Priced out

[DnA2010]

I can definitely understand people not wanting to pay DCL prices. Most of the year, for most itineraries, they are outlandishly expensive. Every single one of my DCL cruises has taken place in the off season and was either a GT or FLR discount. I'm very lucky that my SO can take days off with rather short notice, that we live within driving distance of PC, and that we are eligible for the awesome discounts available to Florida residents (it's our consolation prize for having to deal with all the crazy things we deal with all year long, hahaha). We're also childfree, so no paying for extra people.

I have tried to convince myself to try another cruise line. I have been on one RC cruise before, and I had a terrible time, but the itinerary was boring and it was one of their small ships (Jewel of the Seas). My SO is adamant about not wanting to try any cruises other than Disney, considering how much he hated the RC cruise. I'm willing to consider other options. I'm just terribly afraid it will end up being a disappointment, or "just okay," when I know a DCL cruise will be fantastic. When it comes to trying a non-Disney cruise, I'm afraid the casino will smell like a giant cigarette, I'm afraid there will be nothing to do but lounge around and drink, I'm afraid the crew will be mean and sour (they were awful on the RC cruise I took), I'm afraid the ship will look like a ho-hum Hampton Inn off I-4 (most non-Disney ships have a decent-hotel-at-sea vibe to me, whereas Disney ships have a Disney-resort-at-sea vibe, for lack of better words), and on and on and on.

We always loved going to WDW together, and to be honest, we consider ourselves priced out of WDW. We love to eat, and it's just so expensive to stay on site, eat on site, and keep ourselves entertained when compared to a DCL vacation. Add to the fact that "off season" isn't really a thing at WDW anymore, it's almost always packed, and getting around is stressful at best. Even drinks are more expensive at WDW. So when I compare the price of a Disney cruise with the price of a vacation of the same length at WDW, the cruise is the obvious choice. I get my dose of pixie dust for less money and hassle. Did I mention how much I love the fact that you basically get treated like royalty on a Disney ship?

We actually had the opposite experience- after cruising on RCLs Oasis and Freedom, we decided to splurge on a VGT on the Fantasy - while we had a fantastic cruise- it honestly didn't blow us away- maybe we were too built up ? Service and food were just ok, we missed having pools and found it a bit more crowded

 

[MickeyD]

So I just got off the phone with customer service, and I am shocked to say the least. We have cruised 4 times, each in the Walt Disney suite but was I shocked to see what the pricing has become..... It was not cheap before but the experience was great all around but to pay $40K for the same room the I paid half of that for a year ago seems beyond ridiculous..

That is shocking, but I am still amazed that anyone can pay half that for a cruise and not be shocked! $20k for a cruise? Talk about first world problems! I am not being snarky here at all, it just really amazes me what these cruises cost people.

 

[CaterFamily]

Call us suckers!

We will gladly pay for DCL prices when we know our children will be catered to. Especially since they're mad over all things Disney.

That is shocking, but I am still amazed that anyone can pay half that for a cruise and not be shocked! $20k for a cruise? Talk about first world problems! I am not being snarky here at all, it just really amazes me what these cruises cost people.

EXACTLY!!! We're all debating first world problems.

(my best Thurston Howell III voice) "oh lovey, we don't have the capital to afford another jaunt to the caribbean this year. pity."

 

[tinkerone]

See for $1200 difference I would consider DCL again- our VGT rate in an offseason week if May was still almost double the cost of our Oasis cruise which was a full ship.

If I'm reading the post right though, its not just $1200, its $1200 and a category which is even more of a difference. One is for an Ocean view and one is for a veranda. The value of the veranda would have to be added in to factor the exact difference.
I to would think hard if the difference was truly $1200 but if I know myself then I would still probably turn away. Its just to much of a gap.

 

[RedSox68]

That is shocking, but I am still amazed that anyone can pay half that for a cruise and not be shocked! $20k for a cruise? Talk about first world problems! I am not being snarky here at all, it just really amazes me what these cruises cost people.

