Other/Cheaper Cruises...?

[miss0033]

Long time lurker, first time poster. I apologize in advance for this long, meandering post. But I feel I must ask.


I am wondering where people are finding “cheap” cruises? My wife and I are taking our 4th DCL cruise this fall, and first on the Fantasy.

We took a 7 night Carnival in 2011 w/ a balcony for around $1,000 - more on that below.
We took a 4 night on the Wonder in 2/2015 in a 7A for $1,804.
We took a 5 night on the Magic in 1/2016 in a 9C for $2,097.
We took a 5 night on the Magic in 12/2017 in a 9A for $2,509 (first w/ OBB - because we weren’t smart… haha).
None of those prices seemed out of line for us.
We are scheduled for a 6 night on the Fantasy in 10/2019 in a 9A for $2,680 (w/ OBB + opening day pricing)

Those prices include cruise fare, taxes, gratuities and port transfers for 2 adults. Everything else is “optional” costs. We have priced out several other cruises (RCL and NCL typically) over similar time periods, and it almost ends up being the same price, maybe a $200-$300 savings but nothing that moves the needle for us.

Regarding Carnival, my wife and I had such a bad experience that I feel I need to share for fear of being labeled a "Carnival Dismiss-er" like on some other threads.
My wife and I went on a Carnival cruise before we were married with some friends, it was the right price at the right time, however I do not think we would sail with them again. The Adult entertainment was "too adult" for us, the comedy was NC-17 if not X rated, we did not find it funny at all and chose to leave. As we left the show we were harassed by the comedian because he noticed. And the name he called us “The Prudes” we were called by other passengers who recognized us for the rest of the cruise. Extremely embarrassing, we found it difficult to "take in stride." The comedy was overly graphic and raunchy, think Amy Schumer style but even more over-the-top. We notified guest services how disappointed we were in it, especially being nicknamed by the comedian, and they basically blamed us for going to an 18+ comedy show, and we should’ve known.

Being a spring break cruise, the pool areas were usually extremely crowded, and ours had a few large groups of college age “kids” where every other word was a curse word. They couldn’t complete a sentence without a least one F and some other word mixed in for good measure. With a staff who seemingly just didn’t care, regardless if there were children around. Just not an environment we enjoyed being in.

Additionally we had a neighbor who had loud music playing in their room and on the balcony. We asked them to turn it down and they just shut the door and did nothing. We complained to staff, and they came down, stood outside our door, left, and did nothing. When we called back they said “It didn’t seem that loud from the hallway.” We have a connecting door, it is quite loud in our room. They came back inside our room and agreed it was too loud and asked them to turn it down by saying "Your neighbor has requested you to turn down your music." Yes, thank you, make it explicitly clear to them that it's my problem. 15 minutes later, it was back up to the same level. The cruise staff came down a few times and asked them to turn it down, then went away each time. I always had to call and ask them to come back, they never called me back to see if it was still an issue (like hotels I stay in do) or stopped by on their own to check. I was told “there is really nothing more we can do, I am sorry.”

I don’t feel like we are somehow “above” Carnival. We were just so turned off by our experience and how it was handled (or lack thereof), we wouldn’t give them our business again. I am clearly not their target audience, which is fine, and they clearly did not care about losing me as a customer. So win-win for both of us I guess.

It took awhile for us to want to try to cruise again, but DCL seemed like a safer bet even though none of our friends could imagine taking a Disney Cruise. Turns out we loved it. We have never once had an issue getting a spot in the pool or a pool chair even in the Adult Only pool area. We love reading/napping during sea days on the loungers on Deck 4. I have never once felt embarrassed or offended by the adult entertainment. Our only issues were addressed almost immediately, and staff has always rechecked with us to make sure everything is okay. We feel no need to gamble on vacation so we aren't missing a casino. Neither of us drink hard alcohol - just wine and beer so we can bring some on for free. I don't need a rocking climbing wall, a go-kart track, or water slides. I am NOT interested in shopping while on vacation so the floating shopping mall does nothing for me.

However we have noticed the price increases with everyone else, but these aren’t in a vacuum either. This past September a week-long trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton was $2,400 for the 2 of us (without airfare) by the time you added rental car, gas, lodging, food, etc. A few years ago a week-long trip to Yosemite and Sequoia was $2,000. Week-long trips are expensive. My father pays for a long weekend trip for him and his kids families (me included) to go on every summer. That resort has gone up about 6%-7% every year the past 3-4 years. The cruises are slightly more expensive, but I do not feel what we have paid is out of line with other trips we have taken or even just priced out.

While Disney has gotten increasingly expensive, every time we price out RCL or NCL it is very close to DCL.

In the case of our upcoming cruise, for $2,628 (including taxes, fees, gratuities and port transfers) we could do a 7 night Western with NCL in a similar stateroom (OC - we are guessing on the similar part). For us, we’d gladly take 1 fewer days to include Castaway Cay and a cruise line we know we enjoy than take a risk for essentially the same price. The cruise shares 2 of the same ports - NCL has 1 additional day and 1 additional port. But I am not seeing anything that would pull us off our current scheduled cruise.

