Those choosing other cruise lines- what's your $ point?

[keaster]

DCL just announced a 25% off for Canadian residents for a couple cruises this fall from NYC. For the 7 night Bahamian cruise on October 14th, a Nagivator veranda (7A) for 2 adults/1-14 yr old comes to $4222US total. With today's exchange rate that is $5501CDN so still a bit too rich for our blood right now, sadly

 

[JoieNsk]

I love Disney (that's why I am here I guess). And sometimes I can choose Disney even if it is considerably more expensive than other options. But for me it is not just dollar amount.

I certainly am "itinerary driven".

Like somebody mentioned above I would most likely choose Disney for short relaxing family cruises with maximum sea days.

Also I still have Disney Christmas Family Cruise on my bucket list as nobody does Christmas better then Disney Though the prices on Christmas cruises are kind of insane with Disney, in my mind it still worth it. But due to timing reasons we would be able to do something like this only in 2019.

But when I am looking at ports and itineraries - I don't care what cruise line, I just look for what I am interested in. And here Disney doesn't work for us real well. That's why we tried several cruise lines already and really liked all of our trips (though with other cruise lines we do suites and with Disney we did simple balcony cabins).

We did great Northern Europe cruise this summer with Royal, and itinerary was perfect for us. I didn't even consider Disney for Northern Europe as my priority was St Petersburg and Disney had only one day there. With Royal we had two days which was not enough but still it was so great to see the city in the night and not hurry to the ship on the first day!

I am considering doing ABD river cruise for our wedding anniversary though there maybe cheaper options out there. But I hope that the crowd on even adult only Disney river cruise would be a bit younger and thus itinerary would be a bit more exciting I really like the idea of trying river cruise but we are still kind of young compared to the stereotypical river cruise clientele

 

[Shanti]

My DH somehow strongly prefers small ships, so I guess we're lucky there. Except frequently I want an itinerary that only has large ships.

We're the exact opposite, preferring the bigger ships' amenities but the smaller ships' itineraries. Funny how that works...

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

DCL just announced a 25% off for Canadian residents for a couple cruises this fall from NYC. For the 7 night Bahamian cruise on October 14th, a Nagivator veranda (7A) for 2 adults/1-14 yr old comes to $4222US total. With today's exchange rate that is $5501CDN so still a bit too rich for our blood right now, sadly

If you'd be willing to go with inside room $3300.
We also priced it out.

 

[keaster]

If you'd be willing to go with inside room $3300.
We also priced it out.

When we cruise we always go with a balcony, an inside room just doesn't appeal to us...and $3300 is still close to $4300CDN. Believe it or not, we could do an 8-night NCL Northern Europe cruise the week before this DCL one over Canadian Thanksgiving for $4488CDN in a mini-suite with large balcony (they are offering Canadian at par on select sailings).

Trust me, I'm doing my best to get back on a DCL cruise, but the bottom line is killing me lol!

 

[Shanti]

If you'd be willing to go with inside room $3300.
We also priced it out.

There is such a noticeable price difference between the verandahs and the insides on the classics. It certainly helps those of us who like inside cabins to be able to sail the classics' interesting itineraries more affordably than we could otherwise!

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

When we cruise we always go with a balcony, an inside room just doesn't appeal to us...and $3300 is still close to $4300CDN. Believe it or not, we could do an 8-night NCL Northern Europe cruise the week before this DCL one over Canadian Thanksgiving for $4488CDN in a mini-suite with large balcony (they are offering Canadian at par on select sailings).

Trust me, I'm doing my best to get back on a DCL cruise, but the bottom line is killing me lol!

I hear you, we 100% prefer a balcony... but.. I would take an inside if it meant I couldn't cruise otherwise.
$1000 USD is a lot of money..
We don't normally see a difference like this, but I think it's because it's an inside guarantee.
Keep an eye out, they may add verandah guarantee at a later date.

Edited to add: $3300 USD is pretty good for us for this cruise because we can easily drive to NYC (eliminating air fare), and includes a day at WDW.
I would take the inside in this case, for my family. We have done verandah a few times now but couple of times we cruised inside and we didn't mind.
Too bad the timing of this cruise doesn't work for us. I have to say DH is intrigued anyway but DS prefers to go to WDW for a week in August. Only because we did a cruise last October and this past May. He's missing rides he says and can't wait to explore Pandora.

 

[mevelandry]

DCL just announced a 25% off for Canadian residents for a couple cruises this fall from NYC. For the 7 night Bahamian cruise on October 14th, a Nagivator veranda (7A) for 2 adults/1-14 yr old comes to $4222US total. With today's exchange rate that is $5501CDN so still a bit too rich for our blood right now, sadly

The conversion is horrible right now. We wanted to go on a cruise in june 2017 but decided to spend a few days in Niagara Falls instead (and then saved over a thousand dollars) ...

