Missing Castaway Cay - Captain's Comments?

[Rence]

ALL Cruise lines miss ports. It is just the way the cruise industry works. If you had your heart set on going to island X, you are best off booking a land resort on island X rather than a cruise that includes a stop at island X. All cruise lines miss ports. This board is devoted just to DCL so on here you will only read about DCL missing ports, which gives you a very slanted perspective.

There was just a Carnival cruise recently with engine problems so they skipped all ports and just sailed in cirlcles off of Florida for the whole week.

Of course the problem is, the only way to get to Castaway Cay is on a Disney Cruise, there is no land based resort there. So your only option is a DCL cruise which makes it to CC well over 90% of the time. There have been careful studies made of this on the board here, accounting for each and every DCL cruise and whether or not it made it to CC.

If you are going to have a problem if your ship misses a port. DO NOT CRUISE.

 

[budwmn]

How silly to plan a trip based on one day at Castaway Cay. What if it rained? Sure, you may be able to dock, but you'd probably stay onboard. Disney can't be held responsible for the weather (and strong currents are caused by wind). No travel business - hotels, cruise ships, restaurants, etc. - give you a refund or future credit for bad weather. Can bad weather ruin your trip -- sure it can. You could have had such rough seas that you were seasick or maybe you just get bored. Still, it's not the cruise lines fault. If you make the choice to cruise you accept the risk.

 

[barkley]

I saw this thread and was intreaged. I have'nt read all the posts, but wish to note :We have been on 2 separate Disney Cruises and NEVER BEEN ON CASTAWAY CAY!!!!!!!!

Hurricane Hugo blew in right before our 1st so the island was out of commission (on the upside they changed our itinerary for the entire trip and did the first disney cruise to Cozumel). About a week before we departed DCL sent everyone a new itinerary and offered to rebook.

Trip number 2 started fine but Hurricane Michelle decided to join us at sea on day 2 or 3. We could not port. The captain warned us early in the morning that he would try his best but after 3 attempts he called it a day. There were SCADS of people at the desk SCREAMING AND CURSING for refunds or credits. We took it in stride-in fact there were several other DIS board members on the same trip and one did a posting from the ship titled "The Fox's Miss Out On Castaway Cay-The Count is 2 of 2".

You have to go with the flow-we got through a hurricane safely, the staff started all kinds of activities on board to keep everyone ammused...it was still an awesome vacation.

 

[dwkwootton]

How about a little sanity .... finally?

Is this really this difficult? Someone misses CC, they prove they are sane by naturally becoming disappointed, they post their disappointment, a couple people remark how sorry they feel for them and how it stinks that they missed CC ... voila .... thread runs dry and everyone can move on.

Even if the OP feels its a good PR move on Disney's part to offer a discount on a future cruise, so what LOL!!!

Instead, its one red herring after another and the downward spriral keeps going out of control. Some have suggested offering cheese with the whine, we now have red herring salad, cheese, and whine. Either way its a banquet fit for a king ... but only a king of fools.

Let someone be disappointed or whatever they're feeling! When our spouse or child comes home from a bad day at work/school, feeling down in the mouth, how many of us yell at him/her and cut him/her down to size?

Why not go back and reread the multiplicty of contradictions and just let it be already.

On the one hand, the talk is that it is quite rare that DCL misses CC. However, people are so concerned that DCL will have to charge more for all cruises to make up for the devastating loss of funds if they offer a discount voucher on a future cruise for those who are miffed that they missed CC. Folks, these opposing arguments don't balance.

On the one hand, the talk is that it is OK, expected, normal, fair and decent for DCL to pound the daylights out of their island paradise CC .... but the average accountant, nurse, engineer, waiter, or teacher should do their so-called homework to know better (as long as they don't come to the conclusion that DCL advertising might be considered unfair). Not adding up.

Nearly everyone loves CC so much that we often come unglued at the very thought of it. DCL has added a special itinerary with 2 stops there to meet customer request. However! If you really, really, really want to go to CC or even book a DCL cruise to get to go to CC, you're told you shouldn't cruise or that cruising isn't for everyone. Hello?

On the one hand, DCL's high prices are easily explained since they are the greatest thing since sliced bread. Its thought that you should shell out up to twice as much for a Disney Cruise over other lines, after all the best costs more. But!!! If you miss CC (and act sane by not liking it) all of a sudden DCL is the same darn thing as Carnival, RCL etc. All ships miss ports! Again, the arguments don't balance. Besides, I'm thinking it would make most people feel worse to get a mediocre cut of filet mignon at the best restaurant in town for $39.99 than it is to get chewy chicken at the neighborhood diner for $7.50.

