Priced out and Angry

[Aurora's Mommy]

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!

Don't forget Trenton (TTN) as well! Frontier flies out to MCO at 6 AM daily.

But, don't forget that these discount airlines get you on fees. Southwest includes 2 bags per person, but Frontier charges $30 for carry on (that can not fit under the seat) and $20 per checked bag.

I priced out for a family of 4 for August, Southwest out of PHL $1260, Frontier out of TTN $1056.80 earlier this month.

All that said, it was worth sailing out of NYC just to take NJ Transit and a cab to the port. No hotel the night before, too.

And, again, all that said, DCL is giving me sticker shock as well. I thought we were priced out for this August, but DH said do it. BTW, we have decided to drive to Port Canaveral, a decision I hope we do not live to regret !

 

[Ofinn]

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

I agree. I think the higher prices have led to more discounts. We have gotten some good deals over the last year.

 

[msb578]

If consumers are basically banging down your doors to buy your product, it's almost irresponsible not to increase prices.

Even my 4-night Bahamas cruise is much more than I'd want to pay. But no other cruise lines interest our family at this point (kids 3,3,6). We're purchasing an experience that's in extremely high demand, and our other choice is not to go. Simple as that. If sales decrease, Disney will respond appropriately.

 

[emilyann415]

I agree. I think the higher prices have led to more discounts. We have gotten some good deals over the last year.

But, in your experience, are the reduced last minute prices better than opening day? I was always under the assumption that they were not.....am I wrong???

 

[lanejudy]

But, in your experience, are the reduced last minute prices better than opening day? I was always under the assumption that they were not.....am I wrong???

That all depends on the cruise and date. Sometimes the last minute offers are better, other times opening day is still lowest.

 

[Bree]

I agree. I think the higher prices have led to more discounts. We have gotten some good deals over the last year.

The discounts have been fewer and fewer and fewer. There has been nothing the last few weeks other than 2 European *GT and 1 MTO. I was hoping to get a last minute on the Dream in June, but I don't think that is going to happen.

 

[Ofinn]

Yeah its summer. There were a lot of discounts. Oct through may. I think these NYC cruises are high considering the time of year.

 

[Ofinn]

But, in your experience, are the reduced last minute prices better than opening day? I was always under the assumption that they were not.....am I wrong???

All the cruises I have taken have beaten opening day. Our feb cruise dropped 1500. You have to be flexible to get a good price.

 

[Bree]

At this time last year almost every last Dream June & July sailing had FLR, *GT & MTO rates. There were quite a bit for the Fantasy as well. I'm on a deadline for a cruise discount! I have a room booked at Beach Club as a back up plan, but have to cancel by May 30th or I lose one night's deposit.

 

[KLB9]

At some point Disney would have to look at adding another ship or two. If the demand was high enough and it wouldn't drop prices to much.

 

[Flossbolna]

At this time last year almost every last Dream June & July sailing had FLR, *GT & MTO rates. There were quite a bit for the Fantasy as well. I'm on a deadline for a cruise discount! I have a room booked at Beach Club as a back up plan, but have to cancel by May 30th or I lose one night's deposit.

It might have something to do with the fact that the Dream is doing quite a lot of 5-night double dip cruises as compared to the normal 3/4 nighters. These are popular to begin with and you need less people to book a cruise to fill up your ship (as there are fewer cruises over the summer). That might be the difference to last year.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

From what I can gather from the deployment schedule, Disney is moving its ships so that their repo timing to a port/itinerary allows them to sail in "high season" for the majority of the year. By avoiding (for the most part) the dips, and with only four ships to move, they can maintain higher pricing.

 

[joannamet]

I agree. I had a Cruise booked on the Magic for next week and I cancelled. As much as my family would like to go the prices are simply not reasonable. That said, however, people will continue to pay them. I'm always amazed at what people will pay at WDW for the deluxe resorts and signature restaurants.

 

[Ofinn]

I agree. I had a Cruise booked on the Magic for next week and I cancelled. As much as my family would like to go the prices are simply not reasonable. That said, however, people will continue to pay them. I'm always amazed at what people will pay at WDW for the deluxe resorts and signature restaurants.

We used to pay the deluxe resort prices when we got 40% off and had the tables in Wonderland card. It's hard to get a good price at wdw anymore.

 

[Bree]

I book deluxe 99% of the time. Our June trip is 37% off.

We are not park commandos so a resort is not just a place to sleep and shower to us. I'm an early bird and like drinking my coffee alone on my balcony with my book in the morning. I like having a fitness center. I don't care for food courts as my only source of resort food. I don't like a huge window looking into my room which means keeping my curtains closed 24/7.

 

[tltay2005]

I am new to cruising, so help me out if I am wrong. We are taking our first cruise next month and plan to book one for April 2016 while on board. I compared RCCL EOS, same date & same itinerary, and for the same size verandah room, it was only a difference of $281.00 and for EOS smaller verandah room $678.00 (after the 10% OBB discount). I think for the quality of service, DCL is worth that difference.

 

[tltay2005]

I should add this is out of Port Canaveral on the Dream and not NYC, maybe that's the difference.

 

[MillauFr]

NYC is home to about 18 million peoplem right? That's a huge pool to draw from.

Agreed. And those 18 million people earn some of the highest salaries in the country. They can easily afford taking a Disney cruise even with the outrageous prices.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

Agreed. And those 18 million people earn some of the highest salaries in the country. They can easily afford taking a Disney cruise even with the outrageous prices.

They also have the highest cost of living of any place in the country -According to bankrate, the cost of living in NYC is currently 215% of the cost of living in Orlando.

 

[DisneySisters]

I am new to cruising, so help me out if I am wrong. We are taking our first cruise next month and plan to book one for April 2016 while on board. I compared RCCL EOS, same date & same itinerary, and for the same size verandah room, it was only a difference of $281.00 and for EOS smaller verandah room $678.00 (after the 10% OBB discount). I think for the quality of service, DCL is worth that difference.

I agree, DCL is still worth it. Having said that, I did get a little disheartened at 6:00 AM this morning (after an hour on hold) to find out that it would be 6500.00 for two people in a 7A for Christmas. That means for my family of grown children and spouses we would be looking at about 20,000.00. I didn't book, and grumbled my way back to sleep. Then when I woke up, I looked at the price list thread, and saw the 4 night repositioning cruise that somebody else booked from Vancouver. My spirits soared! I booked it, and now feel satisfied. It's not Christmas, and it's not 7 nights, but because we live on the west coast, it's reasonable for us. I think with the prices, if we want to do DCL, we just have to make some choices. Thanks to everybody who got up early and posted the prices!