If someone could tell me we’d save 20%-25%+ going with another line, we’d likely give it a try. However, I am just not finding those cruises. Maybe it’s the OBB which is helping push the price close to a first time cruise on other lines, and they’ve got us anchored to them that way (yes, pun intended). Is it the stateroom category? Are Verandas significantly cheaper on other lines? What am I missing? Are we just cruising during times of the year when, and locations where, Disney has more competitive pricing? Where and when are these much cheaper cruises people take outside of DCL? Are there other lines, besides Carnival, that offer cheaper pricing? Where are people going on cruises that are half what they pay on DCL?

 

[lilsonicfan]

I'm going to reframe your post thusly: you and your wife (2 people) cruise in off season on Caribbean-type cruises. There are more Caribbean cruises over all the cruise lines than any other destination, really, so pricing is generally somewhat competitive. You are also not too interested in some of the ships that might be DCL's biggest competitors (e.g. Oasis class ships on RCCL; -Away class and up on NCL) and tend to offer more activities, drink packages etc. In short, you're not going to find that DCL is massively more expensive because of your parameters.

For me, we are a family of 5, which automatically increases the prices for us on many cruise lines, DCL included, because there aren't many rooms for 5. If we sail in two rooms, we pay adult fare X 4 plus one child fare. Then add in the fact that many families prefer to sail in summer, spring break, winter break etc, and the price increases even further. Add in more interesting/rare itineraries and the price tends to skyrocket. The example for me, that I've posted on other threads, is the Greek islands/Italy cruises that just were released on DCL for summer 2020. I went with NCL because the cost was 3-4X more with Disney. That's not $1,000 vs $3,000-4,000 either, it's $6,000 vs $20,000. In my example the parameters are really different. Even changing it back to just 2 people offers a savings, but perhaps not as massive a savings as when you compare it with a family of 5.

Edit to add: the $20,000 cost I mentioned was for two oceanviews or one verandah. Definitely not concierge. But to compare, we are doing a MSC Mediterranean itinerary in their concierge level for literally half the price of DCL’s VERY similar Med itinerary, same sailing date. ($5,000 vs $10,000) and that is comparing MSC’s concierge level (full drink package, concierge pool and deck, concierge restaurant, weeklong pass to the thermal spa), to DCL in two plain ocean view rooms.

 

[Peaseblossom36]

I’ve been on one Disney cruise back in 2004 and am going on my second and my husbands first this December. I found the price for that to be reasonable, probably because it’s before everyone is out for winter breaks and after Thanksgiving breaks are over. This is kind of our test to see if we like cruising. I’m hoping we do since I’m very interested in cruising Alaska, I was looking when the prices dropped last week and have compared to a few other lines to see how they compare. Disney is double what it would be to go with Princess (I really just looked to see who had good reviews for Alaska) for a verandah room and a very similar itinerary. We are very similar in that we wouldn’t enjoy that type of adult entertainment, not interested in shopping or gambling and we also aren’t big drinkers. I think it will come down to how we feel about it after cruising in December if we feel it would be worth it to stick with Disney.

 

[ray3127]

Long time lurker, first time poster. I apologize in advance for this long, meandering post. But I feel I must ask.


I am wondering where people are finding “cheap” cruises? My wife and I are taking our 4th DCL cruise this fall, and first on the Fantasy.

We took a 7 night Carnival in 2011 w/ a balcony for around $1,000 - more on that below.
We took a 4 night on the Wonder in 2/2015 in a 7A for $1,804.
We took a 5 night on the Magic in 1/2016 in a 9C for $2,097.
We took a 5 night on the Magic in 12/2017 in a 9A for $2,509 (first w/ OBB - because we weren’t smart… haha).
None of those prices seemed out of line for us.
We are scheduled for a 6 night on the Fantasy in 10/2019 in a 9A for $2,680 (w/ OBB + opening day pricing)

Those prices include cruise fare, taxes, gratuities and port transfers for 2 adults. Everything else is “optional” costs. We have priced out several other cruises (RCL and NCL typically) over similar time periods, and it almost ends up being the same price, maybe a $200-$300 savings but nothing that moves the needle for us.

Regarding Carnival, my wife and I had such a bad experience that I feel I need to share for fear of being labeled a "Carnival Dismiss-er" like on some other threads.
My wife and I went on a Carnival cruise before we were married with some friends, it was the right price at the right time, however I do not think we would sail with them again. The Adult entertainment was "too adult" for us, the comedy was NC-17 if not X rated, we did not find it funny at all and chose to leave. As we left the show we were harassed by the comedian because he noticed. And the name he called us “The Prudes” we were called by other passengers who recognized us for the rest of the cruise. Extremely embarrassing, we found it difficult to "take in stride." The comedy was overly graphic and raunchy, think Amy Schumer style but even more over-the-top. We notified guest services how disappointed we were in it, especially being nicknamed by the comedian, and they basically blamed us for going to an 18+ comedy show, and we should’ve known.

Being a spring break cruise, the pool areas were usually extremely crowded, and ours had a few large groups of college age “kids” where every other word was a curse word. They couldn’t complete a sentence without a least one F and some other word mixed in for good measure. With a staff who seemingly just didn’t care, regardless if there were children around. Just not an environment we enjoyed being in.

