Is Disney smoking crack or what???

[carolsherman]

I was so excited about the Magic going back to the Med but when I saw the prices yesterday I just about choked. Maybe its me but for me and my boys to do the 11 day med is about $7,000 then airfare figure about $4000 not including shore excursions and that is all with a cat 11 cabin on a ship that is not really up to par and is not going into drydock before Europe. I started pricing other lines (yes I know I am having a hard time getting away from the disney experience) but I can do a back to back on other lines in a window cabin for the 3 of us for less money than disney is charging for 1 week.

I think they have finally priced themselves right out of the water in my opinion.

Plus with the economy the way it is.

Good luck to all those that can afford this. I would rather do 4 or 5 vacations for the price of 1 disney cruise for 11 days.

 

[NancyIL]

I love the thread title, and I agree with you 100%! I was expecting the Med prices to be what they are, but the Baltic prices really surprised me.

 

[pearlieq]

It's not just the Med prices. All of their prices are just spiraling waaaaay out of control--enough to drive loyal customers to competitors. And their competitors have caught up. Several lines can match, or even better, their offerings.

 

[sk8ingmom]

Yes. OK, well not really. If they can sell these out then they made a great business decision.

I would love to do the Baltic or the Med, but no way. We just did the not-so-cheap Panama Canal cruise and I certainly don't regret it. However, we won't be heading to Europe. Could we afford it? Maybe, if we planned ahead, but I just looked at a Cat 9 for a Baltic. Price for a Cat 9 alone was = to what we spent for our ENTIRE PC cruise trip (stateroom, 2 one-way plane tickets for 4 people, 2 rental cars, DL tickets, 2 nights in Anahiem, 4 excursions for 4 people, souvenirs, 15 bottles of wine, 2 massages & many drinks of the day!)

Plus, I really think that unless we were doing the Repo, it really isn't worth the 'premium' price for DCL in Europe. From what I can gather from the itineraries, we would barely be on the ship. I think if we do the Med (always been a dream) it will be on a less expensive line and we will spend our money on excursions. And wine.

There is a great smilie for your title on another board...but it would probably get me banned.

 

[lvstitch]

I was hoping they would be somewhat reasonable but I was wrong. I'm sorry as much as I hate the thought of sailing on Carnival I am going to have to go with them for my Med cruise. I can get a 12-Med Cruise in a Balcony cabin on a brand new ship for less than $5000 for two people. Sorry Disney

 

[CraftyMouse]

We were already planning to do a Europe trip in 2010 and I thought that including a Disney cruise, particularly the Baltic itinerary, would be great. After I saw the cost, however, those plans changed. While we can afford the prices I just don't think that it is a good value for our money. Instead we will consider cruising with someone else but will probably just travel to various countries/cities on our own.

 

[drag n' fly]

I was so excited about the Magic going back to the Med but when I saw the prices yesterday I just about choked. Maybe its me but for me and my boys to do the 11 day med is about $7,000 then airfare figure about $4000 not including shore excursions and that is all with a cat 11 cabin on a ship that is not really up to par and is not going into drydock before Europe. I started pricing other lines (yes I know I am having a hard time getting away from the disney experience) but I can do a back to back on other lines in a window cabin for the 3 of us for less money than disney is charging for 1 week.

I think they have finally priced themselves right out of the water in my opinion.

Plus with the economy the way it is.

Good luck to all those that can afford this. I would rather do 4 or 5 vacations for the price of 1 disney cruise for 11 days.

Pretty much! We are taking our very first and very last cruise with Disney in December. Rccl will get our business with those kinds of elitist prices.

 

[Im_A_Princess]

LOVE the Title!

I feel the same way!
We wanted to do a repo but it leaves SO early and RETURNS so late!!!! And THE PRICES!!! OUCH!!!!
And that was without yet taking into account the PRICES

DCL is getting really expensive and I agree they are pricing out the loyal customers.
I was pricing summer 2009 and we can go on a 10 day for way less than a 7 day on the Magic.

