6 grand for a one week cruise?

[jodifla]

Is it the April 8th Star Wars cruise? First off, the itineraries have been released for many weeks now. The prices of a DCL cruise rise as the ship fills up. The opening price of the cruise was likely much lower. Also since this is a SWDAS cruise, there is a premium applied to the booking. Lastly as others have stated, fares on the Fantasy are also higher.

DCL charges what they do because they can get away with it. There ships almost always sail full. The other cruise lines are rarely full. The other cruise lines also have to price compete with each other. If RCCL always filled their ships and could get away with raising their rates and not loosing customers to Carnival, they would. Then we would see posts like "Why is RCCL forcing me to sell my house" too.

No, April 1.

 

[RRB]

If platinum cruisers are fed up with prices and booking other cruise lines then yes they are essentially losing customers. Yes there will be other families that want to experience Dcl cruises, but how many of these families are going to make it to platinum level? Our last two cruises there was only a handful of gold and one or two platinums. If they were able to fill the ships they wouldnt be offering so many discounts this Summer. Other cruise lines are coming out with bigger and better ships and are marketing them to families. Im a dcl customer that is looking at other cruiselines for our Fall vacation so dont tell me they dont lose customers. The same could be said for any cruise line "for every customer that leaves RCCL a new takes there place". Blah..blah Like I said previously DCL is a pretty insignificant part of the cruise industry.

The only reason were cruising dcl this Summer is because DCL could not sell their Iceland cruise and we got it for half off. The ship still has lots of rooms left. Even at half off its double the carnival med cruise I was going to take.

What's interesting is what I found in our Cruise Meets thread for our next cruise in September. There are many first time cruisers and many first time DCL cruisers. Did they check prices of the other cruise lines? I would assume so. I don't agree with the notion that there are more people leaving DCL than joining. If that was the case, attendance would be down along with prices. That obviously isn't happening. For every Platinum cruiser who goes elsewhere, there is a new cruiser that jumps on board and the cycle starts over

 

[deltachi8]

Why do they charge so much? Because they can.

 

[21stamps]

I just did a search under all 7-day cruises for a party of 3 (2 adults 1 child 11). The lowest price was $4,000. It would be $100 less for an inside stateroom. The $4,000 was for GTY oceanview.

That's actually not too bad. I paid just over that for 2 people for the 11/26/16 sailing. So for 3 people it sounds a little better

 

[keaster]

Here is an apples to apples comparison for 2 adults and 1 child (13yrs) For the week of March 11th 2017 which would be our daughter's spring break here's how the prices look today:

DCL Fantasy Eastern Caribbean for a Category 5D balcony midship room (246 sq. ft incl. balcony) would be $6,816US (or $8,936 Canadian)

RCCL Allure Eastern Caribbean for a Superior Ocean view with balcony (232 sq. ft incl. balcony) would be $4,967 Canadian (we can book in Canadian funds with RCCL). Plus the are currently offering a free $100 OBC.

Yes the DCL one is a Star Wars cruise. And trust me I'm the biggest Star Wars fan/nerd in the family! And we are gold DCL cruisers so we love cruising with the mouse!
However I can't with good conscience spend an extra $4000 on a week long caribbean cruise when we know we will have a good time at a lower price.

 

[keaster]

Why do they charge so much? Because they can.

I agree, and it's also a case of supply and demand. DCL has only four ships so limited supply. Plus they don't have casinos so that is a major revenue stream that other cruise lines can take advantage of.

 

[21stamps]

What's interesting is what I found in our Cruise Meets thread for our next cruise in September. There are many first time cruisers and many first time DCL cruisers. Did they check prices of the other cruise lines? I would assume so. I don't agree with the notion that there are more people leaving DCL than joining. If that was the case, attendance would be down along with prices. That obviously isn't happening. For every Platinum cruiser who goes elsewhere, there is a new cruiser that jumps on board and the cycle starts over

I'm one of the "new to DCL". This will be our first one, and my child's first cruise ever. It's a limited time product for me. I think the new RCCL ships will be more interesting to him in the next few years. Like I said in an earlier post- I did want to do DCL again for Iceland, but not at over $13k for 2 people...so we will do MSC for that next summer. When doing a Caribbean we will do either Quantum or Oasis class. (Hopefully a Quantum ship will do an eastern in 2018..one can hope anyway).

