I guess DCL won this one...

[TChrist05]

Well maybe they did and possibly not. I am talking about the debated alcohol policy. What it did for me is it opened MY eyes to all the things we have lost along the way. What it also did for me is it made us, my wife and I start looking at other cruise lines. I was one that would not consider anyone else and just going on another cruise lines web site just made me uncomfortable as DCL was my cruise line. Well with all of the controversy of the change, and as I have stated on other threads it did not effect us but was unfortunate it did to many PIF cruisers. I am happy to say after taking off the blinders we did take the plunge and booked a Royal Caribbean cruise. It is not until next year and we do have a 3 day on the Dream at the end of this month which we was a gift to our adult daughter. Difference is we will not visit the future cruise desk. I was kind of surprised that Disney held firm after all the outcry and letters. I was also surprised that people that took the time to send letters and e-mails got some real, in my opinion dumb, foolish responses. It also did not surprise me at all that they did not put anything in writing except to state the new policy. So now I have to start saving since I will now have to navigate a casino.

 

[tinkerone]

this post could almost have been my own. while i haven't lost anything yet either i just don't think i want to wait until i do. we also have booked a cruise on rcl, our first away from dcl. we have an upcoming b2b and it will likely be our last.
i'm not surprised at all that dcl held fast but i'm glad letters were written and calls were made. i'm going to look to the future and enjoy a change.
happy cruising!

 

[Julylady]

We have never sailed Disney exclusively. In fact, we are platinum cruisers on both Disney and RCCL. We cruise Disney in Sept and are also not visiting the rebook desk. DCL is simply put, no longer worth the (extra) cost. The next cruise we book will be either the Freedom or the Oasis.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

While we were on Magic in May we visited the future cruise desk. There were two couples and one older woman in front of us. The two couples went quickly, but when the woman sat down and started booking multiple cruises for several people (my guess was she was a TA), we gave up after 15-20 minutes - she was still nowhere even close to being done - in fact she was going back through her entire two page list to check other options. I never thought I'd actually be thankful for something like that. Turns out she did us a favor

 

[Orukal]

Disney was our cruise line. Heck, we're a family of Disney geeks (I'm sure many of you can relate to a carload of parents and kids singing Disney songs at the tops of your voices). Have recent events changed my mind about our love of the DCL? No, but as the OP mentioned, it really did open our eyes to other cruise lines. Shortly after our upcoming DCL cruise in October, my wife and I will be planning cruises to Alaska and an additional one with our older, out-of-the-house daughters. I can 100% guarantee that they will not be DCL. Do I hope to sail DCL again in the future? Without a doubt, yes. Do I expect to? I can't guarantee that. For a myriad of reasons that all add up, this October may very well be our last Disney cruise. Mind you, this is not some foot-stomping tantrum because I'm not getting my way. My eyes have now been opened to other, attractive alternatives.

For the record, while I may not be bringing a bottle or two of Jack along with me, I'm going to have a blast with my family and with the Wonder itself. I won't be buying at drinks poolside, at dinner or at any of the bars, but I wouldn't have anyway even if the policy change had never happened. I just like a drink or two at the end of the night in my cabin. I'm disappointed with the change, how it's structured and how it was handled (Especially for those post-PIF people like me) but it's definitely not going to adversely affect our cruise.

 

[tvguy]

Disney is one of the best companies at knowing their customers. They research things to death. They aren't perfect, but they will take corrective action quickly if they discover this is a mistake.
Will they lose some repeat customers to other lines? Probably. Will they gain an equal number of new customers because of the changes? Probably.

 

[KashasMom]

I've been there and done it....there IS life after DCL!

 

[squirk]

Will they lose some repeat customers to other lines? Probably. Will they gain an equal number of new customers because of the changes? Probably.

I'm not expecting DCL to really gain any customers because of the new alcohol policy. This change was not meant to encourage new people to book; it was meant to squeeze more money out of people who have booked or will book.

