Will Carnival Cruise Incident Affect Disney Cruise Line?

[flynnibus]

well just playing with their website..

a 4 day out of miami to western carrib.. rates per person start under $200 for interior rooms.. and maybe like $300-$400 for higher end rooms. Assuming they do the typical 'first two pay more, additionals pay less' - you'd still be looking at sub 2k.

I think my family of 5 on the dream was more like 3500 in a veranda.
I think my upcoming 7 day is more like 3800+

edit: correction - I don't have my reservation handy.. but I know if you want to book a veranda on my upcoming cruise today.. it would cost you $5500+ for 2 adults, 2 children

damn.. I really need to pull out my ressie and see what I need to pay yet! I'm expecting the trip to cost 8k+ easy for a 7 day cruise for a party of 5.

 

[ChuckElias]

Can Tammy or @sweetpee_1993 or any other expert, give a comparable price on another line for a similar experience. I'm just curious.

No, b/c no other line gives you a similar experience (which includes Castaway Cay!)

 

[EOD K9]

Thanks Flynn, I can only goof off at work so much to do the research.
Chuck, while I get what you are saying, my question basically is there a price difference of half or so or what?

 

[ChuckElias]

Ok, serious answer:

Here's the current pricing (before taxes) for a Balcony stateroom for 4-night cruises out of Port Canaveral, departing on the weekend of May 12-13, 2013:

Disney Dream: starting at $872 pp.
Carnival Sensation: starting at $569.00 pp.
Royal Caribbean Enchantment of the Seas: starting at $819.00 pp.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Time for a minor thread jack. People talk about you get what you pay for and DCL is more expensive. So, for a four night cruise to the Bahamas on the Dream, with an outside stateroom with V, it may cost close to $2200. Can Tammy or @sweetpee_1993 or any other expert, give a comparable price on another line for a similar experience. I'm just curious.

It just totally depends on the time of year and when you book. You can find times when Carnival will be a lot less. You'll find other times when Disney is right in line with the other cruise lines. Typically, if you book early with Disney you get better prices. Booking later with other cruise lines can save you money sometimes.
Often when people compare and think Disney is twice as much, it's because they are comparing the current prices where Disney's has gone up and the other lines have gone down. They don't take into account that if they'd booked Disney on Day 1, they would be at the same price that the other cruise line is currently offering.

But there are times when Disney is a lot more. Right now I'm paying about 15% more for my Med cruise this summer than I could get on Royal Caribbean. 15% doesn't sound like a lot, but you have to remember how much that Med cruise costs so 15% is about $1000 more. That $1000 is getting me a much bigger room, a split bathroom and Disney quality.

It's more, but it's worth it to me.

 

[tink66]

It's worth a shot!!!

LOVE IT!!!!

 

[EOD K9]

Ok, so basically, DCL is not always a lot higher than everyone else all things being equal.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

@EOD K9, I know others chimed in earlier today (I've been busy painting a house) but I've got a little comparison of sorts to put on the table. The Fantasy cruise my family is going on May 25th is a Western Caribbean 7-night. We're in an aft verandah stateroom, 246 sq. ft, split bath, and the balcony faces directly off the back of the ship. It's an extra deep balcony. For my family of 4 we paid $5300 and that includes 10% off the base cruise rate (before port fees & tax). The week of Thanksgiving later this year we're booked on Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas for a 7-night Eastern Caribbean. We booked that one at full price within a week of the itineraries opening up to booking, no discounts. There are no split bathrooms so we opted to book 2 staterooms: a verandah stateroom for us & an inside stateroom for the kids directly across the hall from us. Total cost for my family in TWO staterooms??? $3800. Granted, RCI upcharges for things Disney does not. Like soda cards which we probably won't be doing because my brother-in-law said he found the sodas kinda on the watery side. For the cost of the soda card we can get the guys 2 cans of soda per day. I drink water and tea all the time anyway. Can't bring alcohol onboard (not supposed to anyway.. ) so I expect a bar tab of some sort. Yes, they have the main dining rooms but there's a lot of other eateries that are upcharged. Still, I don't think sodas, bar drinks, and upcharge restaurants will amount to $1500. And we've got 2 rooms vs. 1. Do I think I'm getting a better value with RCI? No. Our first choice will always be Disney because that's where our heart is. I've definitely got reservations about sailing on a ship as gigantic as the Allure. I'm really afraid with that many people in that big a space we'll be more little bitty fish in a really big sea. I know I won't be as charmed with it either. The Allure looks like a glitzy mall or Vegas casino. Disney is more classic with just the right amount of pizzaz. But, what can ya do? The husband's family all wanted to do a big family cruise and they don't want to sail Disney. They like RCI. So, we'll try Allure and see how we like it. At the very least, we can say we did both cruise lines' biggest-n-best so we'll be able to say from experience which is better.

 

[EOD K9]

The 25th is my B-Day....enjoy. Unfortunately I don't have anything to compare my recent cruise to. The only reason I would want to sail Allure or Oasis is becuase I'd assume the ride may be a tad smoother. I'm looking forward to hearing your comparisons. I think we may book and Eastern trip for next year when we sail in August.

 

[Master Yoda]

Ok, so basically, DCL is not always a lot higher than everyone else all things being equal.

Correct.

Cruise pricing has nearly as much voodoo in it as flight pricing. As Tammy pointed out cruise pricing tends to start at its lowest point and then go up from there. When deals come out they tend to be of the last minute, off season variety. I have also noticed that Disney's seasons seem to be a little different than other cruise lines. I assume it is since they cater to families, their seasons tend to follow school vacations a little more than other, more adult oriented cruise lines.

 

[Ralphlaw]

When I was at SEA..you
When I was sailing, you never lied to the USCG...it can come back and bite you hard....but Carnival is a major Line...I really don't know if there is going to be a fine or whatever....that is up to the men and ladies in blue!

It's up to the Smurfs?

 

[DVCOwner]

To get back on subject, I think that the problems at Carnival are going to effect Disney in one way; people that where going to book on Carnival are now looking for something else and Disney is where many are going to go. I was looking at a Disney cruise in November and the price as gone up $200.00 per person in the last week. I do not know if this is just normal for Disney, but the more problems Carnival has the higher the price seems to go on the cruise I am looking at.

 

[Master Yoda]

To get back on subject, I think that the problems at Carnival are going to effect Disney in one way; people that where going to book on Carnival are now looking for something else and Disney is where many are going to go. I was looking at a Disney cruise in November and the price as gone up $200.00 per person in the last week. I do not know if this is just normal for Disney, but the more problems Carnival has the higher the price seems to go on the cruise I am looking at.

That is just normal for Disney. Typically Disney cruises are the least expensive the first day they are available. From there they only tend to go up in price.

 

[Ralphlaw]

Actually, we're leaving on the Fantasy this weekend, and when I tell people I'm going on a cruise, many of them say, "I hope it's not a Carnival Cruise." Now, this may mean nothing, but it seems that some people around here are sour to the whole idea of cruising. Those of us who go on cruises from time to time know the difference between Disney and other lines, but I fear that the Carnival disasters are souring alot of people to cruising in general which, long term, may affect Disney. Of course, these same people might then book at Disney World, or they simply might do something completely non-disney during their vacations.

I guess the question then becomes what percentage of Disney cruisers are repeat cruisers who are unaffected by the Carnival problems? What percentage of Disney cruisers are absolutely new to cruising? And what percentage are smart enough to know that Carnival is the Wal-mart of cruise lines, and their problems are not indicative of the quality of a Disney cruise? I doubt if any of us would know the answers to these questions but it probably would require surveys and other information that companies guard.