I guess DCL won this one...

[TChrist05]

Although I don't feel I am a "disgruntled" DCL cruiser I feel the changes have opened my eyes wide and it made me look around. Just so happened we liked what we saw on another line and will give it a try. We have always sailed in an inside stateroom on Disney since we were happy to be on the ship and spent little time in the stateroom. Maybe if we had a veranda we would have spent more time in there. We have a veranda and it was 60% less than I would have paid on Disney. That is a significant in my opinion.

 

[tinkerone]

i want to add, as a canadian, being able to book in canadian funds saves us tons $$$$$$$. dcl does not have that option. if i'm paying a premium to sail dcl in u.s. funds and having to convert it at a rate of 35%, well you can do the math!
rcl, here we come. lol.

 

[squirk]

i don't know guys, even pete mentioned on his podcast a few weeks ago that people were cancelling their sailings due to this change.

Not that Dreams isn't an important business relationship to DCL, and absolutely no disrespect to Pete at all, but I suspect that the number of actual cancellations that Dreams has seen due to the alcohol policy, even extrapolated across all travel agencies affiliated with DCL, is nothing more than a drop in the bucket to Disney. And, again, I bet that there is enough demand where that small void will be quickly and easily filled.

I could be totally wrong, but I suspect I'm not.

 

[kathi]

Our upcoming PIF November cruise on the Fantasy will be our 17th with DCL. We have never sailed with another line. Although I don't love the alcohol policy change, it will not impact us that much. It will not make me buy more wine/liquor on board than I would normally do, so no extra revenue from us. Back in the day we used to sail concierge most cruises, then it just got way too pricey. We are platinum so have a few extra perks, but honestly, not nearly as many as other cruise line loyalty programs. Now with costs continuing to escalate and other lines offering a lot of nice packages, we are looking at a Celebrity cruise in early 2015 and maybe a Haven suite on NCI next year as well. As much as we love Disney - we also love going on vacation and I'd rather take 2 cruises a year than one. Maybe we will not like the other lines....only time will tell.

 

[goNDmay9]

Wow. Sitting here reading these posts and just nodding my head in amazed agreement. I thought my finger was going to cramp from all the "likes"! I don't know if these new policies will impact us. However, the way they are handling these changes is just not the top notch customer service that I have come to expect from Disney. It is so disappointing. Like many of you here we will not be booking on board our PIF October cruise this year as planned. Does that mean I will never book another DCL cruise again? Not sure. Does it mean that I am willing to try other lines and see how it goes. Absolutely. I have two young children (2 and 3) so we are new to family cruising. Maybe DCL is worth the premium. I guess our family is about to find out.

 

[ohMom]

We are repeate cruisers, just off the wonder and did book a placeholder. But I'm writing DCL when I get home to get it off my chest. We've cruised over a span of about 12 years and defend our loyalty to our friends by the service and extras...but as they widdle away the extras i don't feel I have much of a leg to stand on. We will probably stay with DCl because we personally like it, but I'm so disappointed in the removal of the perks that made it stand alone for me. The latest installation being blackout dates in the rebooking onboard....I'm probably behind the times in realizing this as we haven't cruised for two years, but having blackout dates for the discount really grinds me

 

[steves100]

i want to add, as a canadian, being able to book in canadian funds saves us tons $$$$$$$. dcl does not have that option. if i'm paying a premium to sail dcl in u.s. funds and having to convert it at a rate of 35%, well you can do the math!
rcl, here we come. lol.

Bet you werent complaining a few years ago when the US $ was less then the Canadian!

 

[squirrel]

I don't drink so the new alcohol policy doesn't really affect me. I do not like the way Disney put it into place and did not give enough time for those that had paid in full. Because of that, I no longer can trust Disney. Maybe other companies do similar things I don't know, but I have come to expect great things from Disney and I'm not seeing it anymore. It has opened my eyes to try something different for my next vacations. I'm thinking Universal for next year and then a cruise to Alaska the following year with a different cruiseline.

 

[hubbard53]

ive never been on any other cruise line than DCL so my perspective is not as broad as others... I'm not thrilled about the policy change and price increase but I will probably stick with DCL as long as my son cruises with us. I like that they are more kid-oriented - on DCL he's not going to have a bunch of rowdy adults in the pool with him, the kids clubs are features; not after-thoughts, and the overall theme is family-friendly. Is it worth the premium? Probably not, but for us, we've bought into the 'safe' feel of DCL for our son.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

I agree with the PP. This was done to generate more revenue. The people it will affect the most will be the frequent cruisers who will know better. The once in a lifetime folks won't notice a thing.

It feels very much like magic bands and FP+. The most affected group were not the locals who can go when there the crowd level is low or the once in a lifetime families. Rather I think it hits the people who go a few times a year.

Really this is a way to squeeze more money out of the people that are already there. The ships are full, and prices high. What else could they do?

 

[tinkerone]

Bet you werent complaining a few years ago when the US $ was less then the Canadian!

thats almost funny. there were a few times between 2011 and 2013 where our $ was valued at 5% more than the u.s. $ which meant we might be able to buy a $ at par and sell it back to the bank for $1.02. not exactly a money making project. again, that happened a few times in that period. from there it went to about 10% and has gone up up up since then. rather quickly as well. today its about 35%.

i shouldn't complain. i can remember when the exchange rate hit 65%, as i suppose most vacationing canadians can. those where the days when you closed your eyes when you opened your wallet. lol.

