Are the Summer 2017 prices reasonable?

[dclpluto]

What are the differences between DCL & other cruise lines that make people willing to pay a premium for? Is it the available amenity, the food, the service, or something else? I know DCL has the characters that no one else have, so that's gotta worth something, I supposed.

LAX

DCL is the only cruise line that will guarantee you that you will see a mouse. Also good to great shows every night.

 

[Hundredacre]

We have an OBB we put on an August 2017 eastern Caribbean cruise but we are going to cancel. While the price of our cruise wasn't too bad (around $5400 for 3 of us in a 5E or $6900 Canadian) friends who wanted join us (first time DCL cruisers) would be spending $6800 for 4 in an oceanview. In Canadian funds right now thats over $8700!

For a Caribbean cruise I think that's way too much money.

Plus I've seen the price of DCL cruises escalate extremely fast since our first cruise in 2009. And the discounts they used to offer have all disappeared.

Just wondering if you are comfortable saying what date you booked this for. We considered this cruise in august but said no once we got the quote. It seems like it was higher than yours. With OBB we got quoted $5528 for 3 in cat 11b. We thought it was crazy. Two years ago we got this cruise in june (same cat and people) for about $4000 without OBB. insane.

 

[keaster]

Just wondering if you are comfortable saying what date you booked this for. We considered this cruise in august but said no once we got the quote. It seems like it was higher than yours. With OBB we got quoted $5528 for 3 in cat 11b. We thought it was crazy. Two years ago we got this cruise in june (same cat and people) for about $4000 without OBB. insane.

No problem! It's the August 19th cruise...Total was $5327.13 with the OBB (we are two adults and one child, she'll be 14 when we sail).

And I was mistaken its the Western Caribbean! So that might be the price difference, I think the Eastern ones are higher?

 

[Hundredacre]

No problem! It's the August 19th cruise...Total w5327.13 with the OBB (we are two adults and one child, she'll be 14 when we sail).

And I was mistaken its the Western Caribbean! So that might be the price difference, I think the Eastern ones are higher?

Yes the one we got a quote for was the eastern the week before. We need two rooms so said no to an $11000+ 7 night carribean cruise in a base level room with obb. Knowing it was about $8000 for us two years ago without on board booking made it particularly annoying.

 

[MUN]

We had intended to book a July 7-night Eastern (ocean view), and were prepared to pay about $10k (first cruise ever for our family). The quote actually came to about $13k. Instead, we booked for September and saved roughly $5k - we'll just do WDW in July.

How many people are in your party?

 

[MUN]

No problem! It's the August 19th cruise...Total was $5327.13 with the OBB (we are two adults and one child, she'll be 14 when we sail).

And I was mistaken its the Western Caribbean! So that might be the price difference, I think the Eastern ones are higher?

For DCL, that price doesn't seem outrageous. What category is your room?

 

[JackieT1182]

I thought our summer rate was relatively reasonable. We're doing the August 19 7-night Western Caribbean. It's $6883 (includes OBB) in a 4B for 2A/2C.

 

[keaster]

For DCL, that price doesn't seem outrageous. What category is your room?

It's a 5E (larger balcony on the back of the ship). And it is with the OBB discount.

I agree it's not crazy for DCL...but when you add on the Canadian exchange rate it's closer to $6800 for us.

As I said in a previous post...we are okay with the discounted rate. But our friends who are new DCL cruisers would have to pay around $6800 (or $8700 Canadian) for 4 in an oceanview room. Plus excursions...plus flights to get there. It's just too much for them.

 

[Ofinn]

What are the differences between DCL & other cruise lines that make people willing to pay a premium for? Is it the available amenity, the food, the service, or something else? I know DCL has the characters that no one else have, so that's gotta worth something, I supposed.

LAX

We cruise in the off season so for us it's been the fact that there are kids onboard every sailing. It would be hard to cruise with kids on a cruise where it's all adults. An example would be our 10 day Vancouver to Hawaii cruise last Sept. There were about 400 kids onoard. You would not see that on any other cruise line. If I was limited to Summer cruising no way would I pay the DCL premium.

 

[muse7mom]

We like the comfort and familiarity of DCL since it's the only cruise line we've ever been on. We were trying for a RC this summer but couldn't get dates in line because we are on three different school calendars. DH starts back to school on August 7 and is out May 23. DD isn't out until June 2, I'm finished June 1 and DD and I start somewhere around August 23. Summer is it for us but it didn't work out.
We have a deposit on a DCL so I'm leaning toward the July double dip because I absolutely loved the double last time. Even though it's not a new experience it was still so relaxing and lovely.
I think we should look at another line for Alaska which is one the three of us definitely want to do as a cruise.

