Disney Cruise Line

[barndweller Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close barndweller]

dgonza
I agree 100% that you pay a premium for the Disney "magic." And you are quite right that there are top quality cruises for less money than Disney. Princess seems to be one of the cruise lines that has developed a good product that appeals to the vast majority of the cruise audience. In looking at the website pricing, I didn't find a comparable room & itinerary that was 1/2 that of Disney, however. In fact it is only a few dollars less on Princess as the one I have booked on Disney. Since I haven't gone on our Disney cruise yet, I don't know if the "magic" is worth the extra cost. I suspect it will be for our family, since we are suckers for the Disney pixie dust. If I was a big lover of the cruise type vacation, I doubt I would choose Disney, because as you have said, there are plenty of top quality alternatives for less money.

I am quite impressed with how the cruise industry has changed in the last 20 years. The cabins are so much bigger and the prices are so much more affordable. But the ships are so huge! The cruise we did all those years ago only held 600 passengers! . But it cost 3x as much as the same cruise does today.

[dgonza Member Find all posts View Profile Close dgonza]

I didn't find a comparable room & itinerary that was 1/2 that of Disney, however. In fact it is only a few dollars less on Princess as the one I have booked on Disney.


[B]Disney[/B]

My Trip So Far - 2 Adults, 2 Children Total Trip = $5,644.92

Departure Sat, Mar 22 2008
5:00 pm 7 Night Western Caribbean Cruise
Itinerary: Roundtrip Port Canaveral (orlando)
Ship Name: Disney Magic®
Cruise Line: Disney Cruise Line
Stateroom: 11, Inside Stateroom 6551
Select different cruise



Your Price Breakdown

Price Summary Passenger 1 Passenger 2 Passenger 3, 4 Total

Cruise Rate: $1,399.00 $1,399.00 $2,598.00 $5,396.00
Cruise Taxes and Fees: $62.23 $62.23 $124.46 $248.92

Total Price: $1,461.23 $1,461.23 $2,722.46 $5,644.92

Minimum Amount Due: $1,000.00

Remaining Balance: due on or before Dec 28, 2007 $4,644.92

--------------------------------------------------------------------
================================================== ===


Princess

My Trip So Far - 2 Adults, 2 Children Total Trip = $3,529.16

Departure Sat, Mar 22
5:00 pm 7 Night Western Caribbean Cruise
Itinerary: Roundtrip Fort Lauderdale
Ship Name: Grand Princess
Cruise Line: Princess Cruises
Stateroom: M, Inside Stateroom P253
Select different cruise


Your Price Breakdown

Price Summary Passenger 1 Passenger 2 Passenger 3, 4 Total

Cruise Rate: $949.00 $949.00 $1,398.00 $3,296.00
Cruise Taxes and Fees: $58.29 $58.29 $116.58 $233.16

Total Price: $1,007.29 $1,007.29 $1,514.58 $3,529.16

Minimum Amount Due: $500.00

Remaining Balance: due on or before Dec 28, 2007 $3,029.16


This is what I found for my family. Both have same date and Itinerary (western Caribbean, 7 night, interior cabins)

Ok Ok, I can ALMOST pay for 2 cruises for the price of 1 Disney. I think the biggest thing here is that princess and other cruiselines give more of a discount for passengers #3 and #4. These prices were found on Travelocity. If you are interested in possibly saving even more money on your disney cruise, may I suggest CruiseQuick.com This is a "internet only" based travel agent. I always deal with Ray. If you like his direct email is ray@cruisequick.com They are very punctual with their emails and on my last cruise they saved me $600. Just thought I would share the information with you. Also if you havent done so there is a cruise forum too where you can get tons and tons of information just like this forum. Its Cruise Critic: Cruise reviews, Cruise message boards, cruise bargains, and cruise information Ok well, I know you will sure enjoy your cruise and think of me when you are eating that lobster!!!

[martygeorge79 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close martygeorge79]

We're not cruisers, but a co-worker will only cruise Disney because of the aforementioned quality standards. It must be outstanding because this is a guy who for years would do NOTHING for vacations, and all of a sudden it's Disney cruises, sometimes twice in a year. He just went on their Christmas cruise in 06, is flying to Barcelona in June for their European cruise, and he's booked the Panama Canal cruise for Aug, O8.

