How to justify the price to my hubby?!

[NancyIL]

I cannot see the advantage the DCL has over most of the other cruise companies because there are some great ships out there, that offer much more and charge less for cruises, that don't have the Disney name. Most statements that are derogatory of the other cruise lines are those who have only cruised DCL. Those statements should have the weight of a grain of salt. Many I see seem to make me think they come from immature or bigotted thinking.

I love those that just seem to think they know what they are talking about.

Edd - you need to step away from the Disney Cruise Line boards for awhile! You are taking some people's comments about DCL vs. other cruise lines way too personally. Your arguments aren't going to convince people that cruising with Disney is a waste of money, or that Royal Caribbean's Freedom-class ships are THE best ships out there. Yes, there are a lot of great cruise ships out there, including some older ships (like Monarch of the Seas - 6 years older than the Magic) that don't have the bells and whistles of RCI's newer ships.

I have cruised with Royal Caribbean more than any other cruise line, so I obviously like it. I also like Princess, Holland America, Celebrity, and Disney. Different cruise lines appeal to different people, and there's room for DCL lovers as well as RCI lovers!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Your comments are well taken. I don't necessarily live for Disney and I appreciate those who do. My comments are directed to those who feel they are doing Disney justice by stretching the truth about certain subjects to sway someone else's choice.

As you can see I feel that there are three great cruise lines located in Port Canaveral. I don't care who you favor, but I do care what someone writes about them, anyone of them. I call the ones who continue to make those statements immature and stand on that. If someone said something that was not true with Disney I would also comment about that, however I don't see that on these boards.

Why limit yourself to sailing out of PC? I've also sailed out of Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Tampa and Bayonne, NJ. It's all good.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

This is not the same itinerary so I realize it's not comparing apples to apples with OP's price but I just priced out the Explorer of the Seas, 5 nt cruise to Bermuda for 6/19/10. 2 ad, 2 children with a balcony is over $5200. Cheapest inside is just under $4K. This is around the same price as June 09 when we did this cruise. No stops at a private island.
Their inside staterooms are only 160 sq ft so for a little more, we got 2 connecting inside rooms.

I could only choke this down knowing we didn't have to pay for airfare and it was for a dear friend's (our best man's) birthday celebration. This was the cruise he chose so we let him but we have gotten way better deals sailing out of FL, even with the cost of airfare.

Anyhoo, while we enjoyed the ice show and skating rink, the rock climbing wall was closed more than half the time and when it was open the line was so long, my kids didn't feel like waiting an hour to do it.
A big turn off for me was that you have to sign out pool/beach towels with your key and get charged $20 per towel if not returned. I felt like I was nagging my kids half the trip about their towel location. Carnival does this too so DCL was a welcome change to just toss them in the hamper and not worry about it.
There was a cool kid's slide at the far aft part of the ship that was closed the entire cruise with no explanation at all.

Just for the sake of comparison, I priced FOS for same Halloween weekend sailing as the one we're doing on the Magic. Same cabin choice, window on deck 2, FOS is $90 less than our onboard booking price on the Magic.

My point is, DCL isn't sooo much more than other cruise lines.

 

[NancyIL]

This is not the same itinerary so I realize it's not comparing apples to apples with OP's price but I just priced out the Explorer of the Seas, 5 nt cruise to Bermuda for 6/19/10. 2 ad, 2 children with a balcony is over $5200. Cheapest inside is just under $4K. This is around the same price as June 09 when we did this cruise. No stops at a private island.
Their inside staterooms are only 160 sq ft so for a little more, we got 2 connecting inside rooms.

I could only choke this down knowing we didn't have to pay for airfare and it was for a dear friend's (our best man's) birthday celebration. This was the cruise he chose so we let him but we have gotten way better deals sailing out of FL, even with the cost of airfare.

Anyhoo, while we enjoyed the ice show and skating rink, the rock climbing wall was closed more than half the time and when it was open the line was so long, my kids didn't feel like waiting an hour to do it.
A big turn off for me was that you have to sign out pool/beach towels with your key and get charged $20 per towel if not returned. I felt like I was nagging my kids half the trip about their towel location. Carnival does this too so DCL was a welcome change to just toss them in the hamper and not worry about it.
There was a cool kid's slide at the far aft part of the ship that was closed the entire cruise with no explanation at all.

