What makes a 4 day Disney cruise worth more than a 7 day cruise on another line

[Antonius215]

We are DVC members and we love cruising as well. We know that our entire family will love cruising with Mickey and the gang and that we would have an awesome vacation, but when we ask the kids if they would rather do a 4 night Disney cruise or a 7 night Carnival (we have had excellent times, service, food and kids club activities on Carnival - mind you we have only been on the newer ships) for the same or even less cost, they always choose 7 nights.

Please don't hate on other cruise lines, but please help me convince the family that it is worth the extra cash to sail Disney.

 

[bumbershoot]

please help me convince the family that it is worth the extra cash to sail Disney

Sorry, can't help you with that. I'll take the longer cruise (on Royal for me, though I'm thinking of branching out into Celebrity) over the shorter, and the lower per-night cost of the other lines that I've booked.

 

[xlxo]

Go with DCL...

• internet
• much larger kids programs
• movies
• bevvies.... just load your carry-on's
• photo packages... almost went broke with Princess

Go with others....

• savings... on some trips significant savings

 

[taniahappy]

I havent cruised, ever... and kept going back and f on DCL and other cruises and what made me decide is just the overall "magic" DCL seem to have, the whole vibe which I can hardly wait to experience!... not to mention the rooms ... I think that after our first DCL we will give others a try and compare...

 

[bumbershoot]

much larger kids programs

That just means *more kids*. Not always a bonus. DS prefers the smaller programs because he gets more of a personal touch and isn't just a face in the crowd.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

We are DVC members and we love cruising as well. We know that our entire family will love cruising with Mickey and the gang and that we would have an awesome vacation, but when we ask the kids if they would rather do a 4 night Disney cruise or a 7 night Carnival (we have had excellent times, service, food and kids club activities on Carnival - mind you we have only been on the newer ships) for the same or even less cost, they always choose 7 nights.

Please don't hate on other cruise lines, but please help me convince the family that it is worth the extra cash to sail Disney.

If you and your family are enjoying what you are currently doing, why would you want to spend more money for less days? Don't get me wrong, I've loved my DCL cruises, but really can't justify the premium prices any longer. My kids have no interest in the kids clubs so that benefit on DCL has no benefit to me.

We recently booked our first CCL on the new Vista for a Mediterranean cruise. We had a choice, we could pay $4400 for 2 insides for an 8 day Mediterranean on the Vista or pay $7600 for 2 insides for a 7 day Caribbean on the Fantasy. After researching the Vista and what she has to offer for activities and food choices it was a no brainer.

I think when DCL entered the cruising world, they took the industry by storm and set a pretty high bar. The other lines are now playing catch up and I believe are starting to make some head way.

Put another way, if you could afford to drive a Lexus for a full month every month but for the same dollars every month you could drive a Tesla for 22 days what would you do?

 

[Rogillio]

The shows on DCL are directed towards kids.

The shows on CCL are directed towards adults.

There are big shows every night on DCL.

There are only 1 or 2 shows on CCL.

There are more kids their age and more activities for kids their age on DCL.

Can you compromise and take a 5 day DCL cruise?

Or maybe spend a day or two at the Disney parks before your cruise so make it a 6 day vacation?

I didn't want to fly to MCO on the moring of our cruise in case we had a flight delay so we are flying the day before. And since we get in Orlando at like 1 pm, we figured we might as well get a hotel at WDW. And since we'd be at the mouse house....well, might as well get tickets to the park....and then we decided 1 day in the park is not enough....so we are flying 2 days before and spending 2 days in the parks.

 

[Ofinn]

If your happy with CCL I would do the 7 day. The 4 day cruises are nice if your combining it with the parks. We did that several times when we had AP's, but now the cost of Cruise/park vacation is just outrageous. We won't be doing that again anytime soon.

I haven't cruised on another line, but if I had and I was happy with it I would stick with it. I have gotten lucky finding good prices the last couple of years On DCL, but I wouldn't overpay just to sail on Disney.

 

[darkwing818]

We're usually in the 7 night camp (e.g. Fantasy) unless our schedules don't work out or we decide to do more days at the WDW before & after the cruise (e.g. F&WF )

 

[caitlinS9]

To answer your question, it's simple economics --- supply & demand. Disney has a small 4-ship supply and less than half of those cruises are shorter than 7 days. The demand for these ships far outweighs the supply, therefore the cost goes up. Now, what we all value is a personal decision that we all make and that is how we decide what we book for how long on which line.

 

[Rogillio]

To answer your question, it's simple economics --- supply & demand. Disney has a small 4-ship supply and less than half of those cruises are shorter than 7 days. The demand for these ships far outweighs the supply, therefore the cost goes up. Now, what we all value is a personal decision that we all make and that is how we decide what we book for how long on which line.

Excellant point. People 'vote' on this question with their wallet.

