DCL vs. The Competition (3/31 Podcast)

[JimmyV]

It was nice to hear the Podcast Crew call out Disney Cruise Line for its outrageous pricing. I know that this is a Disney-centric Board and that Disney is considered to be "the best" in terms of overall quality in everything it touches. But when it comes to Disney Cruise Line vs. its competition, this simply is not the case each and every time. And this is especially true when one is choosing a port-intensive cruise. In those situations, the areas where DCL excels (such as children's programs) are far less important. If you get off the ship each day at 8:00 and return at 4:00, the fact that one ship has a better kid's program doesn't really matter. I have sailed on DCL, so I am not needlessly bashing it. I enjoy the product. But I don't like throwing my money overboard. I applaud the Podcast Crew, (who derive a fair amount of income from DCL) for telling it like it is. I tell people all the time to check out other cruise lines instead of reflexively booking on DCL as the mass-market cruise lines are far more similar than different. But now that DCL is charging $11,600 for two people to book a Verandah stateroom for a Frozen-oriented Northern Europe cruise and Kevin and John point out that Princess is charging $6,400 for a similar cabin on more interesting itineraries (one of which includes 2 days in St. Petersburg), people will have no choice but to check out other cruise lines. It takes a real strong pair of Disney goggles to conclude that DCL is churning out a product that is worth twice the price. Bravo Podcast Crew!

 

[mcd2745]

Agreed. There are a lot of similar sentiments on the DCL boards. The pricing is crazy, even by Disney standards. The prevailing thought seems to be that many (and I include my family in this) are willing to pay a bit of a premium to sail DCL over other lines. However, there is a limit. A 10-20% premium...okay. A 75-150% premium? No way. It may not hit them that hard right away and may take a few years before the effect is fully realized, but as people start sampling other lines, they run the risk that those people never return to DCL.