What Is One Thing You Would Change About DCL?

[CamColt]

Europe, especially in the summer is a warm climate.

When we were in the eastern Med (Adriatic to be exact) in 2023 on a cruise it was July during a heatwave and every port day was 105, by the end in Athens it was 113-115. Wouldn't recommend July in the Med

But I think the different regions have different to offer. I have no interest in the Caribbean at the moment though I did an eastern Caribbean cruise when I was a teen. But I have so much interest in Europe primarily because there's so much to see. Europe is a very port-intensive place, Caribbean is less so, sure there's ports but it's not the same phrenic nature as Europe. But if someone is wanting a slower paced vacation the Caribbean can typically fulfill that. That said IMO weather is more unpredictable in the Caribbean (and eastern coast of the U.S.) with hurricane season you'll still get warmth towards the southern part of the U.S. but you could get a lot more than that.

I wouldn't go all the way to Europe to spend time on the ships though. If I can get warm weather leaving out of FL that is a lot less expensive than flying to Europe to sit on a ship.

A few years back I did sail Hawaii, but on NCL. That cruise was all about the ports and seeing Hawaii. When I sail DCL, the ship is the attraction, not the ports.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I wouldn't go all the way to Europe to spend time on the ships though. If I can get warm weather leaving out of FL that is a lot less expensive than flying to Europe to sit on a ship.

A few years back I did sail Hawaii, but on NCL. That cruise was all about the ports and seeing Hawaii. When I sail DCL, the ship is the attraction, not the ports.

lol I'm just speaking towards your warm weather part.

But your above comment I think that's why DCL and Europe don't mix as well. The ports they they choose may not be the most exciting but also their price point is atrocious for the region and by that point in a port intensive region you'd have to be pretty blasé about the ports to book a line just for the ship, the ship might be the plus to the region but strictly speaking of people who just book DCL for the ship Europe is not a cost-effective place to do that and I think DCL Is fine with that. That's not specific to DCL though. The Caribbean allows people, especially from the U.S., to be more blasé about the ports and instead enjoy the ship more and so it's a bulk of where their cruises go.

And for the Caribbean area the trend is that cruise lines are doing private island stops, I believe I read recently they estimate 90% of itineraries in X number of years (I forget the exact date) will be cruise lines stopping in one or more of their private islands. The trend being instead of cruising been seeing as taking you around the world like traditionally used, in that region of the world that won't be and isn't even now what many are cruising for.

 

[mcd2745]

If I could only make one change...more activities and things to do at night.

For starters, keep pools/hot tubs (especially Quiet Cove) until 1 or 2am. Other things they should do are midnight movies on Funnelvision, trivia sessions following whatever main show they have in the lounge (such as Match Your Mate, or the comedians/magicians) instead of the silent DJ they always do, but very few people stick around for. There are a number of other things they could come up with for people to do during the "late" hours.

If I could make a couple more changes, I'm refreshing the MDR menus, and (very few people will agree with this) - doing away with pirate night. Come up with different themes for a deck party and fireworks. Make it different on each of ships. They have enough IP to do that.

 

[DCLMP]

lol I'm just speaking towards your warm weather part.

But your above comment I think that's why DCL and Europe don't mix as well. The ports they they choose may not be the most exciting but also their price point is atrocious for the region and by that point in a port intensive region you'd have to be pretty blasé about the ports to book a line just for the ship, the ship might be the plus to the region but strictly speaking of people who just book DCL for the ship Europe is not a cost-effective place to do that and I think DCL Is fine with that. That's not specific to DCL though. The Caribbean allows people, especially from the U.S., to be more blasé about the ports and instead enjoy the ship more and so it's a bulk of where their cruises go.

And for the Caribbean area the trend is that cruise lines are doing private island stops, I believe I read recently they estimate 90% of itineraries in X number of years (I forget the exact date) will be cruise lines stopping in one or more of their private islands. The trend being instead of cruising been seeing as taking you around the world like traditionally used, in that region of the world that won't be and isn't even now what many are cruising for.

Prior to covid the European cruises were big sellers. There was a lot of excitement for the Summer cruises and people actually booked on opening day. I think a lot of people started getting priced out around 2017. Good itineraries and reasonable prices would go a long way to improving the European sales.

Cruises are easy way to see Europe when you have kids and Disney does a great job, but the current prices are mind blowing.

 

[brentm77]

I do not know a single cruise line who handles any of it like that. And I would not trust Disney IT to get that right. Look at the suggestions Genie was making for people in the parks. The amount of infrastructure you’re talking about on the back end of their IT would be pretty large (They still haven’t fixed the Palo glitch that’s been well known since November) and I can’t see that happening without increasing the cost to cruise.

