$31,369.28

[Rogillio]

Ok, I'm used to seeing some steep prices on the DCL page...but this one actually made my eyes bug out a bit.

7 night Eastern Carribbean Concierge Royal Suite with Verandah.

This is not in my reality. I bet those people never, ever leave their room!!!

A 7-night Eastern Carribean verandah room Cat 4 is about $9k. So this room is 3.5x as much. Medium household income in the US is about $52k/year. If you take 3.5x this amount, that is a household income of $182k/year...this puts you in the top 6% of income levels.

2 income families with both income coming from professional workers is no that uncommon.


OK, being able to afford it and actually spending the money for it are a little different. I think it depends a lot on how you go to the top 6%. If you inherited wealth I can see where taking a $31k cruise would be no big deal. If, OTOH, you worked your butt off and climbed to the top, you might be a little less inclinded to spend that much for a room.

 

[dswatik]

I could but a car for that price of the royal suite.... It is ridiculously high

 

[MND]

Oh, yes, okay. My apologies MND. It happens sometimes. Sorry.

That's not nice nor necessary.

PizzidDuster, no apologies necessary. I can see how my can be taken the wrong way. I was just expressing shock that a 7 day cruise costs as much as a year's wages.

My experiences with DCL have been that you don't have to be in a royal suite to be treated by royalty! That's one of the reasons my family and I keep taking Disney cruises!

Mike

 

[sweetlovin']

I wouldn't pay it, but that is just me. Someone will pay it or Disney will lower the price. Since Disney priced it at that, someone is probably willing to pay it. I've dropped plenty of cash on vacations in my life time, but 31k for a week doesn't logically make sense, for me. Someone else, it makes perfect sense.

To put it in perspective, the ABD China tour would have cost my family almost 25k (no airfare) I thought that was too steep. So I took the itinerary and picked out all the things I wanted, plus a kung fu show and a circus show found a company that provides private tour guides. Viola. I paid $5500 for the tour. $5500 vacation seven years ago for me was unheard of. Now, I paid it for a 10 day country tour. So, it's all relative in what is a good value/price for your budget.

I will say there are times when I will pay more to not think/plan a vacation. There is value of time and planning vacations can sometimes be terribly time consuming. For me, I'll take the time to avoid paying 25k. Maybe other people really don't have the time to spend looking for a better deal.

 

[bzss7x]

We were fortunate enough to upgrade to the Walt Suite on the Fantasy last summer. Heaven. Of course we looked at booking it again and saw the $31K price and decided against it.

However, I chatted with our stateroom attendant daily and once asked him if anyone famous had stayed in the Royal Suites. He said it was quite common for the famous to stay there. He only told me one name - a very famous athlete. This guy rented out both royals, both connecting 1BRs, and the center room. These all connect. Supposedly, they set up a buffet for his party for each meal in one of the Royals. How much do you think that cost?

 

[Namsupak]

i'd like to see what the recommended tipping is like for this cabin...

The tipping is the same but we tip the stateroom host at least 2 times more as they have more square footage to take care of.

 

[neg58]

A 7-night Eastern Carribean verandah room Cat 4 is about $9k. So this room is 3.5x as much. Medium household income in the US is about $52k/year. If you take 3.5x this amount, that is a household income of $182k/year...this puts you in the top 6% of income levels.

.

I really doubt many families in the ~$50k/yr range are taking yearly vacations that cost $9K. At least I hope people aren't spending 20% of their income on vacations.

Nancy

 

[jetskigrl]

I really doubt many families in the ~$50k/yr range are taking yearly vacations that cost $9K. At least I hope people aren't spending 20% of their income on vacations.

Nancy

I agree. I think those people booking $32,000 cruise vacations make a lot more than $182,000 a year.

I would not be able to afford the Royal but I can easily understand why someone would choose to go that route. Many executives make way more than enough money for that kind of trip but lack the ability to actually take very much time off. So I can see why someone who makes a ton of money would choose to do a single week for $32,000 rather than multiple weeks for less. They can't be gone that much so when they do take time off, they want to really go all out.

I do the same thing on a smaller scale (much smaller, LOL). We always book a room with a verandah, usually a 4A or 4B. Yes, if we booked inside rooms, we could take twice as many cruises. But we cannot take that much time off of work. I only get 4 weeks a year, of which I only take two full weeks (one for a cruise and one to visit family). The other days are used individually for special occasions, etc. So we make the most of the time that we can take by booking a little more expensive room with the perks that we want.

 

[meggiebeth]

I really doubt many families in the ~$50k/yr range are taking yearly vacations that cost $9K. At least I hope people aren't spending 20% of their income on vacations.

Nancy

Most people don't cruise and often can't afford it, and the average earning family surely does not spend that proportion of money on a lavish Disney Cruise. Generally I would assume the people who go on a Disney Cruise earn above the average wage. 20% of ones salary is really... A very large amount to spend on a vacation.

We normally spend about 5% of our income on vacations each year. 20% just wouldn't be financially possible for us.

$30,000 for a cruise? I find the $9000 very expensive for a family. I was looking at DCL Mediterranean cruises for August and for our family in one room, it would cost about $9000 for a week. I really find that scary. As soon as September hits, the prices reduce dramatically to about half what they were! Sigh- so tempting...!

Meg~ Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[MND]

We were fortunate enough to upgrade to the Walt Suite on the Fantasy last summer. Heaven. Of course we looked at booking it again and saw the $31K price and decided against it.

