At what point is DCL's pricing a deterrant to non-Disney-philes?

[sweetpee_1993]

I know it's been discussed in length....I know Disney prices everything they do where they can then discount on a need-to basis. Yadda yadda yadda. We just got back from our long land/sea/land vacation and the old man's coworkers have been asking him about the cruise part. DCL sails out of Galveston next year which is a little over an hour away from us (more or less depending on the ferry line). A looooot of people around here are talking about the Disney cruises out of Galveston and curious about it. Unfortunately, the biggest arguement we hear from eeeeeveryone is the cost. One of hubby's coworkers was telling him just today that for the price of a 7-night sailing he could take his family twice on the next most expensive cruise line out of the same port. Of course we argue all that Disney includes and lack of nickle-n-diming but the guy has a point, he doesn't think he'll get nickle-n-dime'd for $2k. True enough. Can't argue that.

DH's biggest arguement to not sail out of Galveston is no stop at CC. The ports do nothing for us. With no CC there's just nothing of interest for us.

Knowing how tight in the pocket-books folks around here are, unless there's a flood of other folks headed this way, I forsee some good discounts on the Galveston sailings. Goodness knows these folks ain't missing a second of high-school football season or compromising the almighty athletics to go on vacation. We're curious to see how it all plays out....

 

[Crush Dude!]

I know it's been discussed in length....I know Disney prices everything they do where they can then discount on a need-to basis. Yadda yadda yadda. We just got back from our long land/sea/land vacation and the old man's coworkers have been asking him about the cruise part. DCL sails out of Galveston next year which is a little over an hour away from us (more or less depending on the ferry line). A looooot of people around here are talking about the Disney cruises out of Galveston and curious about it. Unfortunately, the biggest arguement we hear from eeeeeveryone is the cost. One of hubby's coworkers was telling him just today that for the price of a 7-night sailing he could take his family twice on the next most expensive cruise line out of the same port. Of course we argue all that Disney includes and lack of nickle-n-diming but the guy has a point, he doesn't think he'll get nickle-n-dime'd for $2k. True enough. Can't argue that.

DH's biggest arguement to not sail out of Galveston is no stop at CC. The ports do nothing for us. With no CC there's just nothing of interest for us.

Knowing how tight in the pocket-books folks around here are, unless there's a flood of other folks headed this way, I forsee some good discounts on the Galveston sailings. Goodness knows these folks ain't missing a second of high-school football season or compromising the almighty athletics to go on vacation. We're curious to see how it all plays out....

No Doubt DCL def carries a Premium pricetag but, as far as im concerned you get exactly what you pay for;

Unbeatable Service
Amazing Food
Unique Restaurants and Clubs/Pubs
Brilliant Port Excursions
Castaway Cay

Will never regret paying for a Cruise with DCL :wave:

 

[sweetpee_1993]

No Doubt DCL def carries a Premium pricetag but, as far as im concerned you get exactly what you pay for;

Unbeatable Service
Amazing Food
Unique Restaurants and Clubs/Pubs
Brilliant Port Excursions
Castaway Cay

Will never regret paying for a Cruise with DCL :wave:

I've never cruised anything but our recent Dream cruise so I don't have anything to compare. We totally agree that what we paid for the cruise was well worth it. Everything was beyond amazing. Well, maybe not the pedi or the massage but that's not something that you *have* to do each cruise. To be honest, tho, the thing that got me to even do a cruise was the fact that it was Disney and I'm a huge Disney geek. If I wasn't into Disney the way I am or if Disney didn't have it's own cruise line I don't see me being a cruiser. That's where I'm curious how others who aren't Disney fans would find the premium worthwhile. Are the majority of DCL's guests Disney fans to begin with? Interesting. :animwink:

 

[Crush Dude!]

I've never cruised anything but our recent Dream cruise so I don't have anything to compare. We totally agree that what we paid for the cruise was well worth it. Everything was beyond amazing. Well, maybe not the pedi or the massage but that's not something that you *have* to do each cruise. To be honest, tho, the thing that got me to even do a cruise was the fact that it was Disney and I'm a huge Disney geek. If I wasn't into Disney the way I am or if Disney didn't have it's own cruise line I don't see me being a cruiser. That's where I'm curious how others who aren't Disney fans would find the premium worthwhile. Are the majority of DCL's guests Disney fans to begin with? Interesting. :animwink:

Ah now i see what you mean, and you may have a point.

For this past year we knew we would be giving wdw a break after 3 years in a row so i started looking at cruises with Royal Carribbean, after seeing a few brochures about DCL over the years i had come to the assumption that it would be too dear esp with airfare from Ireland! Of course i knew very little about cruise pricing trends back then!

I then came across DCL's Med Cruise for a GREAT price and instantly went for it! We had only looked at cruising after hearing so much from friends and this one seemed perfect!

Man we were blown away, the Oceaneers lab/club was a HUGE hit we could have left her there for the whole trip :lol:

We loved it so much we booked again while onboard :ROFLOL:

Anyway back to your point, had we not been WDW and DLRP veterans we very well may have never looked at DCL but with them adding 2 ships and even more destinations i wouldnt think they are too worried about having trouble filling them!

Just check out the pricing for The Fantasy next August More than double what we paid in June!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Disneyfalcon]

I think non Disney philes are much less likely to pay the price. Lots of people are worried that it's "too" Disney. Of course, if they ever do sail, I think they'll find that's not true at all.

My inlaws tried DCL because they wanted to sail with us. They were very worried about the number of kids being that it's a Disney cruise. They fell in love with it. They tell all their friends to try Disney and insist it's so much better than other cruise lines.

Of course they've never been on another cruise line, but that's another story. :lol:

I think one thing to remember about the Galveston cruises is that they are new itineraries. New itineraries always generate a lot of excitement and higher prices. Once the buzz settles, the prices do too. Assuming they go out of Galveston again in 2013, I think the prices will be lower.

Alaska is a good example. When we booked, prices were very high. About 3 months before we sailed the kids sail free came out and we got a huge discount.

I checked other lines repeatedly after we booked. We had so many cabins on that cruise I didn't want to make everyone else spend more money than they should just because I love Disney.

I never found something that was that much less. Even with the initial price, the biggest savings I found was about 20%, and Disney was worth 20% more to me.

After the kids sail free came out, no other line could touch our price.

 

[Crush Dude!]

I think non Disney philes are much less likely to pay the price. Lots of people are worried that it's "too" Disney. Of course, if they ever do sail, I think they'll find that's not true at all.

My inlaws tried DCL because they wanted to sail with us. They were very worried about the number of kids being that it's a Disney cruise. They fell in love with it. They tell all their friends to try Disney and insist it's so much better than other cruise lines.

Of course they've never been on another cruise line, but that's another story. :lol:

I think one thing to remember about the Galveston cruises is that they are new itineraries. New itineraries always generate a lot of excitement and higher prices. Once the buzz settles, the prices do too. Assuming they go out of Galveston again in 2013, I think the prices will be lower.

Alaska is a good example. When we booked, prices were very high. About 3 months before we sailed the kids sail free came out and we got a huge discount.

I checked other lines repeatedly after we booked. We had so many cabins on that cruise I didn't want to make everyone else spend more money than they should just because I love Disney.

I never found something that was that much less. Even with the initial price, the biggest savings I found was about 20%, and Disney was worth 20% more to me.

After the kids sail free came out, no other line could touch our price.

Thats one thing i wondered about before cruising! I love disney and thoroughly enjoyed all the character interaction and shows but there def isnt overkill and if you so choose you can keep the disney to a minimal....... if thats what you want :lookaroun