Is it worth paying $1000 a day for the disney cruise

[wdwstar]

I would like to take a cruise, but the only time we can go is of course holidays /springbreak

and i was looking for next year and for the 4 of us it would be $1000 a day w/ a veranda, is which that is a must for me, i need a little room and air, and that is no matter which cruise, 4 or 7.

i know it includes food and entertainment, but i could remember it was $2000, to just $3000 for 4 day.

help me justice spending $4000 or $7000 and that does not include transport or travel ins.

 

[crisi]

Well, I wouldn't (have several other places to stick my money and can travel off season), but....

What else would you spend the money on? Is that more important to you than this? Is the money there to spend?

Then - consider that you'll get $100 worth of food a day per person. And childcare (if you use it) - my daycare is $50 a day per kid. And that veranda room would run $250 a day at least at a hotel (if you can compare) - more at that time of year. And the shows - well they aren't Broadway - but what would you pay for tickets a hour long Broadway type production) So you probably have at $750 in value per day (which starts making crusing in the off season seem a real value).

Compare to alternate vacations during that time of year. Sandals or another all inclusive resort would probably run about the same (we were considering something in the all inclusive resort over Christmas - it sure wasn't cheap to stay on land!).

 

[CAMICKEY]

Well we have pondered this question every year. How much is it worth to take a "special" family vacation every year. And the answer we came up with was "whatever it costs". Really this question is totally up to you and if you can justify it in your own mind. If it is going to mean you have to skip the necessities (food clothing or shelter) in life then I would forgo the cruise. Cruising with DCL is expensive to say the least but the memories will last a lifetime. We justify it by Camping the rest of the year. (Although I admit camping in a pop-up is quite nice indeed depending on location). I say go for it and enjoy every minute of it. I do however admit 1,000 a day is quite a bit but maybe things will be less expensive on the West Coast if we ever get our own DCL ship. - Mike

 

[rsjj]

wow, that is quite a bit!

have you tried various tas? to get various quotes, cuz sometimes there are slight differences between each ta that you deal with.

and if you can only travel during peak/holiday time, which is the same for our case, depending on which holiday you travel would make a difference too! for us, our original travel time was during x-mas holiday 2003, (and I too, wanted a vereandah...my reasoning being our DSs (4 & 2) still took naps & figured DH & I can enjoy ourselves by the ocean breeze while the boys napped) so when i booked, there was no cat 6 available, so we booked in cat 9, i think. i was bummed that we didn't have a verandah, but ok, we'll be on the ship, at least. anyways, when i got our schedule for the following school year, and i happen to check the rates during our spring break, it was significantly cheaper!!!! and i got my verandah! so the way i saw it, we saved $$$ and got an upgrade!! so, that's why we will be leaving in 2 weeks, instead of the x-mas past. (it's been a long wait for us, believe me!!)

DCL is definitely higher priced than other cruise lines. when we were deciding, we asked ourselves, is it the locations we want to go to? or do we just want to cruise...you know, relax, eat...eat, relax? or do we want to do disney? i mean, if you want to just go to the places (like the carribeans), i'm sure there are other ships that go there, and the prices might be a bit cheaper. and if you just want to cruise for the sake of cruising (eat, relax, eat, eat, etc.), maybe there are cheaper ways. (not sure where you are, but like for us, if that was our priority, then we'd be going to the mexican riviera, so we won't have to pay airfare to get to the ship!) but of course, if it's got to be disney, it's got to be disney! and that was justification enough for us! and we know our boys would really love the experience! so we went for it! and now, reading these boards & knowing that i MUST book another one onboard, just to get the onboard credit & the $$$ i'd be saving...it's a vicious cycle! but we all deserve a vacation every now & then!

hope this helps. sorry it sorta got long!

 

[pooh luver]

For my family it is definitely worth the cost. I forgo other things, such as fixing up the house, to create great times with my family. Another DM and I had the discussion about other cruises and both decided other less expensive cruise line were able to provide the same opportunities and quality of service that Disney does and since our children were involved it was important.

