Disney has priced us out.

[AquaDame]

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.

It's OK - I'm always amazed when people think its somehow OK or at least better for the childless to be homeless or lose their jobs instead.

 

[GatorMomInNC]

It's OK - I'm always amazed when people think its somehow OK or at least better for the childless to be homeless or lose their jobs instead.

I know, it seems heartless, but I AM relieved if there are no kids involved. The problem with people who have children being homeless is they risk getting into trouble with DSS. Not to mention that even though they may have a friend or relative they can crash with, if it is not in their school district and they have no transportation of their own, they have to pull the kids out of school. This just ratchets up an already stressful situation for these kids. Also, single people have an easier time "couch surfing" or finding a boarding home than a family with multiple kids.

But anyway, I apologize, this is way off topic. My husband always tells me that my job is too depressing and he hates to hear about it...

 

[pouncingpluto]

It's OK - I'm always amazed when people think its somehow OK or at least better for the childless to be homeless or lose their jobs instead.

I think it's worse simply because (in most cases) more people have to go through the trauma resulting from job loss when there are children involved.

 

[momof2n2]

I know, it seems heartless, but I AM relieved if there are no kids involved. The problem with people who have children being homeless is they risk getting into trouble with DSS. Not to mention that even though they may have a friend or relative they can crash with, if it is not in their school district and they have no transportation of their own, they have to pull the kids out of school. This just ratchets up an already stressful situation for these kids. Also, single people have an easier time "couch surfing" or finding a boarding home than a family with multiple kids. But anyway, I apologize, this is way off topic. My husband always tells me that my job is too depressing and he hates to hear about it...

I think it's worse simply because (in most cases) more people have to go through the trauma resulting from job loss when there are children involved.

Joblessness and/or homelessness is more distressing the more people it touches. Simple math shows not having dependents keeps the effects from rippling further...

 

[momof2n2]

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.

Praying you have a beautiful trip making memories and soaking up sunshine.

 

[jlemieu1]

#firstwordproblems

Sorry this made me LOL. Well it maybe a firstworldproblem but it is still feeling the pain.

 

[dllocals]

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.

I have to agree, you found a "good deal" but for an inside cabin on a Repo. Two years ago we were traveling with a verandah for not much more $. That's why we all are not happy.

 

[lbgraves]

... 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.
...

Considering the fact that prices per person in the past have averaged 1200/1500, that would add considerably to the total cost for a family of 4 in the States. No longer "cheap".

 

[cedricandsophie]

I just came across this thread. A little concerned that it seemed to take a turn about the use of tax dollars to pay for cruises! Unfortunately we don't get tax refunds...wish it were so. But the topic is the cost of the cruise so let's keep it there. We have done 12 Disney cruises over the years ranging from the Caribbean to Europe, including the Baltic as well as Alaska and the Mexican coast. We are doing the Greek isles this summer. We are blessed that we can take our entire family, with two or three cabins, some of them inside and 3 or 4 to a cabin. The cost for taking 7 people on the Greek cruise was about $11,000 with air costing almost as much. We have also cruised on crystal, princess, royal Caribbean, carnival, celebrity and silver sea. Yes we are blessed that we can afford it, and yes Disney is more expensive than some, but it is the ambiance, the characters, the service, the comfortable feeling of coming home that we love the most. With the exception of silver sea and crystal which are very expensive, we have never experienced the level of caring and customer service that Disney offers. Also the cabins seem fine to me. I prefer a balcony and we get one most of the time but I'm happy with just a window. The split bathroom makes all the difference especially with 4 people in the cabin. The food has vastly improved over the years. We never let the grand kids order off the kids menu because it is mostly fried stuff although they have started offering grilled chicken or fish on the kids menu too. I find the food fine and I am a bit of a foody.. I send things back if needed and I'm not afraid to ask for a couple of entrees so I can try everything. Also their wine program is a relatively inexpensive way to have a bottle every night. Palo has fab food and we try to go there at least once. Personally I have not noticed a huge increase in prices, but we are lucky that we don't have to track every dollar. But I still feel that the value you get is well worth the cost. We had decided that Greece would be our last European cruise on Disney, but we really like the 2015 cruises to Norway and Iceland. We have been to both but I think the kids will like it. At some point we will just take a 7 day cruise in the summer on the Dream or Fantasy and never get off...we love those ships so much. For an all inclusive week at a five star resort, I don't think you can beat the cost.

