So, I just priced out a 7 day Disney cruise for my kids next year and...

It's $6,700 for the four of us and that's cruise only. We still have to fly out to Florida.

 

This cruise has Star Wars characters on it and my son loves Star Wars. So, my wife asked me to price out a cruise and see if's it's feasible. For $6,7000 and probably another $1,400 for flights...I think not...

Not a snowballs chAnce in hell would I consider that kind of money on a cruise.

To each his on.

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Not a snowballs chAnce in hell would I consider that kind of money on a cruise.

To each his on.

 

 

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I agree, but what caused you to dig up this thread?

I agree, but what caused you to dig up this thread?

Well, they didn't have to "dig" very far. The last posts were just from August.

EDIT: Although it seems that she's trying to stir things up elsewhere, also. Posting in the "Walkie Talkies" thread that she's going to bring them along on her next cruise to give them a try.

I am a newbie DCL cruiser having just booked my first Disney cruise due to the fact when we go (May, 2019-Fantasy 7 Day EC) my grandboys will be 8 and almost 4 and my now 6 year old is so excited to cruise on Mickey! Boy, will this cruise teach him patience! Grin.

Anyway, I am (as you can tell by my signature, an avid cruiser) who was not very familiar with Disney pricing strategies. I just booked what I thought is very early to get a good room. I found out that best prices is as soon as itineraries become available (in my case, 11/2/2017); so I guess two months after opening isn't too bad. I booked 2 midship family veranda cabins (4B) for the 6 of us and my cost averages(treating all people the same) $263pp per day (not including taxes or gratuities).

My CC mini-suite(M1) on a 10 day Caribbean cruise on the Royal Princess is $250pp per day. So if you figure it out on

a pp per day figure, Disney isn't that much more expensive for similar cabin amenities and size.

Pooh

It's $6,700 for the four of us and that's cruise only. We still have to fly out to Florida.

This cruise has Star Wars characters on it and my son loves Star Wars. So, my wife asked me to price out a cruise and see if's it's feasible. For $6,7000 and probably another $1,400 for flights...I think not...

Funny/sad part that's not even a high price. Last year I priced us on same dates and itinerary as Oasis of the Seas and it's was almost $8K for for of us, $4.1K on the Oasis with a ginormous balcony (I'd say at least ~3X the size of that of DCL's). It pays to shop around and the experience has been excellent on both lines.

We priced Disney for a 7 night cruise for last June. We had only ever cruised with Disney and didn't want to go with anyone else. With 4 of us in a room (2 adults and 14 and 12 year old), it was $9,500.00. I just couldn't justify it. We ended up going on Oasis of the Seas in two rooms for just under $5,000.00. And in all honesty, as much as we love Disney, we missed nothing and had an awesome time. We also rebooked on board for a 9 night Navigator of the Seas cruise for just under $4,000, again 2 rooms and $300 room credit in total. I can't see us going back.

I don't have a loyalty to any cruise line. I go by itinerary, cost, experience and value for me. I have sailed Princess, NCL, Celebrity and Disney. I did book a British Isles cruise on Disney for 2018. I booked the first week the sailing was offered and got the room for $4480.00 for two of us for a Navigators Veranda. I added transfers from the airport to Dover for $190.00 and a hotel room for $286.00 so we are about at the $5000.00 mark right now. This particular cruise for the same room for 2 is about $7300.00 so it does help to book early. There isn't really a bad cruise for me, it is all about where I want to go and what I want to spend and value...

Thank you to Moki'smommy for all of your help and advice. I know that our vacation will be good with all of your help and suggestions that I have read about on this forum.

We are gold members on Disney and yes, the prices have gone up. However in our experience nothing is like Disney. I've cruised NCL and Carnival, and remember virtually nothing of their entertainment, save for a comedy show. The food was okay. Food is okay on all the cruise ships and I might not put one over another, though the Carnival Sunshine had a great burger place and Tex Mex place--they had the best "non dining room" food but otherwise I thought they were pretty much the same.

 

What Disney does is service and showmanship and all the extra little things...you get new tubes of H20 bath products each day (no "dispensers"), their staterooms are not even comparable in size to those on other ships--Disney's regular sized rooms are "suites" on other ships. There is the split bathroom, which is convenient for all. The dining staff that travels with you. I still remember the dining hosts years later! The service is incomparable to NCL and Carnival as well.

 

Cleanliness? People are literally chasing you, waiting for you to make a mess! Nothing is ever your fault (this was not the case on NCL and Carnival). Everyone smiles, everyone seems to genuinely enjoy being around you. Disney must hire the best of the best where service is concerned, because I noticed the distinct difference between them and the other cruise lines.