We've only paid that much for a vacation once -- on the 20-day land and sea HAL package in Alaska. It included a 3-night stay in Vancouver, 7-day cruise in a verandah cabin, and then the 12-day land tour with all hotels and some meals and several excursions, all transportation and flight from White Horse back to Vancouver and overnight there and all airfare to and from Seattle (took Amtrak train to Vancouver). All for 3 adults. And at that, we saved for three years. But to pay that just for a 7-night cruise......we couldn't afford it and it would mean we couldn't travel for the next two years.

 

[AquaDame]

I don't think we have ever paid 20K for one vacation... our three weeks in Europe last year ended up a little over 10K all told (2 adults).

We flew cheap seats in on points which is cheating but made up for that with a fancy flight home that would have been the same price as a regular round trip. We had 3 nights in London, trained up to Inverness and spent 3 nights in Scotland with a car, then flew to Dublin for 3 nights with a car rental before flying/training to Zermatt for three nights at a very expensive hotel (everything there was $$$!) followed by 6 nights in and around Munich including a three night Oktoberfest guided tour (so we knew we could get into one of the tents without issue). We flew business class home on Condor.

Obviously airfare for kids would have made it cost more but we probably covered the cost of at least one kid just in all the money spent on pubs, tastings and imbibing on those 10 euro liters of oktoberfest, lol!

 

[MickeyD]

We've only paid that much for a vacation once -- on the 20-day land and sea HAL package in Alaska. It included a 3-night stay in Vancouver, 7-day cruise in a verandah cabin, and then the 12-day land tour with all hotels and some meals and several excursions, all transportation and flight from White Horse back to Vancouver and overnight there and all airfare to and from Seattle (took Amtrak train to Vancouver). All for 3 adults. And at that, we saved for three years. But to pay that just for a 7-night cruise......we couldn't afford it and it would mean we couldn't travel for the next two years.

I can totally see that if you are getting 20 days out of it, although that is still $$. Like you said, years of saving.

I don't think we have ever paid 20K for one vacation... our three weeks in Europe last year ended up a little over 10K all told (2 adults).

We flew cheap seats in on points which is cheating but made up for that with a fancy flight home that would have been the same price as a regular round trip. We had 3 nights in London, trained up to Inverness and spent 3 nights in Scotland with a car, then flew to Dublin for 3 nights with a car rental before flying/training to Zermatt for three nights at a very expensive hotel (everything there was $$$!) followed by 6 nights in and around Munich including a three night Oktoberfest guided tour (so we knew we could get into one of the tents without issue). We flew business class home on Condor.

That is a good deal. I have heard you can travel Europe much cheaper than US or Carib for some reason. Friends of mine just returned from 3 weeks in Scotland, England, Germany, Austria and they spent $2500 each. They stayed in AirBnB places and took the train and I guess airfare is under $100 to fly most anywhere once you are there??

 

[ldo]

getting OT--but just tallied up my bills from 3 weeks in Europe for 6 persons. $13K for 3 weeks for everything except transA airfare and that included DCL 7 day OV cabin for 4 of us to Norway for $6K. Cheaper to cruise DCL in Europe than the US--who wouldn't thought?

 

[Love2Cruz]

We did 2 weeks in Europe in June...and I never did an exact tally...but if I were to guestimate...for 2 adults and 1 child, airfare, hotels and cruise on a verandah to Eastern Mediterranean that included stays in Lisbon and Venice...I would say we spent about 8-9K tops.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

We did 11 days in Europe including an 8 night Carnival Vista Mediterranean cruise for 4 people in 2 insides, hotel and tours in Barcelona before and after, roundtrip air from Phoenix and spent about $8000.00, way cheaper than when we do WDW or DCL Caribbean cruises!