By the way, the magic is once again hosting the Turner classic Movie cruise in October. We have been on three of these cruises, the first two on Celebrity. The worst service I have ever experienced. And the food was just okay. We were prepared To not go again until they moved it to Disney. If you like old movies and old movie stars, it is wonderful. Great dress up nights. Great conversations with stars like Eva Marie saint and Ernest Borgnine, the first year, Debbie Reynolds, two years ago, and jane Powell and Robert Wagner from last year. Alex trebek has been on board for trivia games every year so far. They haven't announced the stars on board yet this coming October, but we have signed up already. It's a blast.

 

[disprincess4ever]

I just came across this thread. A little concerned that it seemed to take a turn about the use of tax dollars to pay for cruises! Unfortunately we don't get tax refunds...wish it were so. But the topic is the cost of the cruise so let's keep it there. We have done 12 Disney cruises over the years ranging from the Caribbean to Europe, including the Baltic as well as Alaska and the Mexican coast. We are doing the Greek isles this summer. We are blessed that we can take our entire family, with two or three cabins, some of them inside and 3 or 4 to a cabin. The cost for taking 7 people on the Greek cruise was about $11,000 with air costing almost as much. We have also cruised on crystal, princess, royal Caribbean, carnival, celebrity and silver sea. Yes we are blessed that we can afford it, and yes Disney is more expensive than some, but it is the ambiance, the characters, the service, the comfortable feeling of coming home that we love the most. With the exception of silver sea and crystal which are very expensive, we have never experienced the level of caring and customer service that Disney offers. Also the cabins seem fine to me. I prefer a balcony and we get one most of the time but I'm happy with just a window. The split bathroom makes all the difference especially with 4 people in the cabin. The food has vastly improved over the years. We never let the grand kids order off the kids menu because it is mostly fried stuff although they have started offering grilled chicken or fish on the kids menu too. I find the food fine and I am a bit of a foody.. I send things back if needed and I'm not afraid to ask for a couple of entrees so I can try everything. Also their wine program is a relatively inexpensive way to have a bottle every night. Palo has fab food and we try to go there at least once. Personally I have not noticed a huge increase in prices, but we are lucky that we don't have to track every dollar. But I still feel that the value you get is well worth the cost. We had decided that Greece would be our last European cruise on Disney, but we really like the 2015 cruises to Norway and Iceland. We have been to both but I think the kids will like it. At some point we will just take a 7 day cruise in the summer on the Dream or Fantasy and never get off...we love those ships so much. For an all inclusive week at a five star resort, I don't think you can beat the cost.

By the way, the magic is once again hosting the Turner classic Movie cruise in October. We have been on three of these cruises, the first two on Celebrity. The worst service I have ever experienced. And the food was just okay. We were prepared To not go again until they moved it to Disney. If you like old movies and old movie stars, it is wonderful. Great dress up nights. Great conversations with stars like Eva Marie saint and Ernest Borgnine, the first year, Debbie Reynolds, two years ago, and jane Powell and Robert Wagner from last year. Alex trebek has been on board for trivia games every year so far. They haven't announced the stars on board yet this coming October, but we have signed up already. It's a blast.

What are the prices for say 2 people on a TCM cruise? Curious because you can't find prices on the TCM website.

 

[cedricandsophie]

We paid about $4400 for balcony on 7 for two people. You should be able to find availability on www.tcmcruise.com under book now

 

[Rogillio]

