Cruise Fever Article-Average Cost of Stateroom per night Across Cruise Lines

[Disfamwa]

It has only been the last few years that the newer ships on other lines have started including 5 person family cabins in their designs. Unfortunately they only have a few in comparison to Disney who has lots of them. I have also noticed the other lines have been added a solo cruiser cabins to appeal to a broader market.

Even a regular balcony room that sleeps four on a Disney ship is more comparable in size to the lower levels “suites” on other cruise lines. Regular balcony rooms are tiny on other lines and really don’t sleep more than 2-3 people very well—plus, combine the smaller rooms with once a day room service and you have no useable space during the day because the beds are always in bed mode.

 

[princesscinderella]

But there's only one bathroom and shower! That's the hard part of sharing.

For us that’s never been an issue there are so many nicer bathrooms all over the ship. The spa showers are so much more roomy too. The teens are usually still asleep from staying up late so we rarely all have to get ready at the same time. We don’t typically do excursions on the Caribbean cruises because we live 10 minutes from the beach and can do water activities anytime.

 

[LAS2AMS]

Even a regular balcony room that sleeps four on a Disney ship is more comparable in size to the lower levels “suites” on other cruise lines. Regular balcony rooms are tiny on other lines and really don’t sleep more than 2-3 people very well—plus, combine the smaller rooms with once a day room service and you have no useable space during the day because the beds are always in bed mode.

That’s not accurate. The cabin sizes on the Wish class are comparable to the latest generation ships on Carnival, Royal, etc. The Magic/ Wonder are old ships from a bygone generation and do have larger cabin, similar to other ships from their era (most of which have been retired). And which ships generally have higher prices? Not the old ones with larger rooms.

DCL does have a larger number of rooms designated as family, yes comparable to mini suites on other lines. But you can usually book two of these suites and still have $$ left over, compared to DCL.

DCL is a horrible financial value. You’re paying for the Disney ambiance - we still do sometimes, although the price discrepancy between Disney and other lines continues to grow, so we’re cursing them less.

 

[DCLMP]

But currently they are only comparing 2026, and Disney only has their 2026 itineraries out until May(ish).

I have also done much cheaper Disney 7+ night cruises than what the chart says - even my 8 night Alaska (September) was $3900 for two with a porthole, that’s $500ish per night which is much less than what is shown in the chart.

It’s just an average.

 

[Disfamwa]

That’s not accurate. The cabin sizes on the Wish class are comparable to the latest generation ships on Carnival, Royal, etc. The Magic/ Wonder are old ships from a bygone generation and do have larger cabin, similar to other ships from their era (most of which have been retired). And which ships generally have higher prices? Not the old ones with larger rooms.

DCL does have a larger number of rooms designated as family, yes comparable to mini suites on other lines. But you can usually book two of these suites and still have $$ left over, compared to DCL.

DCL is a horrible financial value. You’re paying for the Disney ambiance - we still do sometimes, although the price discrepancy between Disney and other lines continues to grow, so we’re cursing them less.

I see what you’re saying—I guess I’m just comparing the least expensive balcony rooms on Disney ships vs the least expensive balcony rooms on others (I thought most others had around 175-185sq ft and Disney had around 205sq ft). Maybe my beef is more with the layout of the 3rd and 4th beds and lack of twice a day room servicing to put the awkwardly placed 3rd and 4th beds away on other lines.

We cruised on the newest class holland America ship in Alaska and got two connecting balcony rooms for the price of 1 ocean view room on Disney, so I definitely think Disney is not a great value in some markets (holland America also still has twice a day room servicing and free room service like Disney).

When I’ve looked at Caribbean cruises though, to get a room on Icon that gave us some separation from our kids (like the curtain on treasure does) we had to really up our price to get a bigger room and it ended up being more than the treasure. It seems like Disney really designs rooms (even the more basic ones on their ships) to work well for families.

