Why is DCL worth the extra cost?

[rosaciri]

We love DCL. Our signature shows how many times we have cruised with Disney. We have sailed on all four ships and have had amazing experiences! We ended up cancelling this week on the Fantasy because for a cat 7 it was costing us 8500, just for the cruise. We are currently on the Oasis. The fare for our family of 3 was 3500 for a ocean view veranda guaranty.

This ship is amazing! There are parades and parties with characters, the shows are just as high quality as DCL and there is more variety. We have seen Cats, the Oasis of Dreams water show and we have the ice show and come fly with me booked.

The food choices are incredible! We have eaten in many venues and our son who is 16 has enjoyed eating in specialty restaurants with us.

The crew has been just as friendly, hardworking and professional as DCL. Yesterday the tours in Jamaica all arrived back late and the Captain and other officers were waiting outside welcoming us back to the ship with smiles on their faces.

We love DCL, but due to the high prices we are very happy that there are other high quality choices so that our family can still afford to vacation during school holidays!

Would luv to read a cruise report upon your return - let us know id you are doing one - we are doing one more with DCL and then Royal Carribean will be our cruising buddy.

 

[TXDCLfan]

AMEN! Figures do lie!......AKK

LOL....you might want to go back and read Eskimo's comparison it was spot on apples to apples.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

LOL....you might want to go back and read Eskimo's comparison it was spot on apples to apples.

No need to. I have explained my facts in previous posts..........I never said DCL was not expensive........but figures are often presented here cocked, to make DCL look more expensive then they are.

If you had read my posts you would have seen that I stated Eskimo's was NOT one of the people I feel misrepresent the facts. Figures can be made to lie.

However even if there are 2 cabins similar on 2 different vessels, that does not mean all the DCL cabins are that much higher. Maybe some are more or less.

But the bottom line is that DCL is worth the money. Anyone who doesn't think it is, is free to cruise other lines...

AKK

 

[TiggerBouncy]

Why am I even arguing this? I am going to change tactics.

Yes! DCL is not worth the price. You should all go find and book other lines! Immediately!

(that might drop the prices for the rest of us. Or at the very least make the ships less crowded).

 

[cgolf]

Why am I even arguing this? I am going to change tactics.

Yes! DCL is not worth the price. You should all go find and book other lines! Immediately!

(that might drop the prices for the rest of us. Or at the very least make the ships less crowded).

Personally I am not sure why anyone is arguing this, we personally researched over 20 trips in the timeframe we would like to sail in 2017 and DCL was the most expensive on average. RCCL is running a nice special right now too that really makes their prices look good. We did not price out the whole year to see where the prices fall out either, just when we wanted to go. I will say that during the timeframe that we like to cruise, 2017 was the first time we found DCL not to be competitive with the likes of RCCL, Princess, NCL, and Celebrity. One that was tempting though was one of the high end lines was running a 2 for 1 cruise a while back which put it the same as the Fantasy, might have been interesting to see what those lines were all about.

 

[DCLDVC1]

It's only money.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

It's only money.

And Disney is the master at separating you from it

 

[TXDCLfan]

And Disney is the master at separating you from it

LOL .....so so true!!!

 

[DCLDVC1]

And Disney is the master at separating you from it

No doubt. I have voluntarily given them a lot over that past 2-3 years.

 

[tinkerone]

We love DCL. Our signature shows how many times we have cruised with Disney. We have sailed on all four ships and have had amazing experiences! We ended up cancelling this week on the Fantasy because for a cat 7 it was costing us 8500, just for the cruise. We are currently on the Oasis. The fare for our family of 3 was 3500 for a ocean view veranda guaranty.

This ship is amazing! There are parades and parties with characters, the shows are just as high quality as DCL and there is more variety. We have seen Cats, the Oasis of Dreams water show and we have the ice show and come fly with me booked.

The food choices are incredible! We have eaten in many venues and our son who is 16 has enjoyed eating in specialty restaurants with us.

The crew has been just as friendly, hardworking and professional as DCL. Yesterday the tours in Jamaica all arrived back late and the Captain and other officers were waiting outside welcoming us back to the ship with smiles on their faces.

We love DCL, but due to the high prices we are very happy that there are other high quality choices so that our family can still afford to vacation during school holidays!

I to would love to see a full trip report when you get back. we love love love dcl but have booked oasis due to cost as well. I don't see spending 50% more if there is another product as good. doesn't make sense.
enjoy the rest of your cruise.

 

[bumbershoot]

Everyone knows Disney is more and expensive.

OK then what do you keep on arguing the point for, then? If we all agree to this, then isn't the conversation done?

They are worth the extra money.

*to you*. Not to everyone.

This is why the figures can and often are distorted.

