Why are Disney cruises more expensive?

[WilliamK99]

Why is Disney so expensive? Because they have brand loyalty, there are many individuals who would cruise Disney at any price, because they are led to believe that Disney equals quality and are willing to pay excessive rates in order to get this quality.

The inherent flaw in this logic is that in some cases, Disney is 3 to 4 times comparable rates on other cruise lines, and there is no argument in the world that can convince me that 1 Disney cruise is equal to 3 or 4 other cruises.

Last December my wife and I did B2B cruises on the Carnival Liberty in a suite for 4000 dollars total. The same cruises on Disney in a suite would have cost at least 12000, while Disney does grant you a better experience, I don't think it is 3 times the experience. In addition Carnival Liberty is a better ship than the Magic/Wonder offering a miniature golf course, better bedding, a sushi bar/Mongolian grill/fresh made burrito bar/Fish and Chips/ fresh baked pizza and an extensive sandwich bar, all things the Magic is lacking. Not to mention that on Carnival's private island, a private cabana was half of what Disney charges at Castaway Cay with same amenities. Sure Disney offered better entertainment and more activities during the day, but that is only a small portion of why people cruise, for my wife and I, cruises are for relaxing, not going dawn to dusk non stop....that is what work is for lol...

It ultimately is up to the guest to decide what is worth it to them, Disney will never be dirt cheap, but if you pick and choose ahead of time, like choosing TA(Transantlantic) or other less popular cruises, you can find a killer rate like my wife and I have found the past 2 years, rates that are actually cheaper than Carnival thanks to the military discount...

There is really no right answer to your question, as each person has their own individual tastes, but it would be a disservice to yourself to automatically dismiss the other cruise lines without at least doing initial research, as you might find a gem in the rough like my wife and I did with the Carnival Liberty, the best ship we have been on to date, yes even better than Disney in my opinion.

 

[cjfruit]

All I can say is DCL is Magical! It is worth every penny we spend.

 

[roth697]

Why is Disney so expensive? Because they have brand loyalty, there are many individuals who would cruise Disney at any price, because they are led to believe that Disney equals quality and are willing to pay excessive rates in order to get this quality.

The inherent flaw in this logic is that in some cases, Disney is 3 to 4 times comparable rates on other cruise lines, and there is no argument in the world that can convince me that 1 Disney cruise is equal to 3 or 4 other cruises.

Last December my wife and I did B2B cruises on the Carnival Liberty in a suite for 4000 dollars total. The same cruises on Disney in a suite would have cost at least 12000, while Disney does grant you a better experience, I don't think it is 3 times the experience. In addition Carnival Liberty is a better ship than the Magic/Wonder offering a miniature golf course, better bedding, a sushi bar/Mongolian grill/fresh made burrito bar/Fish and Chips/ fresh baked pizza and an extensive sandwich bar, all things the Magic is lacking. Not to mention that on Carnival's private island, a private cabana was half of what Disney charges at Castaway Cay with same amenities. Sure Disney offered better entertainment and more activities during the day, but that is only a small portion of why people cruise, for my wife and I, cruises are for relaxing, not going dawn to dusk non stop....that is what work is for lol...

It ultimately is up to the guest to decide what is worth it to them, Disney will never be dirt cheap, but if you pick and choose ahead of time, like choosing TA(Transantlantic) or other less popular cruises, you can find a killer rate like my wife and I have found the past 2 years, rates that are actually cheaper than Carnival thanks to the military discount...

There is really no right answer to your question, as each person has their own individual tastes, but it would be a disservice to yourself to automatically dismiss the other cruise lines without at least doing initial research, as you might find a gem in the rough like my wife and I did with the Carnival Liberty, the best ship we have been on to date, yes even better than Disney in my opinion.

When we checked into a carnival cruise I asked about smoking in rooms (I have asthma and am allergic to smoke) - the customer service representative said- well, they should be non-smoking but we clean it if someone does smoke....YIKES! We instead tried Royal Caribbean- not worth it- service no where near as good- employees (not cast members) sometimes had attitudes- Disney trains their cast members well and it shows. Disney is well worth it- and even cheaper as DVC members.

