Priced out and Angry

[Ginamarie]

I called this morning to get pricing for some of the DCL cruises out of NYC, and was totally disheartened with the experience. The DCL pricing has gotten completely out of control in the last 18-24 months, and at this point, we're priced out. Honestly, if I thought it was worthwhile, we probably could save up enough money for the cruises, BUT, the price point is so high that it's no longer worth it. I cannot understand how such a significant price hike is warranted.

For example, we just sailed the Westbound TA this past September. We had Category 4A cabins for 14 nights for a price that wasn't cheap (by any means), but was reasonable. In pricing a 7-8 night cruise out of New York, an INSIDE cabin (cat 10) was going to cost us more per person than the transatlantic. This is a cruise that's half as long in a cabin that's a good deal smaller, without a verandah, during the school year.

I'm sorry DCL, this loyal cruiser will not be sailing again in 2016, and I'm doubting that we will be on DCL again in the future unless there is some kind of change in the pricing. I love the product, but the pricing is out of control.

 

[GatorMomInNC]

Did the price for the TA go up?

 

[MUN]

Don't worry about it. If the prices are indeed out of control, people won't pay them and DCL will lower prices to fill the sailings. I would encourage you to check back from time to time to see if the prices have dropped.

MUN

 

[undertheradar]

It is the simple theory of supply versus demand.

 

[JasonShannon76]

People pay them, so they continue to go up. Just like Disney Parks. $100 ticket (for 1 day/1park) and the parks are packed.

 

[Bree]

I think many of us knew this going in just from the two previous 2016 releases. The prices are high on opening day, but I'm not sure we are seeing the huge price jumps day to day like there used to be. Most of the Summer 2016 prices for the Fantasy are still at opening day rates.

 

[Rogillio]

NYC is home to about 18 million peoplem right? That's a huge pool to draw from. For a family of 4, cruising out of NYC as opposed to flying to Ornaland and cruiseing out of MCO save then the cost of 4 airline tickets......so about $2,500 they save by being able to cruise out of NYC.

 

[AnneJEPC]

Would you mind sharing the price quoted please?! I have my hopes up to book tomorrow out of NYC- hoping to save on Airfare to FL from PA-but if we can't get the cabin/level we want for less than $5500, we might as well go out of FL and have our choice of ports we haven't done before. I am really sad that the NYC sailings are the exact same as 2012- I was really hoping there would be other choices.

 

[bobbiwoz]

The TA's are repositioning cruises and historically they have been less expensive considering the length of the cruise. In fact, the on board booking discounts for one was 20% at one time!

I loved DCL's Westbound PC cruise we went on last year and want to do an EBPC next fall. We want to do more ports than DCL does, so we are trying another cruise line. We'll do another DCL cruise for sure, we are booked on 2016's EBTA in the spring, but for us, it is the intinerary not only the price that matters.

 

[Bree]

@AnneJEPC

You can monitor pricing here

http://www.disboards.com/threads/op...-sept-dec-magic-wonder-dream-fantasy.3411411/

 

[Anisum]

NYC is home to about 18 million peoplem right? That's a huge pool to draw from. For a family of 4, cruising out of NYC as opposed to flying to Ornaland and cruiseing out of MCO save then the cost of 4 airline tickets......so about $2,500 they save by being able to cruise out of NYC.

I agree, having a cruise leave from NY is a huge pool to draw from but you are vastly overestimating the prices of airline tickets from the NYC area. Unless of course people buy their airline tickets through Disney in which case that may be accurate.

For a weekend flight (Sat-Sun or similar) round trip is roughly $250 per person from EWR, JFK, or LGA. That is $1000 but it is very possible to get a cheaper flight. I usually don't pay more than $40-$120 depending on when I leave.

Either way it is likely that when people become unable to afford it prices will drop but Disney, unlike most cruise lines only has to fill four ships so it's easier to up prices. You could always try IGT/OGT/VGT when it gets close?

 

[AnneJEPC]

@AnneJEPC

You can monitor pricing here

http://www.disboards.com/threads/op...-sept-dec-magic-wonder-dream-fantasy.3411411/

Thanks- just found that thread!

 

[Rogillio]

I agree, having a cruise leave from NY is a huge pool to draw from but you are vastly overestimating the prices of airline tickets from the NYC area. Unless of course people buy their airline tickets through Disney in which case that may be accurate.

For a weekend flight (Sat-Sun or similar) round trip is roughly $250 per person from EWR, JFK, or LGA. That is $1000 but it is very possible to get a cheaper flight. I usually don't pay more than $40-$120 depending on when I leave.

Either way it is likely that when people become unable to afford it prices will drop but Disney, unlike most cruise lines only has to fill four ships so it's easier to up prices. You could always try IGT/OGT/VGT when it gets close?

Wow, that is much cheaper than I would have thought! Guess the NYC/Orlando is a pretty popular route.

 

[kaseyC]

Wow, that is much cheaper than I would have thought! Guess the NYC/Orlando is a pretty popular route.

It's a very popular route just like Chicago to Orlando. Many of the lower priced airlines like Jetblue, Southwest and Spirit fly those routes.

 

[AnneJEPC]

We went from EWR to ORD this past Feb on Jetblue for just around $900 for family of 4, so i figure on budget of $1000 to fly to FL. But family members got flights from ORD to PHL for $50 one way- so there are cheap options out there!

 

[biohaz_man]

I think what is interesting about DCL's pricing strategy is that a number of the "new" itineraries are blacked out for OBB (i.e. British Isles, all 2016 NYC cruises).

 

[Ginamarie]

Plus, I have sailed out of NYC many times before on different cruise lines. While the pricing may be somewhat at a premium (particularly in summer months) over the per diem rates from Florida ports, the prices are not this outrageous. This is especially true for months like October/November when the kids are in school and we're technically still in hurricane season.

 

[Anisum]

We went from EWR to ORD this past Feb on Jetblue for just around $900 for family of 4, so i figure on budget of $1000 to fly to FL. But family members got flights from ORD to PHL for $50 one way- so there are cheap options out there!

Philly is great for Florida and so is ACY (Atlantic City) it's a bit more of a drive but it is generally $10-$70 cheaper per person since MCO is one of the few places they fly to.

 

[AnneJEPC]

Philly is great for Florida and so is ACY (Atlantic City) it's a bit more of a drive but it is generally $10-$70 cheaper per person since MCO is one of the few places they fly to.

I need to keep ACY in mind-too.. We live 90 min drive to both EWR and PHL - so those are the 2 best options- but ACY would only be another 50 mins away. and if it would save a ticket price or 2- all the better!

 

[Kimberly1]

NYC is home to about 18 million peoplem right? That's a huge pool to draw from. For a family of 4, cruising out of NYC as opposed to flying to Ornaland and cruiseing out of MCO save then the cost of 4 airline tickets......so about $2,500 they save by being able to cruise out of NYC.

I don't know about the NYC cruises, but it has been cheaper for us to fly to Florida than take the cruises out of Galveston.