I just came across this thread. A little concerned that it seemed to take a turn about the use of tax dollars to pay for cruises! Unfortunately we don't get tax refunds...wish it were so. But the topic is the cost of the cruise so let's keep it there. We have done 12 Disney cruises over the years ranging from the Caribbean to Europe, including the Baltic as well as Alaska and the Mexican coast. We are doing the Greek isles this summer. We are blessed that we can take our entire family, with two or three cabins, some of them inside and 3 or 4 to a cabin. The cost for taking 7 people on the Greek cruise was about $11,000 with air costing almost as much. We have also cruised on crystal, princess, royal Caribbean, carnival, celebrity and silver sea. Yes we are blessed that we can afford it, and yes Disney is more expensive than some, but it is the ambiance, the characters, the service, the comfortable feeling of coming home that we love the most. With the exception of silver sea and crystal which are very expensive, we have never experienced the level of caring and customer service that Disney offers. Also the cabins seem fine to me. I prefer a balcony and we get one most of the time but I'm happy with just a window. The split bathroom makes all the difference especially with 4 people in the cabin. The food has vastly improved over the years. We never let the grand kids order off the kids menu because it is mostly fried stuff although they have started offering grilled chicken or fish on the kids menu too. I find the food fine and I am a bit of a foody.. I send things back if needed and I'm not afraid to ask for a couple of entrees so I can try everything. Also their wine program is a relatively inexpensive way to have a bottle every night. Palo has fab food and we try to go there at least once. Personally I have not noticed a huge increase in prices, but we are lucky that we don't have to track every dollar. But I still feel that the value you get is well worth the cost. We had decided that Greece would be our last European cruise on Disney, but we really like the 2015 cruises to Norway and Iceland. We have been to both but I think the kids will like it. At some point we will just take a 7 day cruise in the summer on the Dream or Fantasy and never get off...we love those ships so much. For an all inclusive week at a five star resort, I don't think you can beat the cost.

By the way, the magic is once again hosting the Turner classic Movie cruise in October. We have been on three of these cruises, the first two on Celebrity. The worst service I have ever experienced. And the food was just okay. We were prepared To not go again until they moved it to Disney. If you like old movies and old movie stars, it is wonderful. Great dress up nights. Great conversations with stars like Eva Marie saint and Ernest Borgnine, the first year, Debbie Reynolds, two years ago, and jane Powell and Robert Wagner from last year. Alex trebek has been on board for trivia games every year so far. They haven't announced the stars on board yet this coming October, but we have signed up already. It's a blast.

I actually agree with everything you wrote. DCL's atmosphere makes it unique and special. The problem, once you've done the DCL ports of call, you either take the same cruise again with DCL or you can take a different cruise line at half the price and have a new ship, new shows, new shop, new activities and new ports.

I was not aware DCL is going to Iceland. We will look into this.

 

[tajz90]

I actually agree with everything you wrote. DCL's atmosphere makes it unique and special. The problem, once you've done the DCL ports of call, you either take the same cruise again with DCL or you can take a different cruise line at half the price and have a new ship, new shows, new shop, new activities and new ports.

I was not aware DCL is going to Iceland. We will look into this.

Out of our 9 DCL cruises since 2006, 2 were repeats. We were shopping for different "cheap" cruises this summer, hoping to find a big variety, but most of the "cheap" ones were to the same old places. We had to invest more if we wanted to sail a southern or a Bermuda. I feel DCL does pretty good with only 4 ships.

 

[NancyIL]

I actually agree with everything you wrote. DCL's atmosphere makes it unique and special. The problem, once you've done the DCL ports of call, you either take the same cruise again with DCL or you can take a different cruise line at half the price and have a new ship, new shows, new shop, new activities and new ports.

I was not aware DCL is going to Iceland. We will look into this.

Mike, welcome back! I haven't seen you posting in quite awhile. DCL's summer 2015 cruises were available to book beginning March 26 (3 weeks ago today) for Platinum/Gold, and the next day for everyone else. As in the past, the prices of some cruises increased quite a bit on opening day - especially the Copenhagen to Dover repo with stops in Norway, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands: http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/reservations/customize?execution=e1s3

 

[Rogillio]

Mike, welcome back! I haven't seen you posting in quite awhile. DCL's summer 2015 cruises were available to book beginning March 26 (3 weeks ago today) for Platinum/Gold, and the next day for everyone else. As in the past, the prices of some cruises increased quite a bit on opening day - especially the Copenhagen to Dover repo with stops in Norway, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands: http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/reservations/customize?execution=e1s3

Hey Nancy!

OMG, $11k for a veranda room for 2 people! Yikes. But it looks like an awesome adventrue.

 

[hygienist999]

We are DVC Members, so we always use our points for our cruises. We leave next month on a 9 night Alaskan Cruise, all paid with Disney Points. So, I don't even know what the price of the cruises are.

We've been on 5 DCL Cruises, 4 on the Magic and 1 on the Dream. The Med cruise was awesome, and we may book Iceland/Norway while on the Wonder next month, again with points.

I've cruised Princess, Carnival, and Royal Caribbean. I just assume to never board another RC ship. Carnival is just ok, nothing great, but hey its a vacay, and the Princess was a long time ago. Nothing I've been on compares with Disney.