 

[Ofinn]

Im making two trips to Europe. The cost of the cruises combined was 8k. Even though we dont have to buy airfare Im guessing the cost of everything else hotels, site seeing, dog kennel will run 5k Im pretty frugal. We dont do ship excursions, but it still really adds adds up. I could do at least 3 carribean cruise for the same amount. We spend very little outside the cruise when we go to the Caribbean

 

[jahber]

Luckily, as of right now, the FLR rates for DCL cruises are pretty comparable to fares on other lines.

FLR rates USED to be pretty comparable to other lines. Better, even. Until about 2 years ago. I used to be the biggest DCL fan of all, obsessively checking cruise fares on all lines to see what a great deal I was getting. But it's just not true anymore like it used to be for the times we sail (off-season--I can't speak to summer, but the prices I've seen lately haven't made me want to sail in the summer, that's for sure!)

I just checked a September Eastern Carib. cruise with a FLR rate and it was $6000 for my family of 6 in two insides vs $3200 on the Freedom of the Seas (comparable ship) in two insides. That's almost double! For two adults it's $2676 on DCL and $1813 in balcony rooms (in case you don't like insides). That's 46%--almost half--more. You could even sail on the Osasis for $2000 (a newer, bigger ship). Sailing on the Carnival Magic is similar to the Freedom. Not comparable to DCL at all. Comparable to me is within maybe 10-20% more.

Like I said, I completely understand loving the Disney ships. They are gorgeous. But so are other ships. And they can cost half the price, even with the very best deal a member of the public can get. There's no need to ever justify liking one cruise line over the other, of course, but I'd like to be sure we get the facts straight in case other people are starting to consider other cruise lines.

 

[Ofinn]

FLR rates USED to be pretty comparable to other lines. Better, even. Until about 2 years ago. I used to be the biggest DCL fan of all, obsessively checking cruise fares on all lines to see what a great deal I was getting. But it's just not true anymore like it used to be for the times we sail (off-season--I can't speak to summer, but the prices I've seen lately haven't made me want to sail in the summer, that's for sure!)

I just checked a September Eastern Carib. cruise with a FLR rate and it was $6000 for my family of 6 in two insides vs $3200 on the Freedom of the Seas (comparable ship) in two insides. That's almost double! For two adults it's $2676 on DCL and $1813 in balcony rooms (in case you don't like insides). That's 46%--almost half--more. You could even sail on the Osasis for $2000 (a newer, bigger ship). Sailing on the Carnival Magic is similar to the Freedom. Not comparable to DCL at all. Comparable to me is within maybe 10-20% more.

Like I said, I completely understand loving the Disney ships. They are gorgeous. But so are other ships. And they can cost half the price, even with the very best deal a member of the public can get. There's no need to ever justify liking one cruise line over the other, of course, but I'd like to be sure we get the facts straight in case other people are starting to consider other cruise lines.

This sounds like me obsessively checking for interline rates. The rates used to put dcl lower than other cruise lines, but now its more and the percentage off is the same.

 

[Savikins]

FLR rates USED to be pretty comparable to other lines. Better, even. Until about 2 years ago. I used to be the biggest DCL fan of all, obsessively checking cruise fares on all lines to see what a great deal I was getting. But it's just not true anymore like it used to be for the times we sail (off-season--I can't speak to summer, but the prices I've seen lately haven't made me want to sail in the summer, that's for sure!)

I just checked a September Eastern Carib. cruise with a FLR rate and it was $6000 for my family of 6 in two insides vs $3200 on the Freedom of the Seas (comparable ship) in two insides. That's almost double! For two adults it's $2676 on DCL and $1813 in balcony rooms (in case you don't like insides). That's 46%--almost half--more. You could even sail on the Osasis for $2000 (a newer, bigger ship). Sailing on the Carnival Magic is similar to the Freedom. Not comparable to DCL at all. Comparable to me is within maybe 10-20% more.