 

[Kwami]

That’s not accurate. The cabin sizes on the Wish class are comparable to the latest generation ships on Carnival, Royal, etc. The Magic/ Wonder are old ships from a bygone generation and do have larger cabin, similar to other ships from their era (most of which have been retired). And which ships generally have higher prices? Not the old ones with larger rooms.

I did a quick comparison on Cruise Mapper. All numbers are in square ft and the numbers in parentheses are the balcony sizes.

Disney Wish
Family Verandah: 240 (45)
Verandah: 205 (45)

Royal Caribbean Utopia of the Seas
Ultra Spacious Family Balcony 305 (80)
Spacious Balcony 180 (55)

NCL Getaway
Club Balcony 205 (30)
Balcony 170 (30)

So, except for the special "ultra spacious" rooms on Utopia, the Wish still has bigger balcony cabins than the others. I know that the Getaway isn't the most recent NCL ship, but it's one that I'm familiar with, so I used it. Utopia is the newest RCL ship.

And as another poster wrote, once per day service means that the foldouts are folded out all day and that the room is extra cramped. Disney still does service twice per day, which means that the foldouts are usually folded up and the room has more space during the day.

 

[DCLMP]

Free At Sea is the name of the program. Most cruise lines charge gratuity on packages, so technically it is free. Regardless, with the drink package you get soda, coffe, juice, etc. it’s a very good value, and again you’re getting money for way less money than DCL.

$3.50 is probably canned soda - fountain is cheaper.

Yes it's free you are just paying gratuities. You do not have to buy it you can opt out and pay a la carte with tips just like you do on DCL. I don't think the free soda on DCL is good reason to pay three times as much for Disney. There are logically reasons to want to sail on Disney, but that is not one of them.

 

[DCLMP]

I see what you’re saying—I guess I’m just comparing the least expensive balcony rooms on Disney ships vs the least expensive balcony rooms on others (I thought most others had around 175-185sq ft and Disney had around 205sq ft). Maybe my beef is more with the layout of the 3rd and 4th beds and lack of twice a day room servicing to put the awkwardly placed 3rd and 4th beds away on other lines.

We cruised on the newest class holland America ship in Alaska and got two connecting balcony rooms for the price of 1 ocean view room on Disney, so I definitely think Disney is not a great value in some markets (holland America also still has twice a day room servicing and free room service like Disney).

When I’ve looked at Caribbean cruises though, to get a room on Icon that gave us some separation from our kids (like the curtain on treasure does) we had to really up our price to get a bigger room and it ended up being more than the treasure. It seems like Disney really designs rooms (even the more basic ones on their ships) to work well for families.

Carnivals new ships have some nice family room options.

 

[DCLMP]

Even a regular balcony room that sleeps four on a Disney ship is more comparable in size to the lower levels “suites” on other cruise lines. Regular balcony rooms are tiny on other lines and really don’t sleep more than 2-3 people very well—plus, combine the smaller rooms with once a day room service and you have no useable space during the day because the beds are always in bed mode.

Have you tried pricing out a balcony and an inside for the kids. I would rather have two insides than one balcony. I've found insides on other cruise lines to be very cheap and kids don't usually care.

 

[Joanna71985]

We are doing a 7 night repositioning cruise one way from Galveston to San Juan on the major with stops at both islands..we booked in Dec 2023 and paid 4200 for for 4. It's in 48 days!

The problem with comparing to other lines- at least for us- is we have no desire to sail another line. We are Disney people. Disney knows this .

Same here. I've done 12 cruises (with 13/14 booked), and all have been DCL

 

[LAS2AMS]

I did a quick comparison on Cruise Mapper. All numbers are in square ft and the numbers in parentheses are the balcony sizes.

Disney Wish
Family Verandah: 240 (45)
Verandah: 205 (45)

Royal Caribbean Utopia of the Seas
Ultra Spacious Family Balcony 305 (80)
Spacious Balcony 180 (55)

NCL Getaway
Club Balcony 205 (30)
Balcony 170 (30)

So, except for the special "ultra spacious" rooms on Utopia, the Wish still has bigger balcony cabins than the others. I know that the Getaway isn't the most recent NCL ship, but it's one that I'm familiar with, so I used it. Utopia is the newest RCL ship.

