Disney Cruise Prices - ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?

[GoofyGuySouthFl]

My wife and I have been on many cruises, mosly on royal caribbean, but we have both cruised on carnival as well, which we just don't like due to the atmosphere on board. Thats just our opinion and we would try carnival again in the future on one of their new big ships.

We have come to the conclusion that different lines appeal to different types of people, yes price is a big consideration, but look for a line that fits you both price wise and personality wise. Between Royal Caribbean and Carnival, both have very loyal past cruisers who wouldn't dare sail with the other line just b/c. Same with DCL some people just love it b/c its Disney and don't care what the price is.

We haven't gone on DCL yet (price as everyone has said was just out of range) but we are splurging (not sure i spelled that right) this year and are going to give it a try. We are paying more on DCL for just an outside cabin with a window than what we could have gone on royal caribbean for and gotten a balcony cabin (almost junior suite cabin). So I hope its worth it we'll see in June.

 

[SpenceMan01]

I was looking to do a cruise and the prices were to high for me. I really want to do it but for my first cruise i dont want to spend to much. If I hate it I will be mad I spent so much money.

That's kind of my thinking, but I figure I am a lot less likely to hate a Disney Cruise.

 

[William Marsden]

As far as your comment, William Marsden, about checking out the Unoffcial Guide: I did (its always within reach of my desk), and they make NO SUCH COMMENTS. The only negative comments about DCL in the Unofficial Guide are:

1. The layout of the ship keeps you centered inward, away from the sea.
   and
2. There's a whole lot of plexiglass onboard.

There are no comments comparing DCL to any other cruiselines. Get off your soapbox and stop misrepresenting books with your opinions. This may seem harsh, but if you think Disney is so expensive, take your money elsewhere. I wouldn't want you to ruin the experience for the rest of us.

Hey SpenceMan,

I never said Disney was compared negatively to other cruise lines in the Unofficial Guide. I said that DCL shouldn't consider itself above the rest of the other cruise lines. You didn't mention how the Unofficial Guide (I too have one in front of me) stated that at Animators Palate the food is "less than inspired, and hot dishes are likely to arrive cold." You didn't mention that according to the Unofficial Guide, DCL's shows "may appeal more to children than adults." and that one of the shows is "pure schmaltz". Nor did you mention the Unofficial Guides criticism of a DCL gratuity policy or the statement that "food and service is uneven. At Palo, food is excellent, but service is very slow. At Topsiders, food is mediocore, the selections limited, and the tables very crowded, but the service is outstanding". I didn't misrepresent a book with my own opinion. You need to read the book and my posting more carefully.

Now all of this may be knitpicking. To be sure, there is a good deal of praise for DCL and there's a bit of criticism about all the other standard cruise lines in the Unofficial Guide. But the argument that Disney costs more because they're higher in quality than other cruise lines just doesn't hold water. In a previous post there was mention of the "Walmart-ifacation of America". Now it's true that most Americans like a good deal. But Walmart didn't become a huge player in the marketplace by selling inferior products cheaper than other retailers. They became a big player by selling THE SAME PRODUCTS cheaper than other retailers. Don't get me wrong, I'd like to take a Disney Cruise. If their prices were in line with other cruise lines, I'd probably choose Disney. But other cruise lines are offering the SAME PRODUCT at a cheaper price.

Actually, Disney's brochure prices are in line with the other cruise lines. However, as everyone knows, only idiots pay brochure prices. Every other standard cruise line discounts their fares from 35% to 60% for early bookings. Now maybe Disney doesn't have to do this. But I'm like most of the other people who are posting on this subject - I Want A Good Deal! Every other cruise line and every other airline discount fares significantly for people like me who make the time and the effort to plan ahead. Disney doesn't do this.

