POLL -- How many cancelled out?

[RedSox68]

Thanks. I would guess that would be the next time we could even start to afford one. Thankfully, we don't have to follow any school dates though my oldest would be unhappy if she misses too much soccer.

Yeah, my daughter is grown and really doesn't like Caribbean or PC itineraries, so she wouldn't be interested in going. It makes it easier for us to plan, but sad to not have her along. If we do the transatlantic with ports she hasn't been to, she'd probably be interested -- but she likes "rugged" more -- like Alaska, Scotland, Ireland, Norway. Still going to try for a Norway itinerary -- but on a different line

 

[darnheather]

Yeah, my daughter is grown and really doesn't like Caribbean or PC itineraries, so she wouldn't be interested in going. It makes it easier for us to plan, but sad to not have her along. If we do the transatlantic with ports she hasn't been to, she'd probably be interested -- but she likes "rugged" more -- like Alaska, Scotland, Ireland, Norway. Still going to try for a Norway itinerary -- but on a different line

After one Caribbean we are ready for more rugged adventures as well. The primary problem is airfare. Once my husband retires we can fly Space-A (or whatever it is called now) and go anywhere which will be awesome.

 

[cgolf]

I am curious about the 38% that are continuing to cruise DCL regardless, do you have a tipping point or are you truly DCL or bust, maybe just going every other year instead of every year. Or are you first time or newer cruisers that want to experience DCL and all of their ships (I get it we have and enjoyed every last minute of the trips).

 

[RedSox68]

I am curious about the 38% that are continuing to cruise DCL regardless, do you have a tipping point or are you truly DCL or bust, maybe just going every other year instead of every year. Or are you first time or newer cruisers that want to experience DCL and all of their ships (I get it we have and enjoyed every last minute of the trips).

This is an excellent question I'd love to hear some responses to! We booked a 7-night Eastern on Fantasy in December 2014 for one reason -- to complete all four ships. The pricing was not terrible -- but in trying to book another one onboard realized we were at our max with their pricing!

 

[thndrmatt]

I am curious about the 38% that are continuing to cruise DCL regardless, do you have a tipping point or are you truly DCL or bust, maybe just going every other year instead of every year. Or are you first time or newer cruisers that want to experience DCL and all of their ships (I get it we have and enjoyed every last minute of the trips).

We're in that category and are repeat cruisers, but always cruise 11C, which while not cheap certainly makes it more reasonable than any of the other categories. Prefer longer itineraries heavy on port time, also do tons of ships activities (trivias, etc), work out a lot, eat a lot, pool a lot. Only time we're in the room is to sleep, and we love it pitch black with our white noise going both at home and on travel, so windows would actually be bothersome, and the cheapest stateroom just happens to be perfect for us.

Also use ff miles to get to the faraway port options on the legacy ships, and what is really probably the key is we've always been a year or two "behind" the new itineraries (did Med in 2012, Baltic 2015, doing Norway in 2017), and that seems to avoid the price bubble that is generated by new itineraries and is cheaper than the standard big ship Caribbean pricing. Eventually we will get to the "wow so it's $X per night, and we could do 3 weeks in New Zealand for the same as that?" phase, but as long as they keep mixing up the itineraries we'll probably keep enjoying ourselves.

As an example for Norway, it's waaaaay better bang for the buck for us to do a stopover in Iceland for a few days via a ff miles ticket on the way there or the way back, and do the 7 night Norway option, rather than doing the 11 or 12 night Norway+Iceland cruise option, which costs a pretty penny.

 

[AquaDame]

I am curious about the 38% that are continuing to cruise DCL regardless, do you have a tipping point or are you truly DCL or bust, maybe just going every other year instead of every year. Or are you first time or newer cruisers that want to experience DCL and all of their ships (I get it we have and enjoyed every last minute of the trips).