 

There is no casino--this is a plus for me. Casino stuff everywhere on the other ships--even in a bowling alley. Of course there's smoking in there, which I don't like either. The bars are well away from the general congregation spaces--you don't immediately board into a bar and people trying to sell you gold chains. You board into a grand room with a staircase and perhaps there will be a princess or two there. I am not addicted to princesses but honestly, the entertainment level (including first run Disney movies in their huge theater) is off the charts.

 

We don't care about itineraries (though we love Castaway Cay). We care about being on the ship, enjoying the ship. So much so that my husband and I are going on a second honeymoon in January--three nights on the Dream. Including taxes for both of us it will be about $1800 for a room with a balcony. That's $300 per person per day. Yes, expensive. But worth it. I would not be into cruising if there was no Disney. I would be happy to cruise to nowhere with them. In fact, that would be ideal.

 

There's also not a constant stream of people trying to hawk stuff to you. No drunken young people barfing off the side of the boat. There are kids, and if you hate kids, go on Celebrity or Cunard. We will stick with Disney. We enjoy whatever they throw at us!

 

My friend who has cruised as well with Celebrity and RC as well as Carnival says Disney is in a whole other league. I believe her. We'll pay $300 a day for a Disney cruise because we think it's about 3x as good as a NCL cruise. We'll just cruise less.

 

When you pay for Disney, you pay for a "vibe". I can't explain it to you if you haven't experienced it. But we'll stick with Disney.

i agree that disney is in a league of its own....we hadn't cruised disney for many years, having switched to royal caribbean, but after many years away, we tried Disney again....and while we do enjoy Royal very much, there was just that something extra that i can't even really put into words that sets disney above for us.....

but that said, i'm still willing to cruise other lines under certain circumstances (specific itineraries not offered by DCL)...

We priced Disney for a 7 night cruise for last June. We had only ever cruised with Disney and didn't want to go with anyone else. With 4 of us in a room (2 adults and 14 and 12 year old), it was $9,500.00. I just couldn't justify it. We ended up going on Oasis of the Seas in two rooms for just under $5,000.00. And in all honesty, as much as we love Disney, we missed nothing and had an awesome time. We also rebooked on board for a 9 night Navigator of the Seas cruise for just under $4,000, again 2 rooms and $300 room credit in total. I can't see us going back.

have you already been on the navigator? i'm curious to hear your comparison of the navigator vs the oasis...

in my experience, there is a big difference between the oasis class and pretty much all the other royal ships.....

..

Oops

i agree that disney is in a league of its own....we hadn't cruised disney for many years, having switched to royal caribbean, but after many years away, we tried Disney again....and while we do enjoy Royal very much, there was just that something extra that i can't even really put into words that sets disney above for us.....

My family call that something extra "Magic"

People don't describe their Oasis cruise or their NCL cruise "magical".

No reason you cannot take a cruise for 4 on Royal, Carnival or NCL for less than $4000 or less.

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My family call that something extra "Magic"

 

People don't describe their Oasis cruise or their NCL cruise "magical".

magic is a good word....

i should add that we're a completely disneyholic family (which is my "name" over on the disboards)...when i say we, i'm referring to my husband, daughter, son in law, son, daughter in law and two grandchildren....

we love everything disney...

so having that indefinable disney magic on a cruise matters to us...

i have to admit that i always wonder why people who aren't like my family would pay that much extra for a disney cruise..

on the other hand, when i took my mom and sister, who aren't just not disneyholics but are actually disney haters, they loved the cruise.... loved every aspect of the ship, the crew, the service, the food, etc...

so apparently that extra magic even worked on disney haters...

they even were happy to take a picture with the big cheese (when we happened to bump into him and there wasn't a line in sight!! not a common occurrence to be sure)...

.

I really think the comparison is similar for Six Flags vs. WDW. Why would you go wait in lines in the high humidity at WDW and pay twice (or more) for that experience vs. going to your local Six Flags? Because it's Disney and the attention to detail and the Disney experience/touches/magic and the commitment to service. (Even though any sensible person would have to admit that the rides at Six Flags are MUCH more fun/intense than a head-to-head comparison with rides at Disney parks).

This is well said. I think attending other parks is an event. Going to Disney and or DCL is an experience.

My family call that something extra "Magic"

 

People don't describe their Oasis cruise or their NCL cruise "magical".

We totally would describe our 3 experiences on the Oasis and one time on NCL Getaway as magic. We had an absolutely wonderful time. DCL fans like to "circlejerk" about this intangible magic and pay $3-4K over market level for it. Those of us who don't have the DCL-tainted glasses thoroughly enjoy the experience with other cruise lines and when the price is right sail with DCL.

We totally would describe our 3 experiences on the Oasis and one time on NCL Getaway as magic. We had an absolutely wonderful time. DCL fans like to "circlejerk" about this intangible magic and pay $3-4K over market level for it. Those of us who don't have the DCL-tainted glasses thoroughly enjoy the experience with other cruise lines and when the price is right sail with DCL.

i agree in that i don't know why a non-disney person would pay significantly extra to sail DCL...

