Disney has priced us out.

[twindaddy]

We did a 4 night cruise on Carnival Inspiration in Feb (booked 4 days out ).

I didn't really get the "party" vibe that I was expecting from the many reports I've read about Carnival. We didn't have any kids for the kid's clubs, but there certainly were a lot of kids onboard. And they seemed to be enjoying themselves. Just my observation, but it seemed that many of the adults onboard were busy doing their "thing" (casino, drinking, whatever). Most of the time, the kids I saw were sans adults.

And the shows onboard - meh, I could do without. Also not real impressed with the new menus that Inspiration and Imagination are testing for dinner.

Yes, forgot that. The shows on Carnival just did not interest me. Very cheap vegas revue types. There were some evenings were we did not have a ton to do, but sitting in a lounge listening to a cover band reading a book is fine for me. I never stopped in the Casino, too smoky for me. I also swam a lot in the pool with my kids, I can do that for hours.

The four day I took out of Long Beach was fine. Did it have more young people at bars obviously having a good time? Yes. Did I like the new "American Table" idea? It took getting used to, but it was cool. Kinda different. Were there drunks barfing everywhere, starting fights? No. Were there more young people in bikinis and less moms in sarongs? Yes. Is the ship one of their older class ships, with very few balconies. Yes. Would I do it again? Absolutely.

Have we totally hijacked this thread? Yes and yes!

You really cannot beat the price of those short Carnival cruises, I can do a four day out of Long Beach for around $500! Out the door!

 

[woody73]

. . . You really cannot beat the price of those short Carnival cruises, I can do a four day out of Long Beach for around $500! Out the door!

Wow, that's impressive! Is that for two people? That's less than the cost of the Royal Sea Package for one:

Royal Sea Package
Duration 45 min x 3
Price $595.00
(Ages 3 - 12)

The most magical makeover experience offered at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, the Royal Sea Package includes 3 pampering packages: the Castle, Under the Sea and Deluxe Maiden packages. Guests receive a framed photo and a traveling tote with Disney Cruise Line adventure stickers. Plus, on the first night of your cruise, your little princess will receive a very special stateroom delivery—a glass slipper and glass slipper necklace with royal invitation to Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique!

Woody

 

[luv2sleep]

Wow, that's impressive! Is that for two people? That's less than the cost of the Royal Sea Package for one: Woody

It's per person and that's the mid summer price right now for a 4 night in an ocean view. It's really not bad. I've looked into it.

 

[luv2sleep]

Yes, forgot that. The shows on Carnival just did not interest me. Very cheap vegas revue types. There were some evenings were we did not have a ton to do, but sitting in a lounge listening to a cover band reading a book is fine for me. I never stopped in the Casino, too smoky for me. I also swam a lot in the pool with my kids, I can do that for hours. The four day I took out of Long Beach was fine. Did it have more young people at bars obviously having a good time? Yes. Did I like the new "American Table" idea? It took getting used to, but it was cool. Kinda different. Were there drunks barfing everywhere, starting fights? No. Were there more young people in bikinis and less moms in sarongs? Yes. Is the ship one of their older class ships, with very few balconies. Yes. Would I do it again? Absolutely. Have we totally hijacked this thread? Yes and yes! You really cannot beat the price of those short Carnival cruises, I can do a four day out of Long Beach for around $500! Out the door!

Lol!

Great info! Thx!

 

[KashasMom]

I agree about the food.

I was soo hyped up for our 5 night disney Magic cruise we took in 2012, everything I was reading was how much better Disney Cruises are than other lines, and how GREAT the customer service is compared to other lines and how much BIGGER the cabins are.

Our inside staterooms (including families) were disgusting..no other words to describe it. The interior and bathrooms were falling a part, they had these nasty toilet bowl cleaners sitting in the bathrooms (even the comedian during the show was making fun of it), and the sofa looked like it was something out of a nasty motel. And we are not 5 star or Deluxe hotel type of people with super high standards.

also differnet halls in the ship smelled like mildew. never experienced that before...not even on the older RCCL ships.

Disney was the FIRST cruise and cruise line that didnt honor or seating request of sitting together (our group has cruised together many times (our state rooms were linked, we called several times to request we have a table together, same dining rotation, everything). We wasted so much time that first day trying to get it straightened out once on board.

