Cancelled Our Cruise -Going To Universal

[mousefan73]

Curious we finished our first DCL cruise recently. What has changed for younfrom the past? Curious what we missed out on?

Here is my families answer to your comment. Our first 12 cruises were all on DCL and during that time I was a DCL cheerleader on the boards here and helped coworkers plan their DCL cruises.

Once some of the changes started happening I was critical of the changes like many others. Then when the price increases started to happen, first with concierge and then the whole ship we decided to jump ship for awhile.

For us it was a value decision. Over the years we feel that DCL has lessened the product that they are providing. So the decision for us was simple, we didn’t want to pay more comparatively now and get a lesser product than we did in the past. We are a thrifty family and don’t like to overpay for anything, which allows us to take nice vacations.

For newer cruisers they don’t know about the past and love DCL and that is awesome

Just wanted to add that I jump on threads like this to let people know that life after DCL is pretty darn good. I don’t want others to be second guessing their decision to cruise another line and be questioning their decision right up to the time they sail and instead be excited about planning a new adventure. That was me and I made life miserable for my wife who was excited for our first RCCL cruise and all I would do was talk about DCL.

urious

 

[cgolf]

Curious we finished our first DCL cruise recently. What has changed for younfrom the past? Curious what we missed out on?


urious

I think there was a thread on this recently, but some are the extra obc for platinum, saw it but never got it. Sounds like they don’t do the kids club graduation where our daughter got to go up on stage. The last couple of cruises we were on seemed to have less activities scheduled during the day. The recent changes to the shows would be a big downer for us because we go for the entertainers and not the shows we have already seen.

Less ship tours, galley tour was cool, no more character signing of items left at the desk. Of course the alcohol policy, and just lots of other small changes we noticed over the years.

We also found a difference in how friendly the staff was Dream class vs the Classics. On the Dream class they were scheduled to do more so they had less free time to talk with guests.

I know I missed a chunk but those are some.

It’s still a good product, just not for us right now.

 

[All about me]

Curious we finished our first DCL cruise recently. What has changed for you from the past? Curious what we missed out on?

I think there was a thread on this recently...

https://www.disboards.com/threads/nostalgia-thread-how-has-disney-cruise-line-changed.3701905/

 

[All about me]

Sorry double post, can't figure out how to delete.

 

[aggiedog]

I opened this thread just to see why it's still going, to discover it's turned into "to DCL or not to DCL."

That's an ongoing discussion on this board. For us, we love DCL, but not 4x more that it would justify the price. We have to travel during school breaks, and we have 2 in college and will have 3 in college soon. Cost is very important at this stage of our lives. Our Med cruise on MSC cost a small fraction of what a comparable cruise on DCL would have (comparing concierge to concierge.) Even non-concierge on DCL was 4 times the cost of concierge on MSC. I would have definitely preferred DCL, but will gladly travel MSC if it means I actually get to travel AND send my kids to college.

 

[AquaDame]

I opened this thread just to see why it's still going, to discover it's turned into "to DCL or not to DCL."

That's an ongoing discussion on this board. For us, we love DCL, but not 4x more that it would justify the price. We have to travel during school breaks, and we have 2 in college and will have 3 in college soon. Cost is very important at this stage of our lives. Our Med cruise on MSC cost a small fraction of what a comparable cruise on DCL would have (comparing concierge to concierge.) Even non-concierge on DCL was 4 times the cost of concierge on MSC. I would have definitely preferred DCL, but will gladly travel MSC if it means I actually get to travel AND send my kids to college.

You're right, but OPs final question was about DCLs pricing so it was kind of inevitable...

Sometimes I've done the same as OP and gone with another vacation, other times I decided DCL is worth it. Universal is really fun too - I hope you have a great time OP!

 

[aggiedog]

Agreed, Universal is great. I would love to dedicate 2-3 days to just hang out in HP world and do everything.

 

[fredandkell]

Well I have the opposite experience - just priced out Universal (we've never been) and it was almost $1k for 4 people for one day (two park tix plus the fast passes) and I almost had a stroke. Even without the fast passes it was over $600 for 4 people. That is cray-cray. Add in at least 2 nights hotel and gas and you're looking at around $2k for a 2 night trip, and that's driving from Atlanta. I feel like DCL is a way better per-day price than that!!

