How come DCL isn't selling out?

[LAS2AMS]

I have two cruises coming up. Both are sold out. One in March of 2025 and the other in April of 2026. To me it looks like DCL is doing great.

Not uncommon for speciality itineraries to sell out in advance, but those are always outliers (like the solar eclipse cruises that sold out in weeks). For the PC cruise in 2026, I suspect Disney limited early bookings and we will see more availability later, a la the Hawaii cruise that took place a couple years ago.

 

[FastPasser.]

I’m Platinum and based on my cruising history, I’ve encountered very few CMs on cruises. 90% discount, I wish. And the number of cruises offered to CMs is tiny.

 

[Mango7100]

I have two cruises coming up. Both are sold out. One in March of 2025 and the other in April of 2026. To me it looks like DCL is doing great.

Selling out in advance before the PIF date is a lot different than sailing at full occupancy. People book stuff and will drop before PIF due to change of plans or just change of mind. We originally booked a DCL July 2024 cruise more than a year in advance and cancelled in Feb and switched to a different cruise line. We have a DCL Feb 2025 cruise booked that we will likely cancel but will keep the March 2025 Treasure one.

 

[o&smom]

We have lucked out and not seen much bad behavior on our cruises. There was a lady on our New Year’s cruise who must have prepartied a little too much... she knocked a whole tray of champagne out of a cast members hands on deck before the countdown. Good lessen to my 9 yr old DS and 3 1/2 yr old DD not to drink too much! The worst behavior we have ever experienced, and did not think we ever would on a Disney cruise was a forty something couple making advances on 18-20 year olds on our Med cruise last June. I wanted to report it, but since the kids were “adults” I did not think that there was anything that Disney could do about it.

 

[Aquamom]

Just an observation...why aren't Disney cruises selling out anymore? There are still tons of availability on all of there summer sailings. I remember just a few years ago when DCL would sell out a year in advance. You used to have to call the day sailings opened to the public and be on hold for hours to get a cabin. Now they are cutting prices on sailings and trying to fill the ship with Florida residents and cast members. Is it due to the economy? Prices of the cruises? Other cruise lines seem to be selling out all the time.

We just got off the June 27-July 1 and July 1 - July 6 sailings and they were totally sold out. This was on the Magic and we went to Lighthouse Point on the first one and Castaway and Lighthouse Point on the second one.

 

[DodgerGirl]

I have never figured out why Disney decided to get into the cruise line industry in the first place and I think the reason Disney Cruise Line exists is because Disney had always dreamed of launching their own cruise line ever since they teamed up with the no longer existing The Big Red Boat cruise line in the 90's. Fast forward to 1997 when Disney finally launched Disney Cruise Line with their very first cruise ship Disney Magic Disney knew that their new cruise line would take off like a rocket and once Disney Magic began sailing it's first voyage reservations and cabins were full and sold out like hotcakes and the same thing was repeated when Disney Cruise Line's second ship Disney Wonder debuted. But why I think DCL isn't selling out many cruises as they used to is because ever since the Disney Wish began it's first sailing the prices for Disney Cruise Line's cruises started to get more expensive and ever since the Disney Treasure debuted the cruises prices repeated themselves and once people who wanted a DCL cruise noticed the expensive prices of the cruises they started to look for other alternative cruise lines for cheaper cruises. But when you look at how Carnival Princess Royal Caribbean and other cruise lines share competition with DCL they always seem to be number two three and four with DCL and Celebrity tied for first place. But one other thing that DCL rarely has is problems with their ships unlike Carnival who's famous for ship problems and I think the reason why cruises started becoming popular again was due to the show The Love Boat because before cruises became popular most people who took cruises were afraid that it would end up like what happened to the Titanic. But if DCL wants to be number one in cruise lines what they should do is lower the prices of their cruises and sell more of them with the cheaper price to attract more customers to them

 

[CaseyCruiser]

I have never figured out why Disney decided to get into the cruise line industry in the first place and I think the reason Disney Cruise Line exists is because Disney had always dreamed of launching their own cruise line ever since they teamed up with the no longer existing The Big Red Boat cruise line in the 90's. Fast forward to 1997 when Disney finally launched Disney Cruise Line with their very first cruise ship Disney Magic Disney knew that their new cruise line would take off like a rocket and once Disney Magic began sailing it's first voyage reservations and cabins were full and sold out like hotcakes and the same thing was repeated when Disney Cruise Line's second ship Disney Wonder debuted. But why I think DCL isn't selling out many cruises as they used to is because ever since the Disney Wish began it's first sailing the prices for Disney Cruise Line's cruises started to get more expensive and ever since the Disney Treasure debuted the cruises prices repeated themselves and once people who wanted a DCL cruise noticed the expensive prices of the cruises they started to look for other alternative cruise lines for cheaper cruises. But when you look at how Carnival Princess Royal Caribbean and other cruise lines share competition with DCL they always seem to be number two three and four with DCL and Celebrity tied for first place. But one other thing that DCL rarely has is problems with their ships unlike Carnival who's famous for ship problems and I think the reason why cruises started becoming popular again was due to the show The Love Boat because before cruises became popular most people who took cruises were afraid that it would end up like what happened to the Titanic. But if DCL wants to be number one in cruise lines what they should do is lower the prices of their cruises and sell more of them with the cheaper price to attract more customers to them

