Priced out

[Royal Consort]

There are two 7 day European cruises which I consider to be reasonable by DCL standards. The 5/28 Baltic we can do a ocean view for 5,400 for the 4 of us or the med on Sept 2nd or 9th in an ocean view for 3,900. These would both be with an onboard booking discount. I don't find either one to be unreasonable. I may be able to find it cheaper on another cruise line, but we like DCL so this isn't outlandish. Of course they are both off season cruises. The 10 day Baltic and the 10 day med were double for the extra 3 days. NO THANKS. Every other European cruise was overpriced in my opinion. I would prefer a longer cruise, but I don't mind doing a shorter one and adding more time on land.

We've booked one of these 7 day Med cruises. I gave up looking after opening day prices to be honest and only came back to double check that the pricing really was astronomical. I found the 7 night Med at that time at a reasonable price. Considering the 10 day Med would have cost us $6.5K extra for three days in a lower category, we've booked the 7 night one. We're going to spend some days in Europe following the cruise so we still get to do exactly what we want. Strangely worked out well. Neither the 10 night Baltic nor Med are worth the sky high price. I can visit each of these destinations on my own and spend 2 days in each whilst still coming out with savings.

 

[DnA2010]

Just remember, Kodes, on RCCL the rooms would be smaller, so you might need 2 staterooms instead of one. Also, at $22/day/person for a basic soda package on RCCL, you'd be paying $110 USD PER DAY just to be hydrated. For a 7 day cruise, that's $770 USD.

Umm soda/pop does the opposite in regards to staying hydrated- that's water and it is free (not bottled of course) we aren't keen for our daughter to drink soda, so actually we weren't a fan of the machines being out on Disney.

 

[phinz]

We scheduled a Princess Alaska cruise for June a couple of weeks ago. $2k cheaper than a Disney verandah room for a 600 sq. ft. aft suite and we don't have to deal with Vancouver airport customs. Even with the unlimited drink package (I'm the drunk of the two of us, and let's not forget the "free" mini bar in the suites on Princess and 40% off of bottles of wine, as well as the "free" premium dining on embarkation night for suites), the soda/coffee package for my wife and a room at the Marriott Waterfront in Seattle for two nights, we're still ahead of the game. Top it off with being able to visit all of my immediate family in Seattle, fly Business Elite Class both ways *and* all the perks that go with being in a suite and I'm looking forward to jumping ship. I've booked a June double dip next year in an Oceanview primarily as a placeholder, but if we're happy with Princess then we're going to be going to be switching lines after our November DCL trip with my father. A Junior Balcony Suite on RCCL's Oasis for a 7-night Eastern is more than $1000 cheaper than the current 5-day June booking on the Dream. It's kind of a no-brainer at this point. I love Disney, but the $1000+ I save on a DCL cruise will pay for a 7-bedroom off-season house on the beach in the Outer Banks, and all of our friends can come stay with us for our extra vacation.

I have a feeling that DCL is going to have to have a serious come-to-Jesus on their pricing in the not-too-distant future.

 

[Garyjames220]

Am dcl till I die, am dcl till I die
I no I am, am sure I am
Am dcl till I die

 

[MamaBear58]

Valid argument that it is subjective. I do not go on vacation to be "served". I do not need someone bringing me drinks or making my bed. Unlimited food makes me fat. I go on vacation to make memories with my family and see new places. Shows and entertainment, yes...we drive to them. We go on excursions every single day. So for me, it is apples to apples. And the cost of the RV is zero. We own it and have a family policy of zero debt. We paid for it in full the day we bought it. So I guess for some, they go on a cruise for the convenience of it all and to be waited on