Additionally we had a neighbor who had loud music playing in their room and on the balcony. We asked them to turn it down and they just shut the door and did nothing. We complained to staff, and they came down, stood outside our door, left, and did nothing. When we called back they said “It didn’t seem that loud from the hallway.” We have a connecting door, it is quite loud in our room. They came back inside our room and agreed it was too loud and asked them to turn it down by saying "Your neighbor has requested you to turn down your music." Yes, thank you, make it explicitly clear to them that it's my problem. 15 minutes later, it was back up to the same level. The cruise staff came down a few times and asked them to turn it down, then went away each time. I always had to call and ask them to come back, they never called me back to see if it was still an issue (like hotels I stay in do) or stopped by on their own to check. I was told “there is really nothing more we can do, I am sorry.”

I don’t feel like we are somehow “above” Carnival. We were just so turned off by our experience and how it was handled (or lack thereof), we wouldn’t give them our business again. I am clearly not their target audience, which is fine, and they clearly did not care about losing me as a customer. So win-win for both of us I guess.

It took awhile for us to want to try to cruise again, but DCL seemed like a safer bet even though none of our friends could imagine taking a Disney Cruise. Turns out we loved it. We have never once had an issue getting a spot in the pool or a pool chair even in the Adult Only pool area. We love reading/napping during sea days on the loungers on Deck 4. I have never once felt embarrassed or offended by the adult entertainment. Our only issues were addressed almost immediately, and staff has always rechecked with us to make sure everything is okay. We feel no need to gamble on vacation so we aren't missing a casino. Neither of us drink hard alcohol - just wine and beer so we can bring some on for free. I don't need a rocking climbing wall, a go-kart track, or water slides. I am NOT interested in shopping while on vacation so the floating shopping mall does nothing for me.

However we have noticed the price increases with everyone else, but these aren’t in a vacuum either. This past September a week-long trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton was $2,400 for the 2 of us (without airfare) by the time you added rental car, gas, lodging, food, etc. A few years ago a week-long trip to Yosemite and Sequoia was $2,000. Week-long trips are expensive. My father pays for a long weekend trip for him and his kids families (me included) to go on every summer. That resort has gone up about 6%-7% every year the past 3-4 years. The cruises are slightly more expensive, but I do not feel what we have paid is out of line with other trips we have taken or even just priced out.

While Disney has gotten increasingly expensive, every time we price out RCL or NCL it is very close to DCL.

In the case of our upcoming cruise, for $2,628 (including taxes, fees, gratuities and port transfers) we could do a 7 night Western with NCL in a similar stateroom (OC - we are guessing on the similar part). For us, we’d gladly take 1 fewer days to include Castaway Cay and a cruise line we know we enjoy than take a risk for essentially the same price. The cruise shares 2 of the same ports - NCL has 1 additional day and 1 additional port. But I am not seeing anything that would pull us off our current scheduled cruise.

If someone could tell me we’d save 20%-25%+ going with another line, we’d likely give it a try. However, I am just not finding those cruises. Maybe it’s the OBB which is helping push the price close to a first time cruise on other lines, and they’ve got us anchored to them that way (yes, pun intended). Is it the stateroom category? Are Verandas significantly cheaper on other lines? What am I missing? Are we just cruising during times of the year when, and locations where, Disney has more competitive pricing? Where and when are these much cheaper cruises people take outside of DCL? Are there other lines, besides Carnival, that offer cheaper pricing? Where are people going on cruises that are half what they pay on DCL?

Short answer: Your experience in pricing cruises has been identical to mine. I don't think you're missing anything, and you should continue to cruise DCL given the lack of savings available to you on other lines, and especially your personal preferences and what you cruise for.

Long answer: Many on here like to throw around phrases like "half price", stating that other cruise lines are half the price for the same cruise. Simply put, in my research for my family I haven't found anywhere close to such savings. TO BE FAIR, I'm talking about Caribbean cruises as well. I would agree with the vast price differences on the more unique itineraries, like the Greek Isles one mentioned above (those prices sound insane). In that case, I'd look at another line. But if that's not what you're looking at, then that comparison is irrelevant to you. You should be looking at the cruises you want, period.

I would also note that my family is limited to the traditional times of year because my wife is a teacher and can't take time off as she pleases... and even then, the pricing differences for the cruises that interest us simply are not that vast. I'm not here to argue that point or be proven wrong, I'm simply stating the facts that my research has shown. DCL IS more expensive... but not "double", or even close to "double", on a regular basis for the cruises that interest us. Is it sometimes "double"? Sure. But there are always weeks/times that work for us that are much closer to other lines than many care to admit. So again, OP, you aren't missing anything.

Beyond the price differences... I've also read more than enough of the stories like the detailed one you posted about to bother with other lines. It seems like DCL delivers exactly what you desire in a cruise vacation. I'm telling you, you sound EXACTLY like my wife and I. We would MUCH rather take in a Disney broadway show, or even the non-Disney family acts, than a raunchy comedian, or any other "adults only" entertainment. The DCL Adults-only area is a fantastic, quiet respite from the action. Even if we sailed without our kids, I'm quite certain we would book a Disney Cruise. We would LOOK at other options, but if the pricing is what you are finding, we really wouldn't give it a second thought.

