** The Official Priced Out Thread **

[lilsonicfan]

Perhaps I was just wishful thinking, but I thought the 12night Med/Greek Isles would be around $16K for a verandah(family of 4)...it's costing us $7K more...

That is a substantial chunk of change!

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

It’s amazing. We have a quote for our family to go to Antarctica- like a real spend 4 days on the land (nights on the ship), no additional costs for the excursions cruise from Argentina, including flights and the cost is LESS than a verandah Greek Islands (without any excursion costs factored in yet).

We also did a two and a half week 5 star African Safari with multiple locations, all inclusive with alcohol for less than some of these cruises.

I love Disney, but over $1000 a night they are hitting into luxury travel but it’s still at heart a midtier mass market cruise line. They are tapping into a really different demographic with some of these trips.

Who did you book your African Safari with? We have one planned for 2020 and it's definitely going to be even more expensive than our Alaska DCL cruise. But, we had to go private with some of our lodging because our younger DS is under the age minimum for quite a few of the lodges. (And if you don't mind my asking, who are you considering booking for Antartica? That won't be on our radar until the boys are preteens but curious).

 

[gotomu212]

Who did you book your African Safari with? We have one planned for 2020 and it's definitely going to be even more expensive than our Alaska DCL cruise. But, we had to go private with some of our lodging because our younger DS is under the age minimum for quite a few of the lodges. (And if you don't mind my asking, who are you considering booking for Antartica? That won't be on our radar until the boys are preteens but curious).

We used Travel Beyond travel agency out of Minnesota to plan the whole thing for us. They are known as one of the premier Africa agency. The owner and his team go over at least once a year, but spread out their trips so there’s usually someone who has gone within 2 months and they have the best information about the conditions at the different lodges and don’t hesitate to drop some of their recommendations when needed. They also really specialize in family trips. Our son was 8 at the time and we ran into similar problems when first researching because of the ages requirements for some camps. They found 4 different places for us that were perfect fits and at 2 of them the owners lived at the camp with their own small children so that was fun to see and mybson made fast friends with a similar age boy. The company arranged all our transportation between camps as well. We basically showed up and someone was at each camp/airport telling us to go with them and we didn’t have to worry about anything. Highly recommend the service we got with them (we even had to shift the trip by a week when spring break was moved and they took care of that without any issue!). The other plus is you tell them your budget and they find camps and itineraries that work. I was a little nervous when we first reached out since I knew they often worked with big budgets (ad I had the expectation that a Safari was so out of our range), but i felt we got the same attention and value at our smaller budget as the big budget guys got and while expensive if you’re in the DCL price ranges it’s absolutely doable.

Antarctica I think we’re going with Hurtigruten. Friends were impressed with the amount of time on land and how organized they were. We’ve heard good feedback from Quark though too (they’re a little higher in the offseason though).

 

[TestingH2O]

Did unplugged is starting a DCL specific podcast and they did an episode yesterday on this release. Pete, who admits to being willing to spend a lot on trips, said these prices were nuts. Especially the 12 night.

They found some good options though. I wish I didn't have school to contend with. The overnight in Paris itenerary sounds great.

 

[WishUponAStarryNight]

I love Disney, but over $1000 a night they are hitting into luxury travel but it’s still at heart a midtier mass market cruise line. They are tapping into a really different demographic with some of these trips.

When ABD’s Greece trip looks like a fantastic value compared to the cruise, DCL’s target market most definitely has shifted.

 

[NancyIL]

When a 12-night Transatlantic cruise with a ho-hum itinerary starts at $2000 pp for the least expensive inside - I know I won't be booking a summer Disney cruise! My Disney cruise bargain was the 5-night San Juan to New Orleans repo in Feb. 2020 for just under $750 pp - booked in mid-December. I am hoping that a fall 2021 (available to book in 2020) eastbound Panama Canal cruise on Disney will be within my willing-to-pay-that-much range!

