Just off the Magic - a few thoughts on cost.

[TeamRiley]

Just got back off the Magic and on the flight home was thinking about how many people comment that a Disney Cruise costs so much more than the other lines. I did some quick calculations on overall cost thought some might be interested.

When you add up all the other additional costs - Flights, Hotel the night before, Transportation to the port, Port Excursions, Tips etc. - They become a significant portion of our costs.

If you add up the entire event, then in this case, compare Disney to Royal Caribbean, the Disney Cruise ends up being 1.3 times more expensive than the Royal. Not 2 or 2.5 that most people throw around. Granted, the difference can still be a fair chunk of change, but adding everything up and doing the comparison is worth the effort.

30% premium is totally worth it to us to get away from the 'Mall of the Sea' with way too many passengers and the getting the Hard Sell every time you even get close to where they are selling anything.

As always, your personal mileage will vary depending on what you prefer.

 

[Marc D]

Here's another perspective on that subject. We just booked a 7-nights cruise to Alaska on Celebrity from Vancouver, so all the other parameters - flights, hotel stay, etc - are exactly the same as a DCL Alaska cruise.

For a few thousand dollars less than a 4A, which is our usual non-Concierge stateroom on DCL, we could have booked a Celebrity suite, which offers 394 sq ft of cabin space (a 4A on Wonder is 304 sq ft), including a walk-in closet, large bathroom, 105 sq ft balcony, exclusive upscale restaurant for the entire cruise, private lounge, butler service, unlimited wifi, unlimited drink package... For the same price as that 4A, the Royal suite was available. That offers 1.5 bathrooms, 590 sq ft interior space, a 6-place dining table where you can have meals served in courses and a balcony with a hot tub plus everything above and 900 $ OBC which can be used to pay for excursions or gratuities. We didn't look up the cost of sailing in a 1BR on DCL.

In some instances, DCL is still competitive. In others, mainly in Europe and Alaska, it becomes less and less possible for us to justify the cost of sailing DCL. Being Platinum and having sailed all the ships in the last few years, we know what we are giving up by switching lines, mainly the teen club for our son and the shows we have seen many times. This time, the decision to go with Celebrity over DCL was not hard at all.

 

[TeamRiley]

I agree that Europe and Alaska are much different considerations. I can't see doing those on DCL either.

 

[Chrissy-Mickey]

You're correct, though it helps that you went on the Magic. The older ships are cheaper.

 

[Sanchez]

Just got back off the Magic and on the flight home was thinking about how many people comment that a Disney Cruise costs so much more than the other lines. I did some quick calculations on overall cost thought some might be interested.

When you add up all the other additional costs - Flights, Hotel the night before, Transportation to the port, Port Excursions, Tips etc. - They become a significant portion of our costs.

If you add up the entire event, then in this case, compare Disney to Royal Caribbean, the Disney Cruise ends up being 1.3 times more expensive than the Royal. Not 2 or 2.5 that most people throw around. Granted, the difference can still be a fair chunk of change, but adding everything up and doing the comparison is worth the effort.

30% premium is totally worth it to us to get away from the 'Mall of the Sea' with way too many passengers and the getting the Hard Sell every time you even get close to where they are selling anything.

As always, your personal mileage will vary depending on what you prefer.

I think that you can perform all sorts of mathematical gymnastics to validate your decisions. If you like DCL cruises just be happy and go. There is no need to justify to anyone how you choose to spend your money. It seems clear that you believe RCCL provides an inferior product, but the good news for you is that you don't have to cruise with that line. Unless you are seeking validation, there should be no reason to denigrate them.

I happen to disagree with you and find little to no difference in quality between the two lines. Though I think Princess is far superior to both DCL and RCCL and I generally pay half as much for better cruises (using your math that equates to about 1.9x more on DCL.)

 

[brentm77]

I think that you can perform all sorts of mathematical gymnastics to validate your decisions. If you like DCL cruises just be happy and go. There is no need to justify to anyone how you choose to spend your money. It seems clear that you believe RCCL provides an inferior product, but the good news for you is that you don't have to cruise with that line. Unless you are seeking validation, there should be no reason to denigrate them.

I happen to disagree with you and find little to no difference in quality between the two lines. Though I think Princess is far superior to both DCL and RCCL and I generally pay half as much for better cruises (using your math that equates to about 1.9x more on DCL.)

What do you like more about Princess?

 

[Sanchez]

We generally travel adults only so the DCL child activities and characters add no value. Further, I am not a fan of Disney shows (this is not a reflection of the quality, but I find them unwatchable.) My references below are to Regal, Sky and Enchanted.

MDR food: Even for a mass market line DCL is average. Princess is higher quality with more variety.
Service: Service is more professional and understated. We have had uniformly good service over our six Princess cruises. You aren't going to get magic tricks, but you will get high quality service.
Pools: Larger and less crowded.
Deck food: Princess is far superior and the pizza is very good. The included pizza restaurant is excellent.
Gym: Much bigger and better equipped.
Track: On the top deck and I enjoy running at sunset.
In-room movies: generally a great selection.
Wine list: Very good for a mass market cruise line
Buffet: Princess has a wide variety of international choices. This is one area where DCL is incredibly weak. The difference is significant. We sometimes choose the buffet over the MDR.
Website and Medallion: Princess makes it easy to register and upload information. Medallion access is excellent.