We scheduled a Princess Alaska cruise for June a couple of weeks ago. $2k cheaper than a Disney verandah room for a 600 sq. ft. aft suite and we don't have to deal with Vancouver airport customs. Even with the unlimited drink package (I'm the drunk of the two of us, and let's not forget the "free" mini bar in the suites on Princess and 40% off of bottles of wine, as well as the "free" premium dining on embarkation night for suites), the soda/coffee package for my wife and a room at the Marriott Waterfront in Seattle for two nights, we're still ahead of the game. Top it off with being able to visit all of my immediate family in Seattle, fly Business Elite Class both ways *and* all the perks that go with being in a suite and I'm looking forward to jumping ship. I've booked a June double dip next year in an Oceanview primarily as a placeholder, but if we're happy with Princess then we're going to be going to be switching lines after our November DCL trip with my father. A Junior Balcony Suite on RCCL's Oasis for a 7-night Eastern is more than $1000 cheaper than the current 5-day June booking on the Dream. It's kind of a no-brainer at this point. I love Disney, but the $1000+ I save on a DCL cruise will pay for a 7-bedroom off-season house on the beach in the Outer Banks, and all of our friends can come stay with us for our extra vacation.

I have a feeling that DCL is going to have to have a serious come-to-Jesus on their pricing in the not-too-distant future.

Alsi cobsidering Princess to Alaska in an aft suite. Tell me about 40% off wine?

 

[KashasMom]

The 7 day itinerary's are just ok, but like I said in my previous post we could combine it with a land week. If we do the Med in Sept we would probably fly to Germany after for Oktoberfest, and take the train to Salzburg . The Baltic we would probably visit Germany, Austria, Switzerland. I did price out RCI 11 and 12 day Baltic cruises I found the price to be high also. In the 9k range I can do a lot on land with 4k . The long cruises on any line just seem high to me...except Carnival their prices are great. Unfortunately Carnival is not in Europe next year.

We're doing a 13 night cruise - BALCONY for THREE of us in JULY for $7,251 (with three days in St. Petersburg!). Think that was a steal! Closest comparison on DCL would be the 10 night for $14,368 (which would make a 13 night $18,676!...and that's in mid-June, which we couldn't even do because of school.)

Combining or not, I'd still never do Disney for a European cruise and probably not for an Alaskan one either. Our upcoming two cruises are probably our last for a very, very long time. Just not interested in where cruises go and only having a day in places I'd probably want to spend more time. And as you mentioned, you can do a whole lot more on land for a lot less money.

 

[isabellea]

Don't even get me started on the characters and how difficult it is to even get near them. We've never even bothered because two of our children are not big on lines. But the one time we did want to see a "character"- Santa- last christmas- it was the beginning of the end with dcl for us. If you're going on a christmas cruise to see santa, don't bother, because it's not like in their little promotional video where santa is walking around the ship interacting with the kids. No, dcl rations santa to two rather brief showings of an hour or two, and there are no tickets with santa, so apparently if you want to see santa, you have to devote your entire day to it and get in line hours early. So if you get there only slightly early, the line is already scrolling out of the atrium, down the corridor, past the side triton's entrance almost to parrot cay. And just when you are about to hop onto the back of the line, you see the dreaded cast member you saw yesterday saying the same thing: that the santa line is cutoff. So you quickly shuffle your kids away and act like you will come back (even though you know this is Santa's last appearance) so that they won't be upset about not seeing santa, and tell your husband to keep it down because he's from a very expressive culture and is about to say what the....

We saw many characters on the Wonder but the wait was bearable only on port days when the ship was half empty on the pool deck... I sold our cruise to my husband, parents and mother-in-law by telling them we would be able to enjoy the Disney touches without stress --- WRONG! It was worst than WDW IMO. At least there we can see the characters with no wait at character meals. We really wanted to meet Captain Mickey but we were not willing to wait hours and be cut off. Their system is archaic except for the princesses and the Frozen characters that are with tickets (better but the wait for the tickets was bad). I was also very disappointed in how few activities there was for kids OUTSIDE the clubs. My girls wanted to spend their vacation with their grand-parents and other than the Mickey pool and slide, there was nothing for them. Very disappointing. After looking at the current DCL prices, DH and I decided we will try RCCL next time and have our Disney fix with a short stay at WDW before or after the cruise with the money we will save by switching cruise lines.

 

[Sarah O.]

Totally agree about the lines for characters, shows.

