The DCL "company line" = predictable

[squirk]

I probably could have predicted 90% of what this gentleman said in reply to my email. Not sure why I expected anything different. *sigh*

> Thank you so much for your e-mail, as well as your patience with us.
>
> I truly appreciate your feedback about pricing. We believe there is
> great value, particularly with so many special experiences that can only
> be had by sailing with Disney, and as a result, there is also a great
> demand for our ships across the fleet, which is reflected in the
> pricing, too. However, policies regarding pricing are among the most
> important decisions our company makes. These policies are regularly
> reviewed, and you may be assured your comments will be shared with the
> appropriate leaders.
>
> I would also like to mention that there have always been ways to receive
> discounts. I would recommend visiting our website for any current deals.
> There are times when special rates are released to fill-up the remaining
> staterooms on specific sailings, usually 30-60 days before a cruise.
> However, booking a Disney Cruise Line vacation early is the best way to
> get the greatest value because rates increase as the ships fill up. In
> other words, the earlier you book, the deeper the discount. To obtain an
> even greater savings, it's always a good idea to avoid peak periods like
> summer, holidays, and spring break when lower prices are not typically
> available. Of course, if you have any further questions, you are welcome
> to contact our reservations office directly at 1-800-WDW-CRUISE or (407)
> 566-7000 to find the best vacation package that meets your family's
> needs. I hope this information proves helpful.
>
> Again, thank you so much for your e-mail. We hope to have the chance to
> welcome you aboard one of our cruise ships again one day soon.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Joel Hayes
> Executive Guest Correspondent
> Disney Cruise Line
>
>
> Original Message Follows: ------------------------
>

> Hello, and thank you in advance for reading this email.
>
> My family and I are huge fans of Disney Parks & Resorts, including
> Disney Cruise Line. We are Annual Passholders, DVC members, and about
> to hit Gold Castaway Club status on DCL. Please understand that this
> email comes from a place of great fondness for DCL.
>
> The conventional wisdom in the Disney fan community is that you folks do
> read these feedback emails closely and take comments to heart. I hope
> that is true, and that my comments echo a growing number of emails and
> letters you are receiving about DCL and its pricing.
>
> Simply put, DCL is getting too expensive. While we love the DCL ships,
> the pricing is consistently 30%-60% higher than Royal Caribbean or
> Norwegian. DCL has beautiful ships, but so do RCL and NCL. DCL has
> great service, but so do the other guys. DCL has great restaurants and
> bars, but so do the other guys. I grant you that DCL still truly
> surpasses the competition with kids' clubs, but RCL and NCL are catching
> up.
>
> Midship Detective Agency, the AquaDuck/AquaDunk, character meet-n-greets
> are all fantastic, but are they worth a 30%-60% premium above what the
> other guys are charging? I am sure DCL would counter that cruisers get
> substantial value for the the price premium, but I think the company is
> vastly overestimating the value of what it offers over the competition.
>
> DCL, as all of Disney, is a for-profit public company with obligations
> to its shareholders. If the ships are consistently sailing full, even
> after fare hikes and reduction of benefits (e.g., the new alcohol
> policy), then congratulations are in order. You are maximizing value to
> your shareholders; why wouldn't you charge what you think the market
> would bear? This is sound business sense, at least in the short-term.
>
> Further, DCL may not focus too much on savvy repeat cruisers who will
> start to notice the price differential between you guys and DCL/NCL.
> Families get older, the kids "outgrow" a lot of what Disney offers on
> the ships, and they move on. However, babies are being born every day,
> and for every family that "ages out" of DCL, there is surely a new and
> younger family to take their place. So why feel obligated to maintain
> features/benefits/policies long-term? If you reduce them or take them
> away in order to increase profit, the new families won't know what they
> are missing, right?
>
> With the economy moving at a decent pace and unemployment relatively
> low, these strategies may make sense today, but what about the long
> term? What happens when you guys overreach on price increases and
> benefit reductions, and word gets out among the general population that
> "DCL is really nice, but it's too expensive. You can get a really good
> deal on Royal and save thousands of dollars."? And what happens if we
> have another recession, where people tighten their belts and say "Maybe
> this year, we don't do the Disney cruise and go with Norwegian for half
> the price"? Will they come back to DCL when the recession is over? Or
> will they stick with NCL, finding it a better value for the money? I
> mean, the money you save by sailing RCL or NCL could, quite literally,
> buy a family another vacation at WDW.
>
> Disney has an excellent marketing machine that can mitigate that
> perception, but the way you guys are pricing, especially with regard to
> your competition, eventually you are going to hit a level of negative
> perception that no amount of spin can nullify.
>
> Certainly, you have people who know all this, who know there are points
> of price resistance where increasing fares will show diminishing returns
> due to fewer bookings.
>
> I write today to tell you that, from the viewpoint of a consumer and a
> loyal customer, you guys are fast approaching that point, if you have
> not hit it already.
>
> Here I sit, an AP holder/DVC owner with three young children who live
> and breathe Disney, and I am thinking about cancelling my DCL trip to
> sail on RCL and pocket several thousand dollars in the process. Can I
> afford DCL? Yes. Does that mean I see sufficient value above the
> competition to pay your price premium? I'm not so sure anymore, and
> that saddens me.
>
> If DCL prefers to focus on the revolving door strategy of wooing new
> first-time cruisers - who don't know how things have changed over the
> last several years and aren't savvy enough to know how expensive DCL is
> compared to the competition's offerings - that's certainly their prerogative.
> However, I beg the company to consider the possible long-term brand-damage of
> its pricing strategy. If DCL stays on its current trajectory,
> eventually, you guys will push it too far and alienate your target
> demographic who will discover that your competitors offer excellent
> cruise experiences at a fraction of your price.
>
> As I said at the beginning, I thank you for reading this (lengthy) email
> and hope my concerns are not isolated, but shared by many people who
> love DCL enough to email you and let you know you might be veering off
> course.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Me​