 

[Mickey_loves_Minnie]

I thought this year's Mexico prices were crazy, but the Europe cruises are just nuts!

 

[jnadelman]

But we are the ones driving the price up in the first place. If we weren't paying it, and they weren't filling the ships up at those prices, then the price would go down. We booked our off-peak cruise 15+ months out and we still couldn't get the rooms we wanted. No other cruise line can say that. Its all economics, simple supply and demand.

 

[Rogillio]

I don't know what they are smoking but it seems to work for them. The Med cruise we took with DCL was completely full. I 'spect the Northern Europe cruises will sell out. So then, it's all supply and demand.

We've cruised on NCL once and DCL 5 times and I think DCL is justified in charging twice as much for a similar cruise....but that's just my opinion and your mileage may vary.


~Mike

 

[Joan1]

We've cruised on NCL once and DCL 5 times and I think DCL is justified in charging twice as much for a similar cruise....but that's just my opinion and your mileage may vary.


~Mike

But only if you can afford it or are willing to pay those prices when you can get a lower price cruise on a different line. I priced out HAL on a brand new ship and they were lower for the same itinerary and they aren't a cheap cruise line. Considering that we won't be spending much time on the ship on the Baltic cruise there won't be much we will be missing

For us, we can afford it but don't necessarily want to pay the prices that Disney is asking so we are going with a different cruise line once they announce their 2010 itineraries

 

[cruisinmama06]

I think Disney was on crack when they decided to send their only 7 night ship to Europe in 2010. Most people can't afford the flight let alone the crazy prices.

They should have waited until they had the 2 new ships built...what's one more year?

Then they could have sent Magic to Europe while the rest of us were enjoying the new ship here.

So with RCCL Oasis and CCL Dream coming out in 2009, that will drive the Disney cruisers to find a new ship for a year. Doesn't make alot of sense to me...but I don't own a cruise line.

 

[lbgraves]

While I agree that the price of the Baltic cruises is rediculous, I remember sitting her in 2006 reading practically identical threads when the first round of med cruises were released...yet they sailed pretty full. DCL has to have done well enough to make them want to go back and to it again. There have been many threads in the past couple years of people wondering why the Magic isn't in the Med again. I would bet that DCL has heard from them too.

 

[OurDogCisco]

I started pricing things out and so far HAL is the same price as Disney or really close? One thing I noticed that unless you go through the WHOLE booking process you don't see the added fees on Hal. They had an extra $1700 at the end for Cruise fees & fuel charges. HAL also sails from 2 different ports so, airfare would definitely be higher with the one way fares. The HAL cruise in their lowest verandah came to $11k (approx.). It was $4414.96 per person then, $1700 if in fees add $500 more for transfers. Plus, $299 each for passengers 3 and 4.

If I price Disney at Category 6, it is $13,804. So, my question is, does the Disney price include Cruise/Tour fees? I included the fuel fee in my estimate.

Royal Carribean priced out as follows:

Price Breakdown
Guest 1 Cruise Fare $3,129.00 USD
Guest 2 Cruise Fare $3,129.00 USD
Guest 3 Cruise Fare $1,299.00 USD
Guest 4 Cruise Fare $1,299.00 USD
Fuel Supplement: $360.00 USD
Taxes/Fees $403.52 USD


Package Total $9,619.52 USD




These were all for July 2009 dates on these lines and for Baltic Cruises only.

 

[Mickey_loves_Minnie]

I don't know what they are smoking but it seems to work for them. The Med cruise we took with DCL was completely full. I 'spect the Northern Europe cruises will sell out. So then, it's all supply and demand.

We've cruised on NCL once and DCL 5 times and I think DCL is justified in charging twice as much for a similar cruise....but that's just my opinion and your mileage may vary.