 

[Cerberus9]

Why is Disney so expensive? Because they have brand loyalty, there are many individuals who would cruise Disney at any price, because they are led to believe that Disney equals quality and are willing to pay excessive rates in order to get this quality.

The inherent flaw in this logic is that in some cases, Disney is 3 to 4 times comparable rates on other cruise lines, and there is no argument in the world that can convince me that 1 Disney cruise is equal to 3 or 4 other cruises.

Last December my wife and I did B2B cruises on the Carnival Liberty in a suite for 4000 dollars total. The same cruises on Disney in a suite would have cost at least 12000, while Disney does grant you a better experience, I don't think it is 3 times the experience. In addition Carnival Liberty is a better ship than the Magic/Wonder offering a miniature golf course, better bedding, a sushi bar/Mongolian grill/fresh made burrito bar/Fish and Chips/ fresh baked pizza and an extensive sandwich bar, all things the Magic is lacking. Not to mention that on Carnival's private island, a private cabana was half of what Disney charges at Castaway Cay with same amenities. Sure Disney offered better entertainment and more activities during the day, but that is only a small portion of why people cruise, for my wife and I, cruises are for relaxing, not going dawn to dusk non stop....that is what work is for lol...

It ultimately is up to the guest to decide what is worth it to them, Disney will never be dirt cheap, but if you pick and choose ahead of time, like choosing TA(Transantlantic) or other less popular cruises, you can find a killer rate like my wife and I have found the past 2 years, rates that are actually cheaper than Carnival thanks to the military discount...

There is really no right answer to your question, as each person has their own individual tastes, but it would be a disservice to yourself to automatically dismiss the other cruise lines without at least doing initial research, as you might find a gem in the rough like my wife and I did with the Carnival Liberty, the best ship we have been on to date, yes even better than Disney in my opinion.

I think you've hit the nail on the head here. Disney has brand loyalty that sometimes borders on the fanatical. This gist of a lot of the answers to the question "why is Disney so expensive?" seems to be "because it's Disney!", without offering any valid, tangible reasons as to what that means. (I've sensed that some people actually get offended when someone suggests other cruise lines could offer enjoyable vacation experiences!). As such, some of the reviews on here are anything but partial.

As you say, there really is no right answer to the question; it's up to individual tastes and preferences. For example, one of the big drawing points seems to be the service. There's no question that Disney service is great, but personally, I found it a bit "too" much. I don't really care if the servers or room steward calls me and my family by name or remembers how I like my steak, so long as they do their jobs in a polite, friendly manner.

We recently went on a Disney cruise where, due to good timing and good fortune, it cost us about 1/3 of the advertised price. We had a wonderful time, and felt that we received good value for what we paid. The funny thing is, throughout the cruise I kept thinking "this is great, but there's *no way* it's worth 3 times what we paid".

 

[NancyIL]

I think you've hit the nail on the head here. Disney has brand loyalty that sometimes borders on the fanatical. This gist of a lot of the answers to the question "why is Disney so expensive?" seems to be "because it's Disney!", without offering any valid, tangible reasons as to what that means. (I've sensed that some people actually get offended when someone suggests other cruise lines could offer enjoyable vacation experiences!). As such, some of the reviews on here are anything but partial.

Couldn't have said it better myself!

 

[PrincessTrisha]

When we checked into a carnival cruise I asked about smoking in rooms (I have asthma and am allergic to smoke) - the customer service representative said- well, they should be non-smoking but we clean it if someone does smoke....YIKES!

What do you think happens when someone smokes in a cabin on DCL?

Do you think the people are that different who cruise Carnival instead of DCL?

That smoking in the cabin *never* happens on DCL?

 

[Jonescrewof5]

I have to say you are also paying for the service you receive. We finished our first Disney cruise last week and the staff is by far the friendliest and most eager to please in the industry. The food was exceptional and the entire ship was extremely clean! We have decided we will only cruise with Disney from now on...kids or not.

 

[Edd]

I don't look for the service of the staff on any of the ships All cruise staffs are trained to provide you with the best and most awesome service you will ever get. The DCL service is no better or no less than what is available on any other ship you will probably sail on.

You can interprete it any way you want, but to me commenting about service. to decide on which cruise lines you want to cruise is shortsided. There are so many other things to look at. If you didn't didn't find much more to do on the ship and service is the only thing you have to bring back with you, you missed the whole point in cruising.

