Anyone jumping ship for 2018? What, where and how much?

[squirk]

I am not abandoning Disney, but I am going to start considering RCCL if the savings are substantial for a given cruise.

Case in point - Mardi Gras week, 2018. 7-day E. Carib. Two adults, three kids. Connecting staterooms with balconies. Sailing out of PC.

• Two Cat 5D's on the Fantasy = $9852
• Two Cat D4/7 on the Oasis = $4988

That's half the price, folks. I love Disney, so I am willing to accept a 20%-30% upcharge, but I'm not paying an extra $4900 on this cruise for essentially the characters and the kids' clubs.

If we try RCCL and hate it, then we'll gird our loins and go back to Disney, using OBB, Costco, DVA, Sam's Club, Target Red Card, etc. to defray the upcharge.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

I am not abandoning Disney, but I am going to start considering RCCL if the savings are substantial for a given cruise.

Case in point - Mardi Gras week, 2018. 7-day E. Carib. Two adults, three kids. Connecting staterooms with balconies. Sailing out of PC.

• Two Cat 5D's on the Fantasy = $9852
• Two Cat D4/7 on the Oasis = $4988

That's half the price, folks. I love Disney, so I am willing to accept a 20%-30% upcharge, but I'm not paying an extra $4900 on this cruise for essentially the characters and the kids' clubs.

If we try RCCL and hate it, then we'll gird our loins and go back to Disney, using OBB, Costco, DVA, Sam's Club, Target Red Card, etc. to defray the upcharge.

And that's a great itinerary on Oasis (we're doing the same route in March 2018.) Two sea days, St. Martin, San Juan, Labadee, and a sea day at the end.

 

[KashasMom]

We jumped ship President's Day week 2017. Ocean view balcony on the Allure for two of us for just over $2,000. Same week/room category on the Fantasy is just over $6,000! 3X the price for DCL? Are you kidding me?? SO not worth it! Our DVC in August is likely to be our last Disney cruise. We like the shows on RCI Oasis class, the pool(s) areas, the food options, etc. We also like the NCL big ships. There are just too many other options now to be price-gouged by DCL.

 

[aggiedog]

We want to do the Med this summer for dds' HS graduation. We're a family of 6, and would get two balcony rooms. It's not quite apples to apples for what we've been looking at, as the itinerary is different. But for August 12, 7 nights on DCL from Barcelona for 2 balcony staterooms is $17,224. We're strongly considering MSC. For August 13, leaving Venice for 7 nights to Greece, Italy, and Montenegro is $8368, also 2 balcony rooms (334 sq ft, not sure if that includes the 45 sq ft balcony) its $8368 for our family. That's for amenities comparable to DCL, with the exception that all alcohol besides Top Shelf liquor is included. DCL is more than twice as much. Even if you want to discount the fact that it's Italy, Greece, and Montenegro; and not Italy, France, and Spain, that's just crazy. That will leave plenty of money for a few days in Venice and elsewhere.

In reality, we'll be going in July, which is not quite $1,000 cheaper yet, but for comparison's sake, I checked August.

 

[mevelandry]

Anyone else decide to jump ship for 2018? what, where, how much?

We actually jumped ship in 2016. Long story short DH and I were both hit by a car in the end of 2015 my DH has been six weeks without working and I got 4 weeks without working + 3 months working only part time due to injuries. Insurance covered part of our salary but we still suffered a loss of 200 to 600$ of income each month during those months. No DCL for us!

We have booked a Carnival cruise because that is all we could afford, 4 nights on the Victory (who is currently renovating and is half brand new-half old)... People with experience told us "Don't expect DCL and you won't be disappointed". It was true. We really enjoyed our Oct 2016 cruise.

In the end, DH likes Carnival more than DCL and while I still like DCL a little bit more, I am actually excited to know we are sailing with Carnival next Fall.

And now I am more than willing to try other cruise lines.

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

We are considering booking our 2018 cruise on NCL since they will have a ship here at PC. DH will only sail Concierge and we are getting priced out on DCL. Sadly, 2017 might be our last DCL cruise.

 

[wombat_5606]

We actually jumped ship in 2016. Long story short DH and I were both hit by a car in the end of 2015 my DH has been six weeks without working and I got 4 weeks without working + 3 months working only part time due to injuries. Insurance covered part of our salary but we still suffered a loss of 200 to 600$ of income each month during those months. No DCL for us!

We have booked a Carnival cruise because that is all we could afford, 4 nights on the Victory (who is currently renovating and is half brand new-half old)... People with experience told us "Don't expect DCL and you won't be disappointed". It was true.

In the end, DH likes Carnival more than DCL and while I still prefer DCL a little bit more, I am actually excited to know we are sailing with Carnival next Fall.

And now I am more than willing to try other cruise lines.

So sorry for all of your troubles. You need a cruise now more than ever.

Since it sounds like it's just you and your husband that cruise, have you checked into Celebrity?

My husband and I love them and it will likely be our next cruise vacation.

 

[KashasMom]

We actually jumped ship in 2016. Long story short DH and I were both hit by a car in the end of 2015 my DH has been six weeks without working and I got 4 weeks without working + 3 months working only part time due to injuries. Insurance covered part of our salary but we still suffered a loss of 200 to 600$ of income each month during those months. No DCL for us!

We have booked a Carnival cruise because that is all we could afford, 4 nights on the Victory (who is currently renovating and is half brand new-half old)... People with experience told us "Don't expect DCL and you won't be disappointed". It was true.

In the end, DH likes Carnival more than DCL and while I still prefer DCL a little bit more, I am actually excited to know we are sailing with Carnival next Fall.

And now I am more than willing to try other cruise lines.

Glad you are both okay! Happy Cruising!