Yea, I guess I am on a soapbox for pointing this out. If you want to still pay full price go ahead, it's your money. But if you think that DCL has better food, better service, better entertainment and better shore excursions than the other cruiselines, your wrong and the cruise books and reviews are on my side. I guess some people get angry when something that they like is pointed out to be a ripoff. That's ok. You can smile and make sweet comments on how lovely the emperors new clothes seem to be, but you know what? Dude, the guy is NAKED!

 

[William Marsden]

Marketing 101:

* Identify your target market.

Economics 102:

* If the demand continues to be high, cotinue to charge what you are charging.

Economics 101

* If the price is too high and the consumer can get the same product for a lower price somewhere else, they'll go somewhere else. Reference: Montgomery Ward.

 

[Bimmy56]

2 years ago over Spring Break we went to WDW and had been "bumped" on the way home, so we had free airfare for last Spring Break and decided to take a cruise with it. Disney was $7,000 for 2 inside rooms ( 5 people) so after some research we ended up on Princess for 1/2 that amount. Their children's program was wonderful!! My grandchildren just loved it, the ship was not overrun with children, even though it was Easter Week, and there was a counselor for every 2-4 kids. It was a very well run program and I recommend it highly.

:slurp:

 

[Hakunamatata]

Economics 101

* If the price is too high and the consumer can get the same product for a lower price somewhere else, they'll go somewhere else. Reference: Montgomery Ward.

Thanks for making my point for me.

If Disney were having problems with consumers going somewhere else, they would not be charging what they are and they would be having empty boats if they did not lower the price.

To say it another way..........

Disney has no need to lower the price because they are selling the cruises and people are buying them for the price that they are charging. Its people who do not understand supply and demand that think that just because there are people out there that can not afford the price of the cruise, that Disney should reduce the price. Although Disney does do alot of charity work, they are not in the charity business....

 

[flFigment]

After reading all the posts regarding the cruise there is one HUGE thing tht is overlooked from everyone on these boards with the DCL. That is the size of the staterooms are huge comnpared to other boats and to other companies. My wife and I have been on board both the magic and the Wonder and they are both incredible and the Disney touch on everything reigns supreme. We tooka cruise on the Grand Princess nice boat but the shows were completely no where near the quality of Disney and the food was no where near it either.
so you take into account the following and see if it is all that expensive now it is more expensive then other lines butyou look at the value for whatyou get it is the best deal on the high seas.
things to keep in mind

1 the size of the rooms Disney has bigger rooms they are like 25 - 40 % bigger so they can not fit as many guests on board as they could if they made the rooms smaller like other cruiselines. Less guests on baord to provide better service to from the same number of castmembers as other boats. so if you do a price per square foot you will see it is actually cheaper to sail on Disney. If you think the size of the rooms dont matter after 5 days on a boat you will see what I mean.

2. There are less people on these boats so wait times will not be as great as compared to other boats for shows and for dinner seatings end anything you want to do.

3. The quality of everything the food, the shows, the service, and the quality of your experience all together is 10X better than you will receive other places.

4. There is no casino and it is a great thing. It truly makes a huge difference in the quality of the boat. There is nothing like walking through the baot and smelling cigerette smoke billowing out from the casinos even if they are not allowed to smoke you still smell it. For me and my wife this is HUGE deal.

5. The dining on Disney boats are far and above what you will ever get anywhere. If you do cruise do the 10$ upcharge and goto Palo it will be the experience of a lifetime,

6 and for those people with Kids the childrens programs are phenomenal what other cruise linewould you feel comfortabl with leaving your children with for hours.


all that considered DCL is far and above anythign you will find out there

 

[William Marsden]

2 years ago over Spring Break we went to WDW and had been "bumped" on the way home, so we had free airfare for last Spring Break and decided to take a cruise with it. Disney was $7,000 for 2 inside rooms ( 5 people) so after some research we ended up on Princess for 1/2 that amount. Their children's program was wonderful!! My grandchildren just loved it, the ship was not overrun with children, even though it was Easter Week, and there was a counselor for every 2-4 kids. It was a very well run program and I recommend it highly.

