Last DCL cruise?

[pearljammer]

We're going on what may be our last Disney cruise because the pricing is getting out of hand and the itinerary isn't changing enough.p to make it worth our while. We're now having to consider RCL where we'll save at least a thousand. That would save enough to do a day at a theme park in Orlando. We love Disney but not certain we can justify the costs anymore especially now that we've done the eastern, upcoming western and 2 Bahama cruises. My only goal is to get back on the Magic since its been renovated. Can't afford to fly into Miami as we drive down to Port C and that's 10 hours. Anyone considering jumping ship? If so, why, why not?

 

[gizzardgoop]

Yep. Same reasons as you. We drive and Miami's too far. Disney is crazy expensive. We've done the Bahamas, eastern once and will be on our second western next month. I wish it was more affordable since it's the vacation I most look forward to.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

I went on RCCL and I didn't like it, the ship was nice, but whilst it was cheaper then there is a soda package, and you pay of Orange juice outside of breakfast and pay for in room movies and pay for satisfactory coffee and pay for better steaks at dinner etc etc. Poor entertainment on the ship.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

To each there own, if anyone feels any cruise is to expensive it's time to move on.

While RCCL give a good standard cruise , it's not the magic and pixie dust of DCL cruise. To us, DCL is worth every penny and more. Service, entertainment, food, safety and the specail design and style of the vessels. Add to that there is much less in the way of nickel and diming you.

What ever you decide enjoy your cruise.

AKK

 

[daisygirl902]

We cheated on DCL with a great deal on Celebrity last year. Mostly for the fantastic itinerary, plus they offer Canadian military a discount which DCL still doesn't do. I agree with PP, we'll keep paying for the magic and pixie dust. While I didn't feel our money was wasted on the Celebrity cruise, we certainly spent a lot of time saying "this just isn't a Disney cruise..." The food, pools, and itinerary was great but the entertainment was terrible! The atmosphere just wasn't our thing.So we're going on another carribean on the Fantasy next month, and I'm thrilled! Yup, we paid as much (more actually) for our 7 night than we did for an 11 night on Celebrity, but we know what we're going to get!

 

[kathi]

We have considered trying RCCL or Celebrity but always end up back on DCL (16 cruises so far). In speaking with our TA, my parents and friends who travel on other lines, I just don't think we will find what we all want on any other line. Celebrity we would cruise with when it's just the two of us, but the kids clubs don't hold a candle to DCL. RCCL may make our 11 year old daughter happy, but all of the up charges along with not as high a quality of food would make me and my husband miserable. So DCL it is for us...although we used to cruise twice a year and now only once due to the significantly increased prices.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

In a perfect world DCL would have the itinerary I want at the price I want when I want it. Unfortunately, with only 4 ships and high demand, that's not a possibility for me. We're flying to Vancouver 7 weeks from today and sailing the Wonder to San Diego, for which will probably be our last DCL cruise.

For us it's just a matter of money, going to new places and experiencing new things.

For 2016 were trying the new Carnival Vista for a Mediterranean cruise. She is an amazing ship which if she had 2 red stacks instead of a whale tail, these boards would be going crazy about how awesome she is going to be.

For 2017, we'll be trying one of the oasis class ships on RCCL, and 2018 will be Alaska on a yet to be determined ship. Alaska could be DCL if the Magic is there instead of the Wonder, one can always hope.

Its kind of like going out for a steak dinner, if I could I'd go to Ruth's Chris every time I wanted steak, but I'm not going to spend $200 for dinner for my wife and I every week, so we go to Outback for the most part and occasionally go to Ruth's.

For what it's worth, a soft drink package is about $6.00/day on other cruise lines so "free" soda on DCL is not a good deal, and with that package, you can get a soda anywhere you want, you don't have to walk up to the top deck to get a soda, it also includes juices so you can get mocktails if you feel like having a virgin Mai Tai delivered to you at the pool, (this is true on Carnival, I don't know about the others).

 

[jdb in AZ]

In a perfect world DCL would have the itinerary I want at the price I want when I want it. Unfortunately, with only 4 ships and high demand, that's not a possibility for me. We're flying to Vancouver 7 weeks from today and sailing the Wonder to San Diego, for which will probably be our last DCL cruise.