 

[NancyIL]

I don't look for the service of the staff on any of the ships All cruise staffs are trained to provide you with the best and most awesome service you will ever get. The DCL service is no better or no less than what is available on any other ship you will probably sail on.

I do like good service on a cruise. The servers on my first Disney cruise (Wonder in Jan. 2008) were outstanding. Unfortunately, the dining room servers on my last 2 Disney cruises (Wonder in Dec. 2009 and Dream in Feb. 2011) left a lot to be desired. My next Disney cruise is on the Fantasy in Dec. 2012, and I hope DCL has all of their staff properly trained by then.

 

[WilliamK99]

I do like good service on a cruise. The servers on my first Disney cruise (Wonder in Jan. 2008) were outstanding. Unfortunately, the dining room servers on my last 2 Disney cruises (Wonder in Dec. 2009 and Dream in Feb. 2011) left a lot to be desired. My next Disney cruise is on the Fantasy in Dec. 2012, and I hope DCL has all of their staff properly trained by then.

Alot of it doesn't have to do with training, you either have the skills necesarry or you don't. Anyone can wait a table, but to do it with a good attitude, and in an organized manner is something that can't really be trained, just remember, the more ships Disney has, the more their service will eventually be watered down.

 

[Edd]

I like good service also and I find awesome service on all cruises I have gone on. So to me the service or the attitudes of crew members has never been a determination on whether I cruise again on that line.

The agenda aboard ship, ports, menus, sometimes money and entertainment are the factors on what I determine what cruise lines to use. The more to do aboard ship, and the ships environment, usually helps with my decision.

 

[lovethedream]

I don't look for the service of the staff on any of the ships All cruise staffs are trained to provide you with the best and most awesome service you will ever get. The DCL service is no better or no less than what is available on any other ship you will probably sail on.

You can interprete it any way you want, but to me commenting about service. to decide on which cruise lines you want to cruise is shortsided. There are so many other things to look at. If you didn't didn't find much more to do on the ship and service is the only thing you have to bring back with you, you missed the whole point in cruising.

For us, it is absolutely about the service, among other things. We felt the service on Disney was better than the other two cruise lines we have been on. For what "WE" like to do, we found more to do on the Wonder than we did on the Freedom or the Ecstasy. And that is part of the reason our next cruise is booked on the DCL Magic. I will also say that we had more fun on the Ecstasy than we did on the Freedom.

 

[TXDCLfan]

I don't look for the service of the staff on any of the ships All cruise staffs are trained to provide you with the best and most awesome service you will ever get. The DCL service is no better or no less than what is available on any other ship you will probably sail on.

You can interprete it any way you want, but to me commenting about service. to decide on which cruise lines you want to cruise is shortsided. There are so many other things to look at. If you didn't didn't find much more to do on the ship and service is the only thing you have to bring back with you, you missed the whole point in cruising.

Could not disagree with you more,the service that we had on both of our RCCL cruises was horrible seemed like none of the employees like there jobs one bit The service that we have received on all of our Carnival cruises has been good to excellent and all of our Disney cruises the service has been excellent
And I might add service is a big part of cruising to most of us

 

[NancyIL]

I like good service also and I find awesome service on all cruises I have gone on. So to me the service or the attitudes of crew members has never been a determination on whether I cruise again on that line.

The agenda aboard ship, ports, menus, sometimes money and entertainment are the factors on what I determine what cruise lines to use. The more to do aboard ship, and the ships environment, usually helps with my decision.

I have had mostly very good service on all of my cruises, but I don't think the service on DCL has been superior to the RCI, HAL, Princess, or Celebrity cruises I've been on.

 

[lovethedream]

I do like good service on a cruise. The servers on my first Disney cruise (Wonder in Jan. 2008) were outstanding. Unfortunately, the dining room servers on my last 2 Disney cruises (Wonder in Dec. 2009 and Dream in Feb. 2011) left a lot to be desired. My next Disney cruise is on the Fantasy in Dec. 2012, and I hope DCL has all of their staff properly trained by then.