 

[Expatriat]

While I am not among the seriously disgruntled over the alcohol policy, I believe that for each previously loyal repeat cruiser who abandons DCL, the company will lose business due to the reduction in free word-of-mouth advertising. A happy cruiser tells a friend who tells a friend, etc. Almost every new cruiser I've met aboard said they decided to book on the recommendation of a friend or relative. The numbers multiply like stray cats. Disney will always do okay, but I expect that over time they won't necessarily be as consistently filling their ships. Even those of us telling everyone it's not magical that DCL keeps changing policies, making numerous cutbacks, adding more fees so the cruises are less inclusive, and hiking prices regularly, are bound to eventually affect their bottom line in some way. I will make every effort to be happy throughout my cruises, but my recommendations will no longer be pixie-dusted.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

I still feel a big part of the reason for the policy change was guests that abused the system. If is was abiult money, they cold just as easilly shut in down totally .....I remember some guests saying if DCL wanted to stop in they woild......well folks it seems they have stopped it.

AKK

 

[steves100]

I still feel a big part of the reason for the policy change was guests that abused the system. If is was abiult money, they cold just as easilly shut in down totally .....I remember some guests saying if DCL wanted to stop in they woild......well folks it seems they have stopped it.

AKK

Not sure how many times you can keep repeating your DISNEY MANTRA. It was not about abuse. After more than 10 cruises never saw abuse, sure people bring alcohol on deck, but, big deal. They are selling to you on the lounge chairs!
By abuse you mean leaving the stateroom? PLEASE! No one EVER asked me about my Corona glass, at shuffle board, the movies, on deck. If they did I would have apologized and started to use a cup.

Pure and simple MONEY! They are not getting rid of it 100% because then loyal customers would really do something. Right now most people will still cruise Disney.

The best part is what % actually knew about this policy, Id say 10 or less. They are only really hurting loyal Disney customers!

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Not sure how many times you can keep repeating your DISNEY MANTRA. It was not about abuse. After more than 10 cruises never saw abuse, sure people bring alcohol on deck, but, big deal. They are selling to you on the lounge chairs!
By abuse you mean leaving the stateroom? PLEASE! No one EVER asked me about my Corona glass, at shuffle board, the movies, on deck. If they did I would have apologized and started to use a cup.

Pure and simple MONEY! They are not getting rid of it 100% because then loyal customers would really do something. Right now most people will still cruise Disney.

The best part is what % actually knew about this policy, Id say 10 or less. They are only really hurting loyal Disney customers!

Totally disagree for the logical and correct reasons I posted. What you may have done and what many others have posted over the years that they have done are to different things.

I don't work for Disney so I have no manta to support. Just the facts I note.

AKK

 

[closetmickey]

Just cancelled my onboard booking.....

 

[mcd2745]

Not that Dreams isn't an important business relationship to DCL, and absolutely no disrespect to Pete at all, but I suspect that the number of actual cancellations that Dreams has seen due to the alcohol policy, even extrapolated across all travel agencies affiliated with DCL, is nothing more than a drop in the bucket to Disney. And, again, I bet that there is enough demand where that small void will be quickly and easily filled.

I could be totally wrong, but I suspect I'm not.

I tend to agree. However, where I do think Pete was spot on, was when he said that this is likely a signal that DCL realizes that it has probably raised the crusie fares about as high as they can go. So they can't increase revenues by simply raising the fare at the rates that they have over the last several years. So now, in order to increase revenues, they have to look at ways to extract more money from guests while onboard. This may be just the beginning of policy changes/tweaks designed to increase onboard spending.

 

[3DisneyFanz]

It had nothing to do with abuse and they didn't cut it 100% because that wouldn't be in line with other cruise lines. Disney's corporate culture has changed and every decision is simply revenue based. I realize this has always been the case but there was a time (in the not so distant past) when the grab for money was balanced by ensuring that service and guest experience drove the profits. I think now they've decided the name means more than the experience and so far they're right. People pay a premium for all things Disney even if they can't put a finger on what they're getting for the extra cost. One of the best marketing tools Disney ever did was convince people that Magic and Pixie Dust were part of their package even when they don't exist.

 

[jahber]

Well, a friend of mine just messaged me and asked if I had seen any good DCL fares lately because she hadn't. For the past two years we have sailed in Sept or Oct on Fl resident rates. But the only FLR rates I've seen lately have been as much as $1000 more than we paid last year. And we are getting less for that extra money. I told her we will probably just look for a deal on Royal and she told me to let her know what we find. That's two families turned off to DCL right there. For her it wasn't specifically the alcohol, but I'm going to have to let DCL know that this was the straw that broke the camel's back for us. Yep, they lost me over the three mini bottles of Bailey's I would bring on for evening coffee because of how poorly they have handled it. Well done, Disney.

 

[PsychoCelloChica]

Whenever someone uses the term "booze", a) I take it as a pejorative term intended to reveal some sort of agenda; and b) I take it to mean hard liquor as opposed to beer and wine. So when they said "ask them if you can bring in your own booze", I took it to mean spirits and not wine. If that is correct, then taking spirits to restaurants is generally not allowed, and may not even be legal unless the establishment doesn't have a liquor license, and even then, I am not so sure. Some state's laws place an ABV limit on items that you can carry in. On the other hand, if they were lumping wine in with the term "booze", it would show a real lack of understanding of the dining world, as you point out.

You should come to my area... I live in a dry town. One of our local restaurants has 'mixing pitchers' as a menu item. You bring your own bottle of tequila or rum, they provide a pitcher of the mixer, and you add as much booze as you want.

We're also 20 minutes by train out of a major east coast city in a state where liquor licenses are difficult and expensive for restaurants to get. Thus, we have a huge BYOB culture when it comes to dining out. It doesn't help that the restaurants that DO have licenses can only buy their liquor and wine through the state, so you can usually get a better bottle (for 1/3 the price) if you're willing to smuggle it across state lines yourself and just go to a BYOB.