Just Saying No?

[DCLCrazy64622]

I don’t want to be flamed for this, but I was just curious if anyone, when finding out the 2019 prices today was shocked enough to say “Thanks, but no thanks”? Is anyone fed up with how high the prices are getting and taking a stand against the “gouging”? I understand supply and demand, so I don’t need a lecture about why DCL can still charge these prices. I am just curious if anyone is sickened by it and taking a stand. I love them, don’t get me wrong. We are platinum, FWIW. But at some point I gotta say, the product is not worth the price when I can go to a different line for the same itinerary for half the price. Again, not interest in being lectured about supply and demand, and paying for the Disney experience.
Just curious if people feel the same way I do. I mean, $3000 for a 4 day Dream cruise to the Bahamas in February for 2 adults and 1 child? Give me a break!

 

[NS8VN]

If you are asking if other people talk about jumping ship and complaining about price increases every single time new itineraries are released, then yes. Yes they do. Every time. Many threads. You aren't the first one this go-round, probably won't be the last. Then there will be half a dozen more with the next release too, and the one after that, and so on.

You don't need to take a stand and start a poll, you can just book another line. Nobody will flame you for deciding to sail with another cruise line. Eventually maybe Disney will have trouble filling ships and start dropping prices, but that day is probably not today.

 

[FigmentSpark]

My thought is a little different. Instead of taking my money elsewhere, I'm considering using it to buy stock. If people keep paying these prices, there should be a pay-off somewhere. Then again, be warned all, when I buy stock, the price falls. Not before I buy... after. I'm just unlucky that way.

 

[lbus42]

Plus your poll is very skewed. Some people like me agree that DCL is high, but consider that they give me an experience that I can’t get elsewhere, so i’m willing to pay for it. It’s like saying that people should take a stand against the price of a Lexus because a Kia will get you to where you want to go much cheaper.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Plus your poll is very skewed. Some people like me agree that DCL is high, but consider that they give me an experience that I can’t get elsewhere, so i’m willing to pay for it. It’s like saying that people should take a stand against the price of a Lexus because a Kia will get you to where you want to go much cheaper.

This.
I like the product enough to pay the current prices for certain cruises.
In 2018, I also have 2 major non DCL cruises, a partial transit of Panama Canal, plus a RCCL cruise from Vancouver to Honolulu. We have done these cruises before and they are fun, worth doing again!

 

[tlynk]

No flames here! I noticed the Mexican Riviera and Baja cruises seem high. I'm hoping to do an Alaskan cruise in 2019 with my adult children and their families, but I don't think they will be able to afford a Disney cruise. That will make me sad since I love my Disney cruises.

 

[Neptune's Fork]

I concur. So please drive some of this demand elsewhere so these prices will stabilize or even drop. You've done some Royal cruises and a Norwegian so talk them up.

 

[Pens Fan]

We used to be the worst DCL snobs. For a very long time we bought into the idea that we couldn't get the same experience on another cruse line. We are also very blessed that we can actually afford Disney's prices, so we continued to sail with them.

Until last summer:

We jumped ship to NCL for our Alaskan cruise. It had absolutely ZERO to do with price. We could easily have afforded to sail on the Wonder, however having done the Wonder cruise in Alaska a few years ago, we wanted a different itinerary. We wanted Glacier Bay and we also wanted to sail one way from Vancouver to mainland Alaska. There is no way you're getting that with Disney.

So, we booked the NCL Sun - one of NCL's older, smaller ships. We went in with an open mind and low expectations - basically a floating hotel. And what happened??? We LOVED that cruise - while there were a few things Disney did better, there were a LOT of things NCL did better than Disney. Honestly, I don't know if I will ever get my husband back on a Disney ship - and he was probably the biggest Disney cheerleader in the family prior to that cruise, but now all he wants to talk about is where NCL is going. Prior to sailing on the Sun, we came very close to switching our 2018 NCL cruise out of NYC to Quebec to the Disney Magic when we found out they would be sailing there. But after our NCL Sun cruise, we wouldn't even consider it. We far prefer NCL's itinerary and the fact that it's roundtrip out of NYC (we live in PA, so an easy drive).

This latest release from Disney was the first in years that I didn't even look at them. Look, there are families (we used to be one of them!!) that thought it was Disney or nothing. They will pay whatever it costs, and obviously there are enough of them to keep Disney happy and their ships full. Good for them and happy sailings!! Truly. I don't regret a penny we spent on any Disney cruise we have taken.