I am booked on 3 Royal Caribbean Transatlantic cruises in 2019 and 2020, and the total cost for all 3 is just over $2000 per person. That's why I continue to sail with RCI, as well as Celebrity, HAL, and Princess.

 

[smmco]

When a 12-night Transatlantic cruise with a ho-hum itinerary starts at $2000 pp for the least expensive inside - I know I won't be booking a summer Disney cruise! My Disney cruise bargain was the 5-night San Juan to New Orleans repo in Feb. 2020 for just under $750 pp - booked in mid-December. I am hoping that a fall 2021 (available to book in 2020) eastbound Panama Canal cruise on Disney will be within my willing-to-pay-that-much range!

I am booked on 3 Royal Caribbean Transatlantic cruises in 2019 and 2020, and the total cost for all 3 is just over $2000 per person. That's why I continue to sail with RCI, as well as Celebrity, HAL, and Princess.

The 12 night is still less per night per person if your New Orleans cruise is also an inside room.

 

[KashasMom]

Not priced out but daughter chose a safari in Kenya instead. I'm good with that! None of the itineraries knocked my socks off.

 

[NancyIL]

The 12 night is still less per night per person if your New Orleans cruise is also an inside room.

No - the 5-night DCL repo is $150 pp/night vs. $166.13 pp/night on the Disney TA. I can do multiple Transatlantic cruises on RCI for what DCL charges for 1.

 

[KashasMom]

Yup summer prices are insane.

We are doing the transatlantic this septemeber for an oceanview its like 155 PP PN. Half of 9 night Greek isle. Yeah Greek isle is awesome but I dont know if I could pay double for port heavy experiences when I am paying half for the same ship. Mind boggling. But if I had the money to blow I might

The TAs have great pricing! Timings don't work for us but I think they make so much more sense because you spend most of the time ON the ship as opposed to a very expensive European cruise where you spend most of the time OFF the ship!

 

[KashasMom]

I think we are out. It sounds like it would be about $15,000-16,000 for our family of 5 to sail a 9 night Greek cruise in two standard insides. $355 per person per night in inside rooms. Yikes.

I may go with NCL, priced out one for June 2020 less than half that price and similar length. Sigh.

I saw the Getaway has a nice itinerary that includes Greek islands, Kotor AND Dubrovnik! Nice!

 

[Pens Fan]

The TAs have great pricing! Timings don't work for us but I think they make so much more sense because you spend most of the time ON the ship as opposed to a very expensive European cruise where you spend most of the time OFF the ship!

That's exactly how I feel. While admittedly the Disney theming is not as important to us as it is to a lot of people on these boards (though we do enjoy it), I would never pay what they are asking these days for a port intensive cruise - even if I was a Disney super fan. We are taking a 14 night NCL cruise this Fall that has 13 port days in Italy/Greece/Croatia/Montenegro. We quite enjoy the NCL product, but honestly for only one sea day I couldn't care less what ship I'm on. It will basically be a floating hotel. I'd much rather put our money into what we do ashore, and we've booked some fabulous excursions. Sailing NCL means we can sail in a suite and get priority disembarkation and tendering which is more important to me than seeing a few Disney shows. It's all about what is important to your family and everyone has different ideas about that - and it may change over time.

Now, a TA, I understand. We are considering the WBTA either in 2020 or 2021 and would definitely look long and hard at DCL's offerings just because of the time we'd spend on the ship. We'll see, though. NCL Escape is tooling around Europe next summer and it's got to back to the US somehow . We'll give that one a look as well.

 

[minnie4ever]

Well if we are going to whine in our wine....single cruisers pay almost double so that $8454.00 would become over $16,000.00 for just little ol' me.....
that is a lot of free Mickey bars!

 

[randumb0]

I came across a receipt for a 3 night I did in 2015 and compared it to today's price for the same week. The price is almost $1000 more.

 

[NancyIL]

The TAs have great pricing! Timings don't work for us but I think they make so much more sense because you spend most of the time ON the ship as opposed to a very expensive European cruise where you spend most of the time OFF the ship!

