What can DCL do to make their pricing "worth it"?

[TifffanyD]

OP:



Register in the United States, and treat your crew to the American protection and respect they deserve. Lots of things will result from that significant and honest action. Word will get around that Disney is something special, not "industry standard."

We sailed Pride of America which is registered in the US. Service suffers.

 

[TestingH2O]

Not all kids. My kids don't have any allergies or intolerances.

Mine doesn't either, but have you tried to have a play date, birthday party, or class event lately?

 

[squirk]

OP:

Register in the United States, and treat your crew to the American protection and respect they deserve. Lots of things will result from that significant and honest action. Word will get around that Disney is something special, not "industry standard."

Would registering in the U.S. increase expenses (wages, benefits, heightened INS and DOL oversight and regulation)? If so, you can bet your last dime that Disney and its shareholders aren't going to eat that cost. They will pass it on to customers, making fares even higher and making Disney even more expensive than its main competitors.

If all that is correct, would people be willing to pay an even higher premium in order to feel the pride of saying "DCL treats its staff better than any other company in the industry"? I could be totally wrong, but the cynic in me says that most people would just moan and complain about the even higher fares.

 

[DahliaRW]

Are you saying they have a separate kitchen for each food allergy their passengers have on the Dream and Fantasy? And you're saying that DCL has guaranteed no cross contamination for your allergy? Because that would all be news to me.

I was told they have a separate kitchen area where they prep/cook food for those with allergies. They use extra careful precautions to prevent cross-contamination.

 

[aggiedog]

My dd does have food allergies. The "throat swells, can't breathe" anaphylactic kind. While WDW, and DCL don't guarantee safe food, they do try, and for the vast majority of our experiences, they seem to understand what is needed. They've always been able to show me an ingredient list any time I ask. They've always been willing to substitute a safe alternative. I highly doubt there is a dedicated kitchen for each allergen. But a separate area, where utensils and pots are never shared between guests then industrially cleaned afterwards, where meals are prepared separately and not on an assembly line, where one or two people are responsible to make sure each order is allergen free as opposed to assuming everyone in the main kitchen is keeping track - that I can see. For most people with allergies, that is enough.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

Register in the United States, and treat your crew to the American protection and respect they deserve. Lots of things will result from that significant and honest action. Word will get around that Disney is something special, not "industry standard."

They can't just register a ship in the US. It has to be built from the ground up in the US and there currently aren't any shipyards that can handle building a cruise ship in the US. Pride of America was bought as a hull and was fitted out in the US but special permission was given for it then and likely wouldn't happen again.

 

[DahliaRW]

They can't just register a ship in the US. It has to be built from the ground up in the US and there currently aren't any shipyards that can handle building a cruise ship in the US. Pride of America was bought as a hull and was fitted out in the US but special permission was given for it then and likely wouldn't happen again.

Exactly. Plus then all of the crew are subject to US labor laws (which means less work hours and higher pay than a ship registered in the Bahamas with foreign crew) and a certain percentage of the crew have to be US Citizens. It is WAY more expensive. There is a reason ships are foreign flagged. And in general, employees on those ships make a whole lot more (and with less living expenses) than they would back home. It may not be high by US standards, but "wealth" is relative.

 

[SuperDry]

DCL's price is worth it to sufficient people to fill their ships with enough people to make money and keep operating. In times of economic stress of public fear, DCL has found ways to fill their ships using various discounts. If you watch the boards you will notice that cruise lines will raise fares, until just before the cruise and then offer targeted discounts to fill the last bunch of cabins.

If Disney was having problems filling ships they would be running these constant sales I see from the other cruise lines (free drink packages, free specialty dining, etc.).

What you are talking about is Disney lowering it's profits to make it more accessible to those unwilling to pay their price. If and when Disney has more ships and cannot fill them or has a unpopular itineraries they will adjust their pricing downward. Until then these are the prices.

This. I was starting to think I was the only one that was thinking along these lines. The general tone of many of the posts in this thread is that there's currently a problem with DCL pricing, and that DCL must do something to address it. The very title of this thread more or less states that current DCL pricing is not worth it.

If they were having trouble filling the ships at the current price levels, then the price levels wouldn't be so high. It doesn't really matter how much more expensive DCL is compared to other lines: if the cruise passenger market is filling the cabins at the higher prices, then the market has spoken: DCL is "worth it" at the current price levels. That may not be true for every passenger, but considering that most of the cruises seem to go out pretty full, moves by such people to another line just open up another cabin for someone that is willing to sail DCL.

 

[Simba One]

The food is terrible. My only complaint. Free popcorn would be nice.

 

[teacher31]

I maintain that traveling as a solo cruiser, I have yet to see this massive price difference on an equivalent stateroom category (ie. Ocean view to Ocean view) AND itinerary on another line. For square footage as a solo DCL wins hands down.

Apparently it is different for families, but as a solo, while I am not wedded to Disney (I have a 12-night Med/Venice cruise next summer on RCCL because that or similar itinerary is not available on DCL) for the same itinerary I will go with Disney pretty much every time.

I believe from your other posts that you are a teacher, as am I. I have also yet to find these incredible deals people talk about all the time that are available when we can sail. So on Disney's part, they are really competitive during school breaks. Nice to see other people have looked for the golden unicorn and haven't found it yet either.

 

[Ofinn]

I believe from your other posts that you are a teacher, as am I. I have also yet to find these incredible deals people talk about all the time that are available when we can sail. So on Disney's part, they are really competitive during school breaks. Nice to see other people have looked for the golden unicorn and haven't found it yet either.

Your not going to find deals on DCL during school breaks. You will find them during the school year. I do know other lines are considerable cheaper to Alaska and Europe. I don't know about the Caribbean, but I would assume the same is true.

