Why is DCL worth the extra cost?

[quickcat]

Isnt the Coral an older ship of Princess? We were on the Ruby in June and that was a larger ship but I really don't think you are comparing apples to apples with the Coral....unless I am thinking of the wrong ship, which could be. But for any cruise you can find something cheaper than Disney....its if you want "Disney" on your ship or not. We prefer to have Disney so that is why we pay their pricing.
The only thing you can do is try it, if its not 'worth it' to you, then don't sail with them again.
Good luck with your decision, I am sure whatever you choose you'll have fun

 

[jdb in AZ]

Isnt the Coral an older ship of Princess? We were on the Ruby in June and that was a larger ship but I really don't think you are comparing apples to apples with the Coral....unless I am thinking of the wrong ship, which could be. But for any cruise you can find something cheaper than Disney....its if you want "Disney" on your ship or not. We prefer to have Disney so that is why we pay their pricing.
The only thing you can do is try it, if its not 'worth it' to you, then don't sail with them again.
Good luck with your decision, I am sure whatever you choose you'll have fun

The Coral Princess inaugural cruise was in 2003. She was refurbished in 2013.

 

[mreasier]

According to the Princess web site there is only one 6 day cruise on this ship for the whole year from Florida. Sure we can cherry pick cheap cruises to bash DCL cost. The rest are all 10 day Panama canal cruises and cost 2-3 times as much as what you quoted.

We did a Magic For about $100 per day last minute and it was a balcony.

Yes we so far have only cruised DCL, but I can tell you every year we research lots of info about the other lines and if people looked other then here you will see lots of unhappy people.

One of our cruises I was on the the shuttle from Budget and others were on the bus going to Carnival ship that just got back with Virus outbreak. None of them wanted to get on that ship. They had no choice or lose all their money! Really felt sorry for them.

This was not a cherry pick. I referenced it because it and the Disney cruise are the ones we are actually on. For comparison there is a 7 day Eastern Caribbean Princess cruise on the brand new Regal that goes for $136 per day and a 7 day Western Caribbean from Houston on the Caribbean Princess that goes for $140 per day. Not as inexpensive as the one we are on but still much less expensive than Disney. I'm not sure a "last minute" booking is a fair comparison. We booked both cruises a long time ago. I am not trying to bash Disney. I really would like to know if there are reasons other than going with kids and grandkids (like us) why people would pay the higher price on Disney.

 

[mreasier]

Isnt the Coral an older ship of Princess? We were on the Ruby in June and that was a larger ship but I really don't think you are comparing apples to apples with the Coral....unless I am thinking of the wrong ship, which could be. But for any cruise you can find something cheaper than Disney....its if you want "Disney" on your ship or not. We prefer to have Disney so that is why we pay their pricing.
NoThe only thing you can do is try it, if its not 'worth it' to you, then don't sail with them again.
Good luck with your decision, I am sure whatever you choose you'll have fun

Not sure the age of the ship has much to due with the price. We've been on ships that were a year old and others that were 17 years old. It would be hard to find the difference in the appearance of the public areas. I'm sure that the behind the scenes infrastructures were much different, but the public areas were kept fresh. The Coral is having another short dry dock in a couple of weeks to freshen things up and modify one of the specialty restaurants. She will then have a new feature (Curtis Stone Share Restaurant) that most other Princess ships are lacking.

 

[cedricandsophie]

For us it really doesn't matter what it costs. That isn't being an elitist it's just that we have a disabled adult daughter with down syndrome. She still loves tne Disney characters. We always bring her best friend who is also disabled although not with down syndrome. As long as they love it, we will come. We have bee on crystal, silver sea, Princess, royal Caribbean, and celebrity. Obviously crystal and silver sea are in the luxury cruise business and we love them for adult trips. But unless other ships get the Disney characters, ambiance, service, caring attitude...we will always take at least one Disney cruise a year...sometimes two...with our daughter and her friend. To see them with the characters, to watch them interact with the staff, to know they are happy and content...its priceless. And the plus side is that our other kids and grandkids also still love Disney. So as long as we pay, they will come. It's a wonderful family experience thst I know we are very lucky to experience.