Marty

[dgonza Member Find all posts View Profile Close dgonza]

We're not cruisers,

I highly suggest you take a cruise. You will just love it!!! But be forewarned, it is addicting. If your coworker has only been on Disney Cruises, that may be why because he enjoyed his first cruise soooo much that he wanted to go more and more and more, hence booking all these cruises. There could be some loyalty to Disney. Me for example have only been on Princess Cruises. I have an open booking for a 3rd cruise. I havent been on any other cruiseline. Partly due to the future cruise credits you can get onboard. While onboard Princess ships, you can pay $100 and that is a future cruise credit. This is just basically your deposit. If you were to book with a travel agent you would have to pay $750-$1000 deposit. So this alleviates the big initial deposit up front, and you have up to 4 yrs to book the cruise you want. If you dont book within the 4 yrs, the $100 deposit is fully refundable. I do love cruising. However, I have an interest in checking out other cruiselines to see what they have to offer, and how they differ for better or worse. I want to try a Disney cruise as well as Royal Caribbean, and even Carnival.

[Steamboat Bill Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Steamboat Bill]

I went on Freedom of the Seas last summer and it was awesome.

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

We're not cruisers, but a co-worker will only cruise Disney because of the aforementioned quality standards. It must be outstanding because this is a guy who for years would do NOTHING for vacations, and all of a sudden it's Disney cruises, sometimes twice in a year. He just went on their Christmas cruise in 06, is flying to Barcelona in June for their European cruise, and he's booked the Panama Canal cruise for Aug, O8.

Marty

Me, too!

We are Adult cruisers as you can see from the trip report.....and we love it.
We have friends we met on the DIS board that we cruise with....just a wonderful experience.

My DD 21 just went on a Carnival Cruise (remember that thread!) and I asked her about the ship compared to DCL - she said, Mom, it was so tacky it was laughable - and went on to tell me the fun they had.

The level of service is great...and we are willing to pay for that service.

edited to say that I am also open to going on other cruiselines......just for right now DCL is going where I want to go when I want to go - and they are bulding 2 new ships to be launched in 2009 and 2010 - so it will be interesting to see where THEY will go!

[Becky Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Becky]

Thanks, Pat for posting. Our kids want to go one day. Maybe soon if we quite buying timeshares and more DVC points.

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

Thanks, Pat for posting. Our kids want to go one day. Maybe soon if we quite buying timeshares and more DVC points.

Hey Becky!

Welcome to TS4M's.....some of my fellow cruisers use DVC points but many seem to think they get a better deal renting their points and using the money to cruise - for a Disney crazy family like yours, you would truly enjoy it.

I also see you now have 15 posts so will be able to see all the sightings - we have many great posters on the II exchange board.

Can't wait to see my buddies Chip-n-Dale next month on the high seas....

Disney is desperately trying to fill up the Barcelona to FL (8/18-9/1) cruise next month,
2 people can cruise in a GTY cabin for under $2800 for 2 weeks.....wonderful pricing

[TravelingT Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close TravelingT]

I have taken a Disney cruise and loved it. One thing we need to mention here is that the kid's clubs on the Disney cruise are open from around 9 in the morning until around 1 in the morning. They don't close down for lunch or dinner. If it is dinner time, they take them up to the buffet and feed them. That is a wonderful thing for parents! I have hesitated trying other cruiselines for that very reason!

If you are a DVC member, you can book cruises using your vacation points. No need to go through II or RCI or anything. It is not the best value for the use of your points, but it is available.

[3kids4me Super Moderator and Super Mom Find all posts View Profile Close 3kids4me]

I just now read your trip report Pat...awesome!

This is my daughter's dream trip and I do feel a little guilty that I haven't done it for her. But I just can't see five of us squeezing into a cabin together, and anything more than that gets pricey. (Well, even one cabin is pricey!) Maybe someday....

[readyalready Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close readyalready]

We have 3 kids and get two higher category cabins that connect (higher being less expensive in this case). It has always been less expensive than getting the one cabin that fits 5. I think the disney cruise is our family's most favorite vacation ever, and we've had some good ones.

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

We have 3 kids and get two higher category cabins that connect (higher being less expensive in this case). It has always been less expensive than getting the one cabin that fits 5. I think the disney cruise is our family's most favorite vacation ever, and we've had some good ones.

The new ships that they are building to be launched in 2009 and 2010 should have more 'large family friendly' staterooms in different categories.....so families of 5 or 6 will have more options.....

[ml855 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ml855]

I'm really excited now, after reading your trip report. My DH and I are planning a cruise for 2010, we purchased enough dvc pts to visit disney EOY and next year is already planned. Waiting till 2010 is going to be a very hard wait.

-Jean

[shaggy Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close shaggy]

What a wonderful trip. I read everyword !! Someday I'll get to go!! shaggy