And as another poster wrote, once per day service means that the foldouts are folded out all day and that the room is extra cramped. Disney still does service twice per day, which means that the foldouts are usually folded up and the room has more space during the day.

Disney’s website lists it at 200 sq ft, Royal’s website has their’s at 194 sq ft. The difference is immaterial, nobody who has done both is going to think DCL was larger. Space is often eaten up by the room layout - Carnival’s Excel ships are 10-20 sq ft larger than the previous generation Vista but more not going to notice.

If the beds being pulled down is an issue - and on many ships, you can push them up to a certain extent by themselves - ask your room attendant to pull them down in the evening. If they refuse, contact housekeeping. They will do t. Although I think people make a bigger deal about it here to justify DCL’s price (although Princess, etc. still do it).

 

[Disfamwa]

Have you tried pricing out a balcony and an inside for the kids. I would rather have two insides than one balcony. I've found insides on other cruise lines to be very cheap and kids don't usually care.

I think a balcony paired with an inside room will be the way we go once the kids are older!

And I did notice that the new carnival ships have good family room setups! I’m just slightly worried the line may be too lively for my preferences (I was happy with the vibe on one of the pinnacle class holland America ships ).

 

[DCLMP]

I think a balcony paired with an inside room will be the way we go once the kids are older!

And I did notice that the new carnival ships have good family room setups! I’m just slightly worried the line may be too lively for my preferences (I was happy with the vibe on one of the pinnacle class holland America ships ).

I've heard good things about the new ship. I've only cruised Carnival in Europe and it was the opposite of lively.

 

[DCLMP]

Same here. I've done 12 cruises (with 13/14 booked), and all have been DCL

I was loyal to DCL, but I ran out of itineraries. Cost also became a factor when cruising in Europe.

 

[Joanna71985]

I was loyal to DCL, but I ran out of itineraries. Cost also became a factor when cruising in Europe.

I honestly don't mind (I've only done 2 itineraries, with a third coming up in Sept)

 

[DCLMP]

I honestly don't mind (I've only done 2 itineraries, with a third coming up in Sept)

That may because you are on your third cruise not your 33rd.

 

[Joanna71985]

That may because you are on your third cruise not your 33rd.

Actually, I'm going on my 13th cruise in 2 weeks (but all but 2 have been to Nassau. The other 2 were Eastern Caribbean)

 

[Lorana]

That’s not accurate. The only thing DCL includes in its base price that its mainstream competition doesn’t, is soda and room service.

Specialty restaurants. DCL’s dining rotation means you get to visit all the specialty restaurants, but you have to pay for them on other cruise lines we’ve sailed like NCL and RCCL.

Also free ice cream whenever my kids want it.

 

[Lorana]

NCL’s “Free At Sea” includes soda, alcohol, a couple premium dining experiences, limited internet and more. It’s going to be significantly cheaper than DCL.

Free at Sea is only the first two passengers. We went to Alaska on NCL thinking it less expensive than Disney, and when we had to add on the soda packages and dining for our kids, the cost wasn’t that much less than Disney. This was admittedly a few years ago.

That said, yes, generally speaking the other mainstream cruise lines ARE less expensive. If you like concierge it’s a better value on other lines and often less expensive. But if the add-ons matter to you, the gap isn’t as big as it initially seems.

 

[Mango7100]

Specialty restaurants. DCL’s dining rotation means you get to visit all the specialty restaurants, but you have to pay for them on other cruise lines we’ve sailed like NCL and RCCL.

Also free ice cream whenever my kids want it.

That is incorrect. Speciality restaurants are not included in DCL. Speciality restaurants on DCL are Palo, Remy, and Enchante. You pay extra for those. You are eating in the main dining room for free on DCL just like you would eat in the main dining room for free on other cruise lines. DCL does do shows in some main dining rooms, and other cruise lines do not. That may or may not be a positive depending on your opinion.

Also other cruise lines offer free ice cream in buffets as well.