Overall, we find Princess to be much more relaxed and professional. There are no slides, zip lines and the like. The MDRs aren't crazy like DCL. The food is light years ahead of DCL. The room service is good.

We were on an 11 day Southern Caribbean over Christmas (Curacao, Bonaire, Dominica, St. Thomas and Grand Turk.) No one pressured us or tried to sell anything to us. My wife used the spa and we purchased some drinks - that is it. I don't know why people presume that upselling is common on other cruise lines. Fares were $1600pp for deck 16 balcony. Add taxes, tips and insurance and total for the cruise for two adults was less than $3800. We probably spent about $300 on board.

 

[Kwami]

I don't know why people presume that upselling is common on other cruise lines.

Because upselling is very common one some other lines, like NCL and RCCL. But it happens on Disney ships, too.

 

[princesscinderella]

As a family of 5 we find that for Caribbean cruises the price of Disney is almost the same as we have to get two staterooms on other cruise lines where we pay full fare for 4 passengers instead of just two on DCL. For Alaska we sailed on the bliss in two staterooms for 4k less than a family stateroom on DCL. Haven’t priced Europe ones on DCL but we have a 50% from the canceled wish we will use for one in 2023 when the itineraries come out.

 

[tvguy]

I don't know why people presume that upselling is common on other cruise lines.

Our last cruise was on Celebrity and the upselling of their extra cost dining options was unavoidable. You could not enter any included dining option without passing a crew member pitching the extra cost dining options. At the buffet at lunch time they literally had a crew member going table to table with menus trying to get you to sign up. At that point it was 3 days into the cruise and if you didn't show interest, they would then offer the option at half off.
Disney is different in that respect, but I'm not sure if what Disney does is the reason. I think people who cruise Disney are more inclined to book extra cost dining, and do so in advance of their cruise. Our MDR staff on Celebrity and the previous HAL cruise both made mention that the extra cost dining had been under performing with more passengers that the cruise lines expected opting for the included dining.

 

[beckicnm]

Our last cruise was on Celebrity and the upselling of their extra cost dining options was unavoidable. You could not enter any included dining option without passing a crew member pitching the extra cost dining options. At the buffet at lunch time they literally had a crew member going table to table with menus trying to get you to sign up. At that point it was 3 days into the cruise and if you didn't show interest, they would then offer the option at half off.
Disney is different in that respect, but I'm not sure if what Disney does is the reason. I think people who cruise Disney are more inclined to book extra cost dining, and do so in advance of their cruise. Our MDR staff on Celebrity and the previous HAL cruise both made mention that the extra cost dining had been under performing with more passengers that the cruise lines expected opting for the included dining.

Wow. That has not been my experience. I have been approached once by someone talking about specialty dining. One of the reasons I choose Celebrity over RCCL or NCL.

 

[tvguy]

Wow. That has not been my experience. I have been approached once by someone talking about specialty dining. One of the reasons I choose Celebrity over RCCL or NCL.

It was an awesome cruise otherwise.

 

[Dug720]

It was an awesome cruise otherwise.

I had the same experience on the Edge - well, I don't recall them walking around the Oceanview, but definitely outside.

And when I've been on RCCL they've been outside their buffet (I'm forgetting the name) every day at lunch too.

And don't get me started on the "sidewalk sale" on the pool deck or the "by the inch" table outside the buffet.

 

[brentm77]

We generally travel adults only so the DCL child activities and characters add no value. Further, I am not a fan of Disney shows (this is not a reflection of the quality, but I find them unwatchable.) My references below are to Regal, Sky and Enchanted.

MDR food: Even for a mass market line DCL is average. Princess is higher quality with more variety.
Service: Service is more professional and understated. We have had uniformly good service over our six Princess cruises. You aren't going to get magic tricks, but you will get high quality service.
Pools: Larger and less crowded.
Deck food: Princess is far superior and the pizza is very good. The included pizza restaurant is excellent.
Gym: Much bigger and better equipped.
Track: On the top deck and I enjoy running at sunset.
In-room movies: generally a great selection.
Wine list: Very good for a mass market cruise line
Buffet: Princess has a wide variety of international choices. This is one area where DCL is incredibly weak. The difference is significant. We sometimes choose the buffet over the MDR.
Website and Medallion: Princess makes it easy to register and upload information. Medallion access is excellent.

Overall, we find Princess to be much more relaxed and professional. There are no slides, zip lines and the like. The MDRs aren't crazy like DCL. The food is light years ahead of DCL. The room service is good.

We were on an 11 day Southern Caribbean over Christmas (Curacao, Bonaire, Dominica, St. Thomas and Grand Turk.) No one pressured us or tried to sell anything to us. My wife used the spa and we purchased some drinks - that is it. I don't know why people presume that upselling is common on other cruise lines. Fares were $1600pp for deck 16 balcony. Add taxes, tips and insurance and total for the cruise for two adults was less than $3800. We probably spent about $300 on board.