 

[Disneyholic]

I also was confused by the 1st statement.

On the one cruise we did on Disney we found service to be comparable to that on Princess except in the dining room(s). The service on the Disney Fantasy was inferior. It was slow, the servers got orders wrong and we even saw them arguing. They tried (unsuccessfully) to charge me a corkage fee for a bottle of champagne bought on board. My son, who had done several prior Disney cruises did say it was much worse than his previous cruises so it my not have been typical.

The corkage fee is to cover the fact that you brought the bottle onboard and brought it to the dining room. If you had opened it and drank it in your room they don't charge a fee. It is only charged when you bring a bottle to the dining room. It is even charged if you bring a screw top bottle.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

The corkage fee is to cover the fact that you brought the bottle onboard and brought it to the dining room. If you had opened it and drank it in your room they don't charge a fee. It is only charged when you bring a bottle to the dining room. It is even charged if you bring a screw top bottle.

When RCL changed their alcohol policy to allow two bottles of wine per stateroom, they eliminated corkage fees. When Disney changed their alcohol policy to restrict the amount you could bring on board, they increased their corkage fee. HMMM

 

[mreasier]

The corkage fee is to cover the fact that you brought the bottle onboard and brought it to the dining room. If you had opened it and drank it in your room they don't charge a fee. It is only charged when you bring a bottle to the dining room. It is even charged if you bring a screw top bottle.

Excuse me but I said it was bought on board, not brought on board. It was annoying (understatement) to have to argue with the server while my family looked on.

 

[Ofinn]

I'm open to trying other cruise lines when the time is right, but we have been very happy with our DCL cruises. We cruise in the off season with last minute discounts so cost is not a factor. Sure we might get last minute discounts on other cruise lines that are better, but there would probably be very few kids onboard. If my kids decide to forego homeschooling and go to high school then my options will be limited to other cruise lines. I won't pay DCL's Summer prices. I'm going to continue to enjoy DCL for the next couple of years and take advantage of every discounted cruise I can fit in my budget.

 

[CesD]

When they were about 15% more expensive, we paid it. We figured that the soda included and Disney characters were worth it. Now that the going rate even in the off season is about 50% more, we are switching... That's a whole other mini vacation we could take.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

This was not a cherry pick. I referenced it because it and the Disney cruise are the ones we are actually on. For comparison there is a 7 day Eastern Caribbean Princess cruise on the brand new Regal that goes for $136 per day and a 7 day Western Caribbean from Houston on the Caribbean Princess that goes for $140 per day. Not as inexpensive as the one we are on but still much less expensive than Disney. I'm not sure a "last minute" booking is a fair comparison. We booked both cruises a long time ago. I am not trying to bash Disney. I really would like to know if there are reasons other than going with kids and grandkids (like us) why people would pay the higher price on Disney.

For us it's for two different reasons:

1) Our kids are teenagers and still love DCL, not for the clubs but because of the almost non-stop family activities. From the moment we step on the ship the 4 of us are hanging out together making book marks, making coasters, folding towels into animals, attending cooking demos, playing games and bingo and a host of other things. We turn off our iPhones and just are present with each other the whole time. We've researched the daily activity papers for the other cruise lines and none seem to have as much to do as DCL. We're trying CCL in the Mediterranean this summer so we'll see what happens there.

2) We decided one summer to save some money and try Knotts Berry Farm instead of Disneyland. After 45 minutes there we were crawling out of our skin. We walked out of there and never looked back. 15 minutes later we pulled into the parking structure at DL and all was right in the world again.

For us it's just an overall feeling of happiness and we're Disney freaks. I'm just hoping that someday Disney starts an airline too!