Is there any way to check on how full your cruise was? We were on the Dream for 3 nights in March, and my DD saw just about every character (Mickey 4 times!) and only one line was more than 5 minutes. Maybe this was the exception to the rule?

 

[keaster]

We began sailing DCL in February 2009 so deals were aplenty in the wake of the 2008 economic crisis. Our first cruise they were offering 20% off for Canadian residents (our dollar was in dire shape much like now!)

While on that cruise there was a bounce back offer - take a 3-night bahamas cruise for $99/person! So hubby and I booked that for a quick trip for ourselves. I have not seen a bounce back deal since then.

When DCL announced their first Med sailings for 2010, they were not selling well. So we booked a 10 night balcony for 20% off. A few months before sailing they told us since we booked so early we were getting $100/person on board credit! And to top if off the day before sailing we were upgraded from a 5A to a 4A at no charge. We would love to go back to the Med with disney but not at the prices I've seen them charging the last two years.

Our Mexican Riviera cruise in 2011 we booked with the Kids Sail Free promotion...which I have not seen them offer since then.

We've also used a combination of DCL points and cash to help offset some of the out of pocket cost on two of our cruises.

But I think we have to step away from DCL for at least a year because while we can still book on board and get at least some kind of deal, friends who would like to sail with us are suffering some serious sticker shock with these current prices.

 

[Hundredacre]

Is there any way to check on how full your cruise was? We were on the Dream for 3 nights in March, and my DD saw just about every character (Mickey 4 times!) and only one line was more than 5 minutes. Maybe this was the exception to the rule?

We also went back in March- empty. It was the first time we've done dcl "off season." Very different experience. Empty seats on the first row at castaway cay, never a wait for an elevator, got first row seats at the mickey pool in the afternoon (wow! First time for that. Four of them too in a row too.). Shows empty seats everywhere, even towards the front. But Santa wasn't there. Didn't bother checking out characters. The ship was empty. And yet same cruise-- 40% more next year. Did not book it. It was that way on opening day too. Checked it. Makes no sense.

 

[Ofinn]

We're doing a 13 night cruise - BALCONY for THREE of us in JULY for $7,251 (with three days in St. Petersburg!). Think that was a steal! Closest comparison on DCL would be the 10 night for $14,368 (which would make a 13 night $18,676!...and that's in mid-June, which we couldn't even do because of school.)

Combining or not, I'd still never do Disney for a European cruise and probably not for an Alaskan one either. Our upcoming two cruises are probably our last for a very, very long time. Just not interested in where cruises go and only having a day in places I'd probably want to spend more time. And as you mentioned, you can do a whole lot more on land for a lot less money.

I couldn't find anything close to that for 2017. The one thing about RCI is they do have sales throughout the year so you never know.

 

[kmix78]

Welcome to the other side! I would call it the Dark Side, but Disney bought that, too

My first giggle of the day! Bravo

 

[Ofinn]

Regarding the price of the Sept 2017 cruises... I think that is interesting because I have pretty much the same cruise booked this year -- 7 night Med on 9/10/16 - and for 2A2K with an OBB credit the price is HIGHER. $4770 for a 9C OV. I believe those are opening day prices too. So now I'm thinking I paid too much...maybe I should do the trip in 2017 and save $800.

The prices came down for next year. Are there still lots of rooms left on your cruise? If there are I would bet my right arm there will be GT rates on those Sept cruises this year. Remember it's the offseason most kids are back in school. GT rates are usually 20% off the lowest price cabin in each cat.

 

[perdidobay]

I doubt we will ever sail DCL again. Here is the perfect example of why...this summer, we are going on a 30 day (personal, not rental) RV roadtrip. We are going to Grand Canyon NP, Mesa Verde NP, Durango Silverton Train ride, Pagosa Hot Springs, Colorado Springs, Rocky Mountain NP, Black Hills: Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park, Badlands and surrounding areas, Calgary for the Stampede, Banff, Jasper, Glacier NP, Columbia River Gorge in Oregon, Redwood NP and Napa. Our full hook up campground costs are just under $1000. Our fuel cost is just over $1000 and our activities are right around $1000. So with a $500 buffer, we are going on a 30 day vacation for $3500. Or...I can sail in an inside room for 3 nights...if I am lucky, and I have to add airfare to that cost. .