:slurp:

Thanks for the recommendation. We're seriously considering a 7 day cruise aboard the Caribbean Princess.

 

[stitch131313]

If you want to save some money on a Disney Cruise try booking it through allseastravel.com. They specialize in Disney Cruises and vacations and their prices tend to be a bit cheaper. We have used them for 3 of our 4 Disney Cruises.

 

[bruiser659]

you get what you pay for,DCL is the best cruise you will ever find or pay for.

 

[NadieMasK2]

I think another reason is because the DCL's are geared more to accomidate families, a ship with gambling is not family oriented. Could you imagine mickey at the craps table, " C'mon minnie needs a new pair of shoes"!!!:lol:

:lol: :lol: That was great!

 

[William Marsden]

If you want to save some money on a Disney Cruise try booking it through allseastravel.com. They specialize in Disney Cruises and vacations and their prices tend to be a bit cheaper. We have used them for 3 of our 4 Disney Cruises.

Thanks. We used allearstravel.com. That's the agency recommended on mousesavers.com. Allearstravel did offer some "cash to you" gift that could be used for purchases, shore excursions or spa treatments. I think it was $100.00. I just looked at allseastravel.com and indeed they do seem to be a little cheaper. However, the allearstravel.com website included travel insurance and transportation to and from WDW so I'm not sure who has the best deal but I am sure that they're still not close to other cruiselines.Thanks a lot for the info. though. I really appreciate it.

 

[William Marsden]

DCL is the best cruise you will ever find or pay for.

WOW! Did someone put grape koolaide in your refillable resort drinking mug?

 

[GoofyGuySouthFl]

After reading all the posts regarding the cruise there is one HUGE thing tht is overlooked from everyone on these boards with the DCL. That is the size of the staterooms are huge comnpared to other boats and to other companies. My wife and I have been on board both the magic and the Wonder and they are both incredible and the Disney touch on everything reigns supreme. We tooka cruise on the Grand Princess nice boat but the shows were completely no where near the quality of Disney and the food was no where near it either.
so you take into account the following and see if it is all that expensive now it is more expensive then other lines butyou look at the value for whatyou get it is the best deal on the high seas.
things to keep in mind

1 the size of the rooms Disney has bigger rooms they are like 25 - 40 % bigger so they can not fit as many guests on board as they could if they made the rooms smaller like other cruiselines. Less guests on baord to provide better service to from the same number of castmembers as other boats. so if you do a price per square foot you will see it is actually cheaper to sail on Disney. If you think the size of the rooms dont matter after 5 days on a boat you will see what I mean.

2. There are less people on these boats so wait times will not be as great as compared to other boats for shows and for dinner seatings end anything you want to do.

3. The quality of everything the food, the shows, the service, and the quality of your experience all together is 10X better than you will receive other places.

4. There is no casino and it is a great thing. It truly makes a huge difference in the quality of the boat. There is nothing like walking through the baot and smelling cigerette smoke billowing out from the casinos even if they are not allowed to smoke you still smell it. For me and my wife this is HUGE deal.

5. The dining on Disney boats are far and above what you will ever get anywhere. If you do cruise do the 10$ upcharge and goto Palo it will be the experience of a lifetime,

6 and for those people with Kids the childrens programs are phenomenal what other cruise linewould you feel comfortabl with leaving your children with for hours.


all that considered DCL is far and above anythign you will find out there

flfigment does make a good observation in his #1 point- however yes if you compare the cabins category to category (inside to inside for example) then yes disney's cabins are bigger but if you compare size for size a category 8 or 9 on disney (214 sqft) is more expensive ($2183/person) than a category
D1 (202 sqft + 42 sqft balcony) $1760/person on Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas. So I don't see how you are getting more for your money on the cabin when I could have almost the same size cabin with the addition of a balcony on royal caribbean.
Thats $423/person more on disney.
(I used the same sailing date and both are eastern caribbean cruises both leave from pt canaveral to do this comparison.)

