Is Treasure booking up as expected?

[Pens Fan]

I agree with all of the above reasons - cost, worry about it being finished and / or cancelled, not wanting to take a cruse over Christmas (that would be the deal breaker for me), etc.

I also wonder if the fact that before anyone steps foot on the "maiden voyage" social media will already be swamped with pictures and videos from the media / travel agent cruise(s) has impacted this. Does being on the maiden voyage have that same allure? You really aren't first anymore, yet you are still paying quite the premium for it. Just a thought.

 

[tidefan]

For us, it's the setup of the interior cabins. We usually book interior cabins and they just aren't as functional on the Wish.

We went on the inaugural sailing of the Wish and were really surprised at just how little room (and especially storage) you have in an inside cabin. I know they are technically the same square footage as the Fantasy/Dream, but the layout and storage just don't work. I would never put more than 2 people in an inside room. The storage is nowhere near enough for more than 2 people. In fact, they only put 7 hangars in the entire closet and that's about all the room you have.

I much prefer the larger interior staterooms on the Magic/Wonder.






This is all of the storage you get. It just isn't going to work for a 7 night cruise...

 

[holula]

For us, it's the setup of the interior cabins. We usually book interior cabins and they just aren't as functional on the Wish.

We went on the inaugural sailing of the Wish and were really surprised at just how little room (and especially storage) you have in an inside cabin. I know they are technically the same square footage as the Fantasy/Dream, but the layout and storage just don't work. I would never put more than 2 people in an inside room. The storage is nowhere near enough for more than 2 people. In fact, they only put 7 hangars in the entire closet and that's about all the room you have.

I’m worried about this and I’m just one person. I cannot pack light and normally I’m filling every single draw and hanger with just my stuff on the standard insides. There seems to be soooo much less storage.

 

[Karin1984]

Very little storage space seems to be a trend in the cruise market at the moment. Virgin has the same when they started. Minimalistic, clean looks etc

This is one thing I can imagine they might change on the Treasure.

But that said, @tidefan @holula go to Guest services, call mousekeeping or flag down your host to request additional hangers.

 

[mcd2745]

I have been pondering the same question about the Treasure in general. When the Wish came out, we really wanted to sail during the inaugural season, but concierge sold out completely on all the initial offering of 4 night sailings before they got to our booking category (Silver at the time). Like, completely sold out. But I just looked and the first Treasure sailing I picked randomly (end of January) still has several different concierge categories available, with multiple rooms in each.

I have a few theories:
1) The double penalty of maiden+Christmas has been discussed, but then the inaugural season continues during months where not many people can travel easily, so likely overall sales are slower
2) The Wish had so many well-publicized issues for the first few months, that could have dampened people's enthusiasm for the initial sailings
3) When the Wish came out, it was the first new ship in a number of years, and the first of its class. The Treasure is more or less a copy/paste of the Wish, with a few theming modifications. Thus there is less fervent demand to see the new thing since it's not really that new (and of course there is now a contingent of anti-Wish people who will also be anti-Treasure).

We opted not to book the Treasure for now. We actually enjoyed the Wish, but the Treasure's updates weren't that compelling for me.

I agree these are all factors, but I think #3 is the main one. The Wish was the first DCL ship in 10 years, and had so much excitement surrounding it's debut. Then, it was met with a lot of disappointment. Had DCL shown they listened to the feedback, there might be more enthusiasm for the Treasure, but they have made it clear there are no changes on the Treasure that address the most common complaints from the Wish.

 

[tidefan]

Very little storage space seems to be a trend in the cruise market at the moment. Virgin has the same when they started. Minimalistic, clean looks etc

This is one thing I can imagine they might change on the Treasure.

But that said, @tidefan @holula go to Guest services, call mousekeeping or flag down your host to request additional hangers.

I would ask for more hangers, but if you look, 7 is all that will fit in there due to the weird shape.

 

[randumb0]

I considered it but I don't have an OBB to spare so I will wait until I have one. Even then I still might not because it has the same layout as the Wish

 

[Husker Mike]

I agree these are all factors, but I think #3 is the main one. The Wish was the first DCL ship in 10 years, and had so much excitement surrounding it's debut. Then, it was met with a lot of disappointment. Had DCL shown they listened to the feedback, there might be more enthusiasm for the Treasure, but they have made it clear there are no changes on the Treasure that address the most common complaints from the Wish.

Some of the feedback of issues with the Wish are hardware related, and it was far too late to change anything with the Treasure. (Size of rooms, lack of 360 walking track, etc.) That being said, I suspect Disney is taking negative feedback in stride, because they are still able to charge 30%-50% more for Wish cruises that comparable Dream cruises in the past. Somebody loves these ships much more.

