So, how many people have you convinced to take a Disney cruise

[Ofinn]

None. Everyone is limited to school breaks. I would never pay those prices so why would I recommend that they do. We homeschool so we have been able to cruise off season.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

None, everyone I know thinks we're crazy for paying DCL prices.

BTW, @PrincessShmoo if you need an additional son, I'm available for you to take on a cruise with you!!!

 

[AquaDame]

0 for 3 so far. My MIL is anti-Disney (just for herself, she has never once judged us for going as there isn't a mean bone in her body and she knows I love it) and my coworker really wants to take her two young kids but they can't afford it. My parents say they want to go next time, and I know they can afford it but I think they are afraid of cruising.

My coworker is super Disney (grew up close to Anaheim) and our parents like traveling with us but not planning them, so they tend to tag along. Otherwise I never try to influence people's vacation choices other than telling them how much fun we had on our last adventure. No one has ever judged us for paying the prices, but it is silly to me that I can do 2 Disney things in a year and 4 non-Disney but they still do the 'Disney AGAIN?' thing. I'm heading to Hawaii again for the 4th time in five years and no one blinks.

Edited to add, I have never convinced anyone to travel anywhere now that I think about it. I always come back raving about how fun everywhere we go is with minor exceptions... maybe I am just not good at it, lol!

Edited to add - now that I consider it I've never convinced anyone to go anywhere on vacation... DCL isn't unique as far as that goes for me. ^^;

 

[wombat_5606]

My first Disney cruise was 2005, solo with no children. I told everyone that I saw how nice the cruise was for adults. Then, the debacle that was the Magic re-imagination occurred, where with minimal notice, my cruise was canceled. (Please, we don't need to discuss the restitution here.) After that, continued price increases coupled with the new liquor policy that was implemented last year, has insured I wouldn't recommend a Disney cruise to anyone.

 

[DCLDVC1]

I can think of 4 families who have booked after talking to us or seeing our pictures on FB.

 

[Shamrock927]

We just did our 2nd cruise and did convince my parents to join us... with the experience with their granddaughter the main selling point for them. For us it was the benefits DCL offers for toddlers. Our daughter loved it when she was two and loved it even more this summer at age 3. We just feel like the entertainment options and convenience for kids her age are noticeably greater on DCL.

I do not sell DCL to many others, though, nor do I recommend it much. While we love it, we only recommend it to friends who have kids from infant to about 5 or 6. And those that plan to use the "kids club" a lot we tell them they can save a lot on other lines and have the same trip. The difference in cost is just so extreme and I am very uncomfortable putting any pressure on anyone to spend that much extra. We will gladly move on ourselves in a couple years I am sure and happily save the extra few thousand.

Since we do not use the kids club or daycare options, DCL has great benefits for us right now. But it is a very small window that will close soon unless their prices inprove.

 

[cruisecrasher]

Let's see...my in laws is two, all the extendeds on that side is six more, my BFF's fam is four more, the kids' friends from school is three families which is eleven more and a couple Disney friends who'd never tried a cruise took a cruise with their families after seeing all my pictures so...thirty-five-ish?

 

[Amunet]

My ex and now my boyfriend .... but that's cause I was going too lol

I'm slowly getting my parents there ...

 

[RedSox68]

Great inventive topic, BTW!

 

[Madeline Miller]

sometimes Raving Fans are the best sales people there are. Just curious how many Disney cruises taken by other people that you are directly responsible for. We became hooked on our very first cruise. That meant we told our adult son, our daughter and her husband. they have each taken 2 cruises since then. Next was a family from church who are now up to 3 Disney cruises. then came 3 coworkers who booked cruises. the in laws finally booked as well as did the sister in law. That would be 12 different cruises that have our fingerprints on them

I'm sure that's a drop in the bucket compared to some of you. Too bad Disney doesn't pay out referral bonuses or better yet - discounted cruises!!!!

Going on my first one in November, so excited!!

 

[RedSox68]

Going on my first one in November, so excited!!

Congrats -- and have a great time!

 

[abja09]

I convinced my friend and her daughter to cruise Disney and they will be taking their 2nd DCL cruise in November. They also took along their niece and her family who are also going on their second.
I have convinced my sister to join us on our 2017 Mediterranean cruise on DCL. She cruised Princrss last summer in Alsaska and her family didn't not like it. She is a huge Disney fan so I know she will love DCL.

 

[laceltris3]

My parents, my in-laws, and my friends from work, who have or are traveling with us. I have another coworker who brought his family of 5 after hearing from me and I have another friend who will likely do so when her kids are a wee bit older.

