My husband won't do a 4 night cruise!

[cjsmith]

I don't know what to do, I booked the 4 night Wonder for 3/19/06 and my husband has told me he won't do a 4 night, only a 7 night cruise. I just got off with DCL to change the reservation and they want $9000 for our family for the 3/18/06 Eastern cruise. It's a Cat 6 and a Cat 11 for the 5 of us. I can do a Princess cruise on 3/19/06 for the Western Caribbean in a Cat AA mini-suite and an inside for $5400. I just don't know if I can justify the extra cost just to be on Disney. How many of you would pay that kind of difference to be in Disney?

I do like Princess. Steve and I did a 7 night Southern Caribbean in 10/04 and we just did a 10 night through Europe with the kids on 7/11/05. They're great, but they're not Disney! What would you all do?

 

[mommasita]

I don't think I could justify the additional expense either...Is it possibly to cruise earlier than that? February has some better rates, and your chance for a FL rate may be better..March is peak time, for breaks and such...

I do hope this works out, and I agree with your DH (don't kill me ) I could not go for less than 7 nights either..

I know the others aren't disney, but you could do almost 2 of them for the Disney price..

Just my two cents...

OOh, just thought of something, how about back to backs, a 4day-3 day, would that be cheaper?

 

[cjsmith]

I don't think I could justify the additional expense either...Is it possibly to cruise earlier than that? February has some better rates, and your chance for a FL rate may be better..March is peak time, for breaks and such...

I do hope this works out, and I agree with your DH (don't kill me ) I could not go for less than 7 nights either..

I know the others aren't disney, but you could do almost 2 of them for the Disney price..

Just my two cents...

OOh, just thought of something, how about back to backs, a 4day-3 day, would that be cheaper?

I can only go when the kids are off my school as it's our oldest's senior year, the middle one is a sophmore and the youngest in 8th grade. I can no longer yank them out of school for a week!

As it is, the 4 night cruise on the Wonder was just about the same price as the 7 night on Princess, but wow, I can't believe the cost of the 7 night.

 

[mommasita]

Well, that sucks..I would look around to see if anyone has a group rate, and then "possibly" cancel, and rebook..

You never know, Dana, DU, allseasons..

Perhaps worth a try, good luck...

 

[cjsmith]

Well, that sucks..I would look around to see if anyone has a group rate, and then "possibly" cancel, and rebook..

You never know, Dana, DU, allseasons..

Perhaps worth a try, good luck...

Thanks, I'll give that a try. If I book the 7 night with Disney to get the cabins I want can I then transfer to a TA and get their rate?

 

[mommasita]

Thanks, I'll give that a try. If I book the 7 night with Disney to get the cabins I want can I then transfer to a TA and get their rate?

Not exactly sure, but I would email some places for quotes...You never know, they can then guide you, on the how too's..

 

[lilo62]

After doing a 4-Night DC the first time to test the waters (no pun intended) to see if I was even cruise material, then of course realizing that I was after it was all over and then graduating to a 7-night this past May, I can certainly have some level of understanding of not doing a 4-Night.

BUT!!!....a cruise is a cruise and the DCL prices have gone up. I'd take 4-nights - it's a shame he won't compromise. I can't justify a pricetag of $9,000 for DCL so if you have the oppty to go on the other cruiseline for 1/2 the cost - well then - Disney loses out.

Good luck!

 

[Mickeyhugger]

Would it be a possibility to downgrade to a cat 9 and 11? I know that many people enjoy a verandah though. I don't know if it would save you much $$? That way, you'd still have a 7 night Disney cruise. Good luck with your decision.

 

[cjsmith]

Would it be a possibility to downgrade to a cat 9 and 11? I know that many people enjoy a verandah though. I don't know if it would save you much $$? That way, you'd still have a 7 night Disney cruise. Good luck with your decision.

Unfortunately, my husband won't cruise without the verandah. He spends a lot of time out on it and really enjoys watching the sunsets when he's up and having his morning coffee out there. He's not a wild about cruising as I am and this a balcony is the one thing that he wants. I would rather just cruise, but he said he won't cruise without the balcony, he'd rather wait until we can have one.
I spend $9000 on our 10 night cruise in Europe for the two cabins, that's why it's so hard to convince him that this 7 night should be the same price.
We just did the cruise last month and between the cruise, the airfare for the 5 of us, the 4 nights pre-cruise hotel, food and sights in London and all of the transfers it added up to a pretty price. It's just too close.

Oh well, looks like I'm going to cancel my 4 night cruise aboard the Wonder and go head with the 7 night on Princess. Plus I was able to have the reduced depost of only $200 per cabin as I did a future cruise credit/open booking with them and I get $200 on board credit. I know, you can't feel sorry for me. I just so wanted to get back on a Disney ship.
I'll just keep my eyes open for something to change with Disney and hope for the best.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

I don't know what to do, I booked the 4 night Wonder for 3/19/06 and my husband has told me he won't do a 4 night, only a 7 night cruise. I just got off with DCL to change the reservation and they want $9000 for our family for the 3/18/06 Eastern cruise. It's a Cat 6 and a Cat 11 for the 5 of us. I can do a Princess cruise on 3/19/06 for the Western Caribbean in a Cat AA mini-suite and an inside for $5400. I just don't know if I can justify the extra cost just to be on Disney. How many of you would pay that kind of difference to be in Disney?

I do like Princess. Steve and I did a 7 night Southern Caribbean in 10/04 and we just did a 10 night through Europe with the kids on 7/11/05. They're great, but they're not Disney! What would you all do?

