Disney Vacation Club members should be treated fairly when booking a Disney Cruise

[disneynutz]

THAT is the real issue to me. There's a hefty Disney tax on DCL isn't there? I haven't been on one but I suppose that's the cost of not having an onboard casino to make up the difference. RCCL has always been my favorite when I cruised in the past.

Disney is considered a premium product, DCL, parks, resorts, merchandise. Disney will price based on what buyers will pay, when sales slow, they adjust prices down. When sales are brisk, they increases prices until they see them stall.

Bill

 

[ScubaCat]

Disney is considered a premium product

So people think. I find RCCL ships to be a premium product all the same. Disney has stellar marketing and has developed an irrational cult like following. Nevertheless, who am I to talk? I'm posting this very message from poolside at SAB.

 

[Dean]

THAT is the real issue to me. There's a hefty Disney tax on DCL isn't there? I haven't been on one but I suppose that's the cost of not having an onboard casino to make up the difference. RCCL has always been my favorite when I cruised in the past.

It's actually a double whammy, more expensive and a poor conversion rate.

Disney is considered a premium product, DCL, parks, resorts, merchandise. Disney will price based on what buyers will pay, when sales slow, they adjust prices down. When sales are brisk, they increases prices until they see them stall.

Bill

I find DCL and RCCL to be fairly comparable. Each has their advantages and disadvantages but I think it unreasonable to say one is better than the other overall. Put another way, compared to RCCL, DCL is not a premium product, it's a mainline cruise product.

 

[disneynutz]

It's actually a double whammy, more expensive and a poor conversion rate.

I find DCL and RCCL to be fairly comparable. Each has their advantages and disadvantages but I think it unreasonable to say one is better than the other overall. Put another way, compared to RCCL, DCL is not a premium product, it's a mainline cruise product.

Where do you consider Celebrity in the mix?

Bill

 

[Dean]

Where do you consider Celebrity in the mix?

Bill

Along side Holland Americian and Cunard and a little above Princess, DCL & RCCL from a luxury standpoint. I'd look at them like many of the ratings you'll find on line and elsewhere; Luxury, Premium, Family/Mainstream and the like. Many of these would put NCL & Carnival in the same group but I personally wouldn't. Obviously it depends on what a given person's criteria are and what's important to them and to a degree, how much of a splitter or lumper one tends to be. DCL is a great product but IMO it's not worth significantly more than RCL or Princess all else equal. YMMV.

 

[freediverdude]

THAT is the real issue to me. There's a hefty Disney tax on DCL isn't there? I haven't been on one but I suppose that's the cost of not having an onboard casino to make up the difference. RCCL has always been my favorite when I cruised in the past.

You hit the nail on the head there. There's a DCL tax, because other cruises make their profit on the casinos and the drinks. No casino on Disney, and not as much drinking because of families, so Disney has to charge more.

 

[ScubaCat]

You hit the nail on the head there. There's a DCL tax, because other cruises make their profit on the casinos and the drinks. No casino on Disney, and not as much drinking because of families, so Disney has to charge more.

Yup, no compulsive gambler subsidy. And people drop SERIOUS cash in those cruise ship casinos, so it's not an insignificant difference.

 

[disneynutz]

You hit the nail on the head there. There's a DCL tax, because other cruises make their profit on the casinos and the drinks. No casino on Disney, and not as much drinking because of families, so Disney has to charge more.

They don't have to charge more, we choose to let them charge more, billions in profit each year.

Bill

 

[_auroraborealis_]

For some, the lack of casino and the greater family-friendliness may be what they consider worth that premium, especially with younger children.

 

[Dean]

For some, the lack of casino and the greater family-friendliness may be what they consider worth that premium, especially with younger children.

And for others it's a negative, my sister wouldn't go on DCL due to the lack of Casino. Not that she really is there very much.

 

[mouselike-harrier]

My story with DCL and granted, I did not buy trip insurance which is my fault, but I didn't know how to do it or if it was needed because I booked entirely on points (I refuse to do it with Disney because of the price difference between any other trip insurance vendors). So, we had a trip for a 4 day Bahama cruise booked for the 3 of us, myself, DH and daughter (16). At the very beginning of March, DH fell down the stairs and smashed his heel into many pieces. The doctor said no way to the cruise. I immediately called member services to see if I could move the cruise to a time with comparable points and of course, pay the $95 booking fee again with any more associated costs. They said they had to check with DCL after finding a cruise with the appropriate points. DCL said no way. Long story short. DD and I went in order to not lose everything, and came away with 40 reservation points that will incur the $95 fee that I have to use before Nov. 30th. I do not blame DVC, I blame DCL. Never again will I use points.