My new favorite is the Webster's version of cruising. Along with ports not being part of a true cruise, let's all bid a fond farewell to food, entertainment, pools, characters, pina coladas, pirate parties, deck chairs (the good news is that no one can save them if they aren't there).

The negativity accusations are most inappropriate and appear to be little more than a desperate attempt at coercion on the part of the accuser. If your favorite team loses the big game and you feel bad, are you negative? If you're passed over for the 2nd time for that promotion at work and you feel low, are you negative? If you were heartbroken over the events of 9-11-01, are you negative?

The zillion other excuses just swim around aimlessly to the non point that they are, the hurricane cruise was worse than your cruise (don't forget to add nah-nah-a-boo-boo) (but make sure you omit that its common knowledge to the casual observer, not even a cruiser to know that sailing in hurricane season is high risk but that a highly uncommon miss of CC is slightly more likely in Jan/Feb is not common knowledge but requires research), reading and eating (make that overeating) are the true meaning of a cruise, a bad cruise is better than a blizzard/tsunami/train wreck, blah - blah - blah, good grief already!

It there really any reason that the response to a poster feeling bummed about missing CC can't be as simple as:
What a shame!
I'd be disappointed too!
I'm sorry that happened to you!
Sending pixie dust your way!

 

[my3princesses]

As we are ones that missed CC I can honestly say that I wished I did my homework before deciding to cruise.

We thought the land/sea package where we could get a bit of the parks along with some much needed rest at sea and at CC would be perfect however as we are very much a "water family" who loves to snorkel and swim. Cruising was disappointing (we now have learned).

The ship, the food, the people (well except for the yelling parents) and the Disney atmosphere was amazing. The busy pools were not. Not being able to escape to a beach was not amazing. This balanced the trip out a little but the seasickness didn't help.

As I have said and others before me, either you love or hate cruising and you cannot plan your whole trip on the excursions. It's too bad that we have to learn this the hard (and expensive way), but we have. However we could also harp on the missed CC issue forever - we, on the other hand, are planning our next trip where we are guaranteed beaches and pools.

I agree with others that as disappointing as it is, it pays to do your homework.

 

[budwmn]

my3princesses-

I truly understand your reasons for being upset-- I would be, too. Just don't assume that going to a beach resort guarantees you good weather. I've been to many caribbean resorts and had beautiful weather, but twice (over Spring Break) my trips were rained out. Once, I went to the Bahamas for 5 days and it rained every single day. We're not talking drizzle, it poured! Another trip to Puerto Rico had more rain than sun. It's also rained (at least one day of my trip) in Cancun, Grand Cayman, and Jamaica.

My point is, bad weather can happen anywhere at any time. Hope your next trip is a happy (and sunny) one!

 

[cjsmith]

How about a little sanity .... finally?

Is this really this difficult? Someone misses CC, they prove they are sane by naturally becoming disappointed, they post their disappointment, a couple people remark how sorry they feel for them and how it stinks that they missed CC ... voila .... thread runs dry and everyone can move on.

Even if the OP feels its a good PR move on Disney's part to offer a discount on a future cruise, so what LOL!!!

Instead, its one red herring after another and the downward spriral keeps going out of control. Some have suggested offering cheese with the whine, we now have red herring salad, cheese, and whine. Either way its a banquet fit for a king ... but only a king of fools.

Let someone be disappointed or whatever they're feeling! When our spouse or child comes home from a bad day at work/school, feeling down in the mouth, how many of us yell at him/her and cut him/her down to size?

Why not go back and reread the multiplicty of contradictions and just let it be already.

On the one hand, the talk is that it is quite rare that DCL misses CC. However, people are so concerned that DCL will have to charge more for all cruises to make up for the devastating loss of funds if they offer a discount voucher on a future cruise for those who are miffed that they missed CC. Folks, these opposing arguments don't balance.

On the one hand, the talk is that it is OK, expected, normal, fair and decent for DCL to pound the daylights out of their island paradise CC .... but the average accountant, nurse, engineer, waiter, or teacher should do their so-called homework to know better (as long as they don't come to the conclusion that DCL advertising might be considered unfair). Not adding up.

Nearly everyone loves CC so much that we often come unglued at the very thought of it. DCL has added a special itinerary with 2 stops there to meet customer request. However! If you really, really, really want to go to CC or even book a DCL cruise to get to go to CC, you're told you shouldn't cruise or that cruising isn't for everyone. Hello?