However, I chatted with our stateroom attendant daily and once asked him if anyone famous had stayed in the Royal Suites. He said it was quite common for the famous to stay there. He only told me one name - a very famous athlete. This guy rented out both royals, both connecting 1BRs, and the center room. These all connect. Supposedly, they set up a buffet for his party for each meal in one of the Royals. How much do you think that cost?

I'm assuming it was on the Fantasy, so a 7-day cruise with all those rooms, I'm going to guess it was $120K. Am I right?

Mike

 

[bzss7x]

I'm assuming it was on the Fantasy, so a 7-day cruise with all those rooms, I'm going to guess it was $120K. Am I right?

Mike

It was the Fantasy. I never asked the cost, but I'm sure it was substantial.

 

[disneyfan888]

I could never justify spending this amount on a one week vacation, especially when this is the cost of the room without all the other things that will add up. I love DCL, but this is too much. Like other say, to pay this amount it would be stupid to ever leave the room and no one is going to do that. It really does not seem logical to spend this amount when all you do is sleep, take naps, change, bath. With 31,369 I can travel Europe for a month to spend on a week vacation seems ridiculous.

 

[ForMyBoys]

I think for that price you may be able to rent a small yacht, hire a crew, including a chef, and pay a few folks to wear costumes for you

 

[usd2bmd]

I love Disney and have been to WDW times but never a Disney cruise. It just isn't in my price range for the room type we want. So this is definitely out
Of my range... Lol

 

[Rogillio]

I really doubt many families in the ~$50k/yr range are taking yearly vacations that cost $9K. At least I hope people aren't spending 20% of their income on vacations.

Nancy

Good point. I was just looking at what the verandah rooms cost for 2A/2C for that cruise and it was $9k and figured 'average' folk stayed in those rooms...and the median household income in the US is about $50k. So I guess people in those rooms make more than the 50 percentile families.

We could afford that room but we choose to put our money elsewhere. We all have different priorities in life...and as life goes on, those priorities change. Someday when we have grandchildren we will probably book that room.....

 

[kfamilylovesdisney]

We were fortunate enough to upgrade to the Walt Suite on the Fantasy last summer. Heaven. Of course we looked at booking it again and saw the $31K price and decided against it.

However, I chatted with our stateroom attendant daily and once asked him if anyone famous had stayed in the Royal Suites. He said it was quite common for the famous to stay there. He only told me one name - a very famous athlete. This guy rented out both royals, both connecting 1BRs, and the center room. These all connect. Supposedly, they set up a buffet for his party for each meal in one of the Royals. How much do you think that cost?

How did you go about the upgrade? Was it a lot more money or did you get a great deal?

 

[PrincessBodeen]

I am planning my first Disney cruise for my 30th birthday in 2015 and am already planning (and saving) for a royal suite. Neither DH nor I make a ton, nor do we have a ton of extra money just sitting around. What I do have is a streak of miserable birthdays and I really need some extra magic and something to celebrate. Because we are planning to take the extended family (I'm hoping there will be about 12 of us) we like being able to combine some rooms and also have that central location available. I may come back and decide it wasn't worth it, but I'm pretty doubtful that will be the case!

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

We were fortunate enough to upgrade to the Walt Suite on the Fantasy last summer. Heaven. Of course we looked at booking it again and saw the $31K price and decided against it.

However, I chatted with our stateroom attendant daily and once asked him if anyone famous had stayed in the Royal Suites. He said it was quite common for the famous to stay there. He only told me one name - a very famous athlete. This guy rented out both royals, both connecting 1BRs, and the center room. These all connect. Supposedly, they set up a buffet for his party for each meal in one of the Royals. How much do you think that cost?

This I can see. They may want to take their kids and extended fam on a nice trip and not have to be bothered with people trying to intrude (not that the DIS members would of course) so I can see a wealthy or well known family using these suites to have some privacy.

For me, stateroom 8050 is the nicest ship quarters I've stayed in and more than ideal for me.

 

[bzss7x]

I am planning my first Disney cruise for my 30th birthday in 2015 and am already planning (and saving) for a royal suite. Neither DH nor I make a ton, nor do we have a ton of extra money just sitting around. What I do have is a streak of miserable birthdays and I really need some extra magic and something to celebrate. Because we are planning to take the extended family (I'm hoping there will be about 12 of us) we like being able to combine some rooms and also have that central location available. I may come back and decide it wasn't worth it, but I'm pretty doubtful that will be the case!

They don't let people from Alabama in the Royal Suites. Just my attempt at humor.

If you are going to book one, I'd be aware of the pricing in the various seasons. You'll probably need to book the first day that it is available (this board can surely let you know that date). Also, I'd most certainly have trip insurance to help protect you, just in case. Good luck.

 

[manateesmom]

This is one instance where I feel compelled to say that one should be certain to be fully funding retirement and kids' college funds, and giving charitably, before dropping 60% of the average household income on self-indulgence. Take care of your future, and your karma.

There are an infinite number of ways to spend money, no question. I agree with prior posters that, if I had this kind of money for a vacation, a Disney cruise would not be the most logical choice for me. But, also, we've heard many stories about people who can seemingly afford this kind of thing (e.g., professional athletes) who, as it turns out, shouldn't have spent their money this way because they end up in dire straits later in life. No doubt some people who are spending this money shouldn't be (as is also true for many people who are paying $2k on their vacation but have no 401k savings, etc.).