 

[Intr3pid]

Some of the feedback of issues with the Wish are hardware related, and it was far too late to change anything with the Treasure. (Size of rooms, lack of 360 walking track, etc.) That being said, I suspect Disney is taking negative feedback in stride, because they are still able to charge 30%-50% more for Wish cruises that comparable Dream cruises in the past. Somebody loves these ships much more.

I agree. These "issues" only exist on these boards and in the minds of some vloggers. People vote with their dollars. Disney is raking in so much money on the Wish that it need not change anything.

 

[peder]

Precisely. And from what I understand, the Wish is largely attracting passengers who are new to DCL entirely, meaning they are able to capture new customers with this class of ship that they previously could not, despite the price premium they are charging.

 

[Flossbolna]

Precisely. And from what I understand, the Wish is largely attracting passengers who are new to DCL entirely, meaning they are able to capture new customers with this class of ship that they previously could not, despite the price premium they are charging.

This might be different for the Teeasure though. Longer cruises are even more expensive. And for many first time cruisers it’s a one and done thing, they aren’t converted into regulars necessarily.

It will be interesting to see how Treasure and Fantasy pricing will compare once they both sail the same itineraries from PC just one day apart.

 

[Dug720]

I have been pondering the same question about the Treasure in general. When the Wish came out, we really wanted to sail during the inaugural season, but concierge sold out completely on all the initial offering of 4 night sailings before they got to our booking category (Silver at the time). Like, completely sold out. But I just looked and the first Treasure sailing I picked randomly (end of January) still has several different concierge categories available, with multiple rooms in each.

Maybe people are realizing that with so many more concierge rooms on the Triton Class that not everyone is able to get their beloved cabana and other things, there's not the "need" to pay for concierge since it won't ensure their other "musts".

 

[Kwami]

This might be different for the Teeasure though. Longer cruises are even more expensive. And for many first time cruisers it’s a one and done thing, they aren’t converted into regulars necessarily.

It will be interesting to see how Treasure and Fantasy pricing will compare once they both sail the same itineraries from PC just one day apart.

The Treasure 2025 prices for a verandah seem to be $300-$1000 higher than the same prices on the Fantasy in 2024. That's about the same premium that Disney's charging for the Wish over the Dream, but spread out over seven nights, so it doesn't feel as bad.

I agree that it'll be interesting to see what they do with prices for the Fantasy in 2025.

 

[CruiseGoon]

I've been thinking over this for a while now, so bear with me and please accept my apologies for the wall of text. I have Gold status and I was never able to pull up prices or room selection on the DCL website on the day my tier went live. I was logged in correctly and even tried DW's login. I still couldn't get in on any of the following tiered booking days until booking was released to the general public. When I finally was able to look up prices and make a room selection, I saw that there were still open rooms for the maiden voyage. Imagine that.

I fully expected to see the maiden voyage sold out when I finally got in. I didn't intend to book that date because it is just way too outrageously high priced. I had originally intended to book one of the January dates (either Jan 11th or Jan 18th). I'm suffering from sticker shock even on those. I was thinking about whether it would be worth it and realized that the only thing special is the newness of the ship. We have a placeholder that we made this past summer on our Alaska Wonder trip. From what I could gather, the OBB was going to be valid as long as it wasn't on the very early departures for the Treasure.

My family has done both the Eastern and Western 7 night itineraries on the Fantasy. We liked both, but there's not really anything different. The Treasure doesn't even include a stop at Lighthouse Point on any of its trips. For less half the price, we can go on either the Magic or Fantasy and have stops at both Castaway Cay and Lighthouse Point. The length of cruise might be slightly shorter, but we can go in to FLL and Port Everglades which will be cheaper and easier than MCO and Port Canaveral. I honestly think the new private Disney island appeals more than the new ship.

As of today, I still haven't booked a trip on the Treasure.

While thinking about this, I realize we might be getting Disney'ed out. Our kiddo's school is having a tour organized trip to Japan after school lets out in May which is going to be more expensive. And we booked that!

Going to a new destination seems more appealing than making the same trip we've done before with newer, shiny-er wrapping paper. Maybe if the prices drop substantially on the Treasure and it includes Lighthouse Point, we'll revisit. But if that doesn't happen, I'm likely going to look for a cruise with Lighthouse Point and Castaway Cay that maybe has a port we haven't been to like San Juan or one of the southern Caribbean trips.

 

[Flossbolna]

I've been thinking over this for a while now, so bear with me and please accept my apologies for the wall of text. I have Gold status and I was never able to pull up prices or room selection on the DCL website on the day my tier went live. I was logged in correctly and even tried DW's login. I still couldn't get in on any of the following tiered booking days until booking was released to the general public. When I finally was able to look up prices and make a room selection, I saw that there were still open rooms for the maiden voyage. Imagine that.