 

[bethy]

Ditto for me. No the prices are not reasonable.

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

How many people are in your party?

2A 4C

 

[CamColt]

I thought our summer rate was relatively reasonable. We're doing the August 19 7-night Western Caribbean. It's $6883 (includes OBB) in a 4B for 2A/2C.

Can I ask if this includes insurance? We are doing the same cruise for just about the same price, party of 4 in a 7A (OBB).

 

[CamColt]

To answer the original question, I have to be honest and say I don't think a $710.00 increase for the same cruise, same week, same category, same party, but a year later is reasonable. Am I paying it? Yes, because it's our last summer with a kid who can go to the Vibe, and I know you get what you pay for with Disney, but this price is pushing the justifiable price for me.

 

[JackieT1182]

Can I ask if this includes insurance? We are doing the same cruise for just about the same price, party of 4 in a 7A (OBB).

No insurance or transfers. My kids will be 5 and 8 on that cruise, so that might make the price a little different. Our price breakdown per person is $2116/$2116/$1070/$1070.

 

[MUN]

We had intended to book a July 7-night Eastern (ocean view), and were prepared to pay about $10k (first cruise ever for our family). The quote actually came to about $13k. Instead, we booked for September and saved roughly $5k - we'll just do WDW in July.

We took a DCL EC cruise last June and paid approx $9200 for 2A, 3C we had 2 9C rooms. I don't know your room category, but $13K for 1 more child seems like a steep increase. I don't blame you for going in September. That's a nice savings!

 

[MUN]

What are the differences between DCL & other cruise lines that make people willing to pay a premium for? Is it the available amenity, the food, the service, or something else? I know DCL has the characters that no one else have, so that's gotta worth something, I supposed.

LAX

I think you touched on a number of the differences. Many believe DCL offers a premium product/experience that you don't necessarily get with another cruise line. People trust Disney and DCL can obtain a premium price on many of their cruises. My neighbor likes to say "Price is what you pay, value is what you get."

MUN

 

[disneymomto5]

I don't think it's reasonable at all. While I've been on 3 Disney Cruises, 1 NCL and I love the mouse more, the same cruise last year was almost $2000 cheaper than the same time next year. My husband is just not going to go for it for the Caribbean. It makes me sad cause I guess we'll lose our OBB but....not much I can do.

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

We took a DCL EC cruise last June and paid approx $9200 for 2A, 3C we had 2 9C rooms. I don't know your room category, but $13K for 1 more child seems like a steep increase. I don't blame you for going in September. That's a nice savings!

We have two connecting category 8D rooms. Like I said, based on more recent pricing, we were expecting about $10k (not including insurance).

 

[Barefoot Princess]

What are the differences between DCL & other cruise lines that make people willing to pay a premium for? Is it the available amenity, the food, the service, or something else? I know DCL has the characters that no one else have, so that's gotta worth something, I supposed.

LAX

The biggest reason that makes such big price difference is the lack of casino. That's it. Every other cruise line has a casino, but not DCL. The revenue from Bingo on DCL is very small compared to the revenue other cruise lines generate from having a casino. DCL is no more greedy than other cruise lines. Their business model is different, that's all. I live in a state with casinos, and they just run things differently from other places of business. You personally may never set a foot in the ship casino, but your fellow travelers are dropping enough money on your behalf to make up the revenue as a whole. With other cruise lines, they are competing to get enough passengers on the ship to get enough revenue from the casinos, whereas DCL is simply charging all the passengers up front. Neither business model is evil nor unethical, just different.

Now, even if DCL added a casino to their ship, their fares will still be slightly higher, because of the Disney premium. By that, I mean, the unique experience that DCL MUST provide. Think about it. the crew members cannot be just courteous and helpful. They have to be cast members. They all have to be trained in Disney lingos, Disney way of service, and above all, you can't have someone who doesn't know the difference between Goofy and Pluto. You can't just have "a princess" on the ship - kids want to see Cinderella be Cinderella, Anna and Elsa be Anna and Elsa, and Tinker Bell to be Tinker Bell. Those training to be "friends with princesses and other characters" cost extra on DCL.

So if you're the kind of person who hates gambling and do not care so much for the Disney characters and Disney experience, I see no reason why you would choose DCL above other cruise lines. But there is a legitimate reason for DCL fares to be significantly more than other cruise lines, and I don't think it's fair to criticize them as if they are being unreasonable. We all have to choose if that Disney experience is worth the extra money or not.