Our state room host was not friendly, unlike previous cruises we have been on. And our dining room hosts were just as good as any other cruise line. Sure they cut up our kids meat...that was nice. But they didnt do anything else spectacular to set them a part from other cruise lines.

Also they lost one of our suit cases when we disembarked.It was found and they did mail it to us though. But it was like aghhhh...one thing after another.

Food: like I said in a previous post, Disney's food is NOT up to par with other cruise lines. The food is good, dont get me wrong, we arent picky eaters. But it just wasnt as diverse and good as Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Princess. Disney's food was forgettable.

I walked onto our 2012 Disney cruise with such high expectations that I left so disappointed and unsatisfied. I have lowered our expectations for our Fantasy 2015 cruise and giving Disney one last shot since my kids are in such a fun age and love all the disney magic (3 and 5). I am hoping we love it though and have a great time.

Let me guess. The Magic? We sailed the Magic in June 2012 and it sounds like we had similar experiences. Our stateroom was a little drabby and the food was eh. Have had better on other cruise lines. I really miss the variety on other lines - hot food stations and especially a dinner buffet.

We went on the Fantasy in December and LOVED it! So much nicer than the Magic (although the food was still not great). Our daughter was 4 and she loved Nemo's Reef (much better than the tiny, little water area on the Magic). I think you will have a much better experience on the Fantasy!

 

[pouncingpluto]

The real problem is our progressive tax system that creates a windfall at tax time for the destitute who are not responsible with their money. Instead of paying down debt, these people book a Disney vacation which creates less supply and, therefore, higher prices. Granted, most of us get back a tax refund but I am talking about those who pay very little in income taxes yet get back $5,000 to $8,000 (see example below). In essence, we the hard-working tax payers are paying for Disney trips for those who do not work hard and so it is us who are ultimately responsible for the higher prices. http://s272.photobucket.com/user/lloyd_carver/media/refund_zps4004ab16.jpg.html

Really? You think: a. There is a large number of poor people got that way primarily because of irresponsibility, b. A large portion of those poor, irresponsible people get several thousand dollars back every April, c. A large portion of those people choose to spend their money, out of the nearly limitless ways the money could be spent--even irresponsibly--on a Disney cruise?

This is ridiculous. Even accepting your first two premises, which are controversial themselves, there is no way that there are enough poor, irresponsible people who choose to spend their tax refunds on Disney Cruises to appreciably drive up market prices on a consistent basis.

 

[cyclenut]

We recently did the 4 day Carnival out of LB and thought it was a great cruise, for the money. Good food, plenty to do on the ship. Decent stateroom. Had fun on Catalina. Shows were horrible. I have seen High School shows done much better.

Crew was super friendly. They did push alcohol and there was one particularly loud drunk on the pool deck and one who was thrown out of the comedy club, but that was it. There was apparently a fight of some kind on the pool deck around 10pm, but we had the same thing on the Wonder during sail away. Both incidents were dispersed quickly and only those involved were affected. You get crowds of people jostling for position and someone gets bent out of shape ... boom.

Price was great! I don't remember the exact cost, but I think the entire vacation, including all out of pocket expenses for parking, shore, drinks, etc was around $800 for two.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

delete

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Really? You think: a. There is a large number of poor people got that way primarily because of irresponsibility, b. A large portion of those poor, irresponsible people get several thousand dollars back every April, c. A large portion of those people choose to spend their money, out of the nearly limitless ways the money could be spent--even irresponsibly--on a Disney cruise?

This is ridiculous. Even accepting your first two premises, which are controversial themselves, there is no way that there are enough poor, irresponsible people who choose to spend their tax refunds on Disney Cruises to appreciably drive up market prices on a consistent basis.

Totally agree

AKK

 

[natmom]

With all of my sons food allergies this is worth the decrease in food stress!

Same for me. We took our very first cruise ever last May. I was terrified that my celiac daughter would be sick or starving the entire time, well it was the opposite, best vacation ever. We booked a 7 night on the fantasy for the May because it went so well. Worth the extra cost in my eyes. That being said, we won't be able to afford to cruise year after year.