 

[cruiser21]

If you'd be willing to go with inside room $3300.
We also priced it out.

I had an inside room for the first time on our last cruise. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either. I booked one on our upcoming Alaska cruise. At least Disney's insides have a couch and seating area and are a decent size.

 

[StephandDick]

My daughter graduates next spring and we let her pick our summer trip. Her first thought was a Disney Cruise (we've taken two). We all wanted a Western Caribbean itinerary. A balcony room is $10,000+ dollars for a 7 night cruise. That's insane. If I had money to burn I wouldn't buy that! I showed our two teens Oasis of the Seas that also leaves from PC. In less than a minute of seeing all the activities that ship has to offer they were sold. I booked us an oversized balcony room and an inside room with a window overlooking Central Park directly across the hall. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, two sofas and the kid's room has a window seat overlooking the park. Total was $5000. Half the Price! It's a no brainer for me.

We don't drink soda so no need to purchase that and even if we did want to buy that plus some specialty dining it it's certainly not $5000!

 

[darnheather]

DCL just announced a 25% off for Canadian residents for a couple cruises this fall from NYC. For the 7 night Bahamian cruise on October 14th, a Nagivator veranda (7A) for 2 adults/1-14 yr old comes to $4222US total. With today's exchange rate that is $5501CDN so still a bit too rich for our blood right now, sadly

That is a fantastic price! I'm paying that for an inside room. This cruise includes a day at Disney World so that is a small part of the price.

 

[mevelandry]

That is a fantastic price! I'm paying that for an inside room. This cruise includes a day at Disney World so that is a small part of the price.

5500$ CDN is not a good price for a cruise (especially for the Bahamas). You can spend two weeks in Italy for that amount.

 

[cruiser21]

5500$ CDN is not a good price for a cruise (especially for the Bahamas). You can spend two weeks in Italy for that amount.

I was wondering what world she's living in where there is a good price for a Bahamas cruises? I know it includes WDW, but long bus ride, only 3 fast passes, and no Pandora.

 

[Shanti]

That is a fantastic price! I'm paying that for an inside room. This cruise includes a day at Disney World so that is a small part of the price.

5500$ CDN is not a good price for a cruise (especially for the Bahamas). You can spend two weeks in Italy for that amount.

You could, but a family can't. The flights alone would eat up most of that amount.

 

[Namsupak]

We generally cruise Disney for the experience and the service and honestly we used to look at other lines and the price difference to us did not seem great. We usually cruise concierge and the ship experience is a lot of it for us. The itinerary is important but we are just as happy with a lot of sea days. I think for us we look at it as a factor of X. For example we got an NCL Haven suite (their version of concierge) for around 40% of what it cost us to do a smaller suite on Disney for the same week, and with better concierge benefits. I think that was kind of a wake up moment for us. We still love Disney and we will cruise them again, but right now we have 3 cruises for the next year all made on other lines so we can try them out. When Disney starts being 1.5x or 2x the price of the other lines it gets harder to justify especially when they don't have the itinerary to backup additional costs.

 

[FigmentSpark]

5500$ CDN is not a good price for a cruise (especially for the Bahamas). You can spend two weeks in Italy for that amount.

Keep in mind $5500CAD is about $3800USD

 

[keaster]

Keep in mind $5500CAD is about $3800USD

Actually its more like $4200US right now. The exchange rate is what is totally holding us back with booking DCL right now. NCL and RCL at least offer pricing in CDN dollars so there is no "surprise" when it comes to the exchange rate.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Ok, so I love Canadians... but why should cruise lines give discounts to Canadians because of the exchange rate? It's not like I get a discount when the exchange rate is great for Canadians and I am effectively paying more in real terms. Just for the record, I don't thing Florida resident discounts are fair either.

 

[mevelandry]

You could, but a family can't. The flights alone would eat up most of that amount.

I have friends (with one toddler) who spent three weeks in Italy and it cost them around 7000$ CND, last year. They rented a home and a car over there. I don't know how they shopped their flight tickets, maybe they had points or found a very good deal. I have collegues who travel in Europe all the time and they usually get round trips between 700$ and 1200$ (The collegue I share an office with booked Italy roundtrip for 750$).

So yes, if you budget, you can get a trip to Italy for that amount.

 

[mevelandry]

Keep in mind $5500CAD is about $3800USD

I know. I'm canadian. The last two years were rough.