​

 

[MUN]

I probably could have predicted 90% of what this gentleman said in reply to my email. Not sure why I expected anything different. *sigh*

​

With all due respect, what were you expecting to accomplish?

MUN

 

[squirk]

To be able to say that I actually made my frustrations known to DCL rather than just complain and moan on a fan message board?

 

[Shea&Van]

OP - I think your email was perfect...thoughtful and well-written. I know I have written in the past and I always feel a little bit better just knowing I have shared my thoughts. It may mean nothing in the grand scheme of things, but you never know. I have three littles as well and we are spreading our trips further and further apart looking forward. I want desperately to give them the Disney experiences I so enjoyed as a child, but it's getting harder to justify...especially if you can do a similar trip/cruise for half of the cost. The RCCL ships that offer the DreamWorks experience are def something we are considering in the future.

Best wishes to you and yours as you figure out your next journey with (or without) Disney.

 

[MUN]

To be able to say that I actually made my frustrations known to DCL rather than just complain and moan on a fan message board?

Fair enough.

 

[DCLDVC1]

If nothing else, you wrote a great email that sums up they way many feel.

 

[wilkeliza]

Here's the big thing.... Are you still going to cruise on DCL? If the answer is yes then your email will accomplish nothing. Now if everyone who felt that Disney is no longer worth the extra cost actually cancelled bookings and sent emails similar to the original one you posted then Disney might wake up. Empty threats will mean nothing to them.

 

[squirk]

Here's the big thing.... Are you still going to cruise on DCL? If the answer is yes then your email will accomplish nothing. Now if everyone who felt that Disney is no longer worth the extra cost actually cancelled bookings and sent emails similar to the original one you posted then Disney might wake up. Empty threats will mean nothing to them.

Yes, we all know that DCL's fire alarms will only go off when people vote with their wallets. And my threat isn't empty. But I think just not booking anymore, without any context, isn't helpful.