And I don't think you should give it a second thought, either. If DCL offers itineraries you like and experiences you enjoy/appreciate at prices that are close-ish to the competition (close enough for you, anyway), then seriously, do not think twice.

Now, to really ruffle feathers... I'm quite certain it was @WebmasterPete on a recent DIS podcast that said comparing these other lines to DCL is like comparing to Toyota to a Cadillac... NOT MY WORDS, PEOPLE! But take that for what you will.

 

[pixiedustedme]

While Disney has gotten increasingly expensive, every time we price out RCL or NCL it is very close to DCL.

I do see a price difference, but it's not as extreme as the difference I've seen reported by others on these boards. I think a big part of it is that we usually cruise as a party of two. A lot of the posters (by no means all) getting priced out of DCL are couples with 2 or 3 kids they are cruising with, so they have to pay for 4-5 people. That's when the multiplier effect of higher pricing kicks in and DCL really gets steep compared to other lines, particularly for folks who always want to cruise concierge or in a family-sized verandah. Many other lines have kids cruise free or 3rd & 4th passenger cruise sharply reduced, which DCL hasn't offered for a long time. DCL's 3rd - 5th passengers per stateroom are a bit cheaper, but not nearly as much as they are on some other lines.

Another reason besides travel party, that for me, the price difference is somewhat negated, is that on another line I'd feel the need for a higher category of room, since less-expensive lines' cabins tend to be smaller than DCL's.

 

[tinkerone]

Well, I can tell you that we have found a huge price difference. Three years ago when we first ventured off DCL, we booked an 8 night Oasis sailing and it was almost $2000 cheaper than the 7 night sailing on the Fantasy, same week. I will disclose that while DCL makes us pay in US funds Royal does not so there is a big difference there. When you tack on 35/40% exchange, that $3000 cruise is now over $4000. The next year we booked a B2B, 14 days, on Oasis and paid slightly more than we would have for one week on the Fantasy. Last November we booked, again, a B2b but on the Symphony of the Seas, her second and t hird sailing from the US. That cost us about less than $5000 Canadian (app. $3700 US) and we would have paid almost that on the Fantasy. I am comparing Balcony rooms so its not like I'm going from inside to outside.

I don't care who doubts that it is cheaper to sail other lines because I have done it, multiple times. It took us 10 years to figure this out and leave DCL but I'm so very glad we did. And not once did I feel that we were going from a Cadillac to a Toyota. With the service that has been cut from DCL and the price going up every year, I'm happy with my decision. Plus, I don't have to see the same shows for the umpteenth time.

If you enjoy sailing DCL and have no hard feelings about the cost than you should, for sure, stay with DCL. I am sailing DCL once again this year but there is a reason. Also, we will go again in 2021, again for a specific reason, but that will probably be it for us. In between we will continue to sail RCCL. I'm happy leaving some $$'s in my pocket because I do see the difference in cost but I don't see the difference in service. RCL offers way more for us than DCL does at this point.

 

[KashasMom]

Many of us cannot cruise off-season so that is where you're able to save. We cruise around a school schedule so it's a lot more expensive. We don't drink, we don't shop, and we don't gamble. Our family vacation is for our family. Daughter does not go into the kids' clubs and we're fine with that (she had a bad experience in club on Disney where 3-12 year old kids can share the same space). What we like are decent swimming pools, active activities such as rock climbing wall/FlowRider, family friendly entertainment, and a good variety of places to eat including a dinner buffet for those nights we don't feel like seating through a drawn out dinner. The ships that tick all the boxes for us are Royal Caribbean's Oasis class ships. With 4 (family) pools they put Disney's to shame. There are good shows every night that are family friendly. Great food options. Rock climbing walls, etc.

Here is a comparison - both are 7 night Eastern Carib cruises. One is on the Disney Fantasy and the other is on Royal's new Harmony of the Seas. One sails July 25th, the other July 26th. Comparing ocean view balcony room:

Fantasy = $8,270
Harmony = $5,376

That's a difference of $2,894 or 35%.

Since we've sailed the Oasis class 3 times, I'm very familiar with the pricing - and actually 35% is one of the lower discounts I've seen/gotten. Our RC Baltic cruise was AMAZING - longer than Disney's and a much better itinerary for almost 1/3 the price (same Balcony room).

Royal (Oasis class) is an excellent product - service, food, entertainment - all things that matter to US. Disney just doesn't have that far a superior product - and I wouldn't even say they have a superior product. Our daughter outgrew princesses, etc. and we moved on. Disney is no longer our first choice. Most people who defend Disney in these types of threads are usually people who haven't branched out. And that is fine. We're all lucky that there are so many options to keep us happy. But many of us have found that there is life after DCL!

 

[darnheather]

My theory at the moment is why risk my precious vacation funds on the unknown? If I take a cruise on another line just to save some money I still don't get to cruise DCL any sooner.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

My next cruise is off DCL for several reasons.