Like I said, I completely understand loving the Disney ships. They are gorgeous. But so are other ships. And they can cost half the price, even with the very best deal a member of the public can get. There's no need to ever justify liking one cruise line over the other, of course, but I'd like to be sure we get the facts straight in case other people are starting to consider other cruise lines.

I feel like it's all about perspective. I know that I could be going on the Oasis the same week as my Fantasy cruise for roughly $700 less in a similar stateroom. To me, the difference between 2k and 2.7k is comparable. It's essentially an additional $100 a day ($50 pp) "Disney" surcharge, which I think is quite reasonable. I can totally see how that would be unreasonable for other people though, especially people with larger families.

 

[Ofinn]

I feel like it's all about perspective. I know that I could be going on the Oasis the same week as my Fantasy cruise for roughly $700 less in a similar stateroom. To me, the difference between 2k and 2.7k is comparable. It's essentially an additional $100 a day ($50 pp) "Disney" surcharge, which I think is quite reasonable. I can totally see how that would be unreasonable for other people though, especially people with larger families.

The price difference are much greater for families of four. The kids were 200.00 dollars on our upcoming Vista cruise. Disney doesn't give you much of a break for putting 4 people in a room.

 

[ldo]

the really big pricing difference is prime time like Easter break and even summer. DCL charges a premium, while other lines tend not to have that "upcharge" pricing, at least in the beginning. Our RCCL 8 day cruise the week prior to Easter was less than 1/2 of DCL. But, by 6 months out, the RCCL price had doubled. For Easter, I can usually find week-long cruises for 4 persons on all lines for $4K or under, except DCL. It's a solid $7.5K+, and after opening day, upwards of that. It's a business, not a charity, and if people are willing to pay that, then I can't fault DCL for charging that. But, at that point, it's "just say no" for us.
OTOH, our Norway cruise on DCL was the same as other cruise lines.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

I feel like it's all about perspective. I know that I could be going on the Oasis the same week as my Fantasy cruise for roughly $700 less in a similar stateroom. To me, the difference between 2k and 2.7k is comparable. It's essentially an additional $100 a day ($50 pp) "Disney" surcharge, which I think is quite reasonable. I can totally see how that would be unreasonable for other people though, especially people with larger families.

As someone who has jumped ship recently, I totally agree with you, $700 more for 2 people is an absolute no brainer. Unfortunately, I never see such little price differences for when I can cruise.

 

[tinkerone]

As someone who has jumped ship recently, I totally agree with you, $700 more for 2 people is an absolute no brainer. Unfortunately, I never see such little price differences for when I can cruise.

Ditto. We are on the Oasis for the first of November, so a very quiet nothing week and it is almost $2000 cheaper than the Fantasy with an extra night included. This is off season, no holidays included. Far different than $700.

 

[Ofinn]

Ditto. We are on the Oasis for the first of November, so a very quiet nothing week and it is almost $2000 cheaper than the Fantasy with an extra night included. This is off season, no holidays included. Far different than $700.

I believe shes using a Fl resident rate on dcl when she compares prices. Its much different when you're comparing a discounted rate to a reg rate vs reg rate to a reg rate. As someone who has always booked with GT or interline rates I know that is not an apples to apples comparision. Even if she was comparing a fl rate on DCL to FL rate on RCI it wouldnt be the same because DCLs select discounts are a lot better.

 

[CM Dad]

I guess youll never cruise to anywhere but Nassau and CC?

DCL does go to other destinations. Alaska, California coast, Canadian coast, northern Europe, Norwegians fjords, British Isles, Mediterranean, Mexico Panama Canal, Transatlantic, sometimes Hawaii.

My wife and I have so far only cruised on DCL, but recently have started talking about exploring other lines. She does have one condition. She does not want to be in any port at the same time as one of the Disney ships, so she won't see it and be disappointed that we are not traveling with the Mouse . Also has no interest in going on one of the mega ship floating cities. We prefer the original, snaller ships on Disney.