Placeholder Discount Increased to 30% Off Select Sailings

[mcd2745]

For people without young children, and particularly with no children, it's a different situation. San Juan and the ports it can open up are appealing to adults who are tired of the choices on most Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises and don't mind as much taking a long flight. The question is how many of these people will choose Disney over another less expensive cruise line. My thinking when I read on these boards of people choosing between Disney and Virgin Voyages or Viking is that these people are not Disney's target audience and Disney is unlikely to make changes just to appeal to them.

Personally, I would love it if DCL cruised from and to more interesting ports. In the last 8 years, I've done 4 European cruises and just 1 Caribbean cruise on DCL because most of the Caribbean ports just don't interest me. I am doing a Southern Caribbean cruise this fall because those ports will be new to me. But I know that I'm not who Disney is targeting.

We did the Southern Caribbean sailing from San Juan back in November. I definitely think they could and should have a San Juan "season" instead of just 1 or 2 sailings. There is definitely a demand for sailings that go to the islands/ports that become available by sailing from San Juan. You referenced who they are targeting, however, there is a market segment they likely underestimate. The families who have been cruising DCL for 15-20 years. The kids are now adults, but the parents (and in many cases, the now-adult children also) still prefer to sail DCL. Could be because they are simply just big Disney fans, or because DCL is the product they know and love and don't want to try something else. DCL would be wise to have more sailings - meaning unique itineraries from different home ports- that appeal to this segment.

 

[dreamer17555]

I do not think the current pricing disparity is possible....

When we first started sailing DCL if you were flexible with your pricing, you could find ways you could justify paying DCL prices i.e. that ship out of south Florida costs as much as the competitor in a jr. suite out of PC..

Sometimes with VGT rates, it was actually cheaper to do DCL than RCCL or others... I remember this well...

Now we are seeing the opposite - looking at some March itineraries, we were seeing 9 nights on RCL/Celebrity being cheaper than say a 4-5 night on Disney... In one instance, the pricing for a long cruise on RCL was comparable to a 3 night trip on DCL...

I'm not a fan of RCL, but I also am not deluded enough to think DCL is 3x better...

Cruising is for us a luxury, and we don't mind opening the wallet a little more for something objectively better, but some of DCL prices are getting to me, truly outrageous...

and the discounts are making me think I am not alone in that assessment...

and they are growing the fleet at the same time... Don't see how that won't put downward pressure on prices...

I personally think adding parks capacity would have been the smarter play than going to 13 ships - DCL is such a niche product, and the new ships are even more niche in my view... The Magic (especially in the original Eisner/Chao iteration) was a luxury cruise liner with a healthy sprinkle of Disney magic. The new boats are DISNEY with a capital D - I just don't think the appeal is as wide. If the new small boats go that way, I think it will be a big mistake...

So for fun I pulled up the OGT rate I booked for the Wish in Sept (which is a good deal but lets leave out the bonus $250 in credit). I paid $1854 for 2 adults. The Utopia same dates, OGT room (Royal picks) is $1862 (before a soda package, with it would be $1,982). Yes Royal has older cheaper ships but the light between DCL and Royal, especially new Royal is not as much as people think IMO. With older Royal yes way more difference.

I tried to compare my Jan 31st DCL sailing on the Destiny to Royal but its a harder comparison. Closest I think in ship & port is the 7 night on the Icon. Oceanview room 2 Adults- $4161 or around $595 a night or $2,972 for a 5 night. Add the extra $15 per person per day for soda on Royal and their cost would be about $3,122 for an equivalent 5 night.

Current pricing (which is a few hundred more than what I paid) for a 5 night Destiny sailing same room type location and date is $3,327. (Edited to add- I personally paid $3,130) So yes Royal is cheaper but I think with Royal is getting really close to Disney prices with their new ships.

 

[DCLMP]

So for fun I pulled up the OGT rate I booked for the Wish in Sept (which is a good deal but lets leave out the bonus $250 in credit). I paid $1854 for 2 adults. The Utopia same dates, OGT room (Royal picks) is $1862 (before a soda package, with it would be $1,982). Yes Royal has older cheaper ships but the light between DCL and Royal, especially new Royal is not as much as people think IMO. With older Royal yes way more difference.