Figures are figures are figures. As long as we are all explaining our figures there's no way for it them to lie. No one is hiding where we got them. I got them from cruises I've taken. Others got them from looking at similar cruises on a certain day in a certain timeframe. etc.

What I find upsetting is why many people will not except that other people choice in DCL and feel the cruises are worth the money for them.

Honestly, and I feel like I've said this before, it seems like YOU are the one that won't accept what others say. We are on a DCL board. This isn't being discussed on the Royal forum. We (who like another cruiseline more and know that we can get more cruise for our money elsewhere and who don't require a giant mouse to create "magic" for us) *know* that that's how you feel. There is no need for it to be repeated ad nauseum. But you're ignoring what we're saying, you're saying we cook the figures, etc etc. Why would we do that? You're saying what YOU like, or well I wish that's what you were saying instead of "this is the best", and I thought you WERE saying that it's not that much more expensive (though now you've reversed that?), and those of us who have found otherwise are telling people that you can have a perfectly fabulous cruise without having Cinderella lurking.

This thread is titled "why is DCL worth the extra cost". Some of us cannot answer that. To some of us it's just not. It's a totally valid response to the question, especially when we give our experiences.

 

[kiford]

It's not worth twice the cost. It's twice the cost due to the demand to sail with them for the Disney experience, in my opinion.

The demand exists because other people do consider it to be worth the cost.

And "worth it" is a personal value judgement made up of a number of things that aren't necessarily able to be boiled down to dollars and cents. I don't understand concierge or cabanas but plenty of people do and I would never tell them that it isn't worth it. It isn't worth it to me, but I've no idea what's important to others.

I guess I just leave my rose colored glasses home when I cruise.

That comment tends to imply that everyone saw the same things that you did and simply ignored them or overlooked them because they are Disney fanatics. I did not see what you did and it's not because I have blinkers on. I manage several facilities in my day job so I tend to be very conscious of little defects and poor maintenance and I have difficulty not looking for such things even in luxury hotels. Perhaps I was not in the places on the ship where you saw what you saw, or some of the poor cleanliness was an artifact of your particular cruise, but to imply that anyone who doesn't report what you saw is wearing rose coloured glasses and deliberately creating excuses for DCL is insulting.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

OK then what do you keep on arguing the point for, then? If we all agree to this, then isn't the conversation done?



Because this is a thread about why DCL is worth the money and I am supporting that it is worth the money, and that DCL cruise are unique, special and provide Disney magic, pixie dust and things not on any other line. Why is the few here trying to inflate the cost of DCL to make it appear it is more then is really is. The figures can indeed be made to lie and make it seem all of DCL cruises are twice the cost, when we all know that is not the case and some cruises are even cheaper then other lines sometimes.

I don't think Carnival is worth the cheap rate they charge because I have real safety questions about Carnival Inc. among other things. I have many time said you can have a good standard cruise on other lines, we have sail RCL and enjoyed it. However since most time DCL vessel have a very high occupancy rate, cruisers want Cinderella onboard. Having the Disney Magic and pixie makes DCL worth the extra money.

Figures do lie, its all comparisons of hundreds of vessels, thousand of classes, many thousands of cabin at different time of the years,

That is why I am here. Just because those folks are saying anything, doesn't mean it is correct. If DCL is not worth it to anyone else, they are free to sail other lines.

Just because DCL is more , doesn't not in anyway mean its not worth the money.

AKK

 

[cgolf]

I will say what I have on other threads like this , DCL is a great cruise line that people should cruise on a few times, but we and others are learning it is not a lifetime cruise line. Honestly I think we are all pretty close to agreeing on that. Even some of the most vocal on this thread have cruised other lines since they started sailing DCL. We on the other hand have been DCL loyal and will have branch out in the future to keep up our cruising pace

I am not sure about others numbers, but we have always just looked at cruises when we are sailing, and I have no reason to make DCL more expensive than the others, because we would prefer to sail DCL, but 2017 is just too expensive for our family. For example in 2016 we are doing a 9 night total B2B cruise. Looking in 2017 to get a similar trip there were 2 3 nights with the same ports minus one from our trip next year in the same timeframe, costs more than our 4 and 5 night B2B combo in 2016. This really surprised us, it was on the same ship too.

We will always include DCL in our price compare, but not being Disney fans, the magic of the charecters is not a big deal for us, we just liked all the activities that they have available and the service that was provided. For us it will be a yearly decision which trip we take, it may be DCL it may not. We're not stopping DCL, just not being 100% loyal anymore.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Ho Cgolf,

No problem and I never said every one was cocking the numbers, least of all you. There are some. I never said DCL was not more expensive, I do feel its worth the extra money for the reasons I have stated many times. The thread point is Why/is DCL worth the extra money. I think so without question, the vessels themselves are a joy to sail on then add all the unique Disney stuff. yes DCL is worth it. We have and will sail RCCL, mostly for ports DCL doesn't sail to. However we still have DCL as #1.