1. Their pricing for Alaska is insane.
2. They do not have the rights to Glacier Bay and have weak Alaska itineraries.
3. I can get a suite for less than I can price out an inside or OV stateroom on the Wonder high summer, which is when we would need to sail due to baseball and school schedules.
4. I would rather have longer in port than a Frosen night.

Because the Alaska season is short and some of the routes are restricted, and it is port heavy, it doesn't make sense to pay the Disney premium for us.

 

[gotomu212]

I’ll echo what others have said that we have found similar product cruises that were 25-50% cheaper or more than $1500 cheaper. For us we look at price per night per person... so your upcoming Fantasy Cruise is $225 per person/per night. A 20% difference would be $45 a day/person or a total cruise price of $2160 (only about $500 which really in the grand scheme isn’t a lot of money and we’d stick with DCL for an extra $500.)

However there’s 4 of us and as others have said we normally find free passage for 3rd and 4th passengers while Disney only slightly discounts 3rd and 4th passangers. This also starts to multiple those savings per day.

A bigger difference is itinerary though. We like itineraries that are a little longer and a little more unique and those tend to have huge premiums on Disney. Every “interesting” European cruise we looked at on RCCL and NCL for 2020 came in under $200 a day (per person). I see “interesting because I did not compare any and all European cruises for those lines like I did for Disney, but I definetely looked at all the big bells and whistles-Greece, Norway, Northern, etc.
We got a very nice balcony for RCCLs June Arctic Circle Cruise for $181 per person/per night just last week.
Comparing all of Disney’s European cruises for 2020 and looking at balconies to keep it apples to apples they range from a low of $300 (for the end of August Norway which is after our school starts) to $500 (surprisingly the worst deal was the 5 night Med from Barcelona).

A 5 night Barcelona med in a balcony is priced at $10,080 for 4 of us. That’s $2k more and 6 nights less than our cruise. Yes it’s a different itinerary but Disney’s is the plain Jane standard med sailing and RCCL is the Arctic Circle speciality cruise.

So right there the European cruises are running 35-64% higher on Disney. That and Alaska is where your seeing the biggest shock from people.

 

[ray3127]

My next cruise is off DCL for several reasons.

1. Their pricing for Alaska is insane.
2. They do not have the rights to Glacier Bay and have weak Alaska itineraries.
3. I can get a suite for less than I can price out an inside or OV stateroom on the Wonder high summer, which is when we would need to sail due to baseball and school schedules.
4. I would rather have longer in port than a Frosen night.

Because the Alaska season is short and some of the routes are restricted, and it is port heavy, it doesn't make sense to pay the Disney premium for us.

Totally agree, once the kids are old enough where Alaska is viable, I'm sure we will do another line. The high season Alaska prices are admittedly insane.

 

[miss0033]

Thank you ALL who have posted. I hope nobody was offended. I wasn't second guessing or claiming people couldn't find cheaper cruises. I believe it is happening I was just trying to better understand the circumstances, since I do not look at circumstances outside of my own when I book vacations. In fact we've never priced a cruise for more than just us, or for Europe or Alaska.

It seems family, especially a family of 5, the difference becomes very evident on any cruise. And new/exotic destinations ramp up the difference even more. This is helpful, especially for future considerations. I apologize if that is common knowledge - it wasn't readily evident to me. It also looks like I had a false assumption that winter (Jan/Feb/Mar) would be peak season for us Northerners trying to escape the cold. That all makes sense and are things I hadn't really thought through or noticed.

Kashasmom - Holy hannah! I cannot imagine paying $8,000 for a 1 week cruise. No wonder you went elsewhere. (although, to be honest, I can't do $5k either, but that's my own issue). And we are somewhat interested in branching out, just very nervous based on a single bad experience. The price difference, when we have looked, has never been drastic or even close to what you (and others) experienced. So when my wife and I were talking, we wondered with all the people talking about cheaper cruises - what weren't we doing right to find cheaper cruises when we want to cruise. Especially when we both have co-workers who basically shame us for taking "such expensive Disney cruises", we try to tell them it really isn't that much more, and they laugh at us. Looks like we are just picking the right times and itineraries and lack children; all helping to keep it priced right.

What we like about DCL might not be specific to DCL. We aren't super into characters (although it is fun), we only went to 1 show on our 2nd magic cruise and enjoyed the "empty ship" those nights. We love that the adults only pool, deck 4, the adults only pub, etc. have all been quiet and relaxing when we've cruised. In fact some of them, including the pool, have been almost vacant at times. Other ships may have those areas, we don't know. We enjoy going to "Match your mate" and knowing it won't be over-the-top raunchy. I like bringing my own beer because the beer selection, on DCL at least, is pathetic. I like the pub/movie trivia. I like the large room where I can relax, completely unpack my stuff; everything has a place, I can make myself at home and hide my luggage under the bed - then panic the last night and remember that I have to repack and go home. Some other lines, from pictures I have seen, I question if I could even unpack my stuff in their rooms.