 

[justhat]

Really? You think: a. There is a large number of poor people got that way primarily because of irresponsibility, b. A large portion of those poor, irresponsible people get several thousand dollars back every April, c. A large portion of those people choose to spend their money, out of the nearly limitless ways the money could be spent--even irresponsibly--on a Disney cruise? This is ridiculous. Even accepting your first two premises, which are controversial themselves, there is no way that there are enough poor, irresponsible people who choose to spend their tax refunds on Disney Cruises to appreciably drive up market prices on a consistent basis.

I agree that there aren't enough of those people driving the prices up, but he's otherwise correct on the EITC. I have plenty of friends and relatives who qualify for that and not one of them spends the refund on anything of use. One took 2 cruises last year within a month yet never paid her mortgage and abandoned her foreclosed home. Are they the norm? I don't know, maybe or maybe not. But it isn't like he is totally off base that people spend their refunds unwisely.

We, otoh, don't even get a refund and owe taxes each year despite taking 0 dependents (and we have 4 kids) and an extra $150/check towards taxes. So no worries on us spending our refund poorly!

 

[GatorMomInNC]

I agree that there aren't enough of those people driving the prices up, but he's otherwise correct on the EITC. I have plenty of friends and relatives who qualify for that and not one of them spends the refund on anything of use. One took 2 cruises last year within a month yet never paid her mortgage and abandoned her foreclosed home. Are they the norm? I don't know, maybe or maybe not. But it isn't like he is totally off base that people spend their refunds unwisely.

We, otoh, don't even get a refund and owe taxes each year despite taking 0 dependents (and we have 4 kids) and an extra $150/check towards taxes. So no worries on us spending our refund poorly!

I work for an organization that assists low income individuals, and I assure you this is not what I see. Yes, there is always a % of people who do stupid things with their money across all income brackets. But people I talk to are using their refunds to pay rent, utilities or medical bills. In fact, around tax refund time and right before Christmas, we notice an uptick of landlords who are quicker to threaten to take to court tenants who are late on their rent. Then they tell them they will let them stay if they pay court costs, but the landlord hasn't taken them to court, they just stick on the extra fees to let them stay. The landlords actually say, "I know you've got the extra money" because the tenants are getting tax refunds or have saved for Christmas. They know that they can't afford to move, so they take advantage of the situation.

As someone who considers it a good day at work if I don't have to tell someone who is either elderly or who has children (because i have found myself being relieved when I discover the person I am talking to has no children) they are about to become homeless, I am always amazed that people think that poor people in this country are living some sort of high life.

Okay, off my soap box. Disney wouldn't raise prices if people didn't pay high prices, and the people paying $10k for DCL are most likely not getting EITC.

 

[twinklemeesh]

luckily we are able to travel in may when there seems to be not such an overwhelming demand, just saved over 1000 by booking for sandiego to Vancouver 5 day wonder, so if you are flexible its such a fab deal! hope to see you there. We did the same last year on an 8 night Caribbean from Galveston and were able to get a window cabin for the same price as interior. Nothing beats DCL!

 

[twindaddy]

Threads I have seen on these boards recently:

1. We are booking the Wonder, will we still enjoy it? (several of these threads)

2. We are booking our first cruise non concierge, I just don't know if I will like it.


#firstwordproblems

 

[E must go to Disney]

I will be going on our first Disney Cruise soon (within the next few months) sadly it will be our only cruise on DCL. We can afford the prices the only way we are getting to go on this one is my daughter has brain cancer and it is a wish trip. Im a little worried that it will ruin other cruise lines for us but really we cant afford to cruise as often as we would like anyhow. I am happy to have this opportunity to make some memories with my daughter.

 

[natmom]

I will be going on our first Disney Cruise soon (within the next few months) sadly it will be our only cruise on DCL. We can afford the prices the only way we are getting to go on this one is my daughter has brain cancer and it is a wish trip. Im a little worried that it will ruin other cruise lines for us but really we cant afford to cruise as often as we would like anyhow. I am happy to have this opportunity to make some memories with my daughter.

I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter. Dcl is the place to make special memories.