For the minuscule amount of people who actually do cancel because of the alcohol changes, their void will be filled by others who were going to book either way, but just don't care as much about bringing alcohol on-board.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Our Wonder cruise in 19 days will likely be our last on DCL, have CCL Vista in the Mediterranean booked for 2016 and probably booking Oasis class on RCCL for 2017 but if we ever get the chance to take a Christmas cruise it will be DCL. Some of my best Christmas Eve and Day have been at DL, so I really want a Christmas cruise on DCL. That is an experience I can justify the Disney added expense.

 

[perditax]

I'm not expecting DCL to really gain any customers because of the new alcohol policy. This change was not meant to encourage new people to book; it was meant to squeeze more money out of people who have booked or will book.

For the minuscule amount of people who actually do cancel because of the alcohol changes, their void will be filled by others who were going to book either way, but just don't care as much about bringing alcohol on-board.

Yeah, I'm not seeing some big floodgates opening up, full of people who have just been holding out to book until you were required to buy your booze from Disney instead of Publix.

 

[ksucats]

I have very similar thoughts. We booked last week on royal Caribbean for next March. Very much looking forward to it and trying the drink package and still saving money.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

For us, the decision to walk away was relatively easy. We're Platinum on Disney and D+ on Royal. For Platinum we get a BOGO in Palo (that's about it) - whooppee. On Royal, we get two BOGO's in their specialty restaurants, 4 days of unlimited internet, a 3-hour open bar happy hour each evening (with hot&cold appetizers), concierge services, free drinks loaded on our seapass cards, cold beer waiting for us in our stateroom when we board, chocolate-dipped strawberries delivered to our stateroom, free photos, and a lot more.

 

[darkwing818]

For all of the folks that will be sailing their Last Cruise with DCL, make sure you note this on your survey card at the end of your cruise. I also think it would be important to list any cruises you've booked with the competition.

 

[engle]

I have been on 6 DCL cruises and we are adults only. We usually use a combination of DVC points (which we have an excessive amount!) and cash. We have sailed other lines and currently have a 7 night planned on RCI and a 4 night on DCL. After seeing the price increases and the new alcohol policies, this will more than likely be our last cruise on DCL as well. I do plan on expressing this in the comment card after seeing how my cruise on the Oasis of the Seas matches up. We cruise DCL because of the elegance, cleanliness and service. These have been unmatched on other lines. But it is a no brainer when the price difference is so insane. I priced out a Caribbean cruise the first weeks of July on 3 major lines...DCL $2800, Carnival $1100, RCI $1200 all for balcony room pp for 7 nights ($2700 for a suite on RCI and $8300 on DCL!). My husband and I can drink all the specialty coffee, bottled water and alcoholic beverages we want on that 7 night cruise for less than $1000 on RCI and we are still under DCL. I have found the food better on other lines and sometimes even the entertainment. Now yes, we are the minority of the market as adults only, but we are still part of the market! And I would like to say that I am a total snob when it comes to traveling and luxury. I went on Carnival totally against my will (family trip) and had an amazing time! Also, money is no object for us but I still don't throw it away when I can get the same thing for less money...and it IS the same thing in the end, an amazing relaxing vacation. I have also found the cabanas and the excursions to be less on other lines as well. We will miss the movies from DCL and the beauty of the ships but I can justify a whole other vacation with the money I will save.

On a side note, I have a suite booked on RCI and I am getting some pretty sweet perks. I have never investigated suites on DCL so I am not sure if they are worth that extra $5000!!!!

 

[JimmyV]

Do I hope to sail DCL again in the future? Without a doubt, yes. Do I expect to? I can't guarantee that.

Describes my family "to a tee".

I'm not expecting DCL to really gain any customers because of the new alcohol policy. This change was not meant to encourage new people to book; it was meant to squeeze more money out of people who have booked or will book.