97% occupancy rate. They are doing something right.

 

[dreamer17555]

I’m Platinum and based on my cruising history, I’ve encountered very few CMs on cruises. 90% discount, I wish. And the number of cruises offered to CMs is tiny.

I have encountered quite a few over my last 11 sailings since 2020... In fact many are really good at trivia. I tend to ask where they live and if they mention certain states and are friendly will pose the question if they are CMs. Most of the time they say yes but they are trying to keep it quiet. In fact I don't think I have had a sailing where I haven't cruised with a CM as a guest on that sailing... Some of them have had several (I don't cruise Summer or holidays so my chances might be higher)


ETA- I have only found one CM sailing who was very outgoing about their CM status. Most kept it very quiet and tended only to answer if directly asked and often when I also said something about how my DD just finished the DCP. I don't think most guest realize when other guests are CMs

 

[Lucien Franciosa]

97% occupancy rate. They are doing something right.

Agreed, from a shareholder point of view, something very right.

What some people want to forget is that Disney as a business cares about (and should) profits. That's not a dirty word but part of our capitalistic system. And if Disney can sell (and one can't have it both ways, either its gotten much more expensive or its not) at higher prices 97% occupancy (and forget the myth of cast member discounts adds appreciably to that) versus sell at lower prices at 100%, well, that's a win for Disney. Higher profits with fewer resources.

This whole thread is full of anecdotes because people are torn between what they want, and what they see leading them to support some really strange positions with anecdotes. Anecdotes are fine when considering micro systems but this is a general discussion on a larger topic.

For example the anecdote that the cruises aren't selling out as fast as they used to... no one has presented actual numbers on this but it seems to be accepted as 100% fact (to me fact is provable and based on data that can be shared). And compared to.. when? are we talking when there were only two ships and the prices were lower as disney built their brand, or are we talking recently. Unclear. Bring back the good ole years is not a new thing and is often filled with conformational bias and rose colored glasses.

Presented as evidence to support this position (which even if true, so what?) is the number of cruises with cabins put on Guaranteed Rates (with all the limitations that include). But how big of a deal of this? From the Disney Cruise website, there are currently 19 cruises listed with Guaranteed Rates. During the same time frame Disney has 165 total cruises available for a booking. That doesn't include cruises already sold out (and here people debate what sold out means, for now let's accept it means you can't book that cruise). But how big of a 'problem' is 19/165? 12%. Those numbers change daily, but whether it's 12% or 15% or 9%, it's just not a majority of cruises. Not a big deal. I would argue people should want to see some cruises going on sale in this manner, gives the bargain hunters something to feel good about.

I think the answer to the question, 'if its true that Disney is not selling out as fast as in the past ' is 'because they are working on their price model to optimize profits, selling out fast means missed opportunity.'

But, hey, that doesn't match the narrative so...

 

[DVC Gma]

Yep, similar experience. A few years ago we booked a verandah room for us and an inside state room for our late teen daughters. Total cost was about $1,000 less than Disney which we prefer.

Now that the daughters are in university, my wife and I will take a Disney cruise off season while they’re at school. Way better on the pricing.

When is off season?

 

[DCLMP]

When is off season?

Anytime kids are in school

 

[DCLMP]

97% occupancy rate. They are doing something right.

I think as they add more ships we will see more deals and better pricing on the older ships.

 

[clarker99]

When is off season?

after Easter until the end of June and September.

 

[Lucien Franciosa]

I think as they add more ships we will see more deals and better pricing on the older ships.

I always look to the past for trends to the future, did people see more deals on the Fab Four (particularly the Dream and Fantasy) when the Wish got introduced? I just remember people complaining about how more expensive the Wish was (amongst other Wish related complaints lol), don't recall discussion about how its a good time to get on the Fab Four (but I may not have been paying attention, hence why I ask).

Part of the difficulty I have analyzing cost data from DCL is just how wide prices vary depending on the perceived off seasons, but I swear across the board prices of the Treasure rose like 15% (give or take) with the most recent listings. I asked my TA about this and did not get a comforting (data supported) answer, but she quickly drove down into the weeks based on a particular season.

