Gee, thanks, DCL, for blacking out all of spring break 2021

[fredandkell]

While onboard last week, I specifically did a dummy booking with the intent of booking Fantasy Eastern in April 2021 when the itinerary came out.

Fast-forward a couple of days, and I see that pretty much any ship, any itinerary, the first couple weeks of April is a blackout date. Thanks so much, Disney.

Last year's release only had ONE blackout date in the spring, the 2-day Wonder from San Diego. Grrrrr.

If they black out Alaska or Europe when they release Summer 2021 I am done with DCL. Harrumph.

 

[sethschroeder]

What would be the alternative other than removing blackouts all together? What do other cruise lines do? Are you given a discount for rebooking or do they have blackouts as well?

 

[fredandkell]

I just sent them this email:

I was on the Magic Bermuda sailing last week. The first day of the cruise, I excitedly went to the onboard booking desk to book my next DCL cruise (#6). I was told the schedule had just come out for spring 2021. Excitedly I went to my room and realized, upon logging onto the DCL website, that my 2021 spring break aligned perfectly with the Fantasy Eastern.

That excitement turned to disappointment, when on Silver day, I was told by my travel agent that all spring break cruises on all ships were blacked out from using the 10% discount. Then, then news broke the same day that future OBBs would no longer have the on-board credit (OBC) perk.

Disney Cruise, you need to read social media and fan blogs. There is an OUTCRY on how you continue to remove perks and raise prices for the same product. I have long been a huge DCL fan and have recommended you to many people, but I can not justify your prices that continue to skyrocket while you remove perks that enable people to manage to take your cruises.

I'm telling you now, if and when Summer 2021 itineraries come out, if Alaska or Europe are blacked out from the 10% discount, I am officially done with Disney Cruising and will seek to give my business to another line. There is only so much people will pay or tolerate, even for the Disney "advantage," and I'm telling you, you are dangerously, dangerously close to that line.

 

[fredandkell]

What would be the alternative other than removing blackouts all together? What do other cruise lines do? Are you given a discount for rebooking or do they have blackouts as well?

I understand blacking out specialty cruises, like the new Wish sailings, etc. But the run-of-the-mill cruises like a 3-day Bahamas on the Dream? Just because it happens to be during spring break, for which people are already paying a premium, so the 10% deduction sort of gets it back down to what you might pay were you sailing during another time of year? I feel like that's just greed.

 

[SnowWhite2]

As long as people pay the prices Disney asks for these cruises, the price will continue to rise. You threatening to leave isn't a drop in the bucket to their income. Actually, they would prefer to sell to the new cruiser instead of you. They purchase more than repeat cruisers. It is supply and demand. Once the three new ships come on line, there might be better deals on the "older" ships.

 

[aliceinvunderland]

Isn’t the point of blackout dates to make people pay full fare for cruises that will fill up? I was not at all surprised that our spring break and Thanksgiving cruises are not only more expensive, but also unavailable for the 10% discount because those are the most popular sailing times. Airlines operate in a similar way, raising ticket prices during peak travel times and blocking these times from frequent flier tickets. Is it frustrating? Yes. Is it predictable? Yes. Is it a reason to get offended and storm off in a huff? No.

 

[eva2015]

Cruises around holidays are often blacked out, that shouldn't be a surprise. Easter is the first Sunday of April 2021, so the week before and after are blacked out. We were looking to book the Wonder for the end of March/early April but after seeing is was blacked out and significantly more expensive, we picked another week.

If you booked a placeholder last week, you will still get the onboard credit.

The threats seem a bit much.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

We usually cruise over Christmas break, and those cruises are typically blocked out. Que sera sera.

The blockouts are less annoying than the fact that these cruises are priced twice as high as typical cruises of their type. But it's when we can cruise, so...

 

[fredandkell]

As long as people pay the prices Disney asks for these cruises, the price will continue to rise. You threatening to leave isn't a drop in the bucket to their income. Actually, they would prefer to sell to the new cruiser instead of you. They purchase more than repeat cruisers. It is supply and demand. Once the three new ships come on line, there might be better deals on the "older" ships.

I know, and I agree. BUT it makes me feel better, haha, and I'm of the school of "If you don't let them know what upsets you, then how will they know?" You should see some of the comments over on the DCL Blog.