But for our family we are looking elsewhere. As much (or MORE!!!) than folks here were waiting on DCL to release this latest release of cruises, we are looking for a 2019 NCL Italy / Croatia / Greece cruise - hopefully open in a few months. I'm about 99.999999% sure that's not even a possibility on Disney.

Happy sailings everyone!!

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Love your poll. We thought we were shortchanging the kids going on other cruise lines... lol...found out this year that they like other lines better. Crack me up. All this time, doing it for the kids and their favorite kids club is Carnival's. Incroyable.

 

[GPaLarry]

If you think the prices are high now...try in 6 months or 2 months out...ouch! By the way, in answer to FigmentSpark above, we bought one share of Disney stock for each of our grandkids for their birthdays...two down and three more to go. On our last cruise, Alaska in June, we took a picture of one of the lifeboats and told the latest stock recipient that their stock bought one seat in there.

 

[darnheather]

The shorter cruises have always been a worse deal and longer cruises a better deal. Go ahead and jump ship. Come back and let us know how it went.

My oldest refuses to try another line until after she's 18. She loves the Vibe too much. Even though we can only go every 18-24 months we'll continue to do so. I'll save money when she no longer lives with me but I'll probably not get to vacation with her either.

 

[ForMyBoys]

I love me some DCL. But we also loved our Royal Carribean Cruise. In looking at European cruises the price difference floored me. I can get connecting balcony rooms on a newly refurbished RC ship for half the price of connecting interior rooms on DCL. Is DCL really worth over double??

Two out of three of my kids liked the DCL kids club better, but seriously I could book RC AND give each kid $1000 to spend on whatever they wanted on the vacation and still save thousands. It’s crazy.

 

[SteveMP]

As our kids get older RCCL ships work better for us. But even as teens our kids still like the "magic" of DCL so we have been alternating vs doing DCL each year. So a half-stand?

 

[squirk]

Let’s stop with the hyperbole. Disney isn’t “price gouging”.

Are they overpriced? Yes, I agree with that opinion. However, a.) cruising isn’t a necessity like water, gas or lodging; b.) DCL’s prices are high all the time; they are not jacking up prices to take advantage of an emergency or other short-term non-discretionary demand spike; and c.) there is no supply shortage; you have plenty of other choices on which to spend your cruising dollar.

Like @lbus42 said - is Lexus “gouging” when they charge $75k for a sedan? Is Four Seasons “gouging” when they charge a standard $800 per night for a room with a swank view? Is Apple “gouging” when they charge $1,000 or more for an iPhone X?

If you don’t like DCL’s pricing, again, I’m with you. But it’s not “price gouging”.

 

[darnheather]

Every time this happens I get curious and check other lines. Right now the Carnival WBPC in Jan/Feb 2019 is $4598.75 for an interior room for 1A2K. 14 nights. One less sea day. No CC. That's about $1000 less than what I'm expecting Wednesday. However, our sleeping arrangement would look something like this.



So, for my family of three yes it's worth it to go DCL, have the clubs my kids love, have the movies and shows I love, the rotational dinning, no casino, one tiny smoking area. Your experience may differ.

 

[Shanti]

I don’t want to be flamed for this, but I was just curious if anyone, when finding out the 2019 prices today was shocked enough to say “Thanks, but no thanks”? Is anyone fed up with how high the prices are getting and taking a stand against the “gouging”? I understand supply and demand, so I don’t need a lecture about why DCL can still charge these prices. I am just curious if anyone is sickened by it and taking a stand. I love them, don’t get me wrong. We are platinum, FWIW. But at some point I gotta say, the product is not worth the price when I can go to a different line for the same itinerary for half the price. Again, not interest in being lectured about supply and demand, and paying for the Disney experience.
Just curious if people feel the same way I do. I mean, $3000 for a 4 day Dream cruise to the Bahamas in February for 2 adults and 1 child? Give me a break!

I like your post and your poll, and think there is no reason for some posters to get testy about them. Tbh, I haven't even looked at the 2019 prices because I don't want to think about the price hikes & don't plan to sail that year, anyway. We're already booked on three 2018 cruises (including a B2B) that will complete our grand slam and earn us gold status, and then we'll probably lay off at least until the new ships come out, mainly due to a desire to alternate with other types of vacation.

I don't like the price hikes, but since I've already got the main cruises we want booked & don't rely on cruises as my only mode of vacation, it doesn't stress me. Cruising is just one vacation option among many. I know there are other great lines out there, but as I typically travel with my young, Disney-loving son (& I also love Disney theming), I'm really only interested in sailing DCL right now.

