Disney Sees More Profit in Cruise Ships than Theme Parks

[lbrad]

thats not too obvious.
We booked a Dream cruise for april for 1700.00 for 3 nights. After evaluating the price tag we backed out and cancelled the cruise.
Why spend 1700.00 for 3 stinkin nights when we can do a carnival or norweigan for half the price for a full week with more stops.
It just doesnt add up to us. We can get our disney fix on land and do a more worthy cruise for half the price

KUDOS!!! I do agree!!!
Why is Disney sOOO expensive

 

[DisneyJoe]

$1,700 for three nights?!

Without knowing:

- number of people in the traveling party
- dates of travel
- stateroom category

that number is meaningless....

 

[llrain]

just 2 adults, april 28th-may 1 to avoid easter. On the Dream
What did bump it up a bit was a oceanview with veranda room catagory
But that was only a couple hundred more than the inside room

 

[DisneyJoe]

Easter for DCL is the highest priced..even when only a few days away...move that same cruise to September 2011 and you would pay $917 - $1,057.

Just the fact that you are only 115 days from sail date puts you in a higher price range...

Plan a January 2012 7-night Western Caribbean on the Disney Magic in an Inside Stateroom and prices start at $1,574.82.

A good TA will have the knowledge to work the system to show you the best prices.

 

[Erin_Akey]

I for one do not itend to book a Disney cruise any time soon. We are Disney FREAKS! We are DVC members and are at Disney 4-6 times per year.

We also love to do one cruise per year. We booked a Disney cruise for the family in 2008. It was going to be myself and my husband in a balcony cabin and our three kids in an inside cabin across the hall. Total price for 7 nights was 12k.

I did some research and found we could do the exact same cruise with one more stop on Carnival Triumph for 6k. Needless to say we did Carnival. We leave for Disney Wednesday and then are taking the Carnival Dream out of Port Canaveral in November.

We plan to do a couple days at Disney beforehand too.

I just cannot see spending twice the money for a Disney cruise. I get my Disney fix IN WDW.

But I do know some people who wouldn't cruise any other way but Disney. To each his/her own!

 

[kal1484]

For two adults for a 7 night cruise in an inside stateroom is 1500 (1900 for an ocean-view) That includes your room, food, and activities.

A seven day park hopper for two is approx. $600. Say you get a room for $100 a night. That would be $1300.

The difference is $200. If you can go to WDW and eat all week for $200 then kudos to you. If you plan your cruise right, go on off times, and get onboard credits, the cruise can be a lot less expensive than WDW. It's all how you plan it.

 

[flavious27]

Well DL has the almost 2 billion price tag of the aptly named California adventure hanging on their balance sheets.

I think what disney does well with dcl is that the theming is subtle enough for non-disney guests that they know they are on a disney ship but goofy isn't dancing in their faces to tell them that. The solution of the other cruise lines to fight against dcl does exactly that, they are going to put an ogre in your face.

I wish that castaway cay was expanded to fit two ships at a time and expanded so that a trip to nassua isn't needed.

 

[llrain]

We're DVC members so the room is costing nothing aside from our yearly maintenence costs..

For two adults for a 7 night cruise in an inside stateroom is 1500 (1900 for an ocean-view) That includes your room, food, and activities.

A seven day park hopper for two is approx. $600. Say you get a room for $100 a night. That would be $1300.

The difference is $200. If you can go to WDW and eat all week for $200 then kudos to you. If you plan your cruise right, go on off times, and get onboard credits, the cruise can be a lot less expensive than WDW. It's all how you plan it.

 

[dixiegirl]

Kudos to the people who can afford a Disney cruise...:lookaroun

Thank you! We've done it before , had an such a great time (did'nt make it to castaway cay, another story) but I would love to do it again..But the price for a family of four? Its insane, yes as many say "watch when they have specials, yeah thats usually not a good time for us...and we like to book in advance.
Even looked into using our DVC points....Yeah......thats nowhere near enough!
But Yeah their cruiseline.....God we had a blast!

 

[dixiegirl]

I for one do not itend to book a Disney cruise any time soon. We are Disney FREAKS! We are DVC members and are at Disney 4-6 times per year.

We also love to do one cruise per year. We booked a Disney cruise for the family in 2008. It was going to be myself and my husband in a balcony cabin and our three kids in an inside cabin across the hall. Total price for 7 nights was 12k.