 

[NancyIL]

We are DVC Members, so we always use our points for our cruises. We leave next month on a 9 night Alaskan Cruise, all paid with Disney Points. So, I don't even know what the price of the cruises are.

We've been on 5 DCL Cruises, 4 on the Magic and 1 on the Dream. The Med cruise was awesome, and we may book Iceland/Norway while on the Wonder next month, again with points.

I've cruised Princess, Carnival, and Royal Caribbean. I just assume to never board another RC ship. Carnival is just ok, nothing great, but hey its a vacay, and the Princess was a long time ago. Nothing I've been on compares with Disney.

The 11-night Norway/Iceland repo cruise has increased in price a lot. I don't know if the points required to book it went up, too, but it was less of an outrageous price on opening day - when you could've booked it.

 

[west&east]

We are just off the Fantasy. We did the same exact Western itinerary last year on the Fantasy for Spring Break and loved it so much we booked it again even though it was the same ports (we didn't have a choice of weeks due to school). We have also sailed on the Magic in the Med.

We rebooked the Fantasy on board for next year (Eastern this time) despite the price difference and no 10% discount that week (blacked out). I am open to switching to another cruise line. Before we had our first DCL cruise three years ago, we had cruised 12 times on 5 different lines. But even looking at suites, etc on other cruises, I am drawn to stay on DCL. My DD14 just said she'd rather have an inside bottom of the ship cabin on Disney than a butler suite somewhere else. DS11 agrees (even though he didn't stop for one character and preferred to hang to with his friends outside of Edge.)

For us, we are just bitten by the DCL bug. We love the rotational dining. We love the camaraderie of the meet & greets and the FE groups. I loved Damian in Skyline greeting me by name and making me feel like Skyline was my private living room (and we often had it all to ourselves). I loved riding the aqua duck over and over again after 10pm on the last night with DH. With a teenage daughter, we love the split bath (and this is almost feeling like a deal breaker).

And one thing I didn't see after skimming this this thread is Castaway Cay. That is just a magical day for us. (really a perfect day on Friday). Didn't have the same feeling on Princess Cay or Coco Cay.

We truly believe that there is rarely such thing as a bad cruise. I would take a free cruise on another cruise line. The new exciting RCL ships are appealing and we are always tempted to return to Celebrity to see if the food still excels, but DCL just feels different for us so we keep cruising with them...

 

[west&east]

We are just off the Fantasy. We did the same exact Western itinerary last year on the Fantasy for Spring Break and loved it so much we booked it again even though it was the same ports (we didn't have a choice of weeks due to school). We have also sailed on the Magic in the Med.

We rebooked the Fantasy on board for next year (Eastern this time) despite the price difference and no 10% discount that week (blacked out). I am open to switching to another cruise line. Before we had our first DCL cruise three years ago, we had cruised 12 times on 5 different lines. But even looking at suites, etc on other cruises, I am drawn to stay on DCL. My DD14 just said she'd rather have an inside bottom of the ship cabin on Disney than a butler suite somewhere else. DS11 agrees (even though he didn't stop for one character and preferred to hang to with his friends outside of Edge.)

For us, we are just bitten by the DCL bug. We love the rotational dining. We love the camaraderie of the meet & greets and the FE groups. I loved Damian in Skyline greeting me by name and making me feel like Skyline was my private living room (and we often had it all to ourselves). I loved riding the aqua duck over and over again after 10pm on the last night with DH. With a teenage daughter, we love the split bath (and this is almost feeling like a deal breaker).

And one thing I didn't see after skimming this this thread is Castaway Cay. That is just a magical day for us. (really a perfect day on Friday). Didn't have the same feeling on Princess Cay or Coco Cay.

We truly believe that there is rarely such thing as a bad cruise. I would take a free cruise on another cruise line. The new exciting RCL ships are appealing and we are always tempted to return to Celebrity to see if the food still excels, but DCL just feels different for us so we keep cruising with them...

 

[hygienist999]

The 11-night Norway/Iceland repo cruise has increased in price a lot. I don't know if the points required to book it went up, too, but it was less of an outrageous price on opening day - when you could've booked it.

We looked about a week ago and had enough, we were planning on booking while on the Wonder in 27 days. Usually DVC members get lower point rates for upcoming cruises if booked on board. We have over 900 points to pull from next year, so that should be enough.