Thank you for the detailed reply! Much of what you said sounds like a good fit for us too. Hopefully we can try them soon.

 

[Drfate102]

It never really is about cost. Each Cruise Line offers it's own experiences and that is subjective. I have only had first hand experiences on Princess and Disney and we currently do not have children and prefer Disney. I have looked at other cruise lines, especially since I work at a Shipyard in Tampa and work across from the cruise terminals with Carnival, Royal and Celebrity which maybe cost me too much time day dreaming about a cruise. So the most important thing to each of us is to find a few different lines that work for us. As much as I personally respect Sir Richard Branson, I don't ever see myself on the Scarlet Lady and Cunard is just right out, for us. And I am currently booked for Alaska on the Wonder and I am looking at a Disney Cruise in Europe for my 50th birthday in a few years, could I save money and do another line, yes, but that isn't the experience that I want. So you should only listen to your hart and family and pick what is important for you.

 

[tinkerone]

We prefer to sail B2B so we can get in 14 days and on DCL that is not cheap. It took us a while to sail another line because of all the horror I was reading about the other lines. Once we decided to take a leap and try RCL we were amazed.
It actually was half the price. We were getting two weeks for the price of one DCL. We had already seen all the shows DCL had to offer umpteen times and on our last cruises with them, had skipped the shows completely. I don't see the nickel and diming some like to toss around. We have had the dining package question while having lunch but only on our first day. Never had anyone bother us about a drink package however they have tables set up so you can purchase if you want to. DCL does not offer either a dining package or a drink package but I would bet if they did you would see them flogging as well. DCL does with the water package. On boarding day every waiter we run into wants to know if we would like to purchase a water bundle. They have tables set up as well to sell the water package.
We now enjoy RCL Oasis class ships much more than DCL. We will still sail DCL, next Feb booked, but not near as often.
But as to the original post, we do, more often than not, find the cost of DCL is 2 times the cost of Royal. Might be the times we sail. Might be the ships we sail. Might be the fact that the price of DCL only goes up while RCL fluctuates and we often get price reductions.
BUT you get soda with DCL.

ETA - I should mention that RCL allows us to book in Canadian dollars but DCL does not. Being able to book in Canadian takes away the risk factor of fluctuating exchange rates. We know exactly what it will cost us from the start.

 

[Marc D]

Wow. That has not been my experience. I have been approached once by someone talking about specialty dining. One of the reasons I choose Celebrity over RCCL or NCL.

Never once have I been approached on Celebrity concerning specialty dining. Maybe I was not attentive enough or I was sneaky. On NCL Bliss however, there was a permanent CM at the buffet’s entrance with a sign. The TV behind him, and TV’s elsewhere around the ship also promoted constantly the specialty dining options. That got old fast.

 

[KantLose]

As a family of 5 we find that for Caribbean cruises the price of Disney is almost the same as we have to get two staterooms on other cruise lines where we pay full fare for 4 passengers instead of just two on DCL. For Alaska we sailed on the bliss in two staterooms for 4k less than a family stateroom on DCL. Haven’t priced Europe ones on DCL but we have a 50% from the canceled wish we will use for one in 2023 when the itineraries come out.

We are also a family of 5 and have found that the other lines end up pricing out similarly because of the room structures and needing 2 rooms on them vs. the family rooms on DCL. Additionally, on Disney it's easy to stick to the what's included price, where I feel like my kids would feel the need to experience the extra charge activities and dining on other lines.

 

[princesscinderella]

We are also a family of 5 and have found that the other lines end up pricing out similarly because of the room structures and needing 2 rooms on them vs. the family rooms on DCL. Additionally, on Disney it's easy to stick to the what's included price, where I feel like my kids would feel the need to experience the extra charge activities and dining on other lines.

My kids are all older now and find the teen clubs on Disney much more engaging than when we went on NCL. My son didn’t really care to go to the teen club and whenever we walked by more kids were hanging out on the stairs outside the club than they were in the club

 

[mjr0483]

Just got back off the Magic and on the flight home was thinking about how many people comment that a Disney Cruise costs so much more than the other lines. I did some quick calculations on overall cost thought some might be interested.

When you add up all the other additional costs - Flights, Hotel the night before, Transportation to the port, Port Excursions, Tips etc. - They become a significant portion of our costs.

If you add up the entire event, then in this case, compare Disney to Royal Caribbean, the Disney Cruise ends up being 1.3 times more expensive than the Royal. Not 2 or 2.5 that most people throw around. Granted, the difference can still be a fair chunk of change, but adding everything up and doing the comparison is worth the effort.

30% premium is totally worth it to us to get away from the 'Mall of the Sea' with way too many passengers and the getting the Hard Sell every time you even get close to where they are selling anything.

As always, your personal mileage will vary depending on what you prefer.

I don’t get everyone bashing other cruise lines about upsells but giving Disney a pass.
We just for our first DCL cruise and within 10 minutes on the ship in Cabanas, no less than 4 different people were interrupting our lunch to sell us beer and water.