Selling fast and prices climbing!

[Birdie dog]

The 5A is $358 more for the 3 of us than it was when we booked this morning!! Why does that happen? Does that mean that the rooms were cheaper when platinum and gold booked as well?

Prices rise as rooms fill. I booked my first room Monday morning (platinum). I booked the connecting room Tuesday morning when I could finally get through. The price had increased $500.

 

[Toulou]

I am wondering IF Disney is "holding" a % of rooms and intends to take it really safe for cruising. Increasing the cost of those available to cover the % held. I'm just sayin'... hmmm

 

[vegs1]

I am wondering IF Disney is "holding" a % of rooms and intends to take it really safe for cruising. Increasing the cost of those available to cover the % held. I'm just sayin'... hmmm

I actually wondered the same thing. It would be easy for them to do that as anyone interested in the really popular sailings will keep checking back for space. They can then release what they want when they want.

 

[Dug720]

Yes. The prices climb as cabins sell. Platinum booking gets the cheapest fares.

And it's not just SELL. Many people put courtesy holds on rooms and then don't go in to put the deposit down. But the pricing damage has been done. Disney doesn't drop the rates back down even if a lot of the rooms go back into inventory.

 

[GeneralTso]

We just booked today (Silver tier) and found the Concierge room to be much less than we expected. Fantasy 7 night.

 

[ghtx]

I was expecting really high prices today, but the cruise we booked for summer 2022 was almost the exact same price as what we had paid for the same cruise that we canceled for summer 2021. Maybe we got lucky today, or maybe we got a bad price for the 2021 cruise.

 

[ninergrl6]

I kinda knew this was going to happen, I read an article a few weeks ago that demand for cruising was going to be very high and there would be fewer discounts when it resumes.
I did have sticker shock for the cruise we booked, but its a third try and having the FCC helped with it, still $4,000 more than last years 11 night cruise at the same time with an extra day and stop added on.

I just wanna cruise again!

Yep, even with the FCC my new reservation is ~$500/person more than the 2021 comparable itinerary. If this wasn't a trip that I'd been planning for 2+ years already, I may have bailed and looked for cheaper options with other cruise lines.

 

[brentm77]

I was expecting really high prices today, but the cruise we booked for summer 2022 was almost the exact same price as what we had paid for the same cruise that we canceled for summer 2021. Maybe we got lucky today, or maybe we got a bad price for the 2021 cruise.

We paid $1,200 more for the June 10, Italy/Greece than we would have paid to go this June. Same room category, but it was a guaranteed room instead of a selected room like this time. So some of the price difference is attributable to that change. But, last time, we booked long after opening day, whereas this time, it was opening day for Silver. So I was surprised the timing didn't make up for more of the cost difference. I think they knew these itineraries would be popular. We are now up a total of about $2,400 from the 2019 Italy/Greece cruise that was canceled, and that was one an extra day than this one!

It is getting harder and harder to justify this cruise, when there other other lines competing at better prices and even the option of a pretty lavish land trip instead. I am about 75% sure we will switch to land and stay in some nice hotels and eat at nice restaurants instead.

 

[Ronneeaght]

Yes. The prices climb as cabins sell. Platinum booking gets the cheapest fares.

Yes, I feel like this isn't mentioned often enough when discussing the benefits for the Castaway levels. It isn't just better choice of rooms but often a significant "discount" from what the general public pays.

 

[Tami0220]

Silver 3A 2A 1C 4 night Baja $7266

 

[emilymad]

I was actually expecting worse but I don't think we picked the more popular European sailings. When I checked this morning the price was same as when we booked yesterday.

From all of this I am expecting the Wish pricing to be insane.

 

[AquaDame]

We paid $1,200 more for the June 10, Italy/Greece than we would have paid to go this June. Same room category, but it was a guaranteed room instead of a selected room like this time. So some of the price difference is attributable to that change. But, last time, we booked long after opening day, whereas this time, it was opening day for Silver. So I was surprised the timing didn't make up for more of the cost difference. I think they knew these itineraries would be popular. We are now up a total of about $2,400 from the 2019 Italy/Greece cruise that was canceled, and that was one an extra day than this one!

It is getting harder and harder to justify this cruise, when there other other lines competing at better prices and even the option of a pretty lavish land trip instead. I am about 75% sure we will switch to land and stay in some nice hotels and eat at nice restaurants instead.

If you booked a *GT rate, those tend to be last minute with a lot of restrictions. They frequently are as good or perhaps even better than opening day depending.

It honestly comes down to preference... we jumped ship so to speak to RCCL in 2017 for a southern itinerary and honestly just didn't enjoy sailing with them (at least on that size of ship). It was then worth it to us to pay a little more to stick with DCL for two more of their southerns (on the Wonder). The current price points I'm seeing for Europe make me uncomfortable as well... 9K or so just for two for a week is a lot to ask. If we had a family of 4 or 5 maybe it wouldn't seem so high since /everything/ is more expensive when you're talking about 4 or 5 people? I've heard that seeing Greece from a ship is a great way to go, given all the islands, but for Italy a land trip may be preferable if you are comfortable taking care of yourselves from city to city. Our one and only Europe cruise on DCL was to see the Norwegian Fjords, and in the end we really wished we'd done a land tour. The hours between 6 & when we docked again the next night was a cruise we could have done literally anywhere and we honestly wished to stay ashore and eat in local restaurants, drive a little further than we had time for, etc. I *may* do Greece at some point but I'm not sure if it would be on DCL or not at these prices. These are very common routes... decisions decisions!