 

[cruiser21]

Well I have the opposite experience - just priced out Universal (we've never been) and it was almost $1k for 4 people for one day (two park tix plus the fast passes) and I almost had a stroke. Even without the fast passes it was over $600 for 4 people. That is cray-cray. Add in at least 2 nights hotel and gas and you're looking at around $2k for a 2 night trip, and that's driving from Atlanta. I feel like DCL is a way better per-day price than that!!

I priced out a Universal vacation it was 1241 for 4 nights at Royal Pacific expresses passes included. 1200 for 3 day park hoppers 4 people. The cheapest 4 night Bahamas cruise I found was in January for around 3k for an inside room 4 people . When you throw in food it's about the same. If you were looking at peak pricing I'm sure DCL would be double Universal. I guess it depends on what you want to do theme park or Bahamas. I'd rather go to Universal then the Bahamas.

Universal used to be a relatively cheap vacation. Not so anymore, but the parks have added a lot over the last few years.

 

[mmmears]

Well I have the opposite experience - just priced out Universal (we've never been) and it was almost $1k for 4 people for one day (two park tix plus the fast passes) and I almost had a stroke. Even without the fast passes it was over $600 for 4 people. That is cray-cray. Add in at least 2 nights hotel and gas and you're looking at around $2k for a 2 night trip, and that's driving from Atlanta. I feel like DCL is a way better per-day price than that!!

Totally agree, and I thought it was just me. We went for one night/day last summer before our WDW vacation. I was shocked at how much it cost. We stayed at RPR for the front of the line option and the big draw for us was the HP stuff. Frankly we were ready to leave soon after lunch (and did). I found it really overpriced and I'm comparing it to WDW (which I also think is overpriced). Travel has become very expensive, probably because so many people travel so often... supply and demand.

But we also learned that we can't substitute US for Disney - for us they are not comparable in terms of our enjoyment. I have friends who prefer US and I'm glad they found their happy place. It's a personal choice.

My real point here is that it's ok that people prefer different things. And it's good, too, since otherwise the costs would be even higher. I don't think there's anything wrong with liking another cruise line, but likewise there isn't anything wrong with those who choose to sail with DCL.

 

[lilsonicfan]

Well I have the opposite experience - just priced out Universal (we've never been) and it was almost $1k for 4 people for one day (two park tix plus the fast passes) and I almost had a stroke. Even without the fast passes it was over $600 for 4 people. That is cray-cray. Add in at least 2 nights hotel and gas and you're looking at around $2k for a 2 night trip, and that's driving from Atlanta. I feel like DCL is a way better per-day price than that!!

I'm sure it depends on the time but we did four nights at Portofino Bay in club level with 5 people - one annual pass and four 4-day park to park tickets for a total of around $2,000. Had a blast. Our 7 night DCL cruise the week before that was nearly $7,000.

 

[mmmears]

I'm sure it depends on the time but we did four nights at Portofino Bay in club level with 5 people - one annual pass and four 4-day park to park tickets for a total of around $2,000. Had a blast. Our 7 night DCL cruise the week before that was nearly $7,000.

I'm sure it does, so it's actually tough to compare. Our 1 night, 3 people, 1 day park hopper passes, at RPR with no club level was over 1K. It was ridiculous. But we were going to be at WDW and had put US off for years and really wanted to check it out so we did. I'm sure we are one and done over there. It also makes us reluctant to book a cruise on an another line (not saying we won't do it eventually) since that won't be just one day and on a ship you can't just go someplace else. And my family isn't one of those "Disney only" families - we've traveled around the world (non Disney except for our recent cruise) and have also been to Hawaii frequently, never staying at Aulani. We don't sail DCL often either. I hope the OP has a blast at US. Nobody should feel they "have" to take a specific vacation if they aren't comfortable with the price. But these are apples and oranges when it comes to comparing.

 

[cruiser21]

I'm sure it does, so it's actually tough to compare. Our 1 night, 3 people, 1 day park hopper passes, at RPR with no club level was over 1K. It was ridiculous. But we were going to be at WDW and had put US off for years and really wanted to check it out so we did. I'm sure we are one and done over there. It also makes us reluctant to book a cruise on an another line (not saying we won't do it eventually) since that won't be just one day and on a ship you can't just go someplace else. And my family isn't one of those "Disney only" families - we've traveled around the world (non Disney except for our recent cruise) and have also been to Hawaii frequently, never staying at Aulani. We don't sail DCL often either. I hope the OP has a blast at US. Nobody should feel they "have" to take a specific vacation if they aren't comfortable with the price. But these are apples and oranges when it comes to comparing.

