DCL vs Princess vs RCCL vs Carnival

[Laura61]

We(myself, DH and DD9) have never done a Disney Cruise but have sailed with all of the other 3 mentioned above and are currently booked on RCCL's LOS for August '08. Friends of ours want us to join them on DCL's Wonder in August '09. It seems that the price for a 4 night cruise on the Wonder is priced the same as our 7 night LOS cruise for similar cabin categories. Why is DCL so expensive and is it worth it?

 

Our last 3 cruises have been w/ Princess(OP,Golden and Grand) and LOS will be our first Voyager class cruise.

 

I am going to post this on the other message boards as well so - sorry if you see this post several times!

 

Thanks for your feedback!

[Sue L]

You pay a premium partly I think because they discount for kids so the adults take up the slack. My theory only, plus keep in mind I don't think Disney ships have casinos, though someone will correct me if I am wrong.

 

I have been on RCL, Princess and Carnival and while I love MY children I really was never interested in taking a cruise where the children are the focus.

[bruce-r]

Why is DCL so expensive and is it worth it?

Disney charges a premium because they have a unique product with limited availability AND they can get the prices they ask. As for worth it, that is an individual value judgment. Obviously it is for many people or they'd have to lower their price to fill their ships.

 

You pay a premium partly I think because they discount for kids so the adults take up the slack.

They don't really discount for the kids.

 

My theory only, plus keep in mind I don't think Disney ships have casinos, though someone will correct me if I am wrong.

The Disney ships definitely do NOT have casinos.

[GMoney]

We(myself, DH and DD9) have never done a Disney Cruise but have sailed with all of the other 3 mentioned above and are currently booked on RCCL's LOS for August '08.

 

I'm assuming that in this case LOS = Liberty?

[Bethee99]

I have been on Disney and RC and I liked them both. I thought after Disney all others would look bad but I really enjoyed my Royal Caribbean cruise. I went on both as adults so I didn't go in the childrens programs. I went on Disney when I was 20 with my 9 year old cousin. He is/was super shy and didn't want to do the childrens programs so I was kinda a nanny for him. My RC cruise was on Adventure and I felt they had more things to do. If your kids are older (10 +) then I say RC if they are little (under 10) then go Disney. The dance/ deck parties on Disney were more fun I thought and the characters walk around. It is kinda cute if you have little kids the characters have "cruise" "formal" and "pirate" type outfits on.

[MN WOMAN]

The only cruise I've taken so far has been on the Disney Wonder so I can only give you that side of the picture. The ship is absolutely beautiful, spotlessly clean and has outstanding service and food. We chose Disney for our 40th anniversary much to everyone's surprise.

 

We loved the private pool and large deck area of the ship for adult's only. We especially loved the adults only beach on their private island. Blocks of beach and probably less than 50 people on it. Most everybody is on the family beach where it is quite crowded

 

If you want to watch the kids and the Disney characters you can stroll over to the family areas but otherwise you won't be disturbed by them.

 

As for entertainment, there are no casinos and the shows are definitely family oriented Disney entertainment. They were good but we decided one show was enough.

 

We decided to try RCI this time and for the price we paid for an inside cabin we were able to get a heck of a deal on a JS. Needless to say, we can't wait to enjoy a balcony for the first time.