I will say that our service on our first Wonder cruise has been the best so far. And is one of the reasons we choose to cruise again. We loved the "welcome aboard" feeling we got from the DCL crew members. We did not receive that from the RCCL Freedom crew members and ended up canceling a second RCCL Freedom cruise and booking again with DCL, this time on the Magic. If we find the service to be sub standard, we may go back to the DCL Wonder.

We are also looking into another possible cruise on Carnival. Maybe again on the Ecstasy, I will say they are very proud of their new ships and the price difference between them and DCL has not been enough to make up the difference yet!

 

[lovethedream]

I have had mostly very good service on all of my cruises, but I don't think the service on DCL has been superior to the RCI, HAL, Princess, or Celebrity cruises I've been on.

So far, we have found nothing that has come close to the room steward we had on our first Wonder cruise. Even taking into account our second DCL cruise. He was amazing. Never ever walked onto a dirty room and never saw him cleaning it. I will say our servers on that same cruise were the best we have experienced so far. But for us, it went beyond that. Just the "welcome aboard" feeling we got and the smiles everywhere added to the overall experience for us.

 

[lovethedream]

Could not disagree with you more,the service that we had on both of our RCCL cruises was horrible seemed like none of the employees like there jobs one bit The service that we have received on all of our Carnival cruises has been good to excellent and all of our Disney cruises the service has been excellent
And I might add service is a big part of cruising to most of us

I was somewhat surprised by our Carnival cruise. We thought the service there was better than the service we received on the RCCL Freedom.

 

[TonytheWop]

Could not disagree with you more,the service that we had on both of our RCCL cruises was horrible seemed like none of the employees like there jobs one bit The service that we have received on all of our Carnival cruises has been good to excellent and all of our Disney cruises the service has been excellent
And I might add service is a big part of cruising to most of us

I have been on a Carnival cruise, a NCL cruise, and 2 RCCL cruises and, for us the service we had on the RCCL was by far the best.

I hate to see these generalisations that paint a whole cruiseline with the same brush.

I agree with EDD in that I think in general the service is good to great on all cruiselines and that is not the only reason we cruise. We are going on our first DCL next August and, we are paying the highest price per person per day we ever have.

Why are we doing it ? The same reason we pay close to $100 per day to go to WDW where we can pay half that price and go to Six Flags.

It's DISNEY ! !
It's the Disney magic, the characters, the music, the films, it's what no other cruiseline can give you and there is a price tag attached to that MAGIC !

Do I believe that I will get the best service, the best food, the best entertainment ever on my Fantasy cruise versus the other cruise I have taken ? No, it would be nice but it is not why I am paying more.

I am paying the Disney price to get DISNEY !
There is no point in comparing prices because in doing so, you are trying to compare Six Flags to WDW, there is no comparison because the other cruiselines can not give you DISNEY.

In conclusion, we have had a great time on all our cruises and, expect that we will have a great time on our Disney cruise also.

 

[NancyIL]

Could not disagree with you more,the service that we had on both of our RCCL cruises was horrible seemed like none of the employees like there jobs one bit The service that we have received on all of our Carnival cruises has been good to excellent and all of our Disney cruises the service has been excellent
And I might add service is a big part of cruising to most of us

After my first Disney cruise with the great servers, I was a bit worried about cruising on Adventure of the Seas 2 months later, after reading your comments. However, our servers on AOS were just as excellent as on the Wonder. When it comes to dining room servers and room stewards, sometimes you're just unlucky - as we were with our DCL servers on 2 cruises.

 

[NancyIL]

I am paying the Disney price to get DISNEY !
There is no point in comparing prices because in doing so, you are trying to compare Six Flags to WDW, there is no comparison because the other cruiselines can not give you DISNEY.

In conclusion, we have had a great time on all our cruises and, expect that we will have a great time on our Disney cruise also.

I usually cruise because the ship goes where I want to go at a price I'm willing to pay - with the exception of DCL. My 3 Disney cruises were booked purely for the Disney-ness of the ship, because there's nothing very exciting about going to the Bahamas. (Okay - 2 of the Bahamas cruises were also group cruises with others from Disney fan sites!) DCL has had some nice cruises to more interesting places, but the price tags on those cruises were more than I was willing to pay. I don't need to pay more for a "Mickey Mouse cruise" to Europe!