Ugh! That's a tough spot to be in. Personally, I couldn't justify that cost difference. Can't you compromise? Or can you do a back-to-back Wonder cruise? Would that be less than a $9000 increase?

 

[starwood]

The problem I see is that if you book a new room you won't be getting the early booking discount. Check the rates for 2007 and you will se how much cheaper it is. You may be beter off canceling for 2006 (I know I know I wouldn't want to do that either) and rescheduling for 2007 on a 7 night.

 

[MelanieC]

I was shocked at how high the prices were for over holidays and summer. We booked the week after Thanksgiving instead of Thanksgiving because I wasn't willing to spend double. We usually travel in November and we decided this year to try summer so we wouldn't have to take the kids out of school. It worked for Disney, although we payed a few bucks more for the hotel. We ended up loving Disney in the summer and I think we would have Loved the cruise in the summer too (but not another $3500 worth, lol).

This thread really makes me glad DH insisted we stop at two kids. I was this close to convincing him. If I had, not only would our Disney trips cost considerably more (wouldn't be able to stay at a value resort), but we would have to have 2 cabins for this trip or get a much higher category.

Good luck. I could get a Balcony on Carnival Cruise lines, but for me I know having the cruise be Disney is a big selling point. I hope you get it worked out. Could you possibly postpone for 2007?

 

[nzdisneymom]

We were supposed to do a 7-night in March 2005, but ended up changing it to December 2005 because of how much we could save. We're spending about $3,000 LESS to go in December AND we're getting a Cat. 4 rather than a Cat. 6. We can only go during the kids' school breaks, too, so when I just happened to check for a December sailing and saw how much less it was, we opted to wait the extra nine months.

I had piddled around and not booked the March cruise; by the time I got around to doing it, the price had jumped over $1,000, so the earlier you book, the better rate you'll (likely) get.

As to the original question, I couldn't justify THAT much more for a 7-night over a 4-night... but I would be willing to compromise and do a 4-night plus whatever else to make up a week's vacation... Disney or otherwise.

Good luck.

 

[ericamanda01]

I would call some other places, DU, allseas, or Dana@micdan. DCL is great but they are also the highest prices you can find. Look around before giving up the cruise entirely.

 

[cjsmith]

I booked the 7 night that goes to the western Caribbean on Princess on 3/19/06. We'll be in a Cat AA midship mini-suite and an inside for $5400 and I have $200 on board credit. The mini-suites are quite a bit larger than the Cat 6 on Disney and the balcony is huge. After thinking about it and reading here I figured that I would be crazy to spend the $9100 on Disney.

I would think about rescheduling until 2007 but my oldest will be in college next year and I have no idea what kind of schedule she will have or if she will even want to go. I wanted to take her on one last cruise where she was under 18 and could go in the teen's club. By June she's not able to do that and will be at that age where they fall in the cracks on Disney and other cruise lines.

I still havent' cancelled my Disney cruise and figure that I'll just keep checking around. The amazing thing is that there are a lot of cabins available and I completely had my pick of what deck and what cabins I wanted across from each other on the Magic. My favorite cabin were available too!

Thanks everyone for listening!!

 

[mommasita]

I booked the 7 night that goes to the western Caribbean on Princess on 3/19/06. We'll be in a Cat AA midship mini-suite and an inside for $5400 and I have $200 on board credit. The mini-suites are quite a bit larger than the Cat 6 on Disney and the balcony is huge. After thinking about it and reading here I figured that I would be crazy to spend the $9100 on Disney.

I would think about rescheduling until 2007 but my oldest will be in college next year and I have no idea what kind of schedule she will have or if she will even want to go. I wanted to take her on one last cruise where she was under 18 and could go in the teen's club. By June she's not able to do that and will be at that age where they fall in the cracks on Disney and other cruise lines.

I still havent' cancelled my Disney cruise and figure that I'll just keep checking around. The amazing thing is that there are a lot of cabins available and I completely had my pick of what deck and what cabins I wanted across from each other on the Magic. My favorite cabin were available too!

Thanks everyone for listening!!

Glad to listen, and for what it's worth, i would have done EXACTLY the same as you....I am glad you got what seems to be an amazing deal..

 

[logan1_2000]

DCL gets seriously costly once you hit 5 guests in your party, and during school break it is a steep premium price. Just two ships, limited supply, vs. the REAL cruise lines (I love the DCL experience, but their excuse of "waiting for the exchange rate to come down" before building more ships is unrealistic and it is a peeve of mine) with many options and lo and behold--pricing that earned your business. We've done DCL when pulling our son out of school, and I'm close to the point where we can't do that much longer, he just started 4th grade, and besides, my wife is a teacher. I got 6 nights during peak period, school break for new years, in a RCI junior suite on the radiance for the same price as oceanview, no verandah, 7 nights on DCL during hurrican season and pulling wife and son out of school. Yours was a no-brainer.

And a shame, because DCL is wonderful, and 4 nighters are like Cruisus Interruptus, just as you're getting toally into the cruise frame of mind your bags have to be in the hall by 10 p.m. Leave H home, and the senior, and take the two younger ones on Disney w/o a verandah next time, but enjoy princess this time.

 

[disneybride96]

Leave DH at home an go on Disney anyway.

 

[Kimmielee]

I can relate to the HUGE cost of the Spring Break cruises... I waited and didn't book mine until the end of July... way after the rates were out.

I had to cancel the October Disney trip to pool those funds for the Easter Cruise. That's the ONLY way I could justify spending $1600 more JUST because it's Spring Break...but darn... do I need a vacation now!! (That picture is NOT rolling on the floor laughing... it's me having a FIT!)

I've learned my lesson... Booking as soon as 2007 rates are out even though I don't plan on going until 2008!