Is Disney smoking crack or what???

[xangav]

Well, I had my heart set on booking one of these cruises so I did some research on other lines. Let me preface this by saying we sailed on RCCL this summer to Alaska and preferred Disney by far.

I can book 2 balcony's (or Cat 6's) on Celebrity for 10,996 for 4 or one Cat 10 on Disney for 10,336, provided I get first tier pricing. This cruise on Celebrity is for next June with the same itinerary.

Let me also say that we did the Med cruises in 2007. They were great, we were well taken care of, but it was alot of money. I still would prefer Disney but since the kids are getting older, I guess it's time to move on.

 

[drag n' fly]

Us too. We sail on our first cruise every on October 16th, but at these prices I doubt we will be able to go back....at least for a while. We plan to book a bouceback while at CBR for a value next fall, however if airfare stays the way it has been we may have to travel to Disneyland rather then WDW after this year.

The flights alone are beyond reach for us. With the economy in the tank these new cruises I suspect are geared mainly at the british pound which is a ever constant flow into the Disney coffers.

 

[2disneycruzrs]

Sadly - We're in the same boat as most of you...we're looking at RCCL for a 7 nt Med but since they sail off-season, we'll be able to save in airfare whereas DCL is prime season and airfare will be enormous. We don't have kids right now but I can't imagine being able to do this with kids on DCL. With a port-intensive itinerary, I can't see where the Disney difference will be worth that much extra money. DH and I can sail Med off season in a jr suite for much less than one of us can sail DCL in a Cat 11. I will miss the split bath of DCL though. I do believe the ships will be full between the Americans that can afford it and the Brits and other Europeans who have the exchange luxury. Sorry to ramble...

 

[Rogillio]

Reading over this thread I'm amazed at all the comparisons to what OTHER cruise lines are charging.

Look, Disney has never been the cheapest anything. Disney never has trouble selling out the Grand Floridian, Contemporary, Polynesian or any of the higher end Disney hotel. Even the Pop Century sells out at $90/night when hotels in Kissimmee are going for $38.99 and a free breakfast!

Disney is a business and based on the growth they've seen the last 30 years, I'd say they are well managed.

DCL is expensive. The Hilton is expensive. You can stay twice as long for half as much at the Best Western. We don't say that the Hilton is smoking crack for charging $650 a night for a hotel room in Manhattan. Why? Becuas they know what the market will bear and they are in business to make as much money as they can.

What kind of buisness plan would post the cruise pices low and sell them out 20 months ahead of time? They are doing the right thing. Start of high and see if they sell out. If after a year and the room are not moving, drop the price a little. It just makes good business sense.

~Mike

 

[pinkpixey]

Reading over this thread I'm amazed at all the comparisons to what OTHER cruise lines are charging.

Look, Disney has never been the cheapest anything. Disney never has trouble selling out the Grand Floridian, Contemporary, Polynesian or any of the higher end Disney hotel. Even the Pop Century sells out at $90/night when hotels in Kissimmee are going for $38.99 and a free breakfast!

Disney is a business and based on the growth they've seen the last 30 years, I'd say they are well managed.

DCL is expensive. The Hilton is expensive. You can stay twice as long for half as much at the Best Western. We don't say that the Hilton is smoking crack for charging $650 a night for a hotel room in Manhattan. Why? Becuas they know what the market will bear and they are in business to make as much money as they can.

What kind of buisness plan would post the cruise pices low and sell them out 20 months ahead of time? They are doing the right thing. Start of high and see if they sell out. If after a year and the room are not moving, drop the price a little. It just makes good business sense.

~Mike

You're absolutely right, they charge top dollar for everything and make no apologies about it. That said, it is still disappointing to those who had hoped it would somehow be doable.

 

[magiroux]

Reading over this thread I'm amazed at all the comparisons to what OTHER cruise lines are charging.

Look, Disney has never been the cheapest anything. Disney never has trouble selling out the Grand Floridian, Contemporary, Polynesian or any of the higher end Disney hotel. Even the Pop Century sells out at $90/night when hotels in Kissimmee are going for $38.99 and a free breakfast!
Disney is a business and based on the growth they've seen the last 30 years, I'd say they are well managed.