I have a tipping point, for sure. No clue where it would be though. I doubt we would do a cruise at over 10K - but then there are only two of us, so I can't justify that price. To make it even more complicated we had a fit at the idea of spending $6500 on concierge last year and yet we are eager to go on the Norway trip next year and are fine with plunking down $6500. We have quite a sliding budget apparently... As it is, we aren't a cruise a year couple anyway and we do plenty of non-Disney vacations. We did a three week tour of Europe on our own last year, are going to Alaska in July and are heading to Japan next April for the cherry blossom season - all non Disney.

These conversations always make me wary... the idea that someone can "just" go every other year is so out of touch with so many, and yet there are others who complain that they can "only" go on two cruises next year instead of their normal four or more. I also feel it is far different for someone who has been cruising on DCL since 1998 to comment on prices to others who have only been cruising in the last couple of years since prices have changed /so much/. Some people can leverage FF miles, some people live in different areas and can just drive to the port or have MTO or FLR or the flexibility to book GTY. Its really hard to compare anything like this apples to apples.

 

[M<3'sMickey]

I booked the 10 Day Southern Caribbean knowing full well it was going to be expensive. Reading these boards had me believing would be upwards of at least $10,000 for the room we wanted. It will be our first wedding anniversary trip and I said the max I wanted to spend on the cruise was $12,000. So when the price came in at slightly under $8,000 for a category 7A, I was thrilled. Well as thrilled as you can be spending $8,000 on a cruise. However, because both he and I wanted a special trip for our first wedding anniversary and because he and I are both in positions to earn extra money to pay for it (I tutor and do the after school program at the school where I teach; he refs hockey) it was a no brainer to book it and keep it.

I've cruised another cruise line and so has he, but he's never cruised Disney before and this was something he wanted to do badly since it's all I talk about (my family has been on multiple DCL cruises since 2000). We're both really excited about it and while the price is slightly make-you-gasp, the service, the shows, and the overall product is what keeps me coming back again and again, not to mention the itinerary of this particular cruise. And we probably won't go on a cruise again for a while after this one but who knows? #firstworldproblems

 

[lorimay]

I am curious about the 38% that are continuing to cruise DCL regardless, do you have a tipping point or are you truly DCL or bust, maybe just going every other year instead of every year. Or are you first time or newer cruisers that want to experience DCL and all of their ships (I get it we have and enjoyed every last minute of the trips).

We have only sailed DCL ever. We are platinum, usually just the 2 of us sailing, sometimes the kids and grandkids tag along. I don't think I am ready to try another line yet. However, we usually sail in the more "off" times than during summer. We really wanted that 11 night Fantasy cruise in June 2017 to the Southern Caribbean, it was the first time where my husband said that is just a little too high (I agreed) and we didn't book.
We are Florida residents and have gotten good deals with those offers and we have taken a few *GT cruises with nice offers as well.
We will just keep booking the Fall and Winter cruises and stay away from Summer and Holiday cruises for now, and stick with DCL.

 

[cgolf]

These conversations always make me wary... the idea that someone can "just" go every other year is so out of touch with so many, and yet there are others who complain that they can "only" go on two cruises next year instead of their normal four or more. I also feel it is far different for someone who has been cruising on DCL since 1998 to comment on prices to others who have only been cruising in the last couple of years since prices have changed /so much/. Some people can leverage FF miles, some people live in different areas and can just drive to the port or have MTO or FLR or the flexibility to book GTY. Its really hard to compare anything like this apples to apples.

These conversations are so difficult to have, it actually drove me away from the boards for awhile. All I know is that since our first trip in 2008 we would always price out cruise lines we would be interested in and compare prices with DCL, and believe it or not we found DCL cruises to right in line with others. We were of course willing to pay a little more, because we loved the product and have always had a great time, but not long after they really jumped the concierge prices for 2015, we started to notice that DCL was really jumping up over the other lines we were looking at in price. It got to the point of do we want to cruise or cruise DCL. The price differences just didn't justify staying with DCL in the short run.

Essentially what we have observed is that while all lines are of course increasing prices, DCL is doing so faster than the other lines. On top of that as you mentioned some of the perks that are being discontinued also came into play for us. Essentially we are paying more for less than we got in the past. I still love DCL and I am sure we will find our way on then new ships, we will just not be exclusive to DCL anymore.