Just for the sake of comparison, I priced FOS for same Halloween weekend sailing as the one we're doing on the Magic. Same cabin choice, window on deck 2, FOS is $90 less than our onboard booking price on the Magic.

My point is, DCL isn't sooo much more than other cruise lines.

I agree that Bermuda cruises are pricey. I was on a Grandeur of the Seas repositioning cruise last April from San Juan to Norfolk, VA. Its last port stop was King's Wharf, Bermuda, in addition to St. Thomas, Tortola, and St. Maarten. The senior rate for our inside cabin was $399/pp (my older sister was the senior ), and that was less expensive than the 5-night cruises from the east coast that spend only 2 days in Bermuda.

I pointed out in a thread here several months ago that a January 2011 western Caribbean cruise on the Magic (for my family of 5 in 2 inside cabins) would cost a little less than the same cruise on Freedom of the Seas - which Edd found hard to believe. DCL can be comparably priced to its competition, and I think we'll see even more of that as DCL's fleet expands.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

It seems DCL's biggest price jump is going from window to balcony. Every time of think of splurging on a balcony, it's $800 more than a window for a 7 nt. cruise. I can't help but think, 'That's our airfare.' and would I feel like I'm getting $800 worth from that balcony?
So we stick with the window and be thankful for that.

 

[Tink&SquirtsMom]

I pointed out in a thread here several months ago that a January 2011 western Caribbean cruise on the Magic (for my family of 5 in 2 inside cabins) would cost a little less than the same cruise on Freedom of the Seas - which Edd found hard to believe. DCL can be comparably priced to its competition, and I think we'll see even more of that as DCL's fleet expands.

Pricewise, I don't find them quite as far apart as some people do either. Taking 2 adults and 3 kids, and two interior rooms I priced a few different itineraries on RCCL. Vision class 5 night is around $3200 ($128 pp, per night). Freedom class (which I would guess is closest to the Dream) is around $4800 for 7 night ($137 pp, per night). Compared to a 5 night Disney Dream for around $3600 ($144 pp, per night). If I include the OBC the Dream price is down to $138 pp, per night. We chose the Dream.

Admittedly, my prices are not apples to apples as the itineraries are very different and given RCCL pricing is for early June 2010 and Disney is early June 2011, this is because June 2011 pricing is only out for the Oasis ships (considerably more), but it gives me a good idea of what I am looking at (and so far 2011 RCCL pricing that has been released looks to be consistent with the pricing for the same week in 2010).

As a side note: we have been on both DCL and RCCL Freedom class and love them both. A great vacation can be had on either. In our opinon (which is just that, only opinion) RCCL wins on food, pools, ship activities and nightlife. DCL wins on kids clubs and kids activities, spa experience (rainforest room and spa villas), decor, shows, and some comfort factors which just make the overall experience nice (kids more effectively kept from adult areas, not having to check out towels, free sodas, etc).

 

[Tink&SquirtsMom]

I pointed out in a thread here several months ago that a January 2011 western Caribbean cruise on the Magic (for my family of 5 in 2 inside cabins) would cost a little less than the same cruise on Freedom of the Seas - which Edd found hard to believe. DCL can be comparably priced to its competition, and I think we'll see even more of that as DCL's fleet expands.

Pricewise, I don't find them quite as far apart as some people do either. Taking 2 adults and 3 kids, and two interior rooms I priced a few different itineraries on RCCL. Vision class 5 night is around $3200 ($128 pp, per night). Freedom class (which I would guess is closest to the Dream) is around $4800 for 7 night ($137 pp, per night). Compared to a 5 night Disney Dream for around $3600 ($144 pp, per night). If I include the OBC the Dream price is down to $138 pp, per night. We chose the Dream.

Admittedly, my prices are not apples to apples as the itineraries are very different and given RCCL pricing is for early June 2010 and Disney is early June 2011, this is because June 2011 pricing is only out for the Oasis ships (considerably more), but it gives me a good idea of what I am looking at (and so far 2011 RCCL pricing that has been released looks to be consistent with the pricing for the same week in 2010).

As a side note: we have been on both DCL and RCCL Freedom class and love them both. A great vacation can be had on either. In our opinon (which is just that, only opinion) RCCL wins on food, pools, ship activities and nightlife. DCL wins on kids clubs and kids activities, spa experience (rainforest room and spa villas), decor, shows, and some comfort factors which just make the overall experience nice (kids more effectively kept from adult areas, not having to check out towels, free sodas, etc).