 

[DisneyBunny]

When looking at cruises you have to look at their target demographics. Carnival is looking to get that young easily-parted-with-their-money gambling drinking crowd, Disney is aiming squarely at the parents with young kids crowd, Celebrity and it's ilk are aiming at the older, baby-boomer, more sophisticated crowd, and Royal Caribbean is aiming at younger adults with an active lifestyle and families with teens.

You have to pick a cruise that's right for you. Bashing someone's opinion about what cruise line is superior is as silly as bashing the person because they prefer counter service meals at the parks to sit down meals, or prefer the elegance to the Grand Floridian to the Loudness and theming of Pop Century. It all comes down to personal preference.

The biggest mistake that people make is not researching the line before they sail. If you just close your eyes and point at a brochure, you're not going to get an experience that's the best for you.

If you really want to educate yourself on cruises, there are some great message boards, like cruisecritic.com, that can help you.

Personally, I would love to take a Disney Cruise, as I am as big a fan of cruising as I am of Disney, but their prices have put me off, and as we don't have any kids, we really aren't the best fit for their line. Perhaps when we do have little ones who can take advantage of that entire deck's worth of kids' activities, we'll go. But for now, we'll stick to HAL, or Celebrity.

 

[William Marsden]

Thanks for making my point for me.

If Disney were having problems with consumers going somewhere else, they would not be charging what they are and they would be having empty boats if they did not lower the price.

To say it another way..........

Disney has no need to lower the price because they are selling the cruises and people are buying them for the price that they are charging. Its people who do not understand supply and demand that think that just because there are people out there that can not afford the price of the cruise, that Disney should reduce the price. Although Disney does do alot of charity work, they are not in the charity business....

Time will tell. I price cruises alot and I've never seen DCL prices so high. It seems to me that they have risen at a much faster rate than any other line. Maybe they can sustain these price increases, maybe not. If they're sailing with empty staterooms, the prices will come down. There's no one on this earth who is a bigger proponent of the free market system then I am. I trust the system to fix any overpricing problem.

"Ranters" like me simply draw attention to what, in my opinion, is an overpricing problem. There will always be those people who will sail on DCL even if they only serve liver and spam in the restaurants and their only entertainment was Pauly Shore. But I think that alot of people might seriously consider another cruise line if they knew

1) There are other cruise ships that are just as nice, visit the same ports and are 1/2 the price.
2) It's easy to combine these cruises with a WDW trip. Shuttle buses are available at a nominal fee.

If more people are aware of these facts, I think alot of them may be on other ships and Disney prices will come down. I don't know. I don't have a crystal ball but I know that Disney respects the marketplace. When attendance drops at one of the theme parks, they put in new attractions to get more customers through the entrance gates. Last year when attendance was projected to go down at WDW, Disney ran some great specials on resort/ticket packages. Now if the prices for Disney Cruises came down, even the Disney koolaide drinkers would be happy if the complaints of myself and others had precipitated a price decrease.

 

[bruiser659]

WOW! Did someone put grape koolaide in your refillable resort drinking mug?

No just a very big stockholder.

 

[artvandelay]

The problem I had with Carnival was that it seemed like they were always trying to sell you on buying stuff. The Cruise Director, and his staff, would start every announcement with a 10 minute speech about what to buy in their stores, how to buy the video of the cruise and what a bargain the Bingo games were. It was so redundant that when the Cruise Director would open his mouth, we'd start laughing. This did not happen on the RCL cruise I took. Very laid back and professional.

One question for all of you who've taken a cruise...Why do they have the waiters do a Conga Line and perform horrible songs? On Carnival, we'd get cold dinners because the waiter had to do a conga line to 'Hot!Hot!Hot!. I feel sorry for the waitstaff. They look so embarrassed.

 

[mayoki]

I could go to Six Flags and stay at a nice hotel at a fraction of a Disney World Vacation, but I won't. I am willing to pay extra for the "Disney Magic" on land and at sea.

 

[PlaneJane]

So, don't you get a private Island with Disney?