I will be honest. I do love that the ships we've been on (Magic and Wonder). They seem to be about the cruise, and almost a retro, "golden age of cruising" feel to them. I could be, and likely am, way off here. I just like the vibe they have had. As I said, I've got no interest in a floating shopping mall, with 17 stores and 12 different upcharge restaurants or a rock climbing wall, zipline, gokart track, etc. That isn't for me. I understand some people want that, and I am glad there are cruises for you guys to take. Honestly, I can even do without the Aquaduck/Aquadunk features, but it seems like every ship has waterslides.

We are curious about other cruises; NCL, RCL, Celebrity, but every time (for our case) we have priced it out - the difference doesn't make sense to risk not enjoying it. No cruise is cheap, so when it is the same price or close, we have gone with a known entity.

We would both love to do a cruise to the ABC islands, and I don't currently see one on the DCL schedule, and none of the other lines (as of right now) are going there when it would work for our schedule. So we are out of luck there.

We are nervous about our first cruise on the Fantasy... The adults only pool looks small than on the Magic and Wonder with double the passengers. Double the passengers at Castaway Cay - Deck 4 isn't exactly twice the size either. But my wife is looking forward to reading in the larger porthole seat in our room (she thinks it will be big enough, I think she'll have cramps after 10 minutes, haha). We haven't had on-demand movies on any of our cruises so that could be a plus.

The pump bottles don't bother us, as long as Disney doesn't mind me filling up a 2-3oz container to bring home. About 2 weeks out from our last 2 cruises we start using it at home daily to help us get excited for the cruise. Prior cruises our stateroom host has always given us 1 extra bottle (per our request) the final night - because after 4-5 days we are almost out of the original ones anyway.

The lack of a paper navigator will be a big downer for us, we lock our phones in the safe once the ship leaves port and don't get them out until the final morning. Vacation is a phone free zone - this has become very important for us. Date nights are few and far between. My wife and I both dress up for dinner every night. I work 2 jobs, my wife works one very demanding job - Its date night for us every night on a cruise. We wished more people dressed up, but have never shamed anyone or asked anyone to change attire. We have had table mates joke "you're making us look bad" but we always felt/hoped they were joking. We never truly cared what they wore. I have heard other lines enforce a stricter dress code. I enjoy wearing a suit - I feel like a million bucks when I wear one of mine.

Thanks again for all who posted, it is helpful information. It seems like for now, well keep checking, but likely stick with DCL. If we change our cruise times or start adding passengers or wanting ports outside of Bahamas or Caribbean we should really shop around then.

 

[jtntx34]

What we like about DCL might not be specific to DCL. We aren't super into characters (although it is fun), we only went to 1 show on our 2nd magic cruise and enjoyed the "empty ship" those nights. We love that the adults only pool, deck 4, the adults only pub, etc. have all been quiet and relaxing when we've cruised. In fact some of them, including the pool, have been almost vacant at times. Other ships may have those areas, we don't know. We enjoy going to "Match your mate" and knowing it won't be over-the-top raunchy. I like bringing my own beer because the beer selection, on DCL at least, is pathetic. I like the pub/movie trivia. I like the large room where I can relax, completely unpack my stuff; everything has a place, I can make myself at home and hide my luggage under the bed - then panic the last night and remember that I have to repack and go home. Some other lines, from pictures I have seen, I question if I could even unpack my stuff in their rooms.

I will be honest. I do love that the ships we've been on (Magic and Wonder). They seem to be about the cruise, and almost a retro, "golden age of cruising" feel to them. I could be, and likely am, way off here. I just like the vibe they have had. As I said, I've got no interest in a floating shopping mall, with 17 stores and 12 different upcharge restaurants or a rock climbing wall, zipline, gokart track, etc. That isn't for me. I understand some people want that, and I am glad there are cruises for you guys to take. Honestly, I can even do without the Aquaduck/Aquadunk features, but it seems like every ship has waterslides.

We are curious about other cruises; NCL, RCL, Celebrity, but every time (for our case) we have priced it out - the difference doesn't make sense to risk not enjoying it. No cruise is cheap, so when it is the same price or close, we have gone with a known entity.

We would both love to do a cruise to the ABC islands, and I don't currently see one on the DCL schedule, and none of the other lines (as of right now) are going there when it would work for our schedule. So we are out of luck there.

We are nervous about our first cruise on the Fantasy... The adults only pool looks small than on the Magic and Wonder with double the passengers. Double the passengers at Castaway Cay - Deck 4 isn't exactly twice the size either. But my wife is looking forward to reading in the larger porthole seat in our room (she thinks it will be big enough, I think she'll have cramps after 10 minutes, haha). We haven't had on-demand movies on any of our cruises so that could be a plus.

The pump bottles don't bother us, as long as Disney doesn't mind me filling up a 2-3oz container to bring home. About 2 weeks out from our last 2 cruises we start using it at home daily to help us get excited for the cruise. Prior cruises our stateroom host has always given us 1 extra bottle (per our request) the final night - because after 4-5 days we are almost out of the original ones anyway.

Have you looked at Princess or Holland American? I believe both have the ABC island itineraries and neither are the water slides/fun park atmosphere you are wanting to avoid. They veer toward a more traditional/classic cruise experience. I did a Princess Cruise to Alaska and LOVED it. The ship seemed very classy to me. I can’t speak to the shows, because in Alaska, the best show is outside, so we never made it to any of the ship’s shows.

