Thoughts on pricing for Disney Wish

[Tapi]

I’m a bit shocked. One of my best friends just booked the Disney Wish for the summer of 2022. 4 night cruise, family of 4, verandah stateroom for $7,000. This will be his first time on Disney (he’s only done two other cruises in his life, one on Royal and one Carnival, both before he had kids) and he asked me if this pricing is “normal”.

 

I told him that I would personally NEVER pay that, even for a brand new ship on Disney, but my only point of reference on Disney is one cruise (7 night on the Fantasy over Thanksgiving in 2017) when we paid $6,000, less than what he’s paying for this 4 night and even then I thought it was grossly overpriced. 
 

So to all my fellow Disney fans, I need to ask if this is “normal”, and if this is something that you’d be willing to pay, even for a brand new Disney ship. I’m personally not used to paying this much for a short 4 night cruise, so the question is out of my element. If I’m setting aside this amount of money for a cruise, it wouldn’t be for a short Bahamas cruise. Thoughts? Thanks for any feedback! 

[coldflame]

It's incredibly pricey for a family of 4. We were hoping to ride in the maiden voyage, but it was literally almost $10K for 5 nights in a simple Verandah room, which is over 2X what we pay for 7-night cruises. However, the tail-end end summer (mid-September or later), they are on par of cruises in the Dream. We reserved a 4-night on Sep 12th, 2022, I think for a bit over $4k, which is definitely on the pricey side, but the premium can be justified for the new ship. 

 

But yes, unless they have money burning out of their pockets, I'd suggest them to wait couple of months and save over 50% on fare for the same ship.

[sunshinetricia]

We switched from a 7 day on one of the older ships to a B2B 3 and 4 day on the Wish and actually got almost 5K back from Disney. Exact same week in August. Same category of room. Same total number of days. I expected the Wish to cost more than the older ships and was shocked that it was less! 

[freaky_82]

I don't think that the price is extreme for Disney. They Maiden Voyage was about 800$ more than the next bookable cruises, if you account for the extra day.

 

There are huge price differences between a July, August cruise and the same one in September.  Slow season is often half the price of high season, but this is true for many cruiselines.

I could take a 4 day Bahamas cruise with Disney Wish in September for the same price as a Carnival Bahamas cruise in August. 

 

I think that the price is more reasonable for 4 person in one cabin than for 2. With Disney first and second passenger in a cabin pay way more than the 3rd and 4th passenger.

Of course the total amount for 4 passengers is higher than for 2, but it is not double.  So the per person price goes down if you have more people in a stateroom.

[coldflame]

3 hours ago, freaky_82 said:

I don't think that the price is extreme for Disney. They Maiden Voyage was about 800$ more than the next bookable cruises, if you account for the extra day.

 

There are huge price differences between a July, August cruise and the same one in September.  Slow season is often half the price of high season, but this is true for many cruiselines.

I could take a 4 day Bahamas cruise with Disney Wish in September for the same price as a Carnival Bahamas cruise in August. 

 

I think that the price is more reasonable for 4 person in one cabin than for 2. With Disney first and second passenger in a cabin pay way more than the 3rd and 4th passenger.

Of course the total amount for 4 passengers is higher than for 2, but it is not double.  So the per person price goes down if you have more people in a stateroom.

 

No, not really. Same room category, same deck from Maiden Voyage to Mid-September was almost 60% difference. $10K for a family of 4 for a Bahamas cruise, is excessive any way you slice it.

[freaky_82]

3 hours ago, coldflame said:

 

No, not really. Same room category, same deck from Maiden Voyage to Mid-September was almost 60% difference. $10K for a family of 4 for a Bahamas cruise, is excessive any way you slice it.