~Mike

Well, I've cruised Princess twice, Celebrity once and Disney once. I don't think they're justified in charging twice as much, and I won't be paying their prices. Celebrity, frankly, was a bit better than Disney, and I can cruise the Baltics for 12 nights with them next June, in a suite, for $600 less than what Disney's charging for a Cat. 11.

 

[NancyIL]

I started pricing things out and so far HAL is the same price as Disney or really close? One thing I noticed that unless you go through the WHOLE booking process you don't see the added fees on Hal. They had an extra $1700 at the end for Cruise fees & fuel charges. HAL also sails from 2 different ports so, airfare would definitely be higher with the one way fares. The HAL cruise in their lowest verandah came to $11k (approx.). It was $4414.96 per person then, $1700 if in fees add $500 more for transfers. Plus, $299 each for passengers 3 and 4.

If I price Disney at Category 6, it is $13,804. So, my question is, does the Disney price include Cruise/Tour fees? I included the fuel fee in my estimate.

Royal Carribean priced out as follows:

Price Breakdown
Guest 1 Cruise Fare $3,129.00 USD
Guest 2 Cruise Fare $3,129.00 USD
Guest 3 Cruise Fare $1,299.00 USD
Guest 4 Cruise Fare $1,299.00 USD
Fuel Supplement: $360.00 USD
Taxes/Fees $403.52 USD


Package Total $9,619.52 USD




These were all for July 2009 dates on these lines and for Baltic Cruises only.

As I understand it - the prices mentioned for DCL's Europe cruises are before taxes and the fuel surcharge are added.

 

[CGC33A]

Disney can charge what they do b/c they have only 2 ships and can fill them. Maybe prices will become a bit more competitive when the new ships are out (and the novelty of the new ships wear off in a year or so fter launch).
Part of DCLs decision to return to Europe is to expand their European customer base (hence the DCL office in England). At present, a US vacation (i.e. to WDW) is cheap to the Europeans. Maybe the cruise prices are in line to what they would pay for other similar cruises. Anyone with experience in Europe care to comment? (for example, I know the rate is way different to book airfare within Europe than if I were to book the same itinerary from the US).

 

[PeterandTink]

We enjoy the Disney Ships but I just cant justify the new price..I have booked 7 days with a balcony on Carnival Victory for 4 people less than 2100.00. * sigh* Looks like unless they have better deals than what they just advertised when the new 7 day bookings come out...this will be our last Disney cruise...I wanted to book a 7 day while we are on the ship in Dec...but I was surprised to see how expensive even the 4 and 5 day's were...I can imagine how much the 7 day will be..

 

[Rogillio]

I started pricing things out and so far HAL is the same price as Disney or really close? One thing I noticed that unless you go through the WHOLE booking process you don't see the added fees on Hal. They had an extra $1700 at the end for Cruise fees & fuel charges. HAL also sails from 2 different ports so, airfare would definitely be higher with the one way fares. The HAL cruise in their lowest verandah came to $11k (approx.). It was $4414.96 per person then, $1700 if in fees add $500 more for transfers. Plus, $299 each for passengers 3 and 4.

If I price Disney at Category 6, it is $13,804. So, my question is, does the Disney price include Cruise/Tour fees? I included the fuel fee in my estimate.

Royal Carribean priced out as follows:

Price Breakdown
Guest 1 Cruise Fare $3,129.00 USD
Guest 2 Cruise Fare $3,129.00 USD
Guest 3 Cruise Fare $1,299.00 USD
Guest 4 Cruise Fare $1,299.00 USD
Fuel Supplement: $360.00 USD
Taxes/Fees $403.52 USD


Package Total $9,619.52 USD




These were all for July 2009 dates on these lines and for Baltic Cruises only.

Good data here! Thanks for doing the research.

So we're really talking about 20 - 30% more, not 'twice as much' as I've seen posted.

I can only compare DCL to NCL but certainly the additional 30% for Disney is worth it in my book.

~Mike