mean they are stuggling. It might only mean the difference in a 7.1% profit margin to a 7.4% profit margin.

I found this little factoid: In 2008, about 35.7 million families (46%) had children under 18 at home


So if at any given time in the US 45% pf households included children, I'm thinking the 'market' for FAMILY vacations is pretty constant.

Every year xx million new families have children at that 'perfect age' to take a Disney cruise so there will always be a constant 'supply' of new, first-time cruisers.

Additionally, my children are now 18 and 21 and soon they will have families of their own...and I can gaurentee you that a DCL family cruise will be high on their list of family vacations. I can also gaurentee you they would NEVER take their family's first cruise on anything other than DCL. They grew up with Disney and they love Disney and their families will likely be lifttime DCL cruisers!

And that is why DCL will continue to grow and eventually dominate the family cruise market.

 

[NancyIL]

Wow, 4 ships in 15 years! Lets see what RCI has done during that timeframe

1997---2 New Ships
1998—1 new Ship
1999—1 New Ship
2000---1 New Ship
2001---2 New Ships
2002---2 New Ships
2003---2 New Ships
2004---1 New Ship
2005---0 New Ships
2006---1 New Ship
2007---1 New Ship
2008---1 New Ship
2009---1 New Ship
2010---1 New Ship
2011---0 New Ships

So RCI has launched 17 ships in the time that DCL has launched 4. DCL will never dominate the cruise market. I doubt they want to dominate the cruise Industry. They want to dominate a near-luxury niche, which the are doing quite well. If they grew their fleet to a point of being the dominant cruise line they would not be able to maintain their current pricing structure as seen by the promotions for the non PC sailings. I bet they have Industry leading profit margins though. But to say they will dominate the Industry overall, not gonna happen.

Carnival, RCI and NCL will continue to remain the Big 3 in passenger count for the forseeable future

Exactly, and for the same reason - the true luxury cruise lines are all small. Crystal has consistently been voted the #1 cruise line, and they have only 2 ships in their fleet.

The Disney Store started out as kind of a higher-end specialty store in a few areas of the country. Then TDS overbuilt, and there was a store in every major mall in the country - causing them to have to discount heavily. Eventually they closed many stores, sold the stores, bought them back, and are still consolidating.

DCL is doing a good job with the few ships it has. Over-saturation was not a good thing for The Disney Store, and it won't be a good thing for DCL, either.

 

[NancyIL]

I would not read too much into DCL offering promotions. That does not necessarily mean they are stuggling. It might only mean the difference in a 7.1% profit margin to a 7.4% profit margin.

I found this little factoid: In 2008, about 35.7 million families (46%) had children under 18 at home

So if at any given time in the US 45% pf households included children, I'm thinking the 'market' for FAMILY vacations is pretty constant.

Every year xx million new families have children at that 'perfect age' to take a Disney cruise so there will always be a constant 'supply' of new, first-time cruisers.

Additionally, my children are now 18 and 21 and soon they will have families of their own...and I can gaurentee you that a DCL family cruise will be high on their list of family vacations. I can also gaurentee you they would NEVER take their family's first cruise on anything other than DCL. They grew up with Disney and they love Disney and their families will likely be lifttime DCL cruisers!

And that is why DCL will continue to grow and eventually dominate the family cruise market.

There will be a steady demand for family cruises, and DCL may dominate that niche - but it is not the only cruise line offering "family" cruises.

My kids are almost 21, 24, and 27, and we didn't go on any cruises when they were younger. We went to WDW when the kids were growing up, but we never would've considered a family cruise then, especially on Disney, due to the price tag. My kids have cruised with me on Royal Caribbean and Princess as young adults, but they are not likely to choose DCL when they have children - unless Mom and Dad invite the family and foot the bill!

As an adult cruiser, I prefer to cruise on ships that aren't "overloaded with kids" - as Edd said. I have enjoyed my 3 Disney cruises - 2 of which were with others from Disney fan sites. However, Disney cruises are the exception and not the rule for me.

 

[Rogillio]

Wow, 4 ships in 15 years! Lets see what RCI has done during that timeframe

1997---2 New Ships
1998—1 new Ship
1999—1 New Ship
2000---1 New Ship
2001---2 New Ships
2002---2 New Ships
2003---2 New Ships
2004---1 New Ship
2005---0 New Ships
2006---1 New Ship
2007---1 New Ship
2008---1 New Ship
2009---1 New Ship
2010---1 New Ship
2011---0 New Ships

So RCI has launched 17 ships in the time that DCL has launched 4. DCL will never dominate the cruise market. I doubt they want to dominate the cruise Industry. They want to dominate a near-luxury niche, which the are doing quite well. If they grew their fleet to a point of being the dominant cruise line they would not be able to maintain their current pricing structure as seen by the promotions for the non PC sailings. I bet they have Industry leading profit margins though. But to say they will dominate the Industry overall, not gonna happen.

Carnival, RCI and NCL will continue to remain the Big 3 in passenger count for the forseeable future

How many ships did RCI already have in 1997?

"Analysts at Goldman Sachs predict.....expect Disney's cruise revenue will reach $1 billion a year."

Pretty darn good for 4 ships to bring in that amount of revenue.

It's fun to play arm-chair market analyst but if could actually predict what the market was gonna with any degree of certainty we'd be billionaires on Wall Street.


The bottom line is Disney is a very successful Fortune 500 company who just keep growing.

 

[Rogillio]

As an adult cruiser, I prefer to cruise on ships that aren't "overloaded with kids" - as Edd said. I have enjoyed my 3 Disney cruises - 2 of which were with others from Disney fan sites. However, Disney cruises are the exception and not the rule for me.

I suspect at some point in my life I too be become an old curmudgeon and not want to be around children.....but not yet. I still love to see the little one shriek with joy when Belle comes into the Lumier's and love seeing them lined up to shake hands with Tarzan and get their pictures taken with Pocohantas. These are memories I have of when my children were younger and I never tire of them.

I've been to WDW more times than I can count but I keep going back! Why? I just love the atmosphere. I've seen the Carrosel of Progress so many times I can quote you the whole song....but I still go back.