On the one hand, DCL's high prices are easily explained since they are the greatest thing since sliced bread. Its thought that you should shell out up to twice as much for a Disney Cruise over other lines, after all the best costs more. But!!! If you miss CC (and act sane by not liking it) all of a sudden DCL is the same darn thing as Carnival, RCL etc. All ships miss ports! Again, the arguments don't balance. Besides, I'm thinking it would make most people feel worse to get a mediocre cut of filet mignon at the best restaurant in town for $39.99 than it is to get chewy chicken at the neighborhood diner for $7.50.

My new favorite is the Webster's version of cruising. Along with ports not being part of a true cruise, let's all bid a fond farewell to food, entertainment, pools, characters, pina coladas, pirate parties, deck chairs (the good news is that no one can save them if they aren't there).

The negativity accusations are most inappropriate and appear to be little more than a desperate attempt at coercion on the part of the accuser. If your favorite team loses the big game and you feel bad, are you negative? If you're passed over for the 2nd time for that promotion at work and you feel low, are you negative? If you were heartbroken over the events of 9-11-01, are you negative?

The zillion other excuses just swim around aimlessly to the non point that they are, the hurricane cruise was worse than your cruise (don't forget to add nah-nah-a-boo-boo) (but make sure you omit that its common knowledge to the casual observer, not even a cruiser to know that sailing in hurricane season is high risk but that a highly uncommon miss of CC is slightly more likely in Jan/Feb is not common knowledge but requires research), reading and eating (make that overeating) are the true meaning of a cruise, a bad cruise is better than a blizzard/tsunami/train wreck, blah - blah - blah, good grief already!

It there really any reason that the response to a poster feeling bummed about missing CC can't be as simple as:
What a shame!
I'd be disappointed too!
I'm sorry that happened to you!
Sending pixie dust your way!

Karen, just so you know, my post about being so negative was because of the "hello is anybody in there" comment not about missing Castaway Cay!

 

[dwkwootton]

Carolyn, understood your comment without hesitation. Appreciate you taking the time to clarify on the board though!

I think by using my actual name you may have tipped a few folks off that we resorted to fair and open communication in the PM forum, (sorry the sarcasm just comes naturally LOL) bridged our gaps and found out we liked each other and became friends!

Caution ~ this could happen to you too! And I hope so. A little bend sure can be a good thing.

 

[LCTsMom]

I joined these boards to learn about DCL. I figured that all of you who have "been there and done that" are the best sources for a newbie like myself. I am excited to get on the ship and experience everything that I have read about. I have seen numerous pictures of the ship and the islands which add to my excitement. I have been to Nassau so I have some idea of what to expect. My three children and my husband have not been there yet, it will be a great for opportunity them. I look forward to the chance to share it with them. We will all be experiencing Castaway Cay together for the first time. I can't wait! I do understand though, that there is a chance we may not get to Castaway Cay. Like everything else in life, it's a chance that we'll have to take. Will we disappointed if we can't get there? Yes, of course we will. Life goes on though and if we love cruising, I'm sure we'll try again, and again until we get on that island ourselves! I appreciate all the information, both negative and positive. I am confident that I have booked our cruise with my eyes wide open. Thanks for all the great advice and help! Some day, I hope to be able do to the same for others as you have done for me. I hope the next 17 months don't go TOO slowly.

 

[two-foxes]

It there really any reason that the response to a poster feeling bummed about missing CC can't be as simple as:
What a shame!
I'd be disappointed too!
I'm sorry that happened to you!
Sending pixie dust your way!

If the posters who missed CC just posted that they were bummed about it, fine...."what a shame", "sending pixie dust your way" is completely appropriate. But cruisers who demand reimbursment, trash the Captain and his skills, that is just annoying. And I will say "perhaps cruising isn't for you if you have your heart set on a port." My best advice from cruising (and I've only done 3) is get trip insurance and roll with what comes. (We learned that on the Hurricane cruise that "was worse than yours." Oh and "nah-nah-a-boo-boo!!!" )

 

[dwkwootton]

two-foxes, there's rarely a clear right/wrong on objective matters as there is on subjective matters. We can all look at a spider and agree that its a spider but I'm doubtful the time will come that we can all agree how to feel about that spider.