 

[ilovetexas]

I just went to a cruise show put on by AAA, so we got a great overview of what other cruise lines have to offer VS what DCL has.
I would NEVER travel on Carnival, ok maybe if it was 100% free. But you get what you pay for. Carnival nickels and dimes you in areas that DCL don't. Plus I am a family type of traveler and just dont want to deal with the party style people who usually travel on Carnival.
I would maybe go on RCCL, but still their room sizes are actually smaller.

Just something to think about

I just love it when people who have never sailed with Carnival have an opinion about Carnival. They don't nickel and dime you any more than DCL does. Or any other cruise line for that matter.

CCL carries more children than DCL every year. MOST people on CCL ships are families. My children love CCL and have not turned to a life of crime due to seeing an occasional Hairy Chest Contest poolside.

I have been on a 7 day Carnival cruises three times, and loved every single one. Outstanding service, and the food is WAY better than Disney. I do not understand why Disney cannot gets its act together on its food.

There is a Carnival hate club on these boards, but I think the majority of them have never sailed on the line, or just once.

^^This. I have 45 days on CCL. I've been on 3 day trips on the old Fantasy Class ships and 7 day trips on Conquest and Spirit class, plus 4 and 5 day trips between. I have never encountered crazy drunks (certainly not worse than my DCL cruises) although the shorter trips did have a more "active" feel to them. Service is just as good as DCL and with few exceptions, the food is better on CCL. I'll give the nod to Remy but that isn't a fair comparison since CCL doesn't have a restaurant that is that high end. The CCL specialty restaurants I've been to are better than Palo.

Been awhile since I've been on Carnival. I didn't remember having an ice cream machine on that cruise. Oh well.

I've been on 7 different Carnival ships (Sensation, Ecstasy, Fascination, Glory, Legend, Conquest, Sunshine) and they all had 24/7 ice cream and frozen yogurt. Cost included in cruise fare.

 

[Rowanonfire]

This is interesting to read. We just booked DCL for August 2015. A 7 night, Dover to Barcelona repo cruise for £3182 for 3 adults and a child. Or around $5315. Not cheap by any stretch of the imagination, but not crazy expensive either. We had been looking at beach holidays in Spain and the surrounding islands and with 3 adults meaning two rooms most places, the price for a full board stay was just ridiculous! So out of curiosity I checked DCL prices and was amazed at how "cheap" it seemed, for what you get. Not much more then we would have paid for a beach holiday and much more exciting in my opinion. Now as it's a repo there is airfare back home but that won't add to much to the price hopefully.

There are cheaper cruise lines but I'd never even considered a cruise line other then Disney. So for me it wasn't too bad at all.

 

[KashasMom]

I just love it when people who have never sailed with Carnival have an opinion about Carnival. They don't nickel and dime you any more than DCL does. Or any other cruise line for that matter.

CCL carries more children than DCL every year. MOST people on CCL ships are families. My children love CCL and have not turned to a life of crime due to seeing an occasional Hairy Chest Contest poolside.



^^This. I have 45 days on CCL. I've been on 3 day trips on the old Fantasy Class ships and 7 day trips on Conquest and Spirit class, plus 4 and 5 day trips between. I have never encountered crazy drunks (certainly not worse than my DCL cruises) although the shorter trips did have a more "active" feel to them. Service is just as good as DCL and with few exceptions, the food is better on CCL. I'll give the nod to Remy but that isn't a fair comparison since CCL doesn't have a restaurant that is that high end. The CCL specialty restaurants I've been to are better than Palo.



I've been on 7 different Carnival ships (Sensation, Ecstasy, Fascination, Glory, Legend, Conquest, Sunshine) and they all had 24/7 ice cream and frozen yogurt. Cost included in cruise fare.

I agree with you 100%. I try very hard not to get into it with people here (although I'm not always successful). It's like banging your head on a brick wall.

 

[fluffsmom]

We sailed the DCL Fantasy in October, 2012 and enjoyed the cruise. DH wanted to do a Disney cruise. In October of 2013, we sailed Carnival Dream. Room was nice, food was good. Obviously the shows were different. The kids had a good time in the kids clubs. Carnival was less than half the price of Disney for a week long cruise.