I tried to compare my Jan 31st DCL sailing on the Destiny to Royal but its a harder comparison. Closest I think in ship & port is the 7 night on the Icon. Oceanview room 2 Adults- $4161 or around $595 a night or $2,972 for a 5 night. Add the extra $15 per person per day for soda on Royal and their cost would be about $3,122 for an equivalent 5 night.

Current pricing (which is a few hundred more than what I paid) for a 5 night Destiny sailing same room type location and date is $3,327. So yes Royal is cheaper but I think with Royal is getting really close to Disney prices with their new ships.

Did you price it out for 4 or 5 that is where you will see the big difference between DCL and other cruiselines. Disney doesn't cut you a break on the kids. Every cruise is a little different, but I saved 9k choosing royal over DCl in the med two years ago.

 

[dreamer17555]

Did you price it out for 4 or 5 that is where you will see the big difference between DCL and other cruiselines. Disney doesn't cut you a break on the kids. Every cruise is a little different, but I saved 9k choosing royal over DCl in the med two years ago.

All of these are for two adults because that’s who I travel with and it seemed the fairest way to do it.

Also, Royal would not even let me search for five people in a state room. I don’t know why.

 

[DCLMP]

All of these are for two adults because that’s who I travel with and it seemed the fairest way to do it.

Also, Royal would not even let me search for five people in a state room. I don’t know why.

I know, but Disney has a higher percentage of 3, 4 and 5 people stateroom bookings then the other cruise lines. When people on a Disney forum say DCL is significantly higher in price that is why. A lot of cruise lines barely charge anything for 3rd and 4th passengers in a room and a lot of times run specials where 3rd and 4th passengers are free.

DCL is a family cruise line not a couples cruise line. You have to look at from other peoples perspective.

 

[plutolovr]

All of these are for two adults because that’s who I travel with and it seemed the fairest way to do it.

Also, Royal would not even let me search for five people in a state room. I don’t know why.

Their system will only book up to 4 on a single reservation. You can search for rooms that sleep 5 or more, but it will only price for 4. For the additional people, just add what you are paying for the 3rd or 4th passenger to the total.

 

[Nabas]

But wait. I'm missing something here. As a DVC member and/or Disney credit card holder, I can get 30% off during this same period along with a $250 OBC. If I were to use my placeholder, I'm actually getting a worse deal because it's only an extra 20% off, rather than the full 30%.

Yes, we switched from a December cruise with a 10% placeholder discount to one of these 30% discounted cruises.

We received the $250 onboard credit but were told it’s either the 10% placeholder discount or the 30% discount, not both.

 

[holula]

Did you price it out for 4 or 5 that is where you will see the big difference between DCL and other cruiselines. Disney doesn't cut you a break on the kids. Every cruise is a little different, but I saved 9k choosing royal over DCl in the med two years ago.

The Med is one of Disney’s peak pricing times and they are always massively expensive especially when other cruise lines don’t always use their newest ships in the Med (which is where the huge pricing difference comes in.)

If you look off season for a 7 night cruise on the Treasure and compare it to Icon of the Seas, the pricing isn’t hugely different. (Disney is still more expensive, but not double or triple. More like 25%.)

 

[Rallard21]

Will they honor at least the $250 if you already booked with a placeholder?

 

[peder]

I personally think adding parks capacity would have been the smarter play than going to 13 ships - DCL is such a niche product, and the new ships are even more niche in my view...

Expanding DCL is not a problem IMO, but the timing was odd. I think they should have kicked off a major expansion much much earlier. There's been a bit of a gold rush into cruising in recent years, but DCL will capture almost zero of that audience. At least historically speaking, the cruise industry is one of the most "sticky" industries in existence: people find a cruise line that works for them and then rarely change lines. It's doubtful that many of the new customers that have entered cruising since the pandemic will end up sailing with DCL because they're already "Loyal to Royal", etc.

That said, DCL going forward is going to be fascinating to watch to because of the explosion in home ports. They're adding Galveston permanently, Singapore, Tokyo (not directly DCL, but a Wish-class ship sorta under the DCL banner), and I'm guessing 1 or even 2 ships permanently out of Europe. They're greatly increasing their international reach, and demand out of Singapore has already been very strong.

