DCL discount quietly suspended for Florida residents

[k5jm]

It looks like DCL is doing booming business!

http://www.floridatoday.com/article...10304/Disney-ship-discount-gone-Fla-residents

Disney ship discount gone for Fla. residents
Written by
WAYNE T. PRICE
FLORIDA TODAY

Being a Florida resident has traditionally meant a discount when it comes to booking a trip on one of Disney Cruise Line's Port Canaveral-based ships.

Depending on the number of people traveling in a group, and the size of the cabins, the discount saves travelers hundreds of dollars.

But Disney has quietly suspended the program, mainly because for a few months it has only one ship, the Dream, operating from Port Canaveral and it's having no problem lining up customers.

That means it doesn't need to offer extra incentives to fill unused cabins -- because regular market demand is doing that.

"Special offers and promotions are part of the regular course of doing business, and Disney Cruise Line frequently has them in the marketplace," said Rebecca Peddie, a spokeswoman for Disney Cruise Line.

"Currently, the Disney Dream is sailing from Port Canaveral while the Disney Wonder is in Alaska and the Disney Magic is in the Mediterranean. While no special rates are available at this time for Florida residents, guests are encouraged to check back weekly for updates."

Cruise lines typically use discounts to lure more travelers. The breaks typically are for residents of selected states, for seniors and for military personnel, said Larry Jackson, co-owner of Cruise Holidays of Viera.

Disney's temporary suspension of the Florida resident discount program makes sense, he said, if it's not having a problem filling cabins on the Dream. He sees this happening with other cruise lines' discounts, as well.

"We're not seeing as many as these discounts happening because they're filling up these cruise ships months in advance," Jackson said. "They're not as big a factor as they used to be."

For Disney, the Florida resident discount could return as soon as Oct. 1. That's when the Magic returns to Port Canaveral and resumes its seven-night Caribbean itineraries.

Early next year, when the Dream's 4,000-passenger sister ship, the Fantasy, begins sailing out of Port Canaveral, the cruise line will be operating three ships from the port. Then, in May, the Disney Magic will sail cruises from New York as well as the Port of Galveston, Texas.

Peddie said that while the discount program is temporarily suspended, residents of the Sunshine State could get a $25 onboard credit available for those booking online. She urges would-be passengers to check the company's Web site -- http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/special-offers/ -- for any special breaks.

 

[disneyholic family]

wow - on our first cruise, which was the first 4th of july following 9/11, the ship was almost entirely filled with discounted fare Floridians..

everyone was afraid of that cruise - everyone thought it was a target, so very few people booked it.
Right before the cruise, it was offered at the obscene rate of $99 for the entire cruise - but only to floridians...

it was so funny on board....whenever someone running anything said - 'so where are you from?' The answer was almost always florida......
it was a tad annoying to us - we'd paid very close to rack rate, and here were all these people paying less than a night at a value resort for the entire cruise - albeit a 3 day cruise, but still.......

 

[mikelan6]

I'm glad for DCL, but will probably sail on other lines, which offer much better deals. I can sail on RCI for half the price and visit Mickey at the parks.

 

[DWGal210]

Stinks for the FL residents, but not surprising. As the article said, they have no problems filling the Dream. You'd only do discounts if you wanted to fill the ship.

 

[disneyholic family]

I'm glad for DCL, but will probably sail on other lines, which offer much better deals. I can sail on RCI for half the price and visit Mickey at the parks.

i'm sure they'll bring them back - it's only temporary, while they're filling their ships...the moment they have empty staterooms, that discount will be back on board...

 

[HollyMac71]

I hope it's only temporary.

 

[zulemara]

they cut the CM discount back in November, so this doesn't surprise me too much. CMs can't get 15% off rack rate or whatever the discount was when booking in advance. Now all that's left is "space available" which I don't think we'll see for quite a while on the Dream. Meanwhile, the Wonder has them available nearly every sailing.

Having said that, within reason, I would pay full price for a sailing. But I'm going on PCC 3.0 so I don't need to book anything anytime soon

 

[amoggio816]

It's probably also going to disappear as the Magic goes out of New York because I'm sure they aren't going to offer discounts to New Yorkers! They'll still be able to fill both ships up.