It was not 60% at opening, of course the Maiden Voyage sold faster and prices went up sooner. If you compared on opening day it was a different picture.

https://disneycruiselineblog.com/2021/05/disney-wish-inaugural-season-starting-from-pricing-revealed-a-look-at-pre-opening-day-prices/ 

Inside cabin Maiden 5 night cruise : 5770$ (Per night 1154$) 

Inside Cabin june 20th, 4 night cruise: 4085$ (per night 1021$)

 

Inside Cabin june 21st 4 night on the Dream 3760$   ( per night 940$) 

 

Of course it is not cheap, but DCL never is. I'm just stating that the difference in-between ships is not that enormous. 

Of course 1000$+ a night for 2 adults  in an inside cabin is excessive, but the 940$ is not much better. 

 

 

[coldflame]

4 minutes ago, freaky_82 said:

It was not 60% at opening, of course the Maiden Voyage sold faster and prices went up sooner. If you compared on opening day it was a different picture.

https://disneycruiselineblog.com/2021/05/disney-wish-inaugural-season-starting-from-pricing-revealed-a-look-at-pre-opening-day-prices/ 

Inside cabin Maiden 5 night cruise : 5770$ (Per night 1154$) 

Inside Cabin june 20th, 4 night cruise: 4085$ (per night 1021$)

 

Inside Cabin june 21st 4 night on the Dream 3760$   ( per night 940$) 

 

Of course it is not cheap, but DCL never is. I'm just stating that the difference in-between ships is not that enormous. 

Of course 1000$+ a night for 2 adults  in an inside cabin is excessive, but the 940$ is not much better. 

 

 

As a gold this was pricing: 

[goodtravels2u]

With DCL it all depends on what category you book, season you book, where you are located on the ship, forward, middle or aft, and if you are a DCL Castaway Club member. Castaway club members get priority booking. As the ship fills up, the prices go up! The sooner you can book, the less you will pay. Bookings opened to the general public on May 27, but C/C members got to start booking on May 17! There are three categories of the C/C - Silver, gold, and platinum. Platinum being the cruisers with the most cruises. On the Disney WISH for the first time ever, Disney split up their platinum category into three divisions. You could book on May 17 if you had taken 25+ cruises with Disney. You could book on May 18 if you had taken 20+ cruises with Disney and you could book on May 19 if you had taken 15+ cruises. All other platinum members (10+ cruises) got to book on May 20, followed by gold members and then silver members. As platinum members with 15 cruises or more, we booked our 4/nt cruise on May 19 for an early September cruise and we paid only $2333. For Disney and a brand new ship that is a great price! We booked an Oceanview Stateroom in the lower part of the ship. If we had booked a “deluxe” Oceanview state room, one that is bigger, or a veranda in a different part of the ship the price goes up, AND as the ship fills up, the prices also go up! We probably could have gotten our room for even $200 less if we have been in the first group for booking on 5/17. We purposely chose later dates (early September) knowing that the cruise would be cheaper. We had no intention of paying $5000, $6000 $7000 for a stateroom. You could probably get two 7 night cruises booked on Royal Caribbean for that much (just guessing). But I will say with Disney you get what you pay for. Excellent service, beautiful clean ships, great entertainment for the family and for just adults alike. Your best bet with Disney is to book early, and get into one of their clubs.  Silver club starts after your first cruise. And if you like DCL cruises, book as many as can per year to build up your status. Also, when on board a Disney cruise, use a placeholder to book a future cruise. That will give you 10% off of most cruises and $100 future onboard credit. Your friend probably paid top dollar because they were part of the general public booking on May 27. But I guarantee you they will have a great time and get what they paid for! 

[sergel02]

It doesn’t seem terribly high for DCL and that hurts to say. That said, if you can wait until September the price is much lower. That’s easier said than done though I know.

 

I would not spend that much money for a 4 night to the Bahamas. Maybe a 7 night in Europe, or even a 7 day at least in a brand new Disney ship. 
 

I feel spoiled though. We went on one Disney ship a couple years ago. It was 7 nights on the Fantasy for 3 people in a balcony room in February for around $4000.  It was last minute and I think that’s the only way my mom found that deal.

Edited June 25, 2021 by sergel02