How do people cruise 25+ times on DCL?

[auntlynne]

I haven’t reached 25 cruises on Disney. But I have done 29 on various lines (19 on Disney; I don’t expect to get to Pearl). I started cruising at 46 yo.

And my vacations are not exclusively cruising. But cruising is so much easier to plan (and do).

To answer your question, I think the secret is in valuing vacation. Making it a priority. Be it for relaxation, a break from routine, or the experiences of seeing the world or new places or revisiting a familiar favorite. (Having friends and family who encourage - or at least don’t discourage - travel helps).

It is a lot easier if you aren’t working around school or activity schedules. And if you have flexibility in work vacations. When I worked in hospitals, three 12-hour shifts per week could be arranged to have 8 free days without using any vacation time.

And not to overlook the obvious, it helps to have access to money. Again, part is prioritizing it, but also having the income. We who can make the choice whether to vacation are indeed fortunate ones.

(Our first cruise was in 2007. Three nights in the Wonder for $420 for 3 people; not per person. Cruise rates have gone up faster than my earning ability. I consider Disney cruising to be more expensive than it used to be.)

 

[tvguy]

Remember that for the most part only the top 10% can afford a DCL cruise with high frequency. I know folks who can not afford DCL ever and often just sail Carnival or RCL to save a lot of money and sail more often.

I have never seen that stat, but they fill 5 ships now, so all can I says is, there are enough people who can afford a Disney cruise.

 

[Clarkson U]

I have never seen that stat, but they fill 5 ships now, so all can I says is, there are enough people who can afford a Disney cruise.

Didn’t think of
My statement as a true factual statement as no one has that research done. However multiple websites listing govt sources say that in 2022 HOUSEHOLD gross income of about $212,000 puts you in the top 10% of all HOUSEHOLDS in the US and HOUSEHOLD income of around 129,000 puts you in the top 25% of all HOUSEHOLDS in the US. People can and do save plenty of money to go on vacations even with less income but as a general sort of statement I find it hard to imagine most people making less than these amounts are going on many DCL vacations.

Now to be fair I did just read an article last night that on a survey done by Lending Tree that found about 18% of their respondents said that they went into debt to visit Walt Disney World and that the majority of them will have it paid off in 6 months or less. So maybe others go into debt to go on a DCL cruise ? From my friends, most do not go on a DCL cruise because it is not affordable for them and most of them make more than $129k but less than $212k in HOUSEHOLD income!

Don’t want to get off topic or keep debating this point as this is not the intent of this thread or my original post but this is somewhat where my statement came from and I felt the need to respond to your question. Thanks and Happy New Year!

 

[GinnyB23]

I am about to take my family for our very first cruise on a DCL. When I scroll through these forums, I frequently see people have done DCL 25, 40, 50 times!! How in the world is that possible? Are all your vacations concentrated on DCL? Naive curiosity!

While my family has not been fortunate to go 25 times - we are a multiple-year cruiser having gone about 8 times. The most spectacular was the Mediterranean Cruise. I told my kids it was a trip of a life time and it truly was. There is nothing better than going to sleep at night and then waking up to an exciting new port. With that said, our kids begged to go on another Disney Cruise where they could pretty much just stay on the ship. There is so much to enjoy on board. You just can't take it all in in a week or so. I can't wait to go on my next cruise.

 

[tvguy]

Didn’t think of
My statement as a true factual statement as no one has that research done. However multiple websites listing govt sources say that in 2022 HOUSEHOLD gross income of about $212,000 puts you in the top 10% of all HOUSEHOLDS in the US and HOUSEHOLD income of around 129,000 puts you in the top 25% of all HOUSEHOLDS in the US. People can and do save plenty of money to go on vacations even with less income but as a general sort of statement I find it hard to imagine most people making less than these amounts are going on many DCL vacations.

Now to be fair I did just read an article last night that on a survey done by Lending Tree that found about 18% of their respondents said that they went into debt to visit Walt Disney World and that the majority of them will have it paid off in 6 months or less. So maybe others go into debt to go on a DCL cruise ? From my friends, most do not go on a DCL cruise because it is not affordable for them and most of them make more than $129k but less than $212k in HOUSEHOLD income!

Don’t want to get off topic or keep debating this point as this is not the intent of this thread or my original post but this is somewhat where my statement came from and I felt the need to respond to your question. Thanks and Happy New Year!

I have no reason to, and I am not disputing your information. My observation was far less scientific, but just as true....they are filling the ships. Yeah, between joining and lurking on the DIS over 20 years, I am amazed how many people. go into debt for a vacation. We always waited until we saved the money before we booked a trip and paid for it when booked.

 

[happycamper47]

Now to be fair I did just read an article last night that on a survey done by Lending Tree that found about 18% of their respondents said that they went into debt to visit Walt Disney World and that the majority of them will have it paid off in 6 months or less. So maybe others go into debt to go on a DCL cruise ? From my friends, most do not go on a DCL cruise because it is not affordable for them and most of them make more than $129k but less than $212k in HOUSEHOLD income!

Using the Disney Visa makes that statement very logical since you have 6 months interest free for Cruises and WDW Packages (Room & Tickets). If you plan it correctly you can spread the payments out even further by making partial payments using the card that are individually given the 6 month window for repayment.

EXAMPLE: Book a cruise at $4,500 that has a PIF date 6 months later, then make 6 $900 monthly payments on the CC. Doing that gives you almost a full year to make the final CC payment with no interest, or about $400 per month.

 

[Garyjames220]

Didn’t think of
My statement as a true factual statement as no one has that research done. However multiple websites listing govt sources say that in 2022 HOUSEHOLD gross income of about $212,000 puts you in the top 10% of all HOUSEHOLDS in the US and HOUSEHOLD income of around 129,000 puts you in the top 25% of all HOUSEHOLDS in the US. People can and do save plenty of money to go on vacations even with less income but as a general sort of statement I find it hard to imagine most people making less than these amounts are going on many DCL vacations.

Now to be fair I did just read an article last night that on a survey done by Lending Tree that found about 18% of their respondents said that they went into debt to visit Walt Disney World and that the majority of them will have it paid off in 6 months or less. So maybe others go into debt to go on a DCL cruise ? From my friends, most do not go on a DCL cruise because it is not affordable for them and most of them make more than $129k but less than $212k in HOUSEHOLD income!

Don’t want to get off topic or keep debating this point as this is not the intent of this thread or my original post but this is somewhat where my statement came from and I felt the need to respond to your question. Thanks and Happy New Year!

that’s interesting our income is about 40k a year here in the uk and we do two weeks in a Disney hotel every two years half mod/half deluxe and do cruises yearly. Switch between dcl and royal and have one year old twins.
I guess it’s all about how u spend your money and what other things u do

u don’t need to be rich to do dcl, just some good saving skills will do the trick

we pay everything before we go to, no credit card needed

 

[mousefan73]

.
Based on people I know it's easy three ways:
1. Have tons of money and love to cruise and have DCL as a preffered cruise line.
2. Florida resident
3. Industry rates: there are many Disney travel planners who get special rates and take the time to use them as they love DCL

 

[mmouse37]

You mentioned that your first Disney cruise is this year. Our first Disney cruise was in 1998.

Us too....we were on the Magic's MV July 30, 1998 so 25 years of cruising DCL, averaging about 2 cruises a year.

MJ

 

[FastPasser.]

3. Industry rates: there are many Disney travel planners who get special rates and take the time to use them as they love DCL

Disney CMs and DIsney Company retirees also get a very generous discount.