DCL is expensive. The Hilton is expensive. You can stay twice as long for half as much at the Best Western. We don't say that the Hilton is smoking crack for charging $650 a night for a hotel room in Manhattan. Why? Becuas they know what the market will bear and they are in business to make as much money as they can.

What kind of buisness plan would post the cruise pices low and sell them out 20 months ahead of time? They are doing the right thing. Start of high and see if they sell out. If after a year and the room are not moving, drop the price a little. It just makes good business sense.

~Mike

I agree with you, however......

in these economic times that is exactly what people are doing - comparing. DCL has a very loyal following, and I'm guessing some folks didn't even look into the Baltics until DCL announced they were going there. If I really want to do the Baltic do I want to pay $5000 more just to cruise Disney, especially when most of your time is spent touring the ports?

I think that not only is Disney (as well as NYC) going to have trouble filling rooms at their resorts in the next 12-18 months, the same is going to be true for these cruises. It will end up being a better deal for all of those that can afford to travel in these uncertain times.

BTW, I believe after 9/11 Disney DID have trouble filling those hotel rooms. They offered deep discounts, especially to FL residents that didn't need to fly.

 

[Zippercat]

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

We did a HAL (Noordam) Med cruise in April, '08. HAL and Disney are, in my opinion, VERY comparable...they each do some things a tad better than the other, but both are an incredible vacation experience. I would certainly NOT pay a significant premium for either one over the other for the same itinerary.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

just a note for those of you talking about carnival and princess. I have cruised both lines and their cheapest cabins are tiny. yes four can sleep in them but you would be littlerally on top of each other doing so. In order to get the space you get in a disney cabin you have to get a catagory 10 or better and on princess you have to get a mini suite. those catagories are a bit more expensive, but worth it for the space.

Not always. We've sailed on the Carnival Liberty in a standard oceanview cabin that was 220 sq. ft. Our Cat. 9 oceanview on the Magic was only 214 sq. ft. I've never sailed on Princess so I can't comment there.
It's definitely something to pay attention to when you compare. Cruisesonly.com lists square footage for every ship and it's amazing to see how small some of the older ship's cabins are. I've looked at Norwegian ships that had some cabins that were only 146 sq. ft! Then they call 200 sq ft. a jr. suite!

 

[OurDogCisco]

Not always. We've sailed on the Carnival Liberty in a standard oceanview cabin that was 220 sq. ft. Our Cat. 9 oceanview on the Magic was only 214 sq. ft. I've never sailed on Princess so I can't comment there.
It's definitely something to pay attention to when you compare. Cruisesonly.com lists square footage for every ship and it's amazing to see how small some of the older ship's cabins are. I've looked at Norwegian ships that had some cabins that were only 146 sq. ft! Then they call 200 sq ft. a jr. suite!

Yes.. you are correct but do you realize on the same line a Balcony room is only 185 square feet compared to the Disney Balconies at 268 to 304. I wouldn't stay in a Balcony room on Carnival Liberty with 4 people in 185 square feet. For 2 people it would be fine but a family no way...

You did bring up an important point that we should really be comparing apples to apples. Room size should be a factor. So, on Hal I determined that the price increase is only 30% more on Disney for 2 adults, 2 kids in a Balcony type room. If only traveling with 2 adults the price difference is only 20%. I did notice on the inside staterooms compared to HAL Disney is definitely charging a premium of 40% more.

Now... I'm gonna look at it for a different angle. We really need to compare everything from size of the ship, number of passengers, Crew to Passenger ratio, number of pools, number of restaurants, number of speciality restaurants, etc... These will all take a play in what we want out of a cruise. Sorry to pick on your post but your post totally turned on the lightbulb for me. Thanks...

 

[Legend 23®]

Sorry folks, but I guess I understand the nature of business and profitability. So I have to say this, and I will apologize before hand for saying it.........but......the more folks choose other cruises, the better chance I have of getting one.