If a poster words their comments in a way that you find annoying, perhaps leaves you feeling that a slap on the wrist is warranted, maybe its worth your consideration that the poster was feeling annoyed by a huge let down on a very costly and rare event. It sure sounds like you expect more from the other guy than you expect from yourself. Maybe when someone is in that initial keyed up stage is just the time to send that pixie dust their way.

I wasn't on every cruise that's missed CC in the last couple months. But my January Cruise (my 8th Disney Cruise) missed half the ports, had mostly poor weather the entire week, rough seas, and the staff was reduced by 1/3 due to illness. Without a backup plan on DCL's part (which I will maintain is THE problem) it left for not too many places to go, not much to do on deck, not much to do indoors. After 6 days, faux frog races in the atrium lobby and a free drink was not worthy of the entertainment giant. While the week was better than spending the week in the path of the tsunami, I'm not convinced that we should hold the bar quite that low.

Its been covered on previous threads that the hurricane cruisers had at least something to deal with. They had the common sense available to everyone that they were sailing during hurricane season. (C'mon guys, kids know that and seasoned Dis'ers and cruisers are still asking for the threads with the stats on missing CC).

They had a choice before boarding to take full compensation, were given a refund for the shortened days, and on top of that were given an additional bonus ~ a discount voucher to use on a future cruise. And didn't you get re-routed to find good weather and alternate ports?

Is it that the theory is that it is ok to take a voucher, just not ok to ask for a voucher?

If a person goes into a convenience store to buy a pack of gum, gives the cashier a $10 bill and receives change as though for a $20 bill, knowingly pockets the extra $10, did they steal $10 or did they get lucky?

I'll leave it to you guys to be annoyed at a disgruntled accountant, nurse, or whatever who believes that they are more qualified to steer the Magic than Captain Tom. Maybe, like me, you've heard people say that the boss at work is an idiot and they could do a better job. Maybe you've even said it yourself on bad day. I'm going to figure that the folks who said they could steer the Magic better than the Captain were probably just upset and doing some venting.

I'm not sure the Paris Peace Talks lasted this long. Hmm, I think I just aged myself right here in public ....

 

[cjsmith]

Carolyn, understood your comment without hesitation. Appreciate you taking the time to clarify on the board though!

I think by using my actual name you may have tipped a few folks off that we resorted to fair and open communication in the PM forum, (sorry the sarcasm just comes naturally LOL) bridged our gaps and found out we liked each other and became friends!

Caution ~ this could happen to you too! And I hope so. A little bend sure can be a good thing.

Oh no~sure didn't want to let this out!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry about using your name, I never stopped to think that maybe you were "undercover"!!!!

What Karen says is so true. It's amazing how you can take something that someone posts here and get all fired up about it. Half the time the problem is you don't know the person and can't hear the tone in their voice. The funny thing is when you end up talking one on one you realize that the person isn't anything like you expected and you actually end up enjoying each other. Karen ended up giving me tremendous support after my surgery and I will always be thankful for that. Now I don't want to ruin her reputation so everyone just forget that I said anything nice about her

 

[two-foxes]

dkwooton-
Just to clarify, I was in no way comparing missing CC to a hurricane cruise, nor did I compare reimbursement issues for the two entirely seperate situations. You pulled that out of the air. I was simply stating when cruising, things good and bad can happen. (If you do some simple research before dropping the few grand on the trip, you can find the bad points of cruising out.) I stated that we learned those bad things when we did our hurricane cruise and that I learned that you must roll with the punches and get trip insurance. I also stated I get annoyed with people who demand rembursment for things they are simply not entitled to, and I will add..especially when it is in the contract they sign. I am not sure where you came out thinking that I thought "I expected more than others than of myself", but you failed on attempted a personality profile of me. I also took that as a bit of an attack on me....if you disagree with what I say, by all means say that. I expect that when I post here, as all should. But for goodness sake, leave what you don't know out. If you can determine that out of a few posts, you are a personality genius. First time for everything. This is the first time in three years I have been truely irritated by a DISer.

 

[dwkwootton]

Yes, I disagree with what you said.

But I agree that there's a first time for everything.

Three years is a long time for not being irritated by someone on this board.

 

[dwkwootton]

Oh no~sure didn't want to let this out!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry about using your name, I never stopped to think that maybe you were "undercover"!!!!

