What makes Disney worth it?

[JM_97]

It’s no secret DCL is a lot more expensive than other cruise line. In one case I found, one person on Disney costs as much as the total trip on Royal for a 2022 cruise to the Caribbean. Not counting a drink package on RC

Since a lot of y’all have more experience on DCL than I do, what makes Disney worth the extra money?

 

[BartmanLA]

You'll get a lot of answers, primarily, the experience being on a Disney centric ship, the Character meets, the interaction with the crew and performers on board, many like myself appreciate the level of service on board, the crew works very hard to make your stay on board truly Magical. Also Disney doesn't have any casino's on board so you don't have to deal with the heavy gambling atmosphere that those can generate. Granted DCL is considered a Premium Cruise Line, and their prices reflect it, but other than alcoholic beverages and the spa, it's pretty much all inclusive, if you want access to lots of alcohol via a drink package Disney wouldn't be for you. But over all everything is included the Main Dining Rooms which you rotate through every day of your cruise. Soft drinks and other non alcoholic beverages are included on board. If you're a big fan of all things Disney, it would be very enjoyable for you, there's so much on board to keep you engaged too.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

I've only ever been on two cruises, a small ship to the Greek Isles over a decade ago and the Disney Wonder to Alaska in 2019. It cost a lot more than a similar itinerary on NCL or Princess. We chose Disney for the kids clubs and nursery, the kid-friendly Broadway-style shows and films, and the themed restaurants with entertainment. In our case, our kids were 7 and 3, so it was very much worth it to us, and we took advantage of the many character meets and other free onboard activities, like Anna's chocolate chase. I know plenty of adults traveling with children also prefer DCL, but those were our reasons. I also liked the design of the ship, and having Palo as an option for some dates with my DH.

 

[DisneYE]

@BartmanLA summarized it pretty well so the only thing to add is that each cruiser has their own reasons to choose DCL over other lines.
For me, its the family-oriented atmosphere, the lack of (or less of) obnoxious/overly drunk/rowdy ppl as opposed to others that cater to younger/bachelor/partying types.
But mainly, the service which is absolutely amazing.

 

[bunnm09]

I’ll add, while Royal’s upfront price is certainly cheaper when we were on the Allure last year we felt nickel and dimed and after our onboard bill we weren’t that far off from what a similar cruise on DCL would have been. We weren’t fans of the main dining room service or food so we ended up dining in several of the pay dining options and drinks were a few dollars more than they are on Disney which added up.

that said, we enjoyed the cruise. Probably wouldn't sail on a ship as big as the Allure again but would sail with Royal again. I think moving forward we will sail with Royal when we want to cruise over the summer and Disney in the off season just because Disney prices get insane in the summer time. Next time we sail Royal we will take advantage of the sales they offer when they discount food and beverage packages so we don’t end up doing it all a la carte like we did last year to save some money

 

[jtntx34]

Whether Disney is worth the extra price or not depends on many factors, so I will speak as someone who is NOT Disney’s target demographic.

I do not have kids. I usually travel solo or adults only.

I did a Disney 5 day Caribbean cruise out of Miami Dec 2019. I had previously cruised a southbound Alaska cruise on Princess in 2018 and an Eastern Canadian cruise on Royal Caribbean in 1991 when I was 17.

For me, Disney is NOT worth it on port intensive cruises unless you are traveling with kids that won’t want to do shore excursions.

For my best friend, who also does adult only trips, she will only go on Disney. Disney makes her heart happy, and that is that. If she is not on a Disney cruise, she is at a Disney park. She would say always worth it.

I had great service on all the cruises I have been on, but I did notice a huge difference in the helpfulness of the guest services desk on Disney versus other cruise lines. In fact, the crew seemed generally happy and were always willing to chat or just say hi. I only, weirdly, had issues with crew at the pool bar who absolutely ignored me, so I decided I didn’t need a drink after all.

I like the Disney product. The service and attention to detail are my jam. I love the onboard movies, theater experience, dining room themes, etc. The spa and adult only areas are top notch. I enjoy the family friendly atmosphere and do not miss the casino. Disney cruises are worth it for me if I want to skip ports and stay onboard.

 

[JM_97]

I don’t care about having or not having a casino. However, what is drawing me to RC is that with a drink package, all my drinks, alcohol and non alcoholic, are covered. Just seems nice to not worry about a tab. This trip would be without kids, and I know that’s not Disney’s main target audience. My only Disney Cruise experience is from when I was a child on the Disney Wonder

 

[Chrissy-Mickey]

I've never sailed with Royal, but I had a cruise booked with them during this pandemic, as well as a DCL cruise.
DCL's service was better than Royal (more flexible, more supportive, more positive), and the processing of refunds/credit went a lot faster with DCL. That said, I didn't lose any money with either, so I would book with either again even during such an uncertain time.