I did some research and found we could do the exact same cruise with one more stop on Carnival Triumph for 6k. Needless to say we did Carnival. We leave for Disney Wednesday and then are taking the Carnival Dream out of Port Canaveral in November.

We plan to do a couple days at Disney beforehand too.

I just cannot see spending twice the money for a Disney cruise. I get my Disney fix IN WDW.

But I do know some people who wouldn't cruise any other way but Disney. To each his/her own!

We did Carnival Dream last April....Oh My god!!! She's so pretty is all I kept saying! Its such a great ship, great food( which we liked more than DCL) ..You are gonna have a blast! And the Waterslides, I kept saying " I'm in the middle of an ocean on a waterslide"! ..In fact our oldest said she liked it better than the Disney Wonder...
But yes we loved Carnival, price we could not go wrong...Family of 4 with a balcony, Main deck in April....7 days , $3,000.......yeah we could not go wrong!

And after we got into Port Canaveral, we did the same , we went to Disney for a little....Can't be in Orlando and not go to the world!!!

 

[devoy1701]

something we agree on for a change! Of course that other stuff hasn't done well, they did it CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP during the Eisner years!

I know DCL's market is families, but it irritates me when people incorrectly state that you can go on a Disney cruise without character interaction. If you wanted to, you could hang out in adult only areas and never see a character. Furthermore, it's the service that sets DCL apart from the other cruise lines IMO. That's why I don't mind a higher price, because I know I'm getting true Disney service and awesome innovation, even on the current ships. Dream in March, here I come!

I hate statements like this that are so generally bashing of Eisner. Eisner had a 20 year reign of the company and only the last 5 or 6 could be seen as bad. Eisner did a lot of non-cheap expansions during the 80s and 90s.

Kudos to the people who can afford a Disney cruise...:lookaroun

I really don't see a Disney cruise being that much more money compared to a normal Disney Vacation. 6 nights to Disneyland last year including airfare cost my fiance and me about $5k. The 7 night cruise we booked with a deluxe family veranda on the Disney Fantasy is costing us only $3.6K. And we have spent many vacations spending $1k on lodging for 4 nights at WDW.

And for those who are comparing the prices of DCL versus Carnival or RCI, of course Disney is going to be more. Disney is a premium brand with unique offerings, and like the article says, limited capacity and a reputation of exceptional service. Carnival is a discount cruise line in the first place.

If you usually stay in a Value resort, yes, it's going to be more expense than what you're used to. But the prices are not out of line with other segments of the Disney brand.

 

[zulemara]

I hate statements like this that are so generally bashing of Eisner. Eisner had a 20 year reign of the company and only the last 5 or 6 could be seen as bad. Eisner did a lot of non-cheap expansions during the 80s and 90s.

I understand that. I originally had put in "cheap cheap cheap during the the late Eisner years", but with DLP being included in the PP's statement, opted to just generalize Eisner, because although he did things non cheap to start, most remember him for the cheap way things were at the end.

It doesn't change the fact that the investments they claim are not paying off are all things that were done half arsed and then they wonder why they don't do well

edit: and comparing DCL to other cruise lines, specifically price, is the same as comparing WDW theme parks to six flags. You pay more for the theme and a better experience.

 

[devoy1701]

I understand that. I originally had put in "cheap cheap cheap during the the late Eisner years", but with DLP being included in the PP's statement, opted to just generalize Eisner, because although he did things non cheap to start, most remember him for the cheap way things were at the end.

It doesn't change the fact that the investments they claim are not paying off are all things that were done half arsed and then they wonder why they don't do well

edit: and comparing DCL to other cruise lines, specifically price, is the same as comparing WDW theme parks to six flags. You pay more for the theme and a better experience.

I know, and unfortunately because of comments like that one, newbies or less educated people on this site turn broad statements like that into Eisner = bad, instead of Eisner did a lot of amazing things during his history with the company and it was unfortunately that without Frank Wells he went through a power trip, god complex, ultimate authority identity crisis that lead to his cheapening the brand and his eventual demise. lol, how was that?

Also, the issue with DLP was that Eisner tried to cloan what we had in the US instead of ignoring cultural and regional differences...it didn't necessary have to do with being "cheap".