 

[Skiton]

We've been on a total of four cruises. One was Celebrity, for our honeymoon, then RC pre-kids, then Disney w/kids, and then RC again w/kids. We have another Disney cruise booked for the first week of January.

We loved Celebrity, which isn't surprising given that we had no children and it's a luxury cruise line. Then we took a cruise on one of RC's older ships and had a horrible time. This was probably ten years ago and I can't even remember the specifics, just that the ship was terribly worn and the food wasn't all that great, and the service was lackadaisical at best. And of course, our only other experience had been Celebrity, so I'm sure our expectations were too high. We swore off cruising for a long time after that.

We broke down and took our kids on DCL about two years ago, and shockingly, I think my DH and I wound up having as much or more fun than they did. Especially my DH, who was really down on the idea of another cruise. The service was fantastic, the rooms were great, the kid's club was amazing, and there were so many special "extras." Like the meet and greets with the Disney characters, which we rarely did because my boys hate to stand in line, but so much fun to see the princesses in the atrium all lined up. My older son bumped into Ariel by accident one day and managed to squeak "Hi Ariel!" and she smiled at him and said "Hi, handsome!" And he turned bright red and didn't stop smiling until we got to wherever it was we were going. Moments like that are just priceless. We had one of the best meals of our lives at Remy. We thought the shows were fantastic, and it was such fun to take our kids to them and see them completely enthralled. I could go on and on.

Last year, my mom wanted to go on a cruise with all her kids and grandkids and paid part of it for each family. Disney was just too cost-prohibitive, so we wound up on RC's Independence. After our last experience, DH and I were leery but we made up our minds to be good sports no matter what. Well, we were very pleasantly surprised. The ship was beautiful. The service was outstanding, I'd say every bit as good as Disney's (once we actually got on the ship, that is, their shore-side customer service is appallingly bad, as is their website). The food was good, not quite as good as Disney. Specialty restaurants were yummy although not nearly as good as Palo and Remy IMO. My kids enjoyed the kid's club on a limited basis, although they never begged to go the way they did on the Fantasy. I think because the RC kid's club is entirely organized activities with very little free-play, which can be good or bad depending on your child. The pool area was fantastic, blew Disney's out of the water (ha ha). And we all loved Labadee.

But...for all that it was a very nice vacation, it just seemed sort of...generic. All the bars and lounges looked pretty much the same, and they all had the same drink menu. The MDR was lovely but there was nothing special that made it stand out, and being at the same table in the same room for so many nights got a little tiresome. The shows were often rather tedious (one was a straight hour of ballroom dancing, for instance). I didn't think they had as many fun offerings for activities during the daytime hours. We actually docked next to the Fantasy at one port and I got a serious pang of homesickness for it. We immediately booked another Disney cruise when we got home.

Sorry, this has turned into a very long review of two cruises, but for us, while our kids are young, Disney is worth the premium. When there comes a point that they would have more fun on an RC or NCL ship, we'll probably switch. When we are empty nesters, I could see us going back to Celebrity or something like that, but for now, for our family, we just have more fun on Disney.

 

[mom4fun]

I don't understand why people come on a Disney cruise line forum that don't think it's worth it. Some people think it is, some people think it isn't. Everyone's taste is different. Some of the very things people don't like about DCL are the very things others are happy about. To each his own.

 

[jdb in AZ]

I don't understand why people come on a Disney cruise line forum that don't think it's worth it. Some people think it is, some people think it isn't. Everyone's taste is different. Some of the very things people don't like about DCL are the very things others are happy about. To each his own.

Yes, everyone's taste is different, and everyone likes to express their own opinions.

 

[Smeece]

Seeing the looks on my kids faces made it worth it to me.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

I don't understand why people come on a Disney cruise line forum that don't think it's worth it. Some people think it is, some people think it isn't. Everyone's taste is different. Some of the very things people don't like about DCL are the very things others are happy about. To each his own.