Besides that; I've cruised with others, but I keep coming back to DCL. Why? I have no kids, but I love Disney entertainment. I'm also not someone to sit down in a restaurant (on land or on a ship), but with Disney's themed restaurant and rotation I find myself actually enjoying the restaurants. I've tried the restaurants on other ships, but I found it as boring as I find regular on land restaurants. However, with the knowledge of what I'm missing on other cruise lines, I at times still cruise with them for either the itinerary or to get a vacation on my (at times) limited budget.

 

[crazylady]

I’ll add, while Royal’s upfront price is certainly cheaper when we were on the Allure last year we felt nickel and dimed and after our onboard bill we weren’t that far off from what a similar cruise on DCL would have been. We weren’t fans of the main dining room service or food so we ended up dining in several of the pay dining options and drinks were a few dollars more than they are on Disney which added up.

that said, we enjoyed the cruise. Probably wouldn't sail on a ship as big as the Allure again but would sail with Royal again. I think moving forward we will sail with Royal when we want to cruise over the summer and Disney in the off season just because Disney prices get insane in the summer time. Next time we sail Royal we will take advantage of the sales they offer when they discount food and beverage packages so we don’t end up doing it all a la carte like we did last year to save some money

How did the specialty dining on Royal compare to the regular dining room on Disney?

 

[bunnm09]

I thought specialty dining on Royal was equal in food quality and service to regular dining on Disney and the regular dining on Royal was a step below, maybe we just had a bad wait staff but the service was really lacking for us in the main dining room. So much so that we only dined there 3 times on a 7 night cruise. One other difference is Royal has a dinner buffet option which is nice if you're late getting back from port or just too busy to get ready for dinner in time.

Also, I saw your note about the drink package. I'd do the math on it before purchasing. We watched several videos on the pros and cons of buying royal's drink package and ended up not doing it because my wife isn't a big drinker and you have to get it for every adult in the room. I think the dollar amount makes it come out to like 6 drinks per day and on port days we don't drink that much on the boat. If you do, then definitely do it but watch out for what types of liquor you order as some are an upcharge over the drink package cost.

Our room category came with a free soda package though so that was also a factor in us not paying for the big drink package

 

[belle032]

I'm going to play a little devil's advocate here in that I think finding the right cruise line for you and your family is something only YOU can determine, by just booking a sailing and giving it a try. And then maybe cruising again on a different class of ship or itinerary! Everyone vacations so differently, you can get all the opinions in the world and still love/dislike it once you're actually there.

We've sailed DCL twice (Caribbean & British Isles) and to be completely 100% honest, DCL is not worth the extra cost to DH & I in terms of what we look for in a cruise vacation. We don't have kids so we probably aren't the target demographic either. DH & I enjoy a beverage package, DH likes a casino (which I could take or leave), and we like late night & adult entertainment. For example, on the sea days on our BI sailings, it was the first time we ever got a little bored and a "well what do we do next?" mentality. The only indoor activities seemed to be bingo and trivia and the hottubs were never not packed full. There were other little things as well that I didn't love, such as no buffet for dinner, but nothing major.

On the other hand, the ships were beautiful, we loved the idea of rotational dining, the cabins were adorable, and the theater shows were fantastic. But in terms of overall value, that doesn't justify the overall cost FOR US. We LOVE DISNEY, but have learned to get our fix in the parks!

We do enjoy Carnival quite a bit and are very excited to try out the new ships and we have an Alaskan sailing booked on NCL in 2021 (fingers crossed!), which will be a first for us. I'd like to try Royal in the future as well. I think the best thing you can do is just book a cruise on the line you want to try and go for it!

 

[bunnm09]

I'm going to play a little devil's advocate here in that I think finding the right cruise line for you and your family is something only YOU can determine, by just booking a sailing and giving it a try. And then maybe cruising again on a different class of ship or itinerary! Everyone vacations so differently, you can get all the opinions in the world and still love/dislike it once you're actually there.

We've sailed DCL twice (Caribbean & British Isles) and to be completely 100% honest, DCL is not worth the extra cost to DH & I in terms of what we look for in a cruise vacation. We don't have kids so we probably aren't the target demographic either. DH & I enjoy a beverage package, DH likes a casino (which I could take or leave), and we like late night & adult entertainment. For example, on the sea days on our BI sailings, it was the first time we ever got a little bored and a "well what do we do next?" mentality. The only indoor activities seemed to be bingo and trivia and the hottubs were never not packed full. There were other little things as well that I didn't love, such as no buffet for dinner, but nothing major.

On the other hand, the ships were beautiful, we loved the idea of rotational dining, the cabins were adorable, and the theater shows were fantastic. But in terms of overall value, that doesn't justify the overall cost FOR US. We LOVE DISNEY, but have learned to get our fix in the parks!

We do enjoy Carnival quite a bit and are very excited to try out the new ships and we have an Alaskan sailing booked on NCL in 2021 (fingers crossed!), which will be a first for us. I'd like to try Royal in the future as well. I think the best thing you can do is just book a cruise on the line you want to try and go for it!

Yes there is definitely a lot of truth to this. There is only so much you can take from other people's experiences because they are not you and don't have the same likes/dislikes that you do.

I'd start out with itinerary I think. Are there certain places you want to go to? If you are wanting to sail somewhere that requires a 7+ night trip then Disney is going to be insanely priced vs the others.