 

[DCLMP]

The Med is one of Disney’s peak pricing times and they are always massively expensive especially when other cruise lines don’t always use their newest ships in the Med (which is where the huge pricing difference comes in.)

If you look off season for a 7 night cruise on the Treasure and compare it to Icon of the Seas, the pricing isn’t hugely different. (Disney is still more expensive, but not double or triple. More like 25%.)

The Magic was the only ship in Europe for years. I sailed on the Magic in Europe in 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2022. They switched to the Dream class ships in 2023. The first season the Dream was over there they jacked up the prices.

We chose to sail on Odyssey of the seas. A newer ship launched 2020, and we saved thousands. Dream is not a new ship anymore. It's 15 years old. Royal and NCL regularly put new ships in the Med along with older ones.

We also sailed on the Carnival Vista in Europe when it was new and have booked NCL's new ship the Viva out of Istanbul next year. Your theory that other cruise lines don't put new ships in Europe doesn't hold true.

 

[peder]

And if you are open to booking MSC or Costa or P&O or Aida or TUI, etc. there's a ton of newer ships operating in Europe at any given moment. The reason we don't see more American ships in Europe is mostly because Americans don't travel very often to Europe and it's already a crowded cruise market.

 

[holula]

We also sailed on the Carnival Vista in Europe when it was new and have booked NCL's new ship the Viva out of Istanbul next year. Your theory that other cruise lines don't put new ships in Europe doesn't hold true.

I said don’t always, not don’t. The other cruise lines have a range of ships including their older and smaller ships, Disney still just has the one option in Europe. The Dream might not be new but Disney charge premium pricing on all their ships unlike most other lines where the new ships are higher priced and the old ships are much lower than Disney.

I’m also sailing out of Istanbul on the Viva. My room was a lot cheaper as I’m in a solo inside but the double occupancy rooms weren’t that much less than Disney’s longer Europe cruises for 2026. However all drinks and gratuities are included which on a 9 night cruise will make a decent difference. And I also didn’t want to sail in July, so the date was better, and I’ve never visited Istanbul so overall it was a win.

 

[DCLMP]

I said don’t always, not don’t. The other cruise lines have a range of ships including their older and smaller ships, Disney still just has the one option in Europe. The Dream might not be new but Disney charge premium pricing on all their ships unlike most other lines where the new ships are higher priced and the old ships are much lower than Disney.

I’m also sailing out of Istanbul on the Viva. My room was a lot cheaper as I’m in a solo inside but the double occupancy rooms weren’t that much less than Disney’s longer Europe cruises for 2026. However all drinks and gratuities are included which on a 9 night cruise will make a decent difference. And I also didn’t want to sail in July, so the date was better, and I’ve never visited Istanbul so overall it was a win.

The cruise we want is only in July. I'm questioning the heat factor. I'm considering the Baltic cruise on the old NC Sun, but honestly it's not much cheaper. I think it's the lack of Baltic cruises which is driving the price. It's not a bad itinerary though it starts in Helsinki and hits Latvia, Poland, Estonia, Lithuania etc. Unfortunately no St. Petersburg.

 

[asgur5]

How is a discount a hidden trick? Disney sets a cruise at a price. Some people book a room on the cruise at that price. If some cabins have not yet been purchased by some date, Disney offers a lower price in order to fill the ship. We don't know what Disney's expectations have been for profit and for number of cabins sold. For some time after the pandemic pause, it appears that Disney deliberately kept cabins open in case they were needed for quarantine. That's probably no longer a concern, but Disney could still be setting prices so that they don't need to fill the ship to make a profit.

In most cases, getting a lower price requires paying in full immediately and taking whatever cabin Disney assigns, which are conditions under which many of the earlier purchasers would not have made their purchase.

When Disney offers a discount prior to the Paid-in-Full date that is not a restricted fare, people who have previously booked can usually apply the discount to their reservation, or simply make a new reservation with no negative effects. (I did this a few years ago when a "half price for 3rd and 4th passengers" offer for Disney+ subscribers came out.) If the discount is offered after the Paid-in-Full date, people who have waited until that time to book will lose out on the opportunity to book excursions and activities as soon as they are available.

Cos its a placeholder discount available to some and not all as compared to a direct reduction in price of the cruise.