I think this is what is lost on many people. Prior to the recent changes, (alcohol, pool hours, arcades, etc.) the ships were sailing 100% full. And after these changes....the ships will sail 100% full. So these changes cannot have been designed to drum up more business. 100% is as full as you can get. No one sat around a board room thinking up ways to put more people on the ships. There simply wasn't any room for more people on the ships. And the new policies were certainly not put into place to drive people off of the ships. No business would want to do that. So in the end, the new policies were not done to impact the total number of people on the ships. Instead, they were designed to increase the revenue generated by the people while on the ships. The alcohol policy is easy to see. Bring less. Buy more. The arcade decision is easy to see. Wipe out a venue that was not generating much revenue and replace it with a different feature that will generate revenue. (Though I am not sure what that will be.) The truncated pool hours is a bit perplexing. Maybe their studies show that if you kick people out of the pools, you will drive them in to the bars.

 

[Quellman]

Describes my family "to a tee".
The arcade decision is easy to see. Wipe out a venue that was not generating much revenue and replace it with a different feature that will generate revenue. (Though I am not sure what that will be.)

The dream is getting gelato, fresh made waffle cones, and a premium toppings/candy shop. I suspect more money will be spent in there than in the arrrcades.

 

[steves100]

Disney is one of the best companies at knowing their customers. They research things to death. They aren't perfect, but they will take corrective action quickly if they discover this is a mistake.
Will they lose some repeat customers to other lines? Probably. Will they gain an equal number of new customers because of the changes? Probably.

Dont agree they will gain customers because of the change, they may not see a real drop off though. They certainly will gain more MONEY at the bars though.

 

[laceltris3]

The combination of the treatment of customers and the price increases in the itineraries I am interested in (I plan on 10 or 15% increase but both of the 2016 itineraries I wanted started opening day at ending prices for 2015, and those cruises are *not* selling as well as 2015) have put us near the end of our DCL days. And it is not strictly an issue of $$ as we are paying more for our Tauck Bridges trip than a week on DCL, and the policies of Adventures by Disney (cancellations, triples/quads, gratuities not included like the competition) makes them our last choice and we would only pick them for itineraries not available elsewhere. And my 3 kids, all under 10, picked TB over any Disney alternative, DCL or ABD.

I don't think Disney cares about keeping customers or cancellations, given how we were treated after the future cruise desk CM totally messed up our reservation and put us in two rooms on opposite sides of the ship and costing us the last connecting ocean view rooms on our sailing. They were willing to do nothing to fix something that was their error. My TA was mortified.

We have been partial to Disney because my youngest has food allergies, but it is time to move on to new experiences.

 

[NancyIL]

DCL was my 4th cruise line after HAL, Royal Caribbean, and Princess, and before Celebrity. I have upcoming cruises booked on RCI (October 2015 and Dec. 2016), Princess (Feb. and Sept. 2016), and Celebrity (Sept. 2016). I booked a placeholder cruise while on the Disney Magic's May 2015 Transatlantic cruise, and I'm interested in either a May 2017 Panama Canal or Transatlantic cruise. Those long cruises are the best Disney bang for the buck, and the Transatlantic cruises have also been my favorite. I'm not willing to pay DCL's prices for most other cruises, and it has nothing to do with recent policy changes.

 

[godde8ss]

Well maybe they did and possibly not. I am talking about the debated alcohol policy. What it did for me is it opened MY eyes to all the things we have lost along the way. What it also did for me is it made us, my wife and I start looking at other cruise lines. I was one that would not consider anyone else and just going on another cruise lines web site just made me uncomfortable as DCL was my cruise line. Well with all of the controversy of the change, and as I have stated on other threads it did not effect us but was unfortunate it did to many PIF cruisers. I am happy to say after taking off the blinders we did take the plunge and booked a Royal Caribbean cruise. It is not until next year and we do have a 3 day on the Dream at the end of this month which we was a gift to our adult daughter. Difference is we will not visit the future cruise desk. I was kind of surprised that Disney held firm after all the outcry and letters. I was also surprised that people that took the time to send letters and e-mails got some real, in my opinion dumb, foolish responses. It also did not surprise me at all that they did not put anything in writing except to state the new policy. So now I have to start saving since I will now have to navigate a casino.

We have decided to book RCL Oasis of the Seas. We will not be visiting the re-book desk on our October cruise.