The OP pointed out that he is booked on DCL with his kid and grandkid and is trying to see what he's missing in paying the premium pricing. In his mind he's trying to justify the price, in order to justify something you must gather information. You gather information by asking questions which is what he did. What's not to understand?

When making a decision on something it's good to hear the pros and cons and formulate an opinion.

 

[emilymad]

We look at two things when booking a cruise, the overall cost and our perceived value. Just looking at the cruise price RC is cheaper. For next RC cruise we want to do the Oasis class again but getting to Ft Lauderdale is much more expensive for us than Orlando. This makes the price difference shrink considerably. Next year RC is bringing the Oasis to Port Canaveral so RC will be competitive again. The Oasis class ships are above and beyond anything DCL has to offer. We also spend more onboard RC because we prefer specialty dining. For us this is a negative for DCL. We want to spend more money but they haven't given us the opportunity to do so.

We don't have kids and have sailed on Celebrity and Princess. We didn't like either of our experiences and wouldn't sail those lines again. Both were too adult for us even though we are in our mid 30s. We don't care about shows on any ship so the movies on DCL are a plus as is the adult areas. DCL just does a much better job of keeping these adult. We also prefer the dress policy on DCL. These are all minor things but they add up to what makes a comfortable vacation for us.

As time goes on I am sure our opinions will change again but just the price of the cruise fare isn't enough to make a decision.

 

[emilymad]

Also, on the 3 and 4 night cruises the Dream is a better ship than most other lines. We wouldn't considering sailing on most other lines shorter cruises but we have very happy with the Dream. We see ourselves sailing mainly on the Dream in the future and looking to RCL for longer cruises once the Oasis moves.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

Also, on the 3 and 4 night cruises the Dream is a better ship than most other lines. We wouldn't considering sailing on most other lines shorter cruises but we have very happy with the Dream. We see ourselves sailing mainly on the Dream in the future and looking to RCL for longer cruises once the Oasis moves.

True, but for what we paid for the 3-night cruise we have booked on Dream in October 2016 (Cat 7a), we could have booked a concierge suite on RCL or NCL One of the reasons we don't do a lot of 3-night cruises is exactly because of the ships the other lines are throwing into the short cruise market - Majesty of the Seas and NCL Spirit - UGH; Carnival Sensation - double UGH

 

[TiggerBouncy]

It's a personal choice. If you are happy with the Coral Princess, than by all means - pay your cheaper fare and enjoy your cruise.

For me, it's about trust, and show.
I trust Disney (and DCL) more than I trust the other cruise lines (and to be clear, I have sailed Carnival, DCL, NCL, PCL, And Holland. A long time ago I even sailed Homelines when they existed). I wouldn't step foot on a carnival ship if it were free and as a bonus they were putting my kid thorough college. that's my opinion. Others swear by them. I have had good times and bad times on every cruise line, but I saw this from my personal opinion - DCL of all the lines (and Disney in general) never lets a cruise end poorly. They go out of their way to correct any wrong and have the most sincere (again in my experience) desire to make sure you are happy. They are the only line I know of where the waiter in the main dining gets involved and wants to do something to correct an issue that you had during a show or a character meet and greet. Or your stateroom host wants to help with a problem with the pool.

And it's about Showmanship. Everything on DCL is spick-spec. Always. Everytime. If you get on the ship it's first sailing, 21st or 351'st, it always looks like it's right out of dock. The shows are amazing broadway style. Everything is with a flair that you just don't get on other ships.

I quip all the time (but it's true) we were just as Nassau last week. the lineup with Carnival Fascination, Carnival Fantasy, DCL Dream, Enchantment of the Seas and the NCL Sky. The other ships showed definite wear and tear. Each one needed a paint job. Except the Dream. They were out there hosing her off - like they do every time to keep her clean as a whistle.

Again - these are MY reasons. Each person makes a personal choice. It sounds to me like you have made yours. I won't try to change your mind. I will say that in general, you get what you pay for. That's been my experience as well.