I fully expected to see the maiden voyage sold out when I finally got in. I didn't intend to book that date because it is just way too outrageously high priced. I had originally intended to book one of the January dates (either Jan 11th or Jan 18th). I'm suffering from sticker shock even on those. I was thinking about whether it would be worth it and realized that the only thing special is the newness of the ship. We have a placeholder that we made this past summer on our Alaska Wonder trip. From what I could gather, the OBB was going to be valid as long as it wasn't on the very early departures for the Treasure.

My family has done both the Eastern and Western 7 night itineraries on the Fantasy. We liked both, but there's not really anything different. The Treasure doesn't even include a stop at Lighthouse Point on any of its trips. For less half the price, we can go on either the Magic or Fantasy and have stops at both Castaway Cay and Lighthouse Point. The length of cruise might be slightly shorter, but we can go in to FLL and Port Everglades which will be cheaper and easier than MCO and Port Canaveral. I honestly think the new private Disney island appeals more than the new ship.

As of today, I still haven't booked a trip on the Treasure.

While thinking about this, I realize we might be getting Disney'ed out. Our kiddo's school is having a tour organized trip to Japan after school lets out in May which is going to be more expensive. And we booked that!

Going to a new destination seems more appealing than making the same trip we've done before with newer, shiny-er wrapping paper. Maybe if the prices drop substantially on the Treasure and it includes Lighthouse Point, we'll revisit. But if that doesn't happen, I'm likely going to look for a cruise with Lighthouse Point and Castaway Cay that maybe has a port we haven't been to like San Juan or one of the southern Caribbean trips.

First: if you couldn’t pull up the prices on your booking day, there is some issue with how your Castaway Club account and your Disney account are connected. I would recommend to call DCL about this for possible future bookings.

And I totally understand your point about wanting to do something else as well. We like new experiences, so we try not to repeat itineraries and we take long breaks between cruises. I think having the placeholder for two years is good as it means I can do something else one year and then maybe return to a cruise. Have fun in Japan!

 

[MomOTwins]

With Christmas week, airfare will be peak prices and high risk of cancellation or delays too. Plus if you do parks before or after cruises that is peak prices and peak crowds. So much that makes this maiden unappealing.

I also think it was smart of the wish to do a 5 day maiden. It gave people something extra to justify the extra price. For the treasure it is glaringly obvious how overpriced the maiden is because you can look at the exact same itinerary to compare. We booked spring break in March which is one of the priciest cruises in inaugural season, and it is still literally half the cost of the maiden for our family of 5.

 

[otten]

I was never interested in the maiden voyage anyway and we don’t travel over the holidays because of the increased potential for travel issues but 20k Canadian for an inside is just so ridiculous and since there are still rooms available across all 4 room types (inside, ow etc) and not even in GTY status I do wonder if Disney has finally gone so far with their pricing that people aren’t buying.

 

[Husker Mike]

I was never interested in the maiden voyage anyway and we don’t travel over the holidays because of the increased potential for travel issues but 20k Canadian for an inside is just so ridiculous and since there are still rooms available across all 4 room types (inside, ow etc) and not even in GTY status I do wonder if Disney has finally gone so far with their pricing that people aren’t buying.

I dare say that if the Treasure had already sold out the maiden voyage, Disney's accountants would be lamenting that they hadn't set the price high enough. They still have 14+ months to sell rooms, and it appears they have it over half full at this point. My guess is that DCL probably feels they priced it right for now. October 2024, they might feel differently, and if so, the price could drop

 

[MomOTwins]

I dare say that if the Treasure had already sold out the maiden voyage, Disney's accountants would be lamenting that they hadn't set the price high enough. They still have 14+ months to sell rooms, and it appears they have it over half full at this point. My guess is that DCL probably feels they priced it right for now. October 2024, they might feel differently, and if so, the price could drop

Fair point, I think a lot us were surprised that the Treasure maiden didn’t sell out because the Wish maiden sold out well before the general public could book. But to be fair, in addition to the price increase, the Wish was the first new disney ship in a decade and the first of its class, whereas the Treasure is mostly a clone.

But that said, I do think Disney needed to sell this to returning cruisers. Otherwise who is going to book it? A first timer who isn’t sure if they would even like a disney cruise isn’t likely to want to roll the dice on a cruise that costs so much more than other comparable disney cruises (either other ships over the holidays or later sailings on the Treasure). We disney cruise fans are their target audience for this kind of special cruise and they blew it with us. I really really wanted to book it but price+no family christmas+nonrefundable deposit made too hard to justify.

It’s the galactic starcruiser pricing debacle all over again. I wouldn’t be surprised if a year from now we see some quiet targeted emails offering discounts to certain groups like DVC members and Disney Visa cardholders.

 

[Calantha]

Disney Visa cardholders.

Yes, please send me discounts!!!