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

We are considering booking our 2018 cruise on NCL since they will have a ship here at PC. DH will only sail Concierge and we are getting priced out on DCL. Sadly, 2017 might be our last DCL cruise.

Sound like The Haven on NCL will be perfect for you!

 

[jeepnjudy]

We're jumping ship for land...Does that count? Rather than cruising in 2017, we decided to head to the opposite coast and go to DL for the week of New Years. With hotel, airfare, and rental car it is coming out to HALF the cost of a Disney cruise over New Years! And DS3 has not been to California yet, so here we come!

 

[mevelandry]

So sorry for all of your troubles. You need a cruise now more than ever.

Since it sounds like it's just you and your husband that cruise, have you checked into Celebrity?

My husband and I love them and it will likely be our next cruise vacation.

Thank you. We've been able to cruise with Carnival two weeks ago and loved our experience (and yes, it was more than welcome as you can imagine!)

I've checked into Celebrity. So far, they never seem to fit the dates we need... But I'm very interested in them.

 

[ldo]

We also jumped ship to land, 2 years ago. We took what a week-long cruise at Christmas would cost and bought (resale) 160 DVC points. The cruise $ paid for almost 75% of our points. Then we went to WDW for the week using our points. We are happy that we bought them, as it's a (cheaper) alternative for us to cruising at Christmas.

 

[mcd2745]

Here's why we'll be "jumping ship"...



President's week 2018 for 2A, 2C (15,12) in an oceanview room:


7-nt Western on the Fantasy: $7,450 (Port Canaveral)

7-nt Eastern on the Wonder: $5,870 (Port Canaveral)


6-nt Western on Carnival Vista (Family Harbor room): $2,434 (Miami)

7-nt Western on RCCL Harmony of the Seas: $4,705 (Fort Lauderdale)

8-nt Eastern on RCCL Freedom of the Seas: $4,167 (Fort Lauderdale)

7-nt Eastern on RCCL Allure of the Seas: $3,700 (Fort Lauderdale)

7-nt Eastern on NCL Escape: $3,806 (includes drink package & gratuities) (Miami)

7-nt Western on NCL Getaway: $3,759 (includes drink package & gratuities) (Miami)

7-nt Eastern on MSC Seaside: $2,790 (includes 12 drink vouchers pp & $75 OBC) (Miami)




ETA: MSC Seaside price

 

[ldo]

We booked NCL Epic for week prior to Easter. Family of 4 balcony for $4K. Ironically, it leaves PC on Sat, next door to DCL Fantasy and goes to the same ports on the same days--Tortola and St T, then it's own island. I like the Fantasy better for the port times and CC and overall DCL experience. And, the Epic bathrooms are REALLY weird. We have been on Epic and liked it fine. The entertainment is a bit more grown up and interesting for our older teens. For $4K, I can deal with shorter port times, missing CC and the weird bathroom! We'll likely mentally apply the $ we save to a DCL Alaska cruise.

 

[Love2Cruz]

We want to do the Med this summer for dds' HS graduation. We're a family of 6, and would get two balcony rooms. It's not quite apples to apples for what we've been looking at, as the itinerary is different. But for August 12, 7 nights on DCL from Barcelona for 2 balcony staterooms is $17,224. We're strongly considering MSC. For August 13, leaving Venice for 7 nights to Greece, Italy, and Montenegro is $8368, also 2 balcony rooms (334 sq ft, not sure if that includes the 45 sq ft balcony) its $8368 for our family. That's for amenities comparable to DCL, with the exception that all alcohol besides Top Shelf liquor is included. DCL is more than twice as much. Even if you want to discount the fact that it's Italy, Greece, and Montenegro; and not Italy, France, and Spain, that's just crazy. That will leave plenty of money for a few days in Venice and elsewhere.

In reality, we'll be going in July, which is not quite $1,000 cheaper yet, but for comparison's sake, I checked August.

I did that exact itinerary on the Orchestra this summer...I became an MSC fan after that and booked two more cruises to Europe with them. We went in early June right after summer school break. We got OBC, and free drinks. I stayed in Portugal and Venice pre cruise. We had an AFT balcony on Deck 8, the room was spacious, service great....let me know if you have questions.

 

[aggiedog]

Love2Cruz, I found your review on CC. It looks like a great trip. I'm going to use that to convince dh that MSC is not some cheapo cruise line. I'm glad to see you liked TAP as well. It came up on my airline search and I'd never heard of it.

 

[mcd2745]

I'm really intrigued by MSC, but will probably will not book a cruise with them until their private island (which looks very interesting) is ready.

 

[Mama Lisa 911]

We really want to do a 7 night western caribbean next October. For 4 of us on Disney in a deck 8 veranda its $5600. On RCL the same exact cruise in balcony room is only $3100. My husband is all for trying RCL at least once but honestly, (no joking) I think I'd be really sad if I saw a DCL pull up next to us in port! I'm also worried that I'd spend the whole cruise comparing it to our previous Disney cruises. I cant imagine any other cruise line treating guests as wonderful as DCL does!

 

[ldo]

when we cruise another line, we go in understanding that it's not DCL. Our teens are usually somewhat disappointed (very 1st world issue), but they understand that if they want a college fund, we'll take a $3K cruise vs. a $7K cruise. We have always had a good time, maybe not DCL A+ fabulous (IMHO), but a solid B/B+. But, it also matters whether you are on a Voyager class or newer or older ship, IMHO.

 

[MikeyNS]

I tried to get a friend to come on our Dec 2016 cruise, but his family got NCL for well under half we paid for a 7-day Western (he's on a Western as well 1 day later), in a mini-suite with free alcoholic drinks and free upgraded dining on the Breakaway/Getaway (not sure which one). Once I get feedback from them about the amenities and the ship we'll probably be jumping to NCL for our next cruise.