 

[Ofinn]

What's interesting is what I found in our Cruise Meets thread for our next cruise in September. There are many first time cruisers and many first time DCL cruisers. Did they check prices of the other cruise lines? I would assume so. I don't agree with the notion that there are more people leaving DCL than joining. If that was the case, attendance would be down along with prices. That obviously isn't happening. For every Platinum cruiser who goes elsewhere, there is a new cruiser that jumps on board and the cycle starts over

I disagree I think you need loyal customers to be successful long term. I guess we'll see what happens over the next 10 years. All I can say is that attitudes on this board have changed dramatically since I started lurking four years ago. If we had started cruising in 2016. We would be one and done. I would have never reached platinum at these prices, and some of the newer ships on other cruise lines are more appealing than DCL. When we started cruising DCL 5 years ago there wasn't anything that really compared to the Dream...not the case anymore. I don't believe that for every platinum cruiser that bails a new platinum cruiser is born.. not anymore.

 

[21stamps]

I disagree I think you need loyal customers to be successful long term. I guess we'll see what happens over the next 10 years. All I can say is that attitudes on this board have changed dramatically since I started lurking four years ago. If we had started cruising in 2016. We would be one and done. I would have never reached platinum at these prices, and some of the newer ships on other cruise lines are more appealing than DCL. When we started cruising DCL 5 years ago there wasn't anything that really compared to the Dream...not the case anymore.

Based on online comparisons alone-

I think DCL is best option for children under 7- and parents will justify the high cost due to this.

I think RCCL's new ships are most appealing for a lot of kids over 7. Which makes it nearly impossible to justify Disney pricing.
My opinion anyway.

 

[tinkerone]

What's interesting is what I found in our Cruise Meets thread for our next cruise in September. There are many first time cruisers and many first time DCL cruisers. Did they check prices of the other cruise lines? I would assume so. I don't agree with the notion that there are more people leaving DCL than joining. If that was the case, attendance would be down along with prices. That obviously isn't happening. For every Platinum cruiser who goes elsewhere, there is a new cruiser that jumps on board and the cycle starts over

I didn't. For my first cruise with DCL friends were going and ask me to come along. I paid what the TA told me to pay. Our second cruise, again never shopped around. Third, fourth, fifth, nope. And on and on and on. It wasn't till they changed the stipulation on what you can bring on board in the way of liquor. I don't drink a lot of it but it affected a lot of people and I didn't like the way they made the change. I'm a believer in talking with my wallet.

So, I shopped around. I was shocked! That's when I decided to 'jump' ship. I have three RCCL cruises booked already and I haven't even set foot aboard yet. We also went on an all inclusive vacation in March which would have been a DCL cruise normally.

As to DCL filling the ships with no issue, there used to be tons of Florida and Military rates but they seemed to go away for a few years. I have noticed they are back in full force. Also, I can hardly turn on our TV and not see a commercial for DCL anymore. I see several a night and used to see maybe one or two a month. I think they are feeling the pinch and are filling the ships with discounts and expensive commercials. Word of mouth though cost so much less and that to is going by the wayside. Its hard to tell my friends there is value when I no longer believe it.

While the long time cruisers, such as myself, think that DCL will notice, the newer and die hards think they won't. Only time will tell I guess. Its all wait and see.

 

[Ofinn]

Based on online comparisons alone-
I think DCL is best option for children under 7.
I think RCCL's new ships are most appealing for a lot of kids over 7.
My opinion anyway.

My kids didn't start cruising until they were 7 and 8. They have always liked DCL. They look at pictures of other ships and they think they those look great too. I think my kids would be happy on any ship at any time as long as there's other kids.

 

[RRB]

I disagree I think you need loyal customers to be successful long term. I guess we'll see what happens over the next 10 years. All I can say is that attitudes on this board have changed dramatically since I started lurking four years ago. If we had started cruising in 2016. We would be one and done. I would have never reached platinum at these prices, and some of the newer ships on other cruise lines are more appealing than DCL. When we started cruising DCL 5 years ago there wasn't anything that really compared to the Dream...not the case anymore. I don't believe that for every platinum cruiser that bails a new platinum cruiser is born.. not anymore.

I agree that you need loyal return customers to be successful. Have you seen the signature lines of the posters on these Cruise threads? Allot are Platinum + cruisers. DCL started out with 2 ships, then went to 4, now going to 6. They seem to be doing fine.

 

[21stamps]

My kids didn't start cruising until they were 7 and 8. They have always liked DCL. They look at pictures of other ships and they think they those look great too. I think my kids would be happy on any ship at any time as long as there's other kids.

I think so too. But I know that when my child is 8 he will love either an Oasis or the Fantasy. At that point I wouldn't be able to justify the same price as I'm willing to pay this year at age 6.