Yes, but 1 day tickets are going to cost about the same as 4 day tickets. Majority of your cost was the tickets. It's no different then WDW. There's no value in a one day ticket. Same rule applies for cruising the shorter the cruise generally the higher cost per day.

 

[mmmears]

Yes, but 1 day tickets are going to cost about the same as 4 day tickets. Majority of your cost was the tickets. It's no different then WDW. There's no value in a one day ticket. Same rule applies for cruising the shorter the cruise generally the higher cost per day.

Yep. I understood that at the time. But we didn't think we would enjoy 4 days there. And, oh boy were we right. Live and learn. Also, not all of us can travel during discount times. The pricing at the US hotels wasn't any better than the deluxes at WDW (and I kept reading how they were so much cheaper). I don't want to fight about it though. We all choose to do what we want and that's ok. I feel like posters are judging others on their travel choices and that's just silly to me. I don't like skiing but I don't criticize the people I know who go to the mountains every weekend and spend $$$$ there every winter. That's their choice.

 

[lilsonicfan]

I frankly thought Universal was delightful, though I am a huge HP fan.
and yes - one day at Universal is pricey. Like at WDW.
In my personal opinion there is more for me to love at WDW overall, but I struggled with the crazy crowd situation at WDW, and the insane pricing at the resorts (so we stayed off-site) whereas at US with unlimited express passes my kids were over the moon being able to ride their faves over and over. And I found something to love in nearly every part of US. (That giant Simpsons pink donut was amazing!) Absolutely it's not for everyone, but I've determined that I'm the type of traveller who can keep an open mind for various cruise lines, various theme parks, etc. Not everyone is. And that's okay!

 

[mmmears]

It's not about having an open mind. We were very excited to check out US because of the HP stuff and go to each and every destination we visit with an open mind. We were just disappointed.

On the other hand, we just went to the Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio Tour (outside London) a couple of weeks ago. We LOVED it! It was amazing! So if anyone here is heading in that direction and is a Harry Potter fan, it's definitely worth checking out, whether you enjoy the US parks or not.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Strange to see all the Disney grumpiness in the Disney Cruise Line forum. Seems like over half the posts on this topic are "I love Disney, but they aren't even close to being my favorite vacation or worth the cost" If that were my stance I wouldn't even be on this forum to put forth the opinion. Just seems a bit weird to me.

I'm not sure I have a favorite vacation place to begin with. I don't even go to Disney often (about every 6 years) but I do love Disney as a whole and that's not just the theme parks, I grew up with Disney animation but I still have an ability to have my cons about the company. That really shouldn't be a huge issue.

But take a good look at this forum. There are so many more topics to discuss than just straight Disney.

There's Universal side, there's SeaWorld side, there's photography side, there's the Community side, there's the Budget side, there's the Canadian side, there's the Cruise line side, and so many others.

So no it's not really weird to me. Then again I've perused the Boards enough to realize this forum has become a place to express so many more things than just Disney. I encourage you to branch out.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

OP have fun at Universal! I love it. It's a different pace than Disney so try and keep an open mind while there and not compare it with Disney.

I'd love to hear your experience with Aventura when you come back, I've been excited for Loews new hotels they have been building at Universal.

 

[cruiser21]

Yep. I understood that at the time. But we didn't think we would enjoy 4 days there. And, oh boy were we right. Live and learn. Also, not all of us can travel during discount times. The pricing at the US hotels wasn't any better than the deluxes at WDW (and I kept reading how they were so much cheaper). I don't want to fight about it though. We all choose to do what we want and that's ok. I feel like posters are judging others on their travel choices and that's just silly to me. I don't like skiing but I don't criticize the people I know who go to the mountains every weekend and spend $$$$ there every winter. That's their choice.

I don’t necessarily think US is cheaper, but I don’t think anyone can argue that’s it’s not easier. Those express passes are awesome. I’m not a fan of fast pass +. It’s really ruined WDW in my opinion. You have two choices make fast passes 60 days or wait in line an hour for every ride. It doesn’t stop me from visiting WDW is just not as much fun as it used to be.

 

[mmmears]

I don’t necessarily think US is cheaper, but I don’t think anyone can argue that’s it’s not easier. Those express passes are awesome. I’m not a fan of fast pass +. It’s really ruined WDW in my opinion. You have two choices make fast passes 60 days or wait in line an hour for every ride. It doesn’t stop me from visiting WDW is just not as much fun as it used to be.

Yeah, I will totally agree with you on that count. We had the FOTL passes from our hotel and that was key.