What Karen says is so true. It's amazing how you can take something that someone posts here and get all fired up about it. Half the time the problem is you don't know the person and can't hear the tone in their voice. The funny thing is when you end up talking one on one you realize that the person isn't anything like you expected and you actually end up enjoying each other. Karen ended up giving me tremendous support after my surgery and I will always be thankful for that. Now I don't want to ruin her reputation so everyone just forget that I said anything nice about her

Carolyn, not undercover, was joking around with you LOL! Ruin my reputation all you like ... but thanks for a much needed HUGE laugh when I read that!

 

[vacation disney]

WOW!!!!!!Lots of emotions on this topic. Those of us who were unable to use CC are only trying to point out a problem with DCL in general (maybe not everyone...but most of the responses). Our issue is if a company expects you to pay top price for something....then you expect to get top performance. I guess some of us do not feel that DCL delivers this! Is it unfair to post our concerns about this? Is it fair to get trampled when we do? I feel that the DCL experience while good is not worth the premium price..... but it could be if they worked on a few problems. Its not the weather, or the captain (on our cruise.....he did an amazing job steering us from one pocket of dryer weather to another on what could have been a total rain out day) but the whole experience. I do not want to see DCL loose good customers who enjoy their product, or for anyone to accept a lesser product.(ex. the LILO & STITCH RIDE at MK ) Yearly vacations are special, and very hard to pay for.....DCL needs to re-think some of there procedures before they begin to cruise with less than full boats. For the price they charge, they NEED to do it better than every one else, and right now they DO NOT!

 

[mmouse37]

People keep suggesting DCL should have "back up" plan for when they do not get to Castaway Cay.....what do you suggest??? They already increase the activities though it seem not to most's liking....

If the crew was sick as in one posters comments then what is DCL to do...pull crew out of the air to replace them?

I really would like constructive suggestions as to what people feel DCL should have as "back up plan".....

 

[cjsmith]

WOW!!!!!!Lots of emotions on this topic. Those of us who were unable to use CC are only trying to point out a problem with DCL in general (maybe not everyone...but most of the responses). Our issue is if a company expects you to pay top price for something....then you expect to get top performance. I guess some of us do not feel that DCL delivers this! Is it unfair to post our concerns about this? Is it fair to get trampled when we do? I feel that the DCL experience while good is not worth the premium price..... but it could be if they worked on a few problems. Its not the weather, or the captain (on our cruise.....he did an amazing job steering us from one pocket of dryer weather to another on what could have been a total rain out day) but the whole experience. I do not want to see DCL loose good customers who enjoy their product, or for anyone to accept a lesser product.(ex. the LILO & STITCH RIDE at MK ) Yearly vacations are special, and very hard to pay for.....DCL needs to re-think some of there procedures before they begin to cruise with less than full boats. For the price they charge, they NEED to do it better than every one else, and right now they DO NOT!

Now I think that DCL does do it better than anyone else. Yes, they have their cons, but so does every other cruise line and every other type of resort/vacation out there. I know that missing CC makes everyone upset, it was hard for us to watch the Captain attempt it twice and fail on one of January cruises. Each and every cruise misses ports at one point or another. Just the other day on one of the Princess ships they changed ports at the very morning due to some reason or another!
I don't think that DCL has to worry about sailing with less than full boats every, their bookings are way up and the demand is high. On the whole it seems like most people who sail them think they're at the top of their game and keep returning again and again.
It's not unfair to post at all about your being upset with DCL or disappointed in your cruise experience, it's not for everyone that's for sure. What didn't you like about your cruise to say that they're not delivering, what went wrong? This is completely different than saying your whole cruise was ruined because you couldn't make a port due to weather.
One of these days the cruise line will get smart, Disney in particular, will point out in huge letters that though you chose a particular cruise with the ports listed, there is a chance that you may not make it due to weather, political unrest, the island's switching things around, etc. That way people will have their eyes open when cruising and realize that no matter how much planning one does, things don't always work out and are at times beyond our control. It does say in our cruise documents that ports can change at any moment, people just say to themselves "oh that won't happen on my cruise". That or they don't really read the documents all the way through, I don't know.
I also don't know if Disney really pushes CC as much as everyone says that do or if it's from reading this and other boards that we all get so built up for our trip there. I can honestly say that I never visited the cruise line board prior to our first DCL cruise and for whatever reason wasn't that hyped up about CC. I live in Florida and see the ads on TV all the time, watched the DCL video and read about it. I didn't find that DCL pushed CC that much, they seems to push the whole experience instead. Sure I was excited, but not to the fever pitch that I think comes from reading about it on here.
I also realize that it's very rare for vacations to live up fully to our expectations when we're that overly excited about it, something always goes wrong. Your flight is changes or delayed, the weather sucks, the resort is not as pictured on-line or in the brochures, ports change on cruises, luggage gets losts, etc. Sometimes, maybe just sometimes,people get too caught up in the myth and dreaminess that is Disney and expects just a tad too much.
Again, I am in no way putting anyone down for their disappointment over missing CC~I'm sorry for anyone who hasn't had the pleasure of visiting there.
No matter what, I highly doubt that DCL is going to start giving any kind of compensation for the fact that they missed their island if it is due to circumstance beyond their control, they'll just make sure to highlight the fact that no ports are guaranteed.