I've only ever sailed Disney and Royal. I don't think I'd like Carnival because of what I've seen in several youtube videos it seems like more of a younger party vibe than the laid back trips we have on DCL but I really want to try the Mardi Gras when the prices come down.

Agree with the overall sentiment though that you should just pick one and try it. That's the only way you'll find out which line you like the best and which best suits your style.

 

[sethschroeder]

Disney theme, great entertainment, great dining experience (rotate with serving staff), and like not having it be like Vegas (if I wanted to be in a Vegas environment I would go there for way less than a cruise would ever be).

Downsides there isn't much for late nights and limited drink offerings (the beer/wine packs don't really do much for liquor drinkers).

We also like the long term with kids having access to kids club. We won't take the kids until they are both 3 so they can use the kids club.

 

[bakerworld]

We do not cruise with kids. We've only cruised Disney. The impression I have of other other cruise lines from trip reports is that they are less expensive if you don't drink alcohol or soda, eat at the regular meals and everything is an extra cost from beverage packages to meal tiers. With Disney you know going in that everything is included, except drinks (although they have the beer mug thing), so I think it leads to a more relaxed stress-free vacation. We do tip for room service as well as add to the automatic gratuity.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

We cruise on Disney for the exceptional service, great entertainment, and (imho) really great food at no additional cost. My DH and I do not have kids although we were looking forward to a big family cruise in Sept 2020 with nieces and nephews on board for their first cruise and experiencing the kid side of DCL. We pay the premium price to be on the ship and enjoy everything Disney does for us.

We've cruised on Celebrity and Norwegian and experienced the up charging for better food and services. Plus witnessed the cruisers succeeding in making the most of their drink packages.

Get me back on the ship and hand me a menu.

 

[hrhdhd]

I'd rather pay thousands less for a cruise and a couple hundred bucks for a dinner at a specialty restaurant here and there, but YMMV. There's a list floating around here about all of the possible upcharges on Disney cruises, too, so there is not a lot of difference there.

 

[DCLDVC1]

I'd rather pay thousands less for a cruise and a couple hundred bucks for a dinner at a specialty restaurant here and there, but YMMV. There's a list floating around here about all of the possible upcharges on Disney cruises, too, so there is not a lot of difference there.

I've looked at some of the upcharges on other cruise lines and we're not talking a lot of money. I think that aspect really gets overblown.

 

[Blondie58]

Large cruise ships can be fun depending on who you are with and what you want from the experience. At this time (after some large ship cruising) we would only do small ship cruising as a couple. We so enjoy the boats/ships that have between 80 and 250 passengers. The level of service is amazing. We have two Adventure By Disney cruises lined up for next year. Neither is on a large cruise ship. Again, choice speaks to who, what and when when you are looking at options. There is something for everyone. (We will adjust again when there are grandchildren. lol. Waiting...............................) Happy New Year to all.

 

[cgolf]

Having sailed 3 lines now after cruising DCL exclusively for our first 12 cruises, I can say for family right now there is nothing that makes it worth it. Before I make my personal case, I will say for families that love everything Disney doing at least one DCL cruise would be a great experience for them. We just really aren’t big on Disney altogether and never waited in line to get pictures with characters, we would have but our daughter wasn’t interested.

For us what we have found is DCL isn’t a premium line, they are very similar to RCCL except they have the mouse.

Food for us, has been good across all 3 lines with Celebrity taking the top spot and I would say DCL and RCCL were similar. I know food is subjective and opinions will vary. We always eat in the main dining room, only upcharge meals were Palo brunch, but ultimately we ended up getting that as a perk. The one place RCCL is not as good as DCL is gluten free options, but I never went hungry on either line, I am gluten free. Celebrity blew both away for gluten free, and they have labels on the buffet items indicating what is gluten free, which for those who are GF that wait for a chef in the buffet to walk them through know how awesome this is.

Service has been consistent across lines and all staff has seemed happy and friendly. Have we run into grumpy cms, yup and they were on all 3 lines.

Cleanliness of the ships, I honestly thought that 2 of the 3 RCCL ships looked better for their age than DCL ships and the Freedom was on par with DCL.

Money spent on board. For us we always spent way more on board on DCL, because their gift shops are just cooler. And when we could bring booze on with us we probably spent a little more in the bars an on tastings on DCL. We aren’t big drinkers so don’t purchase the beverage package. Our next two Celebrity sailings included the drink package so we didn’t turn it down We just don’t do up charge dining, so that saves us a ton of money on whatever line we sail.

So for us it is all about cost and the ports. We would sale DCL again if the price and ports are right, but they are no longer our first choice. The biggest thing for us is that the DCL product has changed over the years and we would be paying a lot more for a lesser product than in the past, so not a good value for us. To newer cruisers this doesn’t apply because they only know now.

 

[CamColt]

For me it's really the crew, the service they give, and probably partially the familiarity/sentimental value of it all. Castaway Cay adds to the value too as it is the only port I care about. And of course, the Magic!