 

[Sleepyluke]

I always look to the past for trends to the future, did people see more deals on the Fab Four (particularly the Dream and Fantasy) when the Wish got introduced? I just remember people complaining about how more expensive the Wish was (amongst other Wish related complaints lol), don't recall discussion about how its a good time to get on the Fab Four (but I may not have been paying attention, hence why I ask).

I don't have the true numbers, but I think this was the start of the larger per year increases. Also, we had saved up cancelled cruise credits from Covid, so people were playing with free money to an extent. They were able to get more and it has not gone back down. With the addition of the Wish, it was "substantially" higher priced per day. We wrote it off as it is a new ship and will come back down. The other ships had increases, just not as significant, so we went along with it, while staring at the massive increases to be on the Wish. When it came out there was a lot of negative press, especially on here, and at least I think it was partly due to the increase in price, people expected that much of an increase in perceived greatness of the cruise experience, and it is just not there. Had it been a discounted cruise I think the sentiment would have been different.

 

[Lucien Franciosa]

I don't have the true numbers, but I think this was the start of the larger per year increases. Also, we had saved up cancelled cruise credits from Covid, so people were playing with free money to an extent. They were able to get more and it has not gone back down. With the addition of the Wish, it was "substantially" higher priced per day. We wrote it off as it is a new ship and will come back down. The other ships had increases, just not as significant, so we went along with it, while staring at the massive increases to be on the Wish. When it came out there was a lot of negative press, especially on here, and at least I think it was partly due to the increase in price, people expected that much of an increase in perceived greatness of the cruise experience, and it is just not there. Had it been a discounted cruise I think the sentiment would have been different.

The best cruise experience I had was at the end of covid, costs were lower as they tried to lure people back on board, staff was as eager as ever to help, they were innovative on improving the overall experience (adult drink cart to our room at 5pm for cocktails on the veranda, how civilized!). I am glad I got to experience that, but understand they could not continue with that. The overall industry is now trying to make up for lost economic ground and we as customers are paying for that. I dont think everyone acknowledges that point, someone always has to pay for problems (and the industry closing for 18 months was a problem lol), and that someone is almost always the customer ultimately. In other cruise lines they have cut services and some are being more obvious in their Nickel and diming. So I don't think it's informative to compare now to then (not that you were, just prompted me to think about). And I do think you have a point, the Wish's cruise pricing caught most by surprise so we perhaps overlooked the lower increases in the other ships. But that is my thoughts, that prices are only going to go up, not down, with new ships. I think the price of the Treasure has gone up even from this year to next, but I paid because I wanted to experience it. The Adventure is being billed as very high end.

having said that, I loved the Wish. I know thats not a popular sentiment but thats why my motto is 'choice is good'. Hence why I am eager to try the Adventure.

 

[MonaMN]

Interestingly, I was looking at dates for spring break 2026 and I thought the Treasure prices were high. Then I looked at the Wish and suddenly the Treasure looked OK given the difference in length in cruise (4 nights versus 7 nights - only $1K difference for inside stateroom during the same week in March).

 

[DCLMP]

I always look to the past for trends to the future, did people see more deals on the Fab Four (particularly the Dream and Fantasy) when the Wish got introduced? I just remember people complaining about how more expensive the Wish was (amongst other Wish related complaints lol), don't recall discussion about how its a good time to get on the Fab Four (but I may not have been paying attention, hence why I ask).

Part of the difficulty I have analyzing cost data from DCL is just how wide prices vary depending on the perceived off seasons, but I swear across the board prices of the Treasure rose like 15% (give or take) with the most recent listings. I asked my TA about this and did not get a comforting (data supported) answer, but she quickly drove down into the weeks based on a particular season.

Yes especially when the Dream was in Miami. The only reason the Magic is priced high is the new island. There's always deals. There are always going to be sailings that don't sell.

If you look at any cruise line. The new ships cost more. The old ships cost less. The old ships usually get the better itinerary's to attract sales and the new ships get the crappy stale itineraries. That's why the Magic has the 10 day Caribbean cruise next year not the Treasure.

 

[MartyParty]

When is off season?

Typically when schools are in, that’s off season. Although in the northeast they have some different school holidays outside of summer.

 

[DCLMP]

Interestingly, I was looking at dates for spring break 2026 and I thought the Treasure prices were high. Then I looked at the Wish and suddenly the Treasure looked OK given the difference in length in cruise (4 nights versus 7 nights - only $1K difference for inside stateroom during the same week in March).

Those 4 night cruises out of PC have always been big money makers.