 

["Got Disney"]

If I recall did they not end up running specials for the med cruise ....I remeber gtting an e-mail about the reduced pricing for the lower decks...a significant drop it was if I recall.

WE have been on 7 Disney cruises and are financially well off but the prices are getting out of hand. We have decided that we will not cruise with DCL again till 2011 and 2012 on the new ships....Oh the pain the pain...

But the price to fly alone is crazy....again we can afford it but we will wait

 

[DMMarla07860]

Sorry folks, but I guess I understand the nature of business and profitability. So I have to say this, and I will apologize before hand for saying it.........but......the more folks choose other cruises, the better chance I have of getting one.

that's what I say, hahaha

 

[DMMarla07860]

[QUOTE="Got Disney";28077082]But the price to fly alone is crazy[/QUOTE]
that is what is making us think about going cut that out, and it isn't too bad

 

[Mickey_loves_Minnie]

Reading over this thread I'm amazed at all the comparisons to what OTHER cruise lines are charging.

Look, Disney has never been the cheapest anything. Disney never has trouble selling out the Grand Floridian, Contemporary, Polynesian or any of the higher end Disney hotel. Even the Pop Century sells out at $90/night when hotels in Kissimmee are going for $38.99 and a free breakfast!

Disney is a business and based on the growth they've seen the last 30 years, I'd say they are well managed.

DCL is expensive. The Hilton is expensive. You can stay twice as long for half as much at the Best Western. We don't say that the Hilton is smoking crack for charging $650 a night for a hotel room in Manhattan. Why? Becuas they know what the market will bear and they are in business to make as much money as they can.

What kind of buisness plan would post the cruise pices low and sell them out 20 months ahead of time? They are doing the right thing. Start of high and see if they sell out. If after a year and the room are not moving, drop the price a little. It just makes good business sense.

~Mike

Disney may be "Hilton", but there are other "Hilton-level" cruise lines that don't charge as much as Disney. Celebrity is one, Holland America is another.

 

[Rogillio]

Disney may be "Hilton", but there are other "Hilton-level" cruise lines that don't charge as much as Disney. Celebrity is one, Holland America is another.

Perhaps....but there is only one Disney. I can't really put my finger on it but we just love Disney. Our kids will be 17 and 19 and we've grown up with Disney over the years so there is a sentimental factor too with sailing on DCL. We like the family atmosphere, we love the fun characters who come by your table while your eating, we love the Disney movies and shows and we love the Disney quality.

We KNOW Disney so there is very little risk. If we went with another cruise line, we would spend the next 20 months wondering if the cruise line is gonna live up to our expectations. Disney set the bar pretty high for us.

The thought of a Baltic cruise never entered my mind until I got the email from DCL about their webcast. If HAL or Celebrity sent us an email about thier Baltic cruise, it would have gone into the spam folder. It's not just about seeing the northern capitols....it's about cruising with Disney again and seeing the northern capitols. I just can't explain it any better than that.

I agree with what Legen posted, the more people who don't cruise with DCL on this cruise, the better the chances are that we can get the cabin we want.

~Mike

 

[kmaclou]

It's not just about seeing the northern capitols....it's about cruising with Disney again and seeing the northern capitols. I just can't explain it any better than that.

It is the same with our family. We all understand that it is more expensive, and I appreciate that some families can't afford that or prefer another cruise line. But we have come to enjoy Disney over other cruise lines and are looking forward to doing the Baltic with DCL.

 

[Happy99]

Yes.. you are correct but do you realize on the same line a Balcony room is only 185 square feet compared to the Disney Balconies at 268 to 304. I wouldn't stay in a Balcony room on Carnival Liberty with 4 people in 185 square feet. For 2 people it would be fine but a family no way...

You did bring up an important point that we should really be comparing apples to apples. Room size should be a factor. So, on Hal I determined that the price increase is only 30% more on Disney for 2 adults, 2 kids in a Balcony type room. If only traveling with 2 adults the price difference is only 20%. I did notice on the inside staterooms compared to HAL Disney is definitely charging a premium of 40% more.