I mean, if bookings started to drop off, and DCL had absolutely no feedback from its customers, where would they begin to fix the problem? Did bookings drop off because of the limited itinerary choices? The small fleet? Bad press about cruising in general (illnesses, breakdowns, criminal behavior by staff, etc.)? An overall downturn in the economy? But if they have a growing number of communications about pricing, and coming in at an ever-increasing pace, well, then the problem is a lot quicker and easier to tackle.

I guess it's kind of like not voting because you think your vote won't count for anything. In cases like that, you deserve whatever end result you get.

 

[cdoc29]

Disney will probably never lower their prices, if enough people stop sailing they will bring back incentives such as kids sail free, or more OBC, or whatever they have done in the past to fill the ships, free palo, etc...... This is what they have always done when there has been a drop in sales at the Parks or on DCL

 

[wilkeliza]

Yes, we all know that DCL's fire alarms will only go off when people vote with their wallets. And my threat isn't empty.

But I would like to think that with each additional email, each additional phone call, each additional survey response taking issue with their pricing, at least we can say we did what we could to give them fair warning to head this off at the pass.

I mean, if bookings started to drop off, and DCL had absolutely no feedback from its customers, where would they begin to fix the problem? Did bookings drop off because of the limited itinerary choices? The small fleet? Bad press about cruising in general (illnesses, breakdowns, criminal behavior by staff, etc.)? An overall downturn in the economy? But if they have a growing number of communications about pricing, and coming in at an ever-increasing pace, well, then the problem is a lot quicker and easier to tackle.

I guess it's kind of like not voting because you think your vote won't count for anything. In cases like that, you deserve whatever end result you get.

That's why I said you have to cancel and email. Either one by itself won't change anything but if you email and cancel it might get their attention.

 

[squirk]

<duplicate post>

 

[squirk]

That's why I said you have to cancel and email. Either one by itself won't change anything but if you email and cancel it might get their attention.

Yes, but what if my upcoming DCL cruise is my last? I don't cancel, but I never book again. Does that communicate to them that I stopped booking because of pricing?

You're right; my email might have been more effective if I had said "I am never booking DCL again and here's why....", but I'd love to say I did something, anything, to avoid that eventuality.

As mentioned in another thread, DCL actually has an automated survey response where if you are cancelling a cruise, "pricing" is one of the options you can give in response. So you know it's on their mind.

 

[squirk]

Disney will probably never lower their prices, if enough people stop sailing they will bring back incentives such as kids sail free, or more OBC, or whatever they have done in the past to fill the ships, free palo, etc...... This is what they have always done when there has been a drop in sales at the Parks or on DCL

I agree 100%. They will never admit their fares are overpriced, or that their brand doesn't command as much of a premium as it used to. They will find "back-door" ways to make cruises cheaper. KSF is probably the best example.

 

[srferson]

I totally understand sending the email. Actually communicating your concerns is wise.

That said, I am wondering what response you expected. You said "Not sure why I expected anything different." What did you expect the response to be?

 

[squirk]

I totally understand sending the email. Actually communicating your concerns is wise.

That said, I am wondering what response you expected. You said "Not sure why I expected anything different." What did you expect the response to be?

That's a good question. Maybe the personal phone call that other people report getting? It'd be nice to talk to a real person vs. an email filled with boiler-plate.

Note how almost everything the guy said had been already been addressed in my original message. I am not patting myself on the back, because I certainly am not the only person on this board to have such observations. It's almost a joke of "you know that I know that you know that I know what you're going to say ahead of time".

I mean, his thing about the discounts. Seriously? DCL is having a hard time filling a ship because the cruise is out of an unpopular port like Galveston or in the middle of the school year when most families are unavailable for travel (or at least, not at the 30-to-60-day drop of a hat), and these are the discounts that are supposed to make DCL competitive from a price standpoint?