Plus the times I would pick for drinks tastings or Palo might change based on what excursions are open (or likely the inverse where I will pick an excursion that works with the drink tastings and Palo times I want)

If I were Disney, I would be looking for ways to do thing better than other cruise lines, not trying to match them. Also, other lines let you book excursions and dining on day one, so the midnight check-in is almost meaningless.

But, I 100% agree that DCL would have to up there IT game. It could be done well and in an easy-to-use manner with the right investment. I don't know that it would need to increase the cost of the cruise. The DCL branch is one of the most profitable branches for the company and worth investing some of that hundreds of billions in revenue into. It's a small touch point, but one every single cruiser goes through, and does leave a little bit of negative association with the brand. I would be focusing on fixing those negative touchpoints to distinguish my line as competition for cruising dollars only increases. Maybe my solution isn't the best answer, but there has to be something better than the current system.

I get needing to shift things around, but that could still be done after the auto-assignment. I would easily take that over the current game of IT roulette and the associated stress.

 

[CamColt]

lol I'm just speaking towards your warm weather part.

But your above comment I think that's why DCL and Europe don't mix as well. The ports they they choose may not be the most exciting but also their price point is atrocious for the region and by that point in a port intensive region you'd have to be pretty blasé about the ports to book a line just for the ship, the ship might be the plus to the region but strictly speaking of people who just book DCL for the ship Europe is not a cost-effective place to do that and I think DCL Is fine with that. That's not specific to DCL though. The Caribbean allows people, especially from the U.S., to be more blasé about the ports and instead enjoy the ship more and so it's a bulk of where their cruises go.

And for the Caribbean area the trend is that cruise lines are doing private island stops, I believe I read recently they estimate 90% of itineraries in X number of years (I forget the exact date) will be cruise lines stopping in one or more of their private islands. The trend being instead of cruising been seeing as taking you around the world like traditionally used, in that region of the world that won't be and isn't even now what many are cruising for.

That's interesting. I may be a good example of that. While I'm not thrilled about 9 nights on the ship (I feel it may be too much of a good thing), next year I am booked for B2Bs 5/4 which will get me to CC 3 times and LC twice. That is what pushed me to bite the bullet and add the 4 night to the 5 I already had booked (and the same room was available).

And I will clarify since I know I made it sound like the ports aren't important to me...CC is my favorite place on Earth (my DS even got married there) and I used to say that is the only port I care about. Now, LC is coming in a close second so I guess I DO care about Disney's ports.

 

[dreamer17555]

If I were Disney, I would be looking for ways to do thing better than other cruise lines, not trying to match them. Also, other lines let you book excursions and dining on day one, so the midnight check-in is almost meaningless.

But, I 100% agree that DCL would have to up there IT game. It could be done well and in an easy-to-use manner with the right investment. I don't know that it would need to increase the cost of the cruise. The DCL branch is one of the most profitable branches for the company and worth investing some of that hundreds of billions in revenue into. It's a small touch point, but one every single cruiser goes through, and does leave a little bit of negative association with the brand. I would be focusing on fixing those negative touchpoints to distinguish my line as competition for cruising dollars only increases. Maybe my solution isn't the best answer, but there has to be something better than the current system.

I get needing to shift things around, but that could still be done after the auto-assignment. I would easily take that over the current game of IT roulette and the associated stress.

Honestly, I can’t see how DCL even trying to do something like this would increase their customer base or make a cruiser more likely to sail more often. Can you imagine all the calls they would have to deal with for people who are upset if they don’t get exactly what they requested as their number 1? And assuming people have sailed the same number of cruises how do you determine who gets priority then- who sailed more frequently, who is paying more for that particular cruise, or stateroom category? Is it like concierge where your requests have to be put in by midnight and they rank them as they get them? I just think it could be a giant mess and likely have people more upset because they did not have control over the process.

Other cruise lines do let you book right away. Because they have different benefits for their loyalty tiers. Other cruise lines also charge you upfront for everything you’ve booked. Refunds can be a headache. Royal has struggled with those when drink packages have gone on sale.

There are things that are annoying about the pre-cruising process at on every line, but I think what makes the biggest impression for a cruiser is what happens on their actual sailing and then a follow up itinerary and ship that they are looking forward to.

Can I ask does the midnight booking window make it where you would not want to sail on DCL anymore?

 

[Dug720]

Royal has struggled with those when drink packages have gone on sale.

And then there's the raising the price just enough when there's a sale to counterbalance the new discount - at least Celebrity (in the same family as RCCL) does that. i've now added a "price" column on my tracking spreadsheet for pre-cruise purchases after this week cancelling my package upgrade at 35% to book it at 40% - only to be charged the exact same amount the 35% off had been. So clearly they raised the price just enough that 40% would equal 35%.