 

[CaterFamily]

Zero so far - were in Washington state so it's hard to get people to pay the airfare. And no one wants to go to Alaska...so yeah.

 

[lizabu]

I haven't actually convinced anyone but when I talked about how great it was they convinced themselves. Last cruise 2 families joined us then they came home and said how great it was. I think next cruise it will be 10 families lol

 

[jack87891]

Thanks for the responses. I thought the "positive" responses might be more prevalent than the "negative" responses but it's clear that a couple years of hefty price increases have affected people's attitudes. We have another dcl cruise coming up in 2 weeks. We'll see if we're still raving fans

 

[bumbershoot]

it's clear that a couple years of hefty price increases have affected people's attitudes.

For us it's not the recent changes. We did Royal in 2003, then Disney 10 years later, realized we like being on the ocean. RCCL has service that is just as good in most ways, better in others, and worse in others. Overall they are equal. I can get 7 days on the ocean or 3 days. I choose 7. And that was before the most recent increases.

Now I can get two long cruises for the price of one short one. We are doing 7 days out of SJ dor the same number of dollars as someone's price *difference* from the highest non-concierge up to V on a four nighter! No cruise line is worth that to us.

 

[com_op_2000]

Actual cruises: 4
# of people: 13

Update:
Actual cruises: 5
# of people 26
DW & I, DD & DSonnL were all married the same week, years apart in February.
We booked a DCL to celebrate our anniversaries over a year in advanced; DD’s room on cash, DW & I’s on DVC points.
While we were at SW’s Sharks! Restaurant celebrating MiL’s 90th birthday in November with 3 other families; we got to talking about cruises and we mentioned ours was upcoming.
Low and behold someone starting looking at the DCL website and found a veranda room available and booked it, then stated we are crashing your cruise. Then what did the other two families do, but booked the same thing. Now we have 5 rooms with 13 people going that will be celebrating two anniversaries and two birthdays (two of those 3 families have birthday celebrations that same week).

Update to Update:
Actual Cruises: 5
# of people 27
Another room & person were added last night.
Now going Feb, 2018 6 rooms and 14 people.

 

[Mitura]

I teach adult technicians at my company. So when we introduce ourselves I tell them something personal about myself and mention that I have drunk the "DCL Kool-Aide." So most of the adults reply that they have kids and have been to Disney and "what is the difference between DCL and WDW?" "Why pick one over the other?" I then have them captive all week and regale all of our adventures and misadventures. I do mention the hefty price but in my opinion it is well worth it. I mention its comparable in price to WDW and you did that didn't you? But it is way more relaxing.

Even my night retail job, when a customer hands me a Disney Visa card I say, "I have the same card and I use it to collect points towards our gratuities on the ship!" Then they ask about DCL and I got them.

I don't think I have convinced anyone to actually go but those who were curious and wanted more info ("We've been to WDW tell me more from someone who doesn't work for WDW") I think I have planted the seed. Just last month a couple paid with their Disney CC and I said my line and for the next 20 minutes they asked tons of DCL questions. They had girls roughly 5-9. They were just at WDW and saw the ads for DCL. "Tell us more!" I even recommended reading thru this website for this site is great for those on the edge. Tons of info!

Also on our DCL cruises we have met many first time cruisers that still weren't totally convinced they made the correct choice so we tell them our story and it seems to help them see it in a different light.

NOTE: I don't always paint a rosy picture. We have had great times and bad times (norovirus once) but I believe that Disney went the extra mile in all of those cases which in my mind makes it worth all of the expense and trouble to do it. And in 2 weeks will be our 5th consecutive yearly trip and we will book our 6th when we are on the ship.

If you have another 4 hours I can tell you more. LOL

Joe

 

[mevelandry]

sometimes Raving Fans are the best sales people there are. Just curious how many Disney cruises taken by other people that you are directly responsible for. We became hooked on our very first cruise. That meant we told our adult son, our daughter and her husband. they have each taken 2 cruises since then. Next was a family from church who are now up to 3 Disney cruises. then came 3 coworkers who booked cruises. the in laws finally booked as well as did the sister in law. That would be 12 different cruises that have our fingerprints on them

I'm sure that's a drop in the bucket compared to some of you. Too bad Disney doesn't pay out referral bonuses or better yet - discounted cruises!!!!

My FIL and MIL (with us, as a Land & Sea) because they were the only one willing to put that much money on a trip. Most people I know don't want to spend/can't spend 2000$ or more on a vacation.