 

[DenLo]

You hit the nail on the head there. There's a DCL tax, because other cruises make their profit on the casinos and the drinks. No casino on Disney, and not as much drinking because of families, so Disney has to charge more.

I understand about the casino but not the drinking. We have only been on two DCL cruises but there was a lot of drinking. Back then you were allowed to bring alcohol onboard so they were not buying the drinks but bringing them to the lounge and dinner from their rooms. Perhaps when then the new rules went into effect the same guests stop drinking, but I doubt it.

 

[disneynutz]

My story with DCL and granted, I did not buy trip insurance which is my fault, but I didn't know how to do it or if it was needed because I booked entirely on points (I refuse to do it with Disney because of the price difference between any other trip insurance vendors). So, we had a trip for a 4 day Bahama cruise booked for the 3 of us, myself, DH and daughter (16). At the very beginning of March, DH fell down the stairs and smashed his heel into many pieces. The doctor said no way to the cruise. I immediately called member services to see if I could move the cruise to a time with comparable points and of course, pay the $95 booking fee again with any more associated costs. They said they had to check with DCL after finding a cruise with the appropriate points. DCL said no way. Long story short. DD and I went in order to not lose everything, and came away with 40 reservation points that will incur the $95 fee that I have to use before Nov. 30th. I do not blame DVC, I blame DCL. Never again will I use points.

Interesting that DCL and DVC are both run by Karl Holtz, you think that they would give DVC a break and not make using points so expensive and difficult.

Bill

 

[Dean]

I understand about the casino but not the drinking. We have only been on two DCL cruises but there was a lot of drinking. Back then you were allowed to bring alcohol onboard so they were not buying the drinks but bringing them to the lounge and dinner from their rooms. Perhaps when then the new rules went into effect the same guests stop drinking, but I doubt it.

That is a choice they made plus they have other space to use for revenue due to not having the casino. They can certainly charge what they want and as long as they keep the ships full compared to say what other similar companies do in the same markets and timeframe, that's their choice. For me we enjoy DCL but find the additional costs unreasonable for routine use.

My story with DCL and granted, I did not buy trip insurance which is my fault, but I didn't know how to do it or if it was needed because I booked entirely on points (I refuse to do it with Disney because of the price difference between any other trip insurance vendors). So, we had a trip for a 4 day Bahama cruise booked for the 3 of us, myself, DH and daughter (16). At the very beginning of March, DH fell down the stairs and smashed his heel into many pieces. The doctor said no way to the cruise. I immediately called member services to see if I could move the cruise to a time with comparable points and of course, pay the $95 booking fee again with any more associated costs. They said they had to check with DCL after finding a cruise with the appropriate points. DCL said no way. Long story short. DD and I went in order to not lose everything, and came away with 40 reservation points that will incur the $95 fee that I have to use before Nov. 30th. I do not blame DVC, I blame DCL. Never again will I use points.

I presume you were either past the cancelation deadline or had other limitations on your end as for number of points, time frame, times you could get away, etc.

Interesting that DCL and DVC are both run by Karl Holtz, you think that they would give DVC a break and not make using points so expensive and difficult.

Bill

They are legally different and to give a break simply because they have the same person in charge would be unreasonable. IMO the issue is on the DVC side in not negotiation a better deal more than anything else. While I generally find using DVC points for DCL (even if it were priced more competitively) a bad deal, I don't see it as DVC's fault necessarily. I do feel DVC could potentially negotiate a better situation up front (and I'm not just talking price) but given the various components of how they've set it up, the end result is about where it should be. Basically they have to turn the DVC points into cash AND pay CRO a % in doing so plus account for unrented rooms. IMO the price per point isn't that bad IF they removed the limitation of paying a full adult on points and based it off the market rates at the time of the booking. To me, those are bigger negatives than the price per point per se but they are all additive. Part of the equation that's slightly different than other timeshares with similar options (though no where near 100%) is that DVC points have a very good liquidity factor.

 

[fishermouse]

unless you have your heart set on a disney cruise almost all other cruise lines are a better deal. RC offers great deals, usually half what DCL will cost and their ships are fantastic.For the record I am a huge Disney fan and love everything Disney, just can't justify the cost of DCL.