 

[vacation disney]

Now I think that DCL does do it better than anyone else. Yes, they have their cons, but so does every other cruise line and every other type of resort/vacation out there. I know that missing CC makes everyone upset, it was hard for us to watch the Captain attempt it twice and fail on one of January cruises. Each and every cruise misses ports at one point or another. Just the other day on one of the Princess ships they changed ports at the very morning due to some reason or another!
I don't think that DCL has to worry about sailing with less than full boats every, their bookings are way up and the demand is high. On the whole it seems like most people who sail them think they're at the top of their game and keep returning again and again.
It's not unfair to post at all about your being upset with DCL or disappointed in your cruise experience, it's not for everyone that's for sure. What didn't you like about your cruise to say that they're not delivering, what went wrong? This is completely different than saying your whole cruise was ruined because you couldn't make a port due to weather.
One of these days the cruise line will get smart, Disney in particular, will point out in huge letters that though you chose a particular cruise with the ports listed, there is a chance that you may not make it due to weather, political unrest, the island's switching things around, etc. That way people will have their eyes open when cruising and realize that no matter how much planning one does, things don't always work out and are at times beyond our control. It does say in our cruise documents that ports can change at any moment, people just say to themselves "oh that won't happen on my cruise". That or they don't really read the documents all the way through, I don't know.
I also don't know if Disney really pushes CC as much as everyone says that do or if it's from reading this and other boards that we all get so built up for our trip there. I can honestly say that I never visited the cruise line board prior to our first DCL cruise and for whatever reason wasn't that hyped up about CC. I live in Florida and see the ads on TV all the time, watched the DCL video and read about it. I didn't find that DCL pushed CC that much, they seems to push the whole experience instead. Sure I was excited, but not to the fever pitch that I think comes from reading about it on here.
I also realize that it's very rare for vacations to live up fully to our expectations when we're that overly excited about it, something always goes wrong. Your flight is changes or delayed, the weather sucks, the resort is not as pictured on-line or in the brochures, ports change on cruises, luggage gets losts, etc. Sometimes, maybe just sometimes,people get too caught up in the myth and dreaminess that is Disney and expects just a tad too much.
Again, I am in no way putting anyone down for their disappointment over missing CC~I'm sorry for anyone who hasn't had the pleasure of visiting there.
No matter what, I highly doubt that DCL is going to start giving any kind of compensation for the fact that they missed their island if it is due to circumstance beyond their control, they'll just make sure to highlight the fact that no ports are guaranteed.

Well put and completly understood. I have read all the responses and my decision has not changed. I have chosen to cancel my 2/25 Western ressie and will go with another cruise line. If allowed, I will honestly compare this line with DCL next year....and if I feel that I was wrong I will be the first to admit it!!!!!!

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

For the price they charge, they NEED to do it better than every one else, and right now they DO NOT!

While I would agree with this from a consumer's standpoint (I find that DCL is quickly pricing themselves out of my cruise dollar), from DCL's standpoint, I would argue that they can charge what the market will bear. The fact that their cruises sail mostly full means that they can keep their prices and service at current levels until that stops happening.

I personally feel that they do do it better than any of the mass-market lines (I've sailed on DCL, RCCL, Holland America, and Windstar, so that's my basis for comparison), but that they don't do it twice as well, which is where their prices are heading, at least in the peak season. As such, I've been looking elsewhere. I still think it's a great vacation, but am trying to decide what I think the price difference should be between a great vacation and a very, very good one (which is how I'd classified RCCL and HAL).

I'm giving Carnival a shot this summer, since a similar cabin on their Mexican Riviera cruise costs half of what I was quoted for the Magic (for the price of a category 7 on the Magic, you could have the most expensive room on the Carnival Pride, or at least you could back when I booked last May). While I don't expect it to be as good (although I'm willing to have my mind changed on that count), I do expect it to be substantially better than half as good, if that makes any sense.