For 2017, we'll be trying one of the oasis class ships on RCCL, and 2018 will be Alaska on a yet to be determined ship. Alaska could be DCL if the Magic is there instead of the Wonder, one can always hope.

Its kind of like going out for a steak dinner, if I could I'd go to Ruth's Chris every time I wanted steak, but I'm not going to spend $200 for dinner for my wife and I every week, so we go to Outback for the most part and occasionally go to Ruth's.

For what it's worth, a soft drink package is about $6.00/day on other cruise lines so "free" soda on DCL is not a good deal, and with that package, you can get a soda anywhere you want, you don't have to walk up to the top deck to get a soda, it also includes juices so you can get mocktails if you feel like having a virgin Mai Tai delivered to you at the pool, (this is true on Carnival, I don't know about the others).

FWIW, the Wonder will probably be re-imagined by 2018 and be "newer" than the Magic.

Ruth's Chris is way over-rated. I fix better steaks at home, and Ruth's charging $10. for a side-serving of tasteless mashed potatoes is a joke.

 

[over50visits]

We're going on what may be our last Disney cruise because the pricing is getting out of hand and the itinerary isn't changing enough.p to make it worth our while. We're now having to consider RCL where we'll save at least a thousand. That would save enough to do a day at a theme park in Orlando. We love Disney but not certain we can justify the costs anymore especially now that we've done the eastern, upcoming western and 2 Bahama cruises. My only goal is to get back on the Magic since its been renovated. Can't afford to fly into Miami as we drive down to Port C and that's 10 hours. Anyone considering jumping ship? If so, why, why not?

We aren't considering jumping, for a lot of reasons. We like being on a ship that always feels new, we like seeing performers and CMs over the years that we get to know, we like the rotational dining, and we really like the family atmosphere (such as no gambling area) and happy, approachable aura of every single CM.

We don't cruise as often as we like because of the cost, but we keep it down by (1) looking for any deals such a special rates, OBB, last minute discounts (2) not booking expensive staterooms (3) going in the off season whenever possible (4) not buying their expensive offerings such as photos or spa treatments, and (5) spending next to nothing on wine/alcohol. We savor the time on board, end up with a very low stateroom account balance, and didn't feel like we missed out on anything. You can do a nice Disney cruise without breaking the bank if you trim where it really doesn't matter.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

FWIW, the Wonder will probably be re-imagined by 2018 and be "newer" than the Magic.

Ruth's Chris is way over-rated. I fix better steaks at home, and Ruth's charging $10. for a side-serving of tasteless mashed potatoes is a joke.

I want to go on the Magic just so I can experience each of the 4 ships, not necessarily because it's newer.

Your comments about Ruth's prove my point exactly about the "value" people perceive in different things. Since we're both in AZ, next time you're grilling steaks let me know, I'll bring the sides and beverages, I've got to be the worst person ever on a grill, but I can make an amazing spinach au gratin

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

FWIW, the Wonder will probably be re-imagined by 2018 and be "newer" than the Magic.

Ruth's Chris is way over-rated. I fix better steaks at home, and Ruth's charging $10. for a side-serving of tasteless mashed potatoes is a joke.

Not the biggest Ruth's Chris fan either, rather grill my.own!

AKK

 

[Iamaplanner]

We had 'planned' that our March 2016 cruise would be our last one with Disney. That was primarily to try to save a bit of money and because our daughters were getting older so we felt they would be able to have fun in other kids clubs. As March 2016 approaches and we've been talking a bit about the cruise, we asked each other if it would really be our last one and we're just not sure. We have such an amazing time and know exactly what to expect with DCL. So, long story short, it may be one more after that

 

[llachance]

Was recently on RCCL and paid almost as much for the trip as our Disney cruises and (I know you don't have to) we added on the up charge restaurants and the beverage package (I like to drink club soda) the price wasn't that much different. The food in the MDR was fine. Service was better in the up-charge restaurants but not nearly as refined as on a Disney cruise. Our stateroom hostess spoke english so poorly that simple requests were difficult for her to understand (I want 4 towels every day - but there are only 2 of you) eventually I just towels off the cart when it was outside my door. Loved the promenade on the ship (Navigator of the Seas) but felt that it was under utilized. Free coffee was Seattle's Best so actually pretty decent but if you wanted "Starbucks" there was an up charge not unlike most other ships that have "fancy" coffee. Overall it was a good week but my husband said to me (and I booked two more RCCL trips - one of which we won't be taking because I have added a trip, with my mom, instead) let's book Disney again......not something I expected to hear come out of his mouth. Be sure, when you are looking at prices, that you compare apples to oranges -