 

[mousefan73]

Then jump ship with us. After the Hawiian Wonder, we are most likely done with DCL after only 3 sailings.. Unless we get some great GT rate. For us the price compared to other lines is simply not worth it. I recommend you check out Royal or MeinSchiff if you can deal with German speaking only. GREAT european itinieraries.

we just got off the Fantasy not too long ago.. We a GREAT trip.. but when I think we spent 7000 grand I get a bit peeved. Knowing we could have saved thousands and my teens would have been more intertained.

 

[coast2coastmickey]

I get your frustration, OP. With the cruises, it's not like it's going to impact crowds or anything. The ships usually sail full, so the action of removing discounts is going to have the appearance of a cash grab.

At least in the parks, raising prices will have an impact on crowds and therefore enjoyment. Sure, you're going to upset the folks who get priced out, but at least the upside is that the customer experience will be hypothetically better. We were just at Disneyland last month and the crowds were so low, we didn't mind paying much more for everything because we felt the value was there. You can't get the same effect on a cruise.

 

[Budzooka]

Why the comment about European cruises being blacked out in summer 2021? Have those historically been included in the blackout? I thought it was holiday cruises that were blacked out. We are planning a European cruise summer 2021 and was factoring in the 10% discount.

 

[Mommb]

Why the comment about European cruises being blacked out in summer 2021? Have those historically been included in the blackout? I thought it was holiday cruises that were blacked out.

Most European and Alaskan cruises have not been blacked out. You are correct that the blackout dates are usually over holidays —typically, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. Sometimes 2-night cruises and cruises that are more than 8 nights have been blacked out, but not always.

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

Why the comment about European cruises being blacked out in summer 2021? Have those historically been included in the blackout? I thought it was holiday cruises that were blacked out. We are planning a European cruise summer 2021 and was factoring in the 10% discount.

We used our PHs for two connecting rooms on the 12 Night Med next summer; no problems at all

 

[ray3127]

I just sent them this email:

I was on the Magic Bermuda sailing last week. The first day of the cruise, I excitedly went to the onboard booking desk to book my next DCL cruise (#6). I was told the schedule had just come out for spring 2021. Excitedly I went to my room and realized, upon logging onto the DCL website, that my 2021 spring break aligned perfectly with the Fantasy Eastern.

That excitement turned to disappointment, when on Silver day, I was told by my travel agent that all spring break cruises on all ships were blacked out from using the 10% discount. Then, then news broke the same day that future OBBs would no longer have the on-board credit (OBC) perk.

Disney Cruise, you need to read social media and fan blogs. There is an OUTCRY on how you continue to remove perks and raise prices for the same product. I have long been a huge DCL fan and have recommended you to many people, but I can not justify your prices that continue to skyrocket while you remove perks that enable people to manage to take your cruises.

I'm telling you now, if and when Summer 2021 itineraries come out, if Alaska or Europe are blacked out from the 10% discount, I am officially done with Disney Cruising and will seek to give my business to another line. There is only so much people will pay or tolerate, even for the Disney "advantage," and I'm telling you, you are dangerously, dangerously close to that line.

Are you a teacher? My wife is, and last year it was far cheaper for her to take a week off and a paycheck hit than to cruise during the break week. Her district only gives her 2 personal days; the rest are sick days. So she took 2 personal and had to take 3 unpaid, but the cheaper cruise fare more than made up for the difference. Her administration has no problem allowing for unpaid days, though YMMV. Doing it this way and pre-arranging the same sub for the whole week usually works out well for all involved.

Also note that not everybody has the same spring break. I often read about "spring break" on these boards like it's a national holiday, when in reality the weeks can vary widely. Where I grew up (in CT) we had two separate weeks, one in Feb & one in Apr. Here in the Omaha area, we have multiple school districts (literally 7 in the major metro area), and virtually none of their spring breaks line up with each other. This school year, my wife's break is the middle of March; in 2021 they moved it to float with Easter. I teach at a local university, whose spring break does not line up with my wife's at all. And my son goes to school in yet another district, whose break is also completely different. Within our own family, in one city, we have 3 different break weeks.