Obligatory "we are very comfortable and make far more than we need", but in no way do we make enough money that it is no object.

 

[cdoc29]

We booked Alaska for 2022 and it looks like prices went up about 10% compared to 2021 prices. That's to be expected. My first Disney Cruise for a 7 night Western Caribbean with two kids was a little over 4k and 18 months later with OBB the Eastern was $1500 more in the same category.

We too jumped to RCCL for our last Alaska cruise, while I loved the ports I was disappointed with the RCCL experience and am gladly paying the increased fare for the service Disney has made me accustomed too.

I don't compare DCL to other cruises, I compare it to going to WDW and staying onsite.
For us (2A2K) a week at WDW is about the same as a Disney Cruise. We stayed 7 nights in a Cabin at Ft Wilderness at the end of Feb and the breakdown was:
7 nights Ft Wilderness Cabin (25% room discount) $2,450
7 days Theme Park Ticket with park hopper $2518
6 sit down restaurants $1000
all other meals and food $700
$6668

7 nights on the Fantasy either Western or Eastern Caribbean in a Cat 4C Deluxe Family Verandah is about the same price.

 

[Intr3pid]

If you feel like you are priced out now, see if you can wait until the *GT rates become available a few months before the sailings. There is a lot of pent-up/FCC-driven demand right now for cancel 2021/book 2022, but it might get pushed up once cruising restarts and people start taking earlier trips. The big European sailings are hard to sell late minute, and those *GT rates eventually come into play.

 

[Madame]

I was expecting really high prices today, but the cruise we booked for summer 2022 was almost the exact same price as what we had paid for the same cruise that we canceled for summer 2021. Maybe we got lucky today, or maybe we got a bad price for the 2021 cruise.

Same. Almost exact same price - same cat, same week & sailing one year difference. I was worried but am relieved today.

 

[dvcdisney]

My family is booked for the 11 Night Northern European for summer 2022. We had that same cruise booked in 2020. We cancelled before PIF so we just had OBB.

The price now is not significantly more than it was for the 2020 cruise, but it is A LOT. Our cruise is over $21K (using OBB) for 4. That is the most we've paid for a cruise.

I checked it again for the same category and up to this point, it hasn't increased. It's a verandah (5B), so I'm not sure if the other categories have increased. That is the Platinum price, so I guess it's good news for the other CC levels that some hasn't increased through the days. I thought it would be nice for some people to know that it may not be too bad by the time they can book.

 

[brentm77]

If you booked a *GT rate, those tend to be last minute with a lot of restrictions. They frequently are as good or perhaps even better than opening day depending.

It honestly comes down to preference... we jumped ship so to speak to RCCL in 2017 for a southern itinerary and honestly just didn't enjoy sailing with them (at least on that size of ship). It was then worth it to us to pay a little more to stick with DCL for two more of their southerns (on the Wonder). The current price points I'm seeing for Europe make me uncomfortable as well... 9K or so just for two for a week is a lot to ask. If we had a family of 4 or 5 maybe it wouldn't seem so high since /everything/ is more expensive when you're talking about 4 or 5 people? I've heard that seeing Greece from a ship is a great way to go, given all the islands, but for Italy a land trip may be preferable if you are comfortable taking care of yourselves from city to city. Our one and only Europe cruise on DCL was to see the Norwegian Fjords, and in the end we really wished we'd done a land tour. The hours between 6 & when we docked again the next night was a cruise we could have done literally anywhere and we honestly wished to stay ashore and eat in local restaurants, drive a little further than we had time for, etc. I *may* do Greece at some point but I'm not sure if it would be on DCL or not at these prices. These are very common routes... decisions decisions!

Obligatory "we are very comfortable and make far more than we need", but in no way do we make enough money that it is no object.

It wasn't a *GT rate. It was a regular booking where they guarantee a room in the particular category, but you don't get your assignment at the time of booking because there are not open rooms left. I can't remember what those are called.

Great input on the decision. If we decide seeing the Greek isles is a must, it will be by cruise, and we might just stick with Disney given we love the product. I just don't like the idea of traveling with four people and luggage to get to the Greek isles by ferry. The cruise would also give us a chance to see Sicily, which I don't think we would get to normally, and the Amalfi coast easily. The general idea of unpacking once (after seeing Rome at the start) and having the comforts of cruising each evening is really appealing. As we get older, comfort has become more important. But, if we decide Italy is sufficient for this trip, we will almost certainly switch to land, as I think we could travel in style and save a lot of money still.

 

[Lee Matthews]

I was going to look at the Barcelona to Dover cruise tomorrow for 2022 but after some of the prices people are talking about, I may just have 5 days in Disneyland Paris instead

 

[randumb0]

I was going to book one of the European cruises, but the prices are outrageous. I've decided to save money by purchasing a mega mansion in Dubai instead.

 

[ocdisneycruiser]

our 8 night Greek Isle was cancelled this June
I was able to book 9 night Greek Isle and pay for gratuities ahead of time with the 125%...and I did book our original 2021 cruise on opening day...same deck..same room...