AKK

PS...Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays!

 

[eskimoinparadise]

That comment tends to imply that everyone saw the same things that you did and simply ignored them or overlooked them because they are Disney fanatics. I did not see what you did and it's not because I have blinkers on. I manage several facilities in my day job so I tend to be very conscious of little defects and poor maintenance and I have difficulty not looking for such things even in luxury hotels. Perhaps I was not in the places on the ship where you saw what you saw, or some of the poor cleanliness was an artifact of your particular cruise, but to imply that anyone who doesn't report what you saw is wearing rose coloured glasses and deliberately creating excuses for DCL is insulting.

If you feel insulted because I choose to live in the real world, and as I stated in the post you obviously didn't read, related a much less than satisfactory experience on a Disney ship that had gone substantially downhill from our previous cruises on the same ship, that's your choice.

 

[kiford]

If you feel insulted because I choose to live in the real world, and as I stated in the post you obviously didn't read, related a much less than satisfactory experience on a Disney ship that had gone substantially downhill from our previous cruises on the same ship, that's your choice.

I did read your post and I understand and acknowledge that you had a less than stellar experience and that it had gone downhill from your prior cruises. I would have the same opinion if I had experienced the same things, but I did not. Unless you were on the same cruise as I and did the same things that I did and went the same places as I did, you cannot know what I saw or what level of service or quality I encountered. My experiences and opinions are equally valid to your own.

What I take issue with is that you appear to state that anyone who didn't have a bad experience or who hasn't seen a decline must be deluded (which you've once again done in this post by implying that only you are being realistic) because your experience, or series of experiences over time on DCL, is a single data point. As is mine. All each of us can do is report on what we saw and experienced and how it compared to our expectations and previous experiences - we cannot extrapolate beyond that to state that all future experiences of others will be good or bad. My cruise was comparable to our prior cruises in quality and service and cleanliness; yours was not. Those reading posts and reports can make their own assessment about whether they want to go on a DCL or other cruise line based on the preponderance of good and bad experiences of others. It is intentionally insulting to others, who did not have the same experience that you clearly did, to say that they are wearing rose-coloured glasses as it implies that only you are right and qualified to pass judgement on whether something is good or bad overall and that anyone with a differing opinion is deluded.

 

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

At the end of the day, it all comes down to economics. DCL has a large and constantly renewing customer base of families with young children AND a solid base of extremely loyal fans of all ages (as many on this thread demonstrate), coupled with no increase in supply (and a relatively small supply, to boot), so their prices are able to increase dramatically. I am quite confident this is a primary reason they have not added new ships while other lines have continued to expand; if they could make more money by adding more ships, I suspect they would. But I also suspect their market research indicates that adding 50% more capacity would bring their pricing capacity down across their fleet, leading to a dramatically reduced increase in net revenue. In other words, if ships 5 & 6 will largely cannibalize the customers for ships 1-4, they don't come out ahead.

My family has done several DCL cruises, and we had a lot of fun on each of them. They each had things we really enjoyed, and things we found tiresome and annoying. I always find it interesting to read these threads because some things people really value mean nothing to me and my family, and other things that I really value don't seem to matter to others. This makes sense, of course, but I find it informative. For example, I don't think the architecture of the DCL ships is particularly exciting and I find the service exceptionally overbearing and cloying, but others appreciate and value both, and that is equally valid.

We have decided to change lines for our next few cruises not because of cost or because we think DCL has gone downhill, but because we want to try new itineraries, new activities, new shows, etc. We're spending the same on our next cruise, on Liberty of the Seas out of Galveston next spring break, as we would have if we'd kept the cruise we booked for the same period on the Fantasy, but are getting a much larger suite on a newly refurbished ship. More importantly, however, is that we will get to see some new ports and have new experiences, and that is what we value in a cruise.

 

[limabeanmom2003]

I've only been on 1 cruise -DCL last month. Loved every minute of it. When we were in port next to other cruise line ships, Our DCL ship looked so much cleaner and better maintained from the outside than the others. I have zero desire to cruise with any other company. I know what I'm getting with Disney.

 

[MPS516]

Every now and again this very thread reappears, is DCL more expensive - Yes. If what others choose to pay bothers people so much next time you board a major air carrier tell the people sitting in first class they can take 4 trips on Sun Country or Jet Blue for what they are paying. Stop next time you pass a Hyatt or Hilton tell their guests they can spend 3 nights at a Holiday Inn Express or AmericInn for what they are paying for 1 night. People choose for their own reasons.

Before anyone chooses to convince me the other lines are the same or better than DCL, I do not begrudge you of that opinion. We have sailed Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Louis, Holland and Norwegian,our choice is DCL and know what it costs.