Also wanted to throw in, in case others haven't seen some of my posts, that we have cruised concierge Cat V twice, veranda twice, and our preferred is to do inside state rooms 8 times because we truly spend so little time in the room.

 

[RedSox68]

These conversations are so difficult to have, it actually drove me away from the boards for awhile. All I know is that since our first trip in 2008 we would always price out cruise lines we would be interested in and compare prices with DCL, and believe it or not we found DCL cruises to right in line with others. We were of course willing to pay a little more, because we loved the product and have always had a great time, but not long after they really jumped the concierge prices for 2015, we started to notice that DCL was really jumping up over the other lines we were looking at in price. It got to the point of do we want to cruise or cruise DCL. The price differences just didn't justify staying with DCL in the short run.

Essentially what we have observed is that while all lines are of course increasing prices, DCL is doing so faster than the other lines. On top of that as you mentioned some of the perks that are being discontinued also came into play for us. Essentially we are paying more for less than we got in the past. I still love DCL and I am sure we will find our way on then new ships, we will just not be exclusive to DCL anymore.

Also wanted to throw in, in case others haven't seen some of my posts, that we have cruised concierge Cat V twice, veranda twice, and our preferred is to do inside state rooms 8 times because we truly spend so little time in the room.

My TA told me last week that the problem now is that Disney is starting on opening day with higher prices, so the benefit of booking opening day has basically vanished. In the past, opening day meant the lowest price you could get, and then you watched it jump over the next 24-48 hours. Now they don't jump so fast -- because they start out high to begin with. And as I mentioned previously, they rarely offer sales or discounts overall -- and never offer incentives.

 

[JackieT1182]

I am curious about the 38% that are continuing to cruise DCL regardless, do you have a tipping point or are you truly DCL or bust, maybe just going every other year instead of every year. Or are you first time or newer cruisers that want to experience DCL and all of their ships (I get it we have and enjoyed every last minute of the trips).

For my family of 4, I felt we got a reasonable rate. I booked the August 19 7-night Western Caribbean, 2A/2C in a 4B for $6883 with OBB discount. It's our third Disney cruise. I did look at Royal Caribbean, and while they were less expensive than Disney for the same itinerary during the same week, I didn't feel that the savings were significant enough to not continue with Disney.

 

[jlmarr]

Booked anyway but this is going to be a "few and far between" kind of thing. Not every year, not even every two or three years.

 

[elphie101]

We booked but might end up moving to next summer - the pause is more on waiting to see how the next year goes with personal matters than on DCL related news. Given that this would only be our second cruise period, the prices don't seem as astronomical to me, especially where it's just the two of us. We had already planned Alaska for 2017, and I had been hoping for the last week of July, so when I saw the new itinerary that week it was too good to pass up.

 

[remlap]

We booked both a 7 Night Mediterranean Cruise, that when we priced against Princess was actually less and we are happy with.
We also booked the 2 night San Diego cruise just because we could but at 1299.00 for an 11B for two nights, it was a laughing conversation starter. Honestly we probably could have been arm twisted into it if I didn't have the Magic booked 3 months later on a per night per person of about half so we gave it up today. We'll check if they have any last minute sale prices...

 

[Ofinn]

We booked both a 7 Night Mediterranean Cruise, that when we priced against Princess was actually less and we are happy with.
We also booked the 2 night San Diego cruise just because we could but at 1299.00 for an 11B for two nights, it was a laughing conversation starter. Honestly we probably could have been arm twisted into it if I didn't have the Magic booked 3 months later on a per night per person of about half so we gave it up today. We'll check if they have any last minute sale prices...

Those 2 night cruises are a mystery to me. I can't in my wildest imagine fathom how a 2 night cruise could be fulfilling....and at those prices WTH?

 

[Ofinn]

My TA told me last week that the problem now is that Disney is starting on opening day with higher prices, so the benefit of booking opening day has basically vanished. In the past, opening day meant the lowest price you could get, and then you watched it jump over the next 24-48 hours. Now they don't jump so fast -- because they start out high to begin with. And as I mentioned previously, they rarely offer sales or discounts overall -- and never offer incentives.