 

[wdwstar]

Thank you all for your great responces, we travel to wdw every year we are dvc members, and we cant use points, way to many, i thought we would look into paying cash, and was a little shell shock, and the way i look at it the kids are not getting any younger, just more expense for the cruise, lol,lol
and we are going twice to wdw this year easter and christmas, so i think i dont have to visit wdw if we went on the cruise for easter 2005, would it be wrong if i kinda tell a little white lie to dh about how much, since i will be doing all the planning and paying

 

[DisneyBill]

Part of your question was 4 or 7 day. Don't know where you're coming from, or how you're getting there, but look at it this way. If you're flying and the airfare is $1200 for your family...for a 4 day cruise that's $300 per day. On a 7 day, it works out to only $171 per day. Shoot, you're saving money by going on a 7 day and maximizing your travel budget! (May be a little convuluted rationalizing, but you get the point)

 

[AnNaNiCoLe]

No it is NOT worth it!

 

[Rohu13]

We planned our cruise almost 2yrs in advance so the early booking savings was almost 1/2 off. My DH and myself said the trip with our kids was worth every penny. I know it is expensive, but if you love disney DCL is the way to cruise. I think I read you are a DVC member why not save the points up. My neighbor is doing just that now, even with a trip once a year to wdw. We did the 7nt eastern w/ a verandah....we arrived a couple of days early ....booked our own airfare and hotel........everything with all our spending money came to just at 6000.00. We sailed on the 11/29 sailing. Goodluck with your decision.

 

[WDWLVR]

Originally posted by wdwstar
Thank you all for your great responces, we travel to wdw every year we are dvc members, and we cant use points, way to many,

In case you didn't know you can use a combination of cash and points. Only downfall if you do it this way is I think the cash portion has to be paid in full up front.

 

[carolsherman]

Also remember 2005 Easter is is March and alot of schools do April Vacation not March at least ours does so we are able to take advantage of the kids not missing school and not paying an outragous amount of money. so we grabbed at the chance

 

[westjones]

There are lots of places to get 'fresh air' on the ship. The veranda is a BIG extra expense. If you have the money, go for it. But it is well worth it to sail on the DCL in a lower level cabin. We would never be willing to pay the extra for a veranda (would love to have one, but it is just not worth the money). We love deck 4 and the blue lounge chairs.

DJ

 

[wdwstar]

thank you for all the advise, i will look into different options,

yes, i know i can book one on points and the rest on cash, and your right i have to pay for the trip all up front, plus the $95 fee

and i looked at the easter cruise for this year for the points calc. and for a cat. 6 for 2 adults, 1 jr and 1 child 809 points , yikes it would take to long for me to bank, current and borrow points.

and i just actually did that for my christmas magical gathering family reunoin, we are taking the whole family for christmas, i just used a little more ithan 809 points for that trip. so it will have to be cash, im not getting points next year, but it going to be well worth taking the family especially they will becoming from different states, to meet us.

well back to the drawing board and figuring out which option i will go with, anymore suggestions pleas post
thanks

 

[jodifla]

Would you consider pulling your kids out of school for a few days? If there's a week they already have a day or two off in the shoulder season, the cruise price drops to about a third on all seas travel .com .....The end of Sept. is particulary inexpensive, relatively speaking.

It's astonishing how much more they charge when kids are out of school.

If you have to go during peak times, I would consider another cruise line. Look at cruisecritic.com to get an idea of what's out there. I've been on a half-dozen cruises (none disney, though I am a DVC member looking to go on a Disney cruise soon) and they were all terrific.

 

[lillygator]

you can't take it with you~

 

[Typhoon]

We are taking the kids out the end of April. We should get back Thursday and the kids only have a half day of school of Friday. They are both "A" students and should have no problem with the extra homework. The school will not give homework for the trip, they will get it for the weekend after we get back so the kids can enjoy the vacation too. Who want's homework on vacation? I think it will be worth it. We have been to sea world as a family but this is the first Real family vacation we have had. Hope the kids remember it for the rest of their lifes!