$2000 more for same cruise next year?

[Ofinn]

The $120 pp per night is a great rate. I've paid that before on DCL, but that was a few years ago and it was a repo cruise from Vancouver to LA. I suppose your perspective on cheap is relative. I found it pretty cheap considering we have a verandah at that price (albeit a white wall).

I looked a little closer at that Marriott by the way. That $340 per night was only two of the nights. I priced a three night stay and the third night was $415. Plus, I had to pay in full for all three nights, with no changes or refunds, at time of booking. In addition, that rate did not include any resort fees or taxes.

I do realize that RCCL would likely be cheaper and I'm certain Carnival would be, but for this trip, we wanted Disney so we are paying the price. We used to live just 15 minutes from Disneyland so we are having withdrawals here in North Dallas.

It's fine if you want Disney. As long as you realize that's not a great price. In the end Galveston cruises are always heavily discounted so don't be disappointed if you end up paying more than you needed too.

 

[Kimberly9701]

It's fine if you want Disney. As long as you realize that's not a great price. In the end Galveston cruises are always heavily discounted so don't be disappointed if you end up paying more than you needed too.

Here is where Disney makes you feel like it is a "great" price..
Let's take other ships/lines out of the equation...
For me and a 6 year old child DCL is costing me a little over 4K..before excursions, gratuities, etc etc-
We are doing 3 night post cruise at DW.. That, without my park tickets (I'm using 2 old non expiring hoppers),but with my son's 2 day hopper and 2 tickets to Mickey's Christmas party, with dining plan, and memory maker.. Is over $3k. For 3 nights..makes the Fantasy seem like a bargain.lol

Point being- I don't think Disney could be perceived by anyone as "reasonably priced" but they deceive us so well with the magic..
But to people on the DCL board and on the DW board who keep saying that "Disney used to be for the average family", I don't remember it ever being so. I just think other cruise lines and parks (RCCL and Universal) have stepped up their game to where Disney is not the only kid friendly option these days.

 

[tidefan]

So our 3 cruises:
Our Oasis cruise was the week after new years so still a fairly busy time- It was $2,985 Canadian for 2 A and DD9- balcony (including grat)
Our Freedom cruise was booked last minute and was $1475 CAD so around $1150 US for 2 A- ocean view GT -not including gratuity- I wish I remember what the VGT was.
Our Fantasy cruise booked on veranda guarantee rate in the lowest season was $3588 US for 2 A, DD10- so over 5K Canadian with grat.

Ours was a spring break week in 2015. I think we paid around $3,700 for DCL (now that I think about it, that may have included an OBB discount) and the Oasis was around $3,300 for the 3 of us in a Category E, which I don't believe is as large as the Category 6 we had on the Magic. Also, one other thing that year was that we could drive to Port Canaveral (which is as far as we are willing to drive), but we would have had to fly to FLL (from AL), so that factored in as well.

Our November Carnival Sunshine cruise was around $2,500 for the 3 of us in a Category 8A balcony.

 

[tidefan]

For us the cost this year for 6 of us in a 7a and connecting 5(?) is $8300. For next year I priced 5 of us (oldest DD will be gone to college) all in one verandah room and the price is the same. For half the space and one less person!

Is that for a Category 4? If so, you may be better off with 2 cabins at a lower category. Cat 4's can get very pricey.

 

[cyclenut]

It's fine if you want Disney. As long as you realize that's not a great price. In the end Galveston cruises are always heavily discounted so don't be disappointed if you end up paying more than you needed too.

Since you seem to be so well versed on what I should pay, what do you think a verandah stateroom out of Galveston for 7 nights should cost? Not counting Carnival because it's unlikely I would sail with them. I did shop around and found this to be a pretty good deal.

 

[Hundredacre]

Since you seem to be so well versed on what I should pay, what do you think a verandah stateroom out of Galveston for 7 nights should cost? Not counting Carnival because it's unlikely I would sail with them. I did shop around and found this to be a pretty good deal.