 

[Mrpd]

My theory at the moment is why risk my precious vacation funds on the unknown? If I take a cruise on another line just to save some money I still don't get to cruise DCL any sooner.

Well.. You had to take a shot with DCL at some moment in the past, it's the same thing.

 

[KashasMom]

Kashasmom - Holy hannah! I cannot imagine paying $8,000 for a 1 week cruise. No wonder you went elsewhere. (although, to be honest, I can't do $5k either, but that's my own issue). And we are somewhat interested in branching out, just very nervous based on a single bad experience. The price difference, when we have looked, has never been drastic or even close to what you (and others) experienced. So when my wife and I were talking, we wondered with all the people talking about cheaper cruises - what weren't we doing right to find cheaper cruises when we want to cruise. Especially when we both have co-workers who basically shame us for taking "such expensive Disney cruises", we try to tell them it really isn't that much more, and they laugh at us. Looks like we are just picking the right times and itineraries and lack children; all helping to keep it priced right.

Haha, trust me I won't pay $5,000 for a week long cruise to the Caribbean either! We don't cruise in the summer because of the insane prices. We work around NJ's school time off in November (add a couple of days) and cruise then. Our Harmony cruise last November was $2,580 for the 3 of us in an extended balcony room (loved the balcony!).

 

[darnheather]

Well.. You had to take a shot with DCL at some moment in the past, it's the same thing.

But now I know that I love DCL. Better to stick with it since it makes my kids so darned happy and that is 90% of the battle for me.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

2 AD 2 Teens June 13 2020 Eastern Caribbean

DCL Fantasy 5C $10,109.40
Carnival Breeze 8F $4,214.08

More than double to sail the exact same dates. It would be nice to be that wealthy but some of us just aren't. We love Carnival. We never go to the 18+ comedy because we know better.

 

[mevelandry]

Long time lurker, first time poster. I apologize in advance for this long, meandering post. But I feel I must ask.


I am wondering where people are finding “cheap” cruises? My wife and I are taking our 4th DCL cruise this fall, and first on the Fantasy.

We took a 7 night Carnival in 2011 w/ a balcony for around $1,000 - more on that below.
We took a 4 night on the Wonder in 2/2015 in a 7A for $1,804.
We took a 5 night on the Magic in 1/2016 in a 9C for $2,097.
We took a 5 night on the Magic in 12/2017 in a 9A for $2,509 (first w/ OBB - because we weren’t smart… haha).
None of those prices seemed out of line for us.
We are scheduled for a 6 night on the Fantasy in 10/2019 in a 9A for $2,680 (w/ OBB + opening day pricing)

Those prices include cruise fare, taxes, gratuities and port transfers for 2 adults. Everything else is “optional” costs. We have priced out several other cruises (RCL and NCL typically) over similar time periods, and it almost ends up being the same price, maybe a $200-$300 savings but nothing that moves the needle for us.

Regarding Carnival, my wife and I had such a bad experience that I feel I need to share for fear of being labeled a "Carnival Dismiss-er" like on some other threads.
My wife and I went on a Carnival cruise before we were married with some friends, it was the right price at the right time, however I do not think we would sail with them again. The Adult entertainment was "too adult" for us, the comedy was NC-17 if not X rated, we did not find it funny at all and chose to leave. As we left the show we were harassed by the comedian because he noticed. And the name he called us “The Prudes” we were called by other passengers who recognized us for the rest of the cruise. Extremely embarrassing, we found it difficult to "take in stride." The comedy was overly graphic and raunchy, think Amy Schumer style but even more over-the-top. We notified guest services how disappointed we were in it, especially being nicknamed by the comedian, and they basically blamed us for going to an 18+ comedy show, and we should’ve known.

Being a spring break cruise, the pool areas were usually extremely crowded, and ours had a few large groups of college age “kids” where every other word was a curse word. They couldn’t complete a sentence without a least one F and some other word mixed in for good measure. With a staff who seemingly just didn’t care, regardless if there were children around. Just not an environment we enjoyed being in.

Additionally we had a neighbor who had loud music playing in their room and on the balcony. We asked them to turn it down and they just shut the door and did nothing. We complained to staff, and they came down, stood outside our door, left, and did nothing. When we called back they said “It didn’t seem that loud from the hallway.” We have a connecting door, it is quite loud in our room. They came back inside our room and agreed it was too loud and asked them to turn it down by saying "Your neighbor has requested you to turn down your music." Yes, thank you, make it explicitly clear to them that it's my problem. 15 minutes later, it was back up to the same level. The cruise staff came down a few times and asked them to turn it down, then went away each time. I always had to call and ask them to come back, they never called me back to see if it was still an issue (like hotels I stay in do) or stopped by on their own to check. I was told “there is really nothing more we can do, I am sorry.”

I don’t feel like we are somehow “above” Carnival. We were just so turned off by our experience and how it was handled (or lack thereof), we wouldn’t give them our business again. I am clearly not their target audience, which is fine, and they clearly did not care about losing me as a customer. So win-win for both of us I guess.