 

[AquaDame]

Honestly? The last time I "took a stand" against Disney's pricing (and nixing the sweet alcohol policy) I ended up on a cruise with RCCL that I didn't enjoy and wished I had stuck with DCL. We took a second with them as we had already booked it with family and really did try to forget about the first one and enjoy it and ran into a host of other problems on that cruise too. I WANT to like another line... we'll sail Princess the next time we go to Alaska probably as we want to do Glacier Bay and possibly one with Celebrity or NatGeo to go to the Galapagos but I am not nearly as excited as I was to try other lines.

Usually the people I hear saying 'we're done, it's not worth it' also have the luxury of having been on so many cruises that they can easily walk away with a been there done that hindsight. Its great you were able to go when it was so much cheaper but no one looking at a DCL cruise today is going to be able to do that. You may as well tell them they should have gone places before they were popular, seen that band when they were young, or bought their houses/invested in stocks years ago. They haven't seen all the shows, or eaten at all the restaurants and been to all the stops as you have.

When we are priced out, or have been on enough cruises that we are over it, we will probably do other vacations entirely (which we already do too... we did two cruises this year but by the end of Dec will have gone on 5 trips). I honestly don't care to price shop itineraries as I love the Disney experience at sea. I love it so much, I cruise instead of just getting on a plane and going to a place I want to see sometimes. I started because I wanted to go to Castway Cay, did some sailings in the Caribbean because we had a blast, went to Alaska because I heard how awesome it was to cruise there and tried then RCCL because it was cheaper (and I was mad at DCL for suddenly not allowing rum aboard). Honestly the only cruise that backfired on me was the Norwegian Fjords in June... we had a great time, but I NEED more time than we got there so next time it will all be land based!

 

[darnheather]

@AquaDame you sum it up so well. I've only gone twice. I still have several cruises with Disney I want to do. I still have a lot of time to try other lines.

@Shanti I don't think anyone's "testy" just pointing out different points of view.

@squirk Thank you! I love accuracy in language.

 

[Bella29]

I booked our first RCL cruise today. Liberty of the Seas - TWO balcony rooms on a 7nt for half the price of one verandah room on DCL the same week in January 2019. We are gold, almost platinum, and we love DCL. We started cruising with DCL in 2005 when our kids were little and haven't tried any other lines since. (We almost tried RCL last year but ended up canceling for unrelated reasons). The factors pushing us away are price and lack of deck activities for active older teens. I know we will miss the shows, the movies, the dining experiences, Castaway Cay. We've had a great time and made so many good memories on DCL ships. But we want to try RCL, NCL and Princess, then we will have a better frame of reference for deciding whether to come back. We just want to make smart choices with our money and our limited vacation time with the kids. I'm sure I will want to check out the new ships too when they are put in service.

We have a b2b on the Fantasy over NYE in a few months - I hope I'm not too emotional about this being the last one for awhile!!

 

[Dug720]

Plus your poll is very skewed. Some people like me agree that DCL is high, but consider that they give me an experience that I can’t get elsewhere, so i’m willing to pay for it. It’s like saying that people should take a stand against the price of a Lexus because a Kia will get you to where you want to go much cheaper.

This.
I like the product enough to pay the current prices for certain cruises.
In 2018, I also have 2 major non DCL cruises, a partial transit of Panama Canal, plus a RCCL cruise from Vancouver to Honolulu. We have done these cruises before and they are fun, worth doing again!

Agreed.

Plus "gouging" usually refers to raising the price on something that is a necessity - such as food, fuel, or housing - during a shortage/disaster and NOT something that is 100% optional.

I have cruised DCL and plan to book on Wednesday.

I have cruised RCCL and been fine with them. I have another booked for July 2018. I am ok with them.

I have a Celebrity cruise booked for Feb 2019 and am excited about it.

I have cruised HAL and was less than impressed.

So I will try/cruise some other lines (I do my research and know what I like and don't), but bottom line is I like the Disney product and honestly would rather cruise less often to remain with them as I can enjoy virtually all aspects of their ships. Other lines I never go near the casino (generally a large portion of the ship) unless it's merely to walk through (which I try to avoid because of the stench of smoke), I am very picky about entertainment quality and Disney is the only line that meets my standards in quality.

Everyone has to make their own decisions as to what is most important to them. I've said before, the Declaration of Independence does not include "A trip to Disneyland/Disney World or a Disney Cruise" as one of our inalienable rights.