Some friends of ours got a Princess cruise seven night western carribean out of galveston balcony this spring break for a little over $400/ person. That does not include gratuities but does include taxes/port fees etc.

 

[Ofinn]

Since you seem to be so well versed on what I should pay, what do you think a verandah stateroom out of Galveston for 7 nights should cost? Not counting Carnival because it's unlikely I would sail with them. I did shop around and found this to be a pretty good deal.

I'm not well versed on what you should pay. If you feel it's a good deal than that's all that matters. I personally don't find that to be a good price, but what I think doesn't matter your the one paying the bill.

 

[RedSox68]

I think Leah posted that the SWDAS cruises were about 20% more than "normal" cruises at the same time. That, plus they gotta pay for those two new ships somehow, and they are already pretty aggressive in price increases under the best of circumstances.

So they force themed cruises on everyone and charge more! Somewhere along the way Disney's pricing is going to backlash on them and I hope it's sooner rather than later! They seem to go out of their way anymore to gouge us for every cent. Let's not even get started on the price tiering.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Is that for a Category 4? If so, you may be better off with 2 cabins at a lower category. Cat 4's can get very pricey.

I don't recall. I am not picky, so generally just choose the lowest priced verandah room we can fit into.

ETA: just checked, yes a 4D.
So I compared the same 2 connecting to rooms for 2016 to 2017 (7a/5c) and it is $2200 more in 2017. Even worse. Haha.

 

[lanejudy]

I don't recall. I am not picky, so generally just choose the lowest priced verandah room we can fit into.

By doing 1 room for 5 people, you have automatically bumped to the more expensive staterooms. That could be why the "lowest priced verandah [you] can fit into" is running similar cost as 2 lower category rooms for 6 people. Category 4 is the only verandah that sleeps 5; the lowest verandah rooms are category 7 which sleep 3-4. The suggestion is to look at 2 lower category connecting staterooms as that might be less expensive than your 1 higher category cabin.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

By doing 1 room for 5 people, you have automatically bumped to the more expensive staterooms. That could be why the "lowest priced verandah [you] can fit into" is running similar cost as 2 lower category rooms for 6 people. Category 4 is the only verandah that sleeps 5; the lowest verandah rooms are category 7 which sleep 3-4. The suggestion is to look at 2 lower category connecting staterooms as that might be less expensive than your 1 higher category cabin.

Enjoy your cruise!

I was editing my post as u replied.

I just checked the same 2 connecting staterooms as we have in 2016....7a/5c... And it is $2200 more for 2017...still with one less person too. Yikes. It isn't exactly apples to apples b/c we are talking may (next year) vs oct (this year), but oct is a holiday week 2016 and May is prior to school getting out. Will see the real comparison when out dates are released.

 

[squirk]

So they force themed cruises on everyone and charge more! Somewhere along the way Disney's pricing is going to backlash on them and I hope it's sooner rather than later! They seem to go out of their way anymore to gouge us for every cent. Let's not even get started on the price tiering.

Well, no, they aren't forcing anything on anyone. These are only on the Fantasy, and only during the first quarter of the year. And if you booked a cruise before it was made into a SWDAS cruise, you are grandfathered into the original price and not upcharged the SWDAS premium.

And if SW isn't your thing, or you don't want to pay said premium, you are free to cruise any of the three other ships, or not sail DCL at all.

 

[RedSox68]

Well, no, they aren't forcing anything on anyone. These are only on the Fantasy, and only during the first quarter of the year. And if you booked a cruise before it was made into a SWDAS cruise, you are grandfathered into the original price and not upcharged the SWDAS premium.

And if SW isn't your thing, or you don't want to pay said premium, you are free to cruise any of the three other ships, or not sail DCL at all.

Obviously, dear, everyone has a choice. Sorry my wording wasn't to your liking.

 

[Kimberly9701]

I was editing my post as u replied.

I just checked the same 2 connecting staterooms as we have in 2016....7a/5c... And it is $2200 more for 2017...still with one less person too. Yikes. It isn't exactly apples to apples b/c we are talking may (next year) vs oct (this year), but oct is a holiday week 2016 and May is prior to school getting out. Will see the real comparison when out dates are released.