Now... I'm gonna look at it for a different angle. We really need to compare everything from size of the ship, number of passengers, Crew to Passenger ratio, number of pools, number of restaurants, number of speciality restaurants, etc... These will all take a play in what we want out of a cruise. Sorry to pick on your post but your post totally turned on the lightbulb for me. Thanks...

You also need to take note that in Disney's brochure the 268 sq ft INCLUDES the balcony, where most other cruise lines list the square footage of the balcony separately. Also Disney's 304 sq ft are their category 4 family staterooms which are more expensive then a regular balcony and that 304 sq ft includes the balcony. If you compare RCCL's D1 balcony cabins they range from 180-220sq BEFORE adding on the balcony. The balcony is usually 41-50sq ft, depending on the ship

I would say, could be wrong, that Disney's balcony cabin without the balcony is about 214 sq ft
If you look at the Liberty of the Seas RCCL their D1 or D2 balcony cabins are 214 sq ft with a 68 sq ft balcony making the overall total 282 sq ft

Just something else to consider when you are comparing

 

[Happy99]

It is the same with our family. We all understand that it is more expensive, and I appreciate that some families can't afford that or prefer another cruise line. But we have come to enjoy Disney over other cruise lines and are looking forward to doing the Baltic with DCL.

Exactly!!
No one is trying to talk people out of taking a DCL cruise. If it fits your budget and you would like to pay the premium price then by all means have a great time. But the others that can't afford it or don't want to pay the premium price should be able to state that also without everyone saying that well its Disney and that is all there is to it

We are still on the fence on whether we will book or not and will make our decision this weekend. Mostly it has to do with the price and the ship amenities. Can we do it? Yes. Do we want to pay the higher price? Still deciding.

We have been on European cruises before and we know you aren't on the ship much at all and trying to also decide what we want access to onboard when we are on the ship. The other cruise lines newer ships have better amenities, recreation, etc then the Magic. Example, DD and DS both love everything Disney but give DS a choice between DCL and RCCL newer ships he will choose RCCL because he isn't much into the kids club but is a very active child who loves rock climbing, inline skating, larger pools, etc

 

[cruisinmama06]

Reading over this thread I'm amazed at all the comparisons to what OTHER cruise lines are charging.

I'm not. We prefer other cruiselines. And price doesn't factor into it. You're right, we pay more for the Hilton when we stay in NYC (we'll be there next month). We stayed at the Mandarin Oriental in Miami instead of the Holiday Inn. But the older Disney ships are no longer the "Hilton" of the cruise industry.

That's not saying that I won't do the NEW Dis ships in 2011 and 2012. But if I am paying top dollar, then I better be in a suite on a brand new ship with more ammenities.

 

[Mickey_loves_Minnie]

Perhaps....but there is only one Disney. I can't really put my finger on it but we just love Disney. Our kids will be 17 and 19 and we've grown up with Disney over the years so there is a sentimental factor too with sailing on DCL. We like the family atmosphere, we love the fun characters who come by your table while your eating, we love the Disney movies and shows and we love the Disney quality.

We KNOW Disney so there is very little risk. If we went with another cruise line, we would spend the next 20 months wondering if the cruise line is gonna live up to our expectations. Disney set the bar pretty high for us.

The thought of a Baltic cruise never entered my mind until I got the email from DCL about their webcast. If HAL or Celebrity sent us an email about thier Baltic cruise, it would have gone into the spam folder. It's not just about seeing the northern capitols....it's about cruising with Disney again and seeing the northern capitols. I just can't explain it any better than that.

I agree with what Legen posted, the more people who don't cruise with DCL on this cruise, the better the chances are that we can get the cabin we want.

~Mike

What I was responding to is the idea that other cruise lines are Best Westerns and Disney is Hilton, which is an unfair comparison. If you like Four Seasons resorts best and I like St. Regis resorts best, nobody's wrong. Everyone has favorites.

I liked DCL a lot, but seeing Celebrity's lower prices for just about the same cruise with more flexibility in dates (and IMO, better food), if cruising to the Baltic was my priority, I'd go with another line. If cruising with Mickey was my priority--it's obvious, I'd go with DCL.