I agree. They do offer discounts, but it's hard and frustrating to wait...and as for incentives there is no such thing. I couldn't understand the big panic to book opening day. Prices aren't going up because they are already topped out, they may go up a little, and then after PIF date they come back down to opening day price, and people think they got a bargain. If it's a cruise that didn't sell at all they may drop prices well below opening day prices just to irritate the few that booked opening day. You really can't win.

 

[Disney Obsession]

I placed a hold on the 4 day double-dip cruise, but I let it expire. $6,500 in an ocean view room for 5 just didn't make sense for 4 days, especially since we are adding a couple days at WDW before. However, we ended up booking over spring break instead because even though I never imagined this would be the case, a 4A room was $1600 less. That was closer to our original budget, so we will be there in March

 

[clten]

My TA told me last week that the problem now is that Disney is starting on opening day with higher prices, so the benefit of booking opening day has basically vanished. In the past, opening day meant the lowest price you could get, and then you watched it jump over the next 24-48 hours. Now they don't jump so fast -- because they start out high to begin with. And as I mentioned previously, they rarely offer sales or discounts overall -- and never offer incentives.

The first time I saw this happening was when they did the roundtrip cruises to Hawaii. When they released the spring date, that was one of those cruises where the prices went up by the hour. I think it was pretty much booked by the end of gold/platinum day. When they announced the fall date, I took a look at it and their opening prices were the same as the prices were that day for the spring cruise. I said then that DCL learned a valuable lesson on getting the opening price as high as the market will bear. Since then, they have shown that they did learn that lesson. They know new itineraries are going to generate interest and they make sure they are priced accordingly from the get go. I just don't think we've seen that so obviously as we did with these summer releases.

I am curious about the 38% that are continuing to cruise DCL regardless, do you have a tipping point or are you truly DCL or bust, maybe just going every other year instead of every year. Or are you first time or newer cruisers that want to experience DCL and all of their ships (I get it we have and enjoyed every last minute of the trips).

I'm in the 38%. A lot of people have pigeon-holed us as DCL diehards (cruise #40 coming up in a couple of weeks) and assume we will pay anything DCL puts out there. But we have sailed other cruise lines and do check out other cruise line offerings so we are willing to "jump ship" if we find something better. Our tipping point is twofold -- most importantly, it has to be an interesting itinerary. You probably won't see us on the Dream or Fantasy any time soon because the itineraries just don't interest us (Southern Caribbean may be slightly more interesting but not in the heart of the summer, I want to go warm when it is cold at home!). The second factor is price but on a per person per night basis and what that tipping point is varies by itinerary. We are used to being in the range of $150 pp per night for a Transatlantic so we are not going to do one at $250 per night unless there is some great WOW factor. I think the fjords and Baltic cruises we booked for 2017 are at about $250 per person per night and that may be just about our limit. We do 2 2-week cruises a year. We are more likely to change cruise lines than we are to change our vacation pattern.

 

[lorimay]

Those 2 night cruises are a mystery to me. I can't in my wildest imagine fathom how a 2 night cruise could be fulfilling....and at those prices WTH?

I agree, the only way I could do those cruises is if I was adding on another one on the front or back of it.
Too depressing, too short, I don;t even think I would unpack.

 

[jenf22]

We booked a 7-night Eastern on Fantasy in December 2014 for one reason -- to complete all four ships. The pricing was not terrible -- but in trying to book another one onboard realized we were at our max with their pricing!

I keep looking at Dream prices since that's the only ship we've not been on. I'd love to be able to say we've been on all 4, but I can't justify the cost for a 3 or 4-night cruise to Castaway (which I do love!) and/or Nassau (which I don't ever need to visit again). I have yet to find any Dream cruise that is cheaper than a 7-night on another line. I think we're different than most in that we want to see new places. We don't cruise just to be on a ship. I think our June Caribbean may be the last "beaches" cruise we take.