Can you adopt me?! I am so jealous, you are going to all my favorite western parks and towns. I'd go back in a heartbeat over cruising any day. Can't wait till we buy another little pop up camper.

 

[LivingforDisney]

We saw many characters on the Wonder but the wait was bearable only on port days when the ship was half empty on the pool deck... I sold our cruise to my husband, parents and mother-in-law by telling them we would be able to enjoy the Disney touches without stress --- WRONG! It was worst than WDW IMO. At least there we can see the characters with no wait at character meals. We really wanted to meet Captain Mickey but we were not willing to wait hours and be cut off. Their system is archaic except for the princesses and the Frozen characters that are with tickets (better but the wait for the tickets was bad). I was also very disappointed in how few activities there was for kids OUTSIDE the clubs. My girls wanted to spend their vacation with their grand-parents and other than the Mickey pool and slide, there was nothing for them. Very disappointing. After looking at the current DCL prices, DH and I decided we will try RCCL next time and have our Disney fix with a short stay at WDW before or after the cruise with the money we will save by switching cruise lines.

I agree about the lines to have photos with characters, I booked our Jan 16 cruise on opening day, first Disney cruise, I read so much information in the months leading up to the cruise and kept telling my family how magical & wonderful it was going to be.
First off they changed it to the first SWDAS, we are not Star Wars fans, but thought it would be fun, it was ok , sure you all have read reviews of the first cruise.
The worst thing was the woman pushing me out of the way when I told my kids to stand "there at the railing" to watch the evening show & fireworks, mind you this was a hour before it was to start and she was standing there by her self. I was totally over it by then, as this actually happened on the first day as well at the sail away party, we stood just behind a short lady and her daughter, but she wasn't staying, she was just holding the spot for the other 6 adults in her party..
Would have preferred the usual pirate night, but because of SWDAS this was played down a bit, it also rained so the show was inside, it was insane, so crowded and noisy, we just walked away.
Of course the biggest disappointment was missing Castaway Cay, I found the service to be nothing special in the dining rooms, twice we had to ask for more soap & shampoo, from our room steward.
Magical cruise not really, overall it was "nice".
I can at least say Been there done that!

 

[phinz]

Alsi cobsidering Princess to Alaska in an aft suite. Tell me about 40% off wine?

If you buy the unlimited beverage package then any bottle of wine that costs less than $100 is 40% off, and you can share it with those at your table during dinner. We figure we'll come close to my $56-per-day fee by buying one $90 bottle of wine for $54 at dinner and my drinking a few other adult beverages during the day. My wife just has the soda and coffee package.

 

[Kimberly9701]

Don't even get me started on the characters and how difficult it is to even get near them. We've never even bothered because two of our children are not big on lines. But the one time we did want to see a "character"- Santa- last christmas- it was the beginning of the end with dcl for us. If you're going on a christmas cruise to see santa, don't bother, because it's not like in their little promotional video where santa is walking around the ship interacting with the kids. No, dcl rations santa to two rather brief showings of an hour or two, and there are no tickets with santa, so apparently if you want to see santa, you have to devote your entire day to it and get in line hours early. So if you get there only slightly early, the line is already scrolling out of the atrium, down the corridor, past the side triton's entrance almost to parrot cay. And just when you are about to hop onto the back of the line, you see the dreaded cast member you saw yesterday saying the same thing: that the santa line is cutoff. So you quickly shuffle your kids away and act like you will come back (even though you know this is Santa's last appearance) so that they won't be upset about not seeing santa, and tell your husband to keep it down because he's from a very expressive culture and is about to say what the....

We are doing a very merrytime cruise 11/26/16 on the Fantasy. Do you have any tips on best strategy to meet Santa? Will it be easier on my travel dates than the week of Christmas?

 

[Hundredacre]

We are doing a very merrytime cruise 11/26/16 on the Fantasy. Do you have any tips on best strategy to meet Santa? Will it be easier on my travel dates than the week of Christmas?