Point being... while the weeks before/after Easter are likely popular for breaks/travel, it varies widely. So even for though my wife and I work in education, we'll arrange our schedules to go on cheaper cruises and take advantage of the 10% off. If you have no option to do that, I sympathize. Just wanted to share my perspective/experience.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

Are you a teacher? My wife is, and last year it was far cheaper for her to take a week off and a paycheck hit than to cruise during the break week. Her district only gives her 2 personal days; the rest are sick days. So she took 2 personal and had to take 3 unpaid, but the cheaper cruise fare more than made up for the difference. Her administration has no problem allowing for unpaid days, though YMMV. Doing it this way and pre-arranging the same sub for the whole week usually works out well for all involved.

Wow. I'm a teacher and could never get away with taking an entire school week off for vacation. It simply isn't done in my district. Aside from administration not approving, if we even tried that parents would be unhappy, colleagues would look down at it, and after a week away (even with my preferred sub), it would take a lot of adjusting to get the class's behavior & academics back to normal. Even the best sub can't deliver instruction to my students as effectively as I can. Just can't imagine doing that.

 

[BadPinkTink]

In business discounts and sales are not done cos the business is trying to be nice, its purely a business decison in order for the business to gain revenue.

For things like cruises and flights and hotels, the companies will loose money having to operate when not at full capacity. They still have to operate even if all the cabins and hotel rooms are not occupied or the flight is not full. Most of the time the running costs and overheads are static, so it costs them the same to run at 90% capacity as it does to operate at 60% capacity. Offering a discount as an incentive, ups the capacity rate and the company will recoup some of the revenue from the extra purchases made during the cruise/ flight / hotel stay. From a business point of view its better to offer a discount to get capacity to 90 % then to operate at 60% capacity.

On the flip side, companies wont give discounts or have sales during peak capacity time. They know they will get over 90% capacity without having to offer incentives.

Its well known in Europe that flights, hotels and package holidays are far more expensive during school holidays then in term time. In the UK it causes chaos as parents are fined for taking their kids out of school to go on holidays. Many parents still do as to them paying the fine is worth it to get a cheaper holiday.

 

[ray3127]

Wow. I'm a teacher and could never get away with taking an entire school week off for vacation. It simply isn't done in my district. Aside from administration not approving, if we even tried that parents would be unhappy, colleagues would look down at it, and after a week away (even with my preferred sub), it would take a lot of adjusting to get the class's behavior & academics back to normal. Even the best sub can't deliver instruction to my students as effectively as I can. Just can't imagine doing that.

Interesting. What grade do you teach? Area of country?

My wife is 6th grade here in Nebraska. We did the week off last spring and faced no push back at all. No complaints, no colleagues "looked down" on her, and issues with classroom behavior/adjusting back. The students learned. All completely fine. It worked very well for everybody. Her principal's exact words were "I'll never reject an unpaid request." There's another teacher taking a week this year to go present at some craft workshop. It works out for her financially, and the school is fine with it.

Their district gives something like 12 total days... 2 personal, 1 business/emergency (buying a house, wedding, etc.), and 9 sick. I know of some local districts that give teachers the option to take fewer total days (like 9 or 10), but they are all "personal" no questions asked days. So they can easily schedule a week (or two) off during the year without issue. The teachers in those districts are very happy, as they don't feel like a prisoner to the school calendar. They are treated like most other professionals, which is one of the chief complaints I hear about from my teacher friends (I taught in high school before the university where I am now).

Sure, teachers have a great schedule with lots of scheduled time off, but life doesn't always fit into those boxes. And those can be the most expensive times to travel, so it's nice to have some flexibility. I don't think anybody loses when a teacher plans a week off.

 

[Ladybugx87]

We used our PHs for two connecting rooms on the 12 Night Med next summer; no problems at all

We did too!

 

[lklgoodman]

Ray3127---I'm in Ohio and the Spring Breaks are the same around here. I love our school district, but the one thing I hate about it is the inconsistency of when Spring Break will be each year. It can be anytime in March to the beginning of April. They won't announce it for 2021 until Dec or Jan. I'd like to book during dd's Spring break, but we don't know when it is yet, but I really don't want to spend $2000 more for the same cruise, so we cruise in Jan. My dh isn't able to take off work during the summer, so we are limited to Jan-March which is when he can take off.