DCL has a good cruise product and so do other cruise lines...

there is most definitely a disney extra, but if you're not into disney, it's a lot of money to pay...

i'm willing to pay it, because there are things on a disney cruise that i love that i can't get on other ships (their theater productions for example) and things on other cruise lines that i don't like (the lounge lizard low brow cringe-worthy vegas style theater productions, the casino, etc)

It's $6,700 for the four of us and that's cruise only. We still have to fly out to Florida.

 

This cruise has Star Wars characters on it and my son loves Star Wars. So, my wife asked me to price out a cruise and see if's it's feasible. For $6,7000 and probably another $1,400 for flights...I think not...

Your nuts id you do it. Would love to have that kind of money to throw away.

i agree in that i don't know why a non-disney person would pay significantly extra to sail DCL...

 

DCL has a good cruise product and so do other cruise lines...

 

there is most definitely a disney extra, but if you're not into disney, it's a lot of money to pay.

We’re a Disney-ambivalent family across the board. We’re happily paying for a Marvel cruise that happens to be on a Disney ship. (Although it is significantly less than the OP’s, being fewer days and on a smaller ship.)

However, the lack of a Vegas atmosphere, which DH in particular dislikes elsewhere, will be a bonus.

ETA: Husband and I met at a comic book convention. If it was something that only our son was a fan of, no way would we do something so expensive.

We totally would describe our 3 experiences on the Oasis and one time on NCL Getaway as magic. We had an absolutely wonderful time. DCL fans like to "circlejerk" about this intangible magic and pay $3-4K over market level for it. Those of us who don't have the DCL-tainted glasses thoroughly enjoy the experience with other cruise lines and when the price is right sail with DCL.

Good for you to find that magical experience on Oasis, which you have the privilege to cruise 3 times and we are looking forward to our first experience on any Oasis-class ship this summer. It looks like you cruised DCL 7 times. We did DCL twice (both are 4-night Bahamas when they still offered KSF) and have never been to Disney park (don't feel $ is justifiable to us) so I don't know who are you talking about who are DCL fans or who has the DCL-tainted glasses.

Your nuts id you do it. Would love to have that kind of money to throw away.

Seriously? Who are you to judge how people spend their money?

I would love to try one someday. Especially Star Wars. Marvel would be cool too. The kid in me would have fun!

The price is tough to stomach. I got a Southern Carribean cruise coming up on Carnival for 7 nights for $810 (total for two) out the door with taxes and fees. For someone who's favorite parts of vacation are beaches, food, (and comedy when available) I'm not sure that I justify 5x more. I would probably enjoy any cruise line I went on.

I would love to try one someday. Especially Star Wars. Marvel would be cool too. The kid in me would have fun!

 

The price is tough to stomach. I got a Southern Carribean cruise coming up on Carnival for 7 nights for $810 (total for two) out the door with taxes and fees. For someone who's favorite parts of vacation are beaches, food, (and comedy when available) I'm not sure that I justify 5x more. I would probably enjoy any cruise line I went on.

Comparing Carnival to DCL is rather like comparing McDonald's to a nice, sit down restaurant.....but no, I can't justify 5 times more. We have often found DCL to be 3-4 times the cost of other mainstream, family oriented lines for the same itinerary. I can't justify that.

I just prices out new June and July 2019 sailings and the prices are ridiculous, in my opinion. $1,400 a day for a balcony room. That was for a family of four. Looking at Magic during spring break 2019 as it is around $800/night for oceanview.

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I just prices out new June and July 2019 sailings and the prices are ridiculous, in my opinion. $1,400 a day for a balcony room. That was for a family of four. Looking at Magic during spring break 2019 as it is around $800/night for oceanview.

 

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I looked at the opening day prices, considered booking, and had a stern talk with myself about how I'd just end up canceling due to either cost or family issues.......so didn't book.

There are people out there paying these rates or they wouldn't be charged.

I did note that day 1 prices were almost exactly equal to the *GT rates on similar cruises in 2018.

yes, the prices are ridiculously high for summer 2019..

at least on the disney magic..

we priced for one of the least desirable of the itineraries...really just a repo going from barcelona to dover, though they don't call it a repo..

for 3 porthole rooms, the cost for a 7 night cruise to uninteresting ports is $20,000

and that's for 6 adults and 3 very young toddlers...

and that's with an on board booking discount....

.doesn't that sound a tad expensive for porthole rooms....(deck 2)... ?

I really like the itinerary of the 11-day Southern Caribbean in July, but when I priced it out on Monday and got a price of $9,000 for two adults in a category 5E, I balked. And that's why we like to cruise in the fall. I'll be curious what those prices will be like when the fall 2019 itineraries come out.