The Transatlantic and Panama Canal cruises have been DCL’s best bang for the buck. However, If I am going to pay $2000+ pp for a TA, it needs to have a much better itinerary, like this one that I almost booked: https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/cruises/itinerary/15-night-the-arctic-crossing-from-amsterdam-on-brilliance/BR15AMS-2042822895?sail-date=2020-09-02&currency=USD&wuc=USA&dates_maxDate=09/30/2020&dates_minDate=09/01/2020 It started at just under $2000 + taxes pp when first released in mid- December, and I hope to book it for fall 2021.

 

[KashasMom]

The Transatlantic and Panama Canal cruises have been DCL’s best bang for the buck. However, If I am going to pay $2000+ pp for a TA, it needs to have a much better itinerary, like this one that I almost booked: https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/cruises/itinerary/15-night-the-arctic-crossing-from-amsterdam-on-brilliance/BR15AMS-2042822895?sail-date=2020-09-02&currency=USD&wuc=USA&dates_maxDate=09/30/2020&dates_minDate=09/01/2020 It started at just under $2000 + taxes pp when first released in mid- December, and I hope to book it for fall 2021.

Totally agree!! When I wrote the TAs have great pricing I meant in comparison to $6000+ for a week on the Fantasy during the summer! I'd love to do a TA and even more, a Panama Canal...maybe when daughter graduates (a long way off!). That RC cruise is fantastic! Would love to hit Greenland and love the other ports as well!

 

[jacknsally19]

I'm still waiting to get my pricing for our European Cruise but I've been looking at what others are posting. I think there is a good chance that I may pass on the DCL. I truly love DCL but I'm not willing to pay these prices for our trip. I'm strongly considering RCCL. I've been stalking RCCL's website and I'm kind of getting excited to try it. We can book a concierge / suite for the price of an oceanview room.

I understand that DCL has strong demand and brand loyalty so good for them if they can get those prices. Maybe this will be a good way for us to try something new... Plus and minuses you know!

 

[justafigment27]

We had a great time on a 5 night double dip on the Dream in summer 2012 and I’ve been pricing them out for every summer since then and they are ALWAYS too expensive ... because there is no way I’m ever going to get my family of four on a 5 night double dip in the summer for $3800 ever again and I just haven’t quite accepted that!!! LOL. One of these days, I’m just going to have to give up the dream entirely (no pun intended) or fork over the cash because they are getting farther and farther away from that $3800 price tag with every release!

 

[mevelandry]

Did unplugged is starting a DCL specific podcast and they did an episode yesterday on this release. Pete, who admits to being willing to spend a lot on trips, said these prices were nuts. Especially the 12 night.

They found some good options though. I wish I didn't have school to contend with. The overnight in Paris itenerary sounds great.

What is the name of this podcast? I've been trying to locate it but couldn't.

I like the fact that some of the hardcore Disney fan are complaining about the prices... It's been insane for a while, now...

I feel like they are definitely trying to price out the "old clients" and targeting the "one and done" new clients instead.

So I am glad that we branched out and found great value on other cruise lines. Every time we plan on booking a new trip, we always check DCL prices and it's always a disappointment.

We'll be trying RCCL and Celebrity within the next 10 months. Can't wait to see how they compare to DCL but so far, Carnival has been proven to be a great (and extremely affordable) option for us.

 

[NancyIL]

What is the name of this podcast? I've been trying to locate it but couldn't.

I like the fact that some of the hardcore Disney fan are complaining about the prices... It's been insane for a while, now...

I feel like they are definitely trying to price out the "old clients" and targeting the "one and done" new clients instead.

So I am glad that we branched out and found great value on other cruise lines. Every time we plan on booking a new trip, we always check DCL prices and it's always a disappointment.

We'll be trying RCCL and Celebrity within the next 10 months. Can't wait to see how they compare to DCL but so far, Carnival has been proven to be a great (and extremely affordable) option for us.

It's the DIS Unplugged Podcast - and the corresponding Forum is here: https://www.disboards.com/forums/the-dis-unplugged-podcast.158/