Hopefully they will change this and you won't have to deal with it. As they had it set up there was no way for everyone to see santa who wanted to see santa. If they do not change it, the only thing I can recommend is sending one parent very early to stand in line. They did randomly pick us for an extended survey after that december 2015 cruise. We put in the survey that santa should have been available to every child on board who wanted to see santa. Relatively easy thing for DCL to do. We pointed out other problems too, one of which-- okay this is kind of minor- was that every cruise we have been on they never give out enough pom poms at the sail away ceremony. We don't always end up getting them but two of our kids got them on that december cruise. Well a kid came out of nowhere and ripped one from my "difficult" child's hand. Major breakdown. Well I pointed out to dcl that there has always been severe pom pom rationing at their sail away parties and since the pom poms cost them about a cent a piece (sad pom poms really) why not make sure all the kids get them who want them? Well... we returned for a march 2016 cruise and I have never seen so many pom poms at the sail away party. Each of my kids got two. They continued giving them out throughout the party instead of just one batch as people entered. The CMs would leave and come back repeatedly. They had so many that people stopped taking them and the CMs just walked around with handfuls. I love to think that one person made the pom pom difference!! Me!!! Realistically I know I probably had nothing to do with the pom pom surplus. But hopefully they will change access to santa. There were a lot of unhappy parents. Not very merry when you don't get to see him!

 

[Kimberly9701]

Hopefully they will change this and you won't have to deal with it. As they had it set up there was no way for everyone to see santa who wanted to see santa. If they do not change it, the only thing I can recommend is sending one parent very early to stand in line. They did randomly pick us for an extended survey after that december 2015 cruise. We put in the survey that santa should have been available to every child on board who wanted to see santa. Relatively easy thing for DCL to do. We pointed out other problems too, one of which-- okay this is kind of minor- was that every cruise we had been on they never give out enough pom poms at the sail away ceremony. We don't always end up getting them but two of our kids got them on that december cruise. Well a kid came out of nowhere and ripped one from my "difficult" child's hand. Major breakdown. Well I pointed out to dcl that there has always been severe pom pom rationing at their sail away parties and since the pom poms cost them about a cent a piece (sad pom poms really) why not make sure all the kids get them who want them? Well... we returned for a march 2016 cruise and I have never seen so many pom poms at the sail away party. Each of my kids got two. They continued giving them out throughout the party instead of just one batch as people entered. The CMs would leave and come back repeatedly. They had so many that people stopped taking them and the CMs just walked around with handfuls. I love to think that one person made the pom pom difference!! Me!!! Realistically I know I probably had nothing to do with the pom pom surplus. But hopefully they will change access to santa. There were a lot of unhappy parents. Not very merry when you don't get to see him!

I am the sole parent, so that's not an option to me. That's actually one of my biggest pet peeves when at a theme park or concession stand etc.
A place holder for photos wouldn't bother me as much, if the party that appears later is all in same photo. What drives me nuts is when we get in a line..and 10-20 minutes later a party of 5/6 comes to meet their 1 placeholder!lol It is opening day at our Cedar Fair theme park today...we will be going later on tonight..I swear every single time that we are in line for my son's favorite ice cream this happens!

 

[Hundredacre]

I am the sole parent, so that's not an option to me. That's actually one of my biggest pet peeves when at a theme park or concession stand etc.
A place holder for photos wouldn't bother me as much, if the party that appears later is all in same photo. What drives me nuts is when we get in a line..and 10-20 minutes later a party of 5/6 comes to meet their 1 placeholder!lol It is opening day at our Cedar Fair theme park today...we will be going later on tonight..I swear every single time that we are in line for my son's favorite ice cream this happens!

I actually hate this too. It doesn't bother me as much if it is one or two people but often it is large groups that do it. When this has happened to us I literally have to squeeze my husband's arm somewhat threateningly to keep him quiet. We don't do it because, like our kids, we hate lines and there is no way one of us is going to stand in line for an hour or (maybe more accurately) hours. Hopefully they will change their santa policy. It really seems like an easy thing for them to do.