Is DCL Mainstream yet?

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

To me it depends on the territory / market.

I would say Disney is mainstream in America because The Walt Disney Company in general is just part of American culture and nostalgia plays a big part in guest loyalty over multiple generations.

In Europe I would say Disney cruise is more niche. The Walt Disney Company really only started marketing to UK and Irish guests in the 1980s when long haul package holidays to Florida became accessible and affordable. Disney Cruise is not marketed or promoted in Ireland, I only found out about Disney cruising when I joined Disboards.
P & O , MSC and RCL would be the mainstream cruise lines in Europe. P & O main guests are UK and MSC main guests are Italian , Spanish and French.

 

[jimmymc]

I don't think there is a criteria for any category mainstream, premium, luxury. I tink it comes down to however you want to define it. It's completely subjective. Disney has Disney characters, Royal has Dreamworks and Carnival has Dr Seuss. Other than that I guess it comes down to how you feel about the food and housekeeping

Cruise media and travel agents do have some defined categories for different cruise lines. These aren't official in any way, but they tend to offer comparable products and the same inclusions while being in the same price range per night:

• Regional: Margaritaville, American Cruise Line, P & O
• Mass market: Carnival, MSC, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean
• Premium: Celebrity, Cunard, Disney, Holland America, Princess, Virgin Voyages
• Luxury: Azamara, Cunard, Oceania, Viking Ocean, Windstar
• Ultra-Luxury: Crystal, Explora Journey, Regent Seven Seas, Ritz-Carlton Yacht, Seabourn, Silverseas

So when I hear mainstream, I would default to mass market, but that's definitely not true for Disney. They're also an outlier in the premium category because of the family appear. The other premium lines usually make less of an effort to appeal to kids, and Virgin doesn't allow them. Princess is starting to target families with their newest ships, but they're still behind Disney and mass market lines.

I wouldn't say Disney is mainstream yet due to their unique position of being a family-friendly premium cruise line, but the word is certainly out.