What is the itinerary? Maybe bc of hurricane season? Not sure. But I spent 17 years living in Boca Raton and always got the best deals to the Bahamas/eastern Carib during August-October. I never cared about the weather bc it was the same as I was already experiencing at home.lol
I'm still undecided if I'm going to bring my wet suit on our cruise..I can't imagine going in the water in the Bahamas during December, but I know my son will...so I should be prepared.

 

[lbus42]

I would assume school schedules is what locks most people into certain weeks. I cant imagine any job other than being a teacher that would require booking a years in advance. I would think the percentage of people that cant plan that far ahead to outweigh those that can.

A lot of factory jobs require you to schedule your vacation for the coming year. For example when I worked at an automobile manufacturing plant, in late March and early April, we would schedule our vacation for up to the end of March the next year. I would have to schedule a week and arrange the vacation around it.

 

[lbus42]

Everyone needs to get on the same page and say;.....enough is enough....... and stop cruisin' with DCL till they start lowering the prices with in reason , are we all fools to give money away to them?
This guy [ the Hoosier Daddy ] is not, that's why after 13 DCL cruises in 11 years , I say NO MORE! We cancelled our 5/16, Magic eastern cruse and our 11/16, Dream cruise......DCL can put " it " where the Horizon does not shine till they do something with their high pricing. Remember people its our money that got them where the are today.

There are so many people willing to pay those prices that you could boycott DCL till doomsday and it would not change a thing

 

[isabellea]

While onboard we booked a placeholder, hoping to use it for early March 2018. Well I almost had to twist my DH arm because he wasn't convinced Disney is worth the premium. When I look at 2017 prices, I am more and more convinced he is right and the chance we are going again on a DCL cruise are slim. I am keeping my placeholder until the 2018 dates are released in the fall just in case but I won't be surprised if we book with RCL instead.

 

[RedSox68]

There are so many people willing to pay those prices that you could boycott DCL till doomsday and it would not change a thing

I agree. But I have to admit, in this day of financial crunch, that's the part I simply don't get. There are so many other opportunities out there now -- cruise lines that wised up and added lots of stuff for kids and family. To spend what amounts to two vacations' worth of money on one trip doesn't seem feasible to me. But I'm older and my daughter is grown. When we first sailed on Disney, it was our first time cruising and the experience was so "magical" that we didn't' want to look elsewhere. BUT, back then, the pricing wasn't as crazy as it is now. After about our 5th Disney cruise, we started hearing and reading about their pricing in comparison to what else is out there and that's when we realized it was becoming financially unjustifiable to sail strictly with Disney.

Maybe it really is the Disney magic overwhelming people with kids and they don't feel they would get the same trip on any other line. For us, the realization came when we priced out the Baltic prices in 2010. We just couldn't believe how much pricing had gone up since we did the Med in 2007! Just in three years! We realized we had to look around for pricing on cruises to the areas we wanted.

Last year we did Princess around the British Isles. A 12-night sailing, in a verandah mini-suite, for 3 adults -- total with tax and port fees was $8,887. TOTAL (not counting travel insurance which we bought separate). Disney's pricing for the British Isles STARTED at around $7,800 for a regular verandah stateroom per person. That would have been more than $18,000 for us to sail. We did not spend that much on the whole three week trip including the hotels and meals pre and post cruise in London! That's a lot of money just for sailing. JMO (with hindsight)

 

[Hundredacre]

There are so many people willing to pay those prices that you could boycott DCL till doomsday and it would not change a thing

I did not hear anyone call for a boycott.

 

[Hundredacre]

A lot of factory jobs require you to schedule your vacation for the coming year. For example when I worked at an automobile manufacturing plant, in late March and early April, we would schedule our vacation for up to the end of March the next year. I would have to schedule a week and arrange the vacation around it.

Corporate jobs too. Depending on your position/group, getting your time off on the calendar first makes it more likely you will get that time off. Often, people put stuff on the calendar a couple of years in advance.