 

[Ofinn]

I didn't. For my first cruise with DCL friends were going and ask me to come along. I paid what the TA told me to pay. Our second cruise, again never shopped around. Third, fourth, fifth, nope. And on and on and on. It wasn't till they changed the stipulation on what you can bring on board in the way of liquor. I don't drink a lot of it but it affected a lot of people and I didn't like the way they made the change. I'm a believer in talking with my wallet.

So, I shopped around. I was shocked! That's when I decided to 'jump' ship. I have three RCCL cruises booked already and I haven't even set foot aboard yet. We also went on an all inclusive vacation in March which would have been a DCL cruise normally.

As to DCL filling the ships with no issue, there used to be tons of Florida and Military rates but they seemed to go away for a few years. I have noticed they are back in full force. Also, I can hardly turn on our TV and not see a commercial for DCL anymore. I see several a night and used to see maybe one or two a month. I think they are feeling the pinch and are filling the ships with discounts and expensive commercials. Word of mouth though cost so much less and that to is going by the wayside. Its hard to tell my friends there is value when I no longer believe it.

While the long time cruisers, such as myself, think that DCL will notice, the newer and die hards think they won't. Only time will tell I guess. Its all wait and see.

I never checked either. We were taking a trip to WDW and I decided to add cruise. I never checked other cruise lines. I didn't even know if I would like cruising. DCL prices weren't that outrageous 5 years ago. Back then there were not a lot of interline or GT rates offered. Those discounts started becoming the norm when the prices started going crazy around 2014. It's the only reason we have stuck with DCL the last couple of years. I would have bailed after cruise 4 if they were actually selling out their cruises at the high prices. The problem is the discounts are last minute. We have homeschooled, but I've found a really great charter high school for my oldest that will allow him to get his associates degree at the same time so the days of cruising on DCL may be coming to an end in a year or so.

I used to recommend DCL to my coworkers now I'm embarrassed to say I cruise on them. I hate for them to go look at the prices. I always have to clarify "well we homeschool we...we get discounts etc."

 

[Love2Cruz]

I have to agree mostly with Ofinn here. The way the prices are now, looks like the Dream will be the one I can cruise on regularly as it's a short cruise and not over the top expensive. Since I live in Florida and I don't have to fly, I can cruise at a price I am comfortable with and go around long weekends. (Still much higher than other cruiselines, but I think the experience is worth it, albeit short.
I go to other cruise lines for 7 day or longer trips as they are more affordable. I would love to cruise the Fantasy but since I have a school age child and can only vacation around the school holidays, I'm stuck with getting their peak prices. I'd rather cruise more often than blow my vacation fund on one trip.

 

[2buzzboys]

I spent 9 nights in Manhattan= near central park- with a family of 4 - including airfare and hotel for all for $3000. Just make sure it is something you will not regret later because you could go to several other places for half the amount.

 

[rantnnravin]

I spent 9 nights in Manhattan= near central park- with a family of 4 - including airfare and hotel for all for $3000. Just make sure it is something you will not regret later because you could go to several other places for half the amount.

Not to be argumentative, but: how much was food for 10 days? And what about activities/entertainment? IOW, What was the cost all-in?

ETA: We live on LI, so a day trip to the city on the train (LIRR) w/a Broadway show ($125 x3) + lunch or dinner (depending on the time of the show), is a good 5 beans all-in.

 

[2buzzboys]

Not to be argumentative, but: how much was food for 10 days? And what about activities/entertainment? IOW, What was the cost all-in?

ETA: We live on LI, so a day trip to the city on the train (LIRR) w/a Broadway show ($125 x3) + lunch or dinner (depending on the time of the show), is a good 5 beans all-in.

Good point -but we ate one or 2 good meals and the rest was basically pizza, bagels, breakfast sandwiches etc. In all honesty,maybe another $1000-1500 for food. My husband and I are from NY so its the simple little meals that we enjoyed. But yes I can see your point - If you are not from NY that 3 meals a day out and the price goes up 1-2 thousand.

 

[olookasquirrel]

No, April 1.

Still a Star Wars cruise. We are going in Feb 2017, so firmly off season, and the price doubled between when we booked on release day and when they announced we were included in the 2017 SWDAS dates.

DCL is not cheap but the difference between release day prices and several months later has been astounding.

 

[rantnnravin]

Good point -but we ate one or 2 good meals and the rest was basically pizza, bagels, breakfast sandwiches etc. In all honesty,maybe another $1000-1500 for food. My husband and I are from NY so its the simple little meals that we enjoyed. But yes I can see your point - If you are not from NY that 3 meals a day out and the price goes up 1-2 thousand.

so, $3000 plus $1k for food and you spent 10 days walking around/going to the park, so $4k all-in - ok.