But anway, I completely agree with you on the cruise line comparisons. Though I didn't want to make a distinct theme park comparision because I figured someone would say something along the lines of (but people don't plan vacations around Six Flags, etc!) But it is definitely true to say the experience of RCI or Carnival or Noregien is definitely going to be different than that of DCL. Just like if you were to take a week long Carnival cruise or a week long Holland America cruise, you would get a distinctly difference experience for a distinctly different price, even though the two are of the same company. Also, has anyone has ever taken a 3 or 4 day Carnival Cruise, compare the (majority) of that clientele with a similar length DCL trip. Just Sayin...

 

[Master Yoda]

I know, and unfortunately because of comments like that one, newbies or less educated people on this site turn broad statements like that into Eisner = bad, instead of Eisner did a lot of amazing things during his history with the company and it was unfortunately that without Frank Wells he went through a power trip, god complex, ultimate authority identity crisis that lead to his cheapening the brand and his eventual demise. lol, how was that?

Also, the issue with DLP was that Eisner tried to cloan what we had in the US instead of ignoring cultural and regional differences...it didn't necessary have to do with being "cheap".

But anway, I completely agree with you on the cruise line comparisons. Though I didn't want to make a distinct theme park comparision because I figured someone would say something along the lines of (but people don't plan vacations around Six Flags, etc!) But it is definitely true to say the experience of RCI or Carnival or Noregien is definitely going to be different than that of DCL. Just like if you were to take a week long Carnival cruise or a week long Holland America cruise, you would get a distinctly difference experience for a distinctly different price, even though the two are of the same company. Also, has anyone has ever taken a 3 or 4 day Carnival Cruise, compare the (majority) of that clientele with a similar length DCL trip. Just Sayin...

The wife did that and she will never set foot on another Carnival ship again because of it. It really had nothing to do with the guests but the ship itself. There was really nothing to do but drink, dance and gamble and the food was just flat out bad.

 

[llrain]

again though, for DVC members it is ALOT more expensive.
A DVC trip to WDW costs us a anual pass for 325.00 (renewal price)
Tables in wonderland card for 75.00 and 500.00 for a weeks worth of food (awesome discount with tables in wonderland)This is for 2. Double the food price for 4. This is 7 nights worth too.
Thats a whopping total for a week at 1225.00 compared to 1750.00 for my 3 night cruise


The land vacation costs us close to nothing compared to 3 nights on a boat..

I really don't see a Disney cruise being that much more money compared to a normal Disney Vacation. 6 nights to Disneyland last year including airfare cost my fiance and me about $5k. The 7 night cruise we booked with a deluxe family veranda on the Disney Fantasy is costing us only $3.6K. And we have spent many vacations spending $1k on lodging for 4 nights at WDW.

 

[Alektronic]

I really don't see a Disney cruise being that much more money compared to a normal Disney Vacation. 6 nights to Disneyland last year including airfare cost my fiance and me about $5k. The 7 night cruise we booked with a deluxe family veranda on the Disney Fantasy is costing us only $3.6K. And we have spent many vacations spending $1k on lodging for 4 nights at WDW.

Disney Fantasy? I think you have your cruise ships mixed up. If you are going to provide facts and figures, at least get the name of the ships correct.

 

[devoy1701]

Disney Fantasy? I think you have your cruise ships mixed up. If you are going to provide facts and figures, at least get the name of the ships correct.

Yes, I booked a cruise on the Disney Fantasy for next year. I didn't mess up any facts or Figures. The ship sets sail on it's maiden voyage next April. And Yes, the cruise is costing me about 30% less than our shorter trip to Disneyland.

Maybe you thought I meant the Carnival Fantasy? Not sure, but it's clear that you should check out the Disney Cruiseline website and get better aquinted with the new ships, or atleast go back and read the original article that the OP posted before jumping on my back and claiming that I'm lying or presenting a misconception or something.

EDIT: I didn't realize you were the OP. Maybe you need to go back and read the article that YOU posted!

 

[T-1MILLION]

I am not going to lie and say I read each article and each post closely, starting to get a headache from it all but I am just curious...

does anyone know if this includes resort and hotels? If you don't count those its not really a good comparison because a cruise is your board for that entire trip as well.

 

[kal1484]

Disney Fantasy? I think you have your cruise ships mixed up. If you are going to provide facts and figures, at least get the name of the ships correct.

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/ships-activities/ships/fantasy/

 

[kal1484]

We're DVC members so the room is costing nothing aside from our yearly maintenence costs..

If you own DVC then maybe the cruise isn't as cheap since you pay the maintence costs, but then again I can't afford the DVC. To each their own.