As far as pricing goes I don't feel DCL is worth it at certain price point. A lot of people are fine paying 8k-10k to take their family on a Summer cruise. Maybe I don't like cruising enough, but I can think of a lot of other things I would rather do for that amount of money. I could win the lottery tomorrow, and I still wouldn't spend that much on a Caribbean cruise. If I can get an off season cruise in the 4k range than I can see the value. Obviously there's a lot of people that see value in DCL's Summer prices I'm just not one of them.

You also have to keep in mind that most people on this thread have cruised DCL mulitple times, and watched DCL prices go up and up so the value may not be there anymore like it would be for a first time cruiser. I'm sure a lot of people that take their families in the Summer are one and done cruisers.

 

[squirk]

This. I was starting to think I was the only one that was thinking along these lines. The general tone of many of the posts in this thread is that there's currently a problem with DCL pricing, and that DCL must do something to address it. The very title of this thread more or less states that current DCL pricing is not worth it.

I think I was pretty clear in my OP that I wasn't asserting that DCL isn't worth it, but asking a genuine question directed toward the numerous people who were saying that very thing. I think I was equally clear that DCL isn't going to lower fares, 'cause they don't have to. Clearly, the pricing works for Disney.

Disney employs a lot of smart people who know a lot more about how to price these cruises than us armchair economists. They're not throwing darts at a dartboard blindfolded. They know there are price points at which they will get resistance from some segments of the market but not others. They know there are some segments who will pay a lot more for the Disney brand than others. They know that there is probably a very limited window of interest in DCL for the average family before the kids start to "age out" of the brand. Etc., etc., etc.

We Disney nerds are, I would bet, an almost negligibly small percentage of their target market. They probably don't care too much about keeping us happy, 'cause even if we "walk", there is still plenty of fresh meat lining up for a cruise.

I think this was mentioned earlier, but if DCL's strategy is to simply cycle in families with little kids, soaking the parents on the fares in exchange for the "pixie dust", and not terribly concerned about repeat customers, empty nesters, families with older kids, DINKs, etc., that's perfectly legitimate.

I think the old adage of "it's much cheaper to retain an existing customer than go prospecting for a new one" may still be true, but perhaps not for Disney at this point in time.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Actually there are plenty of yards in the US, some of the finest in the world. Bath, Maine , Newport News, San Diego, New York , New Orleans and Phili, just the name a few. There are a lot that build for the military, both USA and foreign, but some over the last few years are building commercial. To be a US Flag the vessel has to be about ( varies) 80% made in USA. The reason the European yards build so much commercial is the countries heavily subsidize the labor and materials in vary industries and back loans for the banks.

If the USA did the same we would be building lots of cruise ships among other types of vessel.


The *Pride of America* was part of a small program *Pride America* (if I have the right name for it) that was miss managed from the start and was to be 3 ships.

AKK

 

[squirk]

Free popcorn would be nice.

The more I think about it, the more I suspect it isn't free because handing out buckets and buckets of free popcorn to kids would make a horrible and perpetual mess across the entire ship.

 

[mhconley]

I can book a 7 night cruise for approximately the same price as 7-nights at WDW. For comparison purposes we book off season and stay in a deluxe at WDW and in a 4A on the Fantasy. For me they don't need to do anything but keep doing what they are doing today. I love Disney service and see no reason to look elsewhere to cruise unless we want a change in itinerary.

Martin

 

[mevelandry]

The more I think about it, the more I suspect it isn't free because handing out buckets and buckets of free popcorn to kids would make a horrible and perpetual mess across the entire ship.

They could restrict it to the movie theater area.

 

[perditax]

The more I think about it, the more I suspect it isn't free because handing out buckets and buckets of free popcorn to kids would make a horrible and perpetual mess across the entire ship.

Yep, this is my feeling as well, and I totally understand them putting a small fee in as a 'gating mechanism'.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

I believe from your other posts that you are a teacher, as am I. I have also yet to find these incredible deals people talk about all the time that are available when we can sail. So on Disney's part, they are really competitive during school breaks. Nice to see other people have looked for the golden unicorn and haven't found it yet either.

We have been sailing 5-6 times a year for the past 10 years, and have yet to find a single Disney cruise (category for category match) sailing on the same week we sail at a lower cost than the other cruise lines we sail. It doesn't matter whether school is in or out, or when during the year we sail. With very few exceptions, the price on a comparable Disney cruise sailing to the same ports on the same week run anywhere from 30-60% more than the same cruise on RCL.

One thing we do find when we price a Disney cruise is they only show you the prices for interior cabins unless you click on one of the other categories, so you can't easily do a cost comparison between an interior and a balcony. On our next Disney Dream cruise, the difference between a cat 11c interior on deck 2 and a cat 7a balcony on deck 9 was only $132. For what we paid for the baseline balcony on Disney, we could have booked a junior suite on RCL (and that is one of those rare exceptions). We booked the Disney cruise because we wanted to go back to Castaway Cay and see whether Serenity Bay had recovered yet (when we were there in May, it was completely devoid of vegetation, and half of the bay where there used to be some great snorkeling was a huge sandbar.

 

[squirk]

They could restrict it to the movie theater area.

That's a great idea, but how would they police that? Put the concessions inside the theater? Have CMs on hand to follow you to make sure you go into, and stay in, the theater and not back out on deck? Have CMs watching for popcorn bags in the hallways or on deck and asking you to return to the theater? I don't know.

 

[kollerbear]

I know it's hard to believe but at 110k your in the top 18% nation wide. The median household income in this country is around 52k. I'm sure the median income is higher in New York.

Not hard to believe at all! That's why we left NYC. We felt like we were too old to be earning that and saving so little.