It took awhile for us to want to try to cruise again, but DCL seemed like a safer bet even though none of our friends could imagine taking a Disney Cruise. Turns out we loved it. We have never once had an issue getting a spot in the pool or a pool chair even in the Adult Only pool area. We love reading/napping during sea days on the loungers on Deck 4. I have never once felt embarrassed or offended by the adult entertainment. Our only issues were addressed almost immediately, and staff has always rechecked with us to make sure everything is okay. We feel no need to gamble on vacation so we aren't missing a casino. Neither of us drink hard alcohol - just wine and beer so we can bring some on for free. I don't need a rocking climbing wall, a go-kart track, or water slides. I am NOT interested in shopping while on vacation so the floating shopping mall does nothing for me.

However we have noticed the price increases with everyone else, but these aren’t in a vacuum either. This past September a week-long trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton was $2,400 for the 2 of us (without airfare) by the time you added rental car, gas, lodging, food, etc. A few years ago a week-long trip to Yosemite and Sequoia was $2,000. Week-long trips are expensive. My father pays for a long weekend trip for him and his kids families (me included) to go on every summer. That resort has gone up about 6%-7% every year the past 3-4 years. The cruises are slightly more expensive, but I do not feel what we have paid is out of line with other trips we have taken or even just priced out.

While Disney has gotten increasingly expensive, every time we price out RCL or NCL it is very close to DCL.

In the case of our upcoming cruise, for $2,628 (including taxes, fees, gratuities and port transfers) we could do a 7 night Western with NCL in a similar stateroom (OC - we are guessing on the similar part). For us, we’d gladly take 1 fewer days to include Castaway Cay and a cruise line we know we enjoy than take a risk for essentially the same price. The cruise shares 2 of the same ports - NCL has 1 additional day and 1 additional port. But I am not seeing anything that would pull us off our current scheduled cruise.

If someone could tell me we’d save 20%-25%+ going with another line, we’d likely give it a try. However, I am just not finding those cruises. Maybe it’s the OBB which is helping push the price close to a first time cruise on other lines, and they’ve got us anchored to them that way (yes, pun intended). Is it the stateroom category? Are Verandas significantly cheaper on other lines? What am I missing? Are we just cruising during times of the year when, and locations where, Disney has more competitive pricing? Where and when are these much cheaper cruises people take outside of DCL? Are there other lines, besides Carnival, that offer cheaper pricing? Where are people going on cruises that are half what they pay on DCL?

I started cruising with Carnival in 2016 (after two DCL cruises)... I believe that Carnival has definitely toned down a bit and definitely made a move towards a more "family friendly" experience.

There are two category of comedy shows. PG and 18+ so you can chose which one you want to attend.

Unfortunately, bad neighbours can happen on any cruise line. DH and I have cruised with them 4 times and always had quiet cabins.

I'd suggest you give them another shot (with 6+ nights cruise to avoid the party crowd).

If you liked the DCL ships, you might like the new Carnival ships like Vista and Horizon. The upcoming Panorama and Mardi Gras look amazing as well (especially the Mardi Gras, I'm obsessed!).

 

[Mitura]

What a great thread, I'm following everybody's posts. This is a big discussion in our house hold this month (due to winter and being bored with nothing to do except think about vacation).

We love, love, love DCL. But the 2 factors that are causing us to look away are 1) cost, 2) travel to Port Canaveral from Phila, PA. (We usually drive to cut down costs, 15 hours).

We keep looking at You Tube videos of reviews of other cruise lines, asking friends, and asking travel agents. Though they give thumbs up on other cruise lines, when we watch the videos there are things that the reviewers say are great that would not be acceptable on Disney (smoking in the casino, they say large showers (not), theater that can do either movies or plays, cabins that look extremely small and beat up (one review you could see the paint flecking off of the railing), etc). And when it comes to the price, yes Disney is more expensive up front, but listening to friends and reviewers about all of the add-ons, it makes me wonder if the price different isn't that great. One YT reviewer took 5 minutes to explain all of the the add-ons on the one cruise line's new exclusive island. Our friends took a cruise (don't remember which line) and they said every time they took a breath they were given, "Sorry that's extra" speech for drinks, meals, snacks, etc. so the difference in price may go away with all of the add-ons?

So when I tell friends about DCL they go, "Isn't that expensive" I totally agree, but I haven't found anywhere where I can get that value and a significant cost savings. I feel if I go cheaper that I would lose the warm fuzzy feeling I get when I am on the DCL. I also feel that if I did take another line that I would be severely disappointed during the whole cruise.

Now to put it in perspective, we usually do Caribbean, Dream class, and we have done enough islands where the only island we definitely want to do is CC. One day when I hit the lottery we will do Europe.

So thanks for your inputs and thank OP for this thread.

Please keep the comments coming so I feel better about not putting money into the kids college funds and spending it on these cruises. ;-)

Joe

 

[mevelandry]

My theory at the moment is why risk my precious vacation funds on the unknown? If I take a cruise on another line just to save some money I still don't get to cruise DCL any sooner.

Well.. You had to take a shot with DCL at some moment in the past, it's the same thing.

Exactly the way I see it.

The unknown could be even better... and change can be good.

It's good to let room for life to surprise you.