 

[havoc315]

I've never sailed Carnival.... In the last 5 years, my only cruise lines have been NCL and DCL. And the NCL was not the absolute newest ships. But for right now, with an 8 year old and 10 year old, my very very strong preference is DCL, and it is worth the extra cost:

1 -- Amazing kids clubs, with great hours. I know NCL hours are rather limited, with "closing" for lunch and dinner. And I know most cruise lines charge extra past 9 or 10 pm. But DCL.. 9am to midnight, come and go as you please. Great for the kids AND great for the adults.
2-- Service, true to the Disney brand. The staff just seems better trained in terms of customer service, the wait staff speaks better English, etc.
3-- Disney theme -- Certainly not critical to a great vacation, but there is something to be said for being surrounded by Disney characters and princesses, Disney music, entertainment, movies. The shows are top notch, for the whole family.
4-- "Current" movie theater. So for our August cruise, the kids will likely get a further chance to see on the big screen, Avengers, Cinderella, Monkey Kingdom, Tomorrowland, Inside Out, and/or Ant Man. They will likely have seen most of those movies in the theater before, but not all. Heck, that I looked at the list, I'm looking forward to getting to take in a late night or early morning movie.
5-- No casino. Other lines devote a ton of space to the casino, and assume it will use up much of the adult time on the ship. With no casinos, Disney ships have the room for the movie theater, and they concentrate more on other activities for adults and kids.
6-- Ability to segregate away from the kids. At least on NCL, it felt like kids were everywhere, all the time. Whether my kids, or other kids. They made it impossible to enjoy a pool or hot tub. Even the bars were filled with kids. Disney seems to do a better job of truly creating adult-only areas.
7-- Included soda, lots of included TV stations/on demand movies.

My last 2 NCL cruises, were in suites. Great butler and concierge service, huge cabins. A balcony cabin on DCL is similarly priced to a suite on NCL. But now, I strongly prefer the Disney balcony over the NCL suite.

 

[mlayton14]

No offense but I never understood how watching a movie on a DCL cruise could be a difference maker , don't you have movie theaters in your area ? The movie theaters near me are far superior to the ship's as well with large auto reclining leather chairs and more space between seats. Also a movie for us is a great way to kill time when there is nothing else to do. Not like DCL gives you free popcorn either

 

[MouseMomx2]

I would do a 7-day Disney cruise over a 7-day on another line, even if it cost more...but if the choice is 7-day on another line or 4-day on Disney I would go with the other line.

 

[havoc315]

No offense but I never understood how watching a movie on a DCL cruise could be a difference maker , don't you have movie theaters in your area ? The movie theaters near me are far superior to the ship's as well with large auto reclining leather chairs and more space between seats. Also a movie for us is a great way to kill time when there is nothing else to do. Not like DCL gives you free popcorn either

Combined with many other things, it's a difference maker. On our 7-day cruise, we only saw 1 movie, and actually had wanted to see a couple others. But it's a further guarantee of never getting bored. I don't think having the first run movies is worth a huge extra cruise price, but it is something that is a nice feature, that sets it apart from other lines. You can pull apart every item and say they aren't worth it:
Okay.. even if a family of 4 sees 2 movies on the ship -- Seeing them on land would be about $80-$100.
Included Soda -- Guess it depends on how much soda you drink, but if you bought 7-day "unlimited" soda packages for a family of 4 on another line... that's "only" $150 or so for a week.
A few extra kids club hours --- Okay, Disney is "free" up to midnight, while other cruise lines may charge a little for late night. So that's likely only $50-$100. (Of course, there is no easy way to value the closed day hours, or the general superiority of the club).

So in cash value, of the things you can put a cash value on, maybe you are getting an extra $200-$300 in "perks".. but then on top of that, you get many other things that simply aren't easy to value. (Yes, seeing a movie on land is $10 per ticket or so.. but you can't do that while on a cruise. A cruise vacation can be a good chance to catch up on some movies you may have missed, since you have the days off. Valuing the better service, the better kids club, etc... hard to put numbers on any of that).

 

[Rogillio]

There are many minor difference in DCL and other cruise lines....some plusses and some minusses but I think the BIGGEST difference is the atmostphere. Atmosphere is one of those qualities that is hard to pin down to anything specific.....but I think it in part, the colors, the characters, the decor, the carpet, the art, the design of the ship and of course the crew. From the moment you walk into the cruise terminal and see Mickey, you know, this is gonna be fun!

 

[havoc315]

I would do a 7-day Disney cruise over a 7-day on another line, even if it cost more...but if the choice is 7-day on another line or 4-day on Disney I would go with the other line.

Need to consider the itinerary too!! I'd rather do 7 days Alaska on another cruise line, than 4 days Bahamas on DCL. But if it's 4 days Bahamas vs 7 days Bahamas, I might still take DCL.

 

[MouseMomx2]

No offense but I never understood how watching a movie on a DCL cruise could be a difference maker , don't you have movie theaters in your area ? The movie theaters near me are far superior to the ship's as well with large auto reclining leather chairs and more space between seats. Also a movie for us is a great way to kill time when there is nothing else to do. Not like DCL gives you free popcorn either

For us it it at least an $80 savings per movie as the four of us always go to lunch/dinner as well. So if we see two movies on board we've saved $160, which just about covers half of our tips for the week. Now that said, I wouldn't cruise with Disney just because they offer movies, but it is a welcome bonus and something that does have value to us.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

I think our kids are still at the right age that the Disney stuff wins them over, but I think in a couple of years we'll be looking at other options. Those new RCL ships (like Anthem of the Seas) look awfully fun!

 

[Ofinn]

No offense but I never understood how watching a movie on a DCL cruise could be a difference maker , don't you have movie theaters in your area ? The movie theaters near me are far superior to the ship's as well with large auto reclining leather chairs and more space between seats. Also a movie for us is a great way to kill time when there is nothing else to do. Not like DCL gives you free popcorn either

Not to mention they are only Disney movies. As an adult Disney movies aren't my first choice. I have two boys so unless there's a marvel movie playing onboard that we haven't seen we don't usually watch movies.