Thread: High cost of a Disney cruise

Originally Posted by natasha-neason

We also came from the UK to experience disney cruise line. You are paying for a truely magical experience in every way, the entertainment is amazing as is the food, the kids club is unrivaled and my children thought that castaway cay was the best place in the whole world!! I couldnt put a price on my childrens faces as the enjoyed their disney experience.

That's the magical factor of Disney!

It is a totally different concept from the "regular" cruises we are offered on the "regular" cruise lines.

Thanks for everyone's positive input here!

I agree and disagree. You cannot compare the older Carnival ships for a 5 day cruise to any Disney cruise... that is just not apples to apples. I did a 10 day Disney cruise and was impressed with some aspects and unimpressed with others. I thought the dining room staff were just okay...nothing special at all. I loved the changing dining rooms... I would cruise with them again, but I do think they are over priced.

in reply to your comment on the dining room staff, I think with any cruise, staff can be a little hit and miss- it is down to personal preference and the individuals you happen to be assigned to, in my experience, they were all wonderful but I am sure that not everyone was as lovely as our servers!! I think you pay a premium for the "disney" brand, if you are a disney fan then you will love DCL but maybe not so much for a more experienced cruiser. If you have children(especially younger ones), I stand by the fact that they should love the whole disney experience, as will their lucky parents who get to see through their kids eyes for a change!!

Maybe Natasha... we are Disney fans, and have gone to Disney 1 -2 times a year since 2003! My daughter wasn't thrilled with the kids room on Disney and would only go when there was a specific activity, like Story time with Belle etc. I was paged pretty much right after those activities were done because she wanted to leave.

Don't get me wrong... she does ask to go back on Disney...but honestly... I don't see it happening soon...lol

Originally Posted by natasha-neason

in reply to your comment on the dining room staff, I think with any cruise, staff can be a little hit and miss- it is down to personal preference and the individuals you happen to be assigned to, in my experience, they were all wonderful but I am sure that not everyone was as lovely as our servers!! I think you pay a premium for the "disney" brand, if you are a disney fan then you will love DCL but maybe not so much for a more experienced cruiser. If you have children(especially younger ones), I stand by the fact that they should love the whole disney experience, as will their lucky parents who get to see through their kids eyes for a change!!

I cruise with my grandchildren and we have not sailed on Disney because of the pricing and I have to say with the programs and the attention they recieved on RC and Princess I do see it through the kids eyes and it was awesome, Not sailing Disney gave us the opportunity to take them more often. I do agree Disney has an awesome product but it isn't for everyone.

I completely agree that the disney product may not be for everybody and of course if bypassing a disney cruise, you are able to cruise more often then great!! I think that its just personal choice, we as a family are suckers for a theme and just loved the whole "disney" aspect of things, and being from the UK, everything where we dont have such wonderful things, we found the experience all the more magical. Also we go on one big holiday every year which we book a year in advance so we find it easier to pay for and with the dollar being so favourable to us brits, the extra cost of the disney cruise is outweighed. Although, nothing can save us from the 10 hour flights with two young children!! got an eleven hour one to Los Angeles next week.......help!!

please excuse my awful spelling and grammar....its the morning after the night before

My wife and I ( no kids yet) love Disney and we did 4 days in Disney World a few years back that was one of the best vaactions we had. We were dead tired doing 4 parks in 4 days - never again, but we had a blast and really enjoy the whole "Disney experience"

That being said we have looked into a Disney cruise and can't seem to justify the higher cost of the cruise vs other lines. Yes, we have heard about the bigger cabins and the servce is better on Disney, but we would rather pay alittle less money to be the ship and go where wee would like than pay of intagibles like service.

I have found great service on all the cruises we have been on and really can't complain that one was better than others. Althoug I will say we did find Princess a little better overall than Carnival .

I worked with a guy who was Disney nut! and he had been on the Disney cruise and swore he would never cruise another ship again. He and his wife did a Carnival Cruise on Carnival Legend and although he agreed it wasn't bad, he still swore Disney was 100 times better, but even agreed the price was high.

Scott

I have just returned from a cruise on the Carnival pride with my husband and two yound children. Although I would like to stress that we all had a great time with carnival, it was not as good as our experience on the disney magic last year. The childrens facilities were not as good and my children did not really want to be in the kids club as they found it boring being in a small room with not much activity. On the disney cruise we found it difficult to lure them away from the kids club!The food was better on the disney cruise as well as the whole dining experience. On the carnival cruise, we missed the visit to the private island that disney provided. The carnival cruise was cheaper so really you get what you pay for, we had fun but over all had a better all round experience on the dinsney cruise.

Originally Posted by cruisin' chick

When many cruisers mention why they haven't been on a Disney cruise, the main reason seems to be the price. The main selling point, as some people see it, seems to be the Disney eclat or name. What is it that makes the Disney cruise worthwhile to be worth the price, besides meeting Mickey?

I have never been on a Disney cruise, but this summer we stayed at the Grand Floridian hotel at Disney World. If the Disney cruise ship's service, attention to detail, awesome food, decor, and that special "Disney magic" is anything like what they do in their nicer Disney hotels...then that might account for a lot of the difference in price. If you throw in the kid activities and amenities (sounds like it's way more fun for the kids, based on the answers I read here) then I'd say it's definitely worth paying a little more.