 

[PrincessTrisha]

I enjoy cruising on multiple cruise lines. Disney is nice when we want the movie theatre and characters but other lines have their own pluses. We've not noticed too much difference in service between lines - we've had excellent, good and bad servers, room attendants, etc. on all lines (including Disney). Each line (or sometimes even individual ships) have their own positives (and not so positives). I have fun on all of my cruises and try to enjoy those things that are specific to that line.

 

[Plaid Princess]

I've never considered another cruise line, and I probably never will. I'd rather cruise less often with Disney. I know the service and cleanliness will be up to par, and the entertainment will be something Hubby and I will enjoy. We don't drink or gamble, so I feel like we'd struggle on other carriers to find things to do.

Plus we always cruise in the fall, so the prices are generally lower, and the ships less crowded. We're also not the type to purchase a lot of excursions or extras, so we typically don't have a bill at the end of the cruise.

That being said, I would LOVE to see one of the ships head across the pacific and do an Australia/New Zealand/Asia Pacific itinerary!

 

[tinkerone]

we have decided to try another cruise line as well. port canaveral is the port we like so we are going to sail the oasis (already booked) for when it starts to sail out of there. we have a few DCL cruises booked before then but i can see where we may jump ship and move to other cruise lines on a more regular basis. with the cruise on the oasis, we can pay in canadian funds which saves a ton right there, plus we are paying almost $2000 less than what the fantasy costs. oh, and we are getting 8 nights and not the 7 dcl is offering.
i don't understand the nickel and dime thing. i have never been able to figure out what that is supposed to be. the only thing we would pay that we would not pay on disney is for pop. for two of us that will be about $110/$120 for the 8 days. so what else is it that costs that i would get in my dcl package? food is very subjective so i'm not going to listen to people's reviews of dinning, some say its better, some say worse. i'll decide on that when i'm there.
i love dcl and i can certainly afford it, question is do i want to. i'll have that answer once we sail oasis.
cheers.

 

[RKKUNK]

Our last DCL cruise was in November. We had booked that cruise about 1&1/2 years out. We usually book a GT rate of some sort, but even those have become pricey and aren't offered as often as they used to be. So, I am not sure when or if we will cruise with Disney again.

We cruised on the Allure of the Seas about a year and a half ago and booked that ship again not long after we got home because they had a Grand Suite for less then we could book something comparable on Disney. We really liked the ship and had a lot of fun. The reason we booked Allure again is because we didn't get to do/see everything the first time and because it is a Western which we haven't done yet. We felt like there was just as much or more to do as on a Disney cruise.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

i don't understand the nickel and dime thing. i have never been able to figure out what that is supposed to be. the only thing we would pay that we would not pay on disney is for pop. for two of us that will be about $110/$120 for the 8 days.

And the Oasis has the Coke Freestyle machines so with the soda package you'll have so many more choices (flavoured lemonades, flavoured waters, so many more soda choices) and you'll get able to get a soda anywhere on the ship with your package (in the theatre, in any bar, in the adult only solarium, etc.)

 

[mylittlebuttercup]

Nope, I find the premium worth it with a young son. When he gets to be older, I definitely want to try one of the megaships with all the different stuff that older kids can do (ice skating, sports simulators, etc.), but until then we will probably sail Disney every two or three years.

 

[RebelHawk]

My wife and I went on a few Carnaval cruises before jumping over to DCL. After we did our first Alaskan DCL cruise we were in love. Now that we have a couple sailings under our belts with 2 more booked we have decided that we are going to knock out our 5 and get Gold status. Then we'll check out some of the other comparable cruise lines such as RCL and Celebrity and decide if we can get close to DCL quality for less money. Once we have a comparison we will settle on one for awhile. The one thing we will not do is go back to Carnaval. Some times you do get what you pay for.