It's just a bunch of pablum that could have been quickly dispensed with on a live phone call.

 

[tinkerone]

great email squirk and well stated. their response looks, to me, like a canned response they send everyone. its a pity they don't make them more personal. at least show us they are focused on 'me' for a minute instead of 'here, put a name in the title and hit send'.
want you to know, i appreciate that you sent that. it may not help but it certainly can't hurt.
cheers!

 

[Orukal]

To be able to say that I actually made my frustrations known to DCL rather than just complain and moan on a fan message board?

I liked the email, but you came to the same prediction that I would have. I love and agree with your reasoning, however. There's always that hope that you'd get some response other than the expected, can-styled response. That your point was not simply filed away. Were you expecting to "accomplish" anything? I don't really think so, but you wanted to be heard and I respect that.

 

[srferson]

That's a good question. Maybe the personal phone call that other people report getting? It'd be nice to talk to a real person vs. an email filled with boiler-plate. Note how almost everything the guy said had been already been addressed in my original message.

Ah. I didn't realize some other people had received phone calls regarding pricing concerns. I can see how a boiler-plate email could be disappointing.

I know I'm being extremely optimistic when I say this, but it's possible you communicated your thoughts so clearly in the email that there weren't any specific questions they'd have for you that you didn't already answer. Perhaps the calls are to get some clarification on opinions or statements that are vague? (Not being a Disney apologist, just pointing out a possibility.)

 

[squirk]

I know I'm being extremely optimistic when I say this, but it's possible you communicated your thoughts so clearly in the email that there weren't any specific questions they'd have for you that you didn't already answer. Perhaps the calls are to get some clarification on opinions or statements that are vague? (Not being a Disney apologist, just pointing out a possibility.)

Thanks for the kind words. I'd love to think I'm that good of a writer, but I know I'm not.

But your point is well-taken; perhaps there isn't much to say in response. "You don't like our pricing model? Well, we like our pricing model, and the current market supports it. So go scratch."

 

[KYDad]

Thanks for the kind words. I'd love to think I'm that good of a writer, but I know I'm not.

But your point is well-taken; perhaps there isn't much to say in response. "You don't like our pricing model? Well, we like our pricing model, and the current market supports it. So go scratch."

That's it exactly. Why would they change anything (except to charge more and more, and eliminate cost) as long as they continue to fill the ships consistently?

I'm firmly in agreement with you that we should make ourselves heard, but just from a business standpoint, they have no incentive to do anything other than increase profits as long as we are willing to pay.

As a matter of fact, if I were a shareholder, I would be upset if they did decide to lower prices just to generate good will.

I think that sometimes as Disney fans, no strike that, as human beings, we like to think we matter to those from whom we buy products. However, to most companies, we don't mean much other than the dollars we represent to the bottom line. It's just a reality. They are in business to make money. Part of making money is making us feel like we matter, but only to a point.

For example, if I can sell you a hotdog for $1.00 that is poorly made, but it only costs me $0.07 to buy, why would I spend $0.50 to buy a better quality hotdog and sell it at the same price? I wouldn't. As long as I sold out of hotdogs everyday, I would probably start raising my prices. First $1.25, then if I continue to sell out, $1.50. I would keep going up on the price until I had a few hotdogs left every day, even if that price was $25.00 a hot dog. As far as that goes, I could sell half the hotdogs a day as long as I doubled my price and still make the same money. It's only when I start missing out on enough sales to hurt my bottom line that I would lower my price or raise the quality of the hotdog.

That is just capitalism at work. Yes, some companies are better than others at caring about their customers, but that tends to go away in direct proportion to the size of the company and the number of shareholders.

Last time I checked, Disney was a pretty big company.

Does Disney still care about the customer? I think they do, but not to the extent where they are going to charge less just to make us feel better about them.

I just think they would rather